Dahei was very angry.

The two large pincers grabbed the red one and stuffed it into their mouths, chewing it hard.

"Master, I will find it."

Killing my people and stealing my master's ore is a crime of great conscience.

After Shen Lian searched the spot for a while, he didn't find too many leftovers. The red crystal fire ants, like the black horned ants, were a common ant species in the world of immortal cultivation.

After moving a little, he rebuilt this ant nest and took Dahei to the next ant nest.

"Master, the red fire ants are bullying the dark ones too much."

Shen Lian looked at Dahei in surprise. After being promoted to the second level, Dahei's intelligence increased greatly and he could even use slightly complex vocabulary.

After the first destroyed ant nest was discovered, more than ten destroyed black-horned ant nests were found one after another, most of which left traces of red-crystal fire ants.

The area covers the north and east of the Red Crystal Mine City.

Shen Lian’s method was also very simple. He rebuilt the outside of the ant nest and waited for these guys to appear again.

…

Thousands of miles northeast of the Red Crystal Mining City is the Huogu Market.

The mountains and fields were filled with a strong sense of wildness, and occasionally the dull roars of monsters could be heard.

The valley was steaming hot, and occasionally there were tinkling sounds.

There is a small fire vein in the valley here, which is occupied by a fake Dan Zhenren named Huo Qian. He has built a defensive formation, attracting a small number of cultivators to come and practice and refine weapons.

Compared with the cities built by sects, the markets built by private individuals are less secure, but their freedom is greatly increased, and some smuggled goods can also be sold.

"here?"

Outside the Huogu Market, Shen Lian's figure flew over.

Soon after he rearranged the ant nest, he waited for the appearance of the red crystal fire ants.

The degree of metamorphosis of this group of red crystal fire ants is much stronger than that of black horned ants. They have also grown a pair of red wings, which allow them to fly short distances continuously.

Due to his low intelligence, he was unable to see much and could only follow from a distance until he arrived at the Huogu Market.

This market town is indeed unusual when viewed from the outside. It follows the route of a small circle. The entire valley stretches for more than ten miles, with only fifty or sixty attic buildings, each built on the spiritual vein spring.

"Extreme Fire Sky Thunder Formation."

Sensing the rising breath of fire in the valley, Shen Lian identified the formation guarding the valley.

This formation uses the power of the earth fire to attract heavenly thunder. Although its grade is upper second grade, with the help of the power of the earth fire here, its power is no less than that of the third grade.

It is normal that there is no third-order formation. There is no shortage of ores and monsters in the mining area, but in order to control the independent cultivators gathered outside, the sect restricts the influx of third-order formations.

Of course, even if it is placed outside the mining area, the third-level formation is not easy to buy.

After observing outside for a while, Shen Lian controlled the spirit puppet and dived deep into the earth to conduct reconnaissance.

The underground of the Fire Valley was extremely hot, and an intermittent red spiritual vein meandered beneath the valley.

But the spirit puppet sensed an aura of resentment in the spirit vein. The spirit vein belongs to the spirit of heaven and earth. Most spirit veins will stay where they are born. There are also a few lively spirit veins that like to wander around like street urchins, but they are a minority after all.

But even if the spiritual vein stops in place, its overall spirituality is still flowing.

At this moment, the spiritual vein below the Fire Valley was fixed, and dozens of copper pillars covered with wolf-fang barbs were inserted from front to back.

Each barb flashed with forbidden spiritual light, and pierced into the body of the spiritual vein to form a sticky state, which made the fluidity of the spiritual vein worse.

When the spirit puppet approached the spirit vein, the restrictions around the spirit vein suddenly lit up. These were warning restrictions to prevent people from approaching the spirit vein.

The spiritual veins in the valley are intermittent, and there are more than a dozen bulges along the entire spiritual vein, just like spiritual lakes of various sizes.

Above the largest spiritual lake, there was a large area of ​​fire fog covering the outside.

Another function of the warning prohibition arranged around the spiritual vein is to prevent any monks from approaching the area covered by the fire fog.

Shen Lian discovered that the formations and restrictions set up in the valley were very mysterious. He tried from four directions respectively. Without triggering the restrictions, his spiritual sense could not sense the scene in the fire mist at all.

…

Within the fire mist, a red cave was pressing down on the Spirit Vein Lake.

There was a heat wave inside the cave.

A giant cauldron was placed on top of the ground fire. There was a special opening underneath the cauldron, which drew out the spiritual power from below and transformed it into flames, continuously burning the cauldron.

Some monks poured buckets of ore particles into a giant cauldron, refined them with earth fire, melted them directly into liquid, and then poured them into irregular molds.

Before the molten metal had cooled down, it was carried to another stone chamber.

