171: Chapter 171 Array Base Modification, Early Warning System Initially Established (1)

The Old Formation Master tapped the reef wall twice with his Formation ruler.

He tapped the spot where the Geng Metal Sword Intent on the outermost circle of the Array Pattern landed—a layer of extremely thin golden light membrane seeped outward from the Array Pattern.

When the Formation ruler tapped it, the light membrane trembled—the magnitude of the vibration was tiny, but the force of the vibration transmitted back caused the Old Formation Master's fingers to tighten by half an inch on the ruler's handle.

"Sword Intent from a Golden Core Sword Cultivator—Array Patterns drawn by a second-tier Formation Master."

He moved the Formation ruler away from the reef wall—but before doing so, he used the tip of the ruler to tap a corner of the Array Pattern.

The moment he tapped it, the dark golden light membrane on the Array Pattern sprang half an inch toward the tip of the ruler—after it sprang back, the color of the light membrane was one shade deeper than before.

"With these two things layered together—those below the Golden Core stage cannot enter.

Your island—the foundation for the defense is well-laid."

He put the Formation ruler back into his sleeve—then turned around to look at Su Qingli.

He looked for less than a breath—his gaze swept from her face to the Formation ink stains on the cuffs of her work robe, then to the Formation Plate hanging at her waist.

"Are you a Formation Master?"

"Third-tier."

Su Qingli rolled up the cuff of her work robe by half an inch—revealing a row of Formation brushes inserted into a leather sheath on the inside of the cuff.

The tips of the Formation brushes were arranged from thick to thin—the thinnest tip was only half the thickness of a strand of hair.

"Take me to see the layout of your Earth Veins."

Su Qingli led the Old Formation Master from the Outer Port Pier toward the interior of the island.

They walked up the stone steps along the inside of the Ring Reef—the stone steps had been chiseled out by the Sin Battalion just a few days ago, and the smooth cut marks of the chisels still remained on the surface of the steps.

Walking to the middle of the reef wall—Su Qingli pushed open a stone door embedded in the reef wall.

Behind the stone door was a set of stone steps leading downward—the steps led into the interior of the reef wall.

A portion of the interior of the reef wall had been hollowed out—the space hollowed out was not large, about a zhang square.

The four walls of the space were natural reef rock—the surface of the reef rock had formed an extremely hard shell after being eroded by seawater for a long time.

In the very center of the space stood a stone pillar extending from the ground to the top—the surface of the stone pillar was covered with engraved Array Patterns.

The Array Patterns spiraled from the bottom of the stone pillar to the top—between each circle of Array Patterns was a layer of extremely thin Spirit Stone fragments.

The Spirit Stone fragments in the grooves between the Array Patterns emitted a very faint blue light—the blue light pulsed from the bottom of the stone pillar to the top at a speed of about once every ten breaths.

The boundary suppression stele.

Behind the boundary suppression stele—a larger stone plate was embedded in the ground.

The layout map of Blue Moon Island's Earth Veins was engraved on the stone plate—extending outward from the Spirit Gathering Array at the center of the island, the direction of each Earth Vein was marked with ink lines of varying depths.

The deepest ink line represented the main vein—extending eastward from the Spirit Gathering Array, passing through the bottom of the Ring Reef, and extending to the area below the cold water layer of the Outer Port.

The next deepest ink lines represented three branch veins—extending north, west, and south, respectively.

At the end of the eastward branch vein, a small red circle was marked—that was the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench.

The Old Formation Master squatted down next to the stone plate.

His squatting posture was the same as it had been after squatting for a month in the stone house on Broken Star Reef—his knees pressed against the edge of the stone plate, his back against the boundary suppression stele.

He pulled the Formation ruler from his sleeve—and slowly measured along the Earth Vein layout map with the broken end of the ruler.

He started from the Spirit Gathering Array at the center of the island—measuring eastward along the main vein, until he reached the bottom of the Ring Reef.

Then he continued measuring eastward along the east branch vein—until he reached the position of the small red circle.

He turned the Formation ruler horizontally—and measured the length of the east branch vein from the Ring Reef to the small red circle.

Then he took out that remnant map from his bosom—unfolded it, and pressed it down next to the stone plate.

