I rely on learning to achieve immortality.

Upon recognizing Juanming, Xu Zhou immediately walked towards him.

Given the other party's status, they are a well-known potential cultivator destined for Foundation Establishment, naturally placing them above everyone else present.

In any case, Xu Zhou should have treated him with courtesy.

"I never expected Junior Brother Hu to come to my gathering."

Xu Zhou cupped his hands and asked, "I wonder, Junior Brother Hu, do you also wish to explore the Sunset Valley Secret Realm?"

In response to his question, Hu Anming simply nodded casually: "I heard you have a mission here that rewards spirit stones, so I came."

After saying that, he glanced at her, seemingly uninterested in saying anything more.

There had been some quiet conversation in the hall, but after Juanming took the initiative to speak, everyone unconsciously lowered their voices.

After an eerie silence, a white-bearded monk sitting nearby chuckled ingratiatingly.

"Master Xu Dan."

The white-bearded cultivator coughed and explained, "When Senior Brother Ouyang came to my house earlier, Junior Brother Hu happened to be there as well."

When he heard that the journey to Sunset Valley required someone skilled in combat, he said he was capable of it and insisted on coming.

We thought that Junior Brother Hu was indeed quite capable, so we brought him along.

Xu Zhou sighed inwardly.

Is Juan Ming skilled in magical combat?

That is, of course, beyond doubt.

Xu Zhou himself also studied array formations. As a mid-grade array master, he was able to set up arrays powerful enough to wear down a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Juanming is not only a top-grade array master, but also a recognized genius of the Array Control Hall. If given the opportunity to set up an array, even if it is just a temporary, impromptu formation, he could potentially withstand a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, the other party was arrogant and showed little respect to Xu Zhou, let alone to everyone else in the room.

Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing to let this kind of person join the team is unknown.

Just as Xu Zhou was carefully considering his words, Hu Anming suddenly spoke again:

"Master Xu Dan."

Juanming's gaze fell on him, and he said calmly, "I know you have some old grudges with the Hu family, and you probably don't want me to stay right now."

However, the Hu family is short-sighted, recklessly offending cultivators from other sects, and even trying to use me as a pawn; they are utterly foolish.

Their feud is none of my business.

The other cultivators had fallen completely silent, looking at each other in silence.

They were all unaware that the Hu family and Xu Zhou had a grudge against each other, and they all showed strange and puzzled expressions.

The white-bearded monk who brought Juan's orders was already sweating profusely.

Xu Zhou nodded slightly, but didn't say anything more.

Juan paused, his voice still indifferent:

"Don't worry, I have no ill intentions towards you."

My purpose in coming here is solely for the journey to the secret realm. With me here, I can guarantee your safe travels.

He paused slightly, as if weighing something, before adding, "However, I need one thousand spirit stones."

His tone was indifferent, as if this was already giving face.

The people in the hall exchanged another glance.

A thousand spirit stones is quite a lot.

Many Qi Refining cultivators probably only have two or three thousand items in their storage bags in total. One thousand spirit stones is almost half of their net worth.

However, it seems to be nothing special to Master Xu.

Xu Zhou's expression remained unchanged, but his mind raced, and he already had an idea.

Juanming's presence here is indeed due to a lack of spirit stones.

After a moment, he slowly spoke:

"This journey is dangerous, and it's not just a matter for Junior Brother Hu alone."

"Since we are in the same industry, we should treat each other equally."

He spoke calmly, his tone even mild.

"For this trip into the secret realm, I, Xu, am willing to contribute two thousand spirit stones to everyone."

Juan frowned slightly.

He thought that three thousand spirit stones, six hundred for each person, didn't seem entirely unacceptable.

But Xu Zhou continued:

"Two thousand per person."

After he finished speaking, Juan suddenly fell silent.

The hall was quiet for a moment.

Those who already knew about the price range exchanged glances, their eyes revealing undisguised smiles.

After a long pause, Juan finally spoke slowly.

"...Everyone?"

He looked up and carefully examined Xu Zhou, seemingly gaining a new understanding of him.

Xu Zhou happened to be looking at him and smiled slightly: "Junior Brother Hu, naturally it's the same."

His tone was gentle, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Juan frowned, but said nothing.

However, Xu Zhou did not finish his sentence.

"Two thousand spirit stones is a reward for everyone's hard work."

"Once everyone enters the secret realm, all spoils are under their personal control. I will only take 30% of it, which each person can choose and give to me."

"However, if any of you are fortunate enough to find the Heavenly Spirit Fruit, I hope you will sell it to me."

