Spirit Plant Base, a Top-Tier Formation Master

Stepping out of the solemn and imposing Papal Palace, Qian Xunzong basked in the warm sunlight. He casually tossed away the shoe in his hand and dusted off his palms, though there was no dust on them. Xiaojing, the Jade Balance Xiejing Beast in his arms, lazily rubbed against his neck and let out a tiny yawn.

The iconic scene of the two brothers beating someone together inside the hall, while Qian Daoliu secretly held back and watched the show, had finally come to an end. Su Jian, whose Soul Power had been crippled, had already been dragged off to the mines by the guards. For the rest of his life, he could only haul stones in lightless tunnels and repent, bidding a complete farewell to the spirit plant flower sea he had cherished for half his life.

Qian Xunzong looked up at the clear sky, a faint smile playing on his lips.

To be honest, dealing with Su Jian had never been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Slacking off, defying hall rules, mocking the young master in private, treating public resources as his own property—every single one was a genuine offense. He fully deserved that beating.

But Qian Daoliu's final words had given him a wake-up call.

Though Su Jian's character was terrible and his selfishness extreme, it had to be admitted that he was the Spirit Hall Engineering Division's one and only top talent. His high-level Spirit Gathering Array engravings and rare spirit plant cultivation techniques were unmatched throughout the entire Engineering Division.

Now that he had been crippled, the construction site was completely leaderless. The craftsmen had strength to spare, but no one understood high-level formation layouts or spirit plant ratios. The restoration project was on the verge of grinding to a halt.

"Young Master, where shall we go next?"

Shen Ye emerged from invisibility and bowed as he asked in a low voice. His black clothes stirred without wind, and his presence was steady and cold.

Qian Xunzong tucked his little hands away and spoke casually.

"Let's go take a look at the spirit plant cultivation base. I want to see what sort of quality those spirit plants Su Jian treasured so dearly really have, and whether it's truly as he said—whether supplies are so scarce that there are no top-grade spirit plants suitable for restoring the academy."

He had always been reasonable. Beating someone was one thing, but the facts still had to be verified.

If Su Jian had been telling the truth, and the sect's public storehouse truly lacked top-grade spirit plants, then the man had merely been overly selfish and lazy. It would not count as deceiving those above him and hiding the truth below.

But if that bastard had been full of lies, secretly hoarding vast quantities of spirit plants to deliberately delay the project, then crippling his Soul Power earlier had been letting him off easy.

"Understood."

Shen Ye nodded. The group boarded the Cloudstep Light-Carriage, and the gleaming white jade carriage rose into the air. Avoiding the crowds within the city, they arrived shortly afterward at the mountain-ringed spirit plant base on the western side of Spirit City.

This valley rested against mountains and beside springs, with thin light-element spiritual energy naturally gathering beneath the ground. It was a secret valley specifically designated by Spirit Hall for the Engineering Division to cultivate spirit plants used in training grounds. Su Jian had held sole responsibility over it, and idlers were forbidden from entering. It had practically been Su Jian's private garden.

When they pushed open the valley's restricted gate, they saw stretches of low- and mid-grade spirit plants growing fairly well. Pale white spiritual light drifted across terraced fields that covered the entire valley. Yet as far as the eye could see, there were not even a few top-grade light-element spirit plants capable of supporting a high-level Spirit Gathering Array.

Qian Xunzong slowly walked along the spirit plant fields, occasionally letting a wisp of Judgment Holy Light flow from his fingertips to inspect the plants' grades. The more he saw, the clearer the situation became.

Within three sealed greenhouses deep in the valley, there were only three millennium-old spirit plants in total—two Dew-Congealing Flowers, and nothing else.

These spirit plants could barely support the restoration of an ordinary mid-level training ground. Restoring the severely damaged Holy Light Valley at the Martial Soul Academy and rebuilding a top-tier Chain Spirit-Gathering Array with them was utterly insufficient. It was not even enough to fill the gaps.

"Fine, then. That old bastard wasn't lying after all."

