Bai Ran took the ring and put it on a finger without hesitation.
The old man smiled slightly when he saw this.
"Okay, you can enter the city. You can have half a day of free time every day during the day. The rest of the time the whole city is under martial law. When the war starts, the ring will naturally send a message to recruit you! You
Just wait in the cave." After saying this, the old man slowly closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Bai Ran looked deeply at the old man and walked straight into the city.
After entering the city gate, there were very few people on the streets of Tianxing City at this moment. Only one or two monks could be seen occasionally flying around in the sky. Most of the mortals were hiding in their homes, looking depressed.
Bai Ran's expression remained as usual, but he secretly felt happy in his heart.
Looking at this situation, most of the markets in the city must be closed. If he hadn't prepared the necessary items on Nanming Island in advance, I'm afraid he would really have a headache at this moment.
Bai Ran chuckled lowly, and the person turned into a blue rainbow and flew into the air, then went straight to the cave of the Holy Mountain to escape.
When passing the market at the foot of the Holy Mountain, Bai Ran couldn't help but lower his head and take a look.
Sure enough, all the shops were closed and there was not a single ghost. Bai Ran shook his head lightly and flew to the thirty-ninth floor of the Holy Mountain without stopping.
As soon as he entered the area of the Holy Mountain, Bai Ran felt keenly that the security was even tighter than in the outer city. Just by secretly observing his consciousness, there were more than a dozen waves. But fortunately, these consciousnesses were swept away
He took the yellow ring on his hand and left automatically. No one showed up to question Bai Ran.
What made Bai Ran frown was that there was actually the spiritual consciousness of a late-stage pill-forming monk among them.
Bai Ran pretended not to know and flew to his cave in one breath.
The restrictions outside the cave were the same as when he set out, and they had not changed at all.
But after Bai Ran stood outside the ban and stared blankly for a while, he let out a long sigh.
The time I went out this time was not long, but I was caught between life and death several times, and even had to abandon this cave where I had stayed for nearly a hundred years.
This really made Bai Ran feel a little sad.
He used the restraining token and silently released the restraint, and people slowly walked in.
Everything in the house naturally remains as it is.
Bai Ran first went to the insect room that he was most concerned about and took a look. When he saw that all the gold-eating insects were safe and sound, he was really relieved.
However, he immediately put all the gold-eating insects into a spirit beast bag that he had prepared earlier, and then went to the medicine garden to pick all the elixirs and put them all into the storage bag.
After doing all this, Bai Ran breathed a sigh of relief, walked slowly to the bedroom, lay on the bed and began to think about his future plans.
He must kill a monk of the same level as the Counter Star Alliance before he can use the teleportation array to reach the outer star sea. This condition is not too difficult for him.
But what Bai Ran is worried about is that the people in Xing Palace may have learned the news that the Xutian Cauldron may be on him before the war begins. After all, he cannot estimate when those old monsters will escape from the Xutian Palace.
If these old monsters leak the news, he will definitely die.
In addition, he also had some other concerns.
Although it was unlikely, he was afraid that even if the conditions were met, the senior officials of Star Palace would play some other tricks, but he was still stunned and unable to use the teleportation array.
After all, even if the higher-ups regretted it, what else could the monks do to each other?
Therefore, although he quietly agreed to Xing Gong's conditions at the city gate, from the beginning, he had no intention of honestly waiting for Xing Gong's call.
He planned to detect the alert situation near the teleportation array to see if he could secretly teleport out. If the alert was really relaxed, he would naturally take the opportunity to escape.
As for whether he would completely offend the behemoth Xing Gong because of this, he would be targeted by those old monsters at the Nascent Soul stage sooner or later, and he didn't seem to care about it.
With such self-comforting thoughts, Bai Ran fell into a drowsy sleep on the bed.
After several twists and turns, he was indeed exhausted physically and mentally.
The next day, Bai Ran woke up in high spirits.
As the sky dawned, he slowly walked out of the cave, flew into the air and looked around.
Although the number of monks is still far less than usual, the number is significantly different from when they entered the city yesterday.
It seems that during this period, you can move around freely.
