Shangguan Yun’s expression remained unchanged as he said indifferently.
"As for spirit beasts, they are sold at the trading market. If there are no spirit pets that catch your eye, little friend, there will be an underground trade fair in three days. Perhaps you will find what you need there."
Saying this, a spiritual light flashed in Shangguan Yun’s palm, and a purple square token appeared.
"Little friend, with this item, you will be able to find the underground trade fair."
Most alchemists are quite wealthy, and their influence is especially terrifying, so he did not mind forging a good relationship with Zhou Chen.
Zhou Chen smiled and nodded in agreement.
He had, of course, visited the trading market before.
The spirit beasts in the trading market were too weak. Either their aptitude was poor or their combat power was lacking.
The cost of nurturing most spirit beasts was too high, yet the strength they developed failed to meet expectations.
In the past, the spirit beasts in the market would have satisfied Zhou Chen’s requirements.
But now, he had long since looked down on low level spirit beasts.
After leaving Wind Thunder Pavilion, Zhou Chen headed straight for Ink Scholar Studio.
Ink Scholar Studio was also the largest formation flag shop in the city.
Formation flags are different from medicinal pills. They have no cultivation requirements.
As long as one has enough spirit stones, even with a Qi Refining Stage cultivation, one can still deploy a formation capable of killing those at the Golden Core Stage.
Zhou Chen wandered around the first floor for a while.
First rank formation flags appeared one after another: the water attribute Water Dragon Formation, the illusion attribute Illusionary Sound Formation, the wood attribute Myriad Wood Formation. These low level formation flags could no longer catch his attention.
The level of first rank formation flags was too low, only useful for defending against Qi Refining Stage disciples.
Thus, after proving his wealth once again, he headed up to the second floor.
As soon as he reached the second floor, his attention was drawn to a formation flag in the center.
[Five Elements Covering Heaven Formation]
It contained the mutual generation and inhibition of the five elements, making it a formation that integrated attack, defense, illusions, and isolation.
Even among second rank formation flags, it was considered one of the top tier existences.
Of course, the price was also extremely high. At one thousand six hundred low grade spirit stones, it was enough to make Foundation Establishment cultivators hesitate.
Zhou Chen had originally wanted to check the third floor.
But after seeing the Five Elements Covering Heaven Formation, he immediately abandoned the idea of going to the third floor.
A top tier second rank formation flag cost one thousand six hundred spirit stones.
Would a third rank formation flag not start at over ten thousand spirit stones? He could not afford that for now.
The shop assistant on the second floor also came over to greet him.
Seeing Zhou Chen staring at the Five Elements Covering Heaven Formation, he said with a beaming smile.
"Fellow Daoist, you truly have a good eye. This Five Elements Covering Heaven Formation is the treasure of our second floor."
"Even if three or four Foundation Establishment cultivators were to besiege it, they would not be able to break through its defense in a short time."
The defensive power of this formation was significantly higher than he had expected.
This made Zhou Chen even more satisfied. "I will take this formation."
The outer sect area of the Yin Yang Sect was inhabited by Qi Refining Stage disciples.
However, inner sect disciples passed through frequently, and he did not want his affairs to be exposed.
The low level formation flags he had purchased previously would not be able to hide from the divine sense of Foundation Establishment Stage disciples.
An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth. Zhou Chen was the weak Senior Brother Zhou, which was how he managed to build a good reputation.
After obtaining the formation flag, Zhou Chen did not linger and left in a hurry.
Jiangdu City was a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons. Especially in large shops like this, who knew how many old monsters were inside.
If he happened to encounter some Golden Core Stage powerhouses and they saw through his true appearance, it would be a huge problem.
After purchasing the formation flag, he had less than a thousand spirit stones left.
If used to purchase materials for refining medicinal pills, it would be more than enough.
The requirements for materials for second rank pills were not particularly high.
Most required herbs with over two hundred years of growth. He spent six hundred spirit stones.
Zhou Chen bought nearly a hundred sets of refining materials.
After making another round through the market, he bought a cultivation manual.
[Five Elements Art]
It was a common cultivation method. Its disadvantage was that its combat power was not considered formidable among those in the same realm.
The advantage was that no matter how poor your spiritual root was, as long as you possessed one of the five elements spiritual roots, you could cultivate this technique.
He had observed Nan Qiao and confirmed she had a spiritual root, but her talent likely was not great.
Since he could not test her spiritual root attributes in the short term, he might as well let her start cultivating first.
It was unlikely that within a chaotic spiritual root, not a single five elements attribute could be found.
Furthermore, because its power was weaker, its cultivation speed was faster compared to more powerful techniques.
However, Zhou Chen bought an incomplete copy, which only allowed cultivation up to the Foundation Establishment peak.
This was enough for Zhou Chen. After all, Nan Qiao was an ordinary person and should not aim too high too soon.
Besides, cultivation methods that reached the Golden Core Stage would not appear in the market.
Zhou Chen thought for a moment.
He then bought new talisman papers and various types of demon blood.
However, just as he was planning to leave, a technique displayed by a street vendor caught his attention.
[Great Expansion Technique]
The cultivation requirements for this technique were not difficult. One could start cultivating it at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
Once the first layer was mastered, one’s soul power would double, and upon mastering the second layer, it would double again.
The price was not too high either, costing only a hundred low grade spirit stones.
Zhou Chen grew suspicious and asked directly.
"Fellow Daoist, is this Great Expansion Technique truly so profound?"
One must know that when a cultivator breaks through a major realm, the strength of their divine soul is a crucial factor.
Even in combat, the strength of the divine soul is extremely important.
Among cultivators at the same Qi Refining Stage, some can control three magical artifacts simultaneously, while others can only control one. This is the difference in their divine sense.
To put it simply, when two parties approach each other, the benefits of discovering the opponent before they discover you are self evident.
How could a technique of this level be sold for a mere hundred low grade spirit stones?
The shop owner was a young man dressed in a green long robe.
Seeing Zhou Chen holding the Great Expansion Technique, he did not intend to keep him in suspense.
"Fellow Daoist, if you want to cultivate the Great Expansion Technique, its requirements for soul power are extremely harsh. It cannot be cultivated unless one can control it as easily as one’s own fingers."
"If something goes wrong during cultivation, it is easy to suffer from qi deviation."
"Furthermore, when cultivating this technique, the soul will experience the pain of ten thousand insects devouring the spirit. It cannot be done without great perseverance."
The Great Expansion Technique was originally the sect protecting treasure of a certain sect, but after the sect declined, the technique was snatched away by other sects.
But the problem was that many cultivators tried to cultivate this technique.
But in the end, they either went insane or died from qi deviation.
As time went on, no one wanted to practice this technique anymore, and it eventually spread to the public market.