Chapter 60 - 59’- Hidden Fog Maze Array__l
“These past two days, I’ve had some minor achievements and have by a fluke ascended to the ranks of Middle-Stage Qi Practitioners.’
Lu Xuan said with a proud smile.
“You’re doing well, lad.”
The thin old man praised, before immediately changing the topic.
“With the cultivation of the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, the spiritual power in your body can nonetheless meet the requirements for planting more Spirit
Firefly Grass.”
■■At that time, I will put in a good word for you, so you can get more Spirit
Firefly Grass or other spirit plant seeds.”
“Many thanks, Old He.”
Lu Xuan expressed his gratitude cheerfully to the thin old man.
“That’s based on your own merit. If you didn’t have that ability to cultivate high-quality spiritual plants, and if your cultivation wasn’t at the intermediate stage of Qi cultivation, then no matter what I said, it would be impossible.”
“However, your growth really surprised me a bit.
“I remember when you first entered Bai Cao Tang, you were just a Second-grade Loose Cultivator. After breaking through to the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation, your talent in cultivating spiritual plants began to show, and now you have become a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner.
Manager He seemed thoughtful, his expression serious.
“Your rapid breakthrough in cultivation proves that you have some talent in cultivation. What’s more, with your current status as a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner, you can enter some of those low-level secret lands with certain
safety assurance.”
“in that case, you might have a chance to come across some opportunities and make a meteoric rise.”
“Therefore, do you want to continue being satisfied being a Spirit Plant Master, or do you want to make full use of this talent, work hard in cultivation and compete for opportunities?”
Lu Xuan gave a wry smile.
“Manager He, I do understand myself.”
“Being able to break through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation so quickly doesn’t mean I have a great talent for cultivation, I just took a shortcut.”
“In order to enrich the spiritual power in my body so that I can deploy more techniques for cultivating spiritual plants, I used all the spirit stones I got from selling spiritual plants to buy First Grade Elixirs that could accelerate my cultivation.”
“It was only by taking them consecutively for a considerable period of time that
I was able to break through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Cultivation.”
“The higher you go, the less effective First Grade Elixirs become, so the speed of future cultivation increase will slow down.”
“Moreover, I have spiritual power in my body, but I’m not skilled in methods and I don’t have a reliable magic artifact. Going to the secret lands, I don’t have the means to compete with others for opportunities.
The White Light Group involved too many aspects, making it hard to explain clearly, so even though he trusted Manager He a great deal, he did not reveal his true strength.
“That’s a bit of a pity.”
“I was hoping that since you’re still young and your future should not be figured out in one glance, it would be good to get out there and see the world.” -Now it seems, honestly dedicating yourself to growing spiritual plants and living a safe life can also be a good choice.”
Upon hearing this, Manager He sighed, expressing his regret for Lu Xuan. Lu Xuan kept the old man’s concern for him in his heart, stayed for a while longer, then took his leave.
In the marketplace street.
Buildings stood close together on both sides, with all kinds of shops offering everything, creating a bustling scene.
Lu Xuan arrived in front of one of the tallest buildings.
The building was four stories high, constructed from Sky-reaching Spirit Trees. Its roof was covered with green glazed tiles, and in the middle were three big words written with a calligraphic flourish: Wanbao Building. This was the most famous shop in the marketplace, where all kinds of cultivation treasures could be found. As long as you had enough spirit stones, even items required by Foundation Establishment Cultivators could be purchased.
Lu Xuan followed the cultivators in front of him into the building.
There were twenty or thirty cultivators in the hall. The counter was filled with an array of items – magic artifacts, charms, elixirs and so on, making people dazzled.
Seeing Lu Xuan looking around after entering, a pretty young girl came over to greet him.
“Hello, fellow practitioner, is this one of your first few visits to the Wanbao Building? If you need anything, you can tell me, and I can take you to have a
look.”
“Sure, no problem. Lead me to the formation section, please.” Lu Xuan nodded, acknowledging that it was his first time in the Wanbao Building.
