Chapter 434: Farewell Jiang Lan

"This… is too expensive… do you have anything cheaper?"

He Pingsheng backed down.

He hadn't expected the first one the woman recommended to be this costly.

He wanted a house in the bustling district, right next to the sect, because sects all have arrays.

He Pingsheng also needed to set up arrays.

And the array tiers had to be high—third or fourth rank.

If a third- or fourth-rank array suddenly appeared in a regular cultivator zone, it would draw immediate attention.

Worse, the imperial family's ancient monsters might extend their spiritual senses to inspect it.

Once someone's spiritual sense intruded, it would be disastrous.

Because He Pingsheng planned to set up a long-distance teleportation array.

What if someone saw his teleportation array?

Before he even began his operation, the imperial family would come knocking.

Teleportation arrays, in any nation, were objects of dread—strictly forbidden to commoners.

Because they were too critical.

They posed a massive threat to a nation's security.

Imagine: a capital city suddenly infiltrated by a group of outsiders with hostile intent—what would happen to that capital?

So He Pingsheng's chosen residence had to lie between sects.

Because sects already had layers of arrays; his own arrays would blend in and avoid notice.

"Alright," the woman thought for a moment, "there's another nearby—slightly smaller, only about a hundred zhang."

"This one's cheaper!"

He Pingsheng looked and asked, "How much for this one?"

The surrounding area was also occupied by several city sects.

The woman said, "One hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones…"

He Pingsheng could afford this price.

Even so, he didn't have one hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones on him.

"I only have fifty thousand middle-grade spirit stones here!" He Pingsheng pulled out a storage ring, then a vial of pills, "This vial contains top-grade fourth-rank 【Judo Dan】. Take a look—it should be worth fifty thousand middle-grade spirit stones!"

"Fine!" the woman nodded, "Wait a moment!"

Soon after, another woman arrived.

This woman was a Nascent Soul cultivator. She examined He Pingsheng's items, then said, "Alright. This vial of Judo Dan, I'll accept as payment for one hundred thousand middle-grade spirit stones."

"Perfect—it's exactly enough!"

"You can pay the tax upfront with ten thousand middle-grade spirit stones!"

"Understood!" He Pingsheng retrieved forty thousand, then held a plaque in his hand.

Next came registration.

After registration, he took the plaque and went to his newly purchased plot.

A hundred zhang was not small.

It was large.

This plot was about thirty li from the imperial palace.

Thirty li seemed far, but in reality it was close—because a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense could cover thirty li.

Around this plot were several city sects.

Flame Immortal Sect, Eternal Gate, Supreme Forgetting Emotion Sect.

The arrays outside these sects varied—some were third-rank defensive arrays, others fourth-rank defensive arrays.

Even the plot He Pingsheng bought already had several third-rank arrays.

They had been installed beforehand.

Third-rank Spirit-Sealing Array!

Third-rank defensive array.

He Pingsheng held the plaque and walked straight in.

The outer arrays didn't need to be touched—this way, he wouldn't draw attention.

But once He Pingsheng entered the courtyard, he began working inside the third-rank array.

Fourth-rank Spirit-Sealing Array!

Fourth-rank alert array.

Fourth-rank defensive array!

He set them up in sequence.

After completing these arrays, he would begin setting up the teleportation array.

But the teleportation array wasn't urgent.

This rescue of his sect would surely spark massive upheaval in Qi State—then one teleportation array alone wouldn't be safe.

He Pingsheng's plan was to create a chain of teleportation arrays.

Six teleportations linked end to end.

Under such conditions, even a Soul Transformation cultivator couldn't catch up.

Since it was six linked teleportations, he needed six pairs of teleportation arrays. The one inside the capital could be completed last.

Hmm…

That's it!

He Pingsheng pulled out a paper map and called Xiaohe over, "Look… this is our escape route!"

He Pingsheng first drew seven dots on the map, then connected them into a line.

Not a straight line.

A straight line would leave room for pursuit—he designed this escape route as a zigzag: two segments west, then two north, then two west again.

This would confuse the enemy!

"Six teleportations!" He Pingsheng pointed at the map, "Spanning three major commanderies…"

"First, find suitable, concealed locations near these red dots to install teleportation arrays."

"This is our next task!"

"Let's go!"

He Pingsheng took Xiaohe and left, traveling beyond three commanderies to search one by one for teleportation relay points.

Choosing these locations was crucial.

They had to be precisely at designated spots—and concealed.

Best if deep in remote, sparsely populated mountains.

Caves with no human traces were ideal.

One pair!

Two pairs!

Three pairs!

Four pairs!

Five pairs!

After roughly five months, He Pingsheng and Xiaohe finally completed five pairs of teleportation arrays.

"Only one pair left!"

In a pitch-black space, He Pingsheng stared at the teleportation array before him and said to Xiaohe, "Xiaohe… you set up the receiving terminal here. I'll go to Qi State's capital to install the sending terminal!"

"Stay here. Don't move."

"Wait for me."

"If I haven't activated the teleportation array within a year, sneak back to Liang State—do you understand?"

Xiaohe nodded solemnly: "Master, rest assured… I'll follow your orders."

"Good. Wait for my Heart-Sync talisman signal!"

With that, He Pingsheng left the space.

Splash!

The next moment, He Pingsheng burst out of a wide river.

Correct!

The first relay point had been built beneath the riverbed.

Concealed enough?

…

After returning to Qi State's capital, He Pingsheng immediately checked his arrays.

No problems!

All arrays were flawless!

Now, it was time to install the teleportation array.

But not yet.

Before setting up the array, he needed to find someone to learn about the capital's situation, as well as the whereabouts of Long Yuan and his family.

He Pingsheng held an address, weaving through the capital's streets, circling several times, until finally he found a shop in a secluded, rundown alley in the southern part of the city.

The shop looked ancient and dilapidated; even the sign above its entrance bore the marks of time.

The shop's name was unusual: He Ri Lian Dan Pu.

He Pingsheng strolled slowly into the elixir shop.

The shopkeeper was a Jin Dan, at the third layer of Core Formation, blind in one eye, the other covered by a patch of black beast hide—he looked like a one-eyed dragon.

"What do you want?" the one-eyed Jin Dan asked He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng said nothing, only pulled out a brush and wrote a single character 【Lan】 on the counter's notebook.