338: It's all my own hard work!

“Soul-Gathering Life-Preserving Grand Formation…”

It was undoubtedly a good thing; an array crafted by four Immortals working together could be called infinitely powerful.

But no matter how good something was, one had to consider the risks involved. Xu Sanyan pondered for a long time before asking, “How do we cooperate? What do you need me to do?”

“Lend me your Secret Realm for a bit.”

“Pah!”

Without a word, Xu Sanyan spat a mouthful of phlegm onto her face. Zuoqiu Zhen quickly dodged, her eyes filled with anger as she glared at him, “What are you doing?!”

She hadn’t expected Xu Sanyan, a great Cultivator in the Soul Refinement Realm, to still resort to such childish tactics.

“Use the Secret Realm? How could you even say that?!”

Xu Sanyan sneered, a flash of killing intent in his eyes. He had abandoned his position as the Demon Sect Saint for this item; how could he allow others to covet it?!

Zuoqiu Zhen also saw how much Xu Sanyan valued the secret realm fruit and quickly waved her hands, explaining, “It’s not what you think. This Secret Realm is Secret Realm Type B, Number Seven. If I remember correctly, there should be a Land of Absolute Spirit within it, right?”

“How do you know?” Xu Sanyan asked guardedly.

A Land of Absolute Spirit meant there was no Spiritual Qi, which was indeed the case within the Secret Realm.

Zuoqiu Zhen gently reassured him, “Of course I know. I also participated in the construction of the Peach Garden Secret Realm. I can’t say I know all two hundred-plus Secret Realms by heart, but I do know a thing or two.”

Xu Sanyan slowly nodded, then said, “I definitely won’t lend you the Secret Realm. You can give up on that idea.”

“I can help you explore the Secret Realm faster. I observe that your Body Refining Dao has strengthened, so you must have gained some benefits from it. I can help you gain more.”

“Absolutely not needed!” Xu Sanyan refused very decisively.

This old demoness had been beating around the bush for a long time, only to finally reveal her true intentions here.

Zuoqiu Zhen pouted helplessly, “Sigh… You really don’t need to be so wary of me. This Secret Realm is of no use to me at all. The only reason I want to borrow it is to use it as an array eye.”

“Heh heh.” Xu Sanyan’s smile was somewhat mocking. No matter what she said, he would never lend this item out.

Zuoqiu Zhen also saw Xu Sanyan’s resolve and could only settle for a compromise, saying, “How about this? You still keep the item. You just need to place it somewhere once I’m ready. How does that sound?”

“What do you intend to do?” Xu Sanyan probed.

Zuoqiu Zhen thought for a moment, then pulled out a large banner from her Storage Pouch. It was the Soul-Suppressing Banner that had been stuck in the main hall of the Hundred Saints Secret Realm earlier.

“Change the Formation and steal the Wang family’s Soul Crystal. Speaking of which, this matter is related to you. If you hadn’t destroyed my Formation back then, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry.”

Xu Sanyan remained expressionless, with not a trace of guilt in his heart.

Zuoqiu Zhen didn’t intend to morally blackmail him, knowing he had no morals. So, she pointed at the secret realm fruit and said, “This item is devoid of Spirit Qi, which makes it perfect to serve as an array eye and modify the Grand Array.”

Xu Sanyan frowned, “If you change the Formation, how could the Wang family not notice?”

“Heh, notice?”

Zuoqiu Zhen exuded powerful confidence, a hint of disdain on her lips. “The Wang family are all mediocre fools. They only learned a superficial bit of Formation knowledge and dared to show off. A perfectly good Soul-Gathering Life-Preserving Grand Formation was laid out by them like a child’s scribble, and it hasn’t been maintained for a long time, so many loopholes have appeared.”

“If I hadn’t helped them optimize so much recently, I’m afraid the Grand Array would have collapsed soon. That Wang family Old Ancestor got a benefit for nothing; he should even thank me.”

It was clear that she looked down on the Wang family and even more so on the Formation they had set up.

Xu Sanyan tilted his head, “Optimize?”

“Yes, previously the Wang family Old Ancestor could only barely cling to life, maintaining his vitality with difficulty. Now he has enough energy to move around.”

Xu Sanyan hesitated, “This Grand Array extracts the Divine Soul essence of the Wang family descendants to nourish the Wang family Old Ancestor. You helped optimize it, so…”

Zuoqiu Zhen nodded, “Naturally, it extracts more.”

“Tsk…”

Xu Sanyan silently mourned for the Wang family descendants.

“Have you considered it?” Zuoqiu Zhen asked.

Xu Sanyan lowered his gaze, pondering for a long time, still wanting to refuse. Just as he shook his head, Zuoqiu Zhen immediately interrupted, “I’ll add ten more Soul Crystals.”

“Oh, you have Soul Crystals?” Xu Sanyan’s face showed surprise; he desperately needed Soul Crystals right now.

Zuoqiu Zhen looked outside as if it were obvious, “The Wang family has them.”

“Hmm?”

“I have my ways, don’t worry. I will never covet your Secret Realm. I only need one day to complete the setup, and then you can take back your Secret Realm.”

Xu Sanyan pondered, “Allow me to consider it.”

“Alright, I’ll come back in three days.” Zuoqiu Zhen wasn’t in a hurry to force a decision from him.

At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the door, and both looked over simultaneously.

Zuoqiu Zhen glanced at him, pushed open the window, and jumped out. She turned and threw a booklet over, “This is a detailed explanation of the Grand Array that I personally wrote. You can take a look.”

With that, she leaped and disappeared.

“Creak—”

The wooden door opened, and Wang Zixuan looked at him with a beaming smile, “Mr. Lin, you’re back! Where have you been these past few days? I missed you so much.”

Xu Sanyan suddenly paused, then sharply turned to look at her. He felt that the demon seed had weakened significantly, and Wang Zixuan was regaining her self-awareness.

It must be because of that painting.

This wouldn’t do. Xu Sanyan’s mind stirred, and a rune condensed again in the Void Realm, slowly sinking into the depths of her glabella.

Xu Sanyan thought for a moment, “Go call Wang Ruixin and Wang Qingyu.”

“Yes.” Wang Zixuan’s expression was slightly blank; she turned and left without a word.

A moment later, the three girls stood in a line. Xu Sanyan sensed that the demon seeds within the other two girls had also weakened, but not as severely as Wang Zixuan’s. After reinforcing them, he let them leave.

“Wait!”

Xu Sanyan suddenly spoke, calling them back, “Take off your clothes.”

The three girls exchanged glances and obediently complied.

…

In the evening, Xu Sanyan sat in the courtyard, flipping through the detailed explanation of the Formation left by Zuoqiu Zhen, which documented hundreds of variations of the Grand Array.

The more Xu Sanyan read, the more profound he found it. As expected of a creation jointly made by four Immortals, it contained myriad complexities. The variation used by the Wang family was merely one of them, and the most insignificant part at that.

The Dao of Formations was extremely vast, composed of several parts such as array foundations, array patterns, and array eyes. Its complexity and meticulousness were like a precise machine; even a slight change would result in a completely different effect.

Xu Sanyan rubbed his head with a slight grimace, then slammed the book onto the stone table, “Sigh…”

He had been a poor student since childhood, and even Transmigration hadn’t changed his nature as a slacker. The boundless vastness of this Formation made him shrink back; just looking at it gave him a headache.

“No choice…”

He could only resort to that method!

Xu Sanyan’s achievements today were all thanks to his own persistent effort and diligence!

“Enhance for me!”

Xu Sanyan roared softly, and a panel appeared before his eyes.