Although the formation materials and even the alchemy ingredients seemed somewhat flawed, he was certain that he could still bring out their best potential.
Formations below the Holy Grade relied almost entirely on materials and source energy to function. However, once a formation reached the Holy Grade, everything became governed by the Dao; though the difficulty of constructing and controlling such formations increased by a huge margin.
Holy-grade formations operated on laws.
The anchor points within the formation were laws themselves. Law was the source of power.
"…I still need to buy these things."
Shaking his head, Shen Xuan continued searching through the formation hall, looking for the best materials he could find. His fingers brushed across the racks holding sixth-grade formation cores. After careful consideration, he finally chose several items.
He selected a fifth-grade spatial formation stabilizer, sixth-grade spirit convergence nodes, multiple fourth-grade array flags with adaptable rune matrices, and several empty formation plates made of Void Jade.
The attendant behind him asked cautiously, "Sir, are these meant for long-term deployment formations or mobile arrays?"
"These are for temporary use," Shen Xuan replied. After that, he went to pay the cost of the formation equipment.
After leaving the formation hall, Shen Xuan initially intended to return to the inn. However, when he glanced at the token in his hand and remembered what the guard had told him, that with Xiao Yang's token, he could access the top floor of the Heavenly Trade Centre, his steps paused.
With that thought in mind, he headed toward the top floor, which was the fifth floor.
Logically, as the highest level of the building, the space here should have been smaller. Yet in reality, it felt far larger than even the entire second floor where he had purchased his resources. Soon, he figured out how this was achieved.
There were two major formations in place; one governing spatial expansion, and another connecting this independent space to the main structure of the Heavenly Trade Centre. In essence, the fifth floor was a completely independent space, operating under a mechanism similar to the Luoshi World.
When he arrived, no guards stopped him. Instead, there was a massive gate engraved with intricate patterns, with a token-shaped indentation carved into its center.
After a moment of thought, Shen Xuan placed the Heavenly Registry Token into the carved slot. A faint light flickered. Then, without a single sound, the gate slowly opened.
"Hm…? Someone came?"
The people present on the fifth floor immediately noticed the movement. When they saw a thirteen-year-old boy stepping through the gate, they were momentarily stunned. However, upon noticing the color and markings of the token in his hand, they quickly calmed down.
An elderly man stepped forward. "I wonder why this young master has come to the fifth floor of the Heavenly Trade Centre?" he asked, his tone polite yet probing.
Shen Xuan glanced at the old man, slightly puzzled as to why he had approached him directly. "Hm… I don't quite understand what Senior means," Shen Xuan replied.
When he sensed the old man's cultivation at the peak of the Chaos Lord Realm, even Shen Xuan was mildly surprised. He had not expected to encounter such an existence on the fifth floor.
The old man chuckled softly. "With the Heavenly Registry Token in your hand, representing Lingchuan Hall, one of the strongest powers in the entire Eastern Region, you are certainly qualified to enter the fifth floor of the Heavenly Trade Centre in Heiyun City."
"Oh… no wonder," Shen Xuan nodded.
Another middle-aged man stepped forward and asked, "Then may I ask, young friend, what brings you to the fifth floor?"
"Well, Senior, I didn't know much about this place," Shen Xuan replied honestly. "I was told I could access the top floor, so I came."
His gaze shifted toward the others present in the hall. The elderly man stroked his white beard and smiled.
"Young friend, the fifth floor is primarily for unknown or unique items. Transactions here are usually done through barter; items of equal value are exchanged for one another. If you possess anything interesting, you are welcome to trade."
"Oh, thank you, Senior, for the information," Shen Xuan said. Rather than lingering, he walked away, contemplating the old man's words.
Although Shen Xuan possessed countless cultivation techniques that could be used for barter, he would never trade techniques belonging to his clan or those he had learned in ancient times. Doing so could expose his true identity, something he absolutely did not want.
However, Ji Yu's storage ring contained quite a few valuable items. Among them was a low Holy-grade sword, an item coveted even by Ancestral Realm powerhouses.
Given that the world he currently resided in was a middle plane, where most cultivators were at the Chaos Lord Realm and only a few planes barely housed Chaos Ancestral Realm experts, the Luoshi World itself could not withstand the presence of a true Ancestral Realm powerhouse.
Thus, Shen Xuan began to consider his options. If he could find something here that would truly aid his cultivation, it might be worth the trade.
Shen Xuan moved deeper into the fifth floor. Unlike the lower levels, this place felt strangely quiet. There were no shouting vendors and no fixed stalls. Instead, individual items were displayed within isolated light barriers, each surrounded by faintly shifting runes meant to suppress fluctuations and conceal their true value.
