Array Formation

As the saying goes, "A happy event makes one feel refreshed."

Ye Tong had unexpectedly come into a windfall, and his mood was naturally exceptionally cheerful. With this money, he could not only rebuild the Precious Medicine Workshop but also purchase medicinal ingredients to extend his life.

And also…

Ye Tong's mind conjured images of the gleaming display cabinets in the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, filled with those crystal-clear Silver Crystals. Back on Earth, he had obtained spirit-infused crystal stones. However, the Silver Crystals in this world were purer than Earth's, and they didn't have elemental attributes. Any cultivator could absorb their internal spiritual energy to speed up their cultivation.

In Ye Tong's original memories, there were even higher-quality Gold Crystals above Silver Crystals. Furthermore, Silver Crystals and Purple Crystals were the circulating currencies used by powerful cultivators.

One tael of Blue Gold could be exchanged for ten taels of Blue Silver.

One Silver Crystal could be exchanged for a thousand taels of Blue Gold.

"It seems I don't have enough money."

Ye Tong thought of the price of Silver Crystals, and the brightness in his eyes dimmed. Suppressing the thoughts of impossibility in his heart, he ordered, "You, yes, you. Go wash all these medicinal ingredients clean, then sort them into three piles. What are you glaring at? Your father is already an old man, he's even bought his coffin in advance. Do you expect him to personally assist me? Hurry up."

"Cough, cough…"

Zhang Pinsou choked when he heard Ye Tong's words, unable to catch his breath. After coughing a few times, he glared at Ye Tong angrily. If it weren't for needing Ye Tong to prepare the medicine, and if he didn't fear the Poison Demon Huo Lanqiu, he would have slapped this brat who was cursing his impending death to death.

Zhang Zhongying was even more furious, but she couldn't vent her anger. She could only grit her teeth and harbor vengeful thoughts in her heart, obediently following Ye Tong's instructions.

Obsidian.

It was a fuel required by alchemists. Without cultivating true fire, one could only rely on it for burning during alchemy and medicine refinement. The Precious Medicine Workshop had stored a lot of Obsidian before, and Ye Tong casually found over a dozen pieces.

He lit them and threw them into the stove.

Ye Tong felt the temperature inside the cauldron rising. He immediately mashed the Purple Tea Fruit and another spiritual fruit, then poured them into the cauldron. After that, he tossed in the medicinal ingredients, which Zhang Zhongying had cleaned and sorted, one by one, at precise moments.

Fire Control.

It was a technical skill.

Over the years, Ye Tong had already honed his Fire Control technique to a state of perfection. As the meager Vital Energy within him slowly flowed into the Fire Control Array Inscriptions beside the stove opening, the flames burning inside the stove seemed to come alive, sometimes burning fiercely, sometimes flickering as if about to extinguish.

Time passed.

After half an hour, Ye Tong's face had turned as pale as paper, and large beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. The more precious the medicinal ingredients, the harder they were to dissolve during refinement, and the more difficult it was to remove impurities and preserve the essence. This had nearly exhausted all of Ye Tong's strength.

"Boom…"

Ye Tong flicked his wrist, and flames immediately erupted in the cauldron. The refined spiritual liquid burned like fuel, and in just a dozen breaths, it was completely consumed, leaving behind only scorched ashes.

Not far away.

Zhang Pinsou showed a hint of disappointment, but he also knew that preparing the Hundred Solutions Liquid was difficult. Even alchemists who had been in the profession for decades found it hard to succeed on the first try. As for the young man before him, his method couldn't be described as preparation; it was the technique of a Pill Master, and he was refining the Hundred Solutions Liquid!

Alchemists!

There were as many as blades of grass in the entire Zifu County.

But Pill Masters were as rare as phoenix feathers!

However, Zhang Pinsou thought of the Poison Demon Huo Lanqiu and felt somewhat relieved. After all, that person was a true cultivator. Rumor had it that he had already touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment. It was widely known that Huo Lanqiu was very skilled in alchemy, although almost ninety percent of the pills he refined were poison pills.

Failure is the mother of success.

Ye Tong failed in his first attempt to refine the Hundred Solutions Liquid, but he wasn't discouraged. Because Zhang Pinsou, the wealthy patron, was here, even if he failed two more times, he had nothing to worry about. It would simply mean Zhang Pinsou losing more money.

"I need Jade."

Ye Tong's Vital Energy was almost depleted. It was impossible for him to attempt the second refinement now.

Zhang Zhongying was very displeased with Ye Tong. Upon hearing his request, she immediately retorted, "Why do you need Jade to refine the Hundred Solutions Liquid? Don't tell us that Jade is also an ingredient for refining the Hundred Solutions Liquid."

Ye Tong said, "With Jade, I can attempt the second refinement today. If not, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. My Vital Energy is depleted, and I need to recover."

Zhang Zhongying showed a look of disdain and said unhappily, "Are you trying to fool a three-year-old child? Can Jade speed up your Vital Energy recovery? Don't think that just because we're asking you for medicine, we're complete fools."

"No!"

Mu Qianlan, who rarely spoke, stepped forward at this moment, looking at Ye Tong thoughtfully. She said to Zhang Zhongying, "As far as I know, alchemy and array formations are closely related. Truly skilled alchemists are not weak in array formations either, because array inscriptions are needed to construct the pills. Jade is a good material for setting up array formations. I think I understand why he needs Jade."

