Chapter 161: Guarding the Immortal City, the Array Tool is First Formed! (Two-in-One)

Su Ping walked along the way.

After leaving the Jinzi Domain, he discovered that most other regions were actually even more miserable than the Jinzi Domain.

Especially the regions near the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Let alone large mortal cities, even markets and the settlements of cultivation families no longer existed.

Many Spirit Veins and Spirit Fields were left vacant there, and it looked as if they had been abandoned for at least several years.

From this, it could be seen that the danger level in this region was not only high but also frequent.

Otherwise, even if there were only a one-in-ten chance of obtaining a harvest,

these barren Spirit Fields would definitely have had Loose Cultivators flocking to them to farm and take a gamble.

"Looking at it this way, I fear there is nowhere left where people are still alive, except for the Immortal City."

Su Ping arrived near a collapsed Sutra Repository, and after his Divine Sense swept over it, he waved his hand to manifest his Supernatural Arm to help, taking out a large number of books from within.

Su Ping felt these miscellaneous books, which had not been taken away for various reasons and which no Cultivator had been interested in returning to retrieve, were truly pitiful; he feared they would be ruined by snakes, insects, rats, and ants at any moment.

He decided to find them a new home.

This was not the first time Su Ping had done such a good deed in the past few days.

With the help of his Storage Spirit Tool, it did not waste much time.

"Hm?"

Su Ping noticed a thin black-covered book and made it fly before him.

This book had no title, was well-preserved, and carried a faint, clean fragrance.

After confirming there was no Evil Qi, the curious Su Ping used his Supernatural Arm to open the book.

He discovered that this was a notebook researching the Incense Divine Path.

The many theoretical studies and bold conjectures inside made Su Ping's eyes light up.

He wondered if this person might have been a talent in this field?

After finishing it, Su Ping learned that the owner of the notebook was a Loose Cultivator with only inferior Spirit Roots who, relying on hard work and a bit of luck, had obtained the inheritance of the Incense Divine Path.

Later, he came to the home of the owner of this Spirit Vein and became a son-in-law, and thus obtained quite a few resources to conduct his research.

This notebook was left behind from when he was young; if he had not died, he likely would have followed the family to the Immortal City or another region.

Su Ping remembered the name of the notebook's owner: Kui Ming.

It was a pity there was no portrait of him, and he could only guess from other records that this was the Mu Family of Tu Lin City.

After placing this black-covered notebook specifically into the Storage Bag inside his sleeve,

Su Ping left this now-deserted ruin.

Several hours later, he had effectively entered the defensive range of the Immortal City.

Su Ping saw circles upon circles of colorful halos appearing in the sky on the horizon, constantly expanding, disappearing, and regenerating like ripples splashed in a lake...

This was the result of the first-generation Chiyuan Xianren suppressing hundreds of millions of Demon Beasts and forcing those Demon Emperors to hide in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

He had directly forged thirty-six Immortal Cities, thereby laying out this Heavenly Net Array that shrouded the entire Ten Thousand Mountains.

Relying on this array, the Ten Thousand Mountains of a thousand years ago were merely a hunting ground left by the Chiyuan Immortal Sect for its Inner Sect Disciples.

And as for powerful Demon Beasts above the level of Demon King, as soon as they left the Forbidden Lands or Secret Realms in the mountains, they would not only trigger the array's Restrictions and be constrained by the formation, but they would also be located and quickly hunted by experts from the Immortal City, becoming their mount Spirit Beasts or various precious Spirit Materials!

Yet, unexpectedly, a thousand years later, as the Chiyuan Immortal Sect ran into trouble, the Demon Beasts had already reversed the roles and begun to actively attack the Immortal City.

There were even times when swarms of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Demon Beasts broke through the defensive lines and penetrated deep into the interior, plunging mortal life into misery!

After seeing the celestial phenomenon and walking for a while longer, Su Ping finally saw fellow travelers.

It was a large post station on the main road, where dozens of merchant caravans traveling together were gathered, standing in a standoff against a pack of wolf-like Demon Beasts in front of them.

These were all teams heading to the Immortal City, consisting mainly of Loose Cultivators and martial artists.

They primarily transported daily necessities; if these supplies were also transported using Immortal Boats, the cost would be far too high. Therefore, after making a few trips and discovering the massive profit margins, merchants chose to continue maintaining the land trade routes.

Of course, thanks to that meritorious Elder of the Immortal Sect, the cargo holds of the land transport were also filled with wooden racks of Storage Bags.

