I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

The moment Elder Lu announced the start of the auction, bidding erupted.

"Forty-five thousand!"

"fifty thousand!"

"Fifty-eight thousand!"

"Sixty thousand!"

...

A series of sounds rang out.

In the blink of an eye, the price had already been pushed up to over 70,000, and it continues to rise.

Xu Zhou sat in the VIP box on the upper floor, watching the scene before him, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

As expected of a second-tier array formation inheritance.

This competition was far more intense than the medical inheritance he had snatched.

He pondered to himself: Under normal circumstances, a complete and orthodox second-order array inheritance would cost at least tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of spirit stones.

Of course, transactions at this price point are unlikely to occur here.

The State of Mu is still too remote.

Moreover, there are clearly some issues with the lineage, otherwise it wouldn't be here.

Xu Zhou estimated that in the end, this heirloom should be priced at a little over 100,000 yuan; any more than that would be a bit overpriced.

Time passed little by little.

The bidding noise gradually began to decrease.

Most of the families that initially participated in the competition have already begun to falter.

After a moment of silence, many of the private rooms gave up on bidding.

Soon, only three forces remained competing on the field.

Xu Zhou deduced that one of them was likely the Luo family, the most powerful force in the market. They were the ones who had previously acquired the "Thousand Mountains Demon-Subduing Bell."

On the other side, it's mostly the Hu family.

The Hu family already possessed some knowledge of array formations, and it was said that they still kept some incomplete second-tier array formation manuals. Now, facing a true second-tier inheritance, they naturally wouldn't give up easily.

As for the last person... Xu Zhou couldn't figure it out yet.

He secretly deduced that this person was most likely not from the Mu Kingdom, but should be a formation master.

Previously, when he bid for materials related to the formation, the other party also bid against him several times and even snatched many items that the other party had already set their sights on.

If it weren't for the other party's interference, he wouldn't have had to spend three thousand to buy five pieces of Cold Marrow Stone.

However, if a rogue array master can afford such a high price, then he must be a second-tier array master.

Xu Zhou's thoughts stirred slightly.

But upon closer reflection, the other party is most likely a wandering cultivator. He will probably leave after this meeting, so it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to learn formation techniques from him.

Time continued to pass.

With three parties bidding against each other, none were willing to back down, and the price rose even faster than Xu Zhou had expected!

Finally, the price was raised to a level that most people in the venue couldn't understand.

"150,000."

With this bid, the Luo family's private room fell into a brief silence.

Finally, a soft sigh came from the private room, and then there was silence.

Clearly, the Luo family has given up.

But the Hu family is still unwilling to give up.

"160,000."

A hoarse voice came from the Hu family's private room: "Fellow Daoist, this item is of great significance to the Hu family. We hope you will grant us this favor. The Hu family will surely repay you in the future."

Many people in the room showed disdain upon hearing this.

These words have already subtly crossed the Chamber of Commerce's bottom line.

However, the next moment.

"170,000."

The person in the opposite compartment did not hesitate at all, as if they had not heard the Hu family's previous statement.

That bid immediately silenced the Hu family.

No one dared to bid again.

As Elder Lu's gavel fell, this second-tier array inheritance finally came to a close.

...

The medical inheritance that Xu Zhou had purchased, along with other spiritual materials of various sizes, were quickly delivered to his private room.

He handed over the prepared spirit stones and finally got his hands on them.

"Fortunately, the Fei family provided temporary assistance; otherwise, this auction would have been a major financial blow."

Xu Zhou secretly resolved that after returning, he would go into seclusion to thoroughly study the "Miscellaneous Elixir Chapter." He would not leave seclusion until he had mastered the first second-tier elixir formula.

Fortunately, many of the spiritual materials he acquired this time can help him accelerate his deductions. It seems that the time to master the pill formula is not far off.

As Xu Zhou stepped out of the private room, his consciousness was no longer restricted, and he subconsciously scanned his surroundings.

Immediately, he heard two maids from the merchant guild whispering to each other.

"Quickly, go and inform Elder Lu that the VIP in VIP room number four is throwing a tantrum."

Xu Zhou's thoughts stirred slightly.

Isn't Box Number Four the box where we finally bought the inheritance of the Array Dao?

I wonder if the reason the other party is angry now is because the inheritance has a major flaw.

Xu Zhou immediately burst out laughing.

Regardless of the lineage, he certainly couldn't come up with the enormous sum of 170,000 yuan. This lineage was destined to be out of his reach.

After leaving the venue and finding nothing amiss, he greeted a few familiar Foundation Establishment cultivators and then flew towards Red Maple Valley.

Once this matter is settled, I should go into seclusion.

...

It was late at night.

It is located about two miles from Red Maple Valley.

The female cultivator from the Hu family who had previously been in the private room, Hu Wenjun, who was also the guardian cultivator of the market, now had a murderous look on her face.

However, a thin man in front of her couldn't help but speak up upon seeing this: "I never expected that Fairy Hu, who is known for her gentleness and charm, could be so angry."

"Shut up."

Hu Wenjun snorted coldly: "I wonder where this cultivator came from, daring to compete with my Hu family for the inheritance?"

