Each Making Their Own Catch
The sudden surge of Spiritual Energy startled the Heavenly River Spirit.
The ball of light that was happily absorbing Spiritual Energy in the Spirit Gathering Formation suddenly trembled, and the Spiritual Runes on its surface darted around wildly like a disturbed swarm of bees.
Almost instinctively, it transformed into a streak of light and shot out, attempting to flee back the way it came.
The speed was so fast that it left a trail of afterimages in the river, like a pebble launched from a slingshot.
However, it was too late to escape at this point. The Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation had already been activated, and the barrier of interwoven spiritual light was like an impenetrable Copper Wall and Iron Bastion in front of it. It crashed into it headfirst, and with a muffled "bang," the ball of light was forcefully bounced back. The light on its surface flickered violently, making it dizzy and disoriented, like a fly that had hit a glass window.
Under the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation, a grandmaster-level formation, the Heavenly River Spirit tried to struggle.
It charged wildly in all directions, crashing into the barrier again and again, each impact exploding into a dazzling burst of light on the barrier.
But no matter which direction it hits, it will be bounced back by the forces from the other two directions.
Its resistance was far too weak in the face of the Grandmaster's formation, so much so that it was directly suppressed in a moment, revealing its true form, which turned into a crystal-clear Crystal Stone with river water flowing inside.
The Heavenly River Crystal rose slowly, drifted out of the formation, and landed in Zi Yan's hand.
Zi Yan reached out and caught it, gently weighing it in her hand. The Crystal Stone emitted a warm glow in her palm, and the river water within it flowed slowly, radiating a pure and vast ripple.
She smiled with satisfaction, her purplish-gold eyes curving into two crescent moons. As she tucked the Crystal Stone into her sleeve, she couldn't help but glance at it one last time, muttering, "This method works so well, it's like picking beans."
She turned her head to look at Lin Ming, gave him a thumbs up, and the meaning couldn't be clearer.
At that moment, Lin Ming waved his sleeve, and the formation was hidden once again.
The extremely bright Spiritual Runes dimmed one after another like the receding tide, merging back into the void, leaving only the innermost Spirit Gathering Formation still slowly operating, continuing to gather the surrounding Spiritual Energy to act as bait.
The reason he quickly hid the formation again was because he sensed that another Heavenly River Spirit was rapidly approaching from afar.
Lin Ming's lips curled slightly, and he tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, waiting for his prey to fall into the net.
In the next short hour, the area where Lin Ming and his companion were located became extremely lively.
One after another, the Heavenly River Spirit continuously emerged from the depths of the Heavenly River.
As if summoned by something, the orbs of light converged on this area one after another.
As soon as they arrived, they were so attracted by the dense Spiritual Energy in the Spirit Gathering Formation that it was condensed into crystal fragments that they couldn't move and circled around the Spirit Formation like a group of ants circling a honey pot.
After hesitating for a moment, the orbs of light could not resist the temptation and rushed into the Spirit Gathering Formation full of traps like hungry wolves pouncing on their prey.
But before they could even take a couple of bites, Lin Ming flicked his finger and activated the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation. The spiritual light suddenly closed in, trapping the orbs of light inside.
The Heavenly River Spirit charged left and right within the formation. Some of the fiercer ones managed to crash into four or five enemies before being suppressed. Some with slightly higher intelligence turned and ran, but their retreat had already been blocked by the Spirit Locking Formation. Most of them, however, could not withstand the three-colored strangulation for more than a few breaths before turning into a Crystal Stone and falling into Zi Yan's hand.
Faced with the numerous traps set by Lin Ming, these Heavenly River Spirit, whose intelligence was not high, could only be said to have walked right into the trap.
Thus, in just one hour, Lin Ming had acquired a total of fifteen Heavenly River Crystal.
The Crystal Stone were piled up in a small heap in Zi Yan's sleeve, and light shone through the gaps in the cuff.
Even with Lin Ming's composure, he couldn't help but beam with joy at such a gain.
He sat cross-legged in the boat, looking at the pile of Crystal Stone in Zi Yan's sleeve, tapping his fingers lightly on his knees, silently calculating in his mind.
Fifteen drops per hour, and you can easily get seventy or eighty drops a day. At this rate, getting a hundred Heavenly River Spirit wouldn't be too difficult.
Moreover, this is only with one Spirit Gathering Formation. If several Spirit Gathering Formation are set up and operate simultaneously, the efficiency can be doubled.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but chuckle softly twice, a chuckle carrying the satisfaction of an old farmer watching his crops grow well in his field.
However, while Lin Ming was reaping the Heavenly River Spirit in abundance, the fluctuations of the Spirit Formation in this place were also spreading continuously, which attracted the attention of some powerful individuals.
Although Lin Ming suppressed most of those fluctuations with a concealment formation, the burst of spiritual light from the Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation would still leak out some of its aura each time it was activated, like a firecracker covered by a blanket—the sound was muffled, but it still managed to get out.
The first one to be attracted was a middle-aged cultivator at the Middle Stage Tier 9 Supreme, wearing a Golden Eagle Token.
The man swept in from the direction of the deep water area and saw the three-colored spiritual light flashing in Lin Ming's area from afar. He immediately slowed down and approached.
