Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Befriending an Array Master

HUMMM~

The Primordial Cauldron in his sea of consciousness trembled lightly, breathing out wisps of Cyan Mist. It was reacting.

’I can absorb it!’

A hint of joy crept onto Lin Changheng’s face, hidden beneath his bamboo hat, but he still said, "The Essence Blood is genuine, but this Thunder Fiend is a bit terrifying..."

He rolled the drop of Essence Blood back into the bottle. On the pad of Lin Changheng’s finger, a scorched-black mark from the lightning strike appeared, the flesh split open.

"This..."

The young assistant wasn’t sure what Lin Changheng was getting at, but seeing that he hadn’t left and was just pointing out "problems," he knew it was most likely an issue with the price.

"Since you are an honored customer, I can lower the price by another Spirit Stone per unit. That’s the absolute limit of my authority."

"If you’re still not satisfied and wish to negotiate further, you’ll have to wait for our Shopkeeper to return. He’s currently away on business."

Hearing the young assistant’s words, Lin Changheng knew this was about the best he could do. Since the item was useful to him, he was afraid of complications arising from any delay. Besides, he had managed to haggle the price down a bit, which was acceptable.

After a moment of silence, under the young assistant’s nervous gaze, he nodded slightly.

"Excellent! Honored customer, please wait a moment. I’ll go get it now."

The deal was made. The young assistant, pleasantly surprised, quickly turned to retrieve the Essence Blood.

After the transaction was complete, Lin Changheng navigated the winding alleys of the Marketplace, changed back into his original clothes, and reverted to his usual appearance.

’Now that I have the Wood Element Profound Spirit Essence Blood, the Metamorphosis of the Lantern Grass Essence Dao Fruit can be perfected, and I can obtain the True Intent of the Innate Divine Ability, Rong Sheng.’

’But the cost is truly steep. Including the two hundred portions of Flame-tailed Spirit Fox Essence Blood I have on order, I’ve spent nearly a thousand Spirit Stones this time...’

’Tsk, tsk. There are never enough Spirit Stones. The prospect of saving up twenty thousand Spirit Stones to bid for a Foundation Establishment Pill seems impossibly distant.’

At present, Lin Changheng only had three thousand Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag.

He also had the two Middle Grade Spiritual Artifacts and one Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact he had seized from the Chen Family’s Tribulation Cultivator. He was holding onto them for now, not daring to cash them in too hastily.

Enough time had passed now; he could try to sell them.

Lin Changheng thought to himself as he walked, feeling a little helpless. If not for his rapid progress in the Alchemy Dao, which had generated a great deal of wealth, he would have long been too poor to even put food on the table.

But these days of spending Spirit Stones like water were probably numbered.

Based on information he had gathered from various sources recently, he was all but certain that there were almost no Profound Spirit Demon Beasts left as Tamed Beasts. This meant he was about to lose his stable channel for acquiring Demon Beast Essence Blood.

Soon, he wouldn’t be able to buy large quantities of Essence Blood even if he had the Spirit Stones.

At that point, the cruel and very real question of whether he would truly have to go Demon Hunting in the Wilderness would be staring him right in the face.

A soft sigh escaped him.

"Chief Lin."

Suddenly, a voice called out a greeting from behind him.

"Shopkeeper Jin."

Lin Changheng had just reached the entrance of the Xu Family’s Alchemy Shop. The one greeting him was a rather heavyset, fat shopkeeper from the shop across the way.

The man was like a mountain of flesh sitting behind the counter. He was slowly maneuvering himself out, casting a shadow like a toppling mountain, his face wreathed in smiles.

When this person had previously visited the Alchemy Shop, Lin Changheng had mistaken him for a chef from a Spiritual Food Tower. He never would have guessed that the man was actually an Array Master.

And a highly skilled one at that, by the looks of it.

After getting to know him for a while, Lin Changheng discovered he wasn’t a gloomy or scheming person at all, but rather quite straightforward.

It was clear his mind was entirely focused on Arrays and Spiritual Food, with no room for petty schemes. He was worth befriending.

