I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

The two continued their journey for several hours and finally arrived at Dongling Valley.

This market town wasn't large, but it was bustling with people. Various characters moved about the densely packed streets, making it look like an ordinary town.

However, the things being sold on the street were different from those in the ordinary world.

"Fellow Daoist, would you like to take a look at these talismans? They were just drawn, and their power is guaranteed!"

"Buddhist artifacts for sale, don't miss out!"

"The Golden Flame Sect's unique cultivation technique, with a maximum cultivation level of Qi Refining Level 7. Buying it is a steal!"

Upon hearing this hawking cry, Xu Zhou couldn't help but glance at Li Zelei.

Seeing this, Li Zelei said in a low voice, "Don't worry, those cultivation techniques are all tacitly approved by the sect, so there's no need to concern yourself with them."

"Tacitly approved?" Xu Zhou murmured. "Could it be that those cultivation techniques are all real?"

"If it's fake, then the person who sold it will never leave the market alive."

Li Zelei continued, "However, the sect only allows cultivation techniques up to the seventh level of Qi Refining to circulate outside. Those who buy these techniques and cultivate diligently for many years can only barely reach the late stage of Qi Refining."

If you want to cultivate again after that, you either need to change your cultivation method or you can only join a sect and request permission.

After a moment's thought, Xu Zhou understood the sect's intentions.

If a rogue cultivator can truly cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining using a fragmented cultivation technique, they are likely to be a rare talent. Such a person joining a sect would be a purely beneficial thing for the sect.

This means that the sect can gain a late-stage Qi Refining disciple with almost no cost.

However, for these independent cultivators who joined halfway through their cultivation journey, acquiring subsequent cultivation techniques was the limit.

If the sect is unwilling to open its inheritance to even disciples like him who have cultivated within the sect since childhood, how could it allow those rogue cultivators seeking the continuation of their cultivation techniques to obtain the sect's resources?

No wonder the stall selling cultivation techniques was deserted.

Xu Zhou walked around the market, looking at everything, and gained some knowledge as a result.

Before long, the two walked to the center of the market and came to a well-maintained small building.

The plaque above the small building reads "Golden Flame Tower," which is the Golden Flame Sect's stronghold in this market.

This small building was also the most bustling place in the market. Xu Zhou glanced at it and saw that there were many kinds of pills, magic tools and talismans for sale. The variety was great and the quality was extremely high. The only drawback was that the price was a bit expensive.

A moment later, the two met the manager of the Golden Flame Pavilion.

Upon seeing Li Zelei, the man's eyes lit up, and he walked over with a smile: "So it's Brother Li who's come to visit!"

Li Zelei greeted the other party with a smile, and then introduced Xu Zhou and the other party to each other.

The shopkeeper's name was Lu Liao. He was a burly man with a thick beard. As the manager of the Golden Flame Sect here, he possessed profound cultivation at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

Lu Liao nodded to Xu Zhou as a greeting, then smiled at Li Zelei: "So that's why you came here. You brought your junior brother out to broaden his horizons."

Li Zelei smiled and said, "It's just a coincidence. Junior Brother Xu has prepared a list of the materials needed. Quickly take it out and show it to Senior Brother Lu. If you want to buy good things in Dongling Valley, you can't go wrong by asking Senior Brother Lu."

Xu Zhou took out the list from the storage bag and handed it over.

Of course, this list only contains the materials he needs for alchemy, and does not include anything related to array formations.

Lu Liao casually took the list, and said with a smile, "This is easy, leave it to me. Golden Flame Pavilion also has a lot of medicinal herbs stockpiled, so we might be able to find what you need right away."

As he spoke, he took a closer look at the list.

Soon, Lu Liao's expression changed.

He had initially thought Xu Zhou was a junior disciple who had only recently begun cultivating, because of his youthful appearance.

Unexpectedly, after carefully scanning the list, I found that each of the medicinal herbs was extraordinary. Upon closer inspection, most of them were actually different main ingredients for first-grade high-quality pills.

He looked up at Xu Zhou again, his attitude much more serious: "May I ask, junior brother, are you perhaps a high-grade alchemist?"

Xu Zhou shook his head and said modestly, "I've only reached the threshold of high-grade; I can't consistently refine high-grade pills yet."

Lu Liao immediately relaxed a lot.

That being said, the prospect of becoming a mid-grade alchemist was enough to make him take the matter seriously.

After reviewing the list carefully, he said apologetically, "I'm sorry, junior brother, I'm afraid we won't be able to collect everything on this list in the short term."

He pointed to several medicinal herbs on the list: "Blood ginseng, Xuanlingzhi, and these other items are all relatively rare herbs. Although we have them in the warehouse, they all need to be transported to the sect. If you want them, junior brother, I can help you spread the word and gradually acquire them from outsiders."

Xu Zhou nodded and said, "Thank you, Senior Brother. May I ask how long it usually takes to make an acquisition?"

