The rapidly approaching green light cut through the sky, circled in front of the gate of Xuanqing Temple, and then landed outside the gate.
The light faded away, revealing a young man in a blue shirt. He looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, with dark skin and ordinary looks. His long hair was casually tied up behind his head, but he looked very capable.
The person who came was Li Yan. He had actually arrived nearby yesterday, but after seeing a market town here on the map, he flew directly over there to see if he could be lucky enough to find the materials he needed.
But he wandered around the market all day and gained nothing in the end. He was so disappointed that he left the market after seeing that no one was following him.
But it was already dark, and considering that the teleportation array would not be activated if he arrived in the middle of the night, he found a cave and sat cross-legged in meditation.
Early this morning, he arrived at Xuanqing Temple. Looking at the weathered words above the mountain gate, Li Yan nodded, confirming that he had come to the right place.
Kong Nantai looked at the green light breaking through the air outside the mountain gate, and there was no surprise on his face.
Although Xuanqing Temple is not a famous sect, nor is it good at refining weapons and talismans, it is good at formations and has done quite a bit of research on defensive formations and short-distance teleportation formations. Their Taoist temple is also somewhat famous in the world of immortal cultivation.
There is a market town two hundred miles away from the Taoist temple. The Taoists in Xuanqing Temple also needed to accumulate a large amount of resources for cultivation. Seeing this convenience, they spent a lot of money to build two teleportation arrays in the Taoist temple and opened them to the outside world at the same time.
As a result, many foreign monks would enter and exit Xuanqing Temple every day, with the purpose of using the teleportation array in the Taoist temple.
Although there is a teleportation array in the market town, the teleportation fee is too expensive. Many cultivators still prefer to teleport to Xuanqing Temple and then fly two hundred miles there on their own. This can save a lot of spirit stones.
Although Xuanqing Temple's method of making money has affected the business in the market, the market will not easily offend the temple because there is an old Jindan cultivator in charge.
However, the fact that a cultivator came so early in the morning still made Kong Nantai's face flash with surprise.
After he swept his spiritual sense over the other party, he immediately lost interest. The other party was only at the Qi Condensation Stage. He turned around and shouted at a disciple behind him.
"Why don't you ask the other party why he is here?"
A young Taoist priest immediately appeared behind him. After bowing respectfully, he flew out of the mountain gate.
Li Yan stood quietly outside the mountain gate. He also saw a group of people who seemed to be patrolling inside the mountain gate. Sure enough, after they saw him, one of them flew towards him.
The young Taoist priest quickly came and landed in front of Li Yan. When he came over, his spiritual sense had already scanned Li Yan's cultivation level, and found that it was actually one small realm higher than his.
He raised one palm, bowed, and then spoke with a smile.
"I am honored to invite this Taoist friend. I wonder why you have come to my Xuanqing Temple?"
He was still extremely polite to Li Yan. In fact, they had already guessed about Li Yan's purpose, and it was just a routine inquiry.
These monks who came here are a major source of spiritual stones for the Taoist temple, so they must be polite to the host.
"Oh, I wonder if there is a teleportation array in your temple that goes to Linshui City?"
As Li Yan spoke, a hint of uneasiness appeared on his face.
"This temple has two teleportation arrays, one to the north and one to the east. The Linshui City you mentioned is the last teleportation node to the north, so it can be reached."
When the young Taoist heard where Li Yan wanted to be teleported, he couldn't help but smile a little more. This was the farthest place that their teleportation array could reach in the north, and the teleportation spirit stone was very valuable.
"Oh, how many spiritual stones are needed?"
The uneasiness on Li Yan's face was even more obvious.
After seeing this, the young Taoist priest had already guessed most of Li Yan's origins.
"This Qi Condensation cultivator must be in a hurry. Judging from the speed at which he just flew here, he doesn't have any good flying magic treasures or magic weapons, but he is in a hurry. He is worried about the consumption of his own spirit stones."
The smile on his face grew wider.
"Since you are here, you should know the name of my Taoist temple. It is one of only two teleportation sites nearby. Moreover, the teleportation price of my temple has always been very fair. Otherwise, you would not come here.
The teleportation to Linshui City is nearly eight thousand miles away, and one person only needs three hundred low-level spirit stones. However, this must be made clear to your fellow Taoists. Generally, a teleportation array can only be opened after at least six people gather in the same direction.
But fellow Daoist, please rest assured that we will gather enough people every half a day. Of course, if you have reserved the five closest nodes and all the spirit stones for the place you want to go, you can also teleport individually."
After saying that, he looked at Li Yan carefully with a smile. He was confident that the price he quoted was not too expensive. Although there was not much difference between eight thousand miles and ten thousand miles, the construction of a teleportation array exceeding ten thousand miles was completely different.
