40: Chapter 40: Concealing the Spirit Array, Harmonizing the Earth's Veins, and First Hearing of the Secret Market

Having crafted crude Formation bases himself, Ye Qing's understanding of Formation moved from pure theory to the stage of practice and verification.

He was no longer satisfied with sketching Formation patterns in the Void Realm; he began searching for a suitable physical location to attempt setting up the composite "Yinling Protective Formation" he had long conceived.

This Formation needed to combine multiple effects: "concealing aura," "distorting light and shadow," "disrupting perception," "basic protection," and "gathering Spiritual Qi." The range didn't need to be large; it just needed to cover the small space where he would seclude himself in the future.

With limited Materials and crude Formation bases, he needed to utilize the terrain to make up for his deficiencies.

He left his temporary cave and carefully surveyed the area within a hundred miles. Combining the descriptions in the miscellaneous notes on earth vein geomancy with his enhanced spatial perception, he looked for locations where the earth vein Spiritual Qi was relatively calm and stable, and which had certain natural barriers.

Three days later, he found an ideal spot at the end of a deep valley.

This place was surrounded by mountains on three sides, all steep cliffs, with only a narrow crevice leading to the outside, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. At the bottom of the valley was a small spirit spring. The spring water was clear and contained weak water Spiritual Qi, perfect for setting up water-element Formation bases to harmonize the Five Elements. The surrounding dense forest could provide wood-element Life Qi. The cliff rocks were solid and could serve as the earth-element Foundation.

Even better, Ye Qing carefully sensed with his Divine Sense that although the earth vein Spiritual Qi here was not dense, its flow was exceptionally stable. Several key Spiritual Qi nodes happened to form a natural, weak "Spirit Gathering" pattern, which was thirty percent similar to a certain "Earth Vein Spirit Locking" configuration he had seen in his notes.

"This is the place. The natural configuration already has thirty percent of the Formation's momentum. I only need to follow the trend, guide it slightly, and reinforce it to achieve twice the result with half the effort."

He selected his location on a relatively flat boulder next to the spirit spring, which would serve as the core of his future seclusion.

In the following days, he made this the center and began his first real attempt at setting up a Formation.

First, he combed and guided the earth vein Spiritual Qi.

Using the scale Formation base containing the "thick earth" Formation intent as the core, combined with several purified earth-attribute Ore, he buried them upstream, midstream, and downstream of the spirit spring. Using his own spiritual power, he outlined simplified guiding runes to slowly lead the steadily flowing earth and water Spiritual Qi from underground toward the boulder.

This step was crucial; it required a precise grasp of the flow of the earth vein Spiritual Qi. A slight carelessness could destroy the fragile balance of the place or even invite a backlash of earth Qi.

Ye Qing was fully focused, using both his Divine Sense and spiritual power. Like the most precise craftsman, he carefully adjusted the position of each Formation base and the direction of each guiding rune. With the aid of his spatial sensitivity to energy fluctuations, his control over the flow of earth Qi became increasingly adept.

After setting up the three "Thick Earth Spirit Suppression" nodes, the earth vein Spiritual Qi was slowly gathered and converged toward the boulder. Although the speed was very slow and the amount very small, it had the advantage of being stable and continuous.

Next was setting up the main body for concealment and protection.

He used the three "Solidifying" fang Formation bases, combined with metal-attribute Ore fragments, and buried them in a triangle around the boulder, forming the most basic "Triangular Solidifying Formation," which focused on "stability" and "protection."

He then used two "Light Body" feather Formation bases, combined with wind-attribute Spirit Stone powder, to set up a small "Flowing Wind Maze Formation" outside the triangle, which focused on "interference" and "illusion."

Finally, using his understanding of the Five Elements cycle, combined with the water Qi from the spirit spring, the surrounding wood-element Life Qi, the earth-element Spiritual Qi from the earth veins, the metal-stone Qi, and the spatial fluctuations faintly emitted by the "void wind seed" within his space, he attempted to outline an extremely weak but existent "Five Elements Cycle Concealment Aura" on the outermost perimeter of the Formation.

This "Concealment Aura" had no physical Formation base. It relied entirely on his precise control of the Five Elements Spiritual Qi and his deep understanding of Formation principles. It was maintained by the embryonic composite Formation field of this place, acting like a continuously flowing and self-adjusting optical and Spiritual Qi camouflage, assimilating the internal aura, light, shadow, and even weak spiritual power fluctuations with the surrounding environment to the greatest extent.

The whole process was slow and arduous. He had to constantly calculate the spiritual power connections between the Formation bases, adjust the rune structure to adapt to the actual environment, and constantly maintain his own spiritual power output to guide and stabilize the operation of the entire composite Formation.

Failure was a common occurrence. Spiritual power conflicts in the Formation bases, collapse of the rune structure, temporary disorder of earth Qi, and even the attraction of small Spiritual Qi vortexes that shredded the surrounding vegetation.

But Ye Qing was not discouraged. After every failure, he carefully reviewed, combined his spatial Comprehension Ability to quickly identify the crux, and adjusted the plan. When Materials were exhausted, he would pause the setup, go out to hunt a few suitable Yao Beasts, use their Materials to refine new Formation bases, or let the space absorb the Yao Beast corpses to feed back energy and restore his state.

This was repeated for nearly a month.

When the final "Five Elements Cycle Concealment Aura" successfully connected with the entire composite Formation and began to circulate stably, Ye Qing stood at the edge of the Formation and let out a long sigh of relief.

Looking at the area within a radius of about ten zhang centered on the spirit spring boulder, the light seemed to have undergone an extremely subtle distortion, and the scenery appeared slightly hazy. Standing outside the Formation, probing with Divine Sense, one could only sense that the Spiritual Qi here was slightly calmer and more active than elsewhere, but it was difficult to perceive the specific situation inside, and even more impossible to detect the faint aura Ye Qing deliberately released. If one forcibly probed with Divine Sense, one would feel a slight dizziness and disorientation.