"I am willing to pay 10,000 spirit stones to purchase this Heavenly Spirit Fruit."

This time, it was Juan who was the first to respond: "Okay."

His tone remained calm, but it lacked some of his casualness.

The others immediately echoed in agreement.

Xu Zhou nodded and said nothing more.

Ten thousand spirit stones is indeed a lot, so much that ordinary Qi Refining cultivators wouldn't even dare to dream of it.

But compared to the Heavenly Spirit Fruit, which is priceless and unavailable, it's not hard to understand.

The reason he was willing to spend so many spirit stones was quite simple.

Xu Zhou has no shortage of spirit stones.

Back when he was still a mid-grade alchemist, he was able to accumulate three thousand spirit stones over several years to exchange for a legacy.

Now that he has become a top-grade alchemist, and has mastered the Qi Condensation Powder refining technique, having already reached the second-tier bottleneck, the amount of spirit stones he possesses is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

In addition, he did not engage in magical battles, did not spend money on magical artifacts and talismans, had no offspring, and only a disciple who was relatively easy to manage. He also lived quite frugally in the sect for many years.

Since we can't spend all the spirit stones anyway, we might as well spend them and see if we can get a Heavenly Spirit Fruit in return.

Ouyang Ming glanced at the crowd and smiled, "Don't worry, Alchemist Xu. We have no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment anyway, so obtaining the Heavenly Spirit Fruit would be useless to us. If we do encounter a Heavenly Spirit Fruit, we will definitely bring it back for you."

The others chimed in, "Yes, we don't need it either."

"My descendants don't have much talent. Instead of waiting for this Heavenly Spirit Fruit, I'd rather take the spirit stones back with me."

Xu Zhou nodded slightly, quite satisfied.

As for Juan's life, no one went to see him.

As a promising cultivator from the Imperial Array Hall, this person will surely have a Foundation Establishment Pill in the future, and will not need this Heavenly Spirit Fruit at all.

...

After Juan filled one vacancy, the group selected the strongest person in the group to fill the other vacancy.

In this way, the five people selected to enter the secret realm were finalized.

The reason there were five people was because Xu Zhou wasn't going.

The secret realm is still dangerous after all, and his best method of defending against enemies has become an array, which is not easy to reveal, so it is best not to go in.

With his current wealth and alchemy skills, there is absolutely no need for him to personally risk his life in the secret realm.

If you have to take risks even for something like this, then all the connections and spirit stones you've accumulated over the years will have been for nothing.

In any case, no matter what rare spiritual materials or even the Heavenly Spirit Fruit itself they find, they will eventually be handed over to him.

When selecting candidates, Xu Zhou deliberately chose older cultivators without children or disciples to ensure that no one would covet the Heavenly Spirit Fruit.

If Juanming hadn't already had a spot for the Foundation Establishment Pill, Xu Zhou wouldn't have let him join, no matter how obedient he was.

After the matter was settled, everyone agreed to meet at Sunset Valley the following month and then went their separate ways.

Juan left without saying goodbye to anyone.

Xu Zhou gazed at his retreating figure, lost in thought.

"Who would have thought that even a genius array master would run out of spirit stones?"

Xu Zhou had already asked the white-bearded cultivator before. According to him, although Hu Anming did not lack cultivation resources, he had some unique hobbies and liked to collect natural minerals and crystals.

According to Juanming, these natural crystals contain the Dao of Array, so they need to be collected for study and comprehension.

Although some of the ores weren't expensive, he bought a lot of them.

After a while, he also started to run out of spirit stones.

Xu Zhou had heard that array cultivators could theoretically earn no less than alchemists, but that only applied to array masters with the highest skill levels.

After all, formations usually only need to be set up once. If you can find the best formation master, there is no need to seek out a lesser one.

The other lower-level array masters are not necessarily destitute; they can still earn a decent income by repairing and maintaining arrays.

However, array masters in the Qi Refining stage are ultimately not as wealthy as alchemists.

Upon learning of this, Xu Zhou couldn't help but hesitate.

"Could natural crystals really be useful for studying array formations?"

He wondered if he should buy some next time.

But on second thought, I realized it wasn't necessary.

"If it were truly effective, other array masters would have already scrambled to buy it."

"Perhaps Juan is just too talented, and he can really draw some inspiration from it."

"But someone with my ordinary talent shouldn't get involved in this. I'll just wait for him to make a discovery in the art of array formations before studying his notes and insights."

Once Xu Zhou understood this, he felt relieved.