Qian Xunzong spread his hands and frankly admitted, "Between the public storehouse and his private cultivation base, the reserves of top-grade spirit plants really are severely lacking. If it were anyone else, they truly couldn't make a meal without rice with so few materials."

But not lying did not mean he was innocent.

The shortage of spirit plants was an objective difficulty, but he had still treated scarce resources as his private property, deliberately delayed the project, openly defied the young master's orders, and freely mocked the Pope behind his back. Every one of those crimes still warranted death. The beating had not been unfair in the slightest.

Xiaojing jumped from his arms and hopped through the spirit plant fields. Its purification domain silently spread out, dispersing the small amount of murky energy in the fields and causing the surrounding spirit plants to flourish noticeably.

Qian Xunzong surveyed the entire spirit plant valley, overflowing with spiritual energy, and said in his heart.

"System, check in!"

[ Ding! The host has arrived at a dedicated spirit plant cultivation secret valley. Check-in successful. Reward: one top-tier formation master! This location cannot be checked into again. ]

As the system notification faded, a circle of pale cyan formation ripples appeared in the void at the center of the valley. A middle-aged man in a plain cloud-patterned robe, his features resolute, slowly stepped out from a spatial formation gate.

He held an ancient brush, jade-white throughout and covered in delicate cloud patterns. His brows and eyes were gentle, while layer upon layer of defensive formation patterns constantly surrounded him. With every gesture, countless formation patterns flowed of their own accord. His presence was profound and majestic, far surpassing Su Jian, who had just been crippled.

The moment he landed, he hesitated not at all and directly bowed.

"Your subordinate, Yun Yan, pays respects to my lord!"

The next second, a complete character panel appeared directly before Qian Xunzong.

[Name: Yun Yan

Age: 80

Martial Soul: Cloud-Pattern Formation Brush

Level: Rank 96 Super Douluo

Title: Ancient Formation

Soul Rings: Two yellow, two purple, five black

Soul Bones: Full set of six Soul Bones

Evaluation: Master of top-tier formations, ceiling of spirit plant cultivation

Loyalty: ∞]

After reading the panel, Qian Xunzong nearly laughed out loud on the spot.

This felt great. Absolutely great.

Su Jian had been a half-baked formation master and a half-baked spirit plant cultivator, with a foul temper to boot. He was an expert at slacking off and coasting through work.

Now, the system had directly given him an all-purpose top-tier powerhouse: a Rank 96 Super Douluo, proficient in both formations and spirit plants, with maxed-out loyalty. He was obedient, never argued back, never hid anything, and never slacked off. Compared with him, Su Jian was little more than a weed in the fields.

"Rise."

Qian Xunzong raised a hand, and a gentle stream of Soul Power lifted Yun Yan. His tone was casual.

"Take a look at this valley first. Then come with me to review the damage reports for the Mimicry Training Grounds at the Martial Soul Academy. Come up with a complete restoration and upgrade plan as soon as possible."

"Yes, my lord."

Yun Yan rose. With a light tap of the Cloud-Pattern Formation Brush against the void, countless pale cyan formation patterns flew out and instantly covered the entire spirit plant valley.

In just ten breaths, the grades of every spirit plant in the valley, the directions of the earth veins, the concentration of spiritual energy, and the soil depletion were all laid bare. All the information automatically gathered into a clear dossier and appeared in midair.

Next, Shen Ye presented all the damage dossiers from the academy sites previously surveyed by the Engineering Division. Yun Yan lowered his head and rapidly reviewed them, lightly sketching in the air with his brush tip as exquisite formation blueprints quickly took shape.

A restoration plan that would have taken others ten days to half a month to organize was completed by this formation master in only half an hour. He closed the dossier and bowed as he reported.

"My lord, your subordinate has drafted a complete upgrade plan."

"First, the Shallow Enlightenment Spirit-Gathering Field. Abandon the old, damaged formation patterns and replace them with a third-grade Chain Spirit-Gathering Array, increasing spiritual energy gathering efficiency by one hundred percent."