Medicines of unknown origin were the most numerous. Some were sealed in cracked jade bottles, others were wrapped in beast hide, and a few were suspended directly in the air, their forms distorted by time. Their medicinal aura was chaotic; it was neither pure nor fully decayed, making them difficult to identify even for seasoned alchemists.
To most people, these were either useless remnants or dangerous curiosities. But Shen Xuan's gaze was different. As he passed by, fragments of ancient knowledge surfaced naturally in his mind.
He recognized several of the medicines instantly; fallen spirit marrow refined with outdated techniques, incomplete soul-nourishing pellets from a broken lineage, and even a few remnants of ancient-grade medicinal embryos that had lost their activation method.
"These aren't unknown," Shen Xuan thought calmly. "They've simply been forgotten."
Any one of them, if restored properly, could fetch a shocking price or serve as the foundation for a powerful pill. Bartering with these was not impossible. Still, he didn't stop. He wasn't here to grab the first thing that caught his eye.
Shen Xuan continued walking, examining each item with unhurried patience. His approach remained neutral, neither eager nor dismissive, like a scholar browsing through a ruined library, already knowing that most books would be incomplete.
Time passed quietly. He saw soul crystals with fractured cores, blood essences contaminated by mixed lineages, and medicinal roots whose growth cycles had been forcefully interrupted. They were useful, yes, but none of them truly satisfied him.
"They're all lacking something," Shen Xuan concluded. Either the grade was too low, the origin was too damaged, or the restoration cost was too high for what they offered in return.
Just as he was about to turn away, something at the far corner of the hall caught his attention. It wasn't surrounded by light. There were no inscriptions announcing its value, and no one stood near it. In the shadowed corner, half-buried under layers of dust and rust, lay a steel sphere.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a discarded metal ball; its surface was corroded and its texture was rough and uneven. But the moment Shen Xuan's primordial soul sense brushed against it, his steps halted.
"This weight…"
Even a cultivator at the Chaos Essence Realm would be unable to lift it. This was not because of suppression or formations, but because its true mass was overwhelming; it was measured not in thousands or millions, but in billions of kilograms.
A smile slowly formed on Shen Xuan's face. "So it's here," he murmured.
It was a sleeping foundation; an object that had survived an unknown number of years, condensed by laws rather than material density. He walked up to it and touched it.
Just as Shen Xuan stepped closer to the metal ball, a voice stopped him. "Wait a minute, young friend."
An old man walked forward from the side. His white robe fluttered faintly, and his presence alone caused the surrounding space to tighten slightly. He was Fu Gao, an elder of the Heavenly Trade Centre and a cultivator at the peak of the Chaos Lord Realm.
When he saw Shen Xuan showing interest in that unidentified object, his brows furrowed deeply. "You look very young," Fu Gao said slowly, his sharp gaze sweeping over Shen Xuan. "And your cultivation… it should not exceed the Chaos Sea Realm, am I right?"
"Yes, senior," Shen Xuan replied simply, nodding once.
Fu Gao sighed inwardly. "Well then, young master, I must advise caution." He gestured toward the rust-covered steel ball. "The weight of this object exceeds that of mountains. Even experts at the Chaos Divine Transformation Realm cannot lift it."
His tone grew serious. "If touched carelessly, it could crush your body instantly." He stroked his beard and continued, "Our Heavenly Trade Centre has researched this item for over a decade. We have found no inscriptions, no energy reaction, and no identifiable origin. It is… dead."
Fu Gao looked at Shen Xuan kindly. "Why not choose another item? There are many identified treasures here that can help with cultivation or nourish the soul."
Shen Xuan listened quietly. Then he turned back toward Fu Gao, meeting his gaze directly. A faint smile appeared on his lips, neither arrogant nor humble.
"Oh? Is that so?" Shen Xuan said calmly. "Unfortunately, senior… I am very interested in this thing." He paused. "May I barter for it?"
Fu Gao was slightly taken aback. "This…" He hesitated, then shook his head lightly. "It is not that this old man is unwilling. But can the young master offer something that would satisfy an exchange of this level?"
In his heart, Fu Gao did not believe Shen Xuan could. After all, even great clans had failed to offer anything worthwhile for that steel ball.
At that moment, Shen Xuan raised his hand. A faint spatial ripple spread, and something appeared in his palm. The moment it was revealed, the expressions of everyone present changed instantly.
Fu Gao's pupils shrank violently. "Young master… this…?!"