Wait a minute, where is my master?

"You have quite the discernment, sir," complimented Zhao Dabao smoothly, driven by his years of managing the family business.

Xu Qian was about to politely demur.

"It's just a pity that you're a bit naive when it comes to matters of the heart," Zhao Dabao continued.

Xu Qian closed his little mouth.

If only he could beat that young Taoist.

If only this fatty weren't from the Zhao family!

Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west, don't presume the young are forever poor!

No, it should be don't presume the middle-aged are perpetually poor!

Xu Qian was trying hard to console himself.

Ignoring the socially dead man in the corner, Jin Xu was pondering what Formations were all about.

He hadn't been cultivating for long; he had plenty of lethal power, but his knowledge was seriously lacking.

The young Taoist felt that he must definitely find some books on common knowledge of the Cultivation World when he had the chance.

There was a pile of books in his master's room; he would have to take a good look sometime to see if there were any to supplement his own knowledge.

Then Jin Xu asked Zhao Dabao, "Is the Formation dangerous?"

Although he had twice escaped with his life from the hands of two elders of the Four Immortal Sects, and just a few days ago had personally dealt with a tree elf.

But caution, that was ingrained in his bones.

Zhao Dabao's expression was odd.

"Whether it's dangerous or not is hard to define."

"Hmm? Then I won't go," said the young Taoist, thinking safety first, since he wasn't short of money right now.

He had just sold eight sticks of high-grade incense.

"No, no, Jin Xu, hear me out," Zhao Dabao had not expected the young Taoist to be so decisive; he'd intended to tease a little longer.

Don't people have any curiosity?

"I refuse."

Jin Xu had no interest in listening.

"Just hear me out, and I'll buy four more sticks of high-grade incense."

"Alright, go ahead," replied Jin Xu.

Clutching the eight sticks of incense in his arms, Zhao Dabao began to explain the quirks of this Formation to the young Taoist.

Two hundred li south of Gusu City lies the Xuanxu Temple of Jin Xu.

Three hundred li to the west, there is a Lezi Mountain, which has a valley within. The Formation is in this valley.

"You mean that ruffian Formation!" exclaimed Xu Qian, unable to break his habit of interrupting.

"Right, that's the one," acknowledged Zhao Dabao with a nod.

Jin Xu watched the two bantering, unsure of the riddle they were playing.

Xu Qian hurriedly explained, though he didn't know where he had wronged the enigmatic young Taoist. But he must have, otherwise, Jin Xu wouldn't have made him suffer social death on the spot.

He was stunned, not stupid.

Now, he attempted to salvage a bit of his reputation.

"Young Taoist, you do not know that this Formation has existed for a very long time. At first, there were rumors that it held the secret to becoming immortal. Countless Cultivators flocked to it, but later..."

"Later, no one dared to enter it lightly, though there were always a few brash youngsters every year," Zhao Dabao continued.

Jin Xu was getting impatient; they seemed to have talked for half the day without touching on the main point.

Luckily, Zhao Dabao went on.

"The Cultivators who entered the Formation, regardless of whether they were men or women, young or old, would let out screams after some time inside, accompanied by slap, slap, slap noises, and then no one ever came out again."

Over time, people became too frightened to enter the Formation, especially young female Cultivators who avoided it like the plague.

Of course, there were also Cultivators who, whether out of perversion or confidence, entered the Formation voluntarily, but none returned.

"Exactly, it's said that disciples from the Four Great Immortal Sects got trapped inside, and when the sect elders came to rescue them, they ended up trapped themselves. In the end, even the current head of the Kunlun Immortal Palace came. He said the Formation had reached the pinnacle in this realm and advised everyone to stay away as much as possible before he left,"

chimed in Xu Qian.

This Formation sounded not just dangerous, but also quite perverse.

Jin Xu was planning to refuse Zhao Dabao's invitation.

Zhao Dabao, seemingly anticipating the young Taoist's refusal, preempted him.

"One hundred taels, in gold. You won't have to enter the Formation."

What Jin Xu was about to say transformed into,

"Well, I'll make an effort and go with you."

He wasn't someone to stoop for five bushels of rice, but he could bend a little for a hundred taels of gold.

"No rush, no rush, we can set off the day after tomorrow," Zhao Dabao said with his chubby cheeks trembling as he chuckled.