During his previous stage as a Qi Cultivation Second Layer small Loose Cultivator, he never considered entering Wanbao Building due to his financial constraints.
Later, when the miraculous white light group appeared in his spirit field and his financial status fluctuated, Bai Cao Tang provided the spiritual seeds he needed. Since the Wanbao Building wouldn’t have any unknown spiritual seeds, he didn’t enter the building until he decided to purchase a higher-quality defensive array.
“Fellow Daoist, this is the formation counter in the first floor lobby. Here, we have dozens of formations with various functions, such as attack arrays, maze arrays, concealment arrays, defense arrays, and so on,” said the beautiful young girl, leading Lu Xuan to a relatively secluded spot with a warm smile.
“Show me some defensive arrays,” Lu Xuan instructed.
“Defensive arrays. Are you looking for first-grade or second-grade ones, Fellow Daoist?” She asked.
“Second-grade.”
First-grade arrays are pretty effective for low-rank Qi Cultivating Monks, but they become average against a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner. If the cultivator also has a Formation-breaking Charm or a magic artifact, the array would be significantly fragile.
“Okay.”
The beautiful young girl’s smile grew even wider. Not many cultivators have a great demand for arrays. If she could sell a second-grade array, she would receive a handsome commission.
“This is the Chaotic Stone Array, known for its defense. If a cultivator intrudes, you can even control the giant stones in the array to attack the intruder.” “This is the Wood Cage Array. It needs to be arranged in an environment with special Spirit Trees. It can trap and block cultivators from entering the array.” -This is the Hidden Fog Maze Array. Its defensive power is relatively strong among the second-grade arrays. Moreover, it includes a maze. Once a cultivator enters, their spiritual sense will be affected by the fog in the array, making it easy for them to be trapped within.”
“This one is…”
The beautiful young girl pointed at the array plates and array flags in the counter, providing Lu Xuan with detailed introductions.
“The Chaotic Stone Array has some attack power, but it requires a cultivator to actively control it from the rear. As for the Wood Cage Array, it demands a high level of environmental conditions, which makes it unsuitable to be set up outside a yard.”
Lu Xuan weighed his options and pointed to one of the array plates surrounded by fog, asking, “How much is this Hidden Fog Maze Array?”
“One hundred sixty-five spirit stones,” she responded.
“What about one hundred thirty spirit stones?” Lu Xuan knew that this price was already quite reasonable, but he had long been accustomed to bargaining and habitually knocked off a big chunk.
The beautiful young girl shook her head politely, declining his offer.
in the end, after a tough negotiation, Lu Xuan managed to knock off ten spirit stones and purchased the Hidden Fog Maze Array for one hundred fifty-five spirit stones.
“Luckily, that Masked Cultivator sent over eighty spirit stones in time. Otherwise, my wealth would have dwindled by more than half,” Lu Xuan thought, glancing at the remaining almost two hundred spirit stones in his storage bag. He felt more grateful to the Masked Cultivator, who had already integrated with the Spirit Soil.
“Oh, do you have the blood of snake-type or Dragon-type Monsters, preferably fresh?” After paying for the spirit stones, Lu Xuan asked the beautiful young girl.
“As for demon beast blood… it’s usually extracted from species that have peculiar existences in their blood. As for snake-type demonic beasts, materials like snake skin, scale armor, snake venom, and such are commonly sold. I don’t recall having snake-type demonic beast blood,” The beautiful young girl responded apologetically after a short contemplation.
“Fellow Daoist, hold on. If you have an urgent need, you could reserve some spirit stones at Wanbao Building. We will then try to mobilize resources from other cities and markets to find what you need,” she offered when she saw Lu Xuan was about to leave.
“However, you might have to spend ten to twenty percent more spirit stones compared to direct purchases.
“If we can’t bring the items to you within the stipulated time, we will refund all the spirit stones you’ve deposited with us.” Sensing Lu Xuan’s intention to leave, she hurriedly called out to him, offering a suggestion for his consideration..