Afternoon. 3 PM.
Wanling Market
The grand three-story Wanbao Building, luxurious and atmospheric, stands next to the auction house, with a constant stream of cultivators coming and going.
Qin Wang already knew that Wanbao Building sold various magical instruments, pills, materials, demon beast inner cores, formation disks, talismans, and more.
The first floor is for items suitable for Qi Refining stage cultivators.
The second floor has treasures for Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.
The third floor is only accessible to Golden Core stage cultivators.
"These formations and formation disks are indeed very convenient, but they cost thousands of spirit stones each. I'd better go back and study formation manuals. In the future, I'll make my own."
Qin Wang wandered around the first floor of Wanbao Building with other cultivators, looking at the price tags of these formation disks, secretly clicking his tongue in astonishment.
The cheapest formation disk costs at least a few thousand spirit stones. Although he had acquired more than five thousand spirit stones from Lin Shengbing, he still needed to save money.
He remembered that there were two first-level formation manuals in Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian's storage bags. Although they were of low level, they were good for building a foundation.
As for second-level formations, Qin Wang didn't have the spirit stones to buy them at the moment. Generally, second-level formations are inherited knowledge and not easily sold. The second floor might have some, but without the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage, one isn't allowed up.
After browsing for a while, Qin Wang left Wanbao Building and headed straight to the Lingyao Workshop, where he spent 1,000 spirit stones to buy five Golden Spirit Fruits.
Although it was expensive, the intelligence indicated that the Golden Spirit Fruit could enhance Little White's strength, which was crucial for gaining rewards in the Wanling Blessed Land. This was a necessary expense.
Evening
Qin Wang returned to his shack.
Inside, Ye Qian and Lin Shengbing were still meditating. Through the soul seeds, he learned that the robbery team had sent someone to knock on the door for a long time again, but seeing Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian meditating and not responding, they left in confusion.
"Huh?"
"These damn people are really eager to die!"
Qin Wang used his divine sense to check on Ye Qian and Lin Shengbing next door. Knowing that the robbers had looked into his window several times, his eyes flashed with a stronger killing intent.
"Tomorrow, I'll lure a few of them out of the market and kill them! First, let's sort out my current effective methods."
Qin Wang ignored them, locked the door, and opened his storage bag. In this Wanling Market, there were patrol guards led by Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. If Li Shentong and other robbers fought in the market, the patrol guards wouldn't let them go.
He had the Foundation Establishment puppet Mu Hun'er, and the Qi Refining stage ninth-level cultivators Shi Hun San, Ye Qian, and Lin Shengbing at the tenth level.
He had the Transcendent Sword Art, the broken sword Tian Gang's strike, and the Soul Gathering Bowl's soul-gathering illusion.
For defense, he had four fragments of the Barbarian God Shield.
He had prepared 100 portions of the Bewitching Fragrance.
After organizing his methods, Qin Wang began to rest and prepare for dealing with some of the robbers tomorrow.
"While increasing proficiency in cultivation, I also need to study the first-level formation manuals I got from Lin Shengbing and see if I can get started!"
Qin Wang knew that formations were easy to learn but difficult to master for others. But for him, as long as he absorbed spirit stones and tinkered with formations, he should be able to improve proficiency quickly, much faster than other cultivators.
With this in mind, Qin Wang took out a Golden Spirit Fruit and threw it to Little White, then took out a purified pill and started refining it, while placing a formation manual, "Introduction to Formations," in front of him.
Five miles away from Qin Wang's shack, in a shack five feet in diameter, four cultivators sat.
Zhang Fujiang, a thin man with coarse bones in gray clothes, squinted his eyes slightly and said in a deep voice, "What's going on with Lin Daoyou and his wife? They didn't complete the task, didn't say anything, and didn't respond when Tie Daoyou knocked several times. It's too outrageous!"
"I think there might be another reason."
Li Shentong frowned deeply and said, "They didn't lure Mei Changxin out. Let's find another way and continue to find more targets to lure out of the market. The more we spread the net, the more we catch!"
"As for Mei Changxin, let's monitor him and wait for him to leave the market!"
Li Shentong always had Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian act as bait to lure cultivators out and ambush them.
The reason for this was twofold:
First, the market had rules prohibiting internal conflicts.
