Chapter 320: Chapter 307: Teleportation
The Golden Core Stage cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect needed to escort the flood dragon egg back to their sect, including Zhong Chuming, a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
This news was quickly conveyed by Xu Zhengyang to Zhouyang.
As a local powerhouse and a partner of the East Splendor United Trading Group, the Profound Sun Immortal Sect naturally knew who purchased the flood dragon egg and the buyer’s actions.
Therefore, upon learning that the Golden Core cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect left the city together, Xu Zhengyang immediately informed Zhouyang.
Receiving the message from Xu Zhengyang, Zhouyang instantly grasped Xu Zhengyang’s intention.
It would be wise to leave early!
While Zhong Chuming and the Golden Core Stage cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect were absent, leaving Immortal Sun City, even if one’s whereabouts were discovered, they would not face pursuit by Golden Core Stage cultivators.
However, this was vastly different from Zhouyang’s original plan.
Originally, he planned to participate in the remaining three auctions on the Flying Giant Ship and then cultivate in Immortal Sun City for ten years or so, advancing his cultivation to the Second-Layer of the Purple Mansion or even the Third-Layer before leaving the city.
In his original thoughts, Zhong Chuming, a dignified Golden Core Stage cultivator, even if he wished to kill him, would certainly not be willing to waste such a long time waiting outside the city, right?
After all, a Golden Core Stage cultivator also needs to cultivate, and there is no Tier Five Spirit Vein outside the city for him to cultivate.
This means that if he doesn’t want to delay his cultivation, he would have to rely on refining spirit stones for spiritual power during this period.
Considering the enormous demand a Golden Core Stage cultivator has for spiritual energy, a piece of middle-grade spirit stone can only supply his cultivation needs for five to six days. Therefore, staying for ten years would cost seven to eight hundred pieces of middle-grade spirit stones!
Zhouyang didn’t believe Zhong Chuming would be willing to waste such a fortune.
Especially since Zhong Chuming doesn’t know how long he would stay in Immortal Sun City. After waiting for three or five years without any sign of him leaving, could he still resolutely continue waiting, not knowing how long it would take?
But Xu Zhengyang certainly wouldn’t harm him. By transmitting this message, hinting for him to leave now, he surely had a reason behind it.
Zhouyang hesitated precisely because he understood this.
"Forget it, listen to advice and prosper. I’m unfamiliar in the Liuyun Continent’s cultivation realm. Xu Zhengyang, as a local powerhouse, when he hints for me to leave now, he must have sensed something unfavorable to me!"
After pondering for a long time, Zhouyang sighed and decided to heed Xu Zhengyang’s advice and leave early.
However, if he were to leave now, he certainly wouldn’t take his Dao companion, Xiao Ying.
Because if truly faced with pursuit, even if he couldn’t defeat them, he could still escape using the "Rainbow Light Gold Escape" divine technique and blood escape technique.
But bringing along Xiao Ying with only Foundation Establishment cultivation, escaping would really become impossible.
"Even if Ying’er successfully advances to the Eighth-Layer of Foundation Establishment this time, advancing to the Ninth-Layer will still take at least ten years. Thus, on this trip, I can just settle the score with Zhu Ziyu in the Seven-Colored Immortal City of Yunxia Country and also inquire about the ’Nine Heavens Profound Gold’ from over three hundred years ago in the not so far away Nanman Country!"
Zhouyang’s eyes gleamed with determination, swiftly forming a plan.
Immediately, he left a letter in the cave mansion for his Dao companion, Xiao Ying, who was still in seclusion, and placed the female pendant of the "Spirit Rhinoceros Jade Pendant" and a storage bag containing fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones on top. He then renewed the cave mansion’s lease for another ten years.
After accomplishing all this, he sought out Xu Zhengyang at the Profound Sun Pavilion to inform him of his decision and requested Xu Zhengyang to look after his Dao companion, Xiao Ying.
"That’s easy; your Dao companion practices alchemy, right? Our Profound Sun Pavilion sometimes commissions external alchemists to refine common elixirs. Once she finishes her seclusion, Elder Xu can arrange for her to do alchemy at the Profound Sun Pavilion."
"As long as she stays within our Profound Sun Pavilion, even if Zhong Chuming had ten guts, he wouldn’t dare to make trouble here!"
Upon hearing Zhouyang’s request, Xu Zhengyang immediately agreed; for him, it was a simple matter.
After arranging all these, his expression suddenly turned solemn, and he seriously spoke to Zhouyang: "For certain reasons, I am unable to discuss much with you, but I can inform you that even if you leave using the teleportation array of our Profound Sun Immortal Sect, you might still be found by people from the Beast Taming Sect."
"However, you can rest assured; even if someone does pursue you, they’ll at most have Purple Mansion cultivation, and it’s unlikely any Golden Core Stage cultivator will target you since it’s a personal vendetta between you and Zhong Chuming!"
Without Golden Core Stage cultivators bothering him, Zhouyang feared no opponent.
This was his confidence in his own abilities.
So upon hearing this from Xu Zhengyang, he simply nodded calmly and said: "I understand, thank you, Elder Xu, for the reminder."
