Qingshu Island, southeast edge.
The darkness that almost enveloped the entire island came to an abrupt end here. From time to time, there was the roar of massive waves hitting the shore. A large tall and tall ancient tree was sandwiched between two steep cliffs facing the sea.
The branches of these ancient trees all show a dark red color, and the dense green leaves are curled. As the sea breeze blows, the leaves surge and rustle.
A light mist gathered from all around and disappeared here. Three or two groups of monks could be seen nearby, meditating and practicing.
A thick formation light screen with a dim yellow color was placed upside down in the center of this ancient forest like a sea bowl, with its luster flowing on it.
Several figures came quickly from the island and walked into the ancient forest. The leader was a wrinkled, old-looking Qi Refining Dzogchen monk. Behind this cultivator was a handsome young man in black. , and a tall and fat tenth-level Qi Refining monk.
Therefore, due to the relatively abundant spiritual energy on the ground, the three or two groups of monks who spontaneously gathered nearby to practice were all awakened by this group of people.
After noticing the cultivation level of the old monks in the Great Perfection realm of Qi refining, the expressions of these three or two groups of monks changed slightly. Their cultivation levels were generally only in the early and middle stages of Qi refining. Otherwise, they would not be coveting a little more energy here. Some spiritual energy is cultivated here.
"It's Mr. Lin from the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce! It seems that someone has come to see this cave..." A discerning person recognized the identity of the old monk and conveyed the message to his companions with a playful tone.
"This cave is only waiting for the two spirit-gathering formations on the island. The next time it is moved, it will be abandoned to the point where there is no spiritual energy left! Is there really any indifferent foundation-building senior who wants to rent it?" His companions Hearing this, he also sneered, shook his head, and replied.
Gu Qing noticed weak soul fluctuations and frowned slightly.
He glanced around indifferently.
Several Qi Refining monks who were waiting and watching were crushed by Gu Qing's solid gaze. They were so sad that they almost vomited blood. They stood up and saluted Gu Qing with fists in their hands, and then dispersed like birds and beasts.
In the forest of ancient trees, there was a salty sea breeze that ruffled the long black hair at the temples. Gu Qing smoothed his hair, turned his gaze away, and scanned the nearby terrain with his consciousness, and nodded imperceptibly.
This place is very secluded and not shrouded in darkness on the island. It is only separated from the boundless sea by a steep cliff.
The old man surnamed Lin once said that this place is where two large spirit gathering formations overlap. "Gu Qing's eyes flashed slightly," His consciousness did not notice any traces of formations around him, but there was indeed a large amount of spiritual energy flowing towards this place in a steady stream! It seems that this spirit gathering formation should be a formation that can cover a wide range. '
Just when Gu Qing was thinking.
The group of them had arrived in front of the cave with the dim yellow formation turned upside down. The old man surnamed Lin who led the way turned his hand and took out an earth-yellow formation token. Holding this formation token, Lin The old man's lips opened and closed slightly, and he skillfully made finger gestures in his hands.
"Go!" The old man surnamed Lin quickly made up his mind, threw the earth-yellow formation token forward, and flicked his fingers to create a spiritual light. The aura fell on the formation token, and it immediately melted like snow. , and then he saw the khaki-colored formation token, swooping through the air and sticking to the dim yellow formation light curtain in front. ….
Buzz!
The dim yellow formation light curtain trembled, and a hole two to three feet high was opened just below the khaki formation token.
"Senior, please." The monk surnamed Lin touched the non-existent sweat on his head, turned around, and addressed Gu Qing respectfully.
Gu Qing stared at the two to three feet high opening for a while.
He walked towards it slowly and unhurriedly.
The old-looking monk surnamed Lin looked at each other with the fat monk, his eyes seemed to be a bit warning, and then followed Gu Qing.
'How can this senior get my turn to remind you? Earlier in front of the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce, hadn't the tricks of this cave been exposed to this senior's eyes... Although I don't know why this senior took a fancy to this cave, if Old Man Lin dared to lie, ...'
'Hey! '
The fat monk shook the fat on his face, his expression became a little exciting, and he quickly stepped forward and got into the crack in the dim formation light screen.
