Ning Zhuo lamented, “Before, I was just talking to Shen Xi about Yu Tong Xiao Man and Luoshu, and now I’ve actually encountered them in reality.”

Sun Lingtong stared intently at the whirlpool. “The most valuable thing in Shuyuzhai is the Luoshu pages. It’s a Dao artifact, even if not complete.”

“As long as I use my innate talent to glimpse the pages, I will be influenced by it, which will greatly help me with mathematics!”

Sun Lingtong carefully savored his recent experience; as long as he was influenced by Luoshu, he became a genius in mathematics. This feeling made him unable to stop.

“It’s like Lingyin Liu—Boss, I can understand that feeling,” Ning Zhuo said. He and Sun Lingtong were connected by a ‘Human Life Thread,’ so he empathized.

The Luoshu pages were indeed like a specialized Lingyin Liu, but only similar. There was a difference between them. Lingyin Liu could improve comprehension, while the Luoshu pages recorded the mathematical rules of heaven and earth, which must be the correct direction. Therefore, what Luoshu brought was necessarily the correct understanding!

The results of Lingyin Liu’s help could be wrong, but they were full of creativity. Luoshu’s creativity was zero; it could provide correct answers, but the extent of creation and understanding still depended on the cultivator themselves. Do not doubt Sun Lingtong’s comprehension ability; in this regard, he even surpassed Ning Zhuo.

“Xiao Zhuo, I will continue to observe Luoshu now. You try to use the ‘Human Life Thread’ and sense it with all your might at the same time!” Sun Lingtong suggested.

“Good idea,” Ning Zhuo immediately praised.

Sun Lingtong once again activated his innate Spirit Eyes. As his gaze touched the body of the Luoshu pages, he was immediately affected by the Dao artifact.

“That’s it!” Sun Lingtong’s spirits lifted. “Xiao Zhuo, how do you feel?”

Over at Baotengya, Ning Zhuo closed his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed, showing a hint of effort. He transmitted a thought, “Boss, I can also feel the influence.”

Sun Lingtong: “This is simply wonderful!”

He began to quickly study the whirlpool before him with the help of the Luoshu pages. Meanwhile, Ning Zhuo thought for a moment and then took out the jade slip Shen Xi had given him.

The originally profound content gradually became easy to understand and straightforward as Ning Zhuo studied it.

Sun Lingtong only managed to sustain it for sixteen breaths before stopping his innate ability and closing his eyes. This time, not only did his nose bleed, but fresh red blood also seeped from his ears, and his whole demeanor became somewhat muddled. Sun Lingtong immediately sat down, took out a pill to consume, and circulated his cultivation method to regulate his breath with all his might. Only after half an incense stick did he fully recover.

Ning Zhuo also adjusted his own state.

“Again!” Sun Lingtong called out, and once more activated his Spirit Eyes talent. Ning Zhuo also benefited from this advantage. After several such attempts, Sun Lingtong gained a deeper understanding of the whirlpool before him: “This natural formation not only utilizes many artifacts and magical treasures placed in the divination room, but also the spiritual energy of the water veins here, and even the surrounding space!”

Ning Zhuo’s expression became serious, realizing the gravity of the situation.

Sun Lingtong sighed, “So, we cannot forcefully take Luoshu yet. It is the core of this formation and the heart of the whirlpool. This formation is unstable and constantly changing. It is precisely because of the influence of Luoshu’s principles that it maintains balance at all times.”

“If Luoshu is suddenly snatched away, this formation will immediately collapse without its calculation core. The power contained within, and the surrounding space, will collapse, explode, and destroy everything around it.”

“By then, I will not only be reduced to ashes, but the entire cave abode will suffer!”

This was, of course, unacceptable to both Sun and Ning. Ning Zhuo had means to rescue Sun Lingtong, but since the whirlpool formation involved the surrounding space, this rescue method would not work well. Ning Zhuo would not let Sun Lingtong risk his life for a mere Dao artifact.

“When is the earliest we can dismantle this formation and retrieve the Luoshu pages?” Ning Zhuo asked.

Sun Lingtong smiled bitterly, “It’s hard to estimate. The difficulty lies in it being a natural formation, constantly changing. If it were one of the ten great formations, it would be much easier for us.”

“For me to break this formation is equivalent to contending with this Dao artifact. Unless my calculation ability surpasses the Luoshu pages, I can calculate ahead of it, a step faster to resolve the crisis.”

Ning Zhuo assessed the situation and then shook his head, “The risk is too great.”

“We don’t need to forcefully extract the Luoshu pages; we have plenty of time.”

Sun Lingtong nodded, “First, let me use Luoshu to comprehend the cave abode formation between the array hubs and control this place.” This difficulty was much lower than solving the whirlpool formation. Despite constant changes, the cave abode formation had patterns to follow.

