Who is fishing?

That night.

The bright moon hung high in the southeast corner.

In the quiet room of the east wing of Jade Spring Artifact Pavilion, Chen Heng sat cross-legged. After circulating the Water Fire Defense Scripture for several cycles, he opened his eyes and let out a long sigh.

The amount of spiritual energy a Qi Refining cultivator could absorb and refine daily was actually limited.

It was limited by the grade of the cultivation method, and also by the strength of the physical body and meridians.

If one forcefully cultivated, it was easy to injure oneself.

This was why most Qi Refining cultivators did not go into long-term secluded cultivation like higher cultivators such as Foundation Establishment true cultivators and Violet Palace Venerables.

When Qi Refining cultivators entered seclusion, it was mostly to break through bottlenecks in their cultivation realms.

Chen Heng got up, left the cultivation chamber, and planned to go back to bed for a good night's sleep.

Although Qi Refining cultivators could use meditation to replace sleep and restore their energy.

Chen Heng would still sleep soundly every once in a while, for no other reason than to relax his body and mind.

The path of cultivation was one of relaxation and tension; one could not be constantly on edge.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't dealt with the beast skin map in his storage bag yet.

So.

Chen Heng took it out and casually flipped it over. He inwardly mused that if the old talisman master had been a bit more skillful in forging the contents, he could have truly tricked quite a few cultivators.

Just as he was about to condense fire into a thread to burn it.

He suddenly discovered that this beast skin map seemed to have a secret, as if it had a hidden layer.

Seeing this, Chen Heng slowly circulated his true essence, outputting a trace of mana, and carefully peeled open the outer layer. The content carved on it immediately underwent a drastic change.

The map originally drawn by that old geezer had a faint sense of detachment from the ancient beast skin.

But now, the map recorded on it seemed to be one with the beast skin.

This made Chen Heng unable to help but investigate.

After a while, he held his forehead with one hand, his brows furrowed, and he thought to himself, "This map is actually real, and it even records a predecessor's cave dwelling."

"However, it seems a bit strange. This hidden layer on the surface of the beast skin is indeed difficult to detect unless one looks closely with their divine sense."

"But, is it really such a coincidence that I discovered it, or is someone using it to fish?"

Chen Heng pondered for a while, then put away the beast skin map. His eyes were dim and unclear, as if he was thinking about something.

When the hustle and bustle of the South Foothill Gathering once again descended upon the market town, Chen Heng did not personally go to the rogue cultivator stalls.

He sat at the highest point of the east wing of Jade Spring Artifact Pavilion, his divine sense quietly observing the movements at the outskirts of the market through a light screen formed by the Water Mirror Technique.

The old servant, Uncle Fu, had transformed into a hunched, grey-robed rogue cultivator according to the plan.

His face was covered in weathered wrinkles, his palms were deliberately coated with a layer of mineral ash, and the low-grade first-tier storage bag hanging from his waist looked very old.

The stall was also extremely simple: a few withered spiritual herbs, several dull mineral stones, and the most conspicuous item was a South Foothill Miscellany with curled corners.

The beast skin map, which contained the hidden secret, was cleverly sealed in the interlayer of the spine of this old book.

As the sun began to set, Luo Yu Lei indeed swaggered over with two followers.

The young master of the Luo Family's gaze swept over the shabby stall, and he was about to leave in disgust when Uncle Fu seemed to accidentally drop the old book.

A corner of the ancient beast skin was revealed between the yellowed pages!

"What is this?" Luo Yu Lei stopped instantly, a glint flashing in his eyes, but his vigilance was now overwhelmed by greed.

Uncle Fu coughed hoarsely and slowly tore open the book's seam. "Cough... I picked up this piece of junk while mining years ago. If the customer wants it, three Spirit Stones will take the book and the skin."

Luo Yu Lei scoffed, flicked out the Spirit Stones, grabbed the beast skin, and strode away.

A follower behind him hesitated, "Young Master, doesn't this look like what Old Talisman Master Wang used to trick people the other day..."

Before he could finish speaking, Luo Yu Lei interrupted him, "Idiot! Could that old swindler forge this kind of ancient beast skin? This method of sealing spiritual energy is at least a hundred years old!"

