27: Chapter 27 The Undercurrents of the Marketplace and the Daughter of the Array Master

The night was as dark as ink, providing the perfect cover.

Lin Chen did not move immediately.

He returned to the inn, first sitting cross-legged on the bed for half an hour to adjust his Heart-Nature to a state as still as an ancient well.

Afterward, he took a small porcelain bottle that Su Qingyao had prepared for him out of his Storage Pouch.

Inside was a light brown medicinal liquid, made by crushing several non-toxic herbs together, which carried a faint, earthy smell.

He applied the liquid evenly over his Face and hands, and his originally fair skin quickly became dull and rough, resembling that of a poor laborer who spent years wandering the wilderness.

He then looked at the blurry reflection in the washbasin, using his fingertips to rub his brow bones to make his eyebrows look more rugged, which added a touch of ferocity to his gaze.

After finishing this, he changed into a faded gray Loose Cultivator robe he had found in Outer Sect Deacon Wang Heng's Storage Pouch, the hem of which had several worn traces.

Finally, he suppressed his own Spiritual Qi fluctuations to the level of Qi Refining Stage 7—neither too high nor too low—which was the most common cultivation level among Loose Cultivators, making him blend into the crowd without attracting any attention.

At this moment, he was a different person from the calm and sharp-eyed Clan Chief of the Lin Family; he was just an ordinary Loose Cultivator, toiling for a few Spirit Stones and potentially dying in the wilderness at any moment.

At the entrance of Liuyun Market, several Cultivators in uniform attire leaned lazily against the gate, checking the identification tokens of those entering and leaving.

Lin Chen lowered his head, fished out a common iron Loose Cultivator token from his robes, and handed it over.

The guard glanced at it and impatiently waved him through.

The market was still bustling with noise, with shouts of hawkers and sounds of bargaining rising one after another.

The air was mixed with the scent of herbs, the bloody smell of Yao Beasts, and the complex aura emitted by various Magical Artifacts and Materials.

Lin Chen did not look around, his pace steady, as he completely merged into the chaos.

His destination was clear—a simple shed in the corner of the market with a sign that read "Bai Xiao."

When he arrived, there was no one else in the shed.

The thin, wizened old man known as "Old Xu" was leaning on a reclining chair, eyes closed in rest, as if he were asleep.

But the moment Lin Chen stepped into the shed, Old Xu's eyelids lifted a crack, his cloudy eyes rolling over him before closing again.

"A customer has arrived."

Old Xu's voice was raspy and flat, devoid of emotion.

Lin Chen did not waste words; he stepped forward, pulled a heavy cloth bag from his robes, and placed it on the scratched wooden table, creating a "clinking" sound.

Fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones, not one more, not one less.

Old Xu straightened up, slowly untied the bag, and poured the Spirit Stones out one by one. He rubbed each one with his rough fingertips, and after confirming their quality, he nodded with satisfaction and swept the Spirit Stones into a drawer under the table.

He reached into his robes and produced three thin sheets tanned from some kind of beast hide, filled with tiny, fly-sized script.

He pushed the first piece of parchment toward Lin Chen.

"The first one: Hu San, Qi Refining Stage 7. He specializes in taming low-level spirit insects, especially one called the 'Tracking Ant.' However, he is eccentric and demands a high price. To recruit him, you must set aside a separate mountain forest for him to tinker with, and you cannot allow anyone to interfere. If you are just looking for hired muscle, he is not worth it."

Old Xu pointed out the drawbacks directly, clearly not wanting to waste time.

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the parchment, and seeing the words "eccentric temperament, difficult to manage," he shook his head slightly.

He needed a partner who could integrate into the Family and share the same goals, not a bodhisattva to be brought back and worshipped.

Seeing this, Old Xu took back the first parchment and pushed the second one over.

"The second one: Wu Yong, Qi Refining Stage 6. He claims to be from a branch of a small, ruined Alchemy Family and knows a bit about the basics of Alchemy. He is honest and cheap—you can hire him for a month for three Spirit Stones. However..."

Old Xu pursed his lips. "He helped someone refine 'Qi Gathering Powder' last month, blew up the furnace twice, and nearly set their herb storehouse on fire. His skill is unstable; he can only refine the most basic things."

Lin Chen shook his head again.

In Alchemy, Su Qingyao's talent far exceeded this man's. He needed higher-level talent, not a half-baked apprentice.

Old Xu seemed to have expected this; his Face remained expressionless as he took back the second parchment and finally pushed the last one forward.

This time, his finger tapped lightly on the parchment.

"The third one: Liu Ruxu."

