"Brother Chen, please take a look. This is the Spirit Seizing Array Disk. Although it is only a first-tier array disk, it is, after all, a Spirit Seizing Formation. Its value is far greater than other first-tier array disks."
Jiang Qiang took out a colorful, circular disk with a mixture of apprehension and deference, handing it to Chen Dengming.
Chen Dengming took it and inspected it, noticing that the lines on the array disk were intricate and engraved with quite a few bizarre runes.
Yet he could roughly tell it resembled a formation layout, except that the disk looked somewhat old and carried a distinct aura of antiquity, not like something newly crafted.
"Why does this array disk have no spiritual energy fluctuations at all?"
Hearing this, Jiang Qiang smiled. "Brother Chen, this array disk hasn't even been activated yet, so how could there be spiritual energy fluctuations? Besides, to activate this array disk, one also needs to purchase a set of formation flags."
"I have to pay money to buy them too?" Chen Dengming frowned.
Jiang Qiang's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly smiled. "Not necessarily. In fact, I can make them myself, it just takes a bit of time. If you aren't in a rush..."
Chen Dengming's frown smoothed out. "That's fine then, I'm not in a rush to use it. Once this Spirit Seizing Formation is set up, can it really freely seize specific spiritual energy from the surroundings?"
Jiang Qiang nodded. "Indeed! If you possess a fire spiritual root, once the Spirit Seizing Formation is set up and configured to seize the surrounding fire-attribute spiritual energy, it will naturally easily help boost your cultivation speed quite a bit.
In principle, the Spirit Seizing Formation and the Spirit Gathering Formation are quite similar in assisting cultivation, only more precise. It's just that the consumption of Spirit Stones is somewhat greater.
Moreover, using this formation for cultivation requires frequently changing the cultivation location. After all, once a certain attribute of spiritual energy in a certain area is depleted too much, it takes a period of time to recover."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."
Chen Dengming was rather pleased.
When using this Spirit Seizing Formation during cultivation, he could seize the gold spiritual energy in the surrounding air first to aid his cultivation.
Once the surrounding gold spiritual energy was depleted, he would then seize the wood spiritual energy. Wouldn't that prevent so much gold spiritual energy from clashing with the wood spiritual energy? Consequently, there wouldn't be excessive internal friction, and his cultivation speed would naturally quicken by quite a margin.
Still, the specifics would depend on the cost of the spiritual energy consumed by this formation.
Chen Dengming asked a few more questions, and after confirming the idea was feasible, he said, "Right, was it really just for this array disk that Hutong Street issued a bounty to hunt you down?
Since you were unwilling to give this array disk to Qian Yuan of Hutong Street, why did you so easily hand it out to me?"
Jiang Qiang took a deep breath, knowing he still had to come clean. With an expression of anger and resentment, he said, "It wasn't solely for the array disk; there were also the manufacturing blueprints for the array disk. Only, those blueprints had already been destroyed by me, yet I still remember them in my mind.
The one I gave you was the original array disk I discovered in a mountain forest back then, which came together with the blueprints.
That fellow surnamed Qian wants to drag me back because he wants to enslave me, figure out the manufacturing method of the Spirit Seizing Formation, and continue making him a fortune. But how could I ever work for him like a dog? He is a beast!"
It seems there is bad blood between them, Chen Dengming thought to himself. Did that major beast Qian Yuan do something that wronged him, causing this man to rebel?
Jiang Qiang continued, "By giving you the array disk, I might still live. But if I go back, it would be a fate worse than death, so I am naturally willing to take a gamble."
With that, Jiang Qiang paused his words, looked at Chen Dengming, and spoke with a sincere expression, "Brother Chen, your strength is formidable. If you are willing to escort me to the Brocade Workshop two thousand miles to the west, I am also willing to draw out the blueprints for making the Spirit Seizing Array Disk and give them to you."
