After the battle between Zizhagu and Jiuyin Gate, the news of these two sects was ubiquitous in Daoxiujiang.
Rumors have it that both sects were gravely injured in this battle, and Zizhagu Valley has sealed its mountain gate. Similarly, Jiuyin Gate is not faring much better, having also sealed its mountain gate.
At this time, the Shuanghun Sect had already discovered Ding Huan's whereabouts. He had followed Master Liu of Zizhagu Valley.
However, now that Zizhagu Valley has sealed its mountain gate, no matter what the Shuanghun Sect does, they must wait until Zizhagu Valley opens its gates again.
Ding Huan had been in seclusion in Zizhagu Valley since then and had not emerged again. He had been studying formation for three months in a row, and now Ding Huan was a master of level four formations.
But Ding Huan was certain that to deal with that senior formation master, a level four formation was definitely not enough; he needed to advance to a level five, or even a level six, formation master.
Fortunately, Ding Huan now has plenty of materials at his disposal, as well as piles of formation jade slips.
The formation jade slips from Zizhagu Valley and Jiuyin Gate are all here with Ding Huan, as well as the formation jade slips from the rings of Hao Wudao and Gu Mo, two Yuanhun cultivators.
With these formation jade slips, plus the formation knowledge already in Ding Huan's memory, his progress in the way of formations has been rapid.
It was truly because the spiritual energy of Chao Xiaofeng was too abundant, and it was almost the end of the year, so Yan Mei had reached the peak of the Ninth Level of Cultivating Energy.
Qin Qingshan has cultivated to the late stage of constructing the foundation, and it is impossible for him to advance in the short term.
Despite his inability to advance, he has done quite a lot within the sect. He has gathered together those who were injured and the scattered cultivators who had hidden within the sect.
Now there are over thirty people in the Zizhagu Valley.
During this year, Ding Huan devoted every second to refining formation flags, studying formations, and deciphering restrictions.
The so-called deciphering restrictions refers to that pot. After Ding Huan reached the level of a five-star formation master, he spent a month and a half breaking the restrictions on that pot.
Half a month later, he didn't even touch the surface of the restrictions on that pot and could only give up again, storing the pot in his residence and leaving it for when his cultivation base was higher.
On that day, while Ding Huan was making a new formation flag, he received a message from Liu Yinzhu.
Ding Huan quickly opened the formation array to allow Liu Yinzhu to enter.
"Zi Yin, why are you in such a hurry to find me? Is it about the senior formation master's matter?"
In Chaoxia Peak, a peak abundant in spiritual energy, Ding Huan dared not cultivate because he was worried about this senior formation master.
If he didn't kill the senior formation master, this old turtle, Ding Huan would be unable and dare not to practice here.
To kill this turtle by force is probably unrealistic.
For Ding Huan, the fastest shortcut is through the path of formation cultivation.
In his knowledge base, there are piles of various formation knowledge. As long as he reaches a certain level of research, these knowledge will be activated.
"Yes, today I received a message from Senior Formation Master, asking me to collect the Three-color Zihuin Flower to its fullest extent within three months and give it to him..."
Liu Yinzhu said urgently.
Ding Huan immediately understood, this guy wants to refine the Wu Luo Dan!
The Three-color Zihuin Flower is one of the three main herbs needed to refine the Wu Luo Dan. The senior formation master only asks for the Three-color Zihuin Flower, which means he already has the other herbs.
"Is the senior formation master also a master of cultivation?" Ding Huan immediately wondered.
Liu Yinzhu nodded: "Yes, he is not only a master of cultivation but also able to refine five-level spirit pills."
Good heavens, a master of five-level spirit pills is rare throughout the Dao cultivation world.
Ding Huan felt that he couldn't wait any longer. The Wu Luo Dan is a spirit pill needed to advance to the level of Xu Sheng. Once the senior formation master advances to Xu Sheng, will he then break through to the level of a Seven-star Array Master?
He originally wanted to wait until he advanced to a six-star array master before making a move, but the more complex the array cultivation becomes, the more urgent he becomes, and the more difficult it is for him to break through.
It has been nearly four and a half months since he got stuck at the level of a five-star array master.
"How did you respond to him?" Ding Huan asked urgently.
"I said to immediately notify the sect master to find the Three-color Zihuin Flower and definitely find it within three months," Liu Yinzhu replied.
If they can't find the Three-color Zihuin Flower within three months, they will have no choice but to escape from Zizhagu Valley.
"Okay, let me handle this old thing. Before that, I need to go out for a trip to the sect." Ding Huan decided not to wait any longer.
Liu Yinzhu was shocked.
"Ding Huan, if you're leaving the sect, you have to break the protective seal array around it. Isn't that like committing suicide for our Zizhagu Valley?"
"No need, I have a way to leave the sect without opening the seal array without killing it. I'll be away for at most two months before coming back." Ding Huan smiled.
Liu Yinzhu, a second-level array master, had no idea how Ding Huan intended to leave the sect without opening the seal array.
However, she did know that Ding Huan had spent nearly a year studying various aspects of array cultivation.
With Ding Huan's learning progress, he must have almost reached the level of a four-star array master.
It would still be quite risky for a four-star array master to confront the senior formation master.