This allowed dozens of merchant caravans each month to satisfy the needs of the lower and middle-class residents of the entire Immortal City.

Their service targets were naturally the lower and middle-class residents of the Immortal City, primarily the Loose Cultivators and martial artists who had multiplied and thrived there for generations under the protection of the Immortal City's guardians.

Because of this, they had obtained command tokens from the Immortal City, which allowed them to receive the protection of the array for a short time when encountering danger, thereby gaining the chance to be prioritized for rescue by the city's patrol squads.

Over these past few years, the risks and rewards had been acceptable, which had maintained the existence of these merchant caravans.

This allowed Su Ping to see the scene before him.

The leader of the merchant caravan was an old man with the appearance of a child and white hair, at the Qi Refining Perfection stage.

He held a command token in his left hand that could summon the power of the array to descend, and waved his right hand, signaling several burly men to throw out chunks of frozen fresh meat.

It appeared he hoped to bribe those Demon Wolves with this meat to avoid this conflict.

Judging by the expressions of those burly men and the others in the caravan,

this was not the first time they had avoided direct conflict with these Demon Beasts in this manner.

However, this time, a white wolf emerged from among those Demon Beasts.

This white wolf looked at the thousands of pounds of fresh meat piled up, shook its head slightly, and actually spoke in human language:

"Leave all the supplies, and you may leave safely."

Upon hearing this demand, the caravan leader's expression turned grave, and he retreated back into the caravan.

Then, without a word, he activated the command token.

Suddenly, a seven-colored light descended from the sky, enveloping the post station where the caravan was located.

The white wolf was slightly taken aback; it had not expected that the humans, who had just been humble, fawning, and fearful of them, would suddenly and decisively cut off their own final path of retreat.

After a howl, this white wolf, along with the dozens of giant wolves beside it, surrounded the post station.

After assuming an attacking posture and charging up their power,

These demon wolves did not attack, seemingly knowing long ago that their attacks would be of little use against the light barrier before them.

It would be better to wait for this protective light barrier to dissipate on its own once the time was up.

As for the rescue team...

Su Ping and the caravan leader looked toward the direction of the Zhenshou Xiancheng at the same time.

The loud noise that suddenly came from that direction had already blown over along with the Wind Technique.

It is not hard to imagine that a fierce battle has likely broken out over there again.

Viewed in this light, these demon wolves were clearly sent out at this specific time to deal with their caravan.

As for the purpose, it was naturally the supplies behind these caravans.

Clearly, among the Demon Beasts, there exist those who understand military strategy.

Although these supplies only affect the morale and military spirit of the lower and middle ranks, under this great battle that no one knows how long will last, all variables have the chance for quantitative changes to lead to qualitative changes through long-term accumulation!

After Su Ping understood the situation ahead.

He also stopped hiding at this moment and took action directly!

He did not summon a Memory Illusion to help.

In the identity of Baihe Zhenren, Su Ping took out a Red Iron Spirit Sword and killed his way over.

Because the caravan was present, Su Ping did not use the guns and cannons meant for clearing out small fry.

However, he could now be considered a "Master of Many Treasures."

Plus, his Divine Sense far exceeded that of a typical Foundation Establishment, so driving multiple high-grade Dharma Artifacts was almost no burden to him.

And because of this, while the Precious Sword flew out and stabbed the white wolf.

A small square seal transformed into the size of a millstone and knocked away more than ten demon wolves along the way.

Another red command flag hovered in mid-air, releasing red fire snakes one after another that coiled around several demon wolves, turning them into roasted meat.

"Foundation Establishment Cultivator?"

A slender eye appeared on the white wolf's brow.

It was completely inconsistent with its true form.

It looked like a trump card given by its elders.

Regarding this, Su Ping could be considered to have been prepared long ago.

Seeing that one sword strike did not kill the opponent.

A Dharma Image immediately emerged.

Immediately after, a huge palm shimmering with Golden Light descended from the sky.

With a boom, it directly slapped the white wolf into a pulp of flesh!

It did not give the white wolf any time to reply at all.

By the time the giant hand disappeared, the surrounding wolf pack had already been wiped out by the Dharma Artifacts released by Su Ping.

The demon wolves that could threaten the hundreds of people in the caravan were suppressed by Su Ping in the blink of an eye.

It left the caravan leader stunned.

It made him keenly realize that the combat strength of this Foundation Establishment great cultivator was far above the other Foundation Establishment cultivators he knew!

