Mortal: My divine sense has mutated.

After opening up the cave dwelling, there were two important things waiting for Chen Liang to do.

On the one hand, the cave dwelling that Chen Liang opened was no longer within the range of the Yellow Maple Valley's great formation. Although it was not far from that range, a powerful formation was still needed to protect the safety of the cave dwelling.

On the other hand, Chen Liang needed many other martial arts techniques as references when creating his own.

Although he had already collected some in the market of Tainan Valley, and many of them were of reference value, most of them were incomplete, containing only the content of the Foundation Establishment stage or the Core Formation stage. A complete cultivation method should at least contain the content of the Nascent Soul stage.

Among the complete cultivation techniques collected by Chen Liang, there are three advanced techniques: one Yin attribute technique, one Wind attribute technique, and one Ghost cultivation technique.

There are only two top-tier cultivation techniques: one with the metal attribute and one with the wood attribute.

In fact, it is because the practice of calamity cultivation is prevalent in the cultivation world that many descendants of fallen families or orphans of certain sects dare not sell their cultivation techniques to shops at will, which makes it easier to collect cultivation techniques that have been scattered in the world.

After all, if someone with low cultivation level dared to openly sell high-level or even top-level cultivation techniques, that person would probably die at the hands of an unknown cultivator as soon as they left the shop.

Now, Chen Liang turned his attention to the Scripture Pavilion in Yellow Maple Valley.

To obtain cultivation techniques from the Scripture Pavilion in Yellow Maple Valley, one needs to spend some spirit stones to copy them. Although the price is more than ten times cheaper than buying cultivation techniques from outside, it can still be a significant expense if accumulated over time.

Chen Liang did the math carefully and realized that formations were the most expensive things. A decent formation would cost between eight hundred and one thousand spirit stones.

Chen Liang had also inquired about the cost of copying techniques in the sect's scripture library. It was said that copying a high-level technique would cost between fifty and one hundred spirit stones, while copying a top-level technique would cost between two hundred and five hundred spirit stones.

Chen Liang only had a little over three hundred spirit stones on him, which, although not a small amount, was not enough.

Therefore, Chen Liang decided to use the thousand-year-old elixir he had obtained from Han Li.

That was a thousand-year-old Huangjingzhi mushroom, something even Core Formation cultivators would fight over. Chen Liang planned to put it up for auction to exchange for the spirit stones he needed.

As for where to send it for auction, Han Li in the original novel had already personally tested it out. Wanbaolou in Huangfeng Valley Market had a guaranteed reputation, so going there would be fine.

So, more than half a month later, Wanbaolou held a grand auction.

Besides Chen Liang's thousand-year-old Huangjingzhi, Wanbaolou also brought out many of its most treasured items, attracting many Core Formation cultivators and making its reputation even more renowned.

After the auction, Manager Tian of Wanbaolou personally delivered a storage bag to Chen Liang containing the proceeds of the auction: 2,350 spirit stones. Wanbaolou had already taken 10% of the auction fee, so all the spirit stones belonged to Chen Liang.

Wearing the standard yellow silk shirt of Huangfeng Valley and with his face made no attempt to conceal his identity, Chen Liang accepted the spirit stone and left Wanbaolou openly and honestly.

After all, Huangfeng Valley Market and even the Taiyue Mountains are Huangfeng Valley's territory, so Chen Liang doesn't need to hide anything here.

With abundant spirit stones, Chen Liang quickly returned to Huangfeng Valley and confidently entered the Scripture Pavilion.

After careful selection, Chen Liang finally chose eight complete cultivation techniques.

There are three top-level techniques: one for water, one for fire, and one for earth.

There are five advanced cultivation techniques: advanced techniques of Yang, Lightning, and Ice attributes, as well as one advanced demonic cultivation technique and one advanced body cultivation technique.

In addition, Chen Liang also selected some incomplete martial arts techniques that were quite valuable for reference.

In total, the cost of copying these techniques has reached over 1,600 spirit stones.

After paying the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding the Scripture Pavilion the cost of copying the technique and swearing an oath not to arbitrarily share the acquired technique, Chen Liang left the Scripture Pavilion with the technique.

Chen Liang, having obtained the cultivation technique, did not rush to study it. Instead, he left Huangfeng Valley and headed straight for the Tianxing Sect Market.

The Heavenly Star Sect is a renowned sect of array formations in the Yuanwu Kingdom and even in several surrounding countries. It and its affiliated markets are located on the border of the Yuanwu Kingdom, adjacent to the Yellow Maple Valley.

Chen Liang set off from Huangfeng Valley on a top-tier flying sword artifact and arrived near the Tianxing Sect market in no time.

Because the Tianxing Sect Market was under a no-fly zone, Chen Liang landed outside the zone's effective range and headed towards the market.

Not long after entering the Tianxing Sect's market, Chen Liang met a rather honest hyacinth. Through his introduction and guidance, Chen Liang learned that a market shop called Xin's Array Shop offered the most affordable array-making services.

However, when the two arrived at Xin's Array Shop, they found that the shop was not open. So, Hyacinth recommended a secret shop in the market to Chen Liang.

A so-called secret shop is a special kind of shop where transactions are often conducted in secret, and the goods sold there are often of dubious origin or involve taboos.

Before leaving, Chen Liang glanced at the Qi family's weapon-refining shop next to the Xin family's array shop. Inside, a rather honest-looking young man was greeting customers.

If Chen Liang wasn't mistaken, it should be Qi Yunxiao, and this Xin family formation shop should be related to Xin Ruyin.

Afterwards, guided by Hyacinth, Chen Liang arrived at a secluded spot in Tianxing Sect Market.

After entering through a hidden door, a charming woman, still retaining her youthful beauty, greeted Chen Liang.

After accepting the spirit stones from Chen Liang, the hyacinth left. He would later receive a reward from the secret shop for guiding customers, which was already a great reward for a hyacinth.

Under the charming woman's invitation, Chen Liang briefly browsed the goods in this secret shop. Although he didn't find a formation that satisfied him, he bought some materials or magical artifacts rich in demonic, ghostly, and malevolent energy for testing his techniques.

Moreover, the alluring woman gave Chen Liang an invitation to attend a secret shop auction a few days later.

Chen Liang accepted the invitation, but whether he would actually come was another matter.

Afterwards, Chen Liang also visited a shop directly operated by the Tianxing Sect. He left disappointed at that array-themed shop.

Just as described in the original story, they didn't sell the best formations there; they only had some ordinary ones on display.

Moreover, the price is exorbitant. A defensive formation that can only be considered decent costs more than nine hundred spirit stones, but it can only temporarily block the attacks of top-tier magic weapons of the same price.

Seeing that he couldn't find a formation that satisfied him, Chen Liang set his sights on Xin Ruyin.

Although Chen Liang arrived about six years earlier than Han Li in the original story, Xin Ruyin's current level of array formation skills is probably not enough to meet Chen Liang's needs. However, the existence of the Xin Clan Array Formation Shop indicates that Xin Ruyin still has elders alive.

Finding Xin Ruyin meant finding her elders, and thus finding a formation that would satisfy Chen Liang.

Following this logic, Chen Liang inquired about the location of Jinma City and then left Tianxingzong Market, heading towards Jinma City.