Chapter 49

Because once he arrived at Patriarch Luo's place, he wouldn't be as free as he was now, so Xie Ruolan indeed instructed Lin Haoming about many things. Lin Haoming also noted them down one by one.

In fact, what Xie Ruolan instructed wasn't anything major, mainly about the two marketplaces. It was only now that Lin Haoming learned that apart from having a shop on the first floor, Xie Ruolan also had a small shop in the inner disciples' marketplace on the second floor, which was currently managed by Wang Chen.

Of course, the income from the second-floor marketplace was actually not as good as that from the first floor, because many inner disciples could enter the third floor and go directly to the third-floor marketplace, where the goods were more abundant. The second-floor marketplace could at most sell some cheaper items, so sometimes even if the sales volume was not small, the profit was not high. Most people who came here to buy were just looking for cheap and convenient deals.

In addition, there were some items that Xie Ruolan needed him to help acquire, which Lin Haoming found to be somewhat special. If it were before, he wouldn't have noticed, but since he obtained the "Divine Bone Scripture," especially after the annotations by the Divine Bone Elder, he realized that some of these items were only used by body cultivators.

Could it be that Xie Ruolan was also a body cultivator? This thought immediately flashed through Lin Haoming's mind. If so, she would be terrifying, and how could one person have so much energy to be so strong in both magic and body cultivation?

Although he was puzzled, Lin Haoming didn't ask. This matter clearly touched on Xie Ruolan's privacy. Although Xie Ruolan was obviously much closer to him, Lin Haoming understood that their relationship was partly due to the days they spent together in the past.

After finishing the instructions, Lin Haoming went directly to the second-floor marketplace to find Wang Chen.

As soon as Lin Haoming left, Xie Ruolan first returned to the quiet room where she practiced cultivation in the cave, carefully examining every corner. Finally, she sighed and walked out of the cave's main gate. From the moment she stepped out of the gate, Xie Ruolan knew that the cave where she had stayed for nearly two years no longer belonged to her. This cave was, in fact, the first place that truly belonged to her in the Blood Refinement Sect.

She went to the Steward Hall and handed over the cave that once belonged to her. Xie Ruolan knew that after she handed over the cave, it would definitely attract a lot of inner disciples to compete for it, but this was no longer her concern.

The steward at the Steward Hall was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and his cultivation was much higher than Xie Ruolan's. However, because he knew that Xie Ruolan had been taken as a disciple by Ancestor Luo Wanying, he was quite polite to her.

After finishing the formalities, Xie Ruolan flew directly to the third-floor passage. At the Foundation Establishment stage, one could fly without relying on magical tools, and the speed was much faster than before when relying on magical tools. This alone made a world of difference between Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators.

Upon reaching the third floor, the cultivators guarding there paid no attention and let Xie Ruolan pass. She didn't stop but quickly headed toward the entrance to the fourth floor. The entrance to the fourth floor was not far from the third-floor passage, and with her Foundation Establishment cultivation, it took her less than half an hour to arrive.

Upon arriving, Xie Ruolan didn't immediately go down. Facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the entrance, she took out a token and said, "Ancestor Luo ordered me to go to her!"

The cultivator guarding the entrance nodded and said, "Ancestor Luo is on the sixth floor. Follow me!"

Hearing this, Xie Ruolan followed him and soon arrived at a place similar to the second-floor teleportation hall. This teleportation hall indeed had several teleportation arrays, but they were not for sending people outside the sect.

Starting from the fourth floor, the area of each floor was vast to an astonishing degree. Even a true Golden Core Ancestor would take a considerable amount of time to fly to the sixth floor where Ancestor Luo Wanying's cave was. For Xie Ruolan, it would take at least ten to fifteen days.

Given this situation, the sect had specially established a teleportation hall at the entrance to the fourth floor. However, the teleportation array only went to the sixth floor; there was no array to the seventh floor, which was actually the sect's forbidden area. Even a Golden Core Ancestor needed the approval of the Elder to go down to the seventh floor.

Xie Ruolan followed the Foundation Establishment cultivator into a teleportation array. As the light flashed, when she recovered from the pull of the teleportation, she found herself in a forest. The trees around her were very tall, but both the trunks and leaves were pitch black, as if every inch had been soaked in ink. Only in the open area around her were there several teleportation arrays, and she was standing on one of them.

"Are you Junior Sister Xie?" a somewhat hoarse voice came.

Xie Ruolan looked over and saw an old woman who looked at least eighty or ninety years old sitting on the ground next to the teleportation array. She opened her cloudy eyes and looked at her.

"Yes, may I ask who you are?" Xie Ruolan asked respectfully, sensing that the old woman might have peak Foundation Establishment cultivation.

"My name is Fang Jing. You can call me Senior Sister Fang. I am the only remaining disciple of my master!" the old woman said indifferently.

"Senior Sister Fang!" Xie Ruolan immediately bowed upon hearing this.

Fang Jing sized up Xie Ruolan and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. I was over twenty when I reached Foundation Establishment. Back then, I was quite proud of myself!"

"Ruolan dares not compare with Senior Sister!" Xie Ruolan said respectfully.

When facing Qi Condensation disciples, Xie Ruolan didn't need to be cautious, but with Foundation Establishment cultivators, especially this Fang Jing, she didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless.

Fang Jing noticed Xie Ruolan's nervousness and tried to smile, but the wrinkles on her face made her smile look somewhat terrifying. However, her tone softened. "Don't worry, follow me!"

Hearing her words, Xie Ruolan followed Fang Jing. Fang Jing took out an array disk, cast a spell, and the forest in front of them automatically parted, revealing a narrow path.

At this moment, Xie Ruolan realized that the forest around here was actually a very intricate array. If she had entered randomly, she would have faced a catastrophic disaster. No wonder Senior Sister Fang Jing came to pick her up.

Following Fang Jing, although they were walking, their speed was very fast, not slower than a normal person running. Xie Ruolan looked up and found that the distance to the top was at least ten thousand feet.

The Blood Refinement Sect had five floors above, and due to Grandmaster Lin, Xie Ruolan had seen them all. This was the first time she was on the sixth floor. Just by looking at the top, she could tell that this floor was higher than the fifth floor. She didn't know if the sixth floor was even larger than the fifth floor, but even the fifth floor took Grandmaster Lin several days to fly from one end to the other.

After walking for a while, the two left the forest. When Xie Ruolan looked back, she could no longer see the path that had appeared in the forest. In front of her was a small lake, and a long bridge, like a silver snake, extended from the lakeside to a small island in the center, connecting with the pavilions and terraces on the island, forming a beautiful picture.