Chapter 768: Sneaking into the Island, Buying and Selling Formation Discs

Song Qingming didn't pay much attention to whether Chen Shutian could help him or not; as long as the other party could help him find the target on the scroll, that was enough.

Chen Shutian, like Song Yuanli, is also a cultivator who has just formed a Golden Core, with a cultivation base only at the peak of the second level of Golden Core. Even if she wants to help, it is difficult for her to intervene in the battle between late-stage Golden Core experts like Song Qingming and the others.

"Since Song Little Brother is so confident, I won't say much more. In a few days, this brother will personally send you to Wind Thunder Island."

Seeing that Song Qingming was quite confident in this matter, Wind Crane nodded with a bit of gratification.

After Chen Shutian reported the news to Wind Crane, she soon left the workshop. In the next few days, Wind Crane told Song Qingming all the information he knew about "Wind Thunder Island" and the ancient secret realm, and bestowed upon him a magic treasure he had carefully refined, preparing Song Qingming to sneak into the secret realm next.

When Wind Crane was still in the Golden Core stage in his previous life, he had entered the secret realm twice and gained many spiritual items there, so he knew the situation in the secret realm quite well.

In addition to the "Thunder Infant Fruit" that helped him successfully form a Nascent Soul, the "Soul-Devouring Art" cultivation technique that Wind Crane gave to Song Qingming back then was also found in this ancient secret realm.

After several days of careful preparation, Wind Crane took Song Qingming and set off for "Wind Thunder Island," thousands of miles away.

After sending Song Qingming to a place a few hundred miles away from the island, Wind Crane stopped and turned to Song Qingming:

"Song Little Brother, at this time, some of those Nascent Soul old ghosts might have already arrived on the island. If you approach rashly, you might be detected by them, so I won't send you any further."

"Little Brother, rest assured, the major sects had an agreement back then that no matter who has any grudges or grievances, it is impossible to fight with anyone on Wind Thunder Island. You can just go with peace of mind."

"Senior, take care!"

Hearing Wind Crane's exhortation, Song Qingming responded with a calm expression, then took out the "Phantom Boat," turned into an escape light, and left the spot directly.

Hundreds of miles away, on a sea island about tens of miles long and wide, full of dense forests.

There was no spiritual energy emanating from this island, and it looked like a desolate small island with no people, but the entire island was now completely covered by an invisible light shield.

Not long after, three escape lights suddenly flew from the northeast of the island and stopped above the island, and soon the figures of three cultivators appeared.

These three people stepped on the void, and their bodies were still emitting a layer of faint spiritual light; they were all Golden Core cultivators with successful cultivation.

The leader of the three was a young woman in white clothes. After scanning the island below, a smile slowly appeared on the white-clothed woman's face.

"Old Qi, this should be Wind Thunder Island, right?"

An old man with a hunchback standing behind the white-clothed woman, upon hearing the other party's inquiry, immediately replied with a hint of respect: "Junior Sister Long is right, this place is Wind Thunder Island."

"Two hundred years ago, when I had just formed my Golden Core, I had the honor to come here while traveling nearby. It's a pity that my cultivation was not high at that time, and after entering the secret realm for a tour, I didn't get any good things."

"Hmm! That's good, let's go down and take a look first." After the white-clothed woman finished speaking, she fell directly toward the bottom of the island.

The hunchbacked old man who had been following her and another palace-dressed woman in black clothes looked at each other and soon flew to follow. The three of them soon came to the front of the island's formation.

After arriving here, the hunchbacked old man immediately took out a sound transmission talisman, muttered a word in a low voice, and sent it directly into the formation.

Not long after, a transparent vortex suddenly appeared at the formation, slowly forming a circular entrance more than a zhang wide.

Seeing this, the three of them immediately flew into the formation, and the vortex just now immediately returned to its normal appearance.

Not long after the figures of the white-clothed woman and the other two disappeared, several escape lights flew from the sky one after another, and their destinations were all this desolate small island with no spiritual energy.

Among these people, there were Golden Core experts with successful cultivation like the white-clothed woman and the other two, as well as Foundation Establishment cultivators who came by flying sword.

But regardless of their cultivation level, as long as they sent sound transmission talismans into the formation, they would be allowed to enter the island. In less than an hour, five or six waves of cultivators had successfully arrived here.

In the air more than ten miles away from the island, three Foundation Establishment cultivators were rushing on their way, and their destination was also the sea island not far ahead.

These three people were traveling together. To save some effort, they did not fly separately by flying sword, but shared a small second-tier flying boat, taking turns to cast spells to drive the flying boat forward.

Seeing the figure of the island appearing not far ahead, a hint of joy appeared on the faces of the three.

"Two fellow Daoists, ahead is Wind Thunder Island, we are about to arrive."

