37: Chapter 37 Hero Saves the Little Girl

After successfully reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, Xu Changkun did not slack off in the slightest. He knew well that the path of cultivation was like sailing against the current; if one did not advance, one would retreat.

He took out the 'Five Elements Spirit Gathering Array' formation method rewarded by the system and immersed himself in studying it. This array required five elemental spirit objects as a foundation to draw in and gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If he could successfully set it up, it would be of great benefit to the family's cultivation.

Xu Changkun took stock of the items on hand: for the metal element, he could use refined iron ore; for the wood element, he took hundred-year-old spirit wood from the spirit fields; for the water element, he drew the essence of the mountain stream spirit spring; for the fire element, he used the earth fire crystal gifted by the Yanhuo Chamber of Commerce; and for the earth element, he used the Wu earth stone mined from the Zhao family's mineral veins.

With all the materials ready, he selected a spot in the residence with the most abundant spiritual energy to serve as the array eye.

Setting up the array took a full three days. Using his spiritual power as a pen, Xu Changkun carved complex array patterns and buried the five elemental spirit objects in their corresponding positions one by one. Finally, he injected a powerful burst of true essence into the array eye, and the grand array was instantly activated.

Hum—

A low hum resonated through the sky, and five-colored light soared into the air before quickly fading away. The spiritual energy in the courtyard grew visibly dense, turning into a faint white mist that lingered, as if it were a fairyland on earth.

"It is done." Feeling the active spiritual energy all around, Xu Changkun nodded slightly, a trace of satisfaction appearing at the corner of his mouth.

This Spirit Gathering Array covered a radius of a hundred zhang, enough to accommodate dozens of people cultivating at the same time. He designated this area as the core cultivation zone for the family and allowed his wives and concubines to enter in batches to cultivate.

The results were immediate. Lin Fenglan, Wang Qingxuan, and the other dao companions who had followed him the earliest saw signs of their cultivation bottlenecks loosening after only a few days of practicing in the array. Even the concubines who had recently joined and had shallow cultivation saw their cultivation speed more than double.

As the trend of cultivation grew stronger in the backyard, Xu Changkun began preparing to refine his life-bound dharma treasure.

The 'crimson flame sword' was a top-tier dharma treasure for the Foundation Establishment Stage, and the materials listed in the refining manual were quite rare: crimson flame iron essence, molten fire crystals, hundred-year-old phoenix tree wood cores, and earth vein fire spirit liquid.

The Yanhuo Chamber of Commerce still had the first two items in stock, so Huo Linger immediately wrote a letter asking her father to send someone to deliver them.

The phoenix tree wood core could be found in the Yunxia Sect market. Xu Changkun made the trip himself, and Nalan Yanran and Senior Sister Liu Qingxu also helped out, using sect connections to successfully acquire it.

Only the earth vein fire spirit liquid, which had to be collected by venturing deep into volcanic earth veins, was extremely rare and could be described as something one might encounter but not necessarily obtain.

After making inquiries in many places, Xu Changkun finally learned that there would be a large auction in Qingyang City in three days, where the earth vein fire spirit liquid might appear.

Three days later, he brought enough spirit stones and set off alone for Qingyang City.

Qingyang City was even more prosperous than Yunyang City, with wide streets, shops lining both sides, and an endless stream of cultivators coming and going. The auction was held at Wanbao Pavilion in the city center, and it was already bustling with noise.

The auction was halfway through when the final item finally arrived—the earth vein fire spirit liquid.

"Three drops of earth vein fire spirit liquid, starting bid at five hundred low-grade spirit stones!" the auctioneer's voice was passionate and powerful.

The price climbed steadily, and the competition was exceptionally fierce. Xu Changkun was not in a hurry; when the bidding reached eight hundred spirit stones and the voices on the floor began to dwindle, he slowly spoke: "One thousand."

The private room was equipped with a sound-insulating array, and his voice was processed to become low and hoarse, making it difficult to identify its source. However, raising the bid by two hundred at once still caused a stir of murmurs in the main hall.

"One thousand one hundred." A young man's voice came from the opposite private room, revealing a bit of the arrogance of someone determined to win.

"One thousand three hundred." Xu Changkun's tone was calm, as if he were calling out not for spirit stones, but for mere rocks.

"One thousand five hundred!" The other party was clearly somewhat annoyed and raised the bid again.

"Two thousand." Xu Changkun raised the price by five hundred directly, his voice remaining calm and unruffled.

The entire venue fell silent instantly. Although the earth vein fire spirit liquid was rare, its normal market price was around one thousand five hundred, and two thousand was already a significant overpayment.

The opposite private room was silent for a moment, then a cold snort came, clearly indicating they had given up and would not raise the bid further.

Xu Changkun successfully won the earth vein fire spirit liquid, feeling greatly relieved.

After the auction ended, he had just walked out of Wanbao Pavilion when his path was blocked by three people.

The leader was a young man in brocade clothes with Qi Refining Level 9 cultivation and a sinister face, followed by two guards, both experts at Qi Refining Level 8.

"Are you the one who bought the earth vein fire spirit liquid?" The young man in brocade clothes looked Xu Changkun up and down with malicious eyes, projecting a sense of superiority.

"And if I am?" Xu Changkun's expression was calm as he looked at him indifferently.

"I have taken a fancy to that item." The young man lifted his chin, his tone matter-of-fact. "If you know what's good for you, hand it over, and I will give you the spirit stones at the original price. Otherwise..."

The two guards behind him stepped forward, releasing their spiritual pressure and locking their auras onto Xu Changkun, the threat implicit.

Xu Changkun laughed, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes: "Otherwise what?"