There are monks here, digging out the cold metal and throwing it into a huge cauldron that is constantly shaking.

After the collision in the giant cauldron, these secondary smelted ores showed cracks and fragments on the surface, and were stained with earth color.

…

Outside the Huogu Market, a tall memorial archway stood, with two second-level foundation-building monks stationed at the door.

"Senior, do you have any proof?"

Seeing Shen Lian coming from afar, one of the cultivators came closer.

"certificate?"

"Senior, you have just arrived at the Red Crystal Mining City, right?"

"That's right." Shen Lian nodded. "I went out of the city to hunt monsters. I saw a market from afar and wanted to come over to rest."

"Senior, it's like this, my Master Huo Qian..."

The monk just opened his mouth to explain, but then he stopped talking.

Then, a cultivator at the ninth level of foundation building flew out from the market town.

"Please come in, fellow Daoist. I am Gong Zhongze, the manager of Huogu Market."

The monk who flew out from the market town was wearing a red fire robe, had an old face and was a little hunchbacked.

"Lu Shan, I was hunting monsters in the mountains, and I came across the market by chance and wanted to take a look around."

Gong Zhongze waved away the monks at the door and clasped his fists towards Shen Lian.

"My master likes quietness and built a market here just for the purpose of practicing. The cultivators who come and go on weekdays are all familiar to him, so he neglected his fellow Taoists."

"It is Lu's fault for disturbing the immortal's meditation."

Although Shen Lian said so, he didn't take it seriously in his heart. He didn't even have a way to become a fake alchemist. What's the point of practicing as a monk if he didn't do business and have fun?

Then I leave? "Wait a minute, fellow Taoist."

Gong Zhongze stretched out his shriveled hand and made a move.

"You have come at the right time, fellow Daoist. There was a beast tide turmoil a few days ago, and many fellow Daoists came to hunt monsters and accumulated a lot of good things. My master is just preparing to hold an exchange meeting. If fellow Daoists are interested, you can come and have a small gathering."

Then, Gong Zhongze laughed dryly twice, "Daoyou, the first time is new, the second time is familiar."

"They are all Daoists at the ninth level of foundation building. There are not many of them, only seven or eight."

"If a real person gives me face, I will naturally take it for granted."

Shen Lian spoke with a smile. He walked around outside the market town but couldn't find the nest of the red crystal fire ants.

He wanted to separate a wisp of divine consciousness and attach it to the fire ants, but when the fire ants passed through the restrictions outside the spiritual vein, they would be sensed by the restrictions.

It can be seen how cautious and careful the monks who built this market were. They thought of all kinds of ways of being spied on and took precautions in advance.

Learn from others’ advanced training models.

Of course, Shen Lian didn't just rush in with a flattering attitude. The spirit puppet and the puppet talisman man were guarding outside the market.

Whenever there is anything unusual, the puppet talisman man will bring the Tianyan Jade Talisman and use high-end fighting methods against the formation.

Even though the formation here is blessed by underground spiritual veins, it is still no problem for it to have a big hole blasted at one point under the continuous bombardment of several puppet talisman men.

Besides, Shen Lian himself possesses a spiritual power comparable to that of a Jindan Zhenren. The spiritual power of the fake Dan Zhenren sitting in the market is probably not as good as his.

Combine the inside and the outside, and the center will blossom.

He was led by Gong Zhongze towards the interior of the market town, and Gong Zhongze also introduced everything related to the market town along the way.

Taoist Master Huo Qian is an equipment refiner who practices in the mining city. He has collected a lot of good things and often holds private trade fairs.

However, if one wants to participate in Master Huo Qian's private trade fair, one must at least be a cultivator at the ninth level of the Foundation Establishment Stage. Those with lower strength are not qualified at all.

Of course, those who are stronger than Jiadan will not be invited.

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me. Several fellow Daoists have already arrived in advance."

Gong Zhongze pointed to several attics in the valley.

"My master said to wait for two more days. If no other suitable Taoist friends come, we will open the trade fair directly."

"Fellow Daoist, you can choose a pavilion to rest for a while. I will come to inform you to participate in the trade fair when the time comes."

Shen Lian nodded and randomly selected a loft built on the cliff. He sensed with his divine sense and found that there were many restrictions set up in the valley.

It’s similar to how he sticks a divine mind talisman on his body to sense external divine thoughts.

This method seems stupid, but it is very effective.

Unless one's spiritual power is extremely powerful, all restrictions can be carefully bypassed.

After sitting cross-legged in the attic, Shen Lian tried to project his spiritual thoughts outward. He did not forget the purpose of his coming here.

If he doesn't figure out the situation of the red-crystal fire ants, his black-horned ants will be beaten every day.