That requires extremely high attainments in space formations to be set up. Even one extra mile may cause space deviation. As the saying goes, "a slight error leads to a great mistake." The spirit stones consumed for transmission would be counted in the thousands at that time.
The teleportation array is divided into single-node teleportation and multi-node teleportation. Single-node teleportation arrays are the most common, and are usually used by the sect’s own fixed-point teleportation. You only need to fill the spirit stones and activate the array, and you can teleport directly from one side to the other.
Multi-node transmission is usually used by monks to earn spirit stones for the Chamber of Commerce, and multiple exits will be established in one direction.
Before the person being teleported enters the teleportation array, a node mark is placed on his body. When he reaches a node, the mark senses the corresponding node's aura and instantly teleports the person out without affecting other people being teleported at the same time.
But if someone cancels the brand on his body, the consequences will be unimaginable, and the teleportation will become non-directional teleportation.
Usually after reaching the last node of the teleportation array, one is unable to teleport out and is randomly teleported into the turbulence of space. Once there, it is difficult to have a chance of survival.
In the mortal world, teleportation arrays are usually divided into three categories:
The first is short-distance teleportation, usually within ten thousand miles; the second is medium-distance teleportation, within one hundred thousand miles; the third is long-distance teleportation, which is also the farthest distance in the mortal world, within one million miles, but this is just a general distance.
As far as Li Yan knew, in the entire Desolate Moon Continent, even in places like the Wuling Sect, the farthest teleportation was only 700,000 miles.
Li Yan had also read in classics that in ancient times there was an ultra-long-distance teleportation array that could teleport up to tens of millions of miles. It required top-grade spirit stones and special teleportation spells to activate it.
Due to the extremely harsh transmission conditions, this type of ultra-long-distance transmission array has long disappeared in the long river of history.
The consumption of activating the teleportation array is also extremely high, so usually multiple people teleport together.
If there are multiple node exits for teleportation, someone can also teleport individually if they are willing to spend at least the spirit stones of the five nearest nodes, plus their own expenses.
After hearing this, Li Yan nodded first, indicating that he understood, but his expression was apprehensive and he couldn't help showing his embarrassment. His expression fell into the eyes of the young Taoist priest, and he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. He knew what the expression of this person in front of him meant.
If Li Yan showed disappointment or even reluctance, then there would be no hope, as he obviously did not have enough spirit stones. However, he would still lobby and persuade Li Yan to teleport to a node a short distance to the north, so that at least he could fly a lot less distance.
But Li Yan showed such an expression at this moment, which obviously meant that he had enough spirit stones on him, but the price was a little hard to accept for him.
The young Taoist priest continued to speak.
"My fellow Daoist, this is a very fair price. If you fly eight thousand miles by yourself without a good flying magic weapon or magic weapon, it will take several days or even dozens of days to arrive.
Moreover, it is extremely dangerous for Qi Condensation cultivators like us on the road, not to mention those first and second level monsters. Even if we encounter cultivators traveling with several people and they have bad intentions, it is not something that we, Qi Condensation cultivators traveling alone, can withstand."
The young Taoist priest was also very familiar with the art of persuading people, so he directly took the other party's lifeline. He was also confident that his words had caused the other party to be hesitant at first, but at this time he had already lost his balance.
After saying that, the young Taoist looked at Li Yan sincerely, as if he was thinking for him. Seeing that the struggle on Li Yan's face became stronger, the young Taoist sneered in his heart, but his face was still as cheerful as ever.
Not long after, just as he guessed, Li Yan's facial expression changed drastically several times, and then he seemed to grit his teeth, and his voice became a little dry.
"Fellow Daoist, please forgive me. You also know that it is not easy for us to become Qi Condensation cultivators, especially for cultivators like us who come from small sects. I wonder if you can be flexible and give us some discounts."
Seeing this, the young Taoist knew that his words had taken effect, but he looked embarrassed and seemed to be constantly thinking about it. Under Li Yan's almost pleading gaze, he finally spoke.
"This... is difficult. The teleportation fee is fixed. However, there is a senior uncle on duty in the northward teleportation array today who has an old relationship with my master..."
After that, the two of them whispered a few words and finally settled the matter.
Li Yan promised to be the other party. If the two hundred and twenty spirit stones could be used to step onto the teleportation array, he would give the other party an extra fifty spirit stones.
As for whether the young Taoist priest should keep it for himself or negotiate with his uncle-master, Li Yan didn't care.
In short, he just put on a complete show, and in the end he saved thirty spirit stones.
Seeing that the deal was done, the young Taoist was not worried that Li Yan would go back on his word. After asking about Li Yan's background, he checked his Blood Leaf Sect token. Li Yan directly used his own name without hiding anything.
The young Taoist priest seemed to know a lot about the Xueye Sect. After seeing the gray token, his eyes flashed a few times, and he looked at Li Yan carefully.
