[You and your grandfather pay the one-spirit-stone city entry fee and successfully enter Lin Commandery City.]
[Upon arriving in Lin Commandery City, you realize just how small Jinzhou County truly is.]
[Right after stepping inside the city gates, you sense no less than three auras no weaker than your grandfather's, all of them clearly Foundation Establishment realm cultivators!]
[Under your grandfather's guidance, you arrive at the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce branch pavilion.]
[The three tin-gold characters for "Myriad Treasure Tower" catch your eye, and you sense that even these three words alone are extraordinary, faintly exuding a supreme sword qi.]
[This is because you have mastered sword mastery to the perfected realm, making your perception far sharper and rendering you much more sensitive to the sword intent upon them.]
[You and your grandfather enter the Myriad Treasure Tower one after the other. Since your grandfather knows that your purpose in coming to Lin Commandery this time is to deal with an existence at the Golden Core True Person level, he leads you right past the first and second floors and chooses to head straight for the third.]
[The Myriad Treasure Tower has five floors in total. The first floor sells various Qi Cultivation spirit treasures, the second floor handles Foundation Establishment, and the third corresponds precisely to Golden Core.]
[Upon reaching the third floor, you are left speechless by the dazzling array of spirit treasures before your eyes. You must know that these are all Mysterious Tier spirit treasures corresponding to the Golden Core Stage, yet this Myriad Treasure Tower has an entire room of them, while your Mu Family does not possess a single Mysterious Tier spirit treasure.]
[Seeing the prices, you finally understand why your Mu Family does not own a single Mysterious Tier spirit treasure, for even the worst Mysterious Tier low-grade spirit treasure is priced in the tens of thousands, with the majority even reaching the millions!]
[You must know that relying on the rice paddy to swindle and even monopolize the Healing Powder market throughout the entire Jinzhou County, you have only accumulated fifty thousand spirit stones over the past two years.]
[You originally thought you were quite wealthy, but now it seems you only have enough to buy two spirit treasures.]
[The saleswoman in charge of the third floor is a beautiful woman in a long robe with a scorching figure, yet with your keen commercial intuition you naturally know that the prettier they are, the more extraordinary they become.]
[For in commercial activities, beauty also carries a marked price.]
[The woman approaches you and your grandfather, delivering a set of standard introductions followed by a standard display of etiquette and smiles.]
[You state your demands: you need two spirit treasures. The first must pose a threat to Golden Core True Persons, priced within twenty-five thousand spirit stones, and possess offensive capabilities. The second must focus primarily on defense, and it would be even better if it simultaneously possesses certain auxiliary abilities, likewise priced within twenty-five thousand spirit stones.]
[The woman originally thought your grandfather was the one buying the spirit treasures, so she faced him primarily, but to her surprise, it is you who want to make the purchase.]
[After all, with her discernment, it is not hard for her to see that you ought to be a junior, and your cultivation level is only at the Qi Cultivation stage.]
[Your words also cause a silent jolt of shock in the woman's heart. Demanding such detailed specifications for both purpose and price range makes her unconsciously feel that the you before her is more like a seasoned, calculating merchant.]
[Of course, she quickly recovers, curtsies in invitation, and leads you before a display case, introducing, "This item is called the Thunder Pearl, a Mysterious Tier low-grade treasure refined from the bone of a Golden Core greater demon Thunder Tiger, with Thunder Crystal added to heighten its explosive might. Even a Golden Core early stage cultivator would be severely injured by it if caught off guard."]
["What is the price?"
"Twelve thousand per bead, and two of them will precisely meet your requirements."
"Keep leading us to look at others first!"
"Very well, please follow this humble servant, sir."]
[The woman leads you to view three more similar spirit treasures in succession, but in the end you still choose the Thunder Pearl. For no other reason, its might is the greatest; although it is a one-time-use spirit treasure, its sheer destructive power is practically comparable to a Mysterious Tier middle-grade spirit treasure.]
[For the defensive spirit treasure, after your selection, you choose a set of formation flags, though these flags are not meant for setting up formations.]
[Named the "Spirit Guarding Formation Flag", it is not a formation flag at all, but rather a spirit treasure—a Mysterious Tier middle-grade spirit treasure. When used, it is planted beside formation flags, enabling formations below the Mysterious Tier to boost their offensive and defensive might by an entire grade. Meanwhile, your Mu Family's current Clan Protection Array is High-grade Spirit Tier, which happens to be capable of being elevated to Mysterious Tier low-grade by this spirit treasure.]
[A Mysterious Tier low-grade spirit array has no problem with blocking the frantic bombardment of a Golden Core early stage cultivator for an hour or two.]
[Furthermore, within the range of the formation flags, as long as there are sufficient spirit stones, the flags can restore spiritual energy for the person inside the array. The amount of spiritual energy restored is determined by the quantity of spirit stones provided, capable of supplying up to two Golden Core early stage cultivators with fully restored spiritual energy. Exceeding the restoration limit will cause irreversible damage to the formation flags.]
[The final transaction price comes out to exactly twenty-five thousand, completely draining the spirit stones you have earned through bitter toil over the past two years.]
[Though spending the money makes your heart ache, you comfort yourself by tallying all these expenses against the Fire Cloud Evil God old man.]
["Old thing, if you come this time, let's see if I don't blow you to smithereens!" you laugh craftily.]
[Along the way, it is surprisingly free of unexpected incidents. You remain extremely vigilant throughout the journey, because isn't this sort of plot about being waylaid and ambushed the most common kind?]
[You and your grandfather return safely to Muye Mountain.]
[In June of the fourth year, you prepare all your deployments: recalling outbound disciples and stewards while Muye Mountain enters a defensive state; the Spirit Guarding Formation Flags are planted, and abundant spirit stones are prepared; you and your grandfather each take a Thunder Pearl.]
[In July of the fourth year, the Wang Family is exterminated by Li Qingyun, after which Li Qingyun's whereabouts become unknown.]
[That same month, you personally visit to invite the Zhang Family Ancestor to come to the Mu Family to lend aid.]
[August of the fourth year arrives right on schedule.]
[Your Mu Family has long since made thorough preparations, and you have the confidence that even if that old man resembling the Fire Cloud Evil God arrives, you will still have the strength to fight!]
[A blood palm manifests abruptly, instantly shrouding the greater part of Muye Mountain.]
[You anticipated this long ago and activate the Clan Protection Array ahead of time.]
[Boom! A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering loud noise rings out, as if the entire Jinzhou County can hear it.]
[The black-robed man hidden behind the blood palm sees that his blood palm actually fails to successfully breach the grand array, and a wicked smile twitches at the corner of his mouth: "A mere Foundation Establishment family actually possesses a Mysterious Tier formation?"]
["This actually makes me even more curious." The black-robed man does not retreat, raising his palm to strike a direct blow at the Clan Protection Array. This time the black-robed man employs a Mysterious Tier spirit skill, its might a fair bit weaker than that eerie blood palm from just moments ago.]
[You naturally know that the Clan Protection Array can block them for at most two hours, so you instruct the elders to continue feeding in spirit stones. You want the array to consume the opponent's spiritual energy as much as possible, because only in this way can you fight for a sliver of survival.]
[Two hours later, the formation is shattered!]
[Your grandfather makes his move first, launching a Water Dragon Fist straight at the black-robed man's face. The black-robed man merely waves a hand casually to repel your grandfather. Just as the black-robed man thinks you only have these ant-like tricks, your grandfather pulls out the pre-prepared Thunder Pearls, activates them with spiritual energy, and hurls them toward the black-robed man's direction.]
[Boom...]
Before you continue