Preparation, Going Head-to-Head with Fire Cloud!

[After you and Grandfather paid the one Spirit Stone entrance fee, you smoothly entered Lin Commandery City.]

[After arriving in Lin Commandery City, you realized just how small Jinzhou County was.]

[Just upon entering Lin Commandery City, you sensed no less than three auras no weaker than your Grandfather's; clearly, they were all Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators!]

[Under your Grandfather's guidance, you arrived at a branch of the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce.]

[The three large characters "Myriad Treasures Hall" appeared before your eyes. You sensed that these three characters alone were extraordinary, emanating a faint, supreme Sword Intent.]

[This was also because you had mastered Sword Art to the Perfected state, making your perception sharper and more sensitive to the Sword Intent within.]

[You and Grandfather entered the Myriad Treasures Hall one after another. Since your Grandfather knew you were here in Lin Commandery to deal with an existence at the Golden Core True Person level, he skipped the first and second floors, heading straight for the third.]

[The Myriad Treasures Hall had five floors in total. The first floor sold various Qi Cultivation Spirit Treasures, the second floor Foundation Establishment, and the third floor corresponded to Golden Core.]

[Upon reaching the third floor, you were so astonished by the dazzling array of Spirit Treasures that you were speechless. These were all Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasures corresponding to the Golden Core stage. This Myriad Treasures Hall actually had a whole room full, while your Mu Family didn't have a single Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasure.]

[Seeing the prices, you finally understood why your Mu Family didn't have any Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasures. Even the cheapest Low-grade Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasures were priced in the tens of thousands, with most reaching the millions!]

[You had to know, by relying on Mi San's scams and even monopolizing the entire Healing Powder market in Jinzhou County, you had only accumulated five hundred thousand Spirit Stones over the past two years.]

[You originally thought you were quite wealthy, but now it seemed you could only afford two Spirit Treasures.]

[The saleswoman in charge of the third floor was a beautiful woman in a long robe. She had a stunning figure, but with your keen business sense, you naturally knew that the more beautiful they were, the more extraordinary they were.]

[Because in commercial activities, beauty was also clearly priced.]

[The woman approached you and Grandfather. After a standard introduction, she offered a set of standard etiquette and a smile.]

[You stated your requirements: you needed two Spirit Treasures. The first needed to be able to pose a threat to Golden Core True Persons, with an attack method, priced within two hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones. The second needed to be primarily defensive, with the added bonus of some auxiliary abilities if possible, also priced within two hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones.]

[The woman had initially assumed your Grandfather was the one buying Spirit Treasures, so she had primarily addressed him. However, she was surprised to find that it was you who wanted to buy them.]

[After all, with her discerning eye, she could tell you were likely the junior, and your cultivation level was only at the Qi Cultivation stage.]

[Your request also secretly startled the woman. Requiring such detailed specifications for both use and price range made her feel that you were more like a cunning, seasoned merchant.]

[Of course, she quickly recovered. She bowed and invited you, leading you to a display case, and introduced, "This item is called the Thunder Pearl, Low-grade Mysterious Tier. It's refined from the demon bone of the Golden Core Great Yao, the Thunder Tiger, with added Thunder Crystals to enhance its explosive power. Even an early-stage Golden Core cultivator would be severely injured if caught off guard."]

["What's the price?"

"One hundred and twenty thousand each. Two will perfectly meet your requirements."

"Continue showing us other items first!"

"Certainly, please follow me."]

[The woman then showed you three more similar Spirit Treasures. In the end, you still chose the Thunder Pearl. The reason was simple: its power was the greatest. Although it was a single-use Spirit Treasure, its power was comparable to a Mid-grade Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasure.]

[For a defensive Spirit Treasure, you chose a set of formation flags. However, these were not flags used for setting up formations.]

[They were called "Spirit Guarding Formation Flags," not formation flags themselves but Spirit Treasures. They were Mid-grade Mysterious Tier Spirit Treasures. When used, they were placed beside formation flags and could enhance the attack and defense power of formations below the Mysterious Tier by one grade. Your Mu Family's current protective formation was High-grade Spirit Tier, which could be upgraded to Low-grade Mysterious Tier by this Spirit Treasure.]

[A Low-grade Mysterious Tier Spirit Formation could withstand the bombardment of one or two early-stage Golden Core cultivators for a couple of hours.]

[Furthermore, within the range of the formation flags, as long as there were enough Spirit Stones, these flags could restore spiritual power to those within the formation. The amount of spiritual power restored depended on the number of Spirit Stones provided, capable of supplying up to two early-stage Golden Core cultivators with full spiritual power. Exceeding the recovery capacity would cause irreversible damage to the formation flags.]

[The final transaction price was exactly two hundred and fifty thousand, completely emptying the Spirit Stones you had painstakingly earned over the past two years.]

[Although spending the money pained you, you mentally attributed all these expenses to the old man, the Fire Cloud Evil God.]

["Old man, if you dare to come again, I'll blow you to bits!" you grinned sinisterly.]

[Surprisingly, there were no incidents along the way. You remained vigilant throughout the journey, as wasn't ambushing and robbery the most common occurrence?]

[You and Grandfather safely returned to Muye Mountain.]

[In the sixth month of the fourth year, you prepared all your arrangements: recalled all outward-bound disciples and deacons, and Muye Mountain entered a state of defense; the Spirit Guarding Formation Flags had been deployed, and ample Spirit Stones were prepared; you and Grandfather each took a Thunder Pearl.]

[In the seventh month of the fourth year, the Wang Family was destroyed by Li Qingyun. Li Qingyun's whereabouts became unknown afterward.]

[In the same month, you personally visited and invited the Zhang Family Ancestor to assist the Mu Family.]

[In the eighth month of the fourth year, the appointed time arrived.]

[Your Mu Family was fully prepared. You were confident that even if the old man resembling the Fire Cloud Evil God appeared, you would have the strength to fight!]

[A blood palm appeared, instantly engulfing more than half of Muye Mountain.]

[You had anticipated this and activated the protective formation in advance.]

[Boom! A world-shattering explosion occurred, as if the entire Jinzhou County could hear it.]

[The black-robed man, hidden behind the blood palm, saw that his attack had failed to break through the formation. A sinister smile crept onto his lips. "A mere Foundation Establishment family actually possesses a Mysterious Tier formation?"]

["This makes me even more curious." The black-robed man did not retreat. He raised his palm and launched another palm strike directly at the protective formation. This time, the black-robed man used a Mysterious Tier Spirit Skill. Its power was significantly weaker than the previous eerie blood palm.]

[You knew that the protective formation could only last for at most two hours. You instructed the elders to continue supplying Spirit Stones, wanting the formation to deplete the opponent's spiritual power as much as possible, as only then would you have a sliver of hope.]

[Two hours later, the formation was broken!]

[Your Grandfather made the first move, launching a Water Dragon Fist straight at the black-robed man's face. The black-robed man merely waved his hand, repelling your Grandfather. Just as the black-robed man thought you only had such meager abilities, your Grandfather took out the prepared Thunder Pearl, activated it with spiritual power, and hurled it in the black-robed man's direction.]

[Boom...]