Chu Zheng's breakthrough in cultivation inevitably led to changes in the Hidden Dragon List.
His ranking climbed once more, leaping forward by over a hundred places, nearly aligning with those prodigies at the Perfection of the Entry Dao Realm.
All the major Holy Lands had designated watchers constantly monitoring the Hidden Dragon List.
The moment Chu Zheng reached the pinnacle of the Spiritual Spring, this news spread rapidly within the inner circles of several Holy Lands, naturally causing quite a stir.
The pinnacle of Spiritual Spring is just one step away from the Entry Path.
In the eyes of the major Holy Lands, Chu Zheng's talent was at least on par with those possessing a Superior Immortal Bone, and once he constructed his Celestial Foundation, it would be no less than Eightfold.
This is the quality of a Celestial Lord.
The Entry Path represents a qualitative change; once a Cultivator constructs their Celestial Foundation, their strength will undergo a tremendous transformation, with their magical prowess increasing more than tenfold.
Currently, at the Spiritual Spring, Chu Zheng was already capable of escaping from the hands of Soul Condensation Realm Cultivators. Once he enters the Entry Path, even those at the Perfection of the Entry Dao Realm might not prove to be his match.
Given Chu Zheng's pace of cultivation, his ascent into the Entry Path was only a matter of time. Should he be given more time to progress within the Entry Dao Realm, even ordinary Soul Condensation Realm Cultivators might no longer pose a threat to him.
By that time, the difficulty of killing Chu Zheng would greatly increase, and hopes of doing so would become increasingly slim.
The most critical point is that there are still a full nine years until the Great Tournament of Ten Thousand Sects, and it is highly possible that within this period, Chu Zheng could transcend the Entry Dao Realm and step into Soul Condensing.
Ten years to reach Soul Condensing, is that possible?
Of course, it is, and it's not the first time this has happened in the Cangyun Realm.
Looking back, Shang Cangyun, the champion of the first Great Tournament of Ten Thousand Sects, was just fifteen years old when he entered Soul Condensing.
More recently, Ye Yulou from the Taixuan Holy Land entered Soul Condensing at barely twenty years of age. He started cultivating at nine, and it only took him eleven years.
With the Divine Infant Cultivators unable to take action, Chu Zheng undoubtedly sent out an extremely terrifying signal.
If this opportunity is missed and those Taixuan elders are there to protect him, no one would be able to stop Chu Zheng's rise.
Urgent orders, like falling snowflakes, kept drifting into Great Zhou, rushing the hunt against Chu Zheng.
But this action achieved very little.
After all, Soul Condensing was just Soul Condensing, and the gap between it and Divine Infant Cultivators was too vast, making it difficult to find any traces in a short period of time.
The evening shadows deepened.
Against the cold river reflecting the moon, at the center of the rushing rapids, lay a solitary island spanning dozens of miles.
Deep into the night, the island remained brightly lit, with treasures gleaming in all directions, and figures of Cultivators rising and falling across it.
In recent times, the rivers, lakes, and seas within Giant Marsh had almost been upturned from their roots, and most parts of the Ancient Ruins hidden beneath the waters had been excavated.
This was all in an effort to locate Chu Zheng, to prevent him from hiding and cultivating in some unseen corner of the world.
Against the majority of Cultivators who were at the Soul Condensing Realm, these Water Demons had no power to resist whatsoever.
Several Divine Infant Realm Great Demons had appeared but dared not cause significant harm. To avoid the harassment of many Cultivators, they even abandoned their lairs and hid in farther waters.
These high-level Magical Beasts, with wisdom no different from humans, and some even more astute and well-informed than ordinary Cultivators, knew well that most of these arriving Cultivators had mighty backers. Should they wreak havoc, within half an hour, powerful beings would arrive to suppress the turmoil and take the opportunity to strike.
It could be said that the various Sects were only too eager for these Great Demons to stir up trouble so that the powerful experts within the Sects would have an excuse to step in, resolve the chaos swiftly, and stabilize the situation once and for all.
With a large number of Ancient Relics unearthed, naturally, they were accompanied by various Ancient Relics, some of which still retained unspent Spiritual Energy and held considerable value, leading to looting by Cultivators.
Within Giant Marsh, many temporary Marketplaces had sprung up, providing for the exchange of goods among numerous Cultivators, with bustling trade.
For Loose Cultivators and the majority of small and medium-sized Sects, nothing was more critical than High-Grade cultivation techniques.
The most precious of the unearthed relics were the Cultivation Techniques, which were in high demand and short supply.
A suitable Cultivation Technique could save one from much detour and greatly enhance one's potential, even raising the ceiling for the entire Sect.
Such Cultivation Techniques sold for exorbitant prices without exception, and many small and medium-sized Sects spent their entire Sect's foundation for a chance at a legendary Cultivation Technique.
Compared to Cultivation Techniques, the next most valuable were Magic Treasures. Many retained quite intact from the ruins, and although they had lost much of their Spiritual Energy, if kept within one's body for long-term nourishment, there was still hope for their restoration.
As for the broken fragments of Magic Treasures, almost completely devoid of any potential for reforging, they still held some utility space for some small Sects.
Taking a lot of time to smelt and purify, they could extract some usable Spirit Mines, albeit with extremely low efficiency. But since their time wasn't particularly valuable, this method proved more economical compared to purchasing with Floral Spirit Stones.
The least valuable were those Elixirs that had lost all their Spiritual Energy. Only a few Alchemists would spend Spirit Stones to purchase them, hoping to gain some inspiration from the Elixirs' components and thus master new Pill Recipes.
However, very few Alchemists reaped any benefits through this method, as the components of these Spiritual Energy-depleted Elixirs were barely distinguishable. These Alchemists were mostly taking chances, hoping to find some inspiration.