Xi Yu Lake and its surrounding areas were the absolute core region of the Three Northern Lakes and an important jade-producing region. Therefore, they were always loosely guarded on the outside but tightly secured on the inside, with numerous arrays and restrictions laid out everywhere.
The most expansive of course was the Three Origins Secret Array, which used the three cities of Anqi, Hongya, and Fuqiu as its foundation, sensing the starry heavens of the universe above, responding to the earth's vital breath and water veins below, and combining the destiny of humanity in the center. It was entirely of a piece with tens of thousands of li around, covering the entire Xi Yu Lake.
This array was also the greatest stroke of the Xiyu Alliance since its establishment, laying down an everlasting foundation.
Yet at the same time, in this region, various sects and factions all had their own arrays and restrictions. Some of their histories went back even further than the Three Origins Secret Array, or even before the establishment of the Xiyu Alliance.
Below the Hundred Tribulations stage, the sects around Xi Yu Lake rose and fell incessantly. Some of the corresponding array restrictions survived to this day, some left only broken walls and ruined structures, and even more were established by contemporary sects.
Which of the surrounding sects had no jade mines? Which had no grotto-heaven secret grounds? Precious treasures and vital heavy implements—how could there be any reason to display them to others?
Over countless years, arrays and restrictions were layered upon one another, numbering who knew how many thousands or tens of thousands of heavy barriers. The old and the new coexisted, the complete and the incomplete complemented each other, and they mutually influenced and interfered, forming a massive restricted region that made one's