The rapidly approaching green light circled once before the mountain gate of Xuanqing Temple and landed just outside. The light dissipated, revealing a young man in a green robe. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, with rather dark skin and ordinary features. His long hair was tied back casually, giving him a very capable appearance.
The newcomer was none other than Li Yan. He had actually arrived in the vicinity the day before, but he had seen a Trading City on the map and went there directly to see if he could get lucky and find the materials he needed. However, after wandering around the Trading City for a whole day without any success, he left in disappointment after making sure no one was following him. By then, it was already dark. Considering the Teleportation Formation wouldn't be open in the middle of the night, he found a cave to sit in meditation. This morning, he came to Xuanqing Temple. Looking at the somewhat mottled and ancient characters on the mountain gate, Li Yan nodded, confirming he had come to the right place.
Watching the green light break through the air from outside the gate, Kong Nantai's face showed no surprise. Although Xuanqing Sect was not a famous sect and did not specialize in artifact or talisman refinement, it was skilled in the way of formations, with considerable research into defensive formations and short-distance Teleportation Formations. Their temple had some fame in the cultivation world.
Two hundred li from the temple was a Trading City. The Daoists of Xuanqing Temple also needed to accumulate cultivation resources and naturally saw this point. They spent a great deal to build two Teleportation Formations in the temple and opened them to the public. As a result, many outside cultivators came in and out of Xuanqing Temple every day, their purpose being to use the Teleportation Formations. Although the Trading City also had a Teleportation Formation, the fee was too expensive. Many cultivators preferred to teleport to Xuanqing Temple and then fly the two hundred li themselves, which could save a lot of Spirit Stones. This was also one of Xuanqing Temple's methods of accumulating wealth. With an Ancestor, a Golden Core grand cultivator, presiding over the temple, the Trading City would not easily offend them.
However, the fact that a cultivator had come over so early in the morning still caused a flicker of surprise on Kong Nantai's face. He swept his Divine Sense over and lost interest. The other party was only at the Qi Condensation stage. He turned his head and shouted to a disciple behind him, "You go and ask him what his business is."
A young Daoist immediately emerged from behind him. After a respectful bow, he flew out of the mountain gate.
Li Yan stood quietly outside the mountain gate. He had long seen the patrol-like group inside the gate. As expected, after they saw him, someone flew towards him.
The young Daoist quickly arrived in front of Li Yan and landed. He had already scanned Li Yan's cultivation level as he approached and saw that it was a small realm higher than his own. He raised a single palm, made a bow, and spoke with a smile, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. May I ask what business brings you to our Xuanqing Temple?" He was very polite to Li Yan. In fact, they had already guessed Li Yan's purpose, and were just asking as a matter of routine. These guests were a major source of Spirit Stones for the temple, so it was natural to be polite to the patrons.
"Oh, does your esteemed temple have a Teleportation Formation heading towards Linshui City?" Li Yan asked, a hint of apprehension in his expression.
"Oh, our temple has two Teleportation Formations, one to the north and one to the east. The Linshui City you speak of is the last Teleportation Node to the north. We can certainly get you there." Hearing where Li Yan wanted to go, the young Daoist's smile widened. This was the farthest their northern Teleportation Formation could reach, and the teleportation fee was not cheap.
"Oh, then how many Spirit Stones are required?" Li Yan's face showed even more obvious apprehension.
Seeing this, the young Daoist had already figured out Li Yan's background. 'This Qi Condensation cultivator must be in a hurry. Judging from his flying speed just now, he doesn't have any good flying spirit treasure or magical treasure, but he's in a rush. He's worried about his Spirit Stones.'
His smile grew wider. "Since fellow Daoist has come here, you should know that our temple is one of only two places with a teleportation service nearby, and you know our prices are fair. Otherwise, fellow Daoist wouldn't have come. The journey to Linshui City is nearly eight thousand li. A single person requires three hundred low-grade Spirit Stones. However, I must make it clear to fellow Daoist that the Teleportation Formation is usually activated only when there are at least six people heading in the same direction. But please rest assured, fellow Daoist, we usually gather enough people every half-day. Of course, if fellow Daoist is willing to cover the cost for five people to the nearest node plus your own destination, you can also teleport alone." After speaking, he smiled and carefully sized up Li Yan. He was confident that the price he quoted was not too expensive. Although the difference between eight thousand li and ten thousand li was not much, the construction of a Teleportation Formation exceeding ten thousand li was completely different. It required extremely high attainment in spatial formation arts to set up. Even an extra li could cause a spatial deviation. As the saying goes, "A miss by a hair's breadth is a miss by a thousand li." The cost of teleportation would then be calculated in thousands of Spirit Stones.