…
The dim formation light curtain circled an area of about four to five hundred feet. In this area, the four poles of the sky that the eyes could see turned into a dim yellow color, with a warm yellow color. Light fills this place, covering the spiritual fields that have been deserted for an unknown amount of time.
On the path in the spiritual field, Gu Qing, who was dressed in black robes, walked forward with his hands behind his back. His spiritual consciousness emanated from his body, sweeping over everything in the area circled by the dim light screen of the formation - whether it was on the ground, Or maybe it's the underground part, all under the cover of Gu Qing's consciousness.
"Um?"
Gu Qing was stunned for a moment, and his expression became a little strange.
With a flash of his body, he walked out of this path and came to a wide field near the center of this area.
A cave with mottled blue bricks is located here.
In front of the blue-black stone gate of the cave, in a dim yellow light pillar about ten feet thick, there is a huge array exuding a heavy aura. Three slightly dim spiritual stones are embedded in the array, driving this array. The formation disk spreads dim light around.
Gu Qing stared at the array disk for a few seconds, then with a wave of his hand, three slightly dim spiritual stones were pulled out. Immediately, the light beam about ten feet thick disappeared, and the dim yellow light emitting from all around disappeared, covering the surrounding dim formation light curtain. Just like a bubble, it shattered silently.
"You, the formation masters of the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce, are really extraordinary in their formation skills. You can actually activate such a majestic formation with just three low-grade spiritual stones." Gu Qing looked back at the old monk surnamed Lin.
With just a sweep of his consciousness, he realized that the formation covering a radius of four to five hundred feet was nothing more than a formation disk activated by three low-grade spiritual stones. It's just a bubble that bursts when you poke it. It has no defensive power at all.
I'm afraid that if the sea wind gets stronger, this formation's light curtain will be blown apart!
The old monk surnamed Lin wrinkled his face, squeezed out a smile, and said: "Isn't this because the cave has been idle for a long time, in order to save spiritual stones... I also ask senior Haihan, and this junior will send a message to the formation masters in the chamber of commerce to order them. Rush here and start setting up a new formation!"
"No need."
Gu Qing whispered two words.
He glanced at the cave in front of him, stretched out his palms to hold it up, and the thin spiritual mist that had been floating around the cave gathered in his palm like running water, and suddenly turned into a dense cloud of spiritual energy. ….
He thought for a while and said: "The spiritual energy of this cave is indeed relatively abundant. If we only talk about spiritual energy, it should be on the level of the caves arranged above the third-grade spiritual veins. However, someone already knows that the spiritual energy of this place will be affected by the two caves on the island." The changes in the spirit gathering formation will cause corresponding changes. Most of the time, the spiritual energy here is exhausted."
"If you rent it for one year, it will cost six thousand middle-grade spiritual stones, which is naturally extremely worthless..." At this point, he quietly glanced at the ugly-looking monk named Lin to one side, and then changed the subject, " However, a certain person is interested in buying this cave, but I wonder how many spiritual stones he needs to pay in one lump sum?"
"Ah? This..."
When the old monk surnamed Lin heard this, his lips moved.
His eyes were a little strange, he calmed down, and responded to Gu Qing: "This junior has no right to make a decision on this matter. If senior really wants to buy this cave, I can contact Vice President Xu. Vice President Xu will be responsible for managing Qing Suli." These rented caves on the hub island."
"Since I really bought this cave, how could I deceive a junior like you? Please contact Vice President Xu and spin a few times... I wonder, little friend Han, would you like to go with me for a walk?" Gu Qing nodded slightly. , waved away the dense spiritual energy in his hand, and spoke like this.
"This junior is very frightened."
The fat monk's face shook and he stepped forward quickly.
…
"Is this fellow Taoist who wants to buy this cave?" Vice President Xu of the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce is a fair-faced, beardless, middle-aged monk dressed as a Confucian scholar. His cultivation aura is at the fifth level of foundation building. After he hurried over, After getting a general understanding of the situation from the old man surnamed Lin, he looked at Gu Qing.
Gu Qing had no expression on his face and did not respond.