"Alright, since you understand, I’ll take you to the teleportation array now!"
Xu Zhengyang waved his hand without saying much and immediately led Zhouyang towards a large hall in the enormous building complex behind the Profound Sun Pavilion.
The Profound Sun Immortal Sect has constructed numerous teleportation arrays within Immortal Sun City, some of which are public. Anyone willing to pay a substantial teleportation fee to the Profound Sun Immortal Sect can use these arrays to travel to other immortal cities.
However, more teleportation arrays are exclusive and only open to the disciples of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect or those who have friendly relations with the sect. These private arrays are all set up within the buildings behind the Profound Sun Pavilion.
Zhouyang followed Xu Zhengyang inside the Profound Sun Pavilion and, after walking for roughly a quarter of an hour, arrived outside a grand hall protected by an array shield.
The two stopped outside the hall, where Xu Zhengyang took out a token spiritual artifact, infused it with magical power, and waved it forward. The array shield opened a passage wide enough for one person.
They both stepped through the opening, and once they had entered, the array shield swiftly sealed shut.
These details show how closely guarded these teleportation arrays are by the Profound Sun Immortal Sect.
Indeed, this is understandable, as teleportation arrays can only begin to be deciphered and arranged by a Tier Five Array Master. To truly set up a teleportation array, one must use the extremely precious Tier Five Spiritual Object "Profound Crystal Stone" as a medium.
And "Profound Crystal Stone," a treasure of great strategic value, has long been monopolized and divided among the major sects. It’s a commodity that is highly priced but unavailable.
The teleportation arrays currently set up within Immortal Sun City are all painstakingly accumulated one by one by the Profound Sun Immortal Sect over ten thousand years. Failing to protect them well, should hostile sect cultivators infiltrate and destroy them, would disgrace the sect ancestors who toiled to arrange these arrays!
According to Zhouyang, the city lord of Immortal Sun City, who never shows himself, is the one who has been painstakingly cultivating in the back courtyard of the Profound Sun Pavilion, devotedly guarding these teleportation arrays.
Some might wonder, given the preciousness of the teleportation arrays, why the Profound Sun Immortal Sect does not set them within their mountain gate’s sect?
The reason is simple: to prevent enemies from inversely invading the Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s mountain gate through the teleportation arrays and achieving a breakthrough from the center!
Immortal Sun City is only ten thousand miles away from the Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s mountain gate. This distance, for a Golden Core Stage cultivator, takes just one hour to reach.
If it’s a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, it would take at most half an hour.
This distance is convenient for the Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s cultivators to travel to Immortal Sun City to use the teleportation arrays while also allowing timely assistance during an attack on Immortal Sun City.
"This teleportation array leads to a secret cave dwelling twenty-seven thousand miles away, located deep underground. Once you arrive, leave immediately to avoid exposing the existence of the cave dwelling."
Inside the grand hall, Xu Zhengyang and Zhouyang stopped outside a circular altar that rose more than a foot above the ground, pointing to the altar to provide Zhouyang with information on the teleportation situation.
Zhouyang was seeing the legendary teleportation array for the first time and was naturally curious about everything.
The circular altar’s diameter was about two meters, and the materials used to refine the altar included Profound Iron, Red Copper, Red Gold, Gang Silver, and other spiritual metals, engraved with arrays and symbol patterns that Zhouyang couldn’t comprehend.
At the center of the altar was a column rising half a foot above the altar, on which a transparent white crystal stone the size of a fist was placed. That was the Tier Five Spiritual Object "Profound Crystal Stone."
"Elder Xu, is this teleportation array activated using spirit stones, or does it consume spirit vein spiritual qi?"
Looking at the teleportation array inside the hall, Zhouyang suddenly asked this question.
He knew that some large teleportation arrays consumed spirit vein spiritual qi for teleportation since the spiritual qi of the spirit veins could regenerate. As long as the consumption doesn’t exceed the spirit vein’s limit at one time, it can fully recover after a while.
But based on Zhouyang’s observation, this teleportation array likely wasn’t activated using spirit vein spiritual qi.
Its size was too small. A two-meter diameter altar only accommodating about ten people, hardly qualifying as a large teleportation array.
Indeed, Xu Zhengyang’s subsequent answer confirmed his suspicion.
"This is a small teleportation array, capable of teleporting up to twelve people at a time, with a teleport distance not exceeding thirty thousand miles!"
"Did you see those spirit stone grooves? Just fill them with middle-grade spirit stones, and the teleportation array can be activated for transmission!"
Xu Zhengyang pointed to some grooves on the edge of the circular altar and explained to Zhouyang.
Thirty-six middle-grade spirit stones for a single teleportation—this consumption was indeed considerable, especially for a small teleportation array.
For those medium or large teleportation arrays, one might fear consuming hundreds or even thousands of middle-grade spirit stones per use.
No, perhaps at that point, it might not be middle-grade spirit stones but far more precious top-grade spirit stones.
Zhouyang nodded thoughtfully, then quickly took out thirty-six middle-grade spirit stones and placed them into the spirit stone grooves.
Seeing this, Xu Zhengyang’s eyes revealed a trace of appreciation.
This youngster is quite perceptive!