Chen Dengming shrugged. "What use would I have for that thing? I can't make it myself, and as for selling it for money, it's too much trouble.
Ah right, when you asked me to intervene last time, you only paid a reward of one Low-grade Spirit Stone. Shouldn't you add a bit more money now?"
Jiang Qiang wore an expression that was a mix of oddity and regret, before bitterly smiling and cupping his fists. "Brother Chen, as you can see, I've been on the run for a long time and am truly at the end of my rope. Aside from this array disk, I really have..."
"Alright, I'm just joking with you."
Chen Dengming put away the array disk, reached out to pat Jiang Qiang's shoulder, and mused.
"How about this? Although I won't send you to the Brocade Workshop, I am willing to offer you another path—and that is to follow me.
I won't exploit you the way that fellow surnamed Qian does, and I can also provide you with a certain degree of security. You can think about it."
"Follow... you?" Jiang Qiang wore a hesitant expression.
He was not a fool either; Qian Yuan was a cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Level. Although Chen Dengming displayed formidable strength, he was ultimately at the Qi Cultivation Second Level and was unlikely to be Qian Yuan's match.
"Having you follow me doesn't mean declaring war on Qian Yuan head-on, but at least it guarantees a degree of safety."
At a glance, Chen Dengming saw through Jiang Qiang's thoughts and smiled faintly. "Actually, I am just like you—both of us are enemies of Qian Yuan. Qian Yuan once put a bounty on me too, and I still don't know whether he has revoked it."
"You were hunted by a bounty as well?" Jiang Qiang was astonished.
Chen Dengming smiled faintly. "Indeed. Back when I was in the Xiantian realm, I killed cultivators under his command, so he placed a bounty on me."
Jiang Qiang was shocked. "It was you? But you... you are now..."
He was somewhat dazed; he knew about that bounty from back then.
Yet it had only been half a year since then, right? The Xiantian mortal of the past had actually grown this strong?
When he heard the yellow-robed cultivator mention something about an offense earlier, he hadn't made the connection to this level before Chen Dengming took action.
"You... Brother Chen, I later heard that you seemed to have gone to the Luo Family? What were you refining for Eldest Miss Lüo... Gu worms?"
Chen Dengming nodded. "Indeed! I just left the Luo Family."
A smile instantly bloomed on Jiang Qiang's face. "Good! Brother Chen, from now on, I will follow you."
"Good!"
Chen Dengming smiled. As expected, the Luo Family's reputation carried immense weight; the moment he brought up the Luo Family, the man immediately acknowledged him as boss.
Without delay, he directly handed the scorching and awkward legacy items of the yellow-robed cultivator—the low-tier lotus dharmic shield, four Low-grade Spirit Stones, and two talismans—offering stolen flowers to Buddha as he passed them to Jiang Qiang.
"Since we are brothers of the same family, I'll return the reward you gave me previously, and supplement it with a bit more as a greeting gift from an older brother."
"Accept it, don't decline. In the future, I will have certain matters for you to handle. Naturally, you won't be working in vain."
Back in the Martial World, Chen Dengming had been capable of establishing the massive Chen Family and cultivating numerous suicide squads and shadow guards. Naturally, he excelled at winning people over and recruiting soldiers and horses.
He had lamented earlier that upon coming to the Cultivation World and starting everything from scratch, he didn't even have a single person around to run errands and do chores.
Being able to recruit a cultivator like Jiang Qiang—who was driven to a dead end yet possessed a specialized skill—was naturally a fine stroke of fortune.
In days to come, many tasks could be delegated to Jiang Qiang, sparing him from handling everything personally and delaying his cultivation.
Jiang Qiang declined with embarrassment for a moment, then gripped the spirit stones tightly and accepted them with gratitude. Suddenly, he felt the tightly strung nerve of this recent period relax, and he was once again filled with hope for the future.
In truth, fleeing to the Brocade Workshop two thousand miles away wouldn't necessarily guarantee him a good life.
