Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

Qingyouzi stood quietly in place, the blue flames hanging from the edge of her hat swaying slightly.

Through the flames, his cold eyes swept over the nine array flags, his divine sense carefully probing, not missing the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy.

This formation is extremely powerful, consisting of nine small flags. If an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator were to enter, their magical power would be suppressed by at least three or four layers.

The Snow Wolf Tribe's chief elder and a middle-aged man watched quietly from the side, wanting to test his skills.

Just three seconds later, Qingyouzi moved.

He simply raised his hand and pointed his finger lightly into the air.

What no one could see was that several extremely fine, transparent threads had already flown out from his sleeves, like living tentacles, instantly spreading all around, sensing every slight change in the flow of the array's energy.

He found it in no time.

This formation is intricately linked, but there is a tiny, almost imperceptible flaw at the moment of energy conversion and connection.

His fingertips moved almost imperceptibly nine times, each movement manipulating the silk thread to precisely target the nine fleeting weaknesses.

The light from all nine array flags momentarily paused! Although it recovered immediately, cracks had appeared in the perfect array's force field.

The Grand Elder's expression changed drastically. He felt that his control over the formation had been briefly disrupted nine times!

Just then, the formation was completely enraged and unleashed its full power! Nine-colored light intertwined into a net, pressing down on Qingyouzi with immense pressure.

Qingyouzi merely raised her head slightly.

He gently lifted the blue flame curtain on his straw hat.

Countless fine, needle-like blue sparks flew out, precisely disappearing into the clearly visible streams of spiritual energy around them.

A series of faint hissing sounds rang out. Wherever the blue sparks touched, the light in the array's energy flow quickly dimmed and disintegrated, as if it had been erased by an eraser.

The immense power of the formation instantly lost its support and rapidly dissipated.

Qingyouzi gently withdrew his clenched hand.

With a soft sound, all the light on the nine array flags went out at the same time, turning gray and dim, and they fell to the ground.

From start to finish, it only takes ten seconds.

The cave was completely silent.

The middle-aged man's arm, gripping the gun, was tense, his face a mixture of shock and bewilderment. He hadn't even fully grasped how the other party had broken the formation.

The Grand Elder saw it even more clearly and was deeply shocked. He stepped forward and bowed slightly to Qing Youzi:

"Fellow Daoist's skills are divine, and your understanding of formations is profound! I am convinced. Your understanding of the essence of formations is far beyond the reach of ordinary people."

His voice was dry and filled with burning anticipation.

"The ancient formations of our sacred mountain may truly require a master like yourself to unravel!"

Qingyouzi slowly lowered her hand, her voice calm and undisturbed.

"You flatter me. An array is nothing more than an arrangement and combination of energy. If you find the key and break the connection, you can break it. Your array flags themselves are not broken. With some nurturing, they can still be used."

The Grand Elder inspected the array and found that the array flags had indeed only run out of energy, and the core was not damaged. This precise control completely convinced him.

"Fellow Daoist, this way please!" The Grand Elder's attitude became extremely respectful, and he stepped aside to make way. "Regarding the matter of the Holy Mountain, please allow us to discuss it in detail. Regardless of the outcome, our clan will always remember your kindness."

The middle-aged man also put away his weapon, but a hint of wariness still flashed in his eyes.

Qingyouzi nodded and walked forward.

He knew very well that these two were only putting on a show because they saw that he had broken the formation and because he himself was quite strong.

A few minutes later.

The stone chamber was quiet, and the light from the pearl was deliberately dimmed, falling on the heavy black stone table in the center, giving off a cold, hard gleam.

The three sat separately.

Qingyouzi sat in the guest seat, her back straight, yet without any sign of tension. Her face, veiled by a bamboo hat and a curtain of blue flames, was slightly lowered.

He rested one arm on the table, his fingers, wrapped in a black robe, tapping lightly on the cold surface.

An elderly man sat in the main seat, his hands folded in front of his abdomen, his eyelids half-closed, as if he were resting.

The middle-aged man sitting to the side sat even more upright, his gaze occasionally sweeping over Qing Youzi, especially lingering on the ever-lowered blue fire curtain, his vigilance never completely relaxed.