Teleportation Formations were divided into single-node and multi-node types. Single-node formations were the most common, typically used by sects for their own fixed-point teleportation. One only needed to fill them with Spirit Stones and activate the formation. Multi-node teleportation was usually used by cultivation merchant guilds. Multiple exits would be established in one direction. Before entering the formation, the person being teleported would be marked with a Node Brand. When they reached a node, the brand would sense the corresponding node's aura and teleport the person out, without affecting others being teleported at the same time. But if someone removed their brand, the consequences would be unimaginable. The teleportation would become directionless. Usually, after reaching the final node of the formation, being unable to teleport out, they would be randomly sent into Spatial Turbulence, where survival was highly unlikely.
In the Mortal Realm, Teleportation Formations were divided into three main categories: first, short-distance teleportation, usually within ten thousand li; second, mid-distance teleportation, within one hundred thousand li; and third, long-distance teleportation, the furthest in the Mortal Realm, within one million li. This was just a general summary. As far as Li Yan knew, even for a sect like the Malevolent Spirit Sect on the entire Desolate Moon Continent, the furthest was about seven hundred thousand li. Li Yan had also read in ancient texts that in ancient times, there was an ultra-long-distance Teleportation Formation that could transmit up to ten million li, requiring supreme-grade Spirit Stones and a special Teleportation Manual to activate. Due to the extremely harsh conditions for teleportation, this type of formation had long since disappeared into the river of history.
Activating a Teleportation Formation once was also very costly, so it was usually done with multiple people together, with several node exits in the same direction. If someone at a node was willing to cover the full cost, they only needed to pay for five people to the nearest node from there, plus their own fee.
After hearing this, Li Yan first nodded, indicating he understood, but his apprehensive expression turned difficult. This expression fell into the young Daoist's eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. He knew what this person's expression represented. If Li Yan had directly shown disappointment or even unwillingness, then there would be no hope; it would be obvious he didn't have enough Spirit Stones. However, he would still try to persuade him, advising Li Yan to teleport to a shorter-distance node to the north, which would at least reduce his flying distance.
But at this moment, Li Yan showed such an expression, clearly indicating he had enough Spirit Stones, but the price was just a bit hard for him to accept.
The young Daoist continued, "This is an extremely fair price. A journey of eight thousand li, if you were to fly it yourself without a good flying spirit treasure or magical treasure, would take several days. And on the way, we Qi Condensation cultivators are in extreme danger. Not to mention those first and second-tier demonic beasts, even if we encounter a group of cultivators traveling together who develop ill intentions, it's not something a lone Qi Condensation cultivator like us can handle."
The young Daoist was very familiar with persuading people and directly targeted his weak spot. He was confident that after he said this, the other party, who was still hesitating, would now lose his balance.
After speaking, the young Daoist looked at Li Yan with a sincere expression, as if thinking for him. Seeing the struggle on Li Yan's face intensify, the young Daoist sneered inwardly but maintained a face as warm as a spring breeze.
Not long after, just as he had guessed, Li Yan's expression changed dramatically several times. He gritted his teeth, his voice a little dry, "Greetings, fellow Daoist. You know it's not easy for us Qi Condensation cultivators, especially those from small sects like us. I wonder if you could be lenient and give a discount."
Seeing this, the young Daoist knew his words had worked. His face, however, showed difficulty, as if he were constantly considering. Under Li Yan's almost pleading gaze, he finally spoke, "This... is difficult. The teleportation fee is fixed. However, one of the senior martial uncles on duty for the northbound teleportation today has an old friendship with my Master..."
The two then whispered a few sentences before finally settling the matter. Li Yan agreed that when he paid the two hundred and twenty Spirit Stones to step onto the Teleportation Formation, he would give an extra fifty Spirit Stones to the other party. The other party would then give them to that senior martial uncle as a fee for the favor. As for whether the young Daoist kept it for himself or shared it with others, Li Yan didn't care. In any case, he had to play his part fully. In the end, he saved thirty Spirit Stones.
After the deal was struck, the young Daoist wasn't worried that Li Yan would go back on his word. He asked for Li Yan's origin and checked his Bloodleaf Sect Token. Li Yan used his own name directly, without hiding it. The young Daoist seemed to know about the Bloodleaf Sect. After seeing the gray token, his eyes flickered a few times, and he sized up Li Yan again carefully. Then he asked in detail about the Bloodleaf Sect. Li Yan naturally answered what he knew. Fortunately, the few people he knew were high-ranking members of the Bloodleaf Sect, which matched the young Daoist's assumption that Li Yan might be a direct descendant of the Bloodleaf Elder. This type of person often looked down on other cultivators of the same generation and rarely interacted with fellow disciples, thus being unaware of some of the sect's lower-level affairs, just like that Senior Martial Uncle Luo from before.