In front of the water mirror, Chen Heng's lips curved upwards.

Luo Yu Lei's greed and arrogance, his blind confidence in "finding treasures," and his superficial understanding of market scams were all part of the calculation.

When Luo Yu Lei cracked the secret of the beast skin's interlayer, he would surely regard it as a priceless treasure.

And all Chen Heng had to do was wait for the ripples of the fish biting the hook to spread—

Outside the window, the sudden rain hammered the eaves, like the thunder when he studied the broken jade that night.

Chen Heng tapped his fingertips on the table, his eyes flashing with a cold light like a dagger. "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind... Luo Yu Lei, you'd better be ready to catch this 'opportunity'."

The next day, early in the morning.

After Chen Heng explained the situation to Chen Xing Shan, he left Jade Spring Artifact Pavilion through the back door early in the morning and headed for the Garrison Mansion located in the central area of the Southern Foothills Market.

The Southern Foothills Market was jointly established by the three major Foundation Establishment Families of the Moon Gazing Mountain Range, and it was naturally responsible for maintaining order in the market town.

Each of the Chen, Wu, and Luo families had to send one Foundation Establishment cultivator and several Qi Refining cultivators to be stationed in the South Foothill Market town for an extended period.

The Chen family's current Foundation Establishment cultivator responsible for guarding the market town is Ancestor Chen Tianrui.

Although Chen Heng had visited this Foundation Establishment Ancestor during his half-year stay in South Foothill Market, this time he might have to leave the market town, so he naturally needed to ask this Ancestor for something.

Not long after.

Chen Heng arrived at the entrance of the Garrison Mansion. He looked at one of the guards and said, "Excuse me, Daoist friend, please help me pass on a message. Chen Clan Disciple Ming Heng is here to pay his respects to the Chen family Ancestor, Chen Tianrui."

After speaking, he took a step forward and handed over his identity token.

"Please wait a moment."

Seeing that he was a Chen clan disciple, this guard, who was from the Wu family, dared not be too negligent and quickly went inside to report.

A short while later.

"Ancestor Chen invites you in. Please come inside, Daoist friend!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Heng, familiar with the way, arrived at the entrance of the courtyard where Ancestor Chen Tianrui was in seclusion.

At this moment, an elder with red hair, long eyebrows, dressed in red, with an ancient and simple face and an extraordinary aura, happened to walk out.

The person who came out was Chen Tianrui, one of the four Foundation Establishment true cultivators of the Chen family!

This Ancestor Chen Tianrui was not wearing the standard Chen family black-bottomed, white-edged Jade Spring Water-Pattern Robe. Instead, he wore a red robe because he possessed a sixth-grade fire spiritual root and cultivated fire-based techniques.

He was also currently the only second-tier artifact refiner in the Chen family. Due to Chen Heng's considerable skill in artifact refining, he would occasionally come to the Garrison Mansion to seek his guidance.

Chen Tianrui quite liked this descendant of the Chen family, even though he came from a collateral branch.

Furthermore, Foundation Establishment cultivators had outstanding divine senses, which was why the two happened to meet at the entrance.

Seeing this, Chen Heng quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Ming Heng greets Fifth Uncle-Ancestor!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Tianrui reached out and patted Chen Heng's shoulder, laughing heartily, "Youngster Heng, you're looking for me so early in the morning. Have you encountered any difficulties in artifact refining?"

As he spoke, he led Chen Heng into the main room within the courtyard.

After the two were seated as host and guest, Chen Tianrui said with a smile, "Youngster Heng, since you're not here to ask me about artifact refining today, just tell me what you need. I dislike beating around the bush."

"Fifth Uncle-Ancestor, this junior may have to leave the market town today, but I fear being schemed against by others. Therefore, I request you to bestow upon me a transmission jade slip that can aid me in a critical moment."

Chen Heng said respectfully, then looked at the Ancestor with sincere eyes.

Upon hearing this, Chen Tianrui did not think much of it and nodded, saying, "So that's how it is. This is a small matter. However, do not stray too far from the market town, lest I be unable to reach you in time."

After speaking, he took out a jade slip from his second-tier storage artifact—the Universe Bag—and handed it to Chen Heng.