Ye Tong glanced at Zhang Zhongying and snorted, "If you don't understand, don't talk so much. Look at this expert; if she hadn't explained it to me, you wouldn't have doubted me."

"You…"

Zhang Zhongying felt her face burning, but she truly found it hard to believe that this person, who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, not only understood alchemy but also understood array formations? After all, to successfully set up an array formation, a cultivator needed to break through the Foundation Establishment stage, and their true qi needed to evolve into true essence!

Furthermore.

The total number of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in the entire Zifu County probably wouldn't even reach three. In the entire Sky Net Empire, it probably wouldn't exceed ten. And those who could set up array formations were even fewer.

Him…

A young fellow who hadn't even fully grown, could he set up an array formation?

Zhang Zhongying really wanted to mock Ye Tong again, but considering that every time she doubted him, she was the one who ended up being proven wrong, her sharp and sarcastic words ultimately remained unspoken.

"I'll go buy it myself."

Zhang Zhongying wanted to see what tricks Ye Tong was up to by asking for Jade.

In less than half an hour, Zhang Zhongying returned, carrying a hemp sack filled with over a dozen fist-sized raw Jade pieces. She threw them in front of Ye Tong.

Ye Tong didn't say anything. He took out a piece of raw Jade and began to carve it according to his thoughts. He wanted to set up a Spirit Gathering Array, which could help him recover his Vital Energy quickly. At the same time, if the ambient spiritual energy was more concentrated during the refinement of the Hundred Solutions Liquid, it would also increase the time he could input Vital Energy into the stove.

A century on Earth.

Especially in the later years spent with his wife, he dedicated a significant amount of time to carving. Consequently, his skill in carving jade had long since reached the level of a grandmaster. In just fifteen minutes, a dragon-shaped jade carving was completed, appearing lifelike and vivid.

"This jade carving..."

Zhang Pinsou and Mu Qianlan wore expressions of disbelief, their minds captivated by the jade sculpture. Even Zhang Zhongying's eyes widened, showing a look of utter astonishment.

This speed...

This craftsmanship...

They had witnessed many carving masters at work, but they had never seen such terrifying speed, nor had they ever seen anyone carve with such exquisite detail and life. This was clearly a statue, an inanimate object, yet in their eyes, this rather peculiar dragon... seemed to have come alive.

Ye Tong had no time to ponder their thoughts; he was fully focused on carving. Soon, he sculpted a tiger, a phoenix, and a turtle from jade.

What Ye Tong was about to set up was the "Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array." This was a formation he had developed during his later century on Earth. Its power surpassed that of the Three Powers Array, Four Symbols Array, and Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Array. However, he was not as powerful now as he was then, so the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array he set up would be much weaker in effect.

But...

It was enough for the current situation.

Afterward, Ye Tong instructed the three to retreat from the courtyard area and, with extreme speed, set up the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array. The moment he successfully activated the formation, the spiritual energy within a radius of several kilometers seemed to be summoned, surging towards the courtyard where Ye Tong was located.

"What a shame! My strength is too weak. The true power of this Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array isn't even one percent of its peak." Ye Tong felt a slight regret.

However.

Outside the formation, Zhang Pinsou and Mu Qianlan felt a surge of shock. They exchanged a glance, then their gazes fell back on Ye Tong, as if they were looking at a monster. With their cultivation levels, they had already keenly sensed the direction of the surging spiritual energy, indicating that the formation Ye Tong had set up was successful.

But!

Ye Tong's cultivation was clearly only at the third level of Qi Refining, so weak it could be practically ignored. How had he managed to set up a formation?

In the cultivation world, the realms of cultivation were clearly divided: eighteen levels of Qi Refining, nine levels of Houtian, and nine levels of Xiantian. Above that were the Foundation Establishment stage and the Core Formation stage. Currently, there were only a handful of cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage in the entire Sky Net Empire, and only one at the Core Formation stage. That was the old ancestor of the Sky Net Empire's royal family, a legendary old monster rumored to be over four hundred years old.

"Putting on a show."

Zhang Zhongying's talent for cultivation was actually not bad, but she had wasted a lot of time in business in the past, so her cultivation was not very high. She had not yet broken through to the Xiantian realm, and therefore, she could not sense the faint surge of spiritual energy in the heavens and earth.

"Silence."

Zhang Pinsou's expression changed, and he sternly rebuked her, "Young Brother Ye is right. If you lack knowledge, don't speak carelessly, lest you embarrass yourself."

"Father..."

Zhang Zhongying looked dumbfounded, as if she couldn't believe her ears. When had her usually gentle father ever scolded her like this?

Zhang Pinsou pointed towards the courtyard area and said sternly, "You haven't reached Xiantian yet, so you can't feel the surge of spiritual energy. But I can tell you clearly that Young Brother Ye has successfully set up the formation and can attract the surrounding spiritual energy. If you were to step into the formation's range, you would be able to feel that the concentration of spiritual energy in that area is continuously increasing."

It succeeded?

He, who was still... wet behind the ears, could set up a formation?

Zhang Zhongying stood frozen, completely bewildered.