With the help of the Fenze Boat-Pulling Beast, the journey that originally took several days was shortened to two days. Fenze was eager to pull the boat to the grassland immediately, but ultimately stopped in Shangyang. After all, even if you're going to establish a sect, you still need to do the preparatory work.
Upon arriving in Shangyang, they split into two groups. Ling Qi went back to the Yuan family to gather his clansmen and come over, while You You led his brothers from Shangyang to the grassland ruins to find the exact location of the spiritual vein.
Almost instantly, back to the moment when the grassland was flattened, the little monster of the Burning Swamp took the lead and began digging a hole, excitedly urging Youyou to speed up as it dug.
Although the entire ruins had almost completely collapsed, with Fenze's guidance, they were able to pinpoint the exact location of the spiritual vein without much effort. In less than five days, they figured out the specific direction and scale of the entire spiritual vein.
Youyou had no concept of the size of the spiritual vein. It was only when Ling Qi arrived with his clansmen and saw the spiritual vein that he was shocked, proving that the spiritual vein of the ruins might actually be quite large.
"I never expected that this mortal city would have such a dense spiritual vein!" Ling Qi instantly felt as if he had been struck by a stroke of good fortune. Only top-tier immortal sects would possess such a dense spiritual vein. Strangely, no immortal sect had noticed this place. It should be known that places where spiritual energy gathers are always hotly contested by various immortal sects.
"There used to be a large ruin here, but... it collapsed later." Youyou scratched her head a little embarrassedly, after all, the ruin was the one that started it.
"So that's how it is!" Ling Qi finally understood. Perhaps it was the array within the ruins that suppressed the loss of spiritual energy, which was why the spiritual veins were not discovered by other immortal sects.
"By the way, Ling Qi, didn't you say that a certain array needs to be set up on a spiritual vein to be effective? Have you found a way?" You You asked hurriedly.
“It’s a mountain-protecting formation!” Ling Qi nodded and quickly pulled out a large pile of documents, saying, “In the past few days since I got back, I’ve organized the clan’s cultivation manuals and found out the formation methods for these mountain-protecting formations.”
"You've finished organizing so quickly!" What a talent! Youyou quickly took the document, flipped through it, and froze for a moment. "What's this?"
The surface was covered with all sorts of drawings, along with a bunch of incomprehensible text.
"This formation is extremely complex. I've studied it for several days and haven't even grasped a tenth or a twentieth of its meaning." Ling Qi frowned. The art of formations has always been profound. If the ancestor were still alive, he could have given it a try, but alas…
"I've heard that the Huanyu Sect is extremely skilled in formations. If possible..." However, seeking help from other sects would inevitably come at a price.
"Tch, a few Five Elements Spirit-Attracting Arrays, why would we need to help others!" Feng Rong leaned over for a glance and said with a disdainful look.
"You can understand it?" Youyou looked at him with surprise.
"Nonsense!" Feng Rong raised her eyebrows, her expression becoming even more arrogant, smug like a cat with its tail wagging. "I have a Nascent Soul cultivation, how could I not see through such a low-level spirit-attracting array?"
"Awesome!" Youyou immediately gave him a thumbs up and stroked his hair. "Then explain to me what's drawn in this picture?"
Feng Rong didn't delay and continued pointing to the diagram, "The Five Elements Spirit Guiding Array is divided into five layers: metal, earth, water, fire, and earth. These five arrays depend on and generate each other to ensure the circulation of spiritual energy. This is the metal array, and this one..."
He explained everything in detail, carefully describing the operation of the array in You You's hands and the function of each magic seal. Only then did You You fully understand the diagrams, and as the other person explained, the complete array diagram unconsciously appeared in his mind.
"This is just a basic spirit-guiding formation; it's far from being a true mountain-protecting formation!" Feng Rong added after finishing her statement.
"Huh? Why?" Youyou was taken aback.
"A so-called mountain-protecting formation should naturally have the ability to protect the mountain!" Feng Rong gave them a look that said they didn't even understand, but still explained, "A complete mountain-protecting formation consists of two layers. The inner layer draws in spiritual energy to ensure that the spiritual energy of the mountain gate does not leak out, while the outer layer defends against external enemies and protects the disciples and members. It is the last and strongest line of defense for a sect."
“That’s right!” Ling Qi nodded in agreement. “It’s rumored that the outer protective formation of top sects, once activated, can withstand a full-force attack from three Nascent Soul cultivators.”
You You nodded, meaning that the mountain-protecting formation was the sect's defense system. "Then how should this outer layer of formation be set up?"
Ling Qi was taken aback, and said with some guilt, "Please forgive me, Your Excellency. Generally, the outer protective formations are different for each sect, and they are often changed. Therefore... the Yuan family does not have a specific method for setting up the outer formation."
Originally, the outer array was meant to protect the mountain gate, so it has always been kept secret by each sect. Otherwise, if it were leaked, it would be easy for someone to take advantage of the situation and break in. Then the array would be meaningless. Therefore, every once in a while, each sect would have someone skilled in arrays modify the protective array, so there is no specific array layout.
"Oh, I see!" Youyou also realized, "So... we can't set up the outer layer of the formation in a short time." After all, they were all novices.
"It's not just the outer layer!" Feng Rong glanced at her and said, "Even with this Five Elements Spirit-Attracting Array, none of the disciples you chose could set it up!"
"Why?"
"Although the Five Elements Spirit Guiding Array is simple, it requires controlling five different types of spiritual energy simultaneously to inscribe the array shape! Only then can it draw upon the spiritual energy within the spiritual veins!" Feng Rong continued, "Ordinary cultivators are already quite good at controlling two or three types of spiritual energy, let alone five at the same time!"
"That complicated?"
“Of course!” He seemed to have thought of something, straightened up, and desperately hinted, “Ahem…only those with a cultivation level of Nascent Soul or above can inscribe this formation while controlling the five elements of spiritual energy.”
“Draw the formation?” You You didn’t notice his gaze and pondered for a moment before saying, “You mean, we just need to use the five elements of spiritual energy to draw the formation on this diagram?”
"That's right!"
"And what about these incantation characters?"
“Once the formation is complete, the spells will naturally manifest,” he replied.
"Oh, I see. It sounds... pretty simple!"
"What do you want to do? You don't mean to try setting up the formation yourself, do you?" Feng Rong glanced at You You, who had started flipping through the book again, and bluntly retorted, "Do you think just anyone can set up a formation? The Mountain Protection Formation isn't a small formation; it's meant to cover the entire sect. With your cultivation level, you can't possibly..."
Before he could finish speaking, Youyou raised his hand, and the next moment the sky brightened, and five huge formations appeared in the sky, almost filling the entire horizon. They not only covered the ruins under his feet, but also the entire grassland... and even spread towards Shangyang.
Feng Rong: "..."
Ling Qi: "..."
The disciples: "..."
Σ(°△°|||)︴
All the friends were stunned!
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