The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 875: The Costly Array Plate

Hong Fang Zhenren’s encouragement directly violated Xuan Chen Zhenren’s taboos.

"We cultivators are fighting against heaven for our lives, if he wastes even a single day on these matters, that’s one less thread of hope for a breakthrough," Xuan Chen Zhenren said sternly, "The ’cultivation’ in cultivator requires diligent and arduous practice, not simply practicing occasionally and being done with it."

"He’s an educated man; he should know the consequences of not studying hard. Cultivation is even harder than studying!"

Hong Fang Zhenren felt embarrassed and gave Li Qing a helpless gesture while stealing a glance at him.

"Master, don’t say anymore, I was just dealing with this matter, my cultivation hasn’t been neglected. I will certainly practice diligently from now on!" Li Qing quickly said, not daring to continue this topic any further. If the conversation went on, both he and Hong Fang Zhenren would be scolded to oblivion by his master.

"Yet you haven’t been neglecting it, look at what realm you are in now. You haven’t been neglecting it, and you don’t feel ashamed!" Xuan Chen Zhenren huffed coldly, "If I don’t see you achieve Foundation Establishment within a month, I will personally take you into seclusion for three years!"

"Yes, yes, yes," Li Qing repeatedly agreed.

It really seemed like the Spiritual Qi Resurgence had happened lately, and his master’s temper had also resurged with it.

"Hong Fang, go ahead," Xuan Chen Zhenren glared at Li Qing one more time, finally concluding the topic and speaking to Hong Fang Zhenren instead.

Li Qing heaved a long sigh of relief.

Heaven take pity, although his wallet was fatter, his days were becoming increasingly difficult.

Zi Ling watched Li Qing being scolded, her lips pinched as if she were constipated, her face full of schadenfreude.

Li Qing raised an eyebrow and sent her a look, little girl you’re still laughing, wait till you cry your heart out tonight.

Zi Ling immediately grasped the meaning behind Li Qing’s look, brazenly raising her eyebrows provocatively and puckering her plump lips at Li Qing, showing no sign of fear.

Meanwhile, as these two exchanged looks, Hong Fang Zhenren seemingly performed a magic trick and produced an Array Plate. He measured around the campsite that already had a rough outline and lightly flicked his fingers to drive the Array Flags into the ground.

In total, there must have been around sixty or seventy Array Flags, which he managed to place in the ground in less than a moment.

As all of the Array Flags were positioned, a faint glow suddenly flashed, connecting all of the flags together.

What was astonishing was that as the glow passed by, all of those Array Flags vanished from sight.

Li Qing could vaguely perceive a transparent cover closing in in midair, but before he could get a clear look, the surroundings were exactly the same as before, without any discernible differences.

"Qingzi, I’ve set up the Formation for you," Hong Fang Zhenren said with a smile to Li Qing, "This formation comprises multiple layers. The first one isolates the influences of the Forbidden Grounds’ rules. Within the boundary of the formation, whatever you do, you won’t suffer backlash from the Forbidden Grounds."

"The second layer is an Illusion Array. Later on, you can construct a fence around the perimeter of the formation to separate the Forbidden Grounds from this area. Even if someone wanders in by mistake, they will be sent out by the Illusion Array, preventing a real intrusion into the Forbidden Grounds."

As he spoke, he handed over the Array Plate, which looked about the size of a chessboard, to Li Qing, and said, "This plate controls the formation. If this place is no longer needed in the future, you can also leave the plate behind, but never just discard it, it’s very expensive."

"How... expensive?" Li Qing was startled to hear this.

"If your business here runs smoothly, you’d probably need to earn for about ten years or so before you could cover the cost of this single Array Plate," Hong Fang Zhenren laughed, "However, you can continue using this Array Plate indefinitely. I refined this recently using the best materials, so normally there shouldn’t be any problems for about five or six years."

"Ten years?!" Li Qing’s expression instantly became unsettled, "Then this whole endeavor seems completely pointless..."

"For a woman, eh? Meaningful business," Xuan Chen Zhenren glanced at Li Qing with a sardonic tone.

Li Qing: ...

This is the end, his master has now even learned to be sarcastic.

"I hadn’t expected this part either," Li Qing muttered weakly, "Ten years of income... Zhenren, how much is this thing actually worth?"

Hong Fang Zhenren laughed, "This one is free for you. If you need to use an array plate in the future, I’ll give you a friendship price—three million for one of this scale. I’ve calculated the annual net profit for this place at three hundred thousand; it might be a bit on the low side, but it should be about right."

"Zhenren, you’re being modest; this place could probably only make a few tens of thousands in a year..." In an instant, Li Qing felt numb.

Something that had already caused a huge loss right from the start.

What was there left to hype? Was there any point in continuing this?

An array plate for three million, and that’s the friendship price!

Such an extravagantly expensive item, used in a place like this, Li Qing felt it was truly a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

"Hearing that price, I suddenly find myself in a difficult position," Li Qing said with a look of distress.

If he couldn’t make those three million, he wouldn’t be content.

Even though the one he had now was a freebie from Hong Fang Zhenren, free things come with corresponding favors owed, the value of which hadn’t changed one bit.

"Don’t look so morose; are you really that short on cash? Since you’re doing it for her, what’s wrong with spending money to be happy?" Xuan Chen Zhenren said, somewhat impatiently, upon seeing this. "Just don’t tell them how much this thing is really worth, and you’ll be fine. Besides, the one you have is free, yet you’re acting like you’ve been fleeced, really now," he chided.

"Master, since it’s a business, we have to calculate the business costs," Li Qing said somberly.

"I don’t care about these details, but I want results within a month, or else you’ll face three years of secluded cultivation!" Xuan Chen Zhenren huffed and said with a sweep of his sleeve, "I’m off; we have many things to busy ourselves with, no time to waste here aimlessly. Also, visit the mountain when you get a chance."

"Yes..." Li Qing just opened his mouth to speak, but Xuan Chen Zhenren’s figure had already vanished from sight.

Hong Fang Zhenren gave Li Qing a saluting gesture with his hands and said with a smile, "Qingzi, with the Spiritual Qi Resurgence, there’s frequent activity everywhere, and we’ve all been quite busy lately. I’m off as well. That girl Zi Ling... well, I won’t comment further on your affairs."

"Safe travels, Zhenren!" Li Qing returned the salute and said.

Hong Fang Zhenren nodded, took a step, and had already reached several meters away, vanishing from view in the blink of an eye.

Li Qing lifted the array plate in his hand, his mind once again entangled.

Such a great item, it was a shame that it was somewhat misused.

"Qingzi, actually, this thing is quite nice," Zi Ling said with a smile, "Even if you can’t earn back the cost, living here yourself is also quite good. The density of spiritual energy in the Forbidden Grounds is two to three times that of the outside, your cultivation speed will surely be faster than in other places."

"Living here by myself would be too spooky, it would affect my mood," Li Qing said.