Vice President Xu frowned slightly, then calmly relaxed, and said with a smile: "Although this cave is not in a good location, and there is no defensive formation, it is still a cave built on the spiritual veins of Qingshu Island."
"Fellow Taoists should know that every inch of land on Qingshu Island is precious. If you want to build a cave abode privately, you will be violating the taboo of each family and will be hunted down by monks from all families. Moreover, a cave abode built by oneself will not have its own spiritual veins. There is no spiritual fire, no spiritual spring, no fertile spiritual field that has been developed...'
Vice President Xu spoke eloquently for a long time, and finally quoted the price: "Therefore, if fellow Taoist is really interested in purchasing this cave, you need to pay 55,000 yuan of medium-grade spiritual stones in one lump sum."
After the words fell, Vice President Xu's eyes were fixed on Gu Qing's face, as if trying to capture the changes in emotions on Gu Qing's face.
"Fifty-five thousand mid-grade spiritual stones?" Gu Qing raised his eyebrows.
He was able to produce so many spirit stones.
But if he really took out so many spirit stones so quickly and without a word, then there would be no doubt that there would be alchemy monks coming to meet him in the next few days to kill people and seize treasures... Besides, he didn't think so. A cave mansion is really worth a huge sum of 55,000 medium-grade spiritual stones.
With so many spiritual stones, you can already purchase a top-quality spiritual weapon!
As long as you fill in another 5,000 spirit stones and collect 60,000 middle-grade spirit stones, you can purchase two bottles of third-grade lower-grade indigo body-building pills!
For monks, pills to improve cultivation and spiritual weapons to improve strength are obviously much more precious than a mere cave - as long as defense measures are arranged, where can't you meditate and practice? ….
"A certain person can produce up to 30,000 medium-grade spiritual stones." After thinking deeply for a while, Gu Qing looked at Vice President Xu and said.
"Hiss... 30,000 medium-grade spiritual stones... isn't that a little too little?" Upon hearing this, Vice President Xu frowned immediately, looking troubled, and started pacing on the spot, as if it was difficult to make a decision.
Gu Qing looked at the pacing Vice President Xu, his eyes flickering.
Five colors of spiritual light emitted from his body, covering his figure. After a while, his figure was revealed again, already holding a storage bag in his hand.
"Vice President Xu, all 30,000 medium-grade spiritual stones are in this storage bag." Gu Qing spoke loudly, causing the fat monk and the old man named Lin on the side to look at the storage bag with rapid breathing.
With that said, Gu Qing handed the storage bag to Vice President Xu.
Vice President Xu's brows were still furrowed. He raised his head and took a deep look at Gu Qing, then stretched out his hand and took the storage bag.
The next moment, his eyes lit up.
A smile appeared on Vice President Xu's face, then disappeared quietly. He sighed in a semi-tangled manner: "Alas! This cave has been idle since the day it was built, so what's the harm in selling it to fellow Taoists now! I don't know. What do you call this fellow Taoist? I would like to congratulate you."
Vice President Xu reached into the storage bag with his consciousness and looked at the 45,000 mid-grade spiritual stones in it. He could hardly suppress the smile on his lips.
The interests of Hezhen Chamber of Commerce are not completely equivalent to his interests.
This time, the cave was sold for 30,000 medium-grade spiritual stones. Although the price was a little low, as long as he nodded, the senior officials of the Chamber of Commerce would not interfere. And of these 30,000 spiritual stones, he would not be able to share as much as he wanted. Yes, but the other fifteen thousand mid-grade spiritual stones in the storage ring can be directly put into his storage ring and become part of his net worth!
"It turns out to be Fellow Daoist Xu Hexu! I'm Gu Qing." Gu Qing responded with a slight smile on his face and cupped his fists. He had expected the reaction of Vice President Xu Hexu, so he was not surprised at all.
Next, Xu He took Gu Qing back to the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce, took out something similar to a mortal land deed, handed it to Gu Qing, and then marked off the cave that Gu Qing bought from the island. The corresponding bright light announced that this cave built on the edge of Qingshu Island now belonged to Gu Qing.
