Chapter 478: Array Masters Guild

"Young master, you... did you ask about the Soul-less Golden Man?"

Seeing the young master's body tremble slightly as he stood dumbfounded, the old man knew that dwelling on this issue would drive him mad, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Ah? I... forgot!"

Song Chao shook.

As soon as they met, after only one sentence, the other party pointed out the crux and problems in his cultivation... and then he fell into a verbal offensive, losing himself.

Let alone the Soul-less Golden Man, he hadn't even spoken much.

How could he ask?

"Then... I'll go ask..."

The old man couldn't help but say.

"Mm, go ahead... be careful!" After a moment's hesitation, Song Chao nodded.

He was now somewhat afraid, terrified that if he went over, he would again be seduced by the other's words and obediently comply, so it was better to let this servant go.

But... the other could use Master's Word of Heaven to teach him and could see his problems. His master level was no lower than Song Chao's. Someone like that, having obtained the Soul-less Golden Man, would surely study it himself. How could he possibly sell it?

"Yes!"

The old man nodded and quickly stepped up to Zhang Xuan, who had already walked a bit away: "Master Zhang, we wish to purchase that Soul-less Golden Man. I wonder... if you are interested in selling it? Our young master is willing to offer two half-step five-star master course jade talismans!"

"Forty thousand spirit stones!" Zhang Xuan stopped.

"This price is already very high. Half-step five-star master course jade talismans, our young master only has three in total... Wait, what did you say?"

Thinking Master Zhang would directly refuse, the old man was startled to hear no rebuttal but a direct price: "Master Zhang said forty thousand spirit stones... to sell?"

Whoosh!

Before he finished speaking, a blur appeared, and a Soul-less Golden Man landed on the ground.

"Produce the spirit stones, take the golden man. No course jade talismans accepted. If you don't have them... please leave!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

He was in a hurry to return and study the Heavenly Dao technique; he had no time to waste with this guy.

Since this fellow wanted the Soul-less Golden Man, and since the thing had basically become useless after forming the book, it was better to sell it than to keep it and let it depreciate.

"...That simple?"

Song Chao behind him had thought that the old man rushing over to speak would surely fail, but he never dreamed it would be this simple...

If he had known this guy intended to sell, why did he bother pretending to offer guidance? Now, not only did he fail to guide, but he was guided instead...

He had lost all face...

Song Chao felt he was going mad.

With others, no matter what they did, as a master, he could still discern some patterns. But this guy before him completely defied common sense, making his head feel like it was hitting a rock, dizzying him.

"Master Zhang, do you really intend to sell this Soul-less Golden Man to me for forty thousand spirit stones?"

Unable to help himself, he came over.

"If you can't afford it, forget it!"

Putting away the golden man, Zhang Xuan prepared to leave.

"I'll buy it..."

His face reddening, Song Chao quickly spoke.

Clatter!

As he finished, a pile of spirit stones appeared before everyone, exactly forty thousand, no more, no less.

"Mm, the golden man is yours!" Collecting the spirit stones, Zhang Xuan casually tossed the golden man beside him and turned to leave.

"Thank you, Master Zhang..."

Taking the Soul-less Golden Man, Song Chao, afraid of any issues, quickly stored it in his ring. Just as he secured it, he suddenly froze, nearly banging his head to death.

"I've been tricked again. My forty thousand spirit stones..."

Clearly, he had fallen under Master's Word of Heaven again, involuntarily taking out the money...

He had only saved this much over the years, and now it was all drained by this guy... Could he be any more of a scam?

What kind of monster was this guy...

"Congratulations, young master, on acquiring the Soul-less Golden Man..." The old man clasped his hands.

"Get lost!"

Already frustrated, hearing congratulations nearly made him explode. Song Chao roared.

"Uh... yes!"

The old man scratched his head, full of confusion. What was wrong with the young master? Was his mind... malfunctioning?

...

Unexpectedly, this four-star master who appeared from nowhere had contributed forty thousand spirit stones. Zhang Xuan returned to his room full of excitement. With a flick of his wrist, rows of bookshelves appeared before him.

With so many spirit stones, cultivation would become much easier. It was time to look at the books and appropriately raise his cultivation.

His fingers brushed over the rows of books, and identical books appeared in his mind.

Soon, all the techniques and martial skills collected by Guild Leader Sai were recorded into the Heavenly Dao Library.

"Correct!"

Piling together the techniques for the first level of Mortal Transformation, the Life Extension Realm, he focused his mind.

Whoosh!

A brand-new book appeared before him.

He picked it up and gently opened it.

"Mortal Transformation, also called Transcendence or Detachment, means breaking free from the shackles of mortality, greatly elevating the level of life. To break free from mortality, one must abstain from the dregs of the five grains and consume the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Those who eat grains are wise but die young; those who eat qi are divine and live long..."

The content of the book entered his eyes.

After an unknown time, Zhang Xuan exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and opened his eyes.

He had fully comprehended and understood the Heavenly Dao technique for the first level of Mortal Transformation and could begin cultivating at any time.

"Let's begin!"