Hearing what the companion who was controlling the flying boat said, a middle-aged man standing behind the flying boat immediately smiled and responded: "I thought that since this island is located in the sea, we might encounter demon beasts on the way."

"I didn't expect this trip to be so smooth, not even encountering the shadow of a demon beast. Our luck is really good!"

"Haha! Fellow Daoist, you don't know that when the Wind Thunder Island secret realm opens, even Nascent Soul ancestors have to be present. Even if those sea demon beasts are arrogant, they dare not approach nearby at this time."

"Before we arrived here, those major sects should have already sent people to clean up the surroundings. Otherwise, with so many cultivators coming, if something happened on the way, they would have suffered a big loss."

"Fellow Daoist Du is right. This secret realm is jointly controlled by major Nascent Soul sects, and every time they collect hundreds of thousands of spirit stones from us cultivators entering and exiting. If they can't even guarantee this bit of safety, who would dare to come here to join in the fun next time."

"A few little friends, may I ask, is this Wind Thunder Island?"

Just as the three on the flying boat were talking while looking at the island ahead, a voice suddenly sounded behind them, making their faces show a look of surprise.

The three turned around and found that more than ten zhang behind the flying boat, a white flying boat had appeared at some point, and a green-clothed man with an ordinary appearance was looking at them with a smile.

Although this green-clothed man looked very young on the outside, the aura emanating from his body made them unable to see through him at a glance. They immediately understood that the newcomer was a Golden Core senior with profound cultivation, and hurriedly cupped their hands to salute him.

"Juniors Du Fangling, Zhan Feng, and Wang Bailin greet Senior. Senior's words just now were correct; ahead is Wind Thunder Island. May I ask if you are also here to explore the secret realm?"

After the three saluted, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator named Du Fangling hurriedly answered Song Qingming's inquiry quickly.

Song Qingming nodded slightly: "I am not a local cultivator, but a traveler from the East Sea. I heard that there is a secret realm appearing here, so I came to take a look out of curiosity."

"Oh! So Senior is from the East Sea cultivation world. No wonder you haven't been to Wind Thunder Island. We are also like Senior, wanting to try our luck in the secret realm."

"If Senior doesn't mind, the junior is willing to lead the way for you and introduce you to the news of this secret realm, so that it will be convenient for you later."

Upon hearing that Song Qingming was a Golden Core cultivator from out of town, a hint of excitement appeared on Du Fangling's face. He took the initiative to lead the way for him, wanting to use this to get closer to the stranger senior in front of him.

In the cultivation world, when the cultivation bases of cultivators differ by a major realm, their status is worlds apart.

It is just that for rogue cultivators like them with ordinary backgrounds and only Foundation Establishment cultivation, it is very difficult to have a chance to get close to a Golden Core cultivator.

Seeing that Song Qingming spoke very gently and did not look down on them from the start, which was obviously different from other Golden Core cultivators who liked to be high and mighty, this also gave Du Fangling the courage to get close to the other party.

After all, there are not many opportunities to deal with Golden Core cultivators. If they are lucky enough to get a little guidance from the other party, it can be considered an opportunity for them.

Seeing that the three had the intention to step forward to please him, Song Qingming was silent for a moment, did not choose to refuse, and nodded directly: "I am also hearing the news and coming here for the first time. I don't know much about this secret realm. Since you have the heart to help, then I will trouble you!"

"No trouble, haha! It is a great honor for us to be able to help Senior. How dare we say it's trouble."

After the three nodded and bowed a few times, they brought Song Qingming to the outside of the island's formation.

Before Song Qingming could ask, Du Fangling took the initiative to throw in a sound transmission talisman. Soon the formation opened a passage, and the four of them walked in together.

Just after passing through the mountain-protecting formation, two Foundation Establishment cultivators wearing gray Daoist robes walked toward them.

These two saw Du Fangling and the other two leading the way, and immediately reached out to stop them, saying with a very arrogant expression: "Cultivators entering the island need to hand over twenty spirit stones each!"

"I thought only entering the secret realm required handing over spirit stones. Why do we need spirit stones as soon as we get on the island!"

Hearing that they needed to hand over spirit stones, Zhan Feng, the younger one among the three, couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

However, although they were a bit unhappy in their hearts, twenty spirit stones were not too many for Foundation Establishment cultivators like them, so the three took out spirit stones one after another and handed them to the newcomers.

Song Qingming, standing behind, saw this and also waved his hand to take out twenty spirit stones, taking the initiative to hand them over. But the two cultivators who collected the spirit stones saw Song Qingming and did not accept his spirit stones, but changed to a smiling face and cupped their hands to him: "Just now we were clumsy and didn't see it. Senior is a Golden Core cultivator, so you don't need to hand over spirit stones when entering the island."