In fact, this was normal; Su Ping's Divine Sense was powerful, and he was driving high-grade Dharma Artifacts.

These Qi Refining stage Demon Beasts were nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs before him.

That Qi Refining Perfection white wolf was slightly more troublesome and had a life-saving trump card.

So Su Ping immediately attacked with full force; under his Dharma Image, he directly crushed the opponent's trump card while not giving the opponent time to deploy other means.

He directly settled the outcome of the battle!

The light barrier slowly dissipated as the time ran out.

The people of the caravan saw Su Ping, this Foundation Establishment True Person, and offered their salutes and greetings one after another.

The caravan leader even respectfully presented a generous gift to Su Ping.

Seeing Su Ping nod slightly and accept it, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then invited Su Ping to travel with them.

This leader also indicated his own value, stating that he still had some connections within the Immortal City.

He was very willing to serve his savior.

The sounds coming from the Zhenshou Xiancheng lasted for about ten minutes before slowly subsiding.

The caravan then set off, and after hurrying for about an hour.

They saw a patrol team from the Zhenshou Xiancheng, and then, under the escort of the patrol team, Su Ping finally caught sight of the Zhenshou Xiancheng.

Or rather, a country within a city!

The entire Zhenshou Xiancheng covered a vast area, at least as large as the entire territory of Jinque City!

Placed in the ancient times of Water Blue Star, it would have been enough to establish a small country.

The city was circular and subdivided into inner and outer rings and thirty-six Dharma Domains.

Between the Dharma Domains, and between the inner and outer rings, they were separated from each other by hundred-meter-high city walls built of white stone engraved with Immortal scripts.

All the city walls, together with the white stone floor of the inner ring, jointly formed the Array foundation of this Zhenshou Xiancheng.

At the same time, Su Ping, who had seen the magnificence and grandeur of the Zhenshou Xiancheng with his own eyes, marveled at such a large Zhenshou Xiancheng!

The Chiyuan Immortal Sect of that year had actually built thirty-six of them in one go!

One has to say how wealthy and imposing the Chiyuan Xianren of a thousand years ago was, acting decisively to dominate the universe and suppress the ages!

Approaching the city gate.

Su Ping saw the battle damage marks at the city gate.

At the same time, he also discovered several Foundation Establishment peers standing on the city tower, all of whom looked quite haggard.

He looked toward the Ten Thousand Mountains with a worried gaze.

He seemed to be worried about something.

After drawing near.

At the city gate, faint ripples suddenly appeared, and then two hundred-meter-tall golden puppets standing there seemed to emerge from the Void, revealing their forms.

They were even taller than the puppet Su Ping had seen last time, and their aura was much more intense.

Furthermore, they were more agile and possessed more spiritual charm.

It was as if they already possessed intelligence.

After these two golden puppets swept their eyes, which emitted Golden Light, they seemed to confirm that no evil Cultivators had snuck in, and the two puppets cleared the path.

This allowed the merchant caravan to enter the city smoothly.

Once inside the outer city.

Su Ping immediately felt as if he had arrived in another world.

It was different from what he had imagined.

The outer city was unexpectedly dominated by lush gardens.

In the gardens, Su Ping could see small Spirit Beasts moving about, and there were places that seemed to have been cleared into Spirit Plantation Gardens to grow Spirit Grass and flowers.

These places all had various Dharma Arrays, gathering Spirit Veins and surrounding Spirit Qi for nourishment.

On the spacious roads, there were gradually more people; martial artists, Loose Cultivators, and Qi Refining Cultivators were coming and going.

The leader of the merchant caravan also noticed that this might be Su Ping's first time here, so he whispered an introduction to the owners of those gardens.

Which one of them wasn't a pillar of the Immortal City back in the day, and which family wasn't a big name in the Immortal City now!

If not for that, how could they have accumulated such deep family assets to be able to use the Spirit Qi in the Immortal City to open Spirit Gardens and raise Spirit Beasts?

Amidst the chatting and laughing, the merchant caravan arrived at the warehouse.

The merchant caravan leader then accompanied Su Ping alone to the district that only Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivators were qualified to enter.

Here, Su Ping actually found a bit of the feeling of Yunshan Market.

After browsing around.

Su Ping discovered that the prices here were at least 1.5 times those of Yunshan Market.

However, there was also one benefit here: Cultivators did not have to worry about finding work that paid in Spirit Stones.

Whether it was doing chores in a Spirit Garden, or farming and mining in the Xiaodongtian Secret Realms of various great families.

