Little Junior Sister, We Can’t Handle This Grind Anymore - Chapter 38

“I’m absolutely certain it’s golden nanmu wood. My clan once bought a batch to build a treasury, and it nearly bankrupted us!”

Hearing this person’s confident tone, the cultivators looked at each other in disbelief.

Then, gazing at the seemingly endless golden nanmu fence, they gasped in awe. What immense wealth did this represent?

Someone looked thoughtful. “Why can Lingyun Sect afford golden nanmu? How come I’ve never heard of Lingyun Sect before? And I’ve never seen anyone from Lingyun Sect at the Sect Conferences?”

“Am I the only one curious about why Lingyun Sect isn’t afraid of someone stealing the golden nanmu?” asked Hu Yunxiang, standing by the fence, a piece of golden nanmu already in his hand.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Hu Yunxiang. This guy was an idiot!

These golden nanmu pieces clearly bore the mark of a powerful expert. Furthermore, one reason golden nanmu was so expensive was that the mark could only be removed by the one who placed it, making lost pieces extremely easy to recover.

No one with any sense would steal golden nanmu; they would only purchase it legitimately.

Hu Yunxiang noticed everyone looking at him strangely and asked, puzzled, “What’s wrong with you all? Don’t you want the golden nanmu?”

The crowd shook their heads in unison. They might want it, but they probably wouldn’t live to keep it.

The owner of that powerful voice from before was clearly a high-level cultivator. No one in their right mind would offend such a expert.

“Well, if you don’t want it, then neither do I,” Hu Yunxiang said, sticking the piece of golden nanmu back into the fence. If others didn’t want it, he didn’t want it either!

Just then—

BOOM!—

A deafening thunderclap roared from the distance, startling everyone.

“That’s tribulation lightning! Strange, it sounds like it’s right inside, so why can’t we see any signs of the tribulation?”

“The cloud layer must be blocking the tribulation phenomena. Let’s find another spot to watch. There are thirty-six lightning strikes in a Deity Transformation tribulation; we can still make it if we go now.”

“If it’s inside, why don’t we just break the formation here instead of taking a detour?” Hu Yunxiang spoke up again. His reason for pulling out the golden nanmu had another layer: to test the waters.

If someone from Lingyun Sect came out, even better. He could adjust his attitude based on who appeared.

If no one came out, it would mean the sect’s protective formation was just for show, and he’d have even less to worry about.

Hu Yunxiang pulled a formation disk from his storage bag, placed it at his feet, and drew a circle on the ground around it. The disk emitted a white light, and a formation array unfolded beneath his feet.

Hu Yunxiang stood with confident arrogance, his demeanor suddenly transformed. His previously ordinary features now carried a hint of sharp intelligence.

Seeing this, the crowd buzzed with discussion.

“Whoa! The Bagua Formation? Is he a descendant of the Zhuge family?”
“A formation master! No wonder he dares to act so arrogantly. If I were a formation master, I’d have people carry me everywhere I walked!”
“So that’s why a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator has a Golden Core bodyguard. He’s a formation master. Good thing I didn’t offend him earlier.”
…

Under the glow of the formation, the bodyguard woke to the noisy chatter. Clutching his sore chest, he stood up and saw Hu Yunxiang standing at the center of the formation.

The bodyguard was slightly stunned. Hu Yunxiang was over two hundred and fifty years old and only at the first level of Foundation Establishment. Such disciples were usually considered failures within their families.

Yet, Hu Yunxiang had always received significant attention within the Hu family.

He had always wondered why the Hu family would send him, a Golden Core cultivator, to protect a failure?
——————————
Canglan Peak.

Liu Canglan opened his eyes, a deep light flashing within them. Someone was tampering with the entrance formation.

Lingyun Sect was located in a remote, perilous area, and the sect itself was virtually unknown throughout Qingyun Province. Who could have found them?

They had always kept to themselves and didn’t associate with outsiders, so it couldn’t be a friend.

As for family members, that was even more impossible. Seventh Junior Brother had placed restrictions on them forbidding them from revealing the sect’s location.

After sending a message to Mu Qianjue, who was in secluded cultivation, Liu Canglan mounted his sword and flew towards the entrance of Lingyun Sect.

Those people were probably drawn by Seventh Junior Brother’s tribulation lightning.

Perhaps Little Junior Sister was right. Lingyun Sect shouldn’t remain low-key forever.

If outsiders knew the sect leader of Lingyun Sect was at the peak of the Deity Transformation stage, would they still dare to recklessly try to break the formation at the gate?

They certainly would not.

He knew that even if the Heavenly Sword Sect left its main gate wide open for people to study the entrance formation, no one would dare to be this presumptuous.

Liu Canglan flew his sword through a thin layer of mist and saw dozens of people gathered at the entrance, watching Hu Yunxiang attempt to break the formation.

His gaze swept over the crowd. He shook his head. None were familiar.

Since they weren’t connected to the Liu family, he couldn’t just beat them up arbitrarily.

“Why are you tampering with my Lingyun Sect’s protective formation?” Liu Canglan stood on his sword, his figure slender and upright. A jade crown held his hair, his robes fluttered in the wind. He resembled an elegant orchid or a precious tree, his aura transcendent.

His warm, gentle voice reached their ears. The crowd looked up, startled, unsure when Liu Canglan had appeared above them.

They saw a man in moon-white brocade robes, looking to be in his early twenties. His long eyebrows were like willow leaves, his gaze clear and bright. His gentle eyes held a hint of a smile, and his every movement exuded refined elegance.

Hu Yunxiang looked up from his formation.

He instinctively pulled out a jade pendant hanging from his neck. With a touch of his finger, he saw it flicker with a dark green light. Immediately, his heart sank. Another young Nascent Soul cultivator!

Liu Canglan looked down from above, his aura completely restrained. Aside from Hu Yunxiang, no one present could discern his cultivation level.

Hu Yunxiang began to tremble with fear. A Nascent Soul expert could kill him in the blink of an eye.

Especially Liu Canglan’s relaxed and casual demeanor made him even more terrified.

As the saying goes, the kinder the face, the crueler the means.