Half a Finger Bone, the Will of the Heavenly Dao Stirs

After entering the courtyard, Qin Chuan was once again won over by the way Gu Hao conducted himself. He could only marvel that Gu Hao was a born merchant.

The courtyard had two compounds, with a spirit-gathering formation inside and tranquil surroundings outside. It was also not far from the Wealth and Peace Merchant Guild's auction house. Qin Chuan could not have found a more perfect place to stay.

"Brother Qin, is this courtyard to your liking?" Gu Hao asked with a smile.

"How many spirit stones did this courtyard cost? I'll pay you, Brother Gu. I really can't keep taking advantage of you." Qin Chuan had his pride too.

"There's no need for spirit stones. Brother Qin, could you do me a small favor? I have a younger female cousin from the Bai Clan, a family renowned for its formations. I'd like to ask you to help me defeat her using a formation." Gu Hao stated his request directly, making it easier for Qin Chuan to decide whether to help him.

Qin Chuan did not rush to agree. Instead, he first said modestly, "The Bai Clan is famous for its formations. I'm afraid a formation master like me, who only took it up halfway, won't be a match for her."

"I believe you can defeat her, Brother Qin. Besides, there's no hurry. My cousin and I agreed to settle this in ten years, at the four families' joint centennial competition."

"Win or lose, all I need is for you to take part, Brother Qin. Of the younger generation I know who use formations, you have the greatest mastery."

When Gu Hao mentioned the four families' centennial competition, Qin Chuan thought that he would certainly be going anyway. There was no harm in helping Gu Hao, his ally, so he nodded. "All right, I'll do my best."

"Then it's settled. I won't disturb your rest any longer, Brother Qin. As for the sword technique manuals, I'll take care of that as soon as possible. Wait for word from me."

Gu Hao had a purpose in coming to the Cloud Province auction house this time: to learn some experience in managing an auction house from his eldest uncle. He had to shoulder the bulk of the work for this Cloud Province auction, and he had only managed to spend so long with Qin Chuan by squeezing time out of his schedule.

"Many thanks, Brother Gu. Take care." Qin Chuan saw Gu Hao out of the courtyard, then immediately activated its restrictions and set up several more defensive formations before immersing himself completely in formation research.

Half a month later, Qin Chuan pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out, a grin harder to suppress than an AK on his face. He had succeeded-he had put together a fourth-grade formation. Now he was going to the place where cultivators set up stalls to buy some things he would need next.

Qin Chuan wore an ordinary blue robe and made no attempt to conceal himself. In a place where people came to buy and sell, the more you concealed yourself, the more suspicious you looked.

He did not head for the Wealth and Peace Merchant Guild's Wealth and Peace Tower. Instead, he went in the opposite direction, toward the stalls run by cultivators themselves, hoping to try his luck at finding a bargain.

When he reached the market in the northwest corner, he openly displayed his Golden Core cultivation. This would deter petty troublemakers and save him a great deal of trouble.

The cultivators' stalls offered a great variety of goods. Qin Chuan picked out several grades of healing pills and gathered quite a few materials for setting up the Five Elements Life-Extinguishing Formation. He also acquired a good number of materials for sixth-grade formations.

He even stumbled upon an unexpected delight: materials for setting up the Heavenly Dipper Nine Revolutions Formation. The stall owner did not recognize their value, so Qin Chuan bought them cheaply on the spot.

Just as he was about to leave satisfied, the tiny trace of the Will of the Heavenly Dao inside him stirred, guiding him toward a stall.

Should he go or not?

After hesitating repeatedly, Qin Chuan chose to walk over to the stall. A quick glance revealed that everything on it was counterfeit or shoddy. He had an idea of what was going on: the stall owner probably specialized in swindling cultivators' children.

He looked at the stall owner, a middle-aged man with a two-part mustache and Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation.

"Take your time looking, fellow Daoist. Everything I have here was brought out of the Land of the Fallen Phoenix." The middle-aged man's mustache moved along with his words, making him look utterly comical.

Qin Chuan squatted down without betraying anything. He said nothing, silently pretending to browse the wares. He had already identified the item that had caused the Will of the Heavenly Dao to stir, but he was in no hurry.