All offered higher pay than the Outer Sect Disciples of an Immortal Sect.

And for some tasks that might be dangerous, such as going to the Ten Thousand Mountains outside the city to investigate the traces of Demon Beasts, or being responsible for the Dharma Power nodes for waving flags on the city walls.

They all offered good prices, causing Cultivators to come and sign up from time to time.

Su Ping also quickly found the location of the Great Golden Light Temple and the Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion.

Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion.

It was a long-standing establishment in the Cultivation World that helped Cultivators with opportunities customize Dharma Artifacts and even Spirit Tools.

It itself also possessed an extremely deep foundation.

It was rumored to be a top-tier force of the same generation as the Great Golden Light Temple.

One could see its foundation from the fact that it could maintain a certain degree of independence even when the first generation Chiyuan Xianren was at their strongest.

Because of this, Su Ping thought that such an organization would never be driven by the organization's own interests to covet the few pieces of Ancient Cold Crystal he had managed to collect with such difficulty.

Even if an accident occurred, he would only encounter those who borrowed the power of others to bully, and they would have scruples and not dare to actively ruin their own reputation.

Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion front courtyard.

As soon as Su Ping entered, a young female receptionist with a proper appearance saw him and her eyes lit up as she came to greet him.

She enthusiastically introduced the various businesses of the Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion to Su Ping.

After Su Ping finished listening, he hesitated for a moment before asking if there were any introductions for customizing an Array Tool.

Hearing that it was an Array Tool, this female receptionist became even more eager.

Generally speaking, the price of an Array Tool was higher than those of the same category.

Naturally, she could also get a share of more Spirit Stones.

So she hurriedly excused herself and went to the backyard, and not knowing what she argued about with someone, she ran back holding a picture album.

Opening the album.

Inside were images and brief introductions of various Artifact Refiner Grandmasters.

After Su Ping finished looking through it carefully, he turned back to look at the female receptionist:

"Are these all the Grandmasters?"

"I came this time because I want to customize an Array Tool that is slightly difficult..."

"Oh? A difficult Array Tool?"

From behind the door curtain, a tall, bald old man with a big beard suddenly walked out.

This old man looked at the album in Su Ping's hand and said with a smile:

"The only one who can be more capable than the Artifact Refiner masters in that album is me, Shopkeeper Niu."

"Shopkeeper Niu?"

Su Ping was slightly startled; he hadn't expected to meet the person in charge of this Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion, and the other party appeared to be an Artifact Refiner Grandmaster!

"I became a Shopkeeper by accumulating merit through artifact refining."

Shopkeeper Niu grinned, and his aura radiated from his body.

It was clearly the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage!

At the same time, he slightly raised his left hand, and a lotus flower formed by blue flames suddenly emerged from his palm.

Judging by the fluctuations in Dharma Power, Su Ping determined that this was already some kind of fire-attribute divine ability!

The female receptionist also hurriedly moved closer to Su Ping to narrate what she knew about this somewhat legendary Shopkeeper Niu.

It is rumored that a major reason this Grandmaster was able to become a shopkeeper was that he helped an Elder in the Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion successfully refine a Spirit Treasure!

Only things above Spirit Tools are Spirit Treasures, and even a Golden Core Great Ability might not have many Spirit Treasures on hand.

With this strength, refining the Array Tool he needed should be a sure thing!

Su Ping thanked the female receptionist and, no longer being coy, took out the high-grade Ancient Cold Crystal.

Without some good items, a Grandmaster of this level would not take the field to refine things purely for Spirit Stones.

As a refining Grandmaster, having a constant stream of good materials to test their skills on is the righteous path of their cultivation.

Upon seeing the Ancient Cold Crystal, this Shopkeeper Niu transformed back into Grandmaster Niu, picking up several mirror-type Spirit Tools to examine them continuously.

He nodded slightly while looking:

"Not bad, top-tier quality. How is your luck so good, kid, that you managed to acquire such good goods!"

"If I had seen such a good item outside of the Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion, I would have pestered you to death until you gave it to me!"

"As for now, for the sake of these Ancient Cold Crystals, I will take your order!"

"Tell me your requirements."

After Grandmaster Niu and Su Ping entered the secret room and activated the Array.

A simulation model appeared inside that could be adjusted through communication via Divine Sense.

It made Su Ping feel that under the enhancement of the Array, it was no worse than high technology, and even more convenient to operate.

It was just that the threshold was a little higher, requiring one to possess Divine Sense.

