Chapter 77

The gentle breeze blew, and the mountains were green and the clouds white!

Fang Ling stood at the entrance of the cave, took a deep breath, and firmly held the letter containing the secret that his mother had given him.

It had been half a year since his last seclusion!

Fang Ling's cultivation was now at the peak of the Ninth Layer of the Qi Condensation stage. In the past half year, he had attempted to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage several times, but more often, he practiced various spells. The Wind Control Spell, Fire Control Spell, and alchemy were the ones Fang Ling was most proficient in. As for the study of formations, it was something he did every day.

At this moment, all three of his Dusty Smoke Maps had formations set up. The Western Suburb Dusty Smoke Map and the newly acquired Thousand Buddha Dusty Smoke Map both had the Hundred Sword Formation set up. The power of this formation was not weaker than the Golden Saber Formation; it could even be considered an enhanced version of the Golden Saber Formation. However, the number of treasure swords used to set up the formation was too few. Although Fang Ling was wealthy, he only had about a dozen swords of the level of the Rainbow Sword, which made the power of the Hundred Sword Formation roughly equivalent to the Golden Saber Formation.

The reason Fang Ling left his cave this time was not only because a year of seclusion was too stifling, but more importantly, he needed to visit the scripture hall of the sect and collect his annual allowance.

As one of the five major sects in the State of Lu, the True Dao Sect provided allowances to disciples of all levels. Fang Ling did not know much about other disciples, but as a core disciple, his allowance was substantial. Without mentioning anything else, he received twenty medium-grade spirit stones alone. As for various elixirs, there were more than a dozen types. If judged solely by the benefits, being a core disciple was indeed justified. However, the most important thing for Fang Ling this time was to visit the scripture hall. He needed to find a formation called the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation in the scripture hall.

The Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation was not mentioned in the jade slip given to Fang Ling by Fu Jingbo. Fang Ling only knew about this formation from the jade slip he obtained from the cultivator in the Thousand Buddha Mountain. After studying this jade slip, Fang Ling believed that the cultivator who died in the small space of the Thousand Buddha Mountain had been dead for at least a thousand years. However, the insights on formations in the jade slip saved Fang Ling from many detours.

Without mentioning anything else, just take the Hundred Sword Formation as an example. Fang Ling had spent half a month trying to understand it but still had some parts he couldn't grasp. However, when he compared his insights with those in the jade slip, he understood the Hundred Sword Formation clearly in just half a day. The reason the cultivator mentioned the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation in the jade slip was that he used it when he established his foundation. The cultivator even hinted that most cultivators of the True Dao Sect used the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation to establish their foundations.

However, although the cultivator mentioned many secrets of the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation, he did not provide detailed instructions on how to set it up. Fang Ling, who had attempted to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage multiple times, focused on this formation because the cultivator said that the success rate of the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation was fifty percent. A fifty percent success rate was enough to drive anyone mad.

Half an hour later, Fang Ling arrived at the Central Yuan Peak. At this time, there were many disciples walking around the Central Yuan Peak. There were even Foundation Establishment cultivators flying around on magical tools. Fang Ling was surprised; there were many more people than when he was last on the Central Yuan Peak. However, he soon slapped his head, realizing that it was the annual allowance distribution day, so it was strange if there were fewer people.

Fifteen minutes later, Fang Ling arrived at the scripture hall. The scripture hall was built on a small hill and looked like an ordinary building from the outside.

"Great Dipper Absolute Killing Formation!" Fang Ling had not wasted his year of studying formations. After carefully observing the scripture hall for a while, he recognized the formation outside the scripture hall as the Great Dipper Absolute Killing Formation mentioned in the jade slip given to him by Fu Jingbo.

Fang Ling did not know how to set up this formation, but according to the description in the jade slip, even if a Golden Core cultivator entered, it would not be easy to leave unscathed.

Fang Ling entered the first floor of the scripture hall, where an old man in his fifties was looking at a formation diagram. The old man seemed not to notice Fang Ling's entry. Just as Fang Ling was about to approach the old man, he heard the old man say, "Place your identity token in the spirit formation and pay ten spirit stones to enter the second floor."

Fang Ling immediately took out his identity token, which he had never used before, and placed it on a small spirit formation near the old man. A door immediately opened.

The old man, who had been looking down at the formation diagram, stood up in surprise. He looked at the small jade token in the formation and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Yun Zhongda greets Senior Brother. Senior Brother, you are..."

The old man stopped halfway through his sentence, withdrew his bowing gesture, and his gaze became a bit stern. "Which peak are you from? How dare you use a senior's identity token here? Quickly return it and go to the Punishment Hall to receive your punishment!"

