High-Grade Gu Insect

"Since nearly everyone's here, as the host, I'll get things started."

After chatting with Long Xuan for a few moments, Di Xin saw that most of the attendees had arrived and walked toward a table at the front of the venue.

She then laid all the treasures she had kept hidden away at the bottom of her chest onto the table and said to the people below, "I won't waste words explaining the rules of the Treasure Exchange Fair. Everyone understands them. As the host, I'll begin."

As she spoke, Di Xin picked up three Formation Flags from the table and introduced them. "This is a Soundproof Formation Disk. As the name suggests, it is a formation disk that blocks sound."

"This secret chamber has such a formation set up. No matter how loudly you speak here, not a single sound will reach the outside. Everyone may rest assured. Who is interested in making a trade?"

Hearing this, quite a few people below felt much more at ease. No one wanted their treasures known by more people, and the presence of such a formation in the secret chamber reassured them even further.

Quiet discussion rose from below, but it was only an auxiliary formation whose sole effect was soundproofing. It had little use in actual combat, so not many people were interested.

Just as Long Xuan thought Di Xin's first treasure was about to go unsold, a female Rogue Cultivator stood up from the crowd and asked, "Can your Soundproof Formation block the sounds of battle?"

In the next instant, strange expressions appeared on many faces.

Once those words were spoken, who could fail to understand what this woman intended to use the soundproof formation for?

Good heavens. Others set up soundproof formations to keep the secrets of their conversations from leaking out, yet she actually planned to use one for murder and robbery. What creativity. What imagination.

There was naturally no need to painstakingly block sound when killing someone, unless she intended to murder within the market district or nearby—silently wiping someone out within the no-killing zone, leaving those responsible for maintaining order in the market completely unaware.

Everyone's expressions changed ever so slightly.

The corners of Long Xuan's mouth curled upward in an inscrutable smile. He wondered which fellow she planned to deal with. Before long, some poor brother was bound to suffer a terrible misfortune.

Di Xin's expression also changed slightly. Before holding the Treasure Exchange Fair, she had tried her best to keep out those who enjoyed killing and stealing treasures. But how could anything in this world be perfectly prevented? There would always be fish that slipped through the net, and perhaps someone was doing it for the first time, making them even harder to guard against.

But the woman had not said what she intended to use the Soundproof Formation for. Di Xin could not drive her out based solely on her own suspicions, so she could only answer truthfully, "Of course it can!"

The female Rogue Cultivator immediately smiled, walked to the table, and began secretly conversing with Di Xin through soul transmission.

In the end, the female Rogue Cultivator smiled as she took away the three Formation Flags. No one knew what she had traded for them.

Di Xin then began introducing her second treasure. Her second treasure was her unique high-grade Gu insect, the Twin-Tailed Flying Scorpion.

This scorpion not only had a pair of sharp pincers, but also two tails with two hooks. One glance at its appearance was enough to tell that it excelled in battle.

As one of the few high-grade Gu insects in the market district, and an External Gu at that, its combat power was extremely terrifying. It was a highly sought-after commodity in the market district.

The moment this treasure appeared, everyone below was instantly invigorated. Greedy looks filled their eyes, and they stared at it with blazing desire, forming a stark contrast to the lukewarm response toward the first treasure.

One had to know that Long Xuan's Cockroach Gu was only a low-grade Gu insect. In terms of popularity, it could not compare to a high-grade Gu insect at all. It could be said that not many Rogue Cultivators in the entire market district possessed high-grade Gu insects.

Yet Long Xuan merely glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze, showing no interest in trading for it.

He had long made up his mind that every Gu insect he used in the future would be self-created. He wanted to use his own unique Gu insects to crush the whole world. No matter how powerful the Gu insects refined by others were, he would find them uninteresting.

At that moment, he was thinking about something else. The Medicine Garden belonged to Old Long in the end, not to him. There were too many restrictions on what spirit herbs he could plant, and he had no freedom to act. He even had to tread carefully.

Furthermore, Spirit Bees needed nectar to eat, while spirit chickens needed Spirit Insects. If he wanted to keep them alive, he was destined to build a Medicine Garden of his own. Otherwise, if Old Long left and he lost his job, the Spirit Bees could not simply starve to death.

