I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

"1,500 spirit stones."

The young monk tried to raise the price, saying, "This stone wasn't easy to come by."

Zhou Yuan feigned hesitation for a moment, then finally nodded: "Alright, 1,500 spirit stones it is! Let's be friends."

This price is an absolute steal considering the true value of the starry sky sand, but he didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble.

Zhou Yuan readily paid two thousand spirit stones and carefully put away the precious Starry Sky Sand.

Leaving the stall, Zhou Yuan was in high spirits and full of anticipation for the upcoming "treasure hunt".

"To repair the teleportation array, besides some basic minerals, the main materials needed are rare and uncommon spiritual materials such as star sand and cloud stone."

Perhaps... we really can gather all the necessary items in this seemingly simple frontline market?

His gaze swept intently over the other stalls in the market, and his steps quickened.

This perilous front line also seemed to bring him unexpected opportunities.

Unfortunately, it seems Zhou Yuan's luck ran out.

He browsed through almost every stall in the entire front-line market, and meticulously scanned those inconspicuous corners with his divine sense, but he did not find a second rare spiritual material related to repairing the teleportation array.

The names Kongyunshi and others have never even been seen.

Zhou Yuan was not discouraged by this.

Treasure hunting is all about chance, and obtaining Starry Sky Sand by chance is already an unexpected delight.

In any case, given the current situation, he will have to stay in the Jinguyuan camp for a while and cannot leave immediately.

The market is dynamic; every day, new cultivators come to trade with new spoils. Perhaps after a while, the materials he needs will appear.

Just keep an eye on it.

In the days that followed, Zhou Yuan lived a relatively regular life.

During the day, he would spend about an hour wandering around the market, both to look for materials and to catch up on the latest developments, prices, and various rumors from the front lines.

The rest of the time, unless he had a mission, he would stay in the simple stone house to cultivate.

His cultivation level had already reached the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and he could attempt to break through to the late-Foundation Establishment stage at any time.

However, on the front lines where life is uncertain and one could be ordered to attack at any moment, it is clearly not a good time to retreat and break through bottlenecks.

If the interruption were to occur at a critical moment, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, Zhou Yuan chose to focus his cultivation efforts on comprehending the "Great Evolution Technique".

This divine sense technique is not very noisy when cultivated; it mainly involves spiritual comprehension and refinement. Even if it is interrupted, it will not have any impact.

Furthermore, it can steadily enhance the strength and subtlety of one of his most important trump cards—divine sense.

As his understanding of the second level of the "Great Evolution Technique" deepened, the coverage and precision of his divine sense, as well as the enhancement of the "Twelve Divine Thrusters," were all slowly but steadily improving.

Sure enough, the peaceful days of cultivation didn't last long.

Three days later, at dawn, the familiar fluctuations once again emanated from the warning barrier outside the stone house.

Zhou Yuan awoke from his meditation, got up, and pushed open the stone door. Standing outside was the same late-stage Foundation Establishment deacon who had been in charge of assigning tasks, his expression as serious as ever.

"Junior Brother Zhou, there is a hunting mission today. You are assigned to the seventh hunting squad. Meet at Exit 3 on the west side of the camp at 3:45 AM and head to the Jingu Plain hunting grounds to search for and hunt demonic cultivators. You must return before sunset."

"This is a mission order and a simple map, marked with areas where demonic cultivators have been frequently active recently, as well as known danger zones." The senior brother in charge spoke succinctly, handing over a jade slip and a token.

"Yes, Senior Brother." Zhou Yuan took the items and nodded in agreement.

He returned to the stone house, made some preparations, checked his commonly used magical artifacts (Golden-Breaking Sword, Black Dragon's Roar, Azure Fire Mist, White Scale Shield, etc.) and talismans, and put the Spirit-Concealing Gauze into an easily accessible place in his sleeve before setting off for the meeting point.

On his way to the meeting point, Zhou Yuan ran into two acquaintances—

It was the two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, surnamed Wang and Li, who had escorted spirit stones to the front lines together last time and were later left behind.

The two men's eyes lit up when they saw Zhou Yuan, and they quickly walked over to greet him.

"Senior Brother Zhou! What a coincidence, we've also been assigned to a mission today!"

The cultivator surnamed Wang looked both nervous and expectant. "Senior brother is highly skilled and experienced. How about we team up as a trio? That way we can look out for each other!"

"Yes, Senior Brother Zhou, with three people together, we're more likely to encounter demonic cultivators, and our safety is better guaranteed!"

The monk surnamed Li quickly echoed his sentiment. They were well aware of the dangers of small-scale fighting on the front lines.

Naturally, they wanted to cling to Zhou Yuan, whose leg looked so strong.

Zhou Yuan continued walking, his gaze calmly sweeping over the two of them. Almost without hesitation, he shook his head and refused.

