The Array Is Complete! The Five Elements Origin Array

Time flew by as they trained like mad.

The Gravity Room became a hell the Z Fighters both loved and hated, and everyone gritted their teeth as they challenged their limits.

Lin Fan, in particular, spent nearly all his time under ten times gravity. Thanks to the wonders of True Essence and his unyielding will, his aura grew deeper and more restrained at a visible pace.

However, the Gravity Room mainly improved their individual physical strength.

Facing Vegeta and Nappa, whose power might far exceed their expectations, Lin Fan knew that certain "outside-the-ring tactics" were just as crucial.

His greatest asset was the ancient wisdom of another system: formations.

138 degrees east longitude, 36 degrees north latitude.

This was a vast, boundless red-brown desert. Gale-force winds swept up gravel that crackled as it struck the exposed rocks.

The extreme climate made the area all but uninhabited. Silence was its only refrain.

According to the coordinates Shenron had provided, this was where Vegeta and Nappa would land a year from now.

Today, however, this desolate place was busier than ever.

Dozens of large transport aircraft circled overhead and took off and landed like iron birds, kicking up clouds of dust.

Hundreds of Engineering Robots busily worked at designated points. With high-powered lasers, they precisely cut through the rock layers and secured special alloy bases deep underground, or carefully fitted polished jade array bases—glimmering faintly—into their designated positions.

Bulma sat inside a mobile command vehicle. Dozens of screens before her displayed a three-dimensional layout of the entire area, simulations of energy flow, and the status of each robot.

Wearing a communications headset, she issued rapid-fire orders. "Sector A7, bury the energy conduits another half a meter! The geological structure there is unstable! Sector C3, the third Jade Pivot Node is off by 0.3 degrees. Correct it immediately! This is precision work, so don't mess it up!"

Lin Fan hovered in midair with his eyes closed in concentration. His powerful spiritual sense spread like an invisible web, meticulously sweeping over every inch of ground below. He sensed how each node had been embedded, as well as the faint but steadily forming energy links between them.

His face was somewhat pale. The prolonged, high-intensity work had drained not only his True Essence but also his mental energy.

Though the Lesser Five Elements Origin Array was one of the most basic battle formations in the inheritance he had received, setting it up at his current level was still far too demanding. He could only simplify many of its intricacies again and again.

Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and the others stood in a safe area a little farther away, staring at the vast and incredible undertaking with stunned expressions.

"My God, how much is all this costing..."

Krillin looked at the precious special materials and aircraft that kept burning fuel. He could practically feel his bald head growing cold.

"Hmph. So this is how rich people fight?"

Yamcha folded his arms, his tone complicated, though a hint of anticipation lurked in his eyes.

Thanks to the Recovery Pills Lin Fan had given him, his old injuries had healed completely over the past few days. He even felt that his ki had grown, and he was no longer as wary of Lin Fan's "mystical" techniques as he had been at first.

Tien Shinhan's three eyes strained to catch the faint traces of energy moving through the air. He said solemnly, "It's not just a matter of money. There's some kind of unusual pattern to the nodes Lin Fan is setting up... They seem to be drawing on the power of the land itself."

Master Roshi, Oolong, and Puar had come too. Watching the busy scene, Master Roshi adjusted his sunglasses and exclaimed, "Oh-ho-ho... What an extraordinary young man. I've lived for over three hundred years, and this is the first time I've seen anyone fight this way."

Oolong huddled under the parasol Puar had transformed into and muttered, "Whatever happens, I'm definitely staying far away when the time comes..."

The most crucial central formation point lay atop a relatively flat slab of rock at the heart of the desert.

Five spirit materials of different attributes had to be buried here as the formation's core, corresponding to the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Lin Fan would then infuse them with his True Essence to activate the circulation of the entire array.

Lin Fan descended from the sky. Bulma immediately directed the robots to bring the last five core materials into position: a silver-white metal brimming with sharpness, a verdant ancient vine teeming with vitality, a deep-blue orb wreathed in mist, a crimson crystal burning with an undying flame, and a thick, steady yellow crystal.

"Lin Fan, this is the last step!"

Bulma's voice came through the communicator, tinged with nervousness.

Lin Fan took a deep breath and rapidly formed hand seals. The golden core inside him spun at high speed, surging with immense True Essence.

He held his fingers together like a sword and pointed at the five core materials in turn.

"Metal Pivot, stand!" "Wood Pivot, grow!" "Water Pivot, flow!" "Fire Pivot, burn!" "Earth Pivot, anchor!"

With each low cry, a condensed beam of True Essence shot into the corresponding material.

The five materials burst into dazzling light, each glowing white, green, black, red, or yellow. Their beams shot skyward, yet an invisible force held them in check as they began to weave and coil around one another.

The desert seemed to tremble faintly. Every node that had been buried earlier was activated at once, and countless faint streams of energy converged from all directions, flowing into the five central beams.

An incredibly complex, transparent array diagram spanning several kilometers flashed into view above the desert!

Though it lasted only an instant, its vast and ancient aura made everyone present shudder with an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Then all the strange phenomena subsided.

The five beams vanished, and the core materials dimmed, looking like ordinary stones.

The sky returned to its dusky yellow hue, and the wind continued to howl.

"...Did it work?"

Bulma studied the monitoring screen, where the energy flow had stabilized into a perfect cycle, and asked cautiously.

Lin Fan slowly descended. His steps faltered, and he nearly fell. His face was as pale as paper, and sweat instantly soaked through the back of his clothes.

He managed a weak smile. "It's... basically done. The Lesser Five Elements Origin Array is complete."

After taking a few breaths to steady himself, he explained to the others who had gathered around, "Once this array is fully activated, it has three effects."

"First, it can slightly weaken the energy of enemies caught inside, suppressing their ki by around five to ten percent."

"Second, it can slightly increase our own energy recovery, speeding it up by roughly ten percent."

"Third, it can use the refraction of light and energy to create simple illusions and confuse the enemy's senses."

"It only weakens them by ten percent and speeds up our recovery by ten percent?" Yamcha sounded disappointed. "That doesn't seem... all that useful." Against Saiyans with battle powers in the tens of thousands, that small reduction seemed like a drop in the bucket.

"Idiot!"

Tien Shinhan suddenly spoke, his three eyes fixed sternly on Yamcha. "In a battle between experts, the slightest difference can decide life or death! Lowering their power by ten percent while boosting ours by ten percent gives us a twenty-percent advantage! And that advantage lasts! In an evenly matched fight, it could be the last straw that breaks the camel's back!"

Krillin caught on too. "Oh, right! And it can make illusions! That could save our lives at a critical moment!"

Lin Fan nodded. "Tien Shinhan is right. This array can't decide the outcome, but it can create opportunities for us and give us a better chance to survive and counterattack."

He looked across the desert, which appeared unchanged. "It's dormant for now, so it won't give off any energy fluctuations and alert anyone. The moment the Saiyans arrive and step into this area, the array will activate."

Bulma looked at the complex, elegant diagram of energy circulation on the screen, let out a long breath, and slumped back in her chair. "That's another job done. Good grief, this was more exhausting than building a spaceship."

Lin Fan gazed toward the distant horizon, where a huge shadow seemed to be closing in. He murmured, "We've laid the foundation... Now we just have to keep getting stronger. I hope we still have enough time."

The desert wind remained fierce, sweeping up dust that gradually concealed all traces of the work, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only the immense energy network quietly running beneath the ground continued to wait—for the arrival of a battle destined to be devastating.