Lin Changheng quickly walked over to the Golden Light Array Shop, motioning for Shopkeeper Jin to sit and rest. He himself leaned against the doorframe and began to chat.

He heard Shopkeeper Jin say with some exasperation:

"Chief Lin, regarding the Array Inheritance you asked me to look into last time, I’ve already sent a letter to my clan about it. I expect those old codgers are still bickering over it, so we probably won’t get a reply anytime soon."

"From my perspective, it’s not like you’re asking for the clan’s core Inheritance. It’s something the clan obtained from the Outer World anyway, not something unique to us. What’s the harm in parting with a copy?"

"Being so petty is actually detrimental to the clan’s development."

His words revealed that he didn’t hold the old traditionalists in his clan in high regard.

Lin Changheng immediately thanked him, "Thank you for your open-mindedness, Mr. Jin. I am already very grateful. As for your esteemed clan elders, they must have their own considerations. You shouldn’t clash with them over such a small matter."

He advised, his eyelid twitching slightly.

’This Mr. Jin is certainly straightforward,’ he thought inwardly. ’He lives up to his name, Jin Geng.’

"Heh heh, Mr. Lin, you don’t have to worry about me souring relations with those old geezers. Even if things did get tense, they’d be the ones coming to me to smooth things over."

Jin Geng grinned, waving a hand as large as a cattail fan with an air of confidence, signaling that Lin Changheng had nothing to worry about.

"Oh?"

Lin Changheng grew thoughtful. In the half-year they’d known each other, Jin Geng had never seemed like the type to deliberately exaggerate or boast. So, he offered a frank smile of his own. "That’s good to hear."

The Jin Family was also a Foundation Establishment Clan, with their main residence at Star Erosion Lake, quite far from the Xu Family—a full thousand li away.

But in terms of strength, they were a cut above the Spirit Fox Mountain Liu Family.

A clan with a Triple Foundation Establishment!

Moreover, their main strength was their deep mastery of Array Skills. As their foundation, the clan even boasted two Tier Two Array Masters.

One must understand that while Arrays were incredibly abstruse, their contribution to a clan’s power was immense.

A single powerful Array could ensure the security of a clan’s residence and resources, on top of providing all sorts of hidden benefits.

This Shopkeeper Jin before him was a Tier One Middle Grade Array Master with outstanding talent in Arrays.

His Cultivation was a little behind, but he was still at the Sixth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

And yet, he was no more than thirty-five years old.

He just looked rougher than Lin Changheng, but in reality, he was ten years younger. A truly promising future lay ahead of him.

Besides, just like the Alchemy Dao, the path of Arrays was one where the older you got, the more monstrously skilled you became.

"In the future, I might have to ask Mr. Jin to craft a set of Arrays for me."

Lin Changheng said with a smile. In the future, when he went out in search of resources for Foundation Establishment, he would need a set of Arrays for protection. Only by securing his cave abode or residence could he feel at ease.

"Of course, that’s no problem at all."

Shopkeeper Jin grinned and readily agreed. "And by then, I might even be able to craft an Upper Grade array set for you, Fellow Daoist. That would be even safer."

’Is he about to advance to Upper Grade Array Master?’

Lin Changheng was astonished. At the same time, he thought to himself, ’This Shopkeeper Jin really can’t keep anything to himself.’

It was probably because his clan had sheltered him too well. Now that he had slipped out to experience the Cultivation Realm, there was naturally a learning curve.

Jin Geng had already told Lin Changheng his reason for leaving the clan: he had wanted to slip away because his ideas clashed with those of the old traditionalists.

The clan elders couldn’t dissuade him, and fearing for his safety, they had no choice but to let him manage the shop in the Marketplace.

Fortunately, he didn’t argue further, which allowed the elders to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

...

After chatting for a long time, Lin Changheng bid farewell to Jin Geng. He was now on the fourth floor, where he sealed the door and activated the Isolation Array.

His gaze fell, blazing, upon the row of purplish-red Essence Blood on the table.

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