Mortal: I have a Spirit Gathering Cauldron

When Lin Feng stepped into Tianxing Market again, looking at the familiar scene before him, he felt a sense of déjà vu.

The bluestone path under his feet was still the same, the street stalls were still full of dazzling arrays, and the air was filled with the fragrance of spiritual herbs and pills, just like when he left a few months ago.

However, he himself traveled hundreds of thousands of miles, traversing the entire territory of the Righteous Alliance, and personally witnessed the entire internal strife within the Thousand Bamboo Sect in the Hurricane Desert.

"It's good to be back safe and sound." A trace of vicissitude flashed across Lin Feng's eyes as he sighed, then he lifted his foot and walked towards the Star Dust Pavilion.

Star Dust Pavilion remained unchanged, its twenty or thirty-foot-tall structure gleaming in the sunlight, with two Qi Refining stage attendants standing ramrod straight at the entrance.

Lin Feng stepped inside, his Foundation Establishment stage aura radiating slightly outwards, and a waiter immediately came to greet him.

"Senior, what would you like to order?"

"Just browsing." Lin Feng waved his hand and strode inside.

The first floor was bustling with people, somewhat noisy, mostly Qi Refining cultivators exchanging low-grade pills, magical artifacts, and talismans. He didn't stop, heading straight up the stairs.

The second floor fell silent instantly.

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators were sitting in a private room, drinking tea and talking in hushed tones.

Lin Feng did not enter the private room, but stopped in front of the counter in the main hall, his gaze sweeping over the various magical artifacts, pills and materials displayed on the counter.

He possessed several top-tier magical artifacts, though their quality was mediocre, far inferior to the Wind-Breaking Spear and Wind-Escape Shuttle in his possession. He did, however, have a considerable amount of pills: Yellow Dragon Pills, Qi-Nourishing Pills, Qi-Harmonizing Pills…

"Give me three bottles of Qi-Harmony Pills," Lin Feng said to the steward on the second floor.

The manager in charge of the second floor was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Upon seeing this, he quickly put on a smile and hurriedly took down three bottles of Qi Harmony Pills and handed them over: "Fellow Daoist, please take a look. These are the latest Qi Harmony Pills refined by our shop. They are pure in medicinal properties and have an extremely high cost-performance ratio."

Lin Feng uncorked the bottle and sniffed it lightly. The medicinal fragrance was strong, and the pills were round and of acceptable quality.

He casually took out spirit stones to pay the bill, accepted the pills, and turned to leave.

After leaving Stardust Pavilion, Lin Feng did not rush to leave the market, but instead went to find a tall, thin scholar in a blue robe.

The scholar's eyes lit up when he saw Lin Feng's face, and he quickly stood up and bowed.

"Senior, you've arrived!"

This scholar was the same hyacinth Lin Feng had found before. His surname was Wen, and he was known as Scholar Wen. He was at the ninth level of Qi Refining and made a living by running errands and doing odd jobs in the market. Last time, Lin Feng asked him to keep an eye out for news about the "Inverted Five Elements Formation" and even rewarded him with a few low-grade spirit stones.

"Scholar Wen, any news about the matter I entrusted to you?" Lin Feng asked bluntly.

Wen Xiucai looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "Senior, you've come at the right time. After the last secret shop auction, a fellow Daoist did indeed want to exchange the array flags and array plate of the Reversed Five Elements Array for a thousand-year-old spiritual herb!"

"A thousand-year-old elixir?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow.

"Indeed." Scholar Wen rubbed his hands together. "At the auction, some people laughed at him for dreaming. A set of incomplete experimental formations, and he dared to dream of exchanging it for a thousand-year-old elixir? It was simply delusional! But..."

He paused, then lowered his voice: "I heard that the shopkeepers are searching high and low for rare treasures to increase the appeal of the next auction, and they might even be able to get their hands on a thousand-year-old elixir. I don't know for sure whether they actually have it or not."

"When is the next auction?"

