19: Xiaolanglangshan Ruins

The thin mist of early morning enveloped Xiao Langlang Mountain, and on the open ground at the foot of the mountain, hundreds of Cultivators gathered, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.

Xu Qi'an stood among the ranks of the Spiritual Farmers, his gaze sweeping around, his heart filled with silent vigilance.

He noticed that the entrance to the relics was covered by a large Foundation Establishment Formation, its surface runes flowing, emitting heart-palpitating spiritual energy fluctuations.

"As expected, Qingzhu Market has completely taken control here."

Xu Qi'an muttered in a low voice, his brows slightly furrowed.

He had originally thought the exploration of the relics would be a chaotic free-for-all, but he hadn't expected that Qingzhu Market had already laid out a net, bringing all Cultivators under their control.

The procession slowly moved forward, and Xu Qi'an followed the crowd into the interior of the Formation.

As soon as he stepped into the Formation, he immediately felt a strong sense of pressure, as if countless eyes were secretly observing him.

He looked up and saw several Cultivators of the Qi Refining Peak standing inside the Formation, each with a stern expression, their gazes sweeping over every person entering like knives.

"Strange, since they used a Foundation Establishment Formation, why isn't there a Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding it?"

Xu Qi'an was puzzled, his gaze lingering on those Cultivators of the Qi Refining Peak for a moment before lowering his head to avoid attracting attention.

In the open space inside the Formation, the Cultivators were divided into several camps.

The Spiritual Farmers gathered in a corner, looking uneasy; rogue Cultivators were in groups of two or three, talking in low voices; while the Family Cultivators from the Qingzhu Market stood at the very front, looking arrogant.

Xu Qi'an's gaze swept through the crowd, and suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure—Meng Shuran.

Meng Shuran stood in the Li Family's ranks, his face somewhat haggard, his gaze wandering, seemingly preoccupied.

Xu Qi'an did not go forward to greet him, but instead lowered his head, blending into the Spiritual Farmers' group, trying to minimize his presence.

Just then, an elderly-looking Cultivator stepped forward, standing on a high platform overlooking everyone.

He wore a blue robe, his face was majestic, and his spiritual energy surged around him, clearly at the Qi Refining Peak cultivation level.

Xu Qi'an heard the surrounding Cultivators whispering, "That's the Li Family's Old Ancestor, Li Wanggao."

Li Wanggao's gaze was like lightning, sweeping over everyone, and he said in a loud voice, "Everyone, I have been ordered by the Qingzhu Market Master to gather you here to open the Xiao Langlang Mountain Relics!"

"Based on our investigation, there is a powerful Seal on the outer perimeter of the relics, which requires massive spiritual energy to break."

"Therefore, we need everyone to work together, collectively inject spiritual energy, and break the Seal."

"And every Cultivator who participates in breaking this Seal will receive two Low-Grade Spirit Stones as a reward!"

As soon as his words fell, the Spiritual Farmers immediately started discussing animatedly, their faces showing excitement.

A reward of three Low-Grade Spirit Stones was already a considerable sum for them.

However, the wealthy rogue Cultivators and Family Cultivators showed disdain, clearly scoffing at such a small reward.

Nevertheless, due to the oppressive presence of the Li Family, they did not dare to say much.

Li Wanggao swept his gaze around and continued.

"Not only that, after the Seal is broken, you can choose to enter the relics and obtain treasures from within!"

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar.

Many Cultivators, except for the Spiritual Farmers who were forced to come, were mostly here for the treasures within the relics.

"Everyone, please follow my instructions and enter the various points of the Formation."

Xu Qi'an remained calm, but he felt that this matter would not be so simple.

Li Wanggao waved his hand, and several Li Family Cultivators immediately stepped forward to guide everyone to stand at the designated positions.

Xu Qi'an reluctantly followed the crowd to a Formation eye, looking down, he saw complex runes carved on the ground, with spiritual energy faintly flowing.

He secretly remained vigilant, quietly circulating the Word Concealment Art to suppress his spiritual energy fluctuations to the lowest level.

"Begin!"

At Li Wanggao's command, the Formation emitted a dazzling white light, tightly enveloping everyone inside.

Xu Qi'an suddenly felt his spiritual energy around him draining frantically, turning into a torrent that flowed into the Formation below.

"They're treating us like portable chargers!"

As the spiritual energy was injected, the Formation began to emit a low humming sound, the runes gradually lit up, and then transformed into a powerful beam of spiritual energy that shot towards the golden Seal.

However, it wasn't long before some Cultivators with low cultivation levels turned pale, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.

Suddenly, a Spiritual Farmer with a low cultivation level coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body swayed a few times, and then he fainted on the ground.

Immediately after, several more Cultivators successively fell down, and the scene instantly became chaotic.

Li Wanggao, however, remained expressionless, coldly saying, "Continue! Don't stop!"

Seeing this, Xu Qi'an's heart tightened.

He immediately realized that this Formation was not just absorbing spiritual energy, but was even extracting the Cultivators' vital essence!

Most of the Spiritual Farmers with low cultivation levels were already suffering immensely.

Xu Qi'an was currently displaying a cultivation level of Qi Refining Third Level, but in reality, his cultivation was at Qi Refinement Sixth Level. Now, he was only experiencing a slight discomfort from the loss of spiritual energy.

But he could only imitate the appearance of the nearby Spiritual Farmers, painfully staggering and falling.

"I wonder how long this Formation will last. If this continues, I'm afraid people will die!"

Although high-level Cultivators viewed low-level Cultivators as ants and playthings.

But in such a public setting, it might cause a huge uproar and even lead to suppression from the other two Qingzhu Markets!

However, Xu Qi'an didn't care about these things. What he cared about more was whether this would expose the fact that he was hiding his cultivation!

Xu Qi'an sighed in his heart, and could only frantically activate the Word Concealment Art.

He lay prostrate on the ground, his eyes tightly closed, suppressing his aura fluctuations to the lowest level through the Word Concealment Art.

With this round of casting, the white light enveloping him was significantly reduced, and it began to rush towards the nearby Cultivators.

"It works!"

A surge of joy filled Xu Qi'an's heart.

"This Word Concealment Art Spell is too powerful! It can even defend against this Foundation Establishment Formation!"

Xu Qi'an suppressed the joy in his heart and looked around.

There were only dozens of Cultivators in the field who remained steady, most of them were rogue Cultivators in the Qi Refining Middle Stage and Qi Refining Late Stage.

As for the low-level Cultivators like the Spiritual Farmers, they were completely wiped out!

And the Cultivators from the major families in the Qingzhu Market, who were located at the edge of the Formation, regardless of their cultivation level, were all fine. Their faces were even relaxed and carefree, showing no signs of difficulty due to depleted spiritual energy.

"What unequal treatment!!"

Xu Qi'an's heart turned cold.

It was clear that this Formation was divided into inner and outer sections, with the inner section being fierce and the outer section gentle.

And the members of the Qingzhu Market families would not only not have their spiritual energy depleted by this Formation, but would instead have their spiritual energy tempered by it!

Xu Qi'an clenched his fists, filled with anger towards these Family forces.

At this moment, he looked over and saw that Li Wanggao, who was standing on the high platform, had a leisurely expression, and even strands of spiritual energy were flowing into him.

"Alas..."

Finally, after another quarter of an hour, a crisp sound came, and Xu Qi'an slightly glanced to see the golden Seal shattering.

"Hahahahaha, the Seal is finally broken! Thank you all for your hard work!"

Li Wanggao stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

The other rogue Cultivators present had varied expressions, clearly having witnessed the actions of Li Wanggao and the others earlier.