A senior's identity token? It seems that the identity token of a core disciple is indeed very useful. Fang Ling quickly said, "Senior Brother, this is my identity token!"

"You say this is your identity token. Do you know that this is a core... " The old man's face showed a strange expression, and after a while, he swallowed and said, "Are you the... the... Junior Brother from the Seven Stars Peak?"

The old man seemed to have forgotten his name, which made Fang Ling a bit uncomfortable. However, he still smiled and said, "I am Fang Ling, cultivating on the Seven Stars Peak."

"Ah! I almost forgot that the sect has a new core disciple." The old man sat down again and looked at Fang Ling with a grand manner, saying nothing.

Fang Ling thought to himself, does this guy have some weird preferences? Fang Ling, who was muttering to himself, suddenly had the urge to escape at all costs.

"Senior Brother Yun, can I go in now?"

Yun Zhongda stroked his beard, still saying nothing, but just looked up and down at Fang Ling, making Fang Ling even more uncomfortable.

Just as Fang Ling was about to burst, he heard Yun Zhongda say, "Although Junior Brother has not yet established his foundation, you are still a core disciple. All the secret texts in the scripture hall are open to core disciples."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Yun." Fang Ling breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave. However, just as he was about to go, Yun Zhongda waved him over, saying, "Junior Brother, come to the scripture hall more often when you have time."

Fang Ling, hearing this, thought to himself, did he misunderstand this senior brother? Just as he was about to thank him, he heard Yun Zhongda say softly, "I have always been looked down upon by core disciples. This feeling of looking down on core disciples is really comfortable!"

Comfortable my ass!

Fang Ling felt like fainting, but he still forced a smile and walked into the scripture hall.

Yun Zhongda had no ill intentions toward him, but his words made Fang Ling feel uncomfortable. The crucial point was that as a core disciple, Fang Ling did not have the corresponding strength. At this moment, Fang Ling's desire to improve his cultivation became even more urgent!

The second floor of the scripture hall was not very large. In a few large cabinets, there were not only jade slips but also many books. Fang Ling picked up a book at random and saw that it was titled "Introduction to Formations." This introductory book was of no use to Fang Ling, so he put it down and started searching through the jade slips.

The cultivation techniques mentioned in the jade slip given to Fang Ling by Fu Jingbo were all stored in the scripture hall and placed in prominent positions. However, what made Fang Ling frustrated was that he could not find the diagram of the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation he was looking for. He couldn't even find a spell that started with "Wan."

It can't be that it doesn't exist, can it?

Just as Fang Ling was feeling anxious, a pile of dusty jade slips in a wooden box, which had not been touched for a long time, caught his eye. He picked one up at random and saw that it was titled "Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation"!

Is my luck this good? Fang Ling picked up another one at random, and it was still the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation! Fang Ling picked up five in total, and all five were the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation.

What's going on with these five Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formations?

Fang Ling placed a jade slip on his forehead, and the content of the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation slowly appeared in his mind. After a quarter of an hour, Fang Ling took the jade slip off his forehead, but his face showed a bitter expression.

The Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation really does involve ten thousand stars! However, these stars were not celestial stars but ten thousand medium-grade spirit stones. One medium-grade spirit stone was worth a thousand low-grade spirit stones!

Although Fang Ling had ten thousand low-grade spirit stones and over a thousand medium-grade spirit stones, he was still far from the ten thousand medium-grade spirit stones required.

No wonder such a high-success-rate method was shelved. In the entire True Dao Sect, let alone Qi Condensation disciples, even core disciples at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage could not afford so many medium-grade spirit stones.

Give up?

This thought flashed through Fang Ling's mind but was quickly dismissed. Earning spirit stones might be difficult for others, but it was not impossible for him.

Holding the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation spell, Fang Ling walked downstairs. Yun Zhongda looked down at him again before registering and letting him go. However, when he saw that Fang Ling was holding the jade slip of the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation, his smile seemed a bit strange.

Collecting the allowance from the Internal Affairs Hall was smooth, but the additional twenty spirit stones made Fang Ling feel like crying. If he relied solely on this allowance, it would take him five hundred years to save enough medium-grade spirit stones for the Ten Thousand Stars Foundation Establishment Formation. Five hundred years!

"Is that Senior Uncle Fang walking ahead? Please wait a moment!" Just as Fang Ling was thinking, he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind.

PS: A new week, a new beginning. Xiao Mao is seeking all kinds of support. The book is now fat, so all the brothers can start reading!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends