"Fellow Daoist Zhong... I, Bai, request an audience."
Just as Zhong Lingxiu continued speaking with Daoist Xuan Qi, the Spiritual Sense of a Core Formation cultivator reached them.
Delight immediately spread across Zhong Lingxiu's face. "Fellow Daoist Bai... you succeeded in Core Formation?"
He turned to Xuan Qi and explained, "An old friend of mine from the Lesser Vast Sea has arrived. I never expected him to finally succeed in Core Formation..."
"So another new fellow cultivator has joined our ranks. A joyous occasion indeed."
Xuan Qi thought, So the Zhong Alliance had another Core Formation cultivator hidden away. That explains it... With two Core Formation cultivators holding the fort, one can stay home while the other goes out. Whether they run ships or hunt beasts, they can always earn enough spirit stones...
After a short wait, he saw a streak of white light descend. It revealed a male Core Formation cultivator with swordlike brows and star-bright eyes, brimming with heroic vigor. His True Core power was exceptionally smooth and rounded, and his cultivation did indeed look newly advanced.
It was Fang Qing, appearing in Fang Jin's likeness!
"Fellow Daoist Bai, I am Xuan Qi. Congratulations on forming a True Core and joining our ranks."
Xuan Qi chatted with Fang Qing for a moment, then rose. "Since Fellow Daoist Zhong has a guest, this old Daoist will return in a couple of days..." Once he had gone, Fang Qing made himself at home in the principal seat. "What happened?"
He had been focused on the great battle of the Breath-Nourishing Dao and had paid no attention to Zhong Lingxiu's minor affairs.
Now, though, things did not look good.
"The rent is that high for a mere quasi-Third-Order Spirit Vein? Isn't the Eastern Sea Cultivation Realm supposed to be overflowing with