The door of the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce opened, and two figures walked out one after another. Xu He, who was seeing Gu Qing out, said with a bright smile, "Hahaha! Xu and Brother Gu really hit it off right away!"
"Ha! Gu must consider what Brother Xu said." Gu Qing responded calmly with a slight smile on his face.
"Brother Gu, don't worry about the Loose Cultivator Alliance. Being a guest of our Hezhen Chamber of Commerce will not affect anything!" Xu He said to Gu Qing with a serious look. At this time, he seemed to have just remembered something and took out a Zhang golden talisman, "If Brother Gu has free time in the future, he can use this talisman to participate in the trade fair held by our Hezhen Chamber of Commerce once every three years..."
'The trade fair is held in this Hezhen Chamber of Commerce. '
"Every trade fair is scheduled in mid-July. The participants in the trade fair are all fellow foundation builders from Linyu Sea. There are no complicated and extravagant things like auctions. They only focus on trading, and you can come and go as you please. .”….
Gu Qing took the golden talisman and realized that it was very hard. It was not a real talisman, but seemed to be made of gold and iron.
"Brother Xu's kindness is appreciated by Gu. If he happens to be free during a trade fair in the future, Gu will definitely not miss it." Gu Qing clasped his fists and spoke, then exchanged a few words with congratulations before leaving.
Xu He looked at Gu Qing's leaving figure, the smile on his face gradually turned cold, his eyes changed for a while, as if he was struggling.
He took out a communication talisman in his hand, but quickly put it away, stood with his hands behind his back, and looked at the darkness shrouding Qingshu Island: "Forget it, take out 45,000 middle-grade spiritual stones at once." , this person's wealth has probably been squeezed out, and even if he is captured and killed, there may not be much gain... If the final income is not as good as the price of those people, then it will be a joke. '
'In addition, this person is quite sensible...'
Xu He turned around and returned to the Hezhen Chamber of Commerce.
…
Gu Qing rushed all the way back to the southeastern edge of Qingshu Island.
The cave house located in the ancient forest between the two cliffs is no longer obscured by the dim light formation. The mottled walls of the cave house are covered with messy vegetation, and there is a rich white spirit flowing around it. In the fog, two passing Qi Refining monks stopped by this scene, watching from a distance and exchanging words in low voices.
Gu Qing's figure emerged from the darkness that shrouded the island, flying past like a phantom, and suddenly passed through the ancient forest and arrived at the cave.
On the orders of Vice President Xu Hexu, the old man surnamed Lin who was waiting here saw a young man in black robe appear before his eyes.
"Senior." The old man surnamed Lin was excited and said with cupped fists.
Seeing this, the fat monk who was waiting here with the old man surnamed Lin also hurriedly took a few steps forward and also bowed to Gu Qing.
"A certain person has bought this cave. You can go on your own." A flash of inspiration flashed in Gu Qing's hand, and he took out two middle-grade spiritual stones and threw them to the old man surnamed Lin.
Then, Gu Qing turned his eyes and looked at the fat monk named Han: "Little friend Han, don't forget what you said before."
"Young man, I will never forget it. I will definitely find out more about it."
The fat monk's body was tense and his face was solemn.
"If you can find one of them, he will not be stingy." As he said that, Gu Qing stepped into the sky and quickly reached the top of the cave.
He looked at the area of four to five hundred feet below, touched his chin, and thought for a moment. After the old man named Lin and the fat monk named Han left, a flash of inspiration appeared in his hand, and several small khaki flags appeared.
'Among the three formations obtained by Ye Ah, this one is the only one that seems to be a defensive formation. Gu Qing threw out a few small khaki flags and let them hang by his side. He took out a total of seventeen more small khaki flags in succession, plus the few small khaki flags he took out earlier. , there are already twenty-four small khaki flags.
'Twenty-four formation flags. '
Gu Qing captured these formation flags with his spiritual consciousness, and his figure gradually fell, returning to the ground. He stood in front of the cave, first took out three middle-grade spiritual stones with earth attributes, and embedded them into the formation plate in front of the cave. In the middle, immediately, an earth-yellow formation light curtain condensed around him.
