Chapter 117: Peculiar Siblings

Little sister?

The honest young man who stepped out had a dull gaze and a stiff expression; only when he saw that female cultivator did a hint of spirit appear in his eyes.

Brother, he's bullying me!

Seeing the young man, the female cultivator immediately gained confidence, pointing at the thug and speaking angrily.

I thought you were shouting for someone, but I didn't expect it to be an idiot.

Seeing the young man's foolish appearance, the thug immediately sneered.

Just when his gaze met that of the foolish youth, his expression froze, his voice caught in his throat unable to make a sound, and cold sweat seeped out as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Hearing that his little sister was being bullied, the foolish youth's face showed anger; without a word he stepped forward and grabbed the thug's neck, effortlessly lifting him into the air.

Brother!

Seeing this, the female cultivator felt relieved but still shouted hastily, fearing the brother would use too much force.

Hearing the shout, the foolish youth's anger faded; he tossed the thug like a ball.

The thug traced a parabola in the air and was thrown straight out of the market town, falling silent.

After doing that, the foolish youth looked at his little sister as if nothing had happened; his expression remained honest but noticeably softened.

The female cultivator adjusted the hanging strings, smiled sweetly, and said, "I'm fine, brother."

Oh.

The foolish youth nodded, didn't go back inside, and sat beside the female cultivator, his expression dull and stupid like a piece of wood.

The previous clamor instantly fell silent.

Meanwhile, Yunhe and Liu Tianhong, who had witnessed the whole process upstairs, now felt differently inside.

This youth has tremendous strength; is he a body cultivator?

She could tell that although the thug had been thrown that far, it wasn't enough to be lethal; obviously the other party was quite skilled in controlling his strength, holding back.

Having now cultivated the second layer of the Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Technique, Yunhe's divine sense absolutely far surpasses that of most Foundation Establishment cultivators, and can even match, to some extent, that of weaker Golden Core cultivators.

Thus he perceives more.

That youth who looked foolish and stupid is actually a Golden Core cultivator!

Just don't know why.

The foolish youth's divine sense seems not strong, even very weak.

But correspondingly, both his body and his mana are absurdly strong.

And correspondingly.

His little sister, that female cultivator who appears to have only Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivation, actually has very strong spiritual awareness!

Yunhe merely swept with his divine sense, and that female cultivator seemed to faintly sense it.

This made him quite curious.

After a brief pondering, he said to Liu Tianhong:

Senior sister, I'll go down and take a look.

Liu Tianhong had no objection.

Although the foolish youth made her feel a bit strange, in the cultivation world there are many strange things one can encounter.

In fact, what she cared more about was what the thug said, "Longken Shitan"; she thought Yunhe went to look because of that.

He slowly walked down the stairs.

He arrived at the female cultivator's stall.

Noticing a customer arriving, the female cultivator immediately became spirited, and the anger from earlier due to the thug's disturbance gradually subsided.

Fellow cultivator, are you looking to buy a formation?

Yunhe neither confirmed nor denied, glancing with the corner of his eye at the foolish youth.

That youth also seemed to sense something, looking at Yunhe, his eyes instinctively gaining a bit of wariness.

Seeing this, Yunhe felt slightly tense, withdrew his gaze, and spoke calmly:

Yes.

Saying that, he looked toward the stall.

Without looking, one wouldn't know; but upon looking, it really made him a little surprised.

To be frank, for a Qi Refining cultivator to study formations seems somewhat exaggerated in his view; although this person's spiritual awareness is abnormal, the way of formations requires more than just strong divine sense compared to the paths of alchemy, artifact crafting, and talismans.

Often, when a cultivator's cultivation base reaches a certain level and short-term significant improvement is hard to achieve, they will devote some energy to the myriad arts of cultivation.

Among these people, those with little resources choose relatively simple skills, such as spirit plant farming for fields, while those with some means choose one of the three paths of alchemy, artifact crafting, or talismans.

Because for those three paths, whether one has talent or not, as long as one is willing to spend time and invest resources, some achievement can always be made.

But the vast majority of people will not choose the path of formations.