By this time, Kong Nantai and his group inside the mountain gate had already gone elsewhere to patrol. The dozen or so of them were on duty today, and they would encounter cultivators like Li Yan coming to use the Teleportation Formation later. At that time, everyone would take turns to go forward and investigate. As for who could get how much benefit from the outside cultivators, it all depended on personal luck and eloquence. The temple rarely managed these things, but if someone made an exorbitant demand and broke the rules, what awaited them was the sect's wrath. So, ordinary disciples were usually content with small profits. Still, many disciples were unwilling to patrol, as many of the patrons were people who teleported to and from the Trading City all year round, and the prices were already transparent. After all, people like Li Yan were not common.
So when the young Daoist came over to inquire with Li Yan, they only glanced from a distance. Although they could see Li Yan was a new customer, they could only sigh inwardly. Who told the young Daoist to have a connection with Senior Martial Uncle Kong? The group left early. As for whether they were worried that someone like Li Yan would suddenly attack, snatch a token, and use the teleportation on their own, they were not worried. The Xuanqing Temple was filled with countless formations, often Mother-Child Interlocking Formations. Touching one would set off the whole system. Even if one got a Xuanqing Temple token, without a sect disciple leading the way, it was impossible to go deep into the temple. They were very confident about this. Unless a Nascent Soul cultivator attacked, it was impossible to move freely within the temple.
Seeing that the deal was made, the young Daoist took out a token and led Li Yan into the Xuanqing Temple. This person was quite talkative, while Li Yan only gave a noncommittal reply now and then. Fortunately, his worried expression made others think he had something on his mind, but the young Daoist didn't care at all.
During their conversation, Li Yan also learned that the young Daoist's name was "Feng Zhiran." As they twisted and turned, Feng Zhiran would occasionally take out a token and wave it at a certain spot. Li Yan noticed that each time the token was waved, a place would flash with light—it could be an inconspicuous rock, a small blade of grass in a patch of weeds, or a pavilion by the side of the mountain path. The color of the light was different each time. This made Li Yan's eyes show a thoughtful look. Feng Zhiran seemed to know this and was quite proud of the look in Li Yan's eyes. He couldn't help but introduce, "If we talk about cultivation techniques, or refining talismans and artifacts, my Xuanqing Temple really can't compare with other sects. But in the way of formations, our heritage is ancient. All the formations in the sect were personally set up by a Nascent Soul Ancestor tens of thousands of years ago. Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator attacks, they can't hope to break through without an hour or so. It's just that after that Nascent Soul Ancestor went out to seek Spirit Transformation, he lost contact, and the sect has since declined. I heard that this Nascent Soul Ancestor once served as a Guest Elder for the Malevolent Spirit Sect..."
Hearing this, Li Yan was inwardly shocked. He didn't expect this second-rate sect he had come to to have such a glorious past and even have connections with the Malevolent Spirit Sect. It seemed one couldn't underestimate any sect. Those that could stand tall for a long time must have a deep foundation.
The two walked along, ascending the mountain from the gate and weaving through some pavilions. They did encounter some Daoists, who all politely made a single-handed bow when they saw Li Yan.
Li Yan sensed the Spirit Qi here. Although it was far inferior to the Malevolent Spirit Sect's, it was about thirty percent better than the Bloodleaf Sect's. For an ordinary cultivator, this was already very good.
After winding around, they reached the mountaintop. The temple's main hall on the summit was grand, and the melodious sound of chimes occasionally lingered around the peak, drifting to the surroundings. Following Feng Zhiran past the main hall and through a nine-bend corridor, a large pond appeared before Li Yan's eyes. In the seventh month, the lotus flowers in the pond were in full bloom, and the green lotus leaves were lush and verdant, covering the surface of the pond. A fresh fragrance drifted with the wind, and a single breath was enough to refresh one's mind and spirit.
Around the edge of the pond, among carved rocks near and far, the quiet white magnolia forest and ginkgo forest, along with the rippling green waves, made this place seem even more serene and profound. A small stone path wound around the pond and extended towards the back. A row of quaint pavilions was built along more than half of the pond's bank. These pavilions, adjacent to the pond, were arranged in a semi-circle, with wide windows, some closed and some open, facing the pond.