This is mainly because Ding Huan doesn't have any strong cultivators on his side. If there were strong cultivators on his side, there would be a chance to kill the senior formation master while he was trapped in a four-star formation array.
……
Ding Huan was not bluffing.
Zizhagu Valley's protective array is barely a five-star protective array.
Ding Huan was a five-star array master four to five months ago, and he could easily set up such a protective array.
In these past few months, his proficiency in array cultivation has once again advanced, almost touching the threshold of a six-star array master.
It would be no difficulty for him to leave Zizhagu Valley by breaking the seal of the five-star protective array.
An hour later, Ding Huan left Zizhagu Valley in a calm manner, while not even a blade of grass was disturbed by the seal array protecting the mountain.
After leaving Zizhagu Valley, Ding Huan put on a disguise mask and transformed into a slightly ruthless itinerant cultivator.
Ding Huan was very satisfied with this disguise mask. Such a ruthless itinerant cultivator would generally deter people from provoking him.
Firstly, because such itinerant cultivators are ruthless and do not hold back, secondly, because there is little oil to be found on their bodies.
This mask made Ding Huan grateful to Hao Wudao, as it was obtained from Hao Wudao's ring.
Ding Huan did not open the numerous storage bags and rings in Zizhagu Valley, as he had enough materials.
If he builds a sect in the future, these things will be the property of the sect. If he cannot stay in Zizhagu Valley in the future, these things will be distributed to everyone.
From the rings of Hao Wudao, Chang Qi, Canping, and Gonghua alone, Ding Huan had collected more than a dozen disguising spiritual tools.
The disguising spiritual tools in Hao Wudao's ring are the highest-level, being an upper-quality spirit tool.
It could be said that, besides the unknown restriction box in Hao Wudao's ring, this upper-quality disguising spiritual tool was the most valuable item.
Ding Huan's destination was Cangjian Mountain. Since he was to confront the senior formation master, not going to Cangjian Mountain would definitely not suffice.
Ding Huan was going to collect a batch of poison mist on Cangjian Mountain and set it up in the encirclement array against the senior formation master.
If he wanted to collect poison mist on Cangjian Mountain, he would need a container that could hold the poison mist.
Ding Huan is good at refining tools, but he mainly makes formation flags. He cannot currently refine a container that can hold poison mist.
So Ding Huan's first stop is Zhenyun City, which is known as the number one Dao city in the cultivation world. Here, there must be things he needs.
Zhenyun City is too far away from Zizhagu Valley. If he controlled the ship himself to get there, it would take at least half a month.
That's not even counting the problems that might arise on the way. If something went wrong slightly along the way, whether or not he could return to Zizhagu Valley within three months would be questionable.
So Ding Huan first came to Yanue City.
One advantage of Yanue City is that it has a transmission array that directly leads to Zhenyun City.
Ding Huan had never been to Yanue City before. The last time he came with Guanyu, it was only to wait at a place not far from Yanue City.
After entering Yanue City, Ding Huan immediately felt the difference between Yanue City and Xifeng City.
Xifeng City had undergone a qualitative change thanks to his intervention, and no matter how it changed, it remained a city dominated by ordinary mortals.
In Xifeng City, it was basically impossible to see cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, and all the goods coming and going were also low-level items.
As soon as Ding Huan entered Yanue City, the streets were almost completely devoid of ordinary people without cultivation.
Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were not rare, but could be seen often.
Even true Dan cultivators, Ding Huan saw several.
Some shops on the streets displayed various spiritual tools and pills for sale.
It's not that there are no artifacts here, but hanging up spiritual tools makes the place look high-end and sophisticated. This attracts cultivators who mostly only buy artifacts.
Ding Huan plans to enter a Xidiao Hall to inquire about the location of the transmission array. After all, this is a city controlled by Yanue Sect, and it cannot be like Xifeng City where he can use his divine sense freely.
"Yearly biggest auction by Yan Sect Merchants Association! A piece of inferior spiritual stone can get you the inside information..."
A weak Qi practicing page was selling small booklets on the street.
Ding Huan's trip to Zhenyun City is also to buy a container that can hold the poison mist from Cangjian Mountain. It's not a bad idea to check out what kind of things are being sold at the auction here.
Just as Ding Huan was about to approach, a familiar figure flashed by in front of him and arrived at the page's side, dropping a spiritual stone to him:
"Gimme one."
The page quickly took the spiritual stone and handed out a book to the man.
A surge of killing intent flashed across Ding Huan's mind. Ding Huan clenched his fists and took a deep breath, then relaxed his emotions and approached the page, offering a piece of inferior spiritual stone:
"Give me one as well."
"Okay." The page was overjoyed and earned two spiritual stones in an instant.
"Is there any senior cultivation at the true Dan stage participating in this auction?"
Ding Huan asked casually, his gaze never leaving the man who had just bought the booklet.
Qi Yushan, who was it that brought a few people to the Four-direction Starland Continent to bring him and Luo Baidao to the Three-star Land Continent.
If it weren't for his ability to calculate, he would have been killed by this guy long ago.
"Of course, not only true Dan cultivators, but also Yuanhun cultivators often attend such auctions."
When the page was arrogant in answering, Ding Huan had already left.
Ding Huan's intention was to inquire whether there were any Yuanhun realm cultivators at the auction. However, since Qi Yushan was about to leave, he naturally couldn't let him go and immediately followed him.