He was unfamiliar with the people and the place over there, and things might turn out even worse.
Besides, over a distance of two thousand miles, flying by soaring artifact would still require spending five or six days and nights in the wilderness to arrive.
Wild beasts ran rampant in the wilderness at night, and the slightest carelessness could cost one their life.
Being able to remain here in the gathering place was naturally the best outcome.
With Boss Chen's strength, as long as Qian Yuan didn't make a move personally, there were only two or three people over on Hutong Street who might cause trouble, but those two or three might not necessarily come out to hunt him down.
Next, Chen Dengming personally escorted Jiang Qiang to another secluded dwelling not far from the gathering place.
An illusion formation set up by Jiang Qiang was located here, guaranteeing a certain level of safety.
Along the way, he also basically figured out why Jiang Qiang had rebelled against Qian Yuan, ensuring that this man was not a double-crossing scoundrel or the like.
As it turned out, back when Jiang Qiang obtained two sets of array disks and array diagrams in the mountain forest, he kept the items hidden. However, people from Hutong Street discovered clues in that very same mountain forest.
Qian Yuan demanded that Jiang Qiang hand over the array diagrams and array disks. Jiang Qiang only produced one set of array disks and formation flags, stubbornly refusing to yield the array diagrams. In the end, a conflict broke out, and Jiang Qiang's Dao Companion was accidentally dragged into the battle and died miserably.
Jiang Qiang escaped in the chaos, consumed by grief and indignation, and from then on completely broke ties with Qian Yuan.
Hearing this, Chen Dengming also sighed inwardly; Qian Yuan's methods of enslaving people were far too crude.
Although Jiang Qiang was a formation master he had personally nurtured, Qian Yuan never granted him the most basic respect, stepping up the oppression until it provoked such a disastrous result.
Now it was all good; this painstakingly nurtured formation master was his man.
After settling Jiang Qiang and agreeing on the method and time for future contact, Chen Dengming departed directly and returned to the gathering place.
Now that he already possessed a Golden Silkworm Gu and a Blood Centipede Gu as his trump cards, coupled with other Gu poisons, the instacast Great Fireball Technique and Golden Spear Technique, and with his cultivation on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Third Level, he felt that he could now initially gain a firm foothold in the gathering place.
At the very least, as long as he didn't directly clash with faction leaders like Xu Ning and Qian Yuan, his personal safety was heavily guaranteed, and he was no longer someone who could be casually manipulated by anyone.
My cooperation with the Luo Family can be considered a success. Lüo Bing even has a three-year pact with me—although outsiders are unaware of this, it makes it convenient for me to leverage their influence. My business cooperation with Xu Ning can currently continue as well.
Chen Dengming moved forward, executing his movement technique swiftly as the wind and lightning, while calculating inwardly.
As for imitating people like Xu Ning by building a faction within the gathering place, he had little interest in that; direct body seizing, however, was not bad.
If he could expend a small fraction of his energy to earn more spirit stones, and in the future recruit a few people to run errands and work for him—reducing the energy he spent on miscellaneous trifles—he would certainly be quite willing.
Still, the notion of wanting to reap huge profits while expending only minimal effort was something anyone would harbor; it all depended on how well he managed things in the future.
Soon, Chen Dengming arrived at the gathering place, which looked dilapidated beyond compare.
The faint spiritual might radiating from his body caused some mortals to immediately clear the path and offer respectful bows.
Chen Dengming pulled his bamboo hat down slightly and headed straight for Master Hu's magical artifact shop in the east of the town.
Having been away for several months and now returning, his first priority was naturally to inquire about the recent state of affairs in the gathering place.
As a merchant and a member of the neutral faction, Master Hu was naturally the most ideal person for communication.
Besides, Master Hu had previously promised that if Chen Dengming made money, he must have a suitable magical artifact saber custom-made at his shop—and now was the time to fulfill that promise.
Before you continue