Bai Ran didn't hesitate much, he took up the flying light and flew around the area first. After seeing that no one was watching or paying attention to him, he went straight to the fiftieth floor.
The security on the road was tight on the outside and tight on the inside. It didn't take long for Bai Ran to fly over the Starry Sky Palace where the teleportation array was installed.
He didn't stop for a moment, and pretended to be passing by as he passed by the hall.
But in this short moment, Bai Ran's consciousness quietly penetrated into the temple.
It went smoothly at first, invading most areas of the outer hall with almost no obstacles. But as soon as the consciousness approached the inner hall, a layer of green and yellow restrictions suddenly appeared.
Fortunately, Bai Ran saw the opportunity quickly and hurriedly withdrew his consciousness without actually touching this restriction.
At the same time, the look on his face darkened.
Although according to estimates, this restriction should not be able to stop the forcible invasion of his spiritual consciousness. But this would alert the attention of the monks in the temple, and Bai Ran would not do such a stupid thing.
In the air, he couldn't help but frown.
Because of the restriction, he did not detect the number and cultivation level of the monks staying in the temple. But the Nascent Soul stage monks should not appear here. At most, there are monks in the middle or late stage of Danjie in the temple, which is great!
After all, compared to other important places, this Starry Sky Palace will not attract much attention from the senior officials of the Starry Palace.
After Bai Ran flew far enough, he made a big circle, deviated slightly from the original route, and flew back again.
This time when he passed by the Starry Sky Palace, Bai Ran reluctantly released his consciousness again to see if he could find any loopholes in the palace's restrictions.
However, no flaw in the restriction was detected, but a rough voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, what's the situation? What did the guy guarding the teleportation array say? Isn't three thousand spirit stones enough for one person? This is the maximum amount we can afford."
When Bai Ran heard this, he was shocked at first, and then his heart moved again.
He quickly glanced at the two monks flying low in the distance, and the speed of escaping light suddenly slowed down.
Of these two monks, one is a middle-aged man with a black face and a gray shirt, and the other is a slender man with a sallow complexion. Both of them are in the middle of the foundation building period.
Which sentence just now was asked by the dark-faced middle-aged man anxiously to the thin man.
The two of them acted cautiously, and were whispering alone in a deserted place, but under Bai Ran's powerful spiritual consciousness, they could still hear every word clearly.
"Shh! Be careful. It's better to keep quiet about the sound transmission." The thin man looked around nervously, but Bai Ran was extremely alert and instantly hid his figure, and immediately entered a state of holding his breath. He
Naturally nothing was found.
At the same time, Bai Ran immediately withdrew his consciousness from other places and focused it all on these two people, preparing to forcibly eavesdrop on their transmissions.
This is because Bai Ran's spiritual consciousness is far superior to the two of them, so he can do it without knowing it. Otherwise, other monks in the alchemy stage can only eavesdrop on the two of them by using a few rare top-level secret techniques.
of sound transmission.
"Although the other party is somewhat distantly related to me, there is still a lot of risk involved in letting people go to the outer star sea privately. He said that unless you have five thousand spirit stones, don't even think about it. This is because we are all
A monk in the foundation-building stage is indispensable to the Star Palace. If he is a monk in the pill-forming stage, no matter how many spiritual stones are given to him, he will never let go of half of them." The frail man smiled bitterly.
, said with some helplessness.
"Five thousand, he really treats us as fat sheep. We are just casual cultivators in the foundation-building period. Where did we get so many spiritual stones?" The dark-faced middle-aged man growled with an ugly expression, but he still knew how to use it.
Said by the art of sound transmission.
"But it's too dangerous to stay in the inner sea. We casual cultivators may be involved in this catastrophe at any time. By then, our lives will be gone, so what's the use of spiritual stones? After all, we have also calculated that the star palace and the reverse star
The strength of the alliance is almost the same, and the war is likely to last for several years, or even decades. I can
We don’t want to hide away in fear all day long. As for spiritual stones, we all probably still have a lot of rare materials on hand. If we scrape together enough, we can use them as spiritual stones to pay for each other. That person will still sell them.
I don’t have much face.” The frail man sighed and said in a persuasive manner.