"Hmm? You kid even have such good material as green jade!"

"Which family's treasure vault did you bring here?"

As Grandmaster Niu and Su Ping were discussing, he soon saw another rare material Su Ping took out to achieve better strength.

He was once again surprised by this jade stone obtained from the underground of the Sakura Country Imperial Palace.

Although the Cultivation World is vast.

Yet with so many Cultivators scavenging generation after generation.

Such natural treasures formed only by heaven and earth are truly becoming increasingly rare.

He could not help but look at this guest seriously.

He vaguely suspected that his identity was not simple; perhaps he was a heaven-gifted talent from another sect?

Did he travel thousands of miles and change his identity to find him to forge a trump card, just so that competitors would not obtain information?

Before becoming a shopkeeper, Grandmaster Niu had encountered one or two such figures.

He suppressed the curiosity in his heart, began to calculate the refining steps, and gave an approximate price.

Then, seeing Su Ping act wealthy and arrogant by directly nodding and agreeing to that huge sum of Spirit Stones.

He hesitated for a moment and asked:

"The Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion will auction a Moon Sea Stone next month."

"If you can obtain that stone, this Array Tool will have a chance to become a Spirit Tool!"

"Moon Sea Stone?"

Su Ping was somewhat tempted; having picked up so many ownerless Storage Bags, his Spirit Stones were still relatively abundant.

It was just that Su Ping quickly thought of the origin of the Moon Sea Stone.

"That is one of the auxiliary materials that can refine Pills for breaking through to Golden Core!"

"Not to mention its immense value, the number of Cultivators eyeing it is countless!"

Su Ping shook his head slightly, refusing Grandmaster Niu's good intentions.

At the same time, what he did not tell Grandmaster Niu was that he was a cautious person, and a high-grade Dharma Artifact-level Array Tool was just right.

As for a Spirit Tool, he actually had better Cold Ice Heavy Water available.

Using an Array Tool with the Ancient Cold Crystal as the core, soaking it more can also upgrade it to a Spirit Tool.

And the effect would be even more profound!

Grandmaster Niu felt some regret; he still hoped that his forging career could produce one more Spirit Tool.

"Very well, as you wish."

Grandmaster Niu sighed, and after drawing up the plan and handing it to Su Ping for review.

He accepted this order and began to forge in the secret room.

He possessed a special fire-attribute divine ability and no longer needed the cooperation of a refining furnace fire.

This also saved a lot of effort.

After Su Ping spent three days traveling through several interesting places in this Zhenshou Xiancheng and admiring the unique scenery.

Su Ping saw the somewhat haggard Grandmaster Niu again at the Qianqi Wanfa Pavilion.

And received the finished Array Tool:

A scroll of the Wind and Snow Sealing Mountain Map that was cold to the touch!

The stars drawn in several key positions in the map were transformed from Su Ping's Ancient Cold Crystal.

Su Ping looked at this Array Tool, which was profound beyond his expectations.

He could not help but sincerely thank this Grandmaster Niu, giving an extra layer of Spirit Stones while sincerely expressing that he owed the other party a favor!

Grandmaster Niu waved his hand at this, not taking it to heart.

Although the other party looked like a heaven-gifted talent, he was only a heaven-gifted talent at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Wait until the other party grows up after a hundred years.

He himself was already a pile of yellow earth.

Furthermore, Grandmaster Niu had also read history, and in his impression, the favors of heaven-gifted geniuses did not seem so easy to take.

So he did not care much, and did not even intend to inform his descendants...

Su Ping obtained this Huijuan, his Divine Sense entered this Array Tool with ease, and he gained its recognition.

Before long.

On the great mountain in the Huijuan where wind and snow were blowing, a somewhat illusory Greedy Wolf head emerged.

At the same time, in the sky to the upper right, the Big Dipper pattern appeared.

After Su Ping said his goodbyes and left, he went to the temple of the Great Golden Light Temple.

This time, it could be considered familiar territory.

He came directly to the Merit Stele and, after taking out the purified Sealed Dharma Artifact to exchange for merit.

Array knowledge involving the Third-Tier, which was kept secret and not passed down by the major Immortal Sects and even small and medium-sized sects, was exchanged for.

It then transformed into a streak of Golden Light that fell into Su Ping's mind, turning into lines of mysterious Immortal script.

Third-Tier Array corresponds to the Golden Core level.

If he could master it proficiently, Su Ping felt that he might truly become a peerless heaven-gifted genius capable of challenging those at higher levels!