Seeing that Qin Chuan remained silent, the middle-aged man resumed pitching his wares. He picked up a chipped bowl and introduced it. "Fellow Daoist, this is a bowl a phoenix drank water from. It has been imbued with a phoenix's spiritual energy."

"Oh, really? Do phoenixes need to drink water?" Qin Chuan sneered, casting the middle-aged man a mocking glance.

After an awkward chuckle, the middle-aged man picked up a rusty broken sword. "Fellow Daoist, this is the broken blade of one of the only three supreme spirit swords in the Sword Abyss. The Tianxuan Sword is in the Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable's hands."

"Back then, the Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable wielded the Tianxuan Sword against three opponents, fighting three Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators without being defeated."

"The Tianxuan Sword was like glazed glass. With one stroke, it stirred the winds and clouds of heaven and earth, illuminating half of Cloud Province with a dazzling display of colors..."

Listening to the middle-aged man praise his wife, Qin Chuan swelled with pride. Shen Qingyuan had earned the honored title of Glazed Glass Immortal Venerable because of that battle, not because of her Glazed Immaculate Physique.

On the Origin Spirit Continent, aside from Shen Qingyuan herself, only Qin Chuan and Yun Yao should know that she possessed the Glazed Immaculate Physique. Even the male lead, Cangwu, only found out by chance much later on.

Otherwise, there was no way Shen Qingyuan could have cultivated with such peace of mind. Both humans and demons would covet her-all because the Glazed Immaculate Physique was a bug of a physique.

Now, refining Shen Qingyuan's flesh and blood could take someone straight to the Tribulation Transcendence Stage. Apart from Qin Chuan, there were probably not many people in the world who could resist that temptation.

Of course, whether they could defeat Shen Qingyuan was another matter.

At the thought of Shen Qingyuan, the corners of Qin Chuan's lips lifted unconsciously. He had only been away for a little over half a month, and he already missed her a little. By the time he returned, Shen Qingyuan would also have come out of seclusion, just in time for him to eat that little white rabbit.

Only after the middle-aged man finished recounting Shen Qingyuan's deeds did Qin Chuan look at him with mockery in his eyes. "So it's a spirit sword from the Sword Abyss. I just wonder what level of cultivation it would take to break it. And didn't you say everything at your stall came from the Land of the Fallen Phoenix? How did this one come from the Sword Abyss?"

"Hehe... how about taking a look at this, then..." The middle-aged man began recommending something else to Qin Chuan.

"I'll take this finger bone." Unwilling to waste any more words with the stall owner, Qin Chuan picked up the finger bone he wanted.

"Oh, fellow Daoist, you have a good eye! That's the finger bone of a Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator. A fine treasure!" As soon as the stall owner saw that Qin Chuan had taken a liking to the finger bone, he began to boast.

Qin Chuan turned the finger bone over in his hand and looked at the stall owner with the hint of a smile. "When cultivators reach the Soul Transformation realm, their bones turn white streaked with gold after death. A Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator's bones, on the other hand, turn entirely gold. You're telling me this pitch-black finger bone belonged to a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator?"

The stall owner was extremely thick-skinned. Even after Qin Chuan exposed him, he merely gave an awkward chuckle. He also knew that Qin Chuan was no greenhorn he could swindle, so he came up with another story. "Although it isn't a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator's finger bone, I really did pick it up not far outside the Land of the Fallen Phoenix. I can swear it-swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao."

"All right, no need to say any more. One hundred low-grade spirit stones. I'll take it." Qin Chuan named his price.

"Fellow Daoist, I went through so much trouble and braved danger to go outside the Land of the Fallen Phoenix..."

"Two hundred low-grade spirit stones. If that won't do, I don't want it." Qin Chuan stood up to leave.

"Two hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones!" The stall owner hurriedly stopped him.

"Two hundred and forty-nine low-grade spirit stones. I don't like the number two hundred and fifty." Qin Chuan tossed out two hundred and forty-nine low-grade spirit stones and left with the finger bone.