"This won't work! Do we have to go bankrupt just to teleport to the outer star sea? I don't want to." The dark-faced middle-aged man shook his head like a miser.
"Forget it. Let's see what other people decide on this matter." The thin man seemed to be equally distressed and said unwillingly. When the two men said this, they stopped talking with gloomy faces and sped up.
He surpassed the speed of the imperial weapon and flew straight down the mountain.
Bai Ran did not follow the two of them. In this case, it was too obvious.
But he secretly wrapped a trace of his spiritual consciousness around the skinny man, and then watched the two of them fly away for a certain distance with a cold expression, then calmly revealed his figure and followed from a distance.
Compared to Bai Ran, the speed of these two people was really slow.
After flying for more than an hour, we arrived at the fourth level of the Holy Mountain and walked side by side into an extremely ordinary house.
A moment later, Bai Ran's figure appeared in the sky above the courtyard.
The environment here seems quite quiet. In addition to a few courtyards of the same style in the distance, there is also a small green bamboo forest, which is quite elegant.
Bai Ran looked at the courtyard, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes.
Although this house is inconspicuous, there is also a small "flowing water array" outside the house. Although it will not be effective against intruders who really want to break in, it can still serve as a warning.
However, let alone Bai Ran, this formation would not have the slightest effect even if an ordinary alchemy monk with some knowledge of formations came to him.
Bai Ran was completely confident that he could sneak in easily without disturbing the restrictions outside.
And below, Bai Ran did exactly the same thing.
He pinched the spell with both hands, and after a blur, his figure suddenly disappeared in a flash of green light.
...Soon, Bai Ran, whose figure was hidden, appeared in the courtyard silently.
At this moment, he had restrained the flow of mana all over his body. It was almost impossible for a monk in the foundation building stage or an immortal cultivator in the elixir formation stage to discover Bai Ran.
This is because Bai Ran is being cautious, fearing that there really are monks in the alchemy stage here. Otherwise, ordinary concealment techniques would be enough.
Bai Ran stood motionless in the middle of the courtyard, but his consciousness slowly spread out with him as the center, covering the entire courtyard.
Then a strange look flashed across his face, and he turned to stare at a wing on the left.
He clearly sensed that all the other rooms were empty, except for this small wing, where seven monks were staying at the same time.
The thin man and the dark-faced middle-aged man were also among them.
There were two women among the seven. One was a rather pretty woman, and the other was an ordinary-looking young woman.
But among these people, the one with the highest level of cultivation was a tall man in brocade clothes with shining eyes and an aquiline nose.
Except for the uncomfortable-looking nose, this person's appearance can be regarded as having good facial features and a dignified appearance. He has about the cultivation level of the late stage of foundation establishment, has entered the realm of fake elixir, and can start preparing for elixir condensation.
Already.
The rest of the people are mostly at the early to middle stage of foundation building.
This is also normal. If you want to go to the outer star sea, this kind of cultivation is the minimum.
However, I don't know what issue these people just discussed. Everyone looked gloomy and speechless. The whole room was silent, and no one spoke.
Bai Ran was not in a hurry, so he stood quietly and waited.
He believed that the subsequent conversations between these people would definitely provide him with some useful information. Only then could he decide on the next step.
Sure enough, after a cup of tea, the middle-aged woman spoke uncontrollably.
"Brother Yi, Huang Daoyou just came back with a message. The other party actually wanted five thousand spirit stones per person before he would let me wait until I went to the outer star sea. Are we going to complete the mission of the star palace and spread it openly, or are we really doing it in private?
Deliver the spirit stone and send it secretly. Brother Yi has an idea. After all, the war is going on, and even if they want to let us go, it may be too late." The woman's voice sounded a little irritable.
"Mrs. Liu, from your tone, it seems that you are very willing to pay for this spiritual stone. But have you ever thought that, fellow Taoist, you may not care about this amount because you are rich. But my husband and I spent all our money and still took it.
These spiritual stones cannot be obtained. Could it be that fellow Taoist intends to go there alone?" A white-faced monk sitting next to the young woman had a dark expression and his tone was a bit unkind.