Then he asked in detail about some situations of the Blood Leaf Sect. Li Yan answered everything he knew. Fortunately, the people he knew were all high-ranking members of the Blood Leaf Sect. This was consistent with the young Taoist's guess that Li Yan might be the direct descendant of Master Blood Leaf.
This type of people often look down on other cultivators of the same generation. They rarely interact with their fellow disciples and are basically unaware of some low-level affairs of the sect, just like Master Luo just now.
At this time, Kong Nantai and his group inside the mountain gate had already gone to other places for inspection.
There are more than a dozen of them on duty today. In the future, they will encounter cultivators like Li Yan who come to borrow the teleportation array. Then everyone will take their turn to go forward and check them out.
As for who can gain how much benefit from the foreign monks in the end, it all depends on personal luck and eloquence. The Taoist temple rarely intervenes in these situations.
But if anyone asks for too much and breaks the rules, he will be greeted with the wrath of the sect, so most disciples are content with just gaining some small benefits.
But there are still many disciples who are unwilling to patrol. Many of the masters here have people who travel to and from the market all year round, and the prices have long been transparent. After all, there are not many people like Li Yan.
So when the young Taoist priest came over to inquire about Li Yan, they just looked at him from afar. Although they could see that Li Yan was a stranger, they could only sigh in their hearts. Who made the young Taoist priest have a relationship with Master Kong
The group left early. As for whether they were worried about people like Li Yan who might explode and hurt others, snatch the token and teleport in by themselves, they were not worried at all.
There are endless formations in Xuanqing Temple, most of which are chain formations. If one is triggered, the whole body will be affected. Even if you get the Xuanqing Temple token, you cannot go deep into the Taoist temple without the guidance of a disciple.
They were very confident about this. Unless a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage came to attack, they would not be able to move freely in the Taoist temple.
Seeing that the deal had been reached, the young Taoist took out a token and led Li Yan into the Xuanqing Temple.
This person was quite talkative. Along the way, Li Yan just responded with a few words in a casual manner. Fortunately, he looked worried, which made others think that he had something on his mind, but the young Taoist didn't care at all.
During the conversation, Li Yan also learned that the young Taoist priest's name was Feng Zhiran.
As they turned around, Feng Zhiran would take out the token from time to time and wave it at a certain place. Li Yan discovered that every time the token was waved, a light would flash somewhere.
It might be an inconspicuous rock, a blade of grass in a patch of weeds, or a pavilion on the roadside on the way up the mountain, etc. The color of the light is always different, which makes Li Yan's eyes show a thoughtful look.
Feng Zhiran seemed to know it, and was quite proud of the look in Li Yan's eyes, so he couldn't help but introduce him.
“In terms of cultivation techniques and the crafting of talismans and instruments, our Xuanqing Temple cannot really be compared with other sects, but our formations have been passed down for a long time. All the formations in our sect were personally arranged by our Nascent Soul ancestors tens of thousands of years ago.
Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator were to attack, it would take at least an hour to break through. However, ever since the Nascent Soul ancestor left for the God Transformation, there has been no news of him, and the sect has fallen into decline. I heard that this Nascent Soul ancestor once served as a guest elder of the Wuliang Sect..."
When Li Yan heard this, he couldn't help but be surprised. He didn't expect that a second-rate sect he came from had such a glorious past and was even related to the Wuliang Sect. It seems that no sect can be underestimated. Those who can stand for a long time must have a profound foundation.
The two of them walked along the way, passed through the mountain gate and continued to climb up the mountain, and shuttled between some pavilions. They did meet some Taoists. When these Taoists saw Li Yan, they were all polite and waved their hands.
Li Yan felt the spiritual energy here. Although it was not as good as that of the Wuliang Sect, it seemed to be three points better than that of the Xueye Sect. This was already very good for an ordinary cultivator.
After continuing to circle around, they finally reached the top of the mountain.
The Taoist temple on the top of the mountain has a magnificent hall. Occasionally, the melodious sound of bells and chimes lingers around the top of the mountain and floats around. As Feng Zhiran turns around the hall in front and passes through the nine-turn corridor, a large pond appears in front of Li Yan.
In July, the pond is full of lotus flowers, competing to bloom in all their splendor. The green lotus leaves are lush and verdant, covering the entire surface of the pond. Waves of fresh fragrance waft in the wind, and a smack of it is refreshing.
Among the carved rocks surrounding the pond, there are quiet magnolia and ginkgo forests, which contrast with the rippling blue water of the lake, making this place even more secluded and tranquil.
A stone path goes around the pond and extends to the back.
The lotus pond is very large. Along most of the lakeshore, there is a row of quaint pavilions. These pavilions are lined up in a row close to the pond, forming a semi-arc shape. Their large windows are either closed or open, facing the clear water of the pond.