The direction of the ancient array vein on the remnant map and the direction of the east branch vein of Blue Moon Island on the stone plate—the section extending eastward from the Ring Reef—were consistent in direction.

The two lines extended separately on the stone plate and the remnant map—the deviation in the angle of extension was less than three degrees.

The Old Formation Master spent nearly an hour measuring between the remnant map and the stone plate with the Formation ruler.

He measured very slowly—for every section he measured, he used the tip of the Formation ruler to carve an extremely fine mark on the edge of the stone plate.

He carved four marks.

All four marks were on the outer edge of Blue Moon Island's Ring Reef—extending from the reef wall toward the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench.

The first was directly east-northeast of the reef wall—facing the direction of the mouth of the Dragon Burial Trench.

The second was directly east—facing the middle waters of the Dragon Burial Trench.

The third was directly east-southeast—facing the position marked by the red circle on the remnant map.

The fourth was to the southeast—facing the break in the marked line on the remnant map.

He placed the Formation ruler on the stone plate.

"The ancient array vein on the remnant map—there is indeed a branch vein passing through these four points."

He tapped the first mark with his finger.

"The spiritual power fluctuation frequency of the four points—is consistent with the Formation base convergence node marked by that red circle on the remnant map.

Consistent frequency means that these four points are branch nodes of the same ancient array vein—the ancient array vein branches outward from that red circle position deep in the Dragon Burial Trench, and the branched-out vein extends westward, passing exactly through the underground of Blue Moon Island."

Su Qingli squatted on the other side of the stone plate.

She looked at those four marks—then took off the Formation Plate at her waist and placed it on the stone plate.

The sensing patterns on the Formation Plate began to rotate slowly—the direction of rotation was scanning from inside the island to outside.

When it scanned to the mark directly east-northeast—the sensing patterns on the Formation Plate suddenly accelerated by nearly double.

When it scanned to the mark directly east—it became even faster.

When it scanned to the two marks directly east-southeast and southeast—the sensing patterns stopped completely.

After stopping, the Spirit Stone core in the center of the Formation Plate lit up with a faint red light for a moment.

"These four positions—" Su Qingli picked up the Formation Plate.

The sensing patterns on the Formation Plate slowly recovered from the stopped state—retreating toward the interior of the island.

"There are spiritual power fluctuations underground.

Very weak—but the frequency is stable.

The frequency is consistent with the deep-sea Spiritual Pressure coming from the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench."

The Old Formation Master nodded.

The nodding movement was very light—his chin sank less than half an inch.

"Although the ancient array vein has been abandoned for decades—the vein channel still exists.

Although the residual spiritual power in the channel is not enough to drive any Formation—the spiritual power channel itself can still conduct fluctuations.

If we set up sensing array sheets at the four points—the island defense Formation will be able to perceive the spiritual power fluctuations coming from the direction of the Dragon Burial Trench in advance.

When enemies sneak over from the bottom of the water—the spiritual power fluctuations of the fleet, the spiritual power pulsations inside sea beasts, the spiritual power aura on the Haiyuan Clan—any kind of spiritual power fluctuation will be captured by the sensing array sheets when passing through the ancient array vein channel.

It is equivalent to installing an early warning layer for the island."

"The sensitivity of the sensing array sheets—" Su Qingli placed the Formation Plate on her knees.

Her fingers tapped twice on the edge of the Formation Plate—the rhythm of the tapping was a habit she had accumulated during the temporary live-wiring at Xuangui Island.

Every time the layout of the array vein was confirmed—she would use this rhythm to mark the confirmation.

"To what degree can it be adjusted?"

"It depends on the material of the array sheet."

The Old Formation Master took out an extremely thin Spirit Stone sheet from his sleeve—the Spirit Stone sheet was only the size of a fingernail, and its thickness was less than half a grain of rice.

An extremely fine sensing Array Pattern was engraved on the surface of the Spirit Stone sheet—the Array Pattern spiraled from the edge of the Spirit Stone sheet toward the center, spiraling five times.

"This is the standard sensing array sheet of the Ministry of War—the sensitivity is enough to capture the spiritual power fluctuations of a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator flying at full speed.

As for the distance—if set up on the ancient array vein channel, it can perceive them about a hundred miles in advance."