Lin Chen's gaze fell on the parchment, the handwriting on it finer than the previous two.

"Liu Ruxu, age seventeen, Qi Refining Stage 3. Her father, Liu Yuan, was originally a well-known Grade 1 High Grade Formation Master in this market, with a cultivation level at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment. Half a year ago, Liu Yuan took a private job to investigate an ancient Formation. After returning, he fell into a coma with severe injuries—his Dantian was damaged, his Meridians were shattered, and his cultivation level plummeted to the Qi Refinement Stage. He has yet to wake up. To save her father, Liu Ruxu sold all the valuable Formation diagrams and Materials in their home and bought Medicinal Pills everywhere to prolong his life; she is now at the end of her rope."

"This girl has low Spiritual Qi, but a resilient Heart-Nature. Rumor has it that she seems to have inherited her father's talent for the Dao of Formations, but without guidance, it is difficult for her to achieve much. Currently, she has been targeted by Zhao Mingde, the son of the Clan Chief of the Zhao Family in the market. Zhao Mingde intends to take her as a concubine, but his real motive is to scheme for an ancient Formation fragment that Liu Yuan failed to deliver before falling into a coma."

At the end of the parchment, there was a note written in even smaller script: Suspected of possessing the "Hidden Spirit Body."

This Physique usually has extremely weak Spiritual Qi fluctuations, making it inconspicuous, but it provides a natural bonus to skills that require precise Spiritual Qi control, such as the Dao of Formations and Talismans. It also has a natural affinity for certain concealment and illusion Formations.

Lin Chen's fingers subconsciously rubbed the stone ring on his thumb, firmly imprinting the words "Hidden Spirit Body" in his mind.

A Formation Master's daughter who was in a desperate situation, possessed extraordinary talent, and was in urgent need of help—she was practically the perfect candidate for him.

Just as he was carefully reading the information, a commotion suddenly erupted on the street outside the shed, mixed with a man's frivolous laughter and a woman's whispers.

Old Xu's eyelids lifted slightly, and he glanced outside, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile that was not quite a smile. "How coincidental—speak of the devil, and he appears."

Lin Chen's heart stirred; he immediately stood up and walked silently to the edge of the shed, looking out through a gap in the bamboo curtain.

In the center of the street, four guards wearing the Zhao Family's uniform cyan athletic wear, all with auras above Qi Refining Stage 5, were surrounding a young man dressed in brocade and fine robes.

The man was about twenty years old, with a bloated complexion and blue circles under his eyes—clearly a body hollowed out by wine and lust. He was waving a flashy white jade folding fan, blocking the path of a young girl in plain clothes.

The girl was thin, her Face somewhat pale from years of malnutrition, but her features were delicate, and her back was held straight.

She was clutching a medicinal packet wrapped in oil paper tightly to her chest, her head lowered, seemingly trying to bypass him.

Her hands were particularly eye-catching, with slender, delicate fingers that were now white from the force of her grip.

This appearance was exactly as described on the parchment for Liu Ruxu.

"Little Sister Ruxu, where are you going in such a rush?"

The man in brocade, none other than Zhao Mingde, used his folding fan to gently lift Liu Ruxu's chin, his smile frivolous and oily. "Your father's illness cannot be delayed. As long as you nod your head and enter the gate of my Zhao Family, not to mention this ordinary 'Spirit Nourishing Pill,' I will have the best healing Medicinal Pills delivered to your residence immediately. As for that ancient Formation diagram... just consider it your dowry, and offer it to this Young Master, how about that?"

The surrounding pedestrians avoided them, pointing and whispering, but no one dared to step forward to meddle in the business.

In Liuyun Market, the Zhao Family was the local tyrant whose word was law.

Liu Ruxu was forced to stop. She raised her head, her clear eyes devoid of fear, containing only a cold calm.

Her voice was very soft, yet it carried an irrepressible, slight tremor: "Young Master Zhao, before my father fell into a coma, he instructed that the Formation diagram is the secret of the Liu Family and must never be passed on. The Liu Family cannot afford to accept your 'kindness.' Please move aside; I must return to brew medicine for my father."

The smile on Zhao Mingde's Face vanished instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression. "Refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Liu Ruxu, do not be ungrateful! Do you think your Liu Family is still the same Liu Family that had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator? Your father is a cripple now! I will give you three days to consider: either bring the Formation diagram and obediently enter my Zhao Family's gate, or... wait to collect your father's corpse!"

As he spoke, he actually reached out to pinch Liu Ruxu's delicate cheek.

Liu Ruxu suddenly stepped back, narrowly dodging.

