102: Research array

After leaving the Listening Rain Pavilion, Gu Chang began to wander around the market, and at the same time, he casually found a few shops to sell some Magical Artifacts and Talismans he no longer needed.

This allowed him to acquire over a thousand Spirit Stones again, and combined with the Spirit Stones he obtained from Shopkeeper Lin, he now had over three thousand Spirit Stones.

Such a large amount of Spirit Stones was not of much use to Gu Chang; normally, using Medicinal Pills like Spirit Gathering Pills was more effective for Cultivation.

Therefore, he chose to spend these Spirit Stones, purchasing Legacies related to Artifact Refining, Alchemy, and the rearing and cultivation of Spirit Beasts, as well as a simple Formation Legacy and a set of Medium Grade First Order Formation Flags.

These Legacies were not particularly Advanced; they were all First Order level for the Qi Refining stage, but they were just right for Gu Chang.

Anyway, his Martial Artist progress was becoming increasingly slow, and he didn't know how to use the large amount of time in the Reincarnation World, so it was perfect for studying this knowledge.

At the same time, purchasing these items was also preparation for his next plan.

The only troublesome thing was that his lavish spending of Spirit Stones would inevitably attract the attention of some people.

However, when Gu Chang left the Lingbao Island market, he appeared very calm and did not find anyone tracking him, which made him anticipate it for nothing.

After all, if someone really dared to target him, Gu Chang would absolutely not mind a 'black-on-black' scheme to earn back the Spirit Stones he had just spent.

Unfortunately, it was clear that the Cultivators in the Lingbao Island market were very cautious.

They would not act rashly without knowing Gu Chang's true Clone and background, and instead allowed Gu Chang to directly pilot his flying boat away.

“That's right, how many smart people are there in this world?”

“Even if those people really wanted to act, they would certainly wait until they understood my situation.”

“That Shopkeeper Lin back then probably only acted after getting a good grasp of my situation.”

After moving away from the Lingbao Island market, Gu Chang shook his head and laughed at himself; how many people who could become Cultivators were simple-minded fellows?

“Phew! Forget it, thinking about these things is meaningless!”

“The key now is to acquire a Spirit Island of my own!”

“Jiangchuan Ze itself is vast enough, but unfortunately, most of the Spirit Islands within it are already owned, so unless I expose my Martial Artist strength, it would be very difficult to seize an Island from others.”

“Of course, besides that, one can also Cultivate on a Spirit Island by renting an Immortal Cave in the market, or by marrying into other Cultivator Families, or by becoming a Guest Elder.”

The female Cultivator at Listening Rain Pavilion had already told him a lot of relevant information, but it was clear that Gu Chang did not want to tie himself to other forces.

Even renting an Immortal Cave with Spirit Stones was not suitable for Gu Chang now, as he had many secrets, and it would not be safe under the eyes of others.

What he truly wanted was a Spirit Island of his own, so he could truly do what he wanted to do!

“Whoosh ~”

While pondering, Gu Chang manipulated the flying boat to land on a small Island in Jiangchuan Ze.

“With my current strength, I might be able to seize a Spirit Island occupied by a Yao Beast, but it would be quite difficult for me alone, and even if I seized the Spirit Island, I would need to be able to defend it.”

“Although a Martial Artist's power relies on themselves, and their combat endurance is stronger than a Cultivator's, their methods are ultimately not as diverse as a Cultivator's.”

Gu Chang looked at this Island, casually cleared an open space, and then directly built a small house there.

This would become his foothold for a period of time, but long-term residence was impossible; after all, this was just an Island, with no Spiritual Qi, and even the space was not wide enough.

“So now, besides Talismans, the most important thing is to learn how to set up Formations!”

“This time, I happened to buy a beginner's guide to Formations and a set of Small Water Mist Refining Formation; next, I will strive to master this Formation within three days, so I can set it up at any time!”

Relying solely on Martial Artist strength would not allow one to stably occupy a Spirit Island for a long time, but with a Formation and a large number of Talismans, the situation would be different.

Thinking of this, Gu Chang immediately took out the Formation Flags, Formation Plate, and other items he had purchased from his Storage Pouch.

The entire Formation was a complete Formation refined by a Formation Great Master, and information on how to set it up, control it, and operate it was all detailed in the Jade Slip.

Compared to an outsider studying Formations from scratch, the use of this Formation could be described as 'idiot-proof'.

To be honest, compared to Talismans, Formations were clearly at the top of the hundred arts of Cultivation; any Great Master who studied Formations was, without exception, an outstanding individual among Cultivators, requiring not only high intelligence but also a deep understanding of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Gu Chang set up the Small Water Mist Refining Formation in his hand according to the content on the Jade Slip; often, even a tiny deviation in seemingly simple places would cause the entire Formation to be completely ineffective.

“Difficult! It's indeed very difficult!”

“This is just setting up the Formation by rote!”

“If one were to research and create Formations from scratch, the difficulty would probably be no less than a postgraduate exam!”

“Phew ~ Fortunately, my brain has been enhanced now, and my thinking and memory abilities are much stronger than before!”

It took Gu Chang more than half a day to finally set up the Small Water Mist Refining Formation according to the description on the Jade Slip.

This experience gave him a brand new understanding of the Dao of Formations, and at the same time, a stronger interest in it.

Under Gu Chang's activation, the completed Small Water Mist Refining Formation directly produced a dense water mist that enveloped the entire Island.

Because the entire Formation combined the characteristics of both a trapping Formation and a killing Formation, its power was even greater than the Formation that ambushed Gu Chang by the Cultivator from Cloud Firmament Palace back then.

Of course, because this was an Island, this Small Water Mist Refining Formation could not automatically draw Spiritual Qi to power its operation, so Gu Chang still needed to put Spirit Stones into the Formation Plate for it to operate for a long time.

“But now with such a Formation protecting me, I can feel much more at ease.”

He was quite satisfied with this effect; this Formation could perfectly integrate into the misty environment of Jiangchuan Ze, and with its combined trapping and killing Formation characteristics, even if discovered by other Cultivators, it would be extremely difficult for them to break in without alarming him, making it absolutely the most suitable Formation for him at this stage!

Returning to the small wooden house, Gu Chang did not rush into the Reincarnation World, but instead took out the book "Beginner's Guide to Formations" and began to carefully memorize it.

The content of the entire Beginner's Guide to Formations was not extensive, with only five sets of Formation explanations in total, three of which were Low Grade First Order Formations, belonging to the simplest type of Formations.

The other two were Medium Grade First Order Formations, one of which was the Small Water Mist Refining Formation he currently had, perfectly suitable for him to study.

Although the content of these five Formations was not much, memorizing them was quite arduous; Gu Chang could only first remember the three Low Grade First Order Formations, and then study the other two after he had thoroughly understood these Formations in the Reincarnation World.