"Stop talking tough," the gaunt man said. "The other party is most likely a wandering cultivator who came with me. These people each have their own methods. If your Hu family really offends him, it may not be a good thing."

Hu Wenjun snorted again, but did not continue to curse.

She was just saying it out of anger.

"Let's get back to the main topic."

The gaunt man asked, "What brings you here specifically?"

Hu Wenjun's gaze was sinister:

"Help me kill someone."

"Who?"

"The Foundation Establishment cultivators live in that valley over there."

The thin man immediately frowned.

"Hu Wenjun, are you trying to make a fool of me?"

He said with some anger, "Even though I haven't been back for a long time, I still know that the people living there are cultivators from the Golden Flame Sect."

He stared at Hu Wenjun, waiting for an explanation.

Hu Wenjun scoffed, "What Golden Flame Sect cultivator? He's just a newly established Foundation Establishment alchemist."

Then, her tone turned serious: "I won't hide it from you, this person has an old grudge against my Hu family. Originally, he was just a junior Qi Refining cultivator, but unexpectedly, he was able to reach the Foundation Establishment stage by some unknown stroke of luck."

This person has already begun to build connections; if we don't eliminate him soon, he may become a major threat to the Hu family in the future.

She paused, then softened her tone and said with a smile, "You don't need to worry about the Golden Flame Sect. The reason I invited you now is to take advantage of the chaos in the market right after the auction."

If you act swiftly now, you can escape unscathed before the market can react.

Once you get there, even if the Golden Flame Sect wants revenge, by the time they trace it back to you, you'll already be long gone.

The thin man's eyes flickered slightly.

"How strong is this person?"

Hu Wenjun pondered for a long time: "I have met this person before. He was originally just an alchemist who rarely fought in battles throughout his life. He only managed to establish his foundation at the age of eighty, and has only cultivated for a maximum of seven or eight years so far."

His greatest strength is probably his array formation skills, which have only been revealed in recent years.

However, judging from the rumors, his array formation skills are at most at the peak of the first rank.

"Just the peak of the first tier?"

The gaunt man scoffed, "A Foundation Establishment array master of this level, especially in his own base? You want me to go and die?"

"Oh dear, it's not that exaggerated."

Hu Wenjun covered his mouth and laughed, his body heaving: "Don't forget, he's just an alchemist, an alchemist who has almost never fought anyone."

Even if he has extraordinary talent and is skilled in both alchemy and formation, how powerful can his formation skills be if his alchemy skills are so outstanding?

If he had another ten years or so, things would indeed be a bit tricky. But at this point, I suppose he's no match for you, you wicked gentleman.

Seeing that the gaunt man still wouldn't back down, she couldn't help but snort, "Fine, I'll give you another Mountain-Swallowing Flame Talisman. If you still can't defeat him after this, then the Ghostly Gentleman who once dominated Liang Kingdom must really be getting old."

The gaunt man pondered for a long time.

After a long silence, he finally looked up at the other person and asked, "Where's the payment?"

Hu Wenjun immediately smiled broadly.

"If you can kill him, I will reward you with 30,000 spirit stones."

She then smiled and said, "If I hadn't failed in this competition for the inheritance, I really wouldn't have been able to come up with so many spirit stones."

...

Xu Zhou sat in front of the wooden house, fiddling with a rhombus-shaped octahedron in his hand.

This item was a high-grade magic artifact that he bought on a whim at an auction, costing only about two thousand spirit stones.

For Foundation Establishment cultivators, even high-grade magic artifacts are nothing more than toys.

The reason for buying it is that it is a battle crown.

"The array master inscribes array patterns on the array crown, which can be released when defending against enemies. It can change into many arrays to deal with enemies, and can attack and defend at will, advance and retreat freely."

"What a pity, this is just a magic artifact, it can't support a second-order formation."

Xu Zhou played with the array crown, feeling somewhat helpless.

He did ask Manager Huang if the Chamber of Commerce sold array-shaped magical artifacts.

However, there are very few people who need this kind of array crown, which is specially provided for array masters. In addition, the requirements of array masters are often different, so the merchant guild does not have it ready-made.

Manager Huang only said that Xu Zhou could place an order, but he would have to wait for the Chamber of Commerce to contact the weapon refiner and have it made before it could be delivered to him.

Naturally, the price is also quite high.

Xu Zhou could only suppress his thoughts for the time being, and buying a toy to play with in private to satisfy his craving was enough.

Gazing at the lights in the direction of the market outside the valley, he pondered to himself.

Perhaps I could try to get acquainted with one of the senior disciples in the sect who is skilled in weapon crafting, and see if I could help him forge a formation crown.

As he was pondering, Xu Zhou's consciousness stirred slightly.

He subconsciously looked towards the horizon.

The night was dark.

In the darkness, a faint, grayish-white aura was seeping into the edge of the formation.

This anomaly is extremely subtle.

If he hadn't also cultivated the "Dream Devouring Heart Sutra," making his divine sense stronger than that of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, and hadn't set up detection arrays in advance, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.

Xu Zhou's expression remained unchanged.

He slowly put away the array crown in his hand.

The next moment, the thin mist around the wooden house dissipated.

One by one, the spirit trees began to glow, forming a green light barrier that protected Red Maple Valley and dispelled the thick darkness of the night.