527: Chapter 527 Borrowing the Time It Takes to Burn an Incense Stick

The white-haired elder's cloudy eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the long sword at the youth's waist, then at Su Ming standing beside him.

"This young friend from the Sword Sect..." The elder spoke unhurriedly, his withered finger pointing at Su Ming. "This young friend asked the price first. In all things, there must be a first-come, first-served order."

The youth's brow furrowed slightly, and he finally turned his head, his cold, temperatureless eyes sweeping over Su Ming.

"Three thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones," the youth said flatly, his tone carrying a condescending indifference. "Can you afford that?"

The atmosphere in front of the stone platform froze instantly.

Qingfeng clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his forehead. Mingyue was so angry she bit her lower lip.

Ying stirred restlessly on Su Ming's shoulder, black flames faintly flickering within his golden pupils.

"Don't be impulsive," Lin Yu's sharp shout exploded in Su Ming's Sea of Consciousness. "This kid is at the Foundation Establishment Peak, and his Sword Intent has already touched the edge of 'Aura'. If you truly start a fight, your seven hundred and fifty Array Talismans might not necessarily block his 'One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws'. Do not make a pointless mortal enemy in this place."

Su Ming raised his left hand and gently pressed it on Ying's head, calming the little fellow's agitation.

"This Junior cannot afford it." Su Ming looked at the white-haired elder and bowed slightly. "Senior, please proceed as you wish."

The white-haired elder nodded and stopped speaking.

The youth casually tossed a Storage Pouch onto the jade stone platform, then swept the Formation Plate into his sleeve.

After doing all this, he glanced at Su Ming, his gaze lingering for a moment on Su Ming's ordinary grey commoner's clothes.

"From the Northern Realm?" the youth asked casually, then turned to leave.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."

Su Ming's steady voice rang out behind the youth.

The youth's footsteps paused. He turned around, his hand habitually resting on the hilt of the sword at his waist, his gaze becoming extremely dangerous.

"Is there something?"

Su Ming ignored the suffocating pressure of the other's Sword Intent.

He took out one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch and stacked them neatly on the empty stone platform nearby.

"Fellow Daoist bought this Formation Plate, so you must have also seen the ingenuity within it." Su Ming looked directly into the youth's eyes, his tone neither humble nor arrogant. "I have some minor research into the Dao of Formations. Could you let me borrow it for a look for the duration of an incense stick? I will pay one hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, only use my eyes to look, and absolutely will not use any Divine Sense to copy it into a Jade Slip."

The surrounding Cultivators watching the scene let out a muffled low cry of surprise.

One hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones just to look at a Formation Plate that looked like rotten wood for the time it takes an incense stick to burn? Was this kid from the Northern Realm crazy?

The youth was stunned.

The hand resting on his sword hilt loosened slightly. He looked at the hundred Spirit Stones, then at Su Ming.

"Only look and not copy, for one incense stick?" The youth seemed to find this somewhat interesting.

He took the Formation Plate out of his sleeve again and tossed it over casually.

"One incense stick. Let's see what kind of wonders you can find in it."

Su Ming caught the Formation Plate steadily.

The moment he touched the Formation Plate, Su Ming immediately sat down cross-legged.

Lin Yu's soul body inside the xuantian ring jolted violently, and a deep blue light surged as a hidden Divine Sense barrier instantly enveloped Su Ming's Sea of Consciousness, isolating it from all possible outside prying.

Su Ming closed his eyes.

The Ruoshui Art circulated frantically within his body. He did not use any copying Jade Slips; instead, he directly activated Microscopic Observation.

His Divine Sense was like an invisible net—not scanning, but flowing like water along every etched line and every spiritual power node on the Formation Plate, especially that variant set of 'Attraction' characters, infiltrating and tracing them bit by bit.

This was an operation that squeezed his Mental Energy to the absolute limit.

After only half the time of an incense stick, a layer of fine cold sweat broke out on Su Ming's forehead. His face turned somewhat pale, and his body trembled slightly.

The surrounding Cultivators were all watching for a laugh, but only the Sword Sect youth's expression gradually grew solemn.

He could feel that this grey-robed Cultivator, whose cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, was currently performing some extremely terrifying deduction.

"Drip."

A drop of sweat fell from Su Ming's chin and dripped onto the bluestone bricks.

The incense stick in the incense burner had just finished burning.

Su Ming snapped his eyes open. His eyes were bloodshot, but deep within them flickered a satisfied fervor.

He stood up and returned the Formation Plate to the youth with both hands.

"Thank you for the favor, Fellow Daoist."

The youth took the Formation Plate, gave Su Ming a deep look, and swept the hundred Spirit Stones along with the Formation Plate into his sleeve.

"Remember, my name is Zhou Jin."

The youth turned and left, his voice echoing in the air.

"If you want to settle this score in the future, you can find me at the Qingming Sword Sect anytime."

Su Ming took a deep breath, suppressing the throbbing pain in his Sea of Consciousness from overexertion. A very faint arc rose at the corner of his mouth. "The essence of those patterns is already fully etched in my mind. Trading a hundred Spirit Stones for the core of a high-grade defensive Formation—we've made a huge profit on this deal."

Lin Yu clicked his tongue in the ring. "Zhou Jin? Foundation Establishment Peak, with Sword Intent condensed but not dissipated. However, this kind of Sword Cultivator only has his sword in his heart. Someone with this personality is proud to the bone; they usually disdain stabbing someone in the back."

"Let's go." Su Ming turned and walked toward other stalls. "Let's buy some more Materials for refining Formation Plates."

For the next half hour, Su Ming dragged his exhausted Divine Sense and, at several scattered stalls, exchanged very low prices for a few uncommon Formation Materials that simply couldn't be bought in the Northern Realm.

Qingfeng and Mingyue also spent a few Spirit Stones each to buy some interesting small items.

As noon approached, Wanbao Tower became increasingly crowded.

"We've bought everything. Let's go back to the inn."

Su Ming put the last piece of Ink-Patterned Gold into his Storage Pouch and led the two toward the main gate of Wanbao Tower.

Just as they stepped out of that heavy wooden door and their feet touched the jade steps...

Several black figures slid out from the shadows on both sides like ghosts, firmly blocking their path.

Leading them was a middle-aged Cultivator wearing a black brocade robe. He was burly with a sinister face, and a powerful Spiritual Pressure of the Foundation Establishment Peak radiated from his body.

Most eye-catching was the dark gold token hanging at his waist.

On the front of the token, the character 'Wan' was carved in striking cinnabar.

Behind him followed four thugs also dressed in black robes, with cultivations at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. The five of them formed a semi-encircling Formation, completely blocking Su Ming and the other two on the steps.

"Are you the kid who spent half the day staring at someone else's Formation Plate on the second floor just now?"

The black-robed Cultivator looked down at Su Ming with a malicious sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Qingfeng reacted extremely quickly. He took a step forward, his hand pressing directly on his sword hilt, shielding Su Ming. "What do you want? Fighting is prohibited in front of Wanbao Tower!"

Mingyue's face turned pale. She gripped Qingfeng's sleeve tightly, her eyes darting nervously at these aggressive people.

Su Ming reached out and pressed Qingfeng's shoulder, gently pulling him behind himself.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the token at the man's waist, then he calmly met the black-robed Cultivator's eyes.

"I was merely conducting normal transactions and observations within the pavilion." Su Ming's voice was steady. "I do not know why you, Fellow Daoist, are blocking our path."