The silence lasted for about half a cup of tea's time.

The Grand Elder finally slowly raised his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over Qing Youzi's finger that lightly tapped the table, and looking at the dark blue curtain of fire, he spoke:

"My surname is Yang, and I am honored to be the Grand Elder of the Snow Wolf Tribe."

The calm voice broke the silence.

He then turned slightly to the side, indicating to his side:

"This is Elder Long of our tribe, who is in charge of the tribe's guards."

Elder Long nodded slightly in the direction of Qingyouzi, indicating that he had met him, but said nothing more.

Qingyouzi stopped tapping the table with her finger.

He slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest, a posture that seemed relaxed but was actually conducive to instantaneous power generation.

Within the sleeves, countless threads, like nimble snakes, silently darted out to deal with any unexpected situation.

Having completed these invisible preparations, he responded through the fire curtain in a steady voice with a slightly metallic quality:

"I am Qingluan, from Xuanxian City, a mere idle cultivator, not worth mentioning."

"Fellow Daoist Qingluan."

The elder stroked his long beard, a cryptic smile appearing on his face, his wrinkles deepening at the corners of his eyes.

"Xuanxian City... Ha, it truly is a place where dragons and tigers hide."

He clearly did not fully believe this explanation.

Xuanxian City is more than a million miles away from the Northern Plains. Why would a rogue cultivator in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm inexplicably cross such a distance and infiltrate the tribe's important territory, just to break an ancient formation that has nothing to do with him?

But that's not important. What matters is the ability the other party demonstrates, and... what they want.

The elder poured two cups of tea slowly and deliberately.

He gently pushed one of the cups towards Qingyouzi.

"Fellow Daoist, your supernatural abilities are astonishing, and your understanding of array formations is profound. Yet you willingly risked coming to our sect to undertake this thorny task of breaking the Holy Mountain's array..."

The elder put down the teapot, his fingers gently stroking the rim of the cup, his gaze sharpening.

"Perhaps they have other motives besides glimpsing the mysteries of ancient formations?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the stone chamber seemed to freeze for a moment. Elder Long's body leaned forward almost imperceptibly.

Qingyouzi did not immediately touch the cup of tea.

His gaze fell on the tea, which was shimmering faintly, and he remained silent for a moment. The steam from the tea wafted past the bottom of the fire curtain, creating a barely perceptible ripple.

"Fellow Daoist Yang is a wise man."

He finally spoke again, his voice still steady, but less distant than before, and more direct in his conversation.

"I do have a request."

His arms remained crossed, but his tone became more forceful.

"If the nobleman can agree to this, then I will do my utmost to break the Holy Mountain formation."

If successful, the opportunity that has been sealed within the sacred mountain for ten thousand years will belong entirely to the nobles.

Perhaps through this, the Snow Wolf Tribe could soar to great heights, dominating the Northern Plains without any rivals.

He paused, and the voice from behind the fire curtain seemed to carry a faint, seductive quality.

"At that time, it will not be just wishful thinking to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with behemoths like Xuanxian City, Wanxian Dynasty, and Guixian Sect."

"Fellow Daoist Yang, Fellow Daoist Long," Qing Youzi said slowly, "does this deal sound... quite worthwhile?"

After hearing this, the elder's ambiguous smile slowly widened, eventually turning into a low chuckle.

"Hehehe... Good, good, good."

He said "good" three times in a row, but his gaze was like a nail, trying to penetrate the curtain of blue flames.

"Fellow Daoist Qingluan is quick-witted and outspoken, and also possesses excellent 'painting skills.' Since you are so confident, why don't you... tell me your requirements?"

He leaned forward slightly, placed his hand on the stone table, and said, word by word:

"As long as it is within the power of my Snow Wolf tribe and does not harm the foundation of the tribe, I... may consider it."

Qingyouzi's usually steady aura seemed to fluctuate slightly at this moment.

The corners of his mouth, always hidden by the blue flame, subtly curled upwards behind the curtain, unseen by anyone.

A very faint, yet profoundly meaningful arc.