The land for ten li in every direction let out a deep rumble.
A colossal, intricate formation, so dizzying that a single glance was enough to make one's head spin, slowly took shape around the Sha Qi Pit.
The formation had 360 layers.
Each layer was made up of more than a dozen sub-formations with different attributes, arranged like nests.
The Spirit Gathering Array lay on the outermost perimeter, continuously drawing in meager spiritual energy from heaven and earth to provide power.
In the middle were the Suppression Array and the Confinement Array, firmly locking down the aura of destruction radiating from the Half Beast Horn.
The innermost layer was packed with Erosion Arrays and Purification Arrays, like countless tiny files aimed at the Beast Horn at the bottom of the pit.
"Phew... phew..."
Lu Changsheng collapsed onto a rock at the formation's outer edge, his chest heaving. He didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
Two thousand years of grueling labor had nearly drained every last bit of magical power and spiritual sense from his body.
But as he looked at his masterpiece—the formation he'd named the 360-Layer Heavenly Cycle Purification Array—he managed a smile uglier than a grimace.
"Cough, cough..."
Lu Changsheng struggled to roll over and fished two Red Sun Fruits he'd been saving from his personal storage space. He stuffed them into his mouth and chewed greedily.
Sweet juice slid down his throat, turning into faint but remarkably warm spiritual energy that nourished his parched dantian.
It wasn't until he'd eaten his fifth Red Sun Fruit that his nearly stalled magical power finally recovered enough to circulate again.
"Back to work!"
Lu Changsheng forced himself upright and formed an incredibly complex hand seal.
His hands trembled slightly from weakness, but the light in his eyes had never been brighter.
"Three hundred and sixty cycles—rise!"
At his low shout,
the vast formation complex covering ten li before him seemed to awaken like an ancient beast emerging from sleep, letting out a deep hum.
Next, the Spirit Gathering Array on the outermost perimeter lit up first.
The thin spiritual energy within hundreds of li, as if called by some powerful summons, turned into visible white mist and rushed madly toward the formation's center.
Filtered and refined by the outer formations, the spiritual energy was finally transformed into the purest power and poured into the inner Purification Arrays.
"Vmmm—vmmm—vmmm—"
One formation screen after another lit up.
Multicolored formation patterns wove together, forming a vast spiritual mill that pinned the black Beast Horn, radiating an aura of destruction, firmly at its center.
There were no earth-shattering explosions, nor any light that tore through the sky.
Lu Changsheng's formation was all about slowly grinding away at its target.
"Ts-ts-ts..."
The instant the innermost Purification Array's barrier touched the Beast Horn, it made a sound like cold water splashing onto red-hot iron.
The destructive will clinging to the Beast Horn sensed the threat and burst into a violent cloud of dark red smoke, trying to strike back.
But as soon as the smoke rose, the Suppression Array above pressed it firmly down. Then the Purification Array's patterns surrounding it peeled it away and ground it out, thread by thread.
Seeing the formation running smoothly, Lu Changsheng finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Good! Just like that! Grind it down slowly! If there's one thing Laozi has plenty of, it's time!"
He plopped back down on the rock and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
The Half Beast Horn's counterattack had been stronger than he'd imagined. If he'd really let his hotheadedness get the better of him and jumped down to pull it out by hand, he'd probably have been sucked dry by now.
"From here on out, it's a waiting game."
Lu Changsheng stretched.
He didn't leave. Instead, he settled down on a relatively flat mound of earth at the formation's outer edge.
Cultivators knew no years.
Especially during this kind of dull, water-dripping-through-stone process.
In the blink of an eye,
five hundred years passed.
For all five hundred years, the formation ran without pause, making the same monotonous humming and grinding sounds, day and night.
The massive black Beast Horn barely looked any different on the outside. It was still black as ink.
But a careful probe with spiritual sense would reveal that its substantial aura of destruction had been shaved down by a layer so thin it was almost negligible.
Every day, Lu Changsheng either meditated to recover his magical power or stared blankly at the formation.
He was a seasoned practitioner of the Dao of Cowardice and could endure solitude.
But five hundred whole years!
Every day, he saw the same rock and heard the same sounds. There wasn't a single living thing around that could even draw breath.
Lu Changsheng felt like he was about to go stir-crazy.
"No. If I keep sitting here doing nothing, I'll get depressed before the Beast Horn is even ground down."
He jumped off the mound and paced around twice. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
He reached out and rubbed the Jade Casket hanging from his neck.
"Right! How could I have forgotten about you all?"
Lu Changsheng carefully opened the Jade Casket and lifted out a huge clump of spiritual soil, perfectly preserved by the formation inside.
The Red Sun Fruit Tree he'd pulled up roots and all was still brimming with life. A small patch of Starlight Grass clustered beside it, along with that half-dead Nameless Vine.
At the sight of these familiar old friends, Lu Changsheng felt his eyes grow warm.
"Time to move, everyone!"
Beside a control node at the formation's outermost edge, he laboriously dug a big hole with his claws, then planted the clump of spiritual soil and its plants together.
He even adjusted the route along which the formation gathered spiritual energy, allowing a small portion of the refined Xiantian Spiritual Qi to slowly nourish the little spirit field.
When he was done, Lu Changsheng dusted the dirt from his hands and sat cross-legged beside the Red Sun Fruit Tree, satisfied.
"Old tree, old tree, looks like we've found ourselves a new home."
"Sure, the environment here's a little harsh, and we have to listen to that pile of dead bone spewing black smoke every day. But the spiritual energy here is much better than it was on that low mountain of ours."
Leaning against the trunk, Lu Changsheng began his long-winded chatter.
In this deserted corner of the Primordial Land, these plants that couldn't talk had become his only source of comfort.
"Look at this Starlight Grass. Its leaves are brighter than before. Once this job's done, I'll take you all out for a feast and find you a proper blessed paradise to put down roots!"
"And you, little vine."
Lu Changsheng reached out and poked the Nameless Vine, which lay sprawled on the ground and had barely grown in more than five thousand years.
"What kind of plant are you, anyway? I've given you so much spirit spring water, and you haven't even grown a new leaf. You're lucky I'm kindhearted. Anyone else would've pulled you up and burned you for firewood."
The vine naturally didn't answer. It merely swayed its shriveled tendrils slightly in the breeze.
With these plants for company, Lu Changsheng's spirits finally settled.
Time once again slipped into its long, fast-forward mode.
One thousand years.
Two thousand years.
Three thousand years.
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