I Built A Family Of Immortal Cultivators

Chapter 16: The Cruel World of Cultivation

"Keep your voice down," Lin Qing said.

The cultivator realized that something was not right and lowered his voice, saying, "Shopkeeper, I do have a book on formations. I didn't come here today to buy a formation, but to sell it to you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qing let him in and closed the shop door.

"Show it to me," Lin Qing said. If there really was a book on formations, he would be interested in buying it.

"Alright," the cultivator smirked and took out a slightly worn-out book from his storage bag. He handed it to Lin Qing, who flipped through a couple of pages. Lin Qing was somewhat surprised, but not overly so.

Indeed, it was a book on formations, but the formations in this book were quite low-level and not very useful.

There was a low-grade first-tier cleaning formation that could clean a house, but cleaning talismans were obviously simpler and more convenient. There was a low-grade first-tier fire-starting formation that could ignite a fire, but even mortals could do that to some extent, and the cultivation world had many more methods. The only formation that seemed somewhat useful was a mid-grade first-tier defense formation called the Diamond Formation, but Lin Qing felt that it was far inferior to the Falling Stones Formation. After all, when one needed to use a defense formation, there probably wouldn't be enough time to set it up, and this formation also took a considerable amount of time to activate, with its effectiveness only slightly stronger than a defense talisman.

"Where did you get this?" Lin Qing asked.

Hearing Lin Qing's question, the cultivator smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that. I'm asking if you're interested in buying the book on formations."

"It is indeed a book on formations," Lin Qing nodded.

"Then, would you like to purchase it?" the cultivator asked again.

"Well," Lin Qing thought for a moment. Although the formations weren't very powerful, it would increase the number of formations he knew, and perhaps he could gain some inspiration from them. So, he could consider buying it.

"I'll buy it. What's the price?" Lin Qing asked.

"One hundred spirit stones!" the cultivator replied directly.

Lin Qing looked at the cultivator without answering. At this moment, he understood that the cultivator had come with the intention of taking advantage of him. Even if he had many spirit stones, he couldn't just give them away like that, and this book wasn't worth that much either.

"Fellow Daoist, if that's the case, you better leave," Lin Qing said.

"Shopkeeper, don't be hasty. I was just joking. Actually, I'm willing to sell it for seventy spirit stones," the cultivator said with a smile.

Lin Qing shook his head in silence.

"Fifty?"

Lin Qing still shook his head.

"At the very least, forty spirit stones. If it's any lower, I won't sell it. I'll do it myself, and don't blame me for taking away your business," the cultivator threatened as he saw that Lin Qing was unmoved.

Lin Qing didn't say much and opened the shop door, saying, "Fellow Daoist, please."

"You!"

The cultivator glared at Lin Qing with anger, then waved his hand and left.

Lin Qing had no regrets. Even if he could afford the spirit stones, in his opinion, this book was worth at most ten spirit stones, or even less. As for doing it himself, Lin Qing recalled the difficulties he had faced when making the Concealment Formation and couldn't help but laugh.

After this person left, Lin Qing closed the shop. With more people around, there would be more trouble.

For the next few days, Lin Qing didn't open the shop. It wasn't until the fifteenth day that Li Qingyu opened the shop and sold the formations that Lin Qing had given him. In less than half an hour, a set of Falling Stones Formation, two sets of Mysterious Wood Formation, and three sets of Concealment Formation were all sold. Just as Li Qingyu was about to close the shop, someone came looking for him.

"Husband, someone is here to see you," Li Qingyu ran to the back and said to Lin Qing.

"Someone looking for me?"

Lin Qing heard the words and walked towards the shop in front. Indeed, there were people who came to him on the first and fifteenth of the month to buy formations. However, after he firmly refused, no one came to him for formations anymore. Now someone was looking for him again, and Lin Qing couldn't help but think of the cultivator who came to sell formation books a few days ago.

But when he arrived at the front, it wasn't him.

It was a middle-aged cultivator with a full beard and at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"Shopkeeper Lin, may I have a word with you?" the cultivator said as soon as he saw Lin Qing.

Lin Qing nodded and invited him in, closing the shop door.

"I wonder what Fellow Daoist wants?" Lin Qing asked.

The cultivator smirked and took out something, saying to Lin Qing, "Shopkeeper Lin, I happened to pick up a book on the road a few days ago. When I opened it, it turned out to be a book on formations. I know you study formations, so I don't know if this book would be helpful to you."

"Oh? Let me take a look."

Lin Qing took a look and realized it was the same formation book that the cultivator came to sell a few days ago.

Without showing any emotion, he flipped through it and nodded, saying, "Not bad, it is indeed a book on formations. Although it doesn't have many formations recorded, it is somewhat helpful. I wonder..."

Lin Qing looked at him, and the cultivator smirked again, how could he not understand? "How about fifteen spirit stones?"

"Too high."

"What about ten spirit stones?" Lin Qing said.

"How about adding two more?"

Looking at the cultivator who had been smirking all along, Lin Qing stood up and handed him twelve spirit stones.

"Thank you, Shopkeeper Lin. I'll take my leave now."

"Fellow Daoist, take care."

Lin Qing saw him off and closed the shop door. Thinking of the cultivator who came to sell formation books a few days ago, Lin Qing couldn't help but sigh.

His strength was not high, and he loudly proclaimed that he had formation books, staying in his shop for quite some time. He was probably targeted the moment he left the shop. The person who targeted him might be the cultivator just now, or maybe not. No one knew for sure.

Perhaps they thought it was simple. That cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining must have gained something in his shop and wanted to kill him and take the treasure.

If Lin Qing had bought the book back then, the cultivator probably wouldn't have come. But since Lin Qing didn't buy it, they had no choice but to come and sell it. After all, Lin Qing was the only formation shop owner in Qingmu Town.

"A wise ruler keeps his plans secret, and a loyal subject keeps his intentions hidden. If secrets are not kept, harm will be done." Lin Qing suddenly thought of this saying.

Today's incident didn't teach Lin Qing a lesson. After all, he was no longer a young cultivator just starting out. It just made him once again realize the cruelty of the cultivation world.

After closing the shop door, Lin Qing carefully read through the formation book. Besides recording the formation knowledge he already knew, there were only the three formations he had seen a few days ago. With Lin Qing's current strength as a first-grade high-level formation master, he didn't dare to say that he would succeed one hundred percent on the first try, but at least he had a seventy percent chance.

In the next two days, Lin Qing tried to make them.

The purification formation and the fire-starting formation were successful in one day, while the diamond formation failed once but succeeded on the second try.

Looking at these formations, Lin Qing didn't plan to sell them. After all, low-level formations wouldn't fetch a high price. Even the first-grade medium-level diamond formation could only be sold for six or seven spirit stones at most. Right now, he only needed to sell the Xuanmu formation and the falling rock formation. Mastering these three formations was enough.

However, he had a pleasant surprise. Through these two days of formation making, although the three formations were low-level, they gave him a lot of inspiration. Three days later, he finally succeeded in making the Triple Water formation.

(End of this chapter)