Chapter 495: Array Master Guild

“Young master, did you... ask about the Soulless Golden Man?”

Seeing the young master's body tremble slightly and him stand dumbfounded, the old man knew that continuing to dwell on the issue would certainly drive him mad, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Ah? I... forgot!”

Song Chao swayed.

As soon as they met, he had barely uttered a sentence before the other party pointed out the crux of his cultivation problems. Then... he was trapped in a verbal assault and lost himself. Let alone the Soulless Golden Man, he hadn't even said much. How could he ask?

“Then... I'll go ask...”

The old man couldn't help but say.

“Yes, go... be careful!” After a moment of hesitation, Song Chao nodded.

He was a little scared now, fearing that if he went, he would be verbally swayed by the other party again and obediently comply. It would be better to let his subordinate go. However... the other party could lecture him using the Master Teacher's Impartation of Heaven's Will, and could also identify his problems. Their master teacher level was no lower than his. If such a person obtained the Soulless Golden Man, they would surely want to research it themselves. How could they possibly sell it?

“Yes!”

The old man nodded and quickly took a few steps to catch up with Zhang Xuan, who had walked a little further away. “Master Zhang, we would like to purchase that Soulless Golden Man. I wonder... are you interested in selling it? Our young master is willing to offer two lesson jade tokens from a half-step five-star master teacher!”

“Forty thousand spirit stones!” Zhang Xuan stopped.

“This price is already very high. Our young master only has three lesson jade tokens from a half-step five-star master teacher in total... Wait, what did you say?”

He had expected Master Zhang to refuse directly, but to his surprise, there was no refutation, just a direct price. The old man was stunned, “Master Zhang said forty thousand spirit stones... for sale?”

Before he finished speaking, his eyes blurred, and a Soulless Golden Man appeared on the ground.

“Hand over the spirit stones, and take the Golden Man. I don't accept lesson jade tokens. If you don't have them... please leave!”

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

He was in a hurry to go back and study the Heaven's Path cultivation technique; he had no time to waste with them. Since this person wanted the Soulless Golden Man, and it was basically useless to him now that it had formed a book, it was better to sell it than to keep it cluttering up his hands.

“...It's that simple?”

Song Chao, who was behind, had assumed it wouldn't work if the old man just rushed over and asked directly. He never dreamed it would be this simple... If he had known this guy intended to sell it, why did he act so pretentious and offer guidance? Now look... instead of guiding, he was guided... He had completely lost face... Song Chao felt somewhat deranged. For others, no matter what they did, as a master teacher, one could usually discern some patterns. But this person in front of him completely defied convention, making his head feel like it had hit a rock, causing waves of dizziness.

“Master Zhang, do you really intend to sell this Soulless Golden Man to me for forty thousand spirit stones?”

Unable to hold back, he stepped forward.

“If you can't afford it, then forget it!”

Zhang Xuan put away the Golden Man and was about to leave.

“I'll buy it...”

Blushing, Song Chao hurriedly spoke.

*Clatter!*

As soon as he finished speaking, a pile of spirit stones appeared before everyone's eyes—exactly forty thousand, no more, no less.

“Alright, the Golden Man is yours!” Collecting the spirit stones, Zhang Xuan casually tossed the Golden Man beside Song Chao and turned to leave.

“Thank you, Master Zhang...”

Receiving the Soulless Golden Man, Song Chao, fearing any issues, hastily put it into his storage ring. Just as he secured the item, he suddenly froze, almost banging his head.

“I fell for it again, my forty thousand spirit stones...”

It was clear he had been affected by the Master Teacher's Impartation of Heaven's Will again, instinctively taking out the money... This was all he had accumulated over the years. He never expected to be completely drained by the other party... How could someone be so ruthless? What kind of monster was this guy, anyway...?

“Congratulations, young master, on acquiring the Soulless Golden Man...” The old man clasped his fists.

“Get lost!”

Already depressed, hearing the congratulations almost made him explode. Song Chao roared.

“Uh... yes!”

The old man scratched his head, full of confusion. What was wrong with the young master? His mind... wasn't broken, was it...?

Unexpectedly, this four-star master teacher, who had appeared out of nowhere, had contributed forty thousand spirit stones. Zhang Xuan, full of excitement, returned to his room. With a flick of his wrist, rows of bookshelves appeared before him. With so many spirit stones, cultivation would be much simpler. It was time to read some books and appropriately improve his cultivation. His fingers swept across the rows of books, and identical copies appeared in his mind. Soon, all the cultivation techniques and martial arts collected by Pavilion Master Sai were absorbed.

“Correct!”

He stacked the cultivation techniques for the Mortal Transcendent 1-dan Longevity realm together and focused his mind. A brand new book appeared before him. He picked it up casually and gently opened it.

“Mortal Transcendent, also known as extraordinary or transcending the mortal, signifies breaking free from the shackles of mortality and a significant elevation in life's essence. To transcend mortality, one must discard the dross of grains and consume the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Those who consume grains gain wisdom but have short lives; those who consume spiritual energy become divine and long-lived...”

The contents of the book entered his vision.

After an unknown period, Zhang Xuan exhaled a breath of stale air and opened his eyes. He had completely comprehended the Heaven's Path cultivation technique for Mortal Transcendent 1-dan and could cultivate it at any time.

“Let's begin!”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he flipped his wrist, and a spirit stone appeared in his palm. True Qi slowly flowed in the direction prescribed by the cultivation technique.