Because the path of formations, besides requiring resources, also emphasizes talent.

It is even possible that talent accounts for an even larger proportion.

This person is clearly only at Qi Refining Eighth Layer, yet the variety of formations on her stall is so extensive that he can't help but be amazed.

Most formation masters specialize in one or a few formations, continually improving and increasing their power; who would suddenly dabble in so many types?

Seeing Yunhe seemingly genuinely interested, the female cultivator hurriedly recommended:

Fellow cultivator, you can take a look at this set: the middle-grade first-tier 'Fertile Soil Formation' is a formation for fertile spiritual fields. Also this set: the top-grade first-tier 'Cloud Mist Formation', when placed around a cave dwelling, can absolutely avoid many unnecessary troubles, and also

These, are they all refined by you yourself, fellow cultivator? Yunhe suddenly asked.

That's natural.

The female cultivator showed a bit of pride, patting her somewhat flat chest.

Impressive, I am humbled.

Yunhe said sincerely.

Only those who have truly come into contact with formations understand what this signifies.

This remark made the female cultivator's smile grow even wider.

The foolish youth beside them instantly softened his gaze a bit, moved his stare away from Yunhe, and became foolish again.

Noticing this, Yunhe secretly let out a sigh of relief.

He picked up the formation flag that the fierce man had dropped earlier.

"Dao friend, this formation has a problem; perhaps you should look at another one first."

Noticing Yunhe's action, the female cultivator kindly reminded him.

"Oh?"

As if recalling the fierce man again, the female cultivator's face showed a hint of anger, and she said angrily:

"This formation needs to be set in earthly profound ground, but the previous buyer actually placed it in damp fallen ground, which would certainly render it ineffective; moreover, the formation flag has been soaked by moisture, so it's basically useless."

The more she spoke, the angrier she became.

After hearing that, Yunhe's expression shifted slightly; he clasped his hands and asked:

"May I ask what is meant by 'damp fallen ground'?"

"The so-called 'damp fallen' can also be read as 'corpse fallen,' and it mostly forms in graveyard hills," the female cultivator explained.

"Corpse fallen?"

Yunhe narrowed his eyes.

Actually, every formation master can be considered half a geomancer.

Moreover, this woman's attainment in formations seems higher than Yunhe had imagined.

He clasped his hands again and asked solemnly:

"May I ask your esteemed name, Dao friend?"

The female cultivator smiled and returned the salute leisurely.

"I am Shen Xingrui, and this is my elder brother Shen Mu."

Yunhe searched his memory; there seemed to be no Shen clan of cultivators in the Qingyu Domain.

But upon further thought, this sibling pair— the elder brother is foolish yet possesses Golden Core cultivation, while the younger sister has low cultivation but is a formation master; such a combination would find no place for any clan in the Qingyu Domain.

Before he could finish thinking, Shen Xingrui leaned close to Yunhe and lowered her voice:

"Dao friend, are you in need of a Second Stage formation?"

This posture gave Yunhe a déjà vu of encountering ticket scalpers outside a concert in his previous life.

"Dao friend actually possesses a Second Stage formation?"

Yunhe replied in surprise.

"Please follow me." Shen Xingrui smiled mysteriously, patted Shen Mu's shoulder, and said, "Brother, let's go back."

"Oh oh."

Shen Mu rose slowly and obediently followed behind Shen Xingrui.

The two walked toward the house behind the stall.

After a slight hesitation, Yunhe still followed them.

Upon entering the house, he immediately sensed that several formations had been laid within.

Carefully sensing, he detected at least the multiple effects of "Spirit Gathering," "Qi Condensing," and "Sturdiness."

This made him even more astonished and curious.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he always felt that this sibling pair

Could it be that all their cultivation resides in the foolish elder brother, while their divine sense and spiritual perception are wholly in the younger sister?

Are there still such strange circumstances in the world of cultivation?

"May I ask what kind of effect you need from the formation, Dao friend—to stabilize your abode, gather spiritual energy, or enhance your spirit fields?"