"Oh! Then those who came with me, can they also not hand over spirit stones?" Seeing that the two changed their faces so quickly, Song Qingming asked with some doubt.

The two who heard Song Qingming's meaning hurriedly returned the spirit stones in their hands to Du Fangling and the other two, and smiled: "Since they are people traveling with Senior, of course, there is no need to collect spirit stones. Just now we misunderstood the few fellow Daoists."

Seeing that the spirit stones just sent out were returned, a hint of joy appeared on the faces of Du Fangling and the other two. They hurriedly took them happily, and then led Song Qingming toward the middle of the island with a respectful expression.

Although there is still about a month before the secret realm opens, many cultivators who came here have already gathered on "Wind Thunder Island."

Song Qingming and the others didn't walk far before they soon came to a small town built temporarily.

This place looks very similar to the small workshops Song Qingming usually sees outside, but the things sold by the shops are obviously much higher-tier, basically spiritual items that have reached the second tier or above.

Even third-tier spiritual items that are rarely seen at ordinary times can be seen here, but the prices of these high-tier spiritual items are about 20% to 30% more expensive than those in the workshops outside.

The shops selling these spiritual items are obviously well-prepared, knowing that the cultivators coming to "Wind Thunder Island" to explore the secret realm need to use these spiritual items, so they uniformly raised the prices to take the opportunity to make a fortune.

As a Golden Core cultivator who has cultivated for many years, Song Qingming naturally understands this. In order not to waste too many spirit stones here, Song Qingming had already prepared the spiritual items he needed before setting off.

"Senior, I just went to inquire. There are no cave dwellings for rent on the island now. There are only some tents on the west side. Renting one only costs ten spirit stones."

"These people look down on us Foundation Establishment cultivators, and what they say may not be true. Senior, do you want to go and ask again? Maybe they still have cave dwellings left."

After the few arrived at the workshop, Du Fangling, after obtaining Song Qingming's consent, went to find the cultivators managing the island to inquire about renting cave dwellings.

Unexpectedly, more and more cultivators are coming to the island now, and the cave dwellings originally opened on the mountain are already full. Late-arriving cultivators can only rent those temporarily built tents on the empty space on the west side of the workshop.

These tents have no formation protection and are difficult to isolate from the spiritual sense exploration of high-tier cultivators. Generally, high-tier cultivators like Song Qingming are definitely difficult to accept.

Du Fangling was afraid that his failure to handle the matter would make Song Qingming unhappy, so he carefully inquired again after speaking.

Hearing Du Fangling's suggestion, Song Qingming didn't care much, shook his head directly and said: "It doesn't matter, anyway, there are only a few days left before the secret realm opens. You go and help me rent a tent."

After speaking, Song Qingming took out spirit stones and a note with his name on it, and handed it directly to Du Fangling. The few soon arrived at the west side of the workshop together.

Although this is the first time Song Qingming has come to the "Tianhai cultivation world," he has no familiar people here.

However, the opening of this "Wind Thunder Island" ancient secret realm not only attracted surrounding cultivators, but even some cultivators from the nearby East Sea cultivation world heard the news and came here, among whom there is no lack of Golden Core cultivators that Song Qingming had heard of when he was traveling in the East Sea back then.

Choosing to travel with Du Fangling and the others, Song Qingming also wanted to use them to hide his true identity, trying his best not to attract the attention of interested people around him.

On this island, it has been confirmed that Nascent Soul cultivators will come. In front of these old monsters, it is basically impossible to hide his identity by relying on cultivation techniques and external objects. Therefore, Song Qingming did not deliberately cover his face when entering the island.

It's just that when registering his identity, he did not use his real name, but borrowed the name of his corpse puppet "Jin Feng," claiming to be a Golden Core rogue cultivator from the East Sea cultivation world.

The East Sea cultivation world is far broader than the Fuyun Mountain Range and the Tianhai cultivation world, and there are many rogue cultivators in it. Even a late-stage Golden Core rogue cultivator like Song Qingming is not in the minority.

As long as Song Qingming is low-key, the other party will definitely not be able to detect his identity abnormality in a short time, which is also the best way for him to hide his identity at present.

After moving into his tent, Song Qingming began closed-door meditation. Except for occasionally dealing with the visits of Du Fangling and the other three, he did not step out of the tent for a full half month.

During these half a month, Du Fangling and the other three visited Song Qingming several times. In addition to reporting the news they heard outside on time, they also had the honor of receiving personal guidance from Song Qingming, a Golden Core cultivator, which made them benefit a lot in their cultivation.