Getting beaten was no big deal; how could he collect the mineral particles?

But after releasing his spiritual thoughts a thousand feet away, Shen Lian retracted them. The restrictions were too dense. Whether it was the cliffs, the ground, or the underground, there were many restrictions.

This Taoist master Huo Qian is so cowardly.

Not to mention anything else, just setting up these restrictions would take an unknown amount of time.

However, this method of setting up restrictions is not suitable for Shen Lian at the moment. If he sets up restrictions outside the cave where he is hiding, wouldn't it be telling others that he is hiding nearby?

"Imprisoning the fire spirit veins, concealing the aura of prying eyes, raising red crystal fire ants to collect ore fragments, this is obviously a one-stop service."

The small market town in front of him was so heavily guarded that it reminded Shen Lian of a similar feeling of familiarity he had experienced before.

Two days later, Gong Zhongze came to invite Shen Lian, and the two flew out and headed towards the big attic in the middle of the market.

"Daoyou, please."

Before entering the attic, Shen Lian wanted to use his divine sense to see the strength of Master Huo Qian, but he didn't expect that the restrictions in this main attic were so dense.

Not only that, the door frames, window frames, and beams of the attic are all hung with small bells. As long as the ban is moved, the bells will inevitably be touched.

You are so...

Shen Lian was stunned. There are people in the world who are even more shameless than him! This guy is really shameless.

"Ding-dong..."

When Shen Lian entered the attic, the bell in the room rang continuously.

Feeling the divine sense falling on him, Shen Lian unceremoniously used his divine sense to observe everyone in the attic.

There were four people in total, three of them were at the ninth level of foundation building, and the other one had a profound aura, a strong fire energy and a red face. He was undoubtedly Master Huo Qian.

"Hello, senior."

After falling into the attic, Shen Lian saluted towards Master Huo Qian with his fists, and then bowed to the other cultivators in the attic.

"No need to be so polite. I am just like everyone else. No... I am not even as good as you."

When Master Huo Qian spoke, his words were as gentle as a spring breeze, without any of the arrogance of a fake alchemy master.

Just when his divine sense swept over, Shen Lian realized that there were no formations set up in the attic except for the restrictions on sensing and spying.

Throughout the hall, there were stone tables and chairs arranged in two rows, on which spiritual fruits and tea were placed.

"I am very happy that you all can come."

Taoist Huo Qian spoke gently, his tone full of kindness.

"It is a blessing for us that the Master can invite us here."

"I'll thank you for your continued care in the future."

The monks in the hall clapped back one by one. After all, the fake Dan Zhenren's name still had the word "Dan" in it, so they had to praise him even if he was kind.

"Haha, everyone, prepare your spiritual objects and spiritual stones. When the rest of the Taoist friends arrive, our exchange meeting will begin."

Taoist Huo Qian laughed loudly and waved his hand with great heroism.

Everyone burst into laughter. It can be said that the atmosphere of this barter meeting was quite good.

"Master, have you refined any new magical instruments recently? Take them out and let us see them."

Seeing that the atmosphere was pleasant, a cultivator also asked Master Huo Qian.

Huo Qian leaned back on the large stone chair and waved his hand nonchalantly.

"It's been a long time since I made a magic weapon. I was a second-class upper-grade weapon refiner many years ago, but I'm still standing still. This time I mainly want to collect some ores and see if I can make a rough piece of magic weapon."

"A rough draft of a magic weapon. Congratulations on your further improvement in skills."

“If a real person can refine a rough embryo of a magic weapon, then there will be a place for real people in the main mining city of Yunshang.”

"Then congratulate the real person in advance for his successful refining."

…

Master Huo Qian smiled broadly amid the compliments.

"That also requires the full support of all Taoist friends. Please give us the good ores and monster bones you have."

While everyone was communicating, Shen Lian was silently looking at the cultivator next to him. He tried to use his spiritual power to get closer to Master Huo Qian.

This area is finally free of the annoying restrictions.

The increase in the strength of divine consciousness is not only about distance but also about quality, especially since there is a divine consciousness figurine in Shen Lian’s sea of ​​divine consciousness.

However, most likely Master Huo Qian has not reached that state.

When the divine thought was ten feet away, Master Huo Qian did not react.

When they got within three feet of each other, Huo Qian Zhenren finally reacted, but he just looked around casually without any excessive suspicion.

This made Shen Lian have an idea in his mind, and he was certain that no villain had been born in the sea of ​​consciousness of Master Huo Qian.

A preliminary estimate of the spiritual power of Master Huo Qian is between one and a half and two times that of Master Qian Shi.

It seems that the demon pill refined by this old guy is of high quality.

(End of this chapter)