709: Chapter 709 Golden Buddha Statue

You stood in one part of the Teleportation Plaza, watching the crowded masses from all directions—women carrying children on their backs, elderly couples supporting each other, men sweating profusely with anxiety, and youths cursing under their breath.

Countless low-level Cultivators dragged their families along, swarming toward the Teleportation Array like refugees, just like Mortals fleeing a disaster.

"That bastard Huangfu Zhanming actually took the core module away! Is he trying to make us all be buried with him?"

"What do you know!" someone nearby retorted. "He is a Body Integration mighty figure; is crossing the Void Realm even a challenge for him? Do you think he's like us?"

"Then why did he take the core module?"

"Are you stupid? By removing the core module, the Heavenly Palace cannot immediately strike via the Teleportation Array. If they want to cross the Void Realm to reach Tianyang Star, it will take them at least half a month."

"If you want to blame someone, blame the Qi Family for not preparing a spare core module in advance. Now look, we're all waiting to die together."

Listening to these discussions, you walked step by step toward the Teleportation Array.

The crowd in front of you was automatically parted by an invisible force, forcibly carving out a path.

"Who the hell is pushing me? Stop pushing!"

A man turned around to look, and upon seeing you approaching, he opened his mouth to curse but seemed to remember something and quickly shut it.

This scene drew the gaze of many, with the Bai Family Ancestor being the first to recognize you.

His eyes lit up, his figure flashed and landed on the ground, and he bowed to you: "Junior Bai Duchuan pays respects to Immortal Venerable Qin."

Upon hearing the three words "Immortal Venerable Qin," Cao Ruide hurriedly pulled Cao Qingyi down to the ground and bowed: "Junior Cao Ruide pays respects to Immortal Venerable Qin."

Cao Qingyi behind him was bewildered, but she lowered her head, bent her waist, and whispered: "I pay respects to Immortal Venerable Qin."

Seeing this, the Gu Family Ancestor also hurriedly landed on the ground and cupped his hands: "I pay respects to Immortal Venerable Qin."

Qi Zhengyang also reacted, landing with a few Juniors to salute: "Junior Qi Zhengyang pays respects to Immortal Venerable Qin."

The crowd immediately erupted into an uproar.

A bold female Cultivator shouted loudly: "Immortal Venerable Qin, it's me, it's me! I'm the one who wants to have your babies!"

"Immortal Venerable Qin, please save us! Ask Senior Huangfu to return the core module!"

For a moment, many people followed suit, repeating the words they had originally directed at Qi Zhengyang to you instead—though the tone was completely different.

You scanned the area and spoke indifferently: "Rest assured, the Heavenly Palace will not attack in the short term."

While speaking, your Divine Thought had already spread out, sending a voice transmission to Huangfu Zhanming thousands of miles away—telling him that the Heavenly Palace would not act for now and asking him to bring the teleportation module back.

In the crowd, no one dared to fully believe you yet, and various suspicious gazes were cast upon you.

Qi Zhengyang smiled and stepped forward, handing over a qiankun ring: "Immortal Venerable Qin, as it is our first meeting, please accept this small token of my sincerity."

Seeing this, Cao Ruide also hurriedly handed over one: "Immortal Venerable Qin, just a small token, please do not take offense."

Others followed suit, one after another handing over qiankun rings, looking at you with smiles.

Your Divine Thought swept through them—the Spirit Stones and Heaven And Earth Treasure inside every one were piled up like small mountains.

But you understood that taking people's things makes one indebted.

Moreover, these were of no use to you.

You then thought that since you were going to visit the academy, it wouldn't look good to go empty-handed. However, these items were too ordinary, and using them as gifts would actually be beneath you.

Just as you were thinking, your gaze was drawn to a little boy, about three years old—he was holding a golden Buddha statue in his arms, made of pure gold, which was worthless to a Cultivator.

You looked at the little boy with a smile: "Are you selling this golden Buddha statue?"

