Chapter 116: The Teleportation Array

Lin Yang quickly laid out the perimeter formations. With a sudden clap of his hands against the ground, the entire auction house was flooded with a strange, radiant light. This unique luminescent field enveloped the building entirely, its glow slowly permeating every corner of the structure.

"Let’s test the defensive capabilities," Lin Yang muttered. He summoned a fireball in his palm and hurled it at the auction hall. As the spell struck the ground, it behaved as if it had hit the surface of a pond, merely creating a few ripples before vanishing. Once the ripples subsided, the auction house returned to its original state, as elusive as a moon reflected in the water.

"Not bad, not bad at all. The defense is quite impressive." Lin Yang had used half of his strength for that test. A typical Foundation Establishment cultivator would not have been able to withstand such an attack; yet, the formation had simply swallowed the energy whole.

"Now, let’s test the offensive formation." Lin Yang brought his hands together, and a multitude of longswords manifested in the center of the auction hall. With a flick of his finger, he directed a phantom blade toward the Wuji Sword. When the two clashed, a massive explosion erupted, only to be gradually dissipated by the ripples of the auction house's protective field.

"Powerful. That single strike was equivalent to my full-force attack." The offensive formation was formidable; even a single sword strike was more than most could handle. In truth, anyone below the Nascent Soul stage who dared to cause trouble here would be swiftly eliminated. The only threat to this auction house was a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator, as the defensive formation had its limits and could not absorb an excessive amount of power.

"Forget it, why worry so much? This is Star City, after all. No one would dare stir up trouble here, let alone come looking for me specifically."

After a brief reflection, Lin Yang returned to his cultivation chamber. He had excavated a massive square space deep beneath the ground—a cavernous, soccer-field-sized area ten meters below the surface. It was more than enough space to construct a small teleportation array, which he would then conceal with an illusion formation.

He immediately set to work, bringing out his formation brush and various materials. The teleportation array was complex and required the crafting of special base platforms, which significantly extended his workload.

***

Lin Yang remained out of sight for half a month before finally completing the teleportation array. By this time, the pills and formations he had prepared had already been dispatched to the other thirty-six islands, and thousands of auction items had been distributed to host small-scale auctions across the region.

Lin Yang had prepared a large quantity of Golden Essence Pills for these satellite auctions, and they were in high demand across the thirty-six islands. This move successfully opened up a massive market, and his reputation quickly spread to the Outer Star Sea, even drawing various families from those regions to the islands to participate in the auctions.

The auctioneers on these thirty-six islands were all members of the Star Palace, recruited directly by Lin Yang. Most of them were now under the management of Ji Longyue, and these thirty-six auctions had successfully generated a vast amount of spirit stones for him.

Today, Ji Longyue had collected all the spirit stones and arrived to deliver them to Lin Yang. Receiving her transmission, Lin Yang prepared to head out. He glanced back at the newly completed teleportation array, silently reminding himself not to rush. He then left the basement without looking back.

As he exited the basement, he walked through a bookshelf that seemed to fold into the void, acting as a passage. This was the illusion formation; from the outside, it appeared to be an ordinary, solid bookshelf. If someone were to walk into it, they would pass through directly into the basement, ensuring the location remained hidden from everyone.

Lin Yang opened the door to his cultivation chamber and entered the main hall, where he found Ji Longyue waiting. Upon hearing him, she turned around and immediately stepped forward, handing over a storage bag.

"Master, here are all the spirit stones earned from the auctions held over the past half-month. The account books for each branch are also included. Please feel free to inspect them."

Lin Yang took the bag and swept his divine sense through it; it contained over 1.2 million spirit stones.

"You’ve done well. Keep 200,000; take 50,000 for yourself and use the rest to reward the staff below."

Lin Yang knew that he had to let these people have a taste of the profits, or they would never work for him with genuine sincerity. He felt that his current organization was incomplete, as everyone was essentially on loan from the Star Palace. He decided that he needed to recruit his own subordinates—specifically rogue cultivators without family backgrounds, which would eliminate a lot of unnecessary complications.

"Also, take this. These are my final stocks. I want you to recruit some alchemists and blacksmiths to refine pills and equipment for us. I will provide some secret manuals on alchemy, and I’ve set up a point system. As long as they earn enough points, they can request my guidance or exchange points for various items."

Lin Yang handed over a small booklet. It was an improved version of a point system he had once implemented at an alchemy workshop, designed to greatly increase the motivation of his alchemists. This would ensure his subordinates worked for him willingly, allowing him to continuously reap the benefits of their labor.

These subordinates would gain the knowledge they craved and achieve personal growth, which in turn would foster loyalty. In the world of cultivation, orthodoxy was paramount; only blood relatives usually received such inheritances. Most cultivators had to spend vast amounts of spirit stones or pledge their allegiance to a sect to gain access to such knowledge.

For the many alchemists seeking to advance their craft, they usually had to rely on their own slow, painstaking exploration. Lin Yang’s offer shattered these established norms and would likely attract a great number of practitioners.

To Lin Yang, however, the knowledge he was leaving behind was of little consequence. Even if they worked themselves to the bone to earn enough points, they would only ever acquire a fraction of his expertise. While the knowledge they gained would ensure their progress for a lifetime, they could never surpass him. By the time they fully mastered the knowledge he provided, Lin Yang would have already ascended to the higher realms.

Moreover, alchemists were notoriously possessive of their techniques, often taking them to the grave, which frequently led to the loss of such traditions. Lin Yang’s approach was a strategic shift, one that would secure his influence for years to come.