Yunhe suppressed the strange feeling in his heart, pondered briefly, and said:

"Let's enhance the spirit fields."

His abode lies within the Qingzong Sect; for now he need not worry about its safety, and the spiritual energy inside is fairly abundant, sufficient for his cultivation needs.

By comparison, if a formation could enhance the spirit fields, it would be quite useful for the Demon Beast Body side.

"Then, Dao friend, take a look at this set."

Shen Xingrui turned and pulled a wooden box from the cabinet; opening it revealed a formation device and dozens of formation flags.

She explained:

"This is a Second Stage middle-grade 'Moist Rain Auspicious Clouds Formation'; it can increase the fertility of spirit fields, the specific bonus depending on the field's original fertility and the spiritual energy of the location, but an increase of thirty percent should be no problem."

"May I ask the price?"

Shen Xingrui pursed her lips.

"How about three thousand Low-grade Ling Stones?"

Having said that, she looked at Yunhe with a hint of hope.

Actually, it's not expensive.

The price for a Second Stage middle-grade formation is mostly three thousand or more, while killing formations are even higher at thirty-five hundred spiritual stones and up.

Although this "Moist Rain Auspicious Clouds Formation" is not primarily a killing formation, it is still a Second Stage middle-grade one, so it's already relatively cheap.

Indeed, Shen Xingrui actually produced a Second Stage formation set, which surprised Yunhe somewhat.

He probed and asked:

"Daoist Shen, do you have a primary slaughter formation?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Xingrui's expression turned serious, her face becoming a bit more solemn, and she asked in a low voice:

"Yes."

After saying that, she turned again, carefully taking down a wooden box from the topmost cabinet.

Inside, the formation flags were noticeably more numerous than before's "Rain-Nourishing Auspicious Clouds Formation."

"This is a second-stage, top-grade 'Little Sumeru Profound Thunder Formation', priced at seven thousand five hundred Low-grade Ling Stone."

"Indeed, there really is!"

Under Shen Xingrui's gaze, he picked up the formation implement, sensed it a bit, and then understood the general information about this formation.

"Seven thousand five hundred Low-grade Ling Stone—quite a bargain!"

Seeing that Shen Xingrui was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, Yunhe inexplicably asked a question that even he found somewhat absurd.

His voice slightly dry, he asked: "Fellow Daoist Shen, you wouldn't still have a third-stage formation, would you?"

Pfft—

Yet Shen Xingrui burst out laughing.

"What are you thinking, Fellow Daoist? I'm merely at the eighth layer of Qi Refining cultivation."

This result let Yunhe breathe a slight sigh of relief.

But Shen Xingrui's next sentence made him even more surprised.

"Once I reach Foundation Establishment, I should be able to do it." She murmured to herself, lost in thought.

Yunhe: "."

He glanced at the side, where Shen Mu, foolishly clueless, was gnawing on a large bone as if no one else were there.

Then he looked at the clever and nimble Shen Xingrui before him, and Yunhe took a deep breath.

"I want both of these formation sets, but my Spirit Stones aren't enough; I wonder if I could substitute something else?"

Upon hearing that Yunhe actually wanted both formation sets, Shen Xingrui's face lit up with joy.

However, upon hearing the idea of exchanging something else, she also showed a hint of suspicion.

"What do you wish to exchange, Fellow Daoist?"

"Demon beast meat." Yunhe said hesitantly.

Whoosh—

Upon hearing the three words "demon beast meat," Shen Mu, who had been struggling to eat his dry rations, suddenly lifted his head, and Shen Xingrui's face instantly broke into great joy after a moment of stunned silence.

"Great! If Fellow Daoist is willing to trade demon beast meat, I can give you an even better price!"

"Huh?"

Then Shen Xingrui walked to her brother's side, patted his muscular flesh, and explained:

"My brother has a huge demand for demon beast meat, enormous! If Fellow Daoist has extra demon beast meat, I'm even willing to purchase it with Spirit Stones, no matter how much—I want it all!"

She spoke with great confidence, but Yunhe had no doubt about her financial means.

"This brother and sister..."

"(End of chapter)"