"Otherwise, I will make sure you never leave Qingyang City!" The young man sneered, revealing his true colors. "I am Liu Feng, the Young Master of the Liu Family in Qingyang City, and my father is a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator. You, a mere rogue cultivator, dare to compete with me for items? You should take a look at yourself in a mirror!"

Xu Changkun couldn't be bothered with nonsense. He released a small portion of his Foundation Establishment Stage pressure, which crashed down on the three like Mount Tai.

Boom!

Liu Feng's face changed abruptly; he felt as if his chest had been struck by a heavy hammer and stumbled back three steps to steady himself. The two guards let out muffled groans, blood spilling from the corners of their mouths, as they looked at Xu Changkun in terror.

"Foun... Foundation Establishment senior?!" Liu Feng's voice trembled, and his legs went weak. He never expected that the person he casually blocked would be a great cultivator of the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Scram." Xu Changkun coldly spat out the word. His voice wasn't loud, but it exploded like thunder in the ears of the three.

Liu Feng's face turned pale and livid, filled with both shame and fear. He gritted his teeth and said: "Senior, please forgive me. The junior was blind..."

After saying this, he fled in a sorry state with his guards, though a trace of malice flashed in his eyes.

Xu Changkun didn't take it to heart; he had seen plenty of such pampered young masters. He retracted his aura and headed straight out of the city.

When he reached a remote mountain forest thirty miles outside the city, he suddenly heard the sounds of intense fighting and the delicate shouts of a woman ahead.

Xu Changkun swept his divine sense over and saw Liu Feng with four guards surrounding and attacking two female cultivators.

One of the female cultivators was dressed in a goose-yellow dress, with a round, porcelain-like face and large, bright almond eyes that blinked with innocence and childishness. She wore her hair in playful twin tails, and her petite figure exuded a naive charm in her every gesture, like a finely crafted porcelain doll that made one feel protective.

The other was wearing a light blue long dress, about twenty years old, with a temperament as cold as frost and a stunning appearance, like an ice lotus on a snowy mountain.

Although the blue-clad woman had cultivated to Qi Refining Level 10, she had to constantly look after her younger sister, who was only at Qi Refining Level 6. Consequently, facing the siege of five opponents, she was gradually losing ground. The yellow-clad girl had a wound on her shoulder, blood had stained half of her sleeve, and her small face was deathly pale.

"Little girl, obediently hand over the 'ice heart lotus', and I might consider sparing your lives!" Liu Feng sneered, the sword in his hand striking with every move.

"Dream on!" The yellow-clad girl gritted her teeth, her eyes full of stubbornness. "We found this ice heart lotus first, why should I give it to you!"

The blue-clad woman swung her sword to force back a guard and said coldly: "Liu Feng, your Liu Family is, after all, a prominent family in Qingyang City. Are you not afraid of losing face if such conduct gets out?"

"Get out?" Liu Feng chuckled. "In this desolate wilderness, if I kill you both, who would know it was me?"

His eyes greedily swept over the graceful figures of the two women: "However... if you are willing to obediently serve me and become my cultivation cauldrons, I might just leave you a way to survive."

"Shameless!" The yellow-clad girl trembled with rage.

Liu Feng waved his hand: "Take them! Don't hurt the face of the younger one; I like them tender!"

The four guards intensified their attack, with every move being fatal. The two women were struggling to parry, facing dangerous situations, and it looked like they wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

Xu Changkun originally didn't want to meddle in other people's business; the world of cultivation was a place where the weak were prey to the strong, and such things happened every day. However, when his gaze swept over the top of the two women's heads, he was slightly stunned and stopped in his tracks.

Above the yellow-clad girl's head shone a light blue light. Above the blue-clad woman's head was actually a deep blue light, even more intense than that of Nalan Yanran and Huo Linger!

Double blue spirit roots! And one of them had excellent aptitude!

Xu Changkun's heart stirred. These were excellent seedlings; if he could take them into his household...

He didn't hesitate any longer, stepped out of the forest, and said in a clear voice: "Five grown men bullying two young girls, is that all the ambition the Liu Family has?"

Liu Feng turned his head abruptly and, seeing it was Xu Changkun, his face instantly turned deathly pale, a flash of fear and resentment crossing his eyes.

It's him again!

"Sen... Senior..." Liu Feng's voice was dry. The arrogant aura from before had vanished completely, and he could barely hold the sword in his hand steady.

Xu Changkun flashed, instantly appearing in front of the two women and shielding them behind him.

The yellow-clad girl's eyes lit up as if she had seen a savior: "Uncle, please help us!"

Xu Changkun's mouth twitched slightly. Uncle? Am I that old?

He looked at Liu Feng, his gaze cold: "I told you to scram earlier, but you didn't. Now you are here bullying people again; it seems you haven't been taught a sufficient lesson."

Liu Feng gritted his teeth. Although he was afraid, thinking of his family behind him, he forced himself to say: "Senior, this matter has nothing to do with you. They stole my ice heart lotus..."

"Nonsense!" The yellow-clad girl interrupted him angrily. "We clearly found the ice heart lotus first! You are the one trying to rob us!"

Xu Changkun said indifferently: "Are you not going to scram yet? Do you want me to send you on your way?"

Before his voice had even faded, a terrifying pressure belonging to the Foundation Establishment Stage erupted, bending the surrounding trees and sending fallen leaves flying.

Liu Feng's face turned pale and livid, his chest heaving violently; he was clearly furious, but he dared not act out. He knew that he was absolutely no match for a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.

He glared fiercely at the two women and growled through gritted teeth: "Let's go! We shall meet again; I have noted this debt!"

After saying this, he fled in a panic with his four guards without looking back, fearing that Xu Changkun would change his mind.