Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  The team that had been advancing steadily suddenly stopped at this moment, and the middle-aged man sitting behind the table seemed to have no reaction at first, with a gesture of preparing to take over the Ling crystal. However, after subconsciously stretching out his hand, he found that there was not a single movement on the other side of the table.

  The man in gray hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat embarrassed and even a bit comical. He slowly withdrew his hand, his face darkening with anger as he glared at Butcher and Shen Shi, saying coldly, "What's the meaning of this?"

  Shen Shi's face was also sweating, and when he thought "this uncle shouldn't want to trade spirit crystals", the butcher's expression was calm, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jade token about half the size of his palm, handing it over to the middle-aged man.

  "Hmm?" The middle-aged man glanced at the jade plate, his expression changed slightly, and he stood up to take it over. After a closer look, a smile appeared on his face, saying: "It's one of our own, please come in." He smiled and handed the jade plate back.

  The butcher retrieved his jade token and nodded at him, saying: "Thank you."

  The man smiled silently, his attitude completely different from before. Shen Shi followed behind the butcher and entered the transmission array with ease, feeling puzzled for a moment. Taking advantage of an opportunity when no one was paying attention, he whispered to the butcher: "Uncle, what brand did you show him earlier? Why didn't we have to pay spirit crystals to come in?"

  The butcher smiled and said, "That's a sign of my identity. Have you forgotten what I used to be?"

  Shen Shi naturally wouldn't be unaware of this, and he said in surprise: "The Immortal Society, I know about it, but... uh," He suddenly seemed to have thought of something, looked at the butcher, and said: "Could it be that those gray-robed men from earlier were also from the Immortal Society?"

  The butcher smiled but didn't speak, and Shen Shi was just feeling puzzled when he heard the butcher say beside him: "There is no transmission array in Xilu City. Moreover, you are still young after all, so I'm afraid you haven't paid attention to this aspect. In fact, all transmission arrays under the sky can only be used by gods who control the tolls."

  Shen Shi took a deep breath, and despite his normally calm demeanor, he couldn't help but reveal a look of shock. As someone who grew up in the Tianyi Building, he was no stranger to business dealings, and with just a little thought, he realized that relying on this one item alone, the Divine Association would be able to reap an astonishingly huge profit every year. The reputation of being the number one commercial association in the land was indeed not undeserved.

  It's such a huge benefit that even the four orthodox schools, which are considered to be the best in the world of cultivation, wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. How could they let the Immortal Realm monopolize all the benefits?

  The butcher glanced at Shen Shi, who was deep in thought, and seemed to know what he was thinking about. He said calmly, "Didn't your old man ever tell you? All the transmission arrays built by humans are actually constructed by the Heavenly Association."

  Shen Shi was stunned for a moment, and it wasn't until now that he seemed to have re-recognized the grandeur of the Fairy Gathering. He hesitated for a while before asking in a low voice: "So, what I heard earlier, that the transmission array was created by a predecessor master craftsman who was a thousand years ago, referencing and imitating the ancient transmission law arrays... actually is also..."

  The butcher smiled and said, "That senior master's surname is Zhou, and he is indeed from the Immortal Gathering."

  Shen Shi let out a breath and nodded sincerely: "The Divine Merchants Guild is indeed the number one merchant guild in the world."

  The butcher's gaze shifted, and he looked around before pulling Shen Shi back a few steps. "Alright, I think there are enough people now. This formation is about to activate. You're not skilled in the way, so be careful later."

  Shen Shi was stunned for a moment and asked in surprise: "Be careful? What should I be careful about?"

  The number of people standing in the transmission array leading to Lich State has already exceeded fifty at this moment. The gray-clothed man at the entrance temporarily blocked the back team and beckoned to a row of gray-clothed men on the side, and soon three more gray-clothed men from the Divine Sect came over.

  The teleportation array, entirely constructed from the dark golden spirit stone, was solemn and quiet. A mysterious aura seemed to be floating around this magical array. In the crowd, Shen Shi looked a bit tense. The butcher had just reminded him of something inexplicably, but when he asked for clarification, he just smiled and said: "Anyway, no matter what, you'll have to go through it, so just feel it for yourself."

  The mysterious appearance made Shen Shi's heart even more tense, and he subconsciously stared at the three approaching men, only to see them walk to different parts of the transmission array, each taking out a bag from their pockets and pulling out shiny small stones, which were spirit crystals. They inserted them into some holes in the ground one by one. In addition, around the empty holes on the ground, there were intricate patterns carved, Shen Shi concentrated and looked for a while, but couldn't figure out what they meant, instead, he felt that they seemed to be similar to the talismans and symbols he had studied over the years, which were complicated and twisted, yet didn't seem to have any meaning, very eerie.

  Three men in gray robes, each of whom inserted seven spirit crystals into the empty holes on the ground, and then walked out of the transmission array. Shen Shi had heard before that these transmission arrays were driven by consuming the heavenly spiritual power in the spirit crystals, and now he saw it with his own eyes, indeed so.