"Second, the mid-level earth-vein cultivation caves. Redirect the underground light-element spiritual energy and reinforce the protective formations on the rock walls, completely resolving the damp, murky energy within the caves."

"Third, the core Holy Light Valley. Remove the damaged canopy, engrave the Heavenly Light Spirit-Convergence Grand Formation, and pair it with dual-directional spirit plant circulation veins. Once completed, the spiritual energy concentration throughout the valley can exceed its original level by three times, turning it into one of the continent's finest light-element cultivation secret realms."

The plan was clearly organized, and the scale of the upgrades was pushed to the limit. It even further optimized the safety protection formations and spiritual energy stabilization formations, comprehensively addressing every flaw in the original training grounds. The details were impeccable.

Even Shen Ye, standing nearby, could not help marveling inwardly after reading the proposal. If this plan was implemented, the Martial Soul Academy's training grounds would be completely transformed. Su Jian could work for a lifetime and still fail to devise something so perfect.

Yet after outlining the complete plan, Yun Yan's brows knit tightly. He looked troubled and clasped his hands helplessly.

"My lord, the plan is flawless. Your subordinate can lead the craftsmen to complete all formation engravings and site renovations within three days, but we have encountered a fatal problem."

Qian Xunzong tucked his hands away, his expression calm. "Say it. What problem?"

"Insufficient spirit plants."

Yun Yan sighed and pointed at the few top-grade spirit plants in the valley, speaking helplessly.

"The Heavenly Light Spirit-Convergence Grand Formation and the Chain Spirit-Gathering Array both require high-level spirit plants as formation cores to supply energy and sustain long-term operation. At present, the entire valley combined with the public storehouse possesses less than half the required quantity of top-grade spirit plants."

"Your subordinate may possess top-tier formation methods, and the craftsmen under my command can all stand ready at any moment, but without spirit plants to serve as formation cores, it is no different from trying to cook without rice.

If we forcibly substitute low-grade spirit plants, the formations will last no more than half a year before completely collapsing. At that point, the work will need to be redone, wasting manpower and resources."

As the saying went, even the cleverest housewife could not cook without rice.

No matter how extraordinary his formation techniques were, without enough energy carriers, even he could not cook without rice.

After hearing Yun Yan's concerns, Shen Ye's expression also turned grave. He had no solution to this matter either. Top-grade light-element spirit plants grew slowly and were extremely rare across the continent. It was simply impossible to gather them in large quantities within a short time.

But Qian Xunzong remained calm from beginning to end, without the slightest trace of concern on his face. Instead, he slowly stroked Xiaojing in his arms, a confident smile hanging on his lips.

That was it?

He had thought it was some enormous problem. It turned out they were merely short on spirit plants.

Seeing that his lord was completely unconcerned, Yun Yan could not help asking in confusion.

"My lord, the shortage of spirit plants is enormous. How should we solve this?"

Qian Xunzong stretched lazily, then held Xiaojing as he turned toward Sunset Forest. He spoke in a casual tone, relaxed and confident.

"They're just spirit plants. What's the big deal?"

"You only need to prepare everything for construction, draw up all the formation blueprints, organize the craftsmen, and wait patiently for the work to begin."

"As for the spirit plant supply, I have it covered. I know where there are mountains upon mountains of top-grade spirit plants, more than enough to take."

After saying that, he did not reveal the specific location. A sly glint flashed through his eyes.

Forget filling a mere ten percent gap. Even if he upgraded every training ground throughout Spirit City ten times over, he could still easily gather massive quantities of top-grade spirit plants.

Though Yun Yan was curious about the source of the supplies, he knew his lord had his own plans. He immediately bowed and accepted the order.

"Your subordinate understands. I will immediately return to prepare all construction blueprints, organize the craftsmen, and await the arrival of my lord's spirit plants. The moment they arrive, work shall begin!"

Qian Xunzong nodded and looked over the entire spirit plant valley before him, letting out a soft laugh.

Getting rid of one lazy, slacking Su Jian in exchange for a loyal, all-purpose, top-tier Rank 96 formation and spirit plant master.

This was an absolute steal.

As for the shortