Breakthrough to Heavenly Immortal Late Stage

"This is not difficult. From today onwards, our patrol team will proactively attack and help you eliminate all the fierce beasts in the surrounding area." Elder Xuan Yue was most afraid that Concentric Valley would ask for nothing from him. Since the other party had asked for help, there was no reason to refuse. This was a good opportunity to strengthen contact with Concentric Valley.

"Besides, I see that the outer formation of Concentric Valley is quite rudimentary, and its defensive power is ultimately weak, only able to deal with small groups of fierce beasts. If you encounter a large-scale beast tide, or a sneak attack by some powerful fierce beast, I'm afraid you will face a catastrophe. I want to set up the Nine Bends Mountain Array here to help you strengthen your defenses. What do you think?"

The old patriarch of the Hoof Spirit Clan and the elder of the Stone Armor Clan were naturally overjoyed upon hearing this and quickly thanked them repeatedly.

Lin Yan's heart also stirred. He had heard Mo Xuan mention this Nine Bends Mountain Array before. It was a formation that relied on the earth veins and had extremely strong defensive capabilities. Once it was completed, even fierce beasts at the Mysterious Immortal level would find it difficult to break through easily. For these settlements, it was undoubtedly a sturdy life-saving barrier.

Elder Xuan Yue continued, "This formation requires the activation of earth veins and the connection of mountains and rivers. During the formation process, we will need your cooperation to provide the necessary manpower and resources, and you will need to be familiar with the operation of the formation so that you can maintain it yourself in the future."

"Willing! We are willing!" The old patriarch and the elder were extremely excited and expressed their willingness one after another. To add such a powerful guarantee to their homeland, any price was worth paying.

As soon as they decided, Elder Xuan Yue did not delay for a moment. In the following days, Elder Xuan Yue sent out patrol teams to attack in all directions, while personally surveying the terrain of Concentric Valley and designing the formation diagram according to the trends of the mountains and rivers.

Lin Yan, relying on his keen perception of the earth veins and his Earth Vein Resonance divine ability, took the initiative to offer his help. He had experience in setting up the Wutu Wasteland Suppression Great Array and offered many good suggestions to Elder Xuan Yue during the formation process, which made Elder Xuan Yue look at him with even greater admiration.

The living beings in Concentric Valley learned that the Kirin Clan was going to set up a defensive great array for them, and they would no longer have to fear sneak attacks from fierce beasts. Thus, regardless of whether they were young and strong or old and weak, they rushed to help. Under Lin Yan's command, they dug mountains, broke stones, excavated the array bases, and reinforced the array eyes, keeping themselves extremely busy.

The process of setting up the formation was also an opportunity to improve the environment of the settlement. In order to activate the more powerful Earth Vein Power, Elder Xuan Yue and Lin Yan took the opportunity to sort out the spirit veins in various places, clear blockages, and guide the spirit qi to flow more smoothly. This increased the concentration of spirit qi in Concentric Valley by another level, and the overall environment improved.

When Shi Yue, Mo Xuan, Ao Ye, and the others returned from sweeping the surrounding fierce beasts, the Nine Bends Mountain Array was basically completed.

As soon as the great array was activated, the entire valley trembled slightly. A thick, earthy yellow light shield extended along the winding mountain trends, forming an irregularly shaped defense barrier.

The moment the defense barrier closed, all the living beings in the valley could feel a deep and solid force emerging from the ground, firmly guarding the entire valley. The living beings in the valley immediately felt a great increase in their sense of security, and their gratitude towards the Kirin Clan and Lin Yan was even greater.

Elder Xuan Yue imparted some of the control incantations of the formation to the person in charge of Concentric Valley, so that they could activate the formation to protect themselves in times of crisis. Of course, some necessary backdoors were retained. The living beings of Concentric Valley did not notice this, but Lin Yan saw it clearly from the side.

Lin Yan understood Elder Xuan Yue's approach of holding something back. The Kirin Clan had its own selfish motives, and there was no reason for them to be completely selfless towards others. If they were to be mere good old people, the Kirin Clan would not be able to grow into a major power in the Primordial World.

The moment the great array was completed, everyone cheered in unison, celebrating with song and dance. The scene was extremely lively for a time.

But in Lin Yan's mind, the system's prompt suddenly sounded.

[Ding! Detected that the Host has successfully guided and assisted in the establishment of multiple symbiotic civilization settlements such as 'Concentric Valley', 'Bishui Peninsula', 'Shaxing Oasis', and 'Leiwén Mineral Fort', and has obtained the recognition and active protection of the local major power (Kirin Clan), forming a sustainable and positive development model.]

[Ding! Comprehensive judgment, Task Two: 'Promote the 'Earth Dragon Community' civilization model outwards, influencing and improving three regional ecological environments', has been over-fulfilled!]

[Task reward settlement in progress...]

[Reward distribution: Cultivation realm shackles removed, Heavenly Immortal Late Stage promotion channel opened; three each of Innate Five Elements Spirit Crystals 'Lihuo Spirit Crystal', 'Guishui Spirit Crystal', 'Gengjin Spirit Crystal', 'Yimu Spirit Crystal', 'Wutu Spirit Crystal'; Earth Vein Travel divine ability upgraded to high-level.]

The moment the prompt sounded, a more majestic and pure energy than the previous breakthrough to Heavenly Immortal Middle Stage erupted from the depths of Lin Yan's Dantian, through his meridians, and even from the 'Kun Yuan Life and Death Dao Seed' in the void, without any warning.

This surge of energy was more violent than any before. Lin Yan could even clearly "hear" the "crackling" sound of invisible shackles being broken layer by layer within his body. His bones, flesh, and meridians began to undergo a deeper level of restructuring and strengthening under the scouring of this power.

In his Dantian, the Earth Spirit Seal and the Primal Chaos Plate simultaneously emitted joyful humming sounds, actively absorbing the surging pure energy. The light on the artifact bodies became more restrained and profound. Especially the Primal Chaos Plate, the patterns on its disc body seemed to have become more complex and mysterious, and the light of the Primal Chaos Seed in the center had solidified a bit.

The transition from Early Heavenly Immortal to Middle Heavenly Immortal was a quantitative accumulation and initial qualitative change. The transition from Middle Heavenly Immortal to Late Heavenly Immortal was a deeper level of integration with one's own Dao, and a clearer perception and control over the Heaven and Earth Laws, which were no longer like looking through fog.

This breakthrough was a natural progression, without any obstruction.

Breaking through to the Heavenly Immortal Late Stage, it was only one step away from the True Immortal Realm.

"Again... broke through again?" Mo Xuan, who had been guarding Lin Yan, almost dropped his jaw to the ground. He thought he had gotten used to Lin Yan's breakthrough speed, but seeing Lin Yan reach the Heavenly Immortal Late Stage in such a short time once again still surprised him immensely. Lin Yan's cultivation speed always challenged the bottom line of his cognition as a Top Divine Beast, time and time again.

Ao Ye's dragon eyes widened, his dragon whiskers moving without wind, clearly showing his inner turmoil. He considered himself a dragon prodigy, and his cultivation speed was outstanding among his peers in the clan, but compared to Lin Yan... he felt like he had wasted the past few thousand years.

These two proud Top Divine Beasts felt an unprecedented sense of crisis at this moment.

"I can't take it anymore! Lin Yan is too monstrous. Little Ye, after we return to Qilin Cliff this time, I need to find a way to break through to the True Immortal Realm. I absolutely cannot let Lin Yan break through to the True Immortal Realm before me. What are your thoughts?"

Ao Ye, for once, didn't bicker with Mo Xuan: "What thoughts can I have? Little Mo, after we return to Qilin Cliff, can you lend me a place? I want to break through with you. If we don't break through again, we'll have to call Lin Yan 'Senior'. This dragon prince can't afford to lose face like that."

"Okay, no problem. My Cave Dwelling at Qilin Cliff is enough for both of us to break through. This time, we absolutely cannot lose to Lin Yan again." With a like-minded teammate, Mo Xuan readily agreed.

The two looked at each other, seeing the burning fighting spirit in each other's eyes.

Elder Xuan Yue witnessed their reactions and found it somewhat amusing, but more so, he felt relieved: Mo Xuan was finally starting to take cultivation seriously.

The Seven-Colored Qilin was naturally a favored child of the Qilin Clan. Mo Xuan had been highly valued by the clan since birth, and even the Ancestor Qilin personally came to teach him. However, Mo Xuan had never been serious about cultivation. Now, stimulated by Lin Yan, he was finally starting to focus on cultivation matters.

As for that Little Golden Dragon, he appeared to be a rare genius among the dragon race, but his temperament was somewhat lazy and greedy for treasures. It was clear he hadn't put his heart entirely into cultivation. Now, it seemed he would also be motivated by shame to strive for improvement.

Young people, after all, liked to compete. But this was also good; competition brought pressure, and pressure led to faster growth. Lin Yan was the catalyst for their growth.

However, regarding the competition between the two and Lin Yan, Elder Xuan Yue was not optimistic about Mo Xuan and Ao Ye. On the contrary, he felt Lin Yan had a greater chance of winning. He could see that Lin Yan's breakthrough this time had an incredibly stable Foundation, and his Dao rhythm was naturally formed, far from comparable to forcibly increasing cultivation by consuming pills or relying on secret techniques.

Since verifying the plans Lin Yan had told him, Elder Xuan Yue's opinion of Lin Yan had improved even further. This child's character, comprehension, and strategy were all top-notch. If his cultivation shortcomings were also supplemented, his future achievements would be absolutely limitless.