The Formation Acquired

Before long, the beautiful middle-aged woman came downstairs with a smile.

"Young man, here are sixty Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Please count them carefully." With a wave of her delicate hand, a small pile of Spirit Stones appeared on the jade counter.

Xu Yan glanced over the Spirit Stones on the jade counter, then nodded lightly. "The count is right. In that case, the Golden Cone magical artifact is yours."

With that, Xu Yan picked up the Spirit Stones from the jade counter and carefully placed them in his Storage Bag one by one.

Once Xu Yan had put away the Spirit Stones, the beautiful middle-aged woman smiled and said, "If you have any suitable spiritual items in the future, do come back, young man. We will certainly offer you the fairest price."

Xu Yan nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left the Hundred Treasures House.

Soon, he arrived at Daoist San Zui's Heavenly Profound Formation Pavilion.

After spending fifty-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones, Xu Yan successfully obtained the First-Rank Low-Grade Fire-Type Auxiliary Formation Daoist San Zui had described.

He carefully placed the Formation Disk in his storage pouch and left, brimming with excitement.

Only when he reached Blue Brick Square did he let out a long breath.

He had achieved his main objective in coming to Separation Valley Market, leaving him in excellent spirits.

Had he not promised the chubby youth Du Fei that they would witness the spectacle of the rogue cultivator Qi Yun recruiting nominal disciples together, he would have found a secluded spot right away and begun practicing the Redfire Burning Art.

Qi Yun will recruit nominal disciples in three days. I have plenty of free time until then. I might as well look around Blue Brick Square.

As Xu Yan thought this, he reflected that he had finally happened upon Separation Valley Market's trading convention, held only once every five years. It was a perfect chance to broaden his horizons.

Moreover, he still had eleven Low-Grade Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag. If he came across any suitable spiritual items, he could afford to buy them.

The Talisman Paper sold by the disheveled old man in the northwestern corner of Blue Brick Square had particularly caught his interest.

Yet when he reached the northwestern corner of Blue Brick Square, the disheveled old man and his stall were gone, much to his surprise.

After looking all around and still finding no sign of the disheveled old man, Xu Yan could only ask a nearby stallholder.

He walked slowly up to a stall selling Spirit Herbs and cupped his hands toward its owner.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. Do you know where the old man who was selling Talisman Paper here two hours ago has gone?"

The stallholder was a dark-skinned, thin middle-aged man wearing a bamboo hat and hemp clothing. At the question, he waved his hand and said, "I really don't know, young man."

Disappointment appeared on Xu Yan's face. He had taken quite a liking to that Swift Speed Talisman, but now he had lost his chance to obtain it.

After settling his feelings, Xu Yan continued browsing.

He had taken only a few steps when Xu Yan stopped in front of another stall.

Several books lay on this small stall, and one of them particularly interested Xu Yan.

Xu Yan gently picked up the book and asked the stallholder, "Fellow Daoist, how much is this?"

The stallholder was a short young man who looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight. At Xu Yan's question, a gleam immediately flashed through his narrow eyes. He looked Xu Yan carefully up and down and said, "You have a fine eye, young fellow Daoist. This A Guide to Cultivation contains detailed accounts of all sorts of basic knowledge about the Cultivation World. I even added several pages specifically covering the Cultivation World of Fufeng Prefecture."

With that, the short young man reached out and turned A Guide to Cultivation to its final pages.

Xu Yan lowered his head to examine them closely. Just as the stallholder had said, the paper of the last few pages looked newer, and it carried a faint smell he could not quite identify.

When Xu Yan looked back at him, the short young man struck while the iron was hot. "What do you think, young fellow Daoist? For just one low-grade spirit stone, you can take A Guide to Cultivation home. With this book, you can avoid many detours along the path of cultivation."

Xu Yan was tempted. He did indeed want to buy the book, for no other reason than that he still knew too little about the Cultivation World. Although he had drawn some information out of the chubby youth Du Fei, it was far from enough.

With this in mind, Xu Yan slowly took a low-grade spirit stone from his storage pouch and pointed at the other books on the stall. "I'll offer one low-grade spirit stone for all these books together."

The moment Xu Yan finished speaking, the short young man waved his hand. "Fellow Daoist, at most, I can throw in this Spirit Herb Illustrated Guide. Any more and I really would be taking a loss. This is only a small business, so please understand."

The young man did not seem to be putting on an act. After a brief consideration, Xu Yan agreed. He set the low-grade spirit stone on the stall, placed the two books in his storage pouch, and turned to leave.

Watching Xu Yan walk away, an inscrutable glint flashed through the short young man's eyes. He immediately stood, packed up his stall, and vanished into the crowd.

Xu Yan naturally knew nothing of the short young man's actions. Having obtained the two books, he no longer felt like browsing the blue-brick marketplace. It was already late at night, and it was time to find somewhere to stay.

Fortunately, he had already learned where cultivators could find lodging in Separation Valley Market while listening to the rogue cultivators talk.

Many of the buildings behind the street were inns that offered accommodation.

Soon, Xu Yan passed through the street in Separation Valley Market and arrived at an inn called the Immortal Lodging Tower.

Tables and chairs were neatly arranged throughout the inn's main hall, and cultivators occupied every table.

The moment Xu Yan entered, a strange expression appeared on his face. In one corner of the hall, the chubby youth Du Fei stood before a table, seemingly explaining something.

Opposite the chubby youth, a burly middle-aged cultivator sat at the side of the table. Several untouched dishes of spirit food lay before him, suggesting that he had only recently sat down.

As Xu Yan drew closer, he made out the middle-aged cultivator's features. The man bore some resemblance to the chubby youth Du Fei, leading Xu Yan to suspect that one of Du Fei's elders had arrived.

Xu Yan's guess was correct. The burly man was Du Fei's father, a rogue cultivator currently at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. Upon learning that Du Fei had sneaked out on his own, he had hurried after him.

At that moment, Du Fei kept his head lowered, his round face flushed crimson. He seemed to want to argue, but whenever the burly middle-aged man glared at him, he swallowed the words poised on his tongue.

Caught in this predicament, the chubby youth could neither stand nor sit comfortably and began looking around.

Soon, a look of surprise appeared on Du Fei's face. "Fellow Daoist Xu!"

Meeting Du Fei's gaze, Xu Yan nodded lightly and slowly walked toward him.

Upon reaching Du Fei, Xu Yan cupped his hands toward the burly middle-aged man seated at the table. "I am Xu Yan. Greetings, Senior."

At Xu Yan's approach, the burly middle-aged cultivator narrowed his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them. He seemed to ignore Xu Yan's greeting entirely and merely shot the chubby youth a fierce glare.

Seeing this, the chubby youth immediately lowered his head and said quietly, "Father, this is Xu Yan, a friend I traveled with along the way. He's a rogue cultivator."

Upon hearing that Xu Yan was a rogue cultivator, the burly middle-aged man's expression softened considerably. He then looked Xu Yan over from head to toe. After discovering that Xu Yan was only at the peak of the first level of Qi Refining, he finally understood why his son Du Fei had chosen to travel with him.

Only then did the burly middle-aged man slowly nod to Xu Yan, acknowledging his greeting.