Ning Zhuo continued, “Once we control the cave abode formation, we’ll first move everything out of here and temporarily transfer it to the Wanli Youlong.”

Sun Lingtong nodded, “Feasible. But the outside world still needs attention.”

Ning Zhuo knew what he was referring to: “Don’t worry, Boss, I’m already sending people to investigate. Once the intelligence is confirmed, we’ll act immediately.”

Sun Lingtong was referring to none other than Niu Cheng. Niu Cheng was in a very bad situation right now. He was surrounded by many angry cultivators demanding an explanation.

Niu Cheng had a square jaw and wide mouth, broad shoulders and a thick back, with bronzed skin. His gaze was not sharp. Surrounded by numerous cultivators, he looked flustered and uneasy, constantly cupping his hands in apology, his words clumsy and hesitant.

He was dressed in indigo coarse cloth short attire, with sleeves and trouser legs rolled up to his elbows and knees, revealing his strong forearms and calves. Around his waist was a worn, shiny, well-tanned ox-hide belt, with a one-foot-long brass strip tucked diagonally into it. He wore cloth shoes with layered soles, the uppers and vamp stained with fresh mud.

“I… I really didn’t expect it to be like this.”
“I thought I could get a formation artifact.”
“It really wasn’t intentional!”

Niu Cheng’s apology did not elicit forgiveness; instead, it made the cultivators even more relentless.

“Everyone, move aside!” Yu Weiye suddenly appeared, flying in front of the crowd. He glared at Niu Cheng, roaring loudly, questioning what he was doing, causing his alchemy to fail and resulting in heavy losses!

To gain the trust of the crowd, Yu Weiye directly pulled out a handful of waste materials, immediately drawing gasps of regret and pity from everyone. They could see that there were Nascent Soul-level precious materials among them. The crowd mentally compared, and the negative emotions caused by their own losses greatly diminished. Yu Weiye’s losses were far greater than theirs. “He is the biggest victim!” the cultivators reached a consensus, unaware that Yu Weiye had been ordered to come. The alchemy waste he produced was also deliberately arranged before his departure.

“All these losses are on my account.” Ning Zhuo’s flying letter to Yu Weiye was very generous and magnanimous.

Yu Weiye, of course, was unwilling to take the initiative, but he willingly shouldered the responsibility, paying out of his own pocket to destroy Nascent Soul-level precious materials, creating the illusion of failed alchemy. Relying on this illusion, as soon as he appeared, he gained a great deal of authority.

Yu Weiye confronted Niu Cheng, “Speak, how will you compensate me?”

Niu Cheng’s personality was quite honest; he honestly spread his hands, indicating that although he couldn’t afford to compensate, he was willing to spend a long time and bear the responsibility to the end.

Yu Weiye: “What if you run away?” He pretended to think, then said, “How about this, you can stay at my mountain peak for now, and I’ll keep an eye on you!”

“You want to retrieve Xie Tang’s formation artifacts, that’s fine. Perhaps you can gain appreciation from Zhongzhen Peak, which you can use to repay our debts. Everyone, what do you think of this method?”

The cultivators looked at each other, and after a few seconds of silence, they all spoke, saying that this method was good. Their losses were not much, far less than Yu Weiye’s. In fact, many people weren’t necessarily demanding compensation. This compensation was small enough that it was negligible for them.

Some people indeed needed compensation. However, Yu Weiye’s losses were the heaviest, and they were also unwilling to spend their energy and time on guarding Niu Cheng, a Foundation Establishment cultivator. So, after a moment’s consideration, they all agreed.

Yu Weiye, however, did not stop. Instead, he took out a contract and had all the victims present sign it. After checking it, the cultivators found no issues with the contract’s content and all signed their names. Finally, Yu Weiye handed the contract to Niu Cheng. Niu Cheng, stared at by countless eyes, could only read through it and then sign the contract.

Yu Weiye then grabbed Niu Cheng by the collar and dragged him all the way back to Baotengya. “You’ll live in the front room and temporarily cultivate by my side; do not wander around freely,” Yu Weiye sternly admonished. Niu Cheng hung his head and mumbled a reluctant assent.

Yu Weiye, having accomplished this, immediately sent a flying letter to Ning Zhuo to report. Ning Zhuo received the flying letter, nodded slightly, and no longer gave Niu Cheng much thought. This was the best solution for now. If he truly wanted to stop Niu Cheng from exploring formation artifacts, Ning Zhuo naturally had the strength, but there would be many negative consequences. On one hand, it would draw attention, on the other hand, it would be difficult to explain, and thirdly, it would damage his image and reputation, making outsiders perceive him as someone who bullied the weak. If such a label were attached to him, it would greatly affect his public appeal.