The boy's mother was stunned for a moment, then quickly snapped back to reality and nodded frantically: "Yes, yes, yes! Oh no, no money, no money! This is just a child's toy, it's not worth anything."

As she spoke, she snatched the golden Buddha statue from the little boy's arms and stuffed it into your hands.

"Waaaaah!" The little boy burst into loud tears, tears streaming down his face.

The boy's mother put on a stern face and glared at him, scolding: "What are you crying for! Stop crying! Mother will make you another one later!"

Cao Ruide hurriedly walked over to the boy's mother and handed her a qiankun ring: "Little friend, the contents of this qiankun ring shall serve as compensation."

The Bai Family Ancestor's eyes lit up, and he also hurriedly followed: "And this one of mine, take it as well."

Qi Tianchuan and the others finally reacted, smiling as they handed over their qiankun rings one after another.

The boy's mother widened her eyes, her lips trembling, and she was so nervous that her entire body stiffened.

A mere golden Buddha statue wasn't even worth one Spirit Stone, and compared to the contents of these qiankun rings, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

She never dreamed that such a massive Opportunity would inexplicably fall upon her.

The items in these few qiankun rings were enough for her to Cultivate all the way from Foundation Establishment to Void Refining.

Many people seemed to smell a business Opportunity and hurriedly scanned their own qiankun rings with their Divine Thought, searching repeatedly, but failed to find any gold, silver, or jade artifacts.

"Damn it, is gold that valuable?"

"Does Immortal Venerable Qin have some special hobby? Why would he like gold?"

"What use could this thing possibly have?"

"I must hurry and hoard more of it in the future."

There were also some smart people who reacted quickly.

A male Cultivator gathered his courage and walked up to you, handing over a jade ruler engraved with the four characters "Rectify the Heart, Understand the Dao."

Others brought a set of glazed tea cups, all extremely ordinary items that were not worth mentioning to a Cultivator.

Of course, there were also those who offered attendants or daughters.

Especially Yin Wujiu, who grinningly handed over a qiankun ring—inside was actually a female Soul Transformation corpse.

Female Soul Transformation corpses have many uses, such as refining corpse puppets or for research...

You frowned and glanced at it, and he immediately retreated tactfully.

You looked at those Mortal items, finally picked a few that caught your eye, and then gave each person a Top-Grade Spirit Stone.

Those people held the Top-Grade Spirit Stone in their hands, their eyes shining and their bodies trembling.

For these Foundation Establishment Cultivators, let alone Top-Grade Spirit Stones, they hadn't even seen High-Grade Spirit Stones before.

Cao Ruide, the Bai Family Ancestor, Qi Tianchuan, and over a dozen other high-level Cultivators also knew how to conduct themselves well, each handing over a qiankun ring.

Many Cultivators were gnashing their teeth in envy, hating themselves.

"If I had known these things were so valuable, I should have hoarded more of them in the past."

"Strange, these are all items that Mortals like, why does Immortal Venerable Qin like them?"

"What do you know? In the eyes of a Mahayana, what isn't a Mortal object?"

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! Everything you say is right!"

You didn't pay attention to those gazes and discussions; you scanned the area and carefully selected a few gifts that caught your eye.

Just as you put away the gifts, a figure appeared before you, cupping his hands and bowing: "Greetings, Senior!"

The person who arrived was none other than Huangfu Zhanming.

You nodded: "Install the core module; the Heavenly Palace will not come for now."

Huangfu Zhanming nodded in agreement, not daring to ask more. He raised his hand and flicked it, and the core modules, each a hundred zhang in size, turned into streams of light and embedded themselves into the various Teleportation Arrays.

The modules were installed, and the arrays activated.

Everyone looked at each other, no one dared to be the first to step in, and all of them looked at you in unison.

You did not delay; you took a step forward, the array flashed with light, and you had already left Tianyang Star.