Ordinary People: Starting with the Chen Clan

As he spoke, Chen Xuanzhou followed his clone and slowly began to explore the riverbank.

The two were only a dozen feet apart, which was already the limit between the clone and the main body. Any further and even the divine soul blessed by incense would be separated and lose its connection.

This is the main reason why so many monsters still exist in this river, and not just because of the boundless geographical environment.

. . .

Having traveled for an unknown amount of time in the river, Chen Xuanzhou could no longer see more than three feet ahead with his naked eye. He was now relying entirely on his Three Pure Spiritual Eyes to discern the surrounding scenery.

As for his divine sense, he did not deliberately expose it, unwilling to reveal all his trump cards easily.

With the alternating probing of the clone and the main body's spiritual eyes, no low-level demon beast could escape detection.

At this moment, the storage bags around Chen Xuanzhou's waist were already bulging, all of which were his respective gains along the way.

Just as he said, Old Monster Qiong never made a move from beginning to end. Even when he encountered two Tier 3 Hunter Sharks, he just stood by and watched.

From beginning to end, he remained unmoved as Chen Xuanzhou, relying on his puppets and clones, narrowly escaped death to kill him.

From then on, Chen Xuanzhou became increasingly cautious, setting up a formation every certain distance.

Only after setting up the next location will they return to withdraw the formation.

This process is repeated in a cycle, progressing step by step, with the aim of avoiding mistakes rather than achieving great success.

The secret realm is still there, it can't be escaped! But you only have one life!

Although Old Monster Qiong wouldn't let himself lose his life so easily because of the cultivation technique.

However, this would cause his score to plummet in the other person's eyes, which was not something he wanted to see!

Although it took more time halfway there, he managed to get through without any major incidents, and all the crises were under his control thanks to the strength he displayed.

Only when he saw the riverbed ahead, which looked as if it had been cleaved open by a single stroke, did Chen Xuanzhou stop and turn to look at Old Monster Qiong.

"You've done a good job so far, just follow behind me."

Meeting Chen Xuanzhou's probing gaze, Old Monster Qiong calmly replied before stepping into the unfathomable 'riverbed'.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Xuanzhou, along with his clone, followed closely behind his master.

After sinking to a depth of about a thousand feet, when Chen Xuanzhou's feet touched the thick mud again, sharp, thorn-like things were pressing against the soles of his feet.

With a slight exertion, a series of cracking sounds emerged from the soles of his feet.

That was the sound of ice breaking; the riverbed was now completely covered in ice.

"Alright, you set up a formation here and guard it. I'll be right back."

A calm voice came from ahead, making one feel as at ease as if they were returning home when entering this treacherous shoal.

Before Chen Xuanzhou could even speak, the figure had already disappeared from his sight.

He disregarded the other party's safety and hurriedly took out the strongest Reversed Five Elements Formation from his storage bag, and set it up around the area with his clone.

Before he could even catch his breath, waves came from the distant waters. Although they were just aftershocks, they still caused the Inverted Five Elements Array to shake violently.

Just as a sense of unease arose in his heart, suddenly a dragon head, several meters in size, with a pair of enormous horns like blood-red coral on its head, landed outside the great formation.

Looking into those glaring eyes of the dragon, there seemed to be a hint of resentment mixed in.

"There you are! This is the Qi-Condensing Soil you sought. This small box should be enough for you."

Just as Chen Xuanzhou was still shocked that a strange dragon had been so easily submerged, a voice finally pulled him back to reality.

"Thank you for the gift, Master!"

Chen Xuanzhou raised both hands above his head and respectfully accepted a stone box that Qiong Laoguai pushed towards him from afar.

"For me, the spiritual material of this Blood Thread Dragon is just a few more magic weapons, so I might as well let you keep it!"

With your refining skills, even scraps could be used to forge several precious magical artifacts. The rest are a gift I've set aside for you before you reach the Core Formation stage.

Chen Xuanzhou certainly didn't believe the saying that a dragon's entire body was a treasure, but it was useless to a Core Formation cultivator. Faced with Old Monster Qiong's earnest sincerity, he could only repay him by perfecting his cultivation technique as soon as possible.

As for the precious materials of the Bloodline Flood Dragon, he happens to have a place to use some of them without it being a waste!

Carefully, leaving no piece of flesh untouched, they packed it all into a box made of purple sandalwood that they had prepared beforehand.

Then he left the treacherous rapids of Panlong River with Qiong Laogui. As soon as he returned to the sect, he immediately announced that he was going into seclusion, unwilling to waste any time.

With trembling hands, he opened the stone box, revealing a dark brown clod of earth about the size of an adult's fist inside.

If it weren't for the stone box containing it, most cultivators would probably mistake it for a weathered, stubborn rock.

Chen Xuanzhou carefully rubbed it a couple of times, but not a single speck of dirt fell off. Instead, a little ink slowly seeped into the two finger marks.

Upon seeing this, a glint flashed in Chen Xuanzhou's eyes, and he quickly took out a talisman from his storage bag and affixed it to the object.

Finally, he carefully closed the stone box again and affixed several talismans.

He let out a long breath and stopped paying too much attention to the hard-won treasure. Instead, he took out the several-meter-long purple sandalwood box.

His right hand traced the grain of the wooden box, his eyes gazing into the distance. After a moment of contemplation, he murmured, "To not take what Heaven has given is to suffer the consequences!"

. . .

In the days that followed, messages were relayed from Liuhe Peak to the various Foundation Establishment branches of the Chen family.

The leaders of each lineage did not slacken their efforts in the slightest, even though they had already established their foundations.

In order to find the treasures on the jade slip, they not only dispersed all their clansmen, but even personally went to various Foundation Establishment secret shops.

Chen Xuanzhou quickly collected most of the treasures he needed, but his only deficiency was his own crafting skills, which he was not entirely confident about at the moment.

There was only one Bloodline Flood Dragon corpse, which was the main material. He didn't want to end up like Han Daxianzun, who had a bunch of top-tier flood dragon materials but ultimately didn't even get his money back.

After hesitating for a while, he collected all the spiritual materials, then grabbed his clone and they transformed into a beam of light, heading towards the Earth Fire Chamber.

As the sun rose and set, several months passed in the blink of an eye. Occasionally, one could see the Yue Emperor's avatar emerge from underground, collect materials from the Chen family members, and trade a batch of magical artifacts.

Apart from that, there was no other movement.

The outside world didn't pay much attention to this, only assuming that Chen Xuanzhou was in seclusion refining some rare and precious magical artifact, and that he hadn't skimped on the materials he needed.

With those finished magical artifacts around, it's no wonder that no one doubted what they had done.

Among the magical artifacts traded, a small portion were rare treasures, which would be considered the highlight of some auctions.