*Crack!*

After two breaths, the spirit stone in his hand crumbled into powder.

“Hmm? This...”

His eyelid twitched.

Spirit stones formed from heaven and earth, containing spiritual energy and appearing crystal-like and jade-like... By rights, they should be extremely sturdy. How could one crumble so quickly? He looked down and immediately wore a strange expression.

“Spiritual energy... completely absorbed?”

The shattered spirit stone on the ground was completely white, like crushed lime, clearly due to all its spiritual energy being completely absorbed.

“This... how many spirit stones will I need to break through to Mortal Transcendent 1-dan like this?”

Zhang Xuan felt dizzy.

He had thought that breaking through to Mortal Transcendent 1-dan would surely succeed with a few hundred spirit stones. He had tens of thousands in hand, so it should be easy. Now, it seemed he had been fantasizing. Mortal Transcendent meant breaking through the mundane world. His body, refined by Heaven's Path True Qi, far surpassed ordinary people. Breaking through the barrier between the mortal and spiritual realms would be more than a hundred times harder for him than for others. It was like how easily one could double the water in a one-meter-diameter puddle, but doubling the water in an ocean... how incredibly difficult! That was his situation. His entire body was nourished by Heaven's Path True Qi, causing changes to both his physical body and soul, making him unrivaled at his level. Therefore, breaking through the final barrier was even more challenging.

“Absorbing them one by one, I'll be exhausted sooner or later...”

He had tens of thousands of spirit stones, which, under normal circumstances, would be entirely sufficient even if the breakthrough required a lot of consumption. However... the spiritual energy contained in these low-grade spirit stones was limited, and he needed a huge amount... If one stone crumbled every two breaths, and he absorbed them intermittently, his cultivation would be constantly interrupted! Moreover... absorbing them one by one like this... when would he ever successfully break through to Mortal Transcendent? It was like drinking water through an IV tube; even if there was enough water in the bag, if it only came out one drop at a time, he would surely die of thirst. In other words, he had to find a way to quickly extract the spiritual energy from the spirit stones to support his cultivation.

“Formation!”

His brows furrowed, and a profession came to mind.

Cultivating by holding individual spirit stones certainly wouldn't work. If he wanted hundreds or thousands of spirit stones to provide spiritual energy simultaneously, there was only one way: use a formation! When he destroyed the Lin family, he had studied many books on formations and knew of some powerful spirit-gathering formations that could extract spiritual energy from spirit stones and gather it into a torrent. If he had such a formation, placing spirit stones into it would allow spiritual energy to be automatically drawn out, making cultivation much simpler.

“First, I'll look for a formation!”

He stood up.

As his cultivation increased, his demand for spiritual energy grew. Without such a formation, even with enough spirit stones, cultivation would be quite troublesome.

He walked out of his room and found Pavilion Master Sai again.

“Pavilion Master, I wonder if our Honghai City has a Formaster Guild? Could you take me there?”

“As the Capital of Trade, Honghai City naturally has a Formaster Guild. Master Zhang, are you planning to buy formation plates to prepare for your trip to the Witch Soul Tomb?”

Pavilion Master Sai looked at him.

Formation plates were condensed versions of formations that could be carried and activated with True Qi, usable even by non-formasters. They were the most popular items at the Formaster Guild. The journey to the Witch Soul Tomb was perilous, and having a formation plate would significantly increase one's chances of survival.

“Formation plates? Yes, please take me to see if I can buy some!”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

If he could buy formation plates for a spirit-gathering formation and carry them with him, he could gather spiritual energy anywhere for cultivation, which would certainly be much more convenient.

“President Zheng Jingfeng of the Formaster Guild and I have been old friends for many years. He has the highest-level formation plates in all of Honghai City. I'll take you there, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied!”

Pavilion Master Sai said.

“Then I'll trouble the Pavilion Master!” Knowing the other party intended to befriend him, Zhang Xuan did not decline.

The Appraiser Hall's profession was unique, positioning it centrally among many guilds. It wasn't far from the Formaster Guild; they arrived in less than ten minutes. Previously, in Tianwu Kingdom, Zhang Xuan had visited a Formaster Guild and collected many books there. Compared to the one before him now, it was more than just a small difference. The guild's main gate was tall and majestic, adorned with trigrams, giving off a mystical aura. Upon entering, one immediately felt a change in atmosphere: the air inside was humid, spiritual energy was abundant, and the temperature was pleasant, like stepping into a spring garden, offering an indescribable sense of relaxation and comfort.

“This...”

Zhang Xuan blinked.

It was already late autumn, almost winter, and quite cold outside. How could it be warm as spring in here?

“The Formaster Guild has set up a formation here, making it feel like spring all year round...” Seeing his expression and knowing what he was thinking, Pavilion Master Sai stroked his beard. “Don't worry, this formation only provides comfort; it's not aggressive and won't cause any harm.”

“To set up a formation that's warm in winter and cool in summer, just to make visitors comfortable... Truly worthy of the Formaster Guild, what a grand gesture!”

Zhang Xuan clicked his tongue in wonder.

Such a massive formation, controlled with such precision, confined only to the guild premises without affecting the outside world—it was indeed worthy of the Myriad Kingdoms Alliance's Formaster Guild. This formation alone was probably at the peak of Tier 3, or even reached Tier 4!