When the khaki formation light curtain solidified, Gu Qing flicked his sleeves and robe, and on the ground in front of him, the formation disk corresponding to the twenty-four formation flags appeared - it was a circle of more than six feet. The array disk is only about seven or eight inches high, and looks like a compass attached to the ground. There are five grooves evenly distributed on it that can be embedded with spiritual stones. ….
It is marked with the eight directions of Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Kun, Li, Xun and Dui, which should be based on the evolution of the Bagua array.
"It's a transformation of the Bagua array..."
Gu Qing muttered to himself.
His consciousness scanned the twenty-four formation flags carefully: "Although these twenty-four formation flags do not look much different at first glance, they are different after all... If I were to arrange an earthen formation out of thin air, It is impossible to use a defensive formation, but with the formation flag and formation plate in hand, it is not difficult."
Gu Qing's body swayed and turned into a ray of light. He quickly moved under the earth-yellow formation light curtain and drove the formation flags into the earth and rocks according to the subtle differences on them and the directions of the Bagua distribution. , and soon, he returned to the formation.
"This formation plate can be embedded with five pieces of spiritual stones... With Ye A's wealth, this formation plate should not be activated by middle-grade spiritual stones." Gu Qing took out five high-grade spiritual stones with earth attributes and placed them one by one. Embedded in this formation plate, you can do all this without any movement!
Gu Qing's brows furrowed.
"wrong?"
His eyes glanced around, landed in the dim yellow light pillar on the side, took out the three middle-grade spiritual stones embedded in the array plate in the light pillar, and then put the rough array plate into the storage ring.
He placed the formation plate embedded with five high-grade spiritual stones in the slowly disappearing dim yellow light pillar. After a long time, there was still no reaction.
Gu Qing's consciousness shrouded the surroundings, watching the khaki formation light curtain shatter, and wandering around the formation disk in front of him. He suddenly stretched out his hand to inject spiritual power into it. As he poured spiritual power into it, the formation disk really lit up. A faint spiritual light arose, and starting from the depressions where the five earth-attributed high-grade spiritual stones were embedded, tiny spiritual patterns spread across the formation plate.
In the blink of an eye, the array plate seemed to turn into an earthy yellow sun, exuding a thick earthy yellow light, but the formation had not yet been activated. Gu Qing's expression moved slightly, and he suddenly passed through the thick earthy yellow light with one hand, holding it. The array plate slowly rotated half a circle, as if it had adjusted its orientation. Immediately, an earthy yellow light swept across his figure, knocking him upside down and flying out.
Buzz!
Thick earthy yellow light condensed on the twenty-four formation flags, echoing the formation disk in the center. A formation covering a radius of 500 feet suddenly took shape, and the power of the surrounding earth elements rolled in. In an instant, In a moment, the area covered by this formation turned into a low, bare hill!
The bare hill changed slightly, and ancient trees grew out of thin air on it. In a short time, they spread all over the mountain and completely blended in with the surrounding ancient forest, no longer out of place.
Gu Qing, who was in the formation, saw his consciousness passing through the formation and landed on the hill in slight shock, his mouth wide open slightly.
'This formation is so magical that even the divine sense cannot easily tell the truth from the false things it creates? I wonder if stepping on it would have the same senses as stepping on an actual mountain..." Gu Qing's mind turned a little and he withdrew his consciousness.
He condensed his consciousness into the formation, and felt that he had absolute control over the formation. He did not manipulate the formation to make any changes in the formation, but quietly sensed the five high-grade spirits. The state of the stone confirmed that at the current spiritual energy consumption rate, five high-grade spiritual stones could last for several years, and then he nodded with satisfaction.
Afterwards, he stopped caring about the formation.
Two thick stone gates that were blue and black in color and about three feet high were captured by Gu Qing's consciousness and rose up with a thought.
After the rich spiritual mist rose from the stone gate, it poured out from the cave. He took a deep breath, and immediately absorbed all the spiritual mist pouring out of the cave into his body like a whale sucking water. It is refined into pure spiritual power and returns to the sea of Qi in Dantian. .
...