"About two months."

Lu Liao explained, "Dongling Valley is a lively place after all. Although these materials are rare, we can probably gather them all in about two months at most."

Xu Zhou pondered for a while before saying to Li Zelei, "In that case, Senior Brother, you might as well go back first after you finish your business. I will wait here for the sect to send someone next time before returning to the sect."

Li Zelei laughed and said, "Why bother with all that? I also have things to take care of. Once you've acquired the materials, we can go together."

Since it was agreed upon, Lu Liao would help with the acquisition.

Soon, a sign displaying the demand information was hung up.

If someone comes to sell medicinal herbs, Jin Yan Lou will buy them for Xu Zhou in advance. When Xu Zhou wants to pick up the herbs, he can simply go to their door, pay the required amount of spirit stones, and take them away.

These medicinal herbs are naturally not cheap, but it's still easier than competing with others in the sect.

Afterwards, Lu Liao helped the two of them arrange accommodations.

After settling in, Li Zelei said he had to go out on business and told Xu Zhou to wander around the market on his own.

"Remember, don't leave the market. As long as you're still in the market, no matter what happens, go to Jin Yan Lou, and Senior Brother Lu will take care of it for you."

After giving his instructions, Li Zelei left.

Xu Zhou didn't stay inside either; he soon went out as well.

He didn't do anything special, just strolled around the market, carefully observing the details around him.

Lu Liao can help him acquire the medicinal materials needed for alchemy, but he still needs to find the materials for setting up the formation himself.

However, Xu Zhou also knew that he was not familiar with the market, and going directly to the streets to look for materials would inevitably lead to various troubles.

To achieve your goal, you must gather intelligence in advance.

For the next three days, he simply wandered around the market. Occasionally, he would listen to the vendors boasting and buy a few things, but only a small taste.

Three days later, feeling he had a good enough understanding, he began to take action.

"First, I need to disguise myself so that I can't be recognized when buying these materials."

Xu Zhou took out the disguise tools he had prepared beforehand and kept applying them in front of the mirror to change his appearance.

He hadn't spent time learning how to disguise himself, but the age-preserving techniques he practiced touched upon this area, so he still had some understanding of it.

A moment later, he transformed from a young cultivator into an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.

After looking at himself in the mirror for a long time, Xu Zhou shook his head inwardly.

"Disguise is indeed not that easy to learn."

"If a careful observer looks closely, they can still tell that I have disguised myself."

"But it doesn't matter. I'm afraid one or two out of ten people in the market have changed their appearance. Even if someone notices that I'm disguised, it won't attract any attention."

Xu Zhou then took off his sect robes, changed into an inconspicuous set of cloth clothes, and left his residence.

Although he had changed his appearance, few people paid attention to him when he walked through the market.

Everyone is only concerned with their own affairs.

Xu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, then stopped wandering around and went straight to the point.

He randomly selected a shop in the market that sold a large quantity of spiritual items, went inside to negotiate with the shopkeeper, and left a short while later with a batch of materials.

Then they went to another shop.

He kept changing shops, buying a portion of each one, and even visited the Golden Flame Tower.

He bought different materials from each shop, and among the materials he purchased were many rare medicinal herbs, ensuring that the other party would not be able to guess his purpose in buying these materials.

Even if someone keeps following him and knows everything he bought, they will only think that he is a hidden rogue alchemist who bought those miscellaneous materials just to cover up his medicinal herbs.

Using his true identity as an alchemist to conceal his true identity as an array master was the idea Xu Zhou came up with.

Xu Zhou acted swiftly and efficiently, buying up most of the inventory in each shop before leaving immediately. In just half a day, he had amassed a considerable amount of material.

However, the spirit stones in his pocket were also one layer less.

Although he was still short of the total amount he needed, he did not continue to search for more.

Under the probing of his divine sense, he sensed that someone was following him.

Xu Zhou knew when to stop. He found an inconspicuous corner, quickly wiped off his makeup, and changed his clothes.

After circling around, he returned to the spot he had passed earlier, using the corner of his eye to observe the person following him.

He was a simply dressed young man.

At that moment, the boy stood on the street corner, anxiously looking around, his face full of frustration.

Xu Zhou frowned slightly.

He spread his consciousness again and confirmed that there was no one else following him except this boy, which made him feel confused.

Seeing that the boy couldn't find him, he turned and left in frustration.

Xu Zhou had a sudden thought and quietly followed.

A moment later, he saw the boy turn into a dark alley, so he stopped following him and instead used his divine sense to investigate.

In the dark alley, a monk was already waiting.

Seeing the boy return alone, the cultivator's voice was hoarse, suggesting he was quite old: "Where is he?"

"He...he suddenly disappeared." The boy's voice was bitter.

"Damn it!" the old cultivator cursed. "We finally encountered a formation master, and he actually let him get away!"