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he flipped his wrist, and a spirit stone appeared in his palm. True qi flowed slowly according to the technique's direction.

Crack!

After two breaths, the spirit stone in his hand crumbled into powder.

"Huh? This..."

His face twitched.

Spirit stones, formed from heaven and earth, contained spiritual energy and were as hard as jade... In theory, they were very sturdy. How did it shatter so easily?

Looking down, he was immediately filled with disbelief.

"The spiritual energy... was completely absorbed?"

The shattered spirit stone on the ground was completely white, like crushed lime, clearly because all its spiritual energy had been devoured.

"This... how many spirit stones would it take to break through to the first level of Mortal Transformation like this?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned.

He had thought that breaking through to the first level of Mortal Transformation would require a few hundred spirit stones at most, and with tens of thousands in hand, it would be easy. Now it seemed he had been daydreaming.

Mortal Transformation: breaking free from the mundane.

His body, tempered by Heavenly Dao true qi, far surpassed ordinary people. Breaking the gap between mortal and spiritual realms was more than a hundred times harder for him than for others.

It was like doubling the water in a one-meter-diameter puddle was easy, but doubling the water in an ocean... how difficult!

That was his situation.

His entire body, nourished by Heavenly Dao true qi, had undergone changes in both flesh and soul. Invincible at the same level, it was even harder for him to cross the final threshold.

"Absorbing one by one would take forever..."

With tens of thousands of spirit stones, under normal circumstances, even if breaking through required a lot, it would be sufficient. But these low-grade spirit stones contained limited spiritual energy, and he needed an enormous amount... Breaking one every two breaths, absorbing intermittently, would interrupt his cultivation!

Moreover, absorbing them one by one in hand... when would he ever break through to Mortal Transformation?

It was like drinking water through an IV tube; even if the bottle had enough water, dripping it down would still kill you from thirst.

In other words, he had to find a way to output the spiritual energy from the spirit stones quickly to match his cultivation.

"Array!"

Frowning, a profession came to mind.

Cultivating with one spirit stone at a time was impossible. To have hundreds or thousands of spirit stones provide spiritual energy simultaneously, there was only one way: using an array!

When he had destroyed the Lin family, he had learned many books on arrays and knew of some powerful spirit-gathering arrays that could extract spiritual energy from spirit stones and converge it into a torrent.

If he had such an array, placing spirit stones within it would automatically draw out their spiritual power, making cultivation much easier.

"Let's find an array first!"

He stood up.

As his cultivation increased, his demand for spiritual energy grew. Without such an array, even with enough spirit stones, cultivation would be troublesome.

Leaving the room, he found Guild Leader Sai again.

"Guild Leader, does Honghai City have an Array Masters Guild? Could you take me there?"

"As a trade capital, Honghai City naturally has an Array Masters Guild. Does Master Zhang intend to buy array disks to prepare for the trip to the Witch Soul Tomb?"

Guild Leader Sai looked over.

Array disks were miniaturized arrays that could be carried around and activated with true qi, usable even by non-array masters. They were the most popular items at the Array Masters Guild.

The trip to the Witch Soul Tomb was fraught with danger. Having array disks on hand would greatly increase one's chances of survival.

"Array disks? Yes, take me to see if I can buy some!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

If he could buy a spirit-gathering array disk, he could carry it around to gather spiritual energy anywhere for cultivation, which would be much more convenient.

"I am an old friend of Guild Leader Zheng Jingfeng of the Array Masters Guild. He has the highest-level array disks in all of Honghai City. I'll take you there; you'll be satisfied!"

Guild Leader Sai said.

"Then I'll trouble you, Guild Leader!" Knowing the other intended to build a connection, Zhang Xuan did not refuse.

The Appraisal Gem Pavilion, due to its unique profession, was centrally located among many guilds. It was not far from the Array Masters Guild, and they arrived in less than ten minutes.

Back in Tianwu Kingdom, Zhang Xuan had visited the Array Masters Guild once and collected many books there. Compared to this one, it was far inferior.

The guild's main gate was tall and majestic, engraved with the Eight Trigrams, giving a mysterious feeling.

Entering, he immediately felt a change in atmosphere. The air inside was moist, the spiritual energy abundant, and the temperature pleasant, like stepping into a spring garden, indescribably relaxing and comfortable.

"This..."

Zhang Xuan blinked.

It was now late autumn, nearing winter, and it was cold outside. How could it be warm as spring here?

"The Array Masters Guild has arranged an array here. Once inside, it's spring all year round..." Seeing his expression and knowing what he was thinking, Guild Leader Sai stroked his beard: "Don't worry, this array only makes people feel comfortable; it has no offensive properties and won't cause harm."

"Setting up an array that keeps it warm in winter and cool in summer, just to make visitors comfortable... As expected of the Array Masters Guild, such a grand gesture!"

Zhang Xuan marveled.

Such a large array, controlled so precisely, only affecting the guild interior without any impact on the outside, was truly worthy of the Array Masters Guild of the Ten Thousand Nations Alliance. This array alone was likely at the peak of tier three, or even reached tier four!