  A moment later, a gray-clad man emerged from the outside of the formation, looking older than the people around him, like a fifty-year-old old man. He stood at the entrance of the transmission array, closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then suddenly swung his hands, and a surge of spiritual energy burst out from his body. At the same time, the patterns on the ground surrounding the holes where the spirit crystals were buried suddenly flashed brightly, and the entire originally quiet formation came to life in an instant, as if it had suddenly gained vitality. A dark golden light surged forth, and a mysterious aura enveloped everyone, invisible, odorless, and colorless, yet embracing all people within.

  A sound, as if from ancient times, a low howl, carrying an ancient breath, in the distance, yet seeming to be right next to everyone's ear, suddenly rose. Shen Shi suddenly felt his vision go black, and then his body felt light, as if he were floating up. It was as if his entire body had lost its weight. Almost simultaneously, a terrifying feeling, like being bitten by countless insects, descended upon him. Every inch of skin, every part of his flesh and bones, seemed to be bitten by ants at the same time, the pain piercing into his marrow. Even just for this brief moment, he felt as if his entire body had fallen apart, almost collapsing to the ground.

  At that moment, it seemed like an eternity to him.

  In the midst of intense, indescribable pain, the darkness before my eyes suddenly receded like a tide, and light enveloped me once again. The eerie, terrifying feeling of being gnawed by countless ants finally dissipated slowly.

  In the crowd around, some people let out soft exclamations of admiration, while others continued to chat, and it seemed that most of the cultivators, even scattered ones, were calm and collected. Only Shen Shi, after his initial shock, was followed by a dizzy spell in front of him, and he stumbled and almost fell over.

  A strong arm reached out from beside and the butcher grasped him.

  Shen Shi's face was deathly pale at this moment, and his forehead and palms were covered in cold sweat. From a young age to now, he had never experienced such intense pain before, and for a moment, he almost couldn't bear it. The butcher looked at his face, furrowed his brow slightly, and asked in a low voice: "How is it?"

  Shen Shi struggled to lift his head, just wanting to speak, but suddenly his expression changed again. He broke free from the butcher's arm and rushed to a corner, kneeling on the ground and vomiting violently.

  The butcher shook his head, walked to his back, and patiently waited until half a cup of tea had passed before Shen Shi's face slowly calmed down, and the pale color on his face also became slightly rosier. He looked up at the butcher, smiled bitterly, and said, "Uncle, is this what you wanted me to be careful about?"

  The butcher smiled and patted Shen Shi's shoulder, leading him out of the formation, saying "Exactly."

  Shen Shi closed his eyes and let out a weak moan.

  Two people sat down outside the transmission array to rest, and it was at this time that Shen Shi learned from the butcher's mouth what had just happened. In fact, this is also one of the disadvantages of the transmission array created by the human race, which imitates the ancient transmission array but has not been fully successful. One of the bad things about this is that ordinary people without Taoism will inevitably suffer from the pain known as "ant bite" when passing through the transmission array. On the contrary, if a cultivator with Taoism enters the transmission array, most of them do not have this feeling.

  Shen Shi sighed and said, "What kind of reasoning is this?"

  The butcher thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, I don't quite understand the reason either. However, I recall that during a gathering in the past, a senior fellow mentioned this matter. He said that cultivators have strong physical bodies due to their cultivation, which allows them to withstand the tearing force of the transmission array. In comparison, ordinary people's physical bodies are fragile, and they will suffer from the pain of being bitten by ants after passing through the transmission array once." The butcher paused for a moment and shook his head slightly, "However, I do know that when using those authentic ancient transmission arrays left behind by the orthodox sects to travel from the Hongmeng Main Realm to other realms, neither cultivators nor ordinary people have ever experienced any unusual sensations."

  He let out a sigh, and at this moment, he had barely recovered. However, the intense pain and severe dizziness were almost unbearable for him. It was only now that he had the heart to look around, and saw that the surrounding scenery was completely different from before in Kuroki Castle. It looked much more lively, especially the transmission arrays in front, which had increased from two to four.

  Shen Shi looked at those transmission arrays and fell silent for a moment before saying, "Have we already arrived in Lichou?"

  The butcher nodded and said, "Not bad, at this moment you are already tens of millions of miles away from that Blackwood Castle."

  Shen Shi was at a loss for words for a moment, and it wasn't until after a while that he let out a soft sigh and said, "Senior Master's craftsmanship is truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people."

  The butcher said: "You're right, when I first entered this transmission array, my thoughts were exactly the same as yours now. Do you feel better now?"

  Shen Shi nodded and said, "Much better."

  The butcher grunted and said, "Very well, let's go in again."

  "What?" Shen Shi exclaimed in surprise.

  The butcher shrugged and said, "Lan Prefecture and the Ling Xiao Sect's location in Hai Prefecture are separated by tens of millions of miles, with twenty-three large and small prefectures in between. You don't think that just sending it once is enough, do you?"

  Shen Shi's mouth twitched at the corner, and for a moment his face was deathly pale.

  Thanks to new ally "Cyan Sea" book friend for the support, and thanks to all other book friends for the support, I will definitely work hard to code words, strive to maintain this speed...