Gou Zai Liang Jie Dao Wen Cheng Xian

Chu Xuan looked around the small courtyard and nodded in satisfaction. It was very nice.

The main house is divided into three rooms: a living room in the middle, a bedroom on the left, and a study on the right.

There is also a side room that can be used to entertain guests. Opposite is a kitchen and a latrine, as well as a small courtyard of about 40 square meters. The environment is quite nice.

Most importantly, there's a formation!

Indeed, the small courtyard in front of us was actually equipped with a formation, though it was only a low-grade first-order formation, which could only serve as a warning and had limited defensive capabilities. A cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining could break it in a little while.

The problem is that any noise would be enough to wake everyone in the courtyard. Furthermore, this small array is connected to the main market array; any anomaly would immediately attract the attention of the enforcement disciples, who would arrive quickly.

Of course, these are secondary. The most important thing is the matter of the formation, which completely enlightened Chu Xuan. The Federation also has formations.

Although the Federation's arrays have been largely abolished due to insufficient spiritual energy, they have been replaced by various power-consuming fairy puppets.

However, this does not mean that the Federation has no formations. The Federation has many formations, but they are just not set up with spiritual energy.

The Federation has no spiritual energy, but this place does.

I can set up the Federation's formation here. With the Federation's formation protecting me, I can feel much more at ease.

Moreover, it's not just formations; other traditions of the Federation can be tried in this world, such as alchemy, talisman making, puppetry, and beast taming.

Thinking of this, a hint of anticipation appeared in Chu Xuan's eyes.

The Federation's legacy, combined with the resources of this world, makes them virtually invincible!

Seeing the change in Chu Xuan's expression, the young man beside him was overjoyed and quickly pressed his advantage, saying, "Immortal Master, this courtyard has a beautiful environment and is protected by an array. It is most suitable as a cave dwelling. Even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is much richer than outside."

"It only costs thirty spirit stones a year. Would you like to rent it?"

Chu Xuan frowned slightly. "Thirty spirit stones? That's a lot!"

Although Chu Xuan didn't know much about the prices in this area, the immortal master he killed back then only had about ten spirit stones in his pocket. He was at least a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator and an outer disciple of the Xuanming Sect.

Even though he was a low-ranking outer disciple, he couldn't even afford a year's rent with all the spirit stones he had, which was obviously not cheap.

"Immortal Master, what you see here is a courtyard house, one courtyard per person, not a separate house. It costs thirty spirit stones a year, which is the price set by the Immortal Sect."

"It's impossible to change it. Those cheap places are just shared by several people; the more people, the cheaper it is."

"If you'd like to see that kind, I can take you there. I recommend a shared apartment for two people, so at least one person can have their own room, but you'll have to share the kitchen and bathroom."

"Moreover, the Immortal Sect's grand formation only protects the courtyard, not the rooms. If the tenants harbor malicious intentions, there could be danger."

Seeing that Chu Xuan's expression did not change, the young man's eyes flickered, and he spoke again: "There are also those with even more people. They are usually located on the edge of the market. A courtyard can house at least three or four people, and sometimes as many as seven or eight."

"However, most of these are low-level cultivators like petty people, and there are also some cultivators who barely stepped into the Qi Refining Realm but couldn't go any further and could only stay at the first level. You definitely wouldn't look down on them."

It seems that this cultivation world is quite cruel. The innate grandmasters who can lord it over the surrounding villages are squeezed into the bottom of the slums in the market.

And those at the first level of Qi Refining, if they lack talent, will probably be treated the same as those at the Innate level.

"It seems that renting a courtyard house is more comfortable."

Upon hearing this, the young man's face immediately lit up with a bright smile. "You're right, renting a courtyard house is more cost-effective. Although it costs more money, the treatment is completely different, it's worth it!"

"I just didn't expect the cave dwelling to be so expensive. I don't have enough spirit stones on hand. Wait a moment, I'll go into the mountains and kill a few half-demon beasts to sell for money!"

The young man was somewhat disappointed, but it was well concealed. If Chu Xuan hadn't developed divine sense, he probably wouldn't have noticed.

After parting ways with the young man, Chu Xuan casually found a small alley, slowly closed his eyes, and realized that he indeed had no spirit stones on hand.

The dozen or so spirit stones from back then had long been taken away by Elder Qian. However, the spirit stones that the Federation had left over had absorbed a considerable amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

But this is a mid-grade spirit stone produced by the Federation, and Chu Xuan has no intention of using it.

That's right. Spirit stones produced by the Federation can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. To be precise, all spirit stones can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In this respect, Xuanming Sect and the Federation are the same.

Spirit stones, in essence, are equivalent exchange items created by cultivators to facilitate transactions, and are not much different from gold and silver currency.

Gold and silver are precious metals, and the same goes for the currency used by cultivators; they possess considerable value.

Although he didn't know the evolution of the currency used by cultivators in this world, Chu Xuan knew about the evolution of the currency used by cultivators in the Federation.

Spirit stones actually originated from the hands of array masters. Array masters need sufficient spiritual energy to maintain the normal operation of arrays, but not all arrays can be built on spiritual veins, so spirit stones came into being.

Its original purpose was actually to set up formations. Spirit stones are essentially special minerals engraved with spirit-gathering and spirit-sealing formations to gather the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth into them, and then release it when used.

This is why the value of a spirit stone is not only due to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth contained within it, but also because it has intrinsic value.

Even if you run out of spirit stones, as long as you place them in an environment with abundant spiritual energy, the spirit stones can be gradually replenished.

However, the Federation generally lacks spiritual energy, so once the spirit stones are used up, there is no way to replenish them. They can only be returned to the Federation for replenishment.

Since he had consumed a lot of energy and it wasn't time to collect the spiritual resources yet, he naturally didn't return the spirit stones. Chu Xuan brought them over, and after a month here, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had been fully replenished.

However, the spiritual energy replenished here is essentially attribute-less spirit stones, with various attributes mixed in, making them far less comfortable to use than the spirit stones from the Federation.

Getting back to the main point, we definitely can't use the Federation's mid-grade spirit stones, so we'll just have to borrow some from someone.

It just so happens that I killed a celestial master back then, which implicated Aqing and created karma. I can take this opportunity to settle it all at once.

It's a good opportunity to take a look at the strength of the cultivators in this world.

The Xuanming Sect has thirty-seven wards, including five major wards and thirty-two minor wards. The five major wards are all guarded by experts at the Daotai Realm. In smaller wards like Qingyue Ward, the outer sect stewards are usually at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

With my second-tier body refinement cultivation, I can give it a try; the risks are manageable!