"I'll come to pick you up at dawn the day after tomorrow."

Having achieved his purpose for the visit, Zhao Dabao left with his eight sticks of incense in hand.

That left only the socially dead Xu Qian and Taoist Jin Xu in the hall.

"Do you have another matter?" Jin Xu asked calmly.

"Uh."

"Buying incense?"

Then, Xu Qian found himself holding eight sticks of incense.

Finally, he had the opportunity to tell the Taoist about the case in Da An Village involving the Demon Sect.

And he wanted to ask for Jin Xu's help.

Demon Sect, Transformation Fruit, with a reward.

After listening to Xu Qian ramble on pointlessly for quite a while, these were the three pieces of useful information Taoist Jin Xu managed to extract.

He had often used this method back in his previous life during school lectures, given that some teachers were overly chatty, spending 40 minutes on stand-up comedy and only 5 minutes on actual content during a class.

While Xu Qian did go on with quite a bit of nonsense, he still emphasized the point about there being a reward.

He had been attentively listening to the conversation between Taoist Jin Xu and Zhao Dabao from a corner of the hall earlier.

"This mysterious Taoist seems to have a particular fondness for gold and silver, but then again, any highly skilled person may have their quirks," Xu Qian pondered.

But regardless of what those quirks were, as long as he catered to them, that was what mattered.

Xu Qian might have been a bit slow-witted, but he wasn't stupid.

"Okay, but if it's too dangerous, I will only ensure to try my best to take you with me while escaping."

Motivated by the promise of a reward, Jin Xu agreed to his request. Furthermore, this socially awkward watchman had brought a new business opportunity to the Taoist.

Hunting down evil cultivators and monsters with bounties on their heads could result in bounty payouts back at the watchman's residence.

However, the Taoist needed to first figure out his own strength before getting involved. The more he cultivated, the more perplexed he became.

Xu Qian was looking precisely for this kind of assurance of protection.

He happily expressed his gratitude, saying he would first investigate in secret and would come for Taoist Jin Xu when he had solid leads.

Then he took his leave.

Jin Xu looked at the eight sticks of incense Xu Qian had forgotten to take and mused that this man might not only be low on strength but also a bit silly.

He got up, picked up the incense from the ground, and placed them in the large water tank in the front courtyard.

"I need to find a new place for this sometime; it wouldn't do if it got stolen. Maybe I should have Little White keep an eye on it — he has a good nose."

Muttering to himself, Jin Xu looked up at the sun in the sky.

Hmm, time for a noon rest.

Making money is good, but one must balance work and rest.

He turned and headed for the backyard, reminding Little White to watch over the large water tank in the front courtyard.

He then walked to the kitchen door and handed over the money he had earned that day to Yu Yaoer, asking her to put it into her bracelet for safekeeping.

This included the silver he had gotten from Da An Village as well.

Why?

Of course, it was because it wouldn't get lost.

Jin Xu had previously discussed with them where it was safest to keep their money.

Yu Yaoer had assured with certainty that placing it with her was safe. Her red jade bracelet wasn't just for storage; it was also her natal magic artifact. Unless she was captured along with it, there was no chance of it getting lost.

Natal magic artifacts and the like sounded rather impressive.

Thus, Little Fish Demon was promoted to be the treasurer of Xuanxu Temple.

"Ah, young master, you've made money and returned?" Little Fish Demon cheerfully said as she took the silver from Jin Xu.

"Mhm," Jin Xu replied earnestly.

"Then, will you have some soup, young master? I made it with freshly dug earthworms and water from the well, super fresh."

"No thanks."

He routinely refused Little Fish Demon's offer.

Jin Xu left the kitchen.

As he was stepping out, Little White walked in from outside.

"Sister Little Fish, give me a bowl," he said.

In his mind, Jin Xu gave Little White a big thumbs-up.

Truly a hatchet man.

Back in his room, Jin Xu took the time to practice his cultivation. He noticed that his progress was becoming increasingly slow, that surging feeling of power had been absent for a long while. It was like before, when you were a bucket being filled with a cup of water every day, you could actually see the water level rise. Now you've become a tank, and adding the same cup of water doesn't make the level rise noticeably anymore.

The short cultivation session of the little Taoist was over.

As he was getting accustomed to the Body Purification Skill taught by his master,

he heard laughter and frolicking from outside.