I awakened my god-tier passive skill early on and took off instantly

“Hmph, it's really hard to trick a boring man with no curiosity.” Ahead, watching the figure already stepping onto the flying sword, Ji Yue snorted coldly in her heart, but then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly with a hint of smugness.

Although things didn't go according to her script, at least the ending was still the same.

“Miss Ji Yue, why aren't you leaving yet?” Lu Xin suddenly turned his head.

“Oh, coming.” Ji Yue was startled and quickly took out her own flying magical artifact.

“Not bad acting, but unfortunately, she doesn't pay attention to details.”

Lu Xin sneered inwardly, recalling her perfunctory manner when checking the map, and shook his head slightly.

Since she wanted to trick him into going, he might as well go along with it.

Even if there was some danger, he figured that with his mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, he could definitely leave without a problem.

… …

Qingyang Mountain, although an inconspicuous small mountain range in Yan Country, still stretches for hundreds of miles from north to south, and is shrouded in mist, making the paths difficult to find.

“Miss Ji Yue, this Qingyang Mountain doesn't seem small. Do you know the specific location of the exchange meeting?” Outside Qingyang Mountain, Lu Xin looked at the scenery before him and turned to ask.

“Oh, oh, wait a moment.” Ji Yue quickly took out a message talisman, activating it as she said, “I'll contact my second uncle, he'll come to pick us up soon.”

“Very well.” Lu Xin said nothing more and waited quietly.

In the blink of an eye, a quarter of an hour passed, and a middle-aged man arrived before them, riding a beam of red light. As soon as he landed, he called out, “Yue'er, you've finally arrived. Did you encounter any danger on the way?”

Then he turned his gaze to Lu Xin beside her, “And this is?”

Ji Yue hurriedly stepped forward and called out ‘Second Uncle’ before saying, “We didn't encounter any danger, we just almost got lost. Fortunately, we met Brother Lu, and he lent us his map, so we were able to find this place.”

“Oh? It's all my fault for being negligent and not sending someone to pick you up.” The middle-aged man patted his head and quickly stepped forward to cup his fist at Lu Xin, “Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lu, for your righteous assistance.”

“It's nothing, it's nothing, just a small favor.” Lu Xin waved his hands repeatedly.

After the two exchanged a few more pleasantries, the middle-aged man led them into Qingyang Mountain. In the blink of an eye, they traveled more than thirty miles and arrived in front of a white mist.

“It's here, wait a moment.” After landing, the middle-aged man took out a token, poured mana into it, and threw it into the white mist. The white mist instantly split open, forming a passage.

“There's a formation here, follow me.” After speaking, he took the lead and walked in. Ji Yue followed closely behind. Lu Xin scanned with his divine sense, confirmed that there was no danger, and followed as well.

Exiting the passage, the inside was a different world altogether. What first caught the eye was a huge open space, with many people on it. Some were setting up stalls, while others were browsing the stalls.

“Fellow Daoist Lu, this is a trade fair spontaneously organized by fellow cultivators. You can inquire here for the spiritual herbs you need. If you're tired, you can go over there and find an empty room to rest.”

The middle-aged man pointed forward, quickly instructed, “I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll take Yue'er away first.”

“It's fine, go ahead and do what you need to do.” Lu Xin said nonchalantly.

“Brother Lu, I'll be leaving first, you can come find me if you need anything.” Ji Yue left a sentence and followed the middle-aged man's footsteps.

“From the looks of it, everything seems normal here.” Watching the backs of the two as they left, Lu Xin's gaze narrowed slightly. Without thinking too much, he turned around and began to investigate the situation here.

On the other side, Ji Yue and the middle-aged man walked into a Taoist temple. After activating the formation, the middle-aged man immediately bowed and said, “Subordinate He Yang greets the Holy Maiden. I apologize for my earlier offenses, and I hope the Holy Maiden will forgive me.”

“It's fine.” The look of naivety on Ji Yue's face was gone. She turned around, went to the seat of honor, and sat down, asking, “Where's Black Mist?”

“Black Mist is leading people to set up the formation and will be over in a moment.” He Yang explained, then asked with a puzzled look,

“Why did the Holy Maiden come in person?”

Ji Yue said faintly, “The Elder is very dissatisfied with your progress and sent me to supervise you.”

“We have no choice.” He Yang gave a wry smile, “The Yan Country sects have already begun to pay attention to us, so we have to act cautiously.”

“Are these sects' noses so sensitive?” Ji Yue frowned upon hearing this, “You wouldn't have harmed their disciples, would you?”

“How could we? Sect disciples are much harder to deal with than rogue cultivators.” He Yang quickly shook his head and began to explain. Just then, a gaunt old man walked in through the side door.

“Subordinate Black Mist greets the Holy Maiden.”

“Rise.” Ji Yue said faintly, “How's the setup going?”

“The formation has been set up. In addition, excluding our people, we've found fifty-six people this time. They've all been carefully selected, and their realms are all controlled between the fifth and eighth layers of Qi training. Any higher and we're afraid something might go wrong.”

“Not bad.” Ji Yue nodded, “But now it's fifty-seven people. I met one on the way here, and on a whim, I tricked him into coming.”

“This…” Black Mist frowned upon hearing this, worried, “Forgive my impudence, but does the Holy Maiden know the other party's identity? If he's a sect disciple…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ji Yue interrupted, “Don't worry, I already inquired about it on the way here. He's a rogue cultivator.”

“That's good.” Black Mist felt relieved.

“By the way, remember not to hurt him when you make your move. I want to take him as my subordinate.” The figure who didn't follow her script suddenly appeared in Ji Yue's mind, and she ordered resentfully.

“Yes.” Black Mist and He Yang exchanged a surprised look and quickly bowed to say yes.

… …

On the other side, Lu Xin was first looking for a way out. He had already explored this place pretty thoroughly. This place was a valley, surrounded only by a layer of mist formation, with no killing formations or isolation formations.

He tried earth escape technique and could easily escape. Then, to be safe, he carefully sensed the strength of the formation again, confirming that he could easily split it open with an axe.

Without any worries, Lu Xin began to stroll leisurely around the square, seeing if he could find any bargains from the stalls.

Unfortunately, after looking all the way, he basically didn't encounter any items of value to him, until the last stall, he was attracted by a pitch-black bead.

He saw that after his divine sense attached to it, it was like a clay ox entering the sea.

He was instantly very interested.

Without asking directly, Lu Xin squatted down and picked up a magical artifact inlaid with many gems, asking, “This dagger has a good appearance, how much is it?”

The stall owner was a scar-faced man with a cold face. He glanced at Lu Xin and said, “I don't accept spirit stones, I only accept item exchange.”

“Oh? Then what items do you need?”

“Pills and talismans are fine.”

Lu Xin pretended to think for a while, put down the dagger, turned his gaze to the bead, held it in his hand and tossed it, asking, “What is this thing? It doesn't look like a magical artifact.”

The big man glanced at it and said faintly, “I don't know, I found it in someone else's storage bag.”

“Do you only accept item exchange for it too?”

“That's right.” The big man thought for a moment and nodded.

Lu Xin then took out a few bottles of Qi training pills that he had seized and a dozen first-order talismans, saying, “I only have these, see if there's anything you're satisfied with.”