Ning Zhuo acted through Yu Weiye, and no one knew that he was the mastermind calculating behind the scenes. Moreover, deliberately sacrificing a Nascent Soul-level precious material, yet being able to coordinate other victims and force Niu Cheng to submit, was a very profitable move. Now, with Niu Cheng under Yu Weiye’s watchful eye, his progress in exploring the Nine Palace Array would be firmly controlled by Ning Zhuo in secret. With just a few flying letters and one Nascent Soul-level precious material, Ning Zhuo defused future hidden dangers and successfully maintained his image.

The Luoshu pages were indeed extraordinary! Ning Zhuo, benefiting from the Dao artifact’s influence on Sun Lingtong, comprehended a good portion of Shen Xi’s jade slip in just two and a half days. Ning Zhuo gained a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the mountain protection formations of Baotengya and Moyunding. Sun Lingtong also understood about seventy to eighty percent of the formation within the array hub. But this was still not enough.

While Sun Lingtong studied the formation with the help of the Luoshu pages, Ning Zhuo quietly left Baotengya and, using a small teleportation array, arrived at another mountain peak. This was Bai Liu Peak. The entire mountain was planted with Bai Liu trees; this spiritual plant naturally absorbed the surrounding clouds, which attached to its leaves. As the clouds accumulated and covered the green leaves, they turned completely white, giving the Bai Liu its name.

The peak of Bai Liu Peak had been flattened by cultivators into a smooth jade platform. On the jade platform at the peak, there was a cluster of interconnected buildings, neatly arranged, all part of the Yuzhuan Liucheng Workshop. The Yuzhuan Liucheng Workshop was an enterprise created by Meng Yaoyin herself.

The entire workshop was like a gigantic, azure jade paperweight, firmly situated in the center of the peak. All the buildings were made of iron pine wood, with overhanging eaves extending into the sky, and colorful light shimmering on the glazed tiles. Ning Zhuo overlooked the workshop from high above.

An open space was enclosed in the middle of the workshop, forming a sun-drying talisman field for qi glow. There was a material collection courtyard, where cultivators were responsible for transporting, sorting raw materials, and performing rough processing. There were two tall buildings. One was called Liuyun Zhuan cheng Lou, capable of mass-producing cloud talismans. The other was Yinlei Lou, capable of refining talismans.

There were three pavilions. One was Guzhen Ge, whose architecture resembled a tortoise shell, specifically for solidifying talismans. Another was Dianxing Tai, which could improve talisman quality. The last one was Rongsha Ge, specialized in refining high-grade, or even supreme-grade, talisman ink. The front courtyard was used for selling talismans, while the back hall enshrined the jade slip “Yuzhuan Tianshu,” which, coupled with a grand formation, both protected the entire workshop and aided in talisman production.

Ning Zhuo descended from the clouds, passed through the archway of the workshop gate, and entered the front courtyard. A bustling crowd surged towards him like a heatwave. Cultivators haggled over talismans. A selling cultivator shouted, “Invisibility talismans sold starting at a hundred! Buy a thousand, get a hundred free!” Another cultivator directly tossed a bulging storage bag onto the counter: “I’ll take all the Cloud-Ascending Talismans on the counter today.” Ning Zhuo walked a small circle and found that the talismans here were mainly cloud talismans, and cloud talismans were also the most popular. With a brief calculation, Ning Zhuo could determine: this place was making a fortune daily!

A dispute suddenly erupted. “It was agreed: ‘Winter Plum Welcomes Snow, 20% off’! Thirty ‘Ice Armor Talismans’ originally nine hundred, after discount seven hundred twenty! Money and goods exchanged, why renege?”

The cultivator behind the counter hurriedly argued, “That discount expired yesterday! Quickly, pay another one hundred eighty spirit stones!” The buyer cultivator sneered, “That’s your mistake, what does it have to do with me? I’ve already paid, you should give me the goods.” This argument attracted many onlookers. Ning Zhuo watched with interest.

As the two sides argued endlessly and the commotion grew, a Golden Core cultivator, holding an abacus, walked into the front courtyard. Along the way, many cultivators voluntarily saluted, showing the person’s prestige. It was Vice Workshop Master Jin Mao!

Jin Mao came to the two arguing individuals, and after clarifying the situation, he nodded amicably to the buyer: “Guest, please rest assured, the mistake is on our part. The talismans will be handed over as agreed.” Under his command, the selling cultivator, though unwilling, could only grit his teeth and hand the talismans to the buyer. The buyer cupped his hands, complimented Jin Mao, and then walked away triumphantly.

Jin Mao turned to the selling cultivator and said, “These losses will be deducted from your salary.” The cultivator’s face turned pale, and he could only meekly agree. Jin Mao cupped his hands to the surroundings, greeted everyone, walked out of the front courtyard, but then flew away from the Yuzhuan Liucheng Workshop on a cloud. Clearly, he had only stopped by to handle the matter. Ning Zhuo watched his receding figure, his eyes sparkling with thought for a moment.