"Thank you for your kind offer, junior brothers. However, I prefer to work alone, as it's more convenient for me. Let's forget about forming a team."

His tone wasn't harsh, but his refusal was very clear.

On the one hand, his secrets and many powerful techniques (such as the Thousand Blade Technique and the Twelve Divine Thrusters) are not suitable to be exposed too much in front of his fellow disciples whom he is not very familiar with.

On the other hand, if they encounter a powerful enemy while traveling with two early Foundation Establishment cultivators, they may not be of much help and could even become a burden.

If victory is achieved easily, disputes can easily arise over the distribution of spoils.

It's better to act alone, which allows for flexibility and ensures that all the benefits are yours.

Wang and Li were surprised by Zhou Yuan's decisive refusal, and a hint of disappointment and embarrassment flashed across their faces. However, seeing Zhou Yuan's firm attitude, they dared not say anything more.

I could only follow behind awkwardly, and together we arrived at Exit 3 on the west side of the camp.

More than ten cultivators, belonging to different teams, were already waiting here. After carefully checking each person's identity token and mission order, the cultivators on duty manipulated the formation to open a temporary gap in the huge defensive light shield, allowing only a few people to pass side by side.

"Go immediately and return before sunset! Any deserters will be punished according to military regulations!"

The monk on duty gave a solemn warning.

The Zhou Yuanchao cultivator on duty nodded slightly, and with a flash, he was the first to pass through the gap in the formation and arrive outside the camp.

The cold wind of the wilderness, carrying a faint smell of blood and scorched earth, swept over us, a stark contrast to the stifling air inside the camp.

Without waiting for anyone, he identified a direction marked on the jade slip map, summoned the Divine Wind Boat, and transformed into a white streak of extremely fast speed but not particularly dazzling, skimming the ground and speeding towards the depths of the Golden Drum Plain.

Having broken free from the protection of the great formation and found himself alone in this perilous hunting ground, Zhou Yuan's divine sense immediately spread out like the most sophisticated radar, covering an area of ​​several miles in radius, carefully probing for any abnormal fluctuations in spiritual energy or signs of life.

Instead of choosing the "area with frequent demonic activities" marked on the map, he opted for a relatively remote route.

Several hours later, Zhou Yuan had penetrated more than 300 li into the Jingu Plain.

Along the way, he avoided two areas with obvious residual spiritual energy and also sensed several cultivators' auras, some strong and some weak, moving in the distance, but he did not make any contact with them.

What he wanted was an undisturbed battle, with as few cultivators as possible around him, whether enemies or allies.

A short while later, just as Zhou Yuan flew over a desolate valley with steep cliffs on both sides and a relatively narrow middle, a strange change occurred!

"Buzz—!"

Suddenly, without warning, a patch of earthy yellow light shone brightly in the valley below!

The light spread and intertwined rapidly like a living thing, forming an inverted bowl-shaped light shield in the blink of an eye, firmly sealing Zhou Yuan, along with the airspace within a radius of several hundred feet around him and part of the valley below!

Runes flowed across the light shield, emanating a thick earth-attribute spiritual energy and a powerful binding and anti-air force!

The Divine Wind Boat beneath Zhou Yuan's feet suddenly sank, its speed plummeting as if it had sunk into an invisible quagmire.

"A formation?!"

Although Zhou Yuan was slightly surprised, his expression remained calm.

Because he had already discovered the two of them.

Little did I expect that my first solo hunting mission would lead me into a carefully laid trap!

This "waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump" ambush method is not uncommon in hunting in Jingu Plain. By occupying advantageous terrain and setting up formations in advance, they can often wait for the enemy to attack from the comfort of their own hands.

Gain a significant advantage.

"Haha! Senior Brother Yu, looks like you're in luck today, caught a big fish! It's a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator!"

A hoarse laugh, filled with excitement and greed, came from behind a boulder in the valley below.

Immediately afterward, another slightly effeminate voice rang out, carrying the same delight: "Not bad, not bad! The wealth of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, especially one who dares to come out alone, must be considerable, at least worth several thousand spirit stones! It wasn't in vain that we waited here for two days!"

As soon as the words were spoken, two figures flew up from their hiding places and hovered inside the array's light barrier, facing Zhou Yuan, who was trapped, from afar.

Both were dressed as demonic cultivators. One was tall and thin with a withered face, wearing the dark red robe that was the symbol of the Ghost Spirit Sect, and his cultivation level was in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

The other person was short and stout, with a pale face and a sinister smile on his lips. He was also dressed in Ghost Spirit Sect attire and his cultivation level was at the early Foundation Establishment stage.

Clearly, this was an ambush team consisting of a mid-Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator and a mid-Foundation Establishment companion.

They had set up a trap early on, waiting for any passing "prey" to walk right into their net, and Zhou Yuan unfortunately became their new target.