A Thousand Strands of Inner Qi Required

The shopkeeper reached out, pointing to the formation sets on the enormous tray one by one as he patiently explained each set's power, durability, and characteristics.

"This is the Jade Residence-Guarding Formation, priced at three million taels. Ordinary bone tempering realm martial artists could break through it in less than seven and a half minutes, and it would barely last a moment against a bright force realm expert. It's only suitable for guarding against common street bandits."

He took two steps and pointed to another set beside it. "This Black Iron Essence-Fixing Formation costs eight million five hundred thousand taels. It can withstand repeated bombardment from late bone tempering realm martial artists. If an early bright force realm martial artist came, they could break its defenses in about half an hour. It's suitable for protecting the estates of small and medium-sized clans."

Farther along, the prices continued to climb.

"This Gilded Defense Formation costs eleven million taels. It can withstand sustained bombardment from bright force realm martial artists for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. If several experts attack together, that duration will be greatly reduced. However, once the formation comes under heavy attack, it produces a deep, resonating rumble that carries quite far."

The shopkeeper continued his introductions, clearly explaining what realm of attacks each formation could withstand, how long it could hold out, and what kind of disturbance it would produce when attacked. Some formations emphasized strong defenses; others focused on warnings, erupting with a tremendous roar when struck to send an alarm into the distance.

There were even formations that specialized in reflecting damage. If an enemy attacked, they could reflect the damage back at the attacker.

After examining several sets, Lin Fan merely shook his head slightly each time. Their defenses still fell