Just as she retreated, Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He clearly saw her right foot step lightly, seemingly unintentionally, onto a slightly raised bluestone slab on the ground.

The movement was extremely fast and extremely subtle.

In an instant, Lin Chen's sharp Divine Sense captured how, centered on that bluestone slab, a trace of extremely weak earth-attribute Spiritual Qi was instantly triggered within the inconspicuous cracks of the street bricks, forming a rudimentary, almost imperceptible "Foot-Stalling" micro-earth Formation barely three feet in diameter.

This could hardly be considered a complete Formation; it was more like an instinctive borrowing of the weak Spiritual Qi nodes in the surrounding environment!

Zhao Mingde's claw swiped at empty air. Just as he was about to step forward in a fit of shame and anger, he suddenly felt a faint, almost non-existent stickiness from the ground beneath his feet, as if he had stepped into a shallow mire, causing his pace to falter involuntarily.

"Hmm?" He paused, looking down at his feet, but saw only the smooth bluestone slab, with nothing unusual to be found.

In that split second of distraction, Liu Ruxu had seized the gap between the guards, squeezed through, and walked quickly toward the depths of the alley without looking back, her slender figure appearing both stubborn and lonely.

"Damn it!" Zhao Mingde snapped back to reality, spat fiercely at her retreating back, and shouted, "Unappreciative wench! Let's go!"

He did not give chase, perhaps feeling that he had lost Face in public, and stomped off in the other direction with his guards in a huff.

Lin Chen took in this entire scene, his estimation of Liu Ruxu rising a notch.

Calm, principled, and—most impressively—capable of instinctively utilizing her innate understanding of the Dao of Formations to create an opportunity to escape even in such a desperate situation.

That rudimentary earth Formation confirmed Old Xu's claims regarding her "Hidden Spirit Body" and talent for Formations; this was certainly not something an ordinary Qi Refining Stage 3 Cultivator could achieve.

After the Zhao Family members had walked away, Lin Chen sat back in the stall, his expression returning to calm.

"Did you see that? That is Liu Ruxu's situation." Old Xu slowly tidied the tabletop as if nothing had just happened. "The Zhao Family is a local bully in Liuyun Market, and their Clan Chief, Zhao Kuohai, is at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. Once Liu Yuan fell, the Liu Family became a toothless tiger, ripe for the picking. To the Zhao Family, Liu Ruxu's meager skills in the Dao of Formations and her so-called Hidden Spirit Body are merely trivial toys. What they truly want is the fragmentary map that Liu Yuan researched from that ancient Formation—it is said that it might point to some ancient Cultivator ruin."

Lin Chen pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked in a hoarse voice, "What kind of Medicinal Pill is actually needed to treat Liu Yuan's injuries?"

"A 'pulse mending pill'." Old Xu spat out the three words. "It is a First-Grade High Grade Medicinal Pill capable of forcibly reconnecting a Cultivator's severed Meridians and nourishing a damaged Dantian. No Alchemist in Liuyun Market can refine it. Occasionally, goods flow out from large Sects, but they are long since monopolized by a few major powers, and the price is frighteningly high. The 'Spirit Nourishing Pill' that Liu Ruxu bought by selling off her Family assets is just the most common variety, barely keeping him alive."

Lin Chen began to calculate rapidly in his heart.

A pulse mending pill; with Su Qingyao's current level of Alchemy and the lack of Materials on hand, she absolutely could not refine it.

However...

He moved his consciousness slightly, and the System interface, visible only to him, appeared in his mind.

Since the System upgraded, it had unlocked a [Family Shop] module, which allowed the exchange of Spirit Stones or Family Reputation for basic items.

His Divine Sense scanned the shop list rapidly.

Soon, he found his target.

[pulse mending pill (Imitation)]: A simplified version optimized by the System based on the general Pill Formula. Its effect is about 50% of the original, sufficient to stabilize the nearly shattered Meridians of a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator and create conditions for subsequent treatment.

Exchange price: 100 Low-Grade Spirit Stones or 10 points of Family Reputation.

The price was steep, but not unaffordable!

Lin Chen slowly exhaled, the look of determination in his eyes growing more intense.

Once the transaction was complete, he did not linger in the market; he left quietly and found an inconspicuous inn to stay at.

Night fell, and the entire Liuyun Market gradually grew quiet.

Lin Chen changed into night-traveling clothes better suited for movement and, following the address provided by Old Xu, traversed the rooftops of the intricate alleyways like a weightless shadow.

Soon, he found the dilapidated small courtyard where the Liu Family was currently renting.