The three of them are all Foundation Establishment cultivators from a small country nearby. Du Fangling, with the highest cultivation, has already broken through to the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, while Zhan Feng and Wang Bailin have lower cultivation, only at the fourth or fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

Du Fangling, like Song Qingming, also came from a family cultivator background, while the other two are rogue cultivator friends who have known each other for many years. The few of them came to "Wind Thunder Island" together this time, also wanting to enter the secret realm to search for spiritual items and try their luck.

After all, for these Foundation Establishment cultivators with ordinary backgrounds, this can be considered a great opportunity that happens once in a hundred years. Even knowing that the secret realm will be very dangerous, it still cannot stop their determination to find spiritual items.

After a full half month, as the time for the ancient secret realm to open drew closer, more and more cultivators came to the island, making the entire "Wind Thunder Island" more and more lively.

According to the news collected by Du Fangling and the others, there are already more than 2,000 cultivators who have come to the island to explore the ancient secret realm, all of whom are above the Foundation Establishment cultivation level, among whom there are no less than a hundred Golden Core cultivators like Song Qingming.

This is just the rogue cultivators who came from afar like them, not including those major sect disciples who have not yet appeared. It is estimated that by the day the secret realm opens, this number of cultivators may double again.

Hearing that there are so many cultivators coming this time, Song Qingming was also a bit surprised in his heart.

Although he knew that such a secret realm open to all cultivators would attract many Foundation Establishment cultivators like Du Fangling to try their luck.

However, being able to attract so many cultivators to the island at once shows that those major sects in charge of opening the secret realm must have spent a lot of effort to operate this matter before this.

Seeing that he had been on the island for more than half a month and there was no abnormal situation, Song Qingming, who confirmed that the other party did not suspect his identity, also felt a little more relaxed in his heart.

Taking advantage of the few days before the secret realm opened, Song Qingming also took the initiative to walk out of the closed-door tent and strolled around the workshop.

Although the workshop on "Wind Thunder Island" is small, because the spiritual items sold here are of relatively high quality, Song Qingming only walked a small circle along the street and saw many strange things he had never seen before.

These are basically spiritual items unique to the "Tianhai cultivation world." This is the first time Song Qingming has come here, so he is also very curious about this and will stop to pay attention from time to time.

However, although these things are novel, most of them are of no use to him, a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. Song Qingming basically asks about them and rarely asks about the price.

After walking a section of the workshop street, Song Qingming suddenly saw several formation discs placed outside a shop, so he walked over with curiosity.

"Shopkeeper, how do you sell these formation discs?"

The owner of this shop is only a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Seeing a customer coming, he hurriedly squeezed out a smiling face and greeted him.

"This Senior has a good eye. These formation discs of mine are all refined by famous masters. Don't look at the quality, which is only second-tier high-grade, but if matched with good third-tier formation flags, the power used is not much worse than a third-tier formation! If you like it, you can take it for only 3,000 spirit stones."

Hearing the price quoted by the shop owner, Song Qingming shook his head slightly: "If you have already configured the formation flags, 3,000 spirit stones are not expensive. You want such a high price from me just for the formation discs, which is a bit too high."

"Haha! Senior also knows that every trip in and out of this island requires spirit stones. We also handed over a lot of spirit stones to set up stalls here, otherwise, the things sold would not be so much more expensive than those outside. Please understand, Senior."

"I haven't been here for a day or two. You don't need to say more about these things, I naturally understand them all."

"To tell you the truth, the reason I am interested in your formation discs is not because this item is useful for me to enter the secret realm next, but because I am a third-tier formation master myself and am interested in it."

"I can offer 6,000 spirit stones for these three formation discs. If you agree, I will take them all." Seeing the shop owner start to complain to him, Song Qingming remained unmoved and directly cut the price of the formation discs by 30%.

Hearing this, the shop owner hesitated, but it didn't take long for him to make up his mind and nod in agreement.

These formation discs originally had formation flag configurations, but a few days ago, he met a customer who only needed the formation flags. The owner saw that there were only a few days left before the secret realm opened, so he was moved to remove the formation flags and sell them separately at a high price to the other party.

He didn't expect that there would be someone interested in the remaining formation discs in these last few days.

Anyway, the formation flags that were removed and sold at a high price had already earned him a lot of spirit stones.

The remaining formation discs could not be sold for a while, and after leaving here, they would have to be sold at a low price in other workshops. Seeing that the price given by Song Qingming was reasonable, he simply sold them to him.

"Count these spirit stones. If there is no problem, I will take the formation discs."

Seeing that the other party agreed, Song Qingming quickly took out a bag of spirit stones from his storage bag, threw it directly to the shop owner, and prepared to put away the formation discs in his hand.

But just as this transaction was about to be reached, a soft voice suddenly appeared not far away, interrupting Song Qingming and the other who were buying and selling.

"This fellow Daoist, I am also a bit interested in these formation discs. I wonder if you can spare one for me?"