Formations and questioning

"This is a formation!"

Seeing He Pingsheng's expression, Zhao Ling'er explained with a cheerful smile, "You don't know about these yet, do you, junior brother? They're incredibly useful!"

He Pingsheng drew a deep breath, his eyes flickering before he asked, "Sixth senior sister, what does this formation do?"

"Oh!" Zhao Ling'er pulled He Pingsheng over to the formation. She casually took out a jade token and swiped it across the earthen-yellow membrane of light, and the formation vanished.

"Why did it disappear?" He Pingsheng asked.

"Hehehe..." Zhao Ling'er covered her little mouth and laughed. "Junior brother... it didn't disappear. I turned it off!"

"Look!"

She raised the jade token and swiped it again!

Hum...

The formation rose once more.

"Amazing, amazing..." He Pingsheng raised his thumb in astonishment.

"What's so amazing about that?" Zhao Ling'er explained, "As cultivators, we have to protect ourselves. Although everyone in our sect is a brother or sister, and our master watches over us, you can know someone's face without knowing their heart. Often, the people closest to you are the ones who can hurt you most!"

"As the saying goes, you must never let down your guard against others. A formation is still essential for a cultivator!"

"Look, mine is a first-grade [Seclusion Formation]!"

He Pingsheng asked, "A Seclusion Formation? What does it do?"

"It does plenty!" Zhao Ling'er said. "First, once activated, it provides protection, preventing outsiders from entering and leaving your courtyard as they please!"

"Second, it can block some divine sense, keeping people with crooked intentions from secretly using theirs to spy on you!"

"Especially for us girls, we have to protect ourselves. Otherwise, those old lechers might see every inch of us without us even knowing!"

As she spoke, Zhao Ling'er blushed.

He Pingsheng said, "Boys need to protect themselves too!"

"Pfft!" Zhao Ling'er burst out laughing. "That's true!"

"Oh, right!" She suddenly lowered her voice. "There's a fellow named Xu Kui under Uncle-Master Jade Virtue next door. We all call him Senior Brother Huang. He loves peeping more than anything. Not only does he spy on female disciples, he likes spying on male disciples too. He's utterly disgusting!"

"You must be careful, little junior brother. You'd better get a formation like mine!"

Excitement burned in He Pingsheng's heart.

Why?

Preventing people from spying on him was secondary. He needed pills to cultivate, and his pills were of supreme grade. The moment he took them out, their fragrance would spread beyond his house. What would happen if his fellow disciples discovered them?

That was why, despite having entered the Inner Sect almost half a month ago, He Pingsheng had not cultivated even once.

Sometimes, he had even considered returning to his own home at the foot of the mountain to cultivate.

Now there was a solution. If he could get a formation to cover his courtyard, he would no longer have to worry about the scent of his Supreme Qi-Gathering Pills leaking out.

"Senior sister!" He Pingsheng looked utterly sincere. "How do you set up this formation? Could you teach me?"

"Heh..." Zhao Ling'er said, "That's easy. Go to the Treasury Hall and buy a set of formation materials for a [Seclusion Formation]. Arrange them according to the formation diagram and activate it!"

"A first-grade formation only takes half a day to set up!"

"All right, thank you, senior sister!" After handing over the pills and receiving the delivery receipt, He Pingsheng left.

Leaving Zhao Ling'er's courtyard, he went straight to the Treasury Hall on Jade Dragon Peak.

Inside the Treasury Hall, He Pingsheng found the formation materials.

The materials for a first-grade [Seclusion Formation] included one Formation Plate, sixteen Formation Flags, two Formation Talismans, and one formation diagram.

Total price: two hundred and eighty spirit stones.

Hiss...

He Pingsheng sucked in a breath of cold air.

Good grief!

It was truly expensive.

He only had two hundred and ninety-four spirit stones left.

In other words, buying the materials for this Seclusion Formation would practically clean him out.

Should I buy it?

Of course.

How could I cultivate with peace of mind otherwise?

"Senior!" He Pingsheng brought the formation materials to the counter and respectfully addressed the old man behind it. "May I ask whether an ordinary person can set this up?"

"Yes!" the old man said gently. "No problem at all. It's only a first-grade formation, so you don't need any foundation in formations. Just follow the arrangement shown on this diagram and place the Formation Plate and Formation Flags in their designated positions!"

"If you encounter any problems while activating it, you can come to us at any time!"

"All right!" He Pingsheng poured all the spirit stones out of his pouch.

After paying, he had only fourteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones left.

Back in his courtyard, He Pingsheng picked up the formation diagram.

There were instructions on it!

How to place the Formation Plate, where each Formation Flag went, how to power it with spirit stones, how to activate it, and how to enter and leave.

All of these and more were explained in detail.

After reading it, He Pingsheng's eyes narrowed slightly. Should I enhance it?

That seems quite necessary!

Before long, a clamor came from outside the courtyard.

He Pingsheng put all his belongings into his dantian, then walked out.

His fellow disciples were all gathered outside the courtyard gate. Zhao Ling'er was explaining something to a cold-faced Daoist Nun wearing a moon-white robe!

"Senior sister, what happened?" He Pingsheng looked bewildered.

Zhao Ling'er said, "Junior brother, did you just buy formation materials at the Treasury Hall?"

"Yes!" He Pingsheng nodded.

The cold-faced Daoist Nun looked at He Pingsheng and smiled coldly. "He Pingsheng, is it? You've been in the Inner Sect for less than a month, yet recently you've been buying lavishly at the Treasury Hall, spending over five hundred spirit stones in total!"

"I've come to ask where you got those spirit stones!"

"If you can't give me a proper explanation, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

What...

He Pingsheng's mouth fell open in shock. Seriously?

I only bought a few things, and they've actually set their sights on me?

Damn...

The Great Void Sect really is going too far.

"It's like this!" He Pingsheng said. "Some of my spirit stones were left to me by my parents... and I can also refine [Qi-Gathering Pills]. Previously, I earned some spirit stones by refining pills and selling them to fellow disciples. All my savings over the years only amounted to a little over five hundred spirit stones!"

"Look, if you don't believe me!" He Pingsheng took out a pouch. "There are only fourteen left!"

"That's right!" Zhao Ling'er added. "Uncle-Master Feng, my junior brother really can refine pills. My master even said he should refine five batches of [Qi-Gathering Pills] for our branch each month. If you don't believe me, I'll ask my master to explain it to you later!"

Daoist Nun Feng looked at He Pingsheng again and asked, "Where are your parents?"

He Pingsheng said, "My parents were both Outer Disciples of the Profound Mystery Sect. They've both passed away!"

"Oh!" Daoist Nun Feng nodded. "Very well!"

With that, she turned and left.

Since He Pingsheng's parents were both dead, and he could refine pills, she had no way to investigate thoroughly and could only leave it at that.

"It's all right now, junior brother!" Zhao Ling'er comforted him. "The sect is like this. Disciples are often questioned. As long as your spirit stones came from a legitimate source, there generally won't be any trouble!"

"Oh..." He Pingsheng appeared as calm as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, but inwardly, he took the lesson to heart.