A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 36: Chapter 35: Yuqing Zhou Family

From a distance, the city is divided into five zones, encircling a central square like stars surrounding the moon, resembling a fully bloomed five-petaled plum blossom.

The name of the Plum Blossom Marketplace comes from this.

To the south of the city, a ten-zhang tall archway stands, with the words ”Plum Blossom Market” boldly written upon it. That is the entrance to the marketplace.

Lu Qian and his companions looked into the distance and saw hundreds of cultivators’ escape lights coming in and out from under the archway, sparkling like stars in motion.

Jiang Qingfeng murmured, ”What grandeur, how many cultivators must be in this marketplace?”

At Baitao’s urging, Master Xuan Ji lifted her up high so she could see further: ”There might be ten thousand cultivators. Such a large marketplace would even have several Golden Core Masters stationed to deter any trouble.”

Jiang Qingfeng took a sharp breath. Even though she had read descriptions of large marketplaces in her sect’s secret archives, seeing it in person was astonishing. The Yunshan Sect had less than a hundred cultivators; how many Yunshan Sects could there be here?

Lu Qian gazed at the marketplace, lost in thought.

Within a single prefecture, there are only one or two such large marketplaces. In the land of Cangzhou, the Plum Blossom Marketplace is the only large marketplace, so this scale is not surprising. Upon entering the marketplace, they would find the Wind-Controlling Beast, bringing them closer to the Ningzhou Danxia Sect, which made his heart stir with excitement.

At that moment, suddenly, there were shouts from behind, growing louder: ”Help! Fellow Daoists ahead, help!”

Turning around, Lu Qian and his companions saw an escape light fleeing in panic, heading straight for the Jade Boat, with another escape light close on its tail.

”Accelerate to avoid,” Lu Qian said. At this moment, Qingfeng was piloting the flying ship, and she nodded in agreement, hastily feeding spirit stones into the flying ship’s central control.

But as everyone had been gazing at the distant marketplace, the flying ship was in a slow hover. Reactivating it now seemed too late.

A middle-aged man with dark complexion was steering a Flying Shuttle in a frantic rush, face full of panic. Behind him were three or four cultivators clustered on a flying spiritual artifact, shooting magical artifacts toward him.

The man was in the late-stage Qi Cultivation realm. Using a Defensive Spiritual Artifact for protection, he steered the Flying Shuttle, crashing toward Lu Qian’s group.

Lu Qian frowned, shouting, ”Settle your own grievances. Don’t blame me if I take action if you come any nearer!”

Upon hearing this, the man’s face turned bitter. Just then, he took several more hits from attacks and could only cry out, ”Apologies!”

The Flying Shuttle sped up even more, suddenly rushing toward the White Jade Flying Ship.

Baitao shut her eyes in fear, Master Xuan Ji cursed loudly, his hand sweeping over an Array Map, shaking a Five-Colored Command Banner, unleashing a Five Elements Grand Array on the flying ship!

”An Array Cultivator!” The dark-faced man exclaimed in shock as he desperately tried to change direction, but still collided with the array light shield, rebounding from the force, spinning several times in the air, dizzy and nearly falling off the Flying Shuttle.

While maneuvering, Master Xuan Ji didn’t forget to educate Lu Qian, ”Kid, watch closely. The intricacies of array techniques not only allow for attacks on enemies within the array but can also defend against those outside.”

Blocked by the array, the pursuing cultivators trapped the dark-faced man. One pudgy cultivator shouted, ”Zhou Chao, today is your death day!”

Zhou Chao pleaded desperately, ”Fellow Daoists, we have no enmity. You must have been hired by the Chaosheng Sect to kill me. No matter their offer, I’ll double it. Please spare me!”

The cultivators hesitated, but the leader, the pudgy one, shook his head at his companions, ”We have an agreement with the Chaosheng Sect that cannot be broken. If we become greedy, how will we survive in the future? Besides, can he even afford double right now?”

Seeing the opportunity, Zhou Chao urgently said, ”Fellow Daoists in the array, I had no choice earlier. Please save my life. The Yuqing Zhou Family will surely reward you heavily!”

The grand array remained unmoved.

The pudgy cultivators made up their minds, raising their Flying Swords high, ”Passing fellow Daoists, don’t listen to his nonsense. The Zhou Family is on the brink of collapse. What do they have to offer? Help us out, and once he’s dealt with, let’s head to town for drinks!”

Several Attack Artifacts rose into the air, and Zhou Chao knew that without Lu Qian and his companions’ help, his survival was impossible today.

In a moment of despair, he racked his brains and suddenly shouted, ”Array Cultivator, help! I have a volume of the Six Harmonies Array, acquired from a Golden Core Master. I swear by my Dao Heart, if you save me, I’ll offer it up with both hands!”

Upon hearing this, Master Xuan Ji quickly glanced at Lu Qian. Lu Qian’s expression also changed.

He already knew that the kinds of arrays were exceedingly complex. From the Three Talents Array to the Four Symbols Array, to the Five Elements Array, the Six Harmonies Array, and on to the Seven-Star Array, Eight Trigrams Array, Nine Palaces Array... the Twenty-Eight Star Constellations Array, Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Array, Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Formation, up to the legendary 365 Circulation Star Formation - profound and vast.

Just within the Five Elements Grand Array, there are distinctions like the Anti-Five Elements, Yin Yang Five Elements, Qimen Five Elements, etc.

The permutations of arrays are infinite, while human strength has limits. An array cultivator typically chooses one array to delve into within one or two major realms, often struggling to master even that.

For instance, Master Xuan Ji focused on learning Yin Yang Five Elements, while Li Zhenru, at the Foundation Establishment Realm, majored in Yin Yang Five Elements and learned Qimen Five Elements as well.

The various combinations and changes of each array are the secrets passed down among array cultivators. A book on array techniques is extremely precious, enough to be considered a legacy treasure.

Although Zhou Chao mentioned the Six Harmonies Array, if mutual learning is possible, Master Xuan Ji and Lu Qian could certainly gain greatly. Moreover, if it was left by a Golden Core Master, it would be even more extraordinary, and no array cultivator would want to miss out on such a treasure.

For this reason, it was worth making a move!

The cultivators shouted as they unleashed their artifacts toward Zhou Chao. He raised his last defensive barrier, closing his eyes in despair.

Suddenly, the grand array beside him flashed with light, unfurling and expanding to envelop Zhou Chao within.

The artifacts clanged and clattered against the array’s light wall, shaking the grand array, yet the defense held firm.

Master Xuan Ji turned pale, ”Hurry, I’m using my own spiritual power now, and can’t sustain it long.”

Lu Qian pulled the stunned Zhou Chao onto the flying ship. Qingfeng channeled her spiritual power, accelerating the ship, flying under the protection of the array toward the Plum Blossom Marketplace.

The pudgy cultivators, furious and ashamed, chased for a few steps before stopping.

Initially, they intended to ambush Zhou Chao at this location, but once within the marketplace’s perimeter, patrolling cultivators made any attacks impossible.

With Zhou Chao rescued by this passing array cultivator, they found breaking through the array’s defense implausible. As their targets moved toward the marketplace, going after them would lead to arrest by marketplace law enforcement.

After cursing for a while, they could only turn around and leave reluctantly.

Inside the array, seeing the marketplace so close, Zhou Chao let out a long sigh of relief. His clothing was soaked with cold sweat and dotted with spots of blood.

Jiang Qingfeng murmured, ”Junior Brother, saving this man won’t bring trouble upon us, will it?”