"It's done! The embryonic form of the 'Yinling Protective Formation' is successfully set up!"

A huge sense of achievement surged in Ye Qing's heart. This was not just a Formation; it was a "work" he had completed independently by comprehensively applying his knowledge and abilities, and overcoming difficulties.

He walked into the Formation and sat cross-legged on the boulder.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi inside the Formation was two to three tenths higher than the outside due to the "Spirit Gathering" guidance, and it was more pure and calm. Being in it, his mind was peaceful; the wind and beast roars outside seemed to be separated by a layer, becoming blurred and distant.

"Although this Formation is crude, its protective power can at most withstand short-term attacks from a Cultivator at the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and the concealment effect may not be able to deceive the careful investigation of a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage. But for me now, it is enough as a relatively safe temporary stronghold, and even one of the alternative locations for future Foundation Establishment seclusion."

More importantly, through this practice, his understanding of Formation had Advanced by leaps and bounds. His application of earth vein Spiritual Qi, harmonization of the Five Elements Dao, and even his techniques for setting up Formations in the Void Realm had all undergone a qualitative improvement. Those Formation bases he refined himself were also tested and optimized in practice.

He carefully recorded the core control method of the Formation and the coordinates of this place into a blank Jade Slip and kept it safe.

Just as he was preparing to meditate and recover in the Formation, and continue to deduce and optimize the details of the Formation, another Jade Slip in his bosom suddenly transmitted an extremely faint spiritual power fluctuation.

This Jade Slip was the name card he had previously obtained from Shopkeeper Qian of Baicao Pavilion. Shopkeeper Qian had once said that with this Jade Slip, he could receive some "special" information transmitted by him.

Ye Qing's heart moved, and he sank his Divine Sense into the Jade Slip.

There was no Divine Sense imprint of Shopkeeper Qian inside the Jade Slip, only a short, encrypted Divine Thought message, like an encrypted sound transmission Talisman.

"Three days later, at the hour of the Rat, thirty miles outside Blackwater Market, at Luoyan Slope, a 'Secret Market' will open. With this slip, you can enter. Inside, there will be Formation Legacy, rare Materials, and even ancient relics. The highest bidder wins, and bartering is also allowed. Be cautious."

Secret Market?

Ye Qing raised his eyebrows. The Black Water Swamp was a mixed bag of people. Besides the open markets, there naturally existed some more hidden "Secret Markets" with higher thresholds, where traded items were shadier or more precious. They were usually organized secretly by some powerful groups or individuals. Participants needed introductions from acquaintances or tokens, and the location and time of the Secret Market changed at any time to ensure safety.

Shopkeeper Qian's move was clearly extending an olive branch to him, and it also meant that the other party recognized that he was "qualified" to participate in this level of trading.

"Secret Market... Formation Legacy, rare Materials, ancient relics... Perhaps, there might be the more Advanced Formation Legacy I need? Or, more clues about the ancient teleportation array and the Xingluo Sect?"

Ye Qing was tempted. His current knowledge of Formation, relying on his own exploration and a few miscellaneous notes, had already reached a Bottleneck. To set up a Formation that could truly cope with the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation, he must obtain a more systematic and profound Legacy.

"Risks certainly exist. Monsters and demons gather in the Secret Market, the origins of the traded items are unknown, and one must be wary of double-crossing. But the opportunity is equally rare."

He weighed it for a moment, and had already made a decision.

"Go. But I need to make full preparations. Conceal my identity, prepare enough chips, and be vigilant about everything."

He withdrew from the Jade Slip, memorized the information, and casually wiped it away.

In the next three days, he did not go out again, but stayed in the newly set up "Yinling Protective Formation," consolidating the Formation and familiarizing himself with its control, while adjusting his state to the best.

At the same time, he began to count the chips available for trading.

"moonlight heart-clearing powder" had a unique effect and was worth a lot, but it was easy to arouse associations, so it should be used with caution. He could carry a small amount for emergencies.

The basic Talisman he drew himself were of excellent quality and had been proven to have a market in Blackwater Market, so he could bring some.

High-quality Spirit Medicine Materials like moonlight flower and iron wire vine produced in his space, after purification, were far more valuable than ordinary ones and could be used as hard currency.

Yao Beast Materials obtained from hunting and purified by the space, such as Wind-Splitting Falcon feathers, Wind-Gale Rhinoceros scales, and Tier 1 Yao Beast cores, were also hot commodities.

The most important thing was Spirit Stone. He currently had nearly a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stone on hand, accumulated from multiple sales of medicine powder and Talisman. In the Secret Market, Spirit Stone was always the universal currency.

He put some of the chips into several different, most ordinary Storage Pouchs, leaving only a small amount of Spirit Stone and ordinary Talisman on his body. The important items and most of the Spirit Stone were put into the space within his body—this was the safest and most hidden "Storage Pouch."

Three days later, midnight.

Ye Qing had changed his appearance, disguising himself as a lone middle-aged Loose Cultivator with a grim face, sharp eyes, and an aura of about the Sixth Level of Qi Refining. He was wearing an inconspicuous gray-black cloak with the hood pulled low, covering most of his face.

He quietly left the Yinling Protective Formation, activated the embryonic "Wind Spirit Wings," and his figure glided silently through the night like a ghost, heading toward "Luoyan Slope."

Inside his body, the sixty-five-zhang space was running quietly, moonlight flowing, wind swirls faintly.

The spiritual power of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer was surging steadily.

A new opportunity and risk were waiting ahead.

On the road of steady development, another step was taken into the unknown deep water zone.