Second, luring them out allowed for a swift kill and quick plunder of storage bags.
The Next Day. Morning.
[First-Level Formation: (Entry Level) (1/1000) Master of the mysterious arts of formations, diligent study makes up for lack of talent!]
"Finally, an entry level."
Qin Wang looked at the entry level formation on the panel, very satisfied. Suddenly, he noticed Little White beside him, exclaiming in surprise.
At this moment, Little White seemed more energetic, waving its two cute front paws at Qin Wang, signaling for more.
"You want more?"
Qin Wang picked up Little White and looked at its cute appearance, saying, "It seems you have a big appetite. I'll give you one more, but remember, these cost 200 spirit stones each. You have to help me earn it back in the Wanling Blessed Land!"
With that, he took out another Golden Spirit Fruit.
In fact, Qin Wang only took out one Golden Spirit Fruit initially, worried that Little White might overeat and couldn't handle it. But to his surprise, it could eat so much.
"Chirp chirp~~~"
"Chirp chirp~~~~"
Unexpectedly, Little White waved its paws again, indicating it wanted more.
"There are only three left."
Thinking of the intelligence, Qin Wang took out the remaining three Golden Spirit Fruits and placed them in front of Little White.
"Chirp chirp!!!"
Little White was delighted, gathering the fruits together and starting to nibble on them.
Qin Wang used his divine sense to communicate with Little White, learning from its feedback that the robbers had visited again in the morning. His eyes flashed with a killing intent as he muttered, "It's time to lure these robbers out and kill a few of them."
Qin Wang put Little White back into the spirit beast bag and, with a thought, controlled Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian to leave for the outskirts of the market.
Qin Wang trailed behind them from a distance, while directing Mu Hun'er and Shi Hun San to wait ahead.
He knew that Li Shentong and the robbers would definitely follow.
If the number of pursuers was small, he would look for an opportunity to ambush them. If there were more than four pursuers, he would control Lin Shengbing to return to the market.
Wanling Market
Five miles from Qin Wang's shack, in a ten-foot shack, three cultivators sat cross-legged, cultivating. Suddenly, a middle-aged cultivator in green hurried in and said eagerly, "Daoist Zhang, Daoist Lin and his wife are heading out of Wanling Market."
"Let's go. Let's see what's going on with them!"
Zhang Fujiang immediately got up, gesturing to the others. He was very curious about what had happened to Lin Shengbing and his wife.
He had even suspected that Lin Shengbing might have been possessed.
However, possessions usually targeted talented young people, and possessing someone like Lin Shengbing and his wife wouldn't bring much potential.
Because they had caused losses to the team by failing their task, they would receive fewer spirit stones in the future!
"Shouldn't we wait for Daoist Li?"
The green-robed cultivator asked.
"This minor issue doesn't need to trouble Brother Li. They've gone to the Tianyao Chamber of Commerce and won't be back for a while."
Zhang Fujiang replied solemnly.
Every year, this time, they had to pay tribute to the chamber of commerce.
Not long after.
Qin Wang controlled Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian to leave the range of Wanling Market, arriving at an ancient dense forest.
Qin Wang saw from a distance that four cultivators were chasing after Lin Shengbing and his wife.
"Daoist Lin, Daoist Ye, wait up."
One of the green-robed cultivators shouted while chasing.
Qin Wang controlled Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian to stop and turn around slowly, looking at Zhang Fujiang and the other three robbers standing ten feet away. He said, "Don't come looking for us anymore. We've decided to quit."
"What? You're quitting?"
"Daoist Lin, you need to inform Brother Li about this. By the way, why didn't you lure Mei Changxin to Tianhu Mountain as instructed? Did something happen?"
Zhang Fujiang looked at Lin Shengbing and asked in a deep voice.
Lin Shengbing and his wife had followed the team to kill so many robbers, they knew too much. Now that they wanted to quit, it wasn't that easy.
"Something indeed happened. Oh? Big brother is here!"
Lin Shengbing didn't finish speaking, suddenly pointing behind Zhang Fujiang and exclaiming.
Instinctively, Zhang Fujiang and the others turned around to look.
At the same time, Lin Shengbing and Ye Qian's top-grade swords thrust forward!
Three feet away, a terrifying Foundation Establishment aura swept over, accompanied by a lightning-fast, sharp red sword aura!