39: Spirit Gathering Array, Illusion Array

Fourth Year of Huang Tian, November.

Since the battle at Purple Gold Mountain, the Southwest region's Cultivation World has fallen into a strange silence.

After traveling through various countries, Yu Xuzi also returned to Cangqing Mountain.

At this time, withered leaves fluttered on Cangqing Mountain, and the cold wind whistled through the forest; everything was no different from when he had left.

"Finally... I'm back!"

This descent down the mountain had lasted for several months. Not only had he successfully achieved a Breakthrough to Late Stage Qi Refining, but after traveling through various nations, he had also gained a large amount of resources and Opportunities.

In the Xuan Kingdom, he obtained a Storage Pouch; in the Lin Kingdom, he obtained a Yao Beast Compendium and a Spirit-Feeding Pill Pill Formula; and in the Wu Kingdom, he obtained the Elementary Introduction to Alchemy.

The White Spirit Lotus Seed from Yuan Country allowed him to achieve a Breakthrough to Late Stage Qi Refining.

Later, in the Yan Kingdom, he even obtained a "Basic Artifact Refining Catalog," which contained methods for refining nearly twenty types of Tier 1 Magical Artifacts.

In the Hong Country, he obtained a "Basics of the Dao of Formations," which depicted drawing methods for eight types of basic Formations, including the Illusion Array, Spirit Gathering Array, Earth Spirit Formation, and so on.

The harvest was quite bountiful.

Besides these rewards from the bronze pavilion obtained through recordings, he had also discovered a large amount of medicinal herb resources in this vast world.

Among them, there were even more than ten stalks of Spirit Medicine that had truly entered a grade!

Although they were all Tier 1 Low Grade, they were already extremely precious.

This was also thanks to the Golden Eagles' sharp eyes.

"Ga-gu— Ga-gu—"

The two Golden Eagles kept hopping around Yu Xuzi, their golden wings flapping to whip up gusts of wind, appearing very excited.

Over these three years, the two Golden Eagles' spirituality had grown stronger and stronger; now, they could not only understand simple commands but also seemed to have learned how to "think."

"I know! I know!"

"Don't be in a hurry!"

"The Spirit Medicine was all found by you, so naturally, I will refine it for you myself."

Yu Xuzi patiently soothed them.

He knew what these two fellows were anxious about and could understand them.

Because he had said on the way that after returning to Cangqing Mountain, he would set about refining the Spirit-Feeding Pill for them to help them become true Yao Beasts!

As for the raw Materials, if it was just to refine "Semi-spirit Pills," then what he had collected on the way was already enough.

However, before performing Alchemy, he had one more thing to do:

Set up a Formation!

Since obtaining the Basics of the Dao of Formations, Yu Xuzi had been studying it diligently and had already gained some insights.

He felt that the Dao of Formations didn't seem as difficult as recorded in the books?

Or perhaps it was because he had good talent.

In any case, he found it quite simple; in just a few months, he had barely crossed the threshold, though he hadn't actually set one up yet.

But now, the Opportunity had come.

He was already as familiar as could be with the terrain of Yuxu Temple and the surrounding areas of Cangqing Mountain.

Using the mountain terrain and Feng Shui layout, he was confident he could set up a true Tier 1 Low Grade spirit formation!

"With Yuxu Temple as the center, I'll set up an Elementary Spirit Gathering Array and an Elementary Illusion Array."

"The two Formations will be superimposed, complementing each other."

"The Spirit Gathering Array can gather Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence. Even if the spiritual essence in the Mortal world outside is nearly dried up, I should be able to gather a little bit, right? It should slightly improve the cultivation environment of Cangqing Mountain."

"And the Illusion Array, although it lacks killing power, should still be fine for preventing Mortals from approaching and concealing the disturbances and anomalies when I practice Spells, right?"

"Just like that, excellent!"

...Half a month later.

Yu Xuzi first opened up seventy-two formation eyes around Cangqing Mountain—these formation eyes were arranged according to the Feng Shui layout of Cangqing Mountain, with the distance and position between each eye being extremely precise.

Immediately after, he embedded seventy-two white jade pieces, onto which he had carved spirit-gathering runes, into the formation eyes one by one.

Because Cangqing Mountain lacked Spiritual Vein support, it would be best to use Spirit Stones to fill the formation eyes for better results.

However, conditions were limited for now, so this would have to do.

The moment all seventy-two jade pieces were buried, a faint spiritual light seeped out from the soil, creating a weak resonance with the surrounding Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence.

The next step was to build the spirit formation core!

Yu Xuzi took out a Formation Plate made of hundred-refined essence iron, inscribed with countless runes. He dripped a few drops of essence blood from his fingertip and began chanting.

"Spiritual rhythm of the heavens, sun, moon, and universe."

"Clear Qi rises, turbid Qi condenses below."

"Chaos spiritual essence, heed my command."

"Gather!"

Yu Xuzi's hands formed hand seals, and the sixty-plus strands of mana in his body circulated rapidly, flowing through his fingertips into the Formation Plate before him.

With the injection of mana, the runes on the Formation core suddenly erupted with dazzling white light, quickly spreading to all the formation eyes through a specific vibration.

"Buzz—!!!"

Accompanied by a sudden low hum, the seventy-two jade piece formation eyes began to tremble simultaneously, as if the spiritual essence of heaven and earth was being continuously drawn in... though this last part was actually just Yu Xuzi's imagination.

In reality, after the Formation was complete, all anomalies disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

Yu Xuzi waited expectantly for a full half-day before sensing that the spiritual essence in Yuxu Temple seemed to have increased by just a tiny bit.

Truly just a tiny bit... "Ridiculous!"

"The effect of this Formation is actually this poor?"

"Is it because it's already an age of decadence and the spiritual essence is thin? Or is it because I didn't use Spirit Stones when setting up the Formation?"

Yu Xuzi couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.

But this was all he could do; it was better than nothing.

Seventy-two Spirit Stones—where was he supposed to find those?

He hadn't even seen them.

"Never mind, let's continue with setting up the Illusion Array."

Yu Xuzi rested for half an hour to recover his mana, then immediately began setting up the Elementary Illusion Array.

This time he traversed the entire Cangqing Mountain, following the mountain's Feng Shui layout, and similarly buried a large number of jade pieces at various formation eye nodes.

"Clear sky and peaceful earth, sun and moon in bright harmony."

"Three Powers and Four Symbols, Yin and Yang unified in form."

"Void and reality, illusion aligned with the heart."

"Hide!"

This time, with the injection of Yu Xuzi's mana, a visible gray light rapidly spread across the entire Cangqing Mountain.

Following closely, countless mists in the mountain forests began to arise and gather, surrounding the mountainside of Cangqing Mountain.

Looking from the outside, the summit of Yuxu Temple was still that dilapidated old Taoist temple.

The walls were mottled, the vegetation was withered and yellow, and there was nothing unusual.

But if someone were to break into the Formation from the foot of the mountain, they would fall into an illusion.

The temple before them would vanish, replaced by a boundless mist, enough to make a Mortal lose their sense of direction and be scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

Even for a Qi Refining Cultivator, what they would see from the outside would be this illusionary scene.

However, if they were to break in, it would be hard to say.

Perhaps it wouldn't take much effort; just releasing a few Spells might disrupt the mountain and water layout and see through the illusion.

But this was also a good start.

He didn't plan on founding a sect.

As long as it could conceal the anomalies from his practicing of Spells, it would be fine.

In the not-too-distant future, he would be leaving this age of decadence for another world.

Even if Cangqing Mountain were as solid as a fortress, what use would it be?