The courtyard wall was low, mostly collapsed, and barely supported by a few pieces of wood. The courtyard gate had several large holes, and the cold wind blew inside with a "whooshing" sound.

He restrained all his aura, his entire being seemingly merging with the night, and with a light leap, he vaulted into the courtyard without a sound.

The courtyard was empty, save for two low, small huts.

The one on the left was pitch black, presumably Liu Ruxu's bedroom.

From the one on the right, a faint, bean-sized glimmer of light from an oil lamp shone through a hole in the paper window, and one could faintly hear suppressed, painful coughing coming from within.

Lin Chen moved like a cat, quietly approaching the window that let out light, and peered inside through the gap.

The furnishings inside were extremely rudimentary: besides a table and two stools, there was only a bed made of wooden planks.

On the bed lay a middle-aged man with a withered Face and sunken cheeks. His eyes were tightly closed, his brows locked in a frown, and with every cough, his body would convulse violently, evidently suffering immense pain.

This should be the former Foundation Establishment Formation Master, Liu Yuan.

Liu Ruxu was sitting on a low stool by the bedside, her back to the window.

She was not crying, nor was she sad; she was simply using a piece of burnt charcoal to focus intensely on sketching something on a piece of yellowed, coarse scrap paper by the dim light of the oil lamp.

She drew very slowly and with great effort, stopping every few strokes, her slender fingertips tracing unconsciously in the air as if repeatedly deducing something in her mind.

In her eyes, there was only that extreme focus on the Formation runes, as if everything in the outside world had nothing to do with her.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on the scrap paper in front of her.

On it were some incomplete, twisted, and seemingly irregular runic lines, which had some similarities to the rudimentary earth Formation she had triggered on the street during the day, but were undoubtedly a thousand times more complex and profound.

She was attempting to deduce that fragmentary ancient Formation map.

Perhaps she wanted to find a way to save her father from it, or perhaps she simply wanted to desperately improve her own meager skills in this desperate situation to ensure her own survival.

Lin Chen did not disturb the father and daughter. He watched quietly from outside the window for a long time before retreating quietly, just as he had arrived, and vanishing into the deep night.

Returning to his inn room, he sat at the table and carefully organized everything he had seen and heard today in his mind.

Liu Ruxu: Hidden Spirit Body, exceptional talent for the Dao of Formations, possesses instinct, and even stronger willingness to learn through Acquired effort.

Her character is resilient and calm, she values filial piety, and being in a desperate situation, this is the best time to recruit her.

Her father, Liu Yuan: Former Foundation Establishment Formation Master; even if severely injured, his knowledge and experience are a huge asset.

If he could be awakened, the Lin Family would immediately possess a high-level technical consultant and "teacher".

Risk: Helping the Liu Family would inevitably lead to a direct confrontation with the Zhao Family.

Although the Zhao Family is only a local bully, their Clan Chief, Zhao Kuohai, is after all a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. If the conflict escalates, it could bring trouble to the Lin Family, which is still in its starting phase.

Benefit: Gain a Formation Master with infinite potential (the most stable binding being through a contractual marriage relationship) and an experienced Senior.

At the same time, there is also the possibility of obtaining the clues to the Formation map pointing to ancient Cultivator ruins, which is of immeasurable value for the future development of the Family.

The pros and cons were weighed rapidly in Lin Chen's mind.

The Zhao Family... is not invincible.

Their main power is entrenched in the market, while his own Foundation is in the extremely hidden Luoxia Valley, which has a ley line spiritual cave and the Concealment Formation he set up, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

As long as it is handled properly, a direct head-on clash can be completely avoided.

And a loyal, reliable, and gifted Formation Master is precisely the talent the Lin Family is most urgently lacking and needs most at the core!

This risk is worth taking.

Furthermore, that Zhao Mingde acts arrogantly and has a vicious Heart-Nature; even if he does not intervene, Liu Ruxu will not last many more days.

Rather than letting her wither away with her talent and secrets, it is better for him to take over this Karma.

Lin Chen rubbed the cold stone ring, his gaze gradually becoming firm.

He had already made his decision.

However, how should he make contact, how should he gain her trust, and how should he make her willingly become a part of the Lin Family?

Should he go directly to her door and say, "I can save your father, come with me"? That would be too abrupt and would only invite suspicion.

He needed a more natural entry point that could better demonstrate his value.

Lin Chen's gaze fell on the pitch-black night sky outside the window, and the prototype of a plan slowly emerged in his mind.

Tomorrow, he would visit the dilapidated small courtyard where the Liu Family resides once more.

But not in the posture of a high-and-mighty savior, but as... a "fellow traveler" who also has some involvement with the Dao of Formations.