Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

“Where do you keep getting these crazy ideas?” He shook his head, “That is the Divine Intent Disc. It’s used to cultivate one’s Spiritual Power.”

“Ah!” Only now did Huan Xue realize that she had made a mistake. She couldn’t help but blush, feeling very embarrassed.

She took out the Divine Intent Disc from the drawer, and handed it over to Ling Han.

—In the end, she did not dare to throw it away.

Ling Han shook his head with a smile. After taking the Divine Intent Disc, he began to push that white dot again.

With his Spiritual Power, the white dot moved. However, the veined patterns were like a wall, and thus the white dot could only move within the grooves.

En, this was a labyrinth.

Ling Han stimulated the white dot, and very soon, he encountered a dead end. Then, he retreated and found a new path. After a while, he felt mentally weary, and could not continue.

“Practicing over and over again like this, one’s spiritual power would be slowly strengthened.” Ling Han nodded. So that was the case.

“With my rate of advancement, is it considered fast or slow?”

Because his spiritual power had already been exhausted, and there didn’t seem to be any way to recover it quickly, Ling Han went to study formations instead.

He grasped more and more basic formation patterns, and believed that he could already lay out some simple formation patterns.

“Let’s take a look around the city.”

He did not bring his little female attendant with him, but rather walked around the city by himself.

Huju City was much larger than the Ancient Dao Sect. The architectural styles here were diverse. There were ancient stone and wood buildings, as well as high-rise buildings made of steel and concrete.

“Yi, ‘There’s a Formations Shop’?” Ling Han stopped at the entrance of a shop. The words “There’s a Formations Shop” were written on it. En, a very unique name.

Ling Han thought for a moment, then walked into the shop.

This shop wasn’t big, and Ling Han was able to walk straight in. Moreover, it was only a single-storey building. Compared to the high-rise buildings in the surroundings, it seemed very out of place.

There was an old man sitting lifelessly in the shop. He was resting with his eyes closed. Even though he clearly heard someone enter, he didn’t open his eyes to greet the customers.

En, just like the name of this store, the old man had a lot of personality.

Ling Han looked around. Every set of formations was placed in a glass display case. There was only the name of the formations and a brief description, as well as the price.

The staff in this shop was very lazy, so lazy that he would rather write down all the information than speak to others.

“The formation techniques are really expensive!” Ling Han was dumbfounded. Even the cheapest set of formation techniques would cost ten thousand Dark North coins.

Dark North Coin was the currency issued by the nation. Outside of the Dark North Nation, this currency was useless. However, in the Dark North Nation, no matter what kind of transaction it was, it would have to be paid in Dark North Coins. Otherwise, there would be severe punishment.

And the Dark North Coin was linked to the jade seed. One jade seed could be exchanged for 100 coins.

In other words, the cheapest formation was equivalent to 100 jade seeds.

This was very, very expensive.

For example, Wang Feng and the others only received a monthly allowance of 5,000 coins. Moreover, this was only because they were captains of the Xuanqing Banner. For normal soliders, they would only receive a monthly allowance of 800 coins.

“Old man, are there any formations for sale?” Ling Han asked.

The old man opened his eyes, his expression filled with impatience, “Brat, is there something wrong with your eyes or your brain? Isn’t it written very clearly already?”

Tsk, he could actually do business like this?

Ling Han chuckled and said, “Uncle, you’ve misunderstood. I don’t want to buy completed formations, but the diagram of formations that I could set up.”

“En?” The old man revealed an astounded expression. He raised his head and surveyed Ling Han carefully, “Brat, you want to learn formations?”

“That’s right.” Ling Han nodded.

The old man laughed loudly, “If you were the disciple of some Formation Master, you naturally would not have to find formations to examine. That must mean you are studying formations on your own. En, you have cultivated Spiritual Power?”

Ling Han chuckled and didn’t reply. In the entire Dark North Nation, there weren’t many people who had cultivated Spiritual Power, so it was best for him to hide his strength for a while.

The old man cast a second look at Ling Han, then took out a book from a drawer behind him, and tossed it over to Ling Han, “Take it.”

“How much?” Ling Han asked.

“I’ll give it to you.” The old man waved his hand, “It’s just an old book. It’s not worth much.”

Ling Han gave an ‘oh’, and said, “Then thank you, uncle.”

He stuffed the book into his robes. It was really very thin.

“If you’ve mastered formations, you can bring them to our store for consignment, and we’ll collect a 10% fee for the sale,” the elder said.

Ling Han smiled, “All right.”

He turned to leave.

After a while, another person walked in, his expression appearing very respectful.

“Greetings, Uncle Niu.” This was an old man that looked to be in his sixties, but he was hale and hearty in spirit. He was dressed in long robes, and had the air of nobility about him.

The old man in the shop immediately closed his eyes, and acted as if he had not seen anything. He was putting on airs.

The old man who had just arrived was called Gu Tianhe, and he was the Chairperson of Huju City’s Formations Association. Due to the unique nature of formations, his status was extremely high. Even if the City Lord came, he would have to be polite in front of him.

Hence, if outsiders saw this scene, they would definitely be so shocked that their eyes would pop out.

What was going on here? Someone actually dared to put on airs in front of Chairperson Gu?

Gu Tianhe smiled bitterly. Who asked this old man to be his senior? And one with a terrible temper at that.

He continued, “It’s almost time for the formations competition that is held once every three years. The branch needs to select a person to go to the Imperial Capital. Tianhe would like to ask Uncle if there is anyone that he would like to recommend.”

Actually, as the Chairperson of the Formations Association that ruled over the city, it was entirely up to him to decide who he would send to the Imperial Capital to participate next year. However, this Uncle Niu of all people, was his senior. He had to come and ask for instructions, even if it was just for show.

“Get out! Don’t come and bother me!” Uncle Niu waved his hand, looking completely annoyed by the other person.

Gu Tianhe could only turn around and leave. This was not outside of his expectations. He only felt that it was a pity. In the past, “Niu Huaqing” had been so full of vigor, but now?

Life was ever-changing.

…

Ling Han walked around again. There were alchemical pills, formations, conventional weapons, firearms, and so on and so forth being sold here.

Conventional weapons were mainly prized for their sharpness and sturdiness, while firearms were limited to normal-calibre guns. This was actually not much of a deterrent to cultivators above Six Meridians.

However, there were actually Talisman Weapons sold here.

This was expensive, and it was not just any ordinary price. In fact, it was not something that could be sold just because you had the funds. One also had to have a corresponding status.

At present, Ling Han was a “savage”. Of course, he could not buy firearms or even cold weapons.

He observed them from behind the counter, and discovered that the descriptions for these Talisman Weapons weren’t written with ink or other materials. Instead, they were written with blood.

Strange.

He thought for a moment, but still decided to go back and fiddle with the formations.

Ling Han returned to his residence, and began to flip through the book on formations.