When the middle-aged woman heard this, her face showed an unhappy look, and she asked back with the same dissatisfaction:
"When did I say that I would go there alone? Am I not asking Brother Yi? Fellow Daoist Yi has rich experience and is the most cultivated person among us. I believe he can give us a good analysis of the pros and cons."
"Okay, needless to say, you two fellow Taoists. Fellow Daoist Liu will not teleport away alone. The outer star sea is not something that monks in the foundation-building stage can venture into alone. Only those of us who act together can survive there. Good luck.
If so, you can slaughter some spiritual beasts and refine some spiritual elixirs to make everyone's cultivation progress greatly. So aliens
We must go to the sea. However, we don’t have to complete any tasks or kill any monks of the same level. In a war, even monks in the pill formation stage cannot guarantee their own lives, let alone us low-level monks. What’s more,
I'm also a little worried that the senior officials of Xing Palace will go back on their word." The man in brocade clothes finally spoke coldly.
"No way! It seems that Xing Gong has never broken his promise before. Fellow Daoist Yi, are you worrying too much?" The person who spoke was a strong young man. Although he was very young, he gave people a very mature look.
feeling.
"Although the possibility is unlikely, it does not definitely not happen. Now is not the time when the Hoshigong family is the only one. If Hoshigong really feels that this battle is dangerous, he will naturally do anything. There is nothing to make a fuss about if he goes back on his word.
"These big forces, huh!" The big man in brocade twitched his face and snorted disdainfully, as if he knew these forces very well.
After hearing this, the room became quiet again. Everyone fell into deep thought.
"So the most appropriate thing to do is to spend some spiritual stones to save your life. If we really participate in the war, it is very possible that we will all be wiped out. And even if someone survives by chance, we will be alone in the outer star sea.
There is no such thing as self-protection. It will also lead to a dead end." The big man said again slowly.
"But there are so many spiritual stones..."
"With all our lives gone, why do we still want spiritual stones? Besides, killing a few higher-level monsters in the outer star sea is enough to make up for our losses. The most important thing now is to teleport there first."
The dark-faced middle-aged man with a heartbroken look on his face wanted to say something, but was interrupted by the handsome man in brocade with a cold look on his face.
The black-faced monk seemed to be very afraid of the big man. After being scolded by the other party, he muttered a few words and shut up.
"As for the problem of insufficient spiritual stones for other fellow Taoists, we can take whatever amount we have. Let's see if the other party can be more accommodating with these amounts. If it still doesn't work, whoever among us still has enough spiritual stones can borrow some temporarily.
After being transported to the outer star sea, all you have to do is return the principal with interest." It seemed that the big man in robes had a very high prestige among these people, so he made a decision on his own with just a few words.
.
After the other six people looked at each other, although not everyone was convinced, they all reluctantly accepted it.
When the old man saw the expressions of everyone, he showed a look of satisfaction, then turned to the thin man and said solemnly:
"Zhang Daoyou, I would like to trouble you to make another trip tomorrow to see if we can reduce the number of spiritual stones. If not, just agree to the other party's conditions. But we must leave the day after tomorrow, and we must not delay another day. Definitely.
We must leave before the war begins."
The thin man agreed repeatedly.
Next, the people in the room began to discuss some specific details.
Bai Ran, standing outside the house, heard all this clearly from beginning to end.
A mysterious smile couldn't help but appear at the corner of his mouth. After a flash of green light, the person suddenly disappeared from the courtyard without a trace.
On the second day, when the thin man set out from the house again towards the Starry Sky Palace, he didn't know that there was another person coming out of the sky behind him.
Bai Ran followed him expressionlessly to the vicinity of the Star Palace again, and saw him carefully sneaking in through the side door of the main hall.
Bai Ran touched his nose and waited calmly outside the hall.
After more than half an hour, the skinny man sneaked out again, with a hint of excitement on his face.
Then, Bai Ran followed him back to the house again.
However, something happened that made Bai Ran raise his eyebrows.
Before entering the house, the excitement on this thin man's face quickly disappeared. After looking around, his face seemed to change into a frown, and then he knocked on the door and entered the house.
Seeing this situation, Bai Ran frowned, showing a thoughtful expression.
"Is there something involved in this matter..." He rested his chin on his hand and fell into deep thought.