And if he wanted to build a Medicine Garden, the first thing he needed to do was prevent others from stealing the herbs. Otherwise, if he planted high-grade spirit herbs, it would be stranger if no one came calling.

That meant setting up a formation in the Medicine Garden, and preferably one capable of stopping Great Gu Cultivators whose realms far surpassed his own.

But he could not afford Formation Disks with strong defensive capabilities, while buying one with weak defenses would be no better than not buying one at all.

Thinking of formations, Long Xuan had a flash of inspiration and came up with another ability for the Eye of Heavenly Secrets.

His Eye of Heavenly Secrets could see the Microscopic World, so could he use it to carve Formation Inscriptions so tiny that they were completely invisible to the naked eye?

For identical Formation Disks, their limited size and surface area limited the number of Formation Inscriptions that could be carved onto them. Yet with the Eye of Heavenly Secrets, he could carve a hundred or even a thousand times more Formation Inscriptions without changing the Formation Disk's size.

In that case, could the formation he set up become stronger by crushing others with the sheer number of Formation Inscriptions?

If it truly worked, he might be able to create an entirely new school of formations, establish his own branch, and become the founding patriarch of a new lineage. Long Xuan's eyes lit up.

He had never come into contact with formations before and knew nothing about them. He did not know whether Formation Inscriptions could be reduced infinitely without changing their power.

But he felt it was necessary to give it a try. If it truly succeeded, he could use the materials for low-grade formations to create high-grade formations, and he would no longer have to worry about being unable to afford high-tier Formation Disks.

Long Xuan was filled with excitement. Seeing that the high-grade Gu insect, the Twin-Tailed Flying Scorpion, had already been traded away by a frenzied Gu Cultivator, he immediately stepped forward.

Di Xin froze for a moment. She had not even introduced her third treasure yet.

Before she could ask anything, Long Xuan sent a soul transmission first. "I have no intention of trading for the things on your table. Would you be willing to sell books related to formations? I intend to learn Formation Crafting and can offer a high price."

Formation masters were a special profession that did not lose much to alchemists at all. Their inheritances were scarce, and it was extremely difficult to find a path to study under one.

At the Qian Clan Treasure Exchange Pavilion, one could find some cultivation techniques and spirit arts, but it was absolutely impossible to find Alchemy, Artifact Refinement, Talisman-Making, or Formation Crafting.

Such things were never to be passed on lightly. Do not even think that spending Spirit Stones would let you learn them easily.

Thus, Long Xuan could only try his luck here. He had already prepared himself for failure, for teachings were not passed on lightly—that was the way of this world.

Yet Di Xin merely smiled and said, "There is nothing here that cannot be traded. As long as your price is suitable, even the Gu Recipe for the Twin-Tailed Flying Scorpion can be traded."

As she spoke, she took a thick stack of books from her storage pouch and placed them on the table, showing no trace of reluctance.

Long Xuan had not expected her to be so straightforward, and it startled him. What happened to teachings not being passed on lightly?

"Generous!"

Long Xuan was overjoyed and hurriedly picked up the books on the table to inspect them.

After looking over the covers of each book and casually flipping through a few pages to confirm their authenticity, Long Xuan immediately decided to make the trade.

These books not only covered all kinds of foundational knowledge about formations, but also contained quite a few powerful Formation Diagrams. The knowledge within was enough to make him a formation master.

The requirements for becoming a formation master were possessing both fire and earth attributes, along with a powerful soul. These were precisely the conditions he possessed.

It had to be said that while having many attributes slowed one's cultivation speed, having many attributes also came with its own benefits.

Artifact refiners needed both fire and metal attributes, while talisman makers needed both water and wood attributes. All required powerful soul force or spiritual power. It seemed he met every requirement for every special profession.

But after all, a person's energy was limited, and spreading oneself too thin was not a good thing.

Long Xuan only planned to focus on Alchemy. He merely needed a superficial understanding of the other special professions. More skills never weighed a person down, and it would save him from being caught in a flurry of panic when faced with attack items from other special professions that he knew nothing about.