When he saw Lin Ming so easily capture those incredibly troublesome Heavenly River Spirit using the Spirit Formation, his eyes bulged out in astonishment.
He stood there dumbfounded for a few moments, then a look of drooling appeared in his eyes.
He watched as one Crystal Stone after another entered Zi Yan's account, his Adam's apple bobbing. He subconsciously took a half-step forward, but then stopped.
He clearly sensed the power of that Spirit Formation; even Heavenly River Spirit comparable to Tier 9 Peak being was captured without any power to resist, let alone him, a Middle Stage Tier 9 Supreme.
The man gritted his teeth, but reason prevailed in the end. He shook his head, turned and left, glancing back twice as he went, his face full of heartache.
Then two or three more groups arrived, some were lone cultivators, and some were small groups of two or three people.
They watched from afar the flickering spiritual light in Lin Ming's area, and then examined the scale and fluctuations of the Spirit Formation, their expressions complex.
A burly man at the late stage of the Tier 9 Supreme stood outside the formation for a long time, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly, but ultimately he didn't dare to make a move.
One of his companions whispered, "That was at least a grandmaster level." The burly man was completely deflated, as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, and turned to leave.
So they could only walk away to avoid seeing it and getting even more upset.
Those who left could still see the flickering light in that area from a great distance away. It was like watching others feast on meat in front of them while they couldn't even get a sip of soup. That feeling was even more unbearable than being unable to defeat the Heavenly River Spirit.
However, Lin Ming and his group were not the only ones to cause such a commotion.
In another place deep within the Heavenly River, Qing Yanjing also caused a great commotion using a method similar to Lin Ming's.
She found a river ridge where Spiritual Energy gathered deep within the Heavenly River and used the secret methods of the Buddha Ancient Clan to set up an array completely different from Lin Ming's Three Essence Devouring Nether Formation.
The formation was based on the Ice Attribute and was entirely a cold, icy blue color. Once activated, it transformed into a frozen prison, trapping the Heavenly River Spirit within.
The orbs of light were frozen solid and could only obediently turn into ice-blue Crystal Stone that fell into her palm.
The commotion on her side was also quite significant; the icy blue light shimmered on the river's surface like the aurora borealis, attracting the attention of many cultivators nearby.
But once those people saw that it was Qing Yanjing from afar, they all obediently retreated.
With the title of goddess of the Buddha Ancient Clan standing before her, who would dare to try and steal her things?
Therefore, no one dared to covet the Heavenly River Spirit she had caught.
Neither of them knew that someone else was using a similar method to capture the Heavenly River Spirit, each making a fortune in their own territory.
The vast Heavenly River is now bustling with activity, as beams of light and shadow move through it, constantly searching for the presence of the Heavenly River Spirit.
In the beginning, many powerful individuals underestimated the power of the Heavenly River Spirit, and thus paid a heavy price.
Some unlucky fellows had their disciple tokens shattered by the force of the light. The small boats with White Wolf Token and Green Wolf Token were as fragile as paper when struck by the light. After the boats shattered, the people were swallowed by the Heavenly River Water before they could even scream. Their bodies turned into nothingness in the Heavenly River Water, leaving not even a bone behind.
Those who witnessed this scene were all terrified, their faces turning ashen, and they dared not underestimate their enemy in the slightest.
Later, when the powerful figures from all sides realized that the Heavenly River Spirit were troublesome, they all chose to join forces and use a siege-and-annihilation strategy to capture those Heavenly River Spirit, as long as they had not yet reached the Tier 9 Peak.
However, this not only reduces efficiency but also makes the allocation of resources quite a headache.
Several teams fought tooth and nail to obtain a Heavenly River Spirit, but ended up arguing fiercely over who should own Crystal Stone. Some even turned on each other and drew their swords, potentially leading to a bloody battle.
While Lin Ming was retrieving the Crystal Stone, he heard the sounds of fighting coming from two or three different places in the distance. The aftershocks of the collision of spiritual light caused the river water to surge and churn.
As for those powerful enough to capture the Heavenly River Spirit on their own, they are now exploring deep within the Heavenly River Way.
Most of those people were powerful experts at the Tier 9 Supreme Perfection, some were veteran masters who had been famous for many years, and some were top geniuses cultivated by various races.
They roamed the deep waters, and once they spotted the Heavenly River Spirit, they would immediately attack, making each battle an earth-shattering spectacle.
The clash of their Spiritual Energy churned Heavenly River Milky Way, creating towering waves and white columns of water shooting into the sky like erupting geysers.
Some people slapped out a palm, sending the ball of light flying hundreds of feet away; some people cleaved the river in two with a sword, creating a ravine tens of feet deep; some people activated their Dharma Body to clash head-on with the ball of light. Each collision was like two mountains crashing together.
The entire Heavenly River was boiling with energy, and various colored lights intertwined and shimmered on the water's surface, like a grand and chaotic fireworks display.
And time flew by rapidly amidst this boiling atmosphere.
The Spirit Formation on Lin Ming's side continued to flash, capturing one Heavenly River Spirit after another, while the Crystal Stone in Zi Yan's sleeves piled up higher and higher.