"Half a month from now, at the same place. I've been waiting for you here ever since I got the news, afraid of missing you!" Wen Xiucai replied hastily, his face full of self-satisfaction.

Lin Feng nodded, took out a few low-grade spirit stones from his storage bag, and tossed them to Wen Xiucai: "Well done. Keep an eye on things."

"Alright! Thank you, senior! Thank you, senior!" The scholar caught the spirit stone, clutching it tightly, beaming with joy, and bowed repeatedly. "This junior will certainly do his best! Rest assured, senior!"

Lin Feng said no more and turned to leave.

He didn't linger in the market; with a thought, he summoned the Wind-Escape Shuttle.

With a flash of spiritual light, the silver-white shuttle transformed into a streak of light, piercing the sky and hurtling towards the Taiyue Mountains.

An hour later, Lin Feng appeared at the entrance of his familiar cave.

The cave was still the same as before. The Lesser Four Symbols Sealing Array completely covered the entire mountain wall, so from the outside it looked like an ordinary rock wall.

Lin Feng took out the array plate, and with a light stroke of his fingertip using spiritual energy, the array split open to both sides, revealing the cave entrance.

He slipped inside and resealed the array gate.

The moment you step into the cultivation room of the cave, you are greeted by a rich spiritual energy.

The Spirit Eye Spring was still bubbling up, its clear water shimmering faintly in the dim spiritual light.

"This is the life a human being should live." Lin Feng plopped down next to the Spirit Eye Spring, exhaled a long breath, and his tense nerves completely relaxed.

"Living in the hurricane desert, eating sand, is truly unbearable."

He closed his eyes, greedily inhaling the rich spiritual energy in the cave, feeling as if his whole being had come back to life.

After resting for a while, Lin Feng began to organize his thoughts.

Lin Xingjian was severely injured by Jin Jiuyuan and fled. Logically, he would most likely still run towards Huangfeng Valley.

After all, the Thousand Bamboo Sect doesn't even have a Core Formation cultivator right now, so they don't dare to enter the territory of the Yellow Maple Valley to hunt down Lin Xingjian. At most, they can only chase him to the outer areas.

"I wonder if this thing will come to my cave like it did in the original story." Lin Feng stroked his chin, a playful smile playing on his lips.

Come on then.

Anyway, there's no danger in Huangfeng Valley. If they really come to us, they're like a ready-made package. Why not take it?

Immediately, Lin Feng cleared his mind of distractions, took out the array plate and array flag of the high-level spirit gathering array from his storage bag, and set them up in the cultivation room.

Six array flags were planted in six directions, the array plate was placed next to the Spirit Eye Spring, and three mid-grade spirit stones were embedded in the grooves.

Infuse with spiritual energy!

hum!

The array plate glowed with a soft white light, and spiritual energy began to gather.

The spiritual energy of the Spirit Eye Spring itself was already quite abundant, and with the added blessing of the high-level Spirit Gathering Array, the spiritual energy in the cultivation room became even more concentrated, like a tangible cloud.

Lin Feng sat cross-legged at the center of the formation, took out a high-quality Qi-Harmony Pill and swallowed it.

The pill dissolved, and its warm medicinal power swept through the meridians, where it was absorbed by the golden true essence within the dantian along with the surrounding misty spiritual energy.

The golden true essence slowly rotated in the dantian, gradually increasing as it absorbed the pills and spiritual energy.

At the same time, the first level of the Great Evolution Technique was slowly operating in the sea of ​​consciousness.

The divine sense was as if it were being repeatedly kneaded, tempered, and refined by a pair of invisible hands. With each cycle, the divine sense became stronger, and the sea of ​​consciousness became wider and clearer.

There is no sun or moon in the cave; one can cultivate without knowing the years have passed.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing in them before he quickly concealed it.

The golden true essence in his dantian was even more abundant than it had been half a month ago; his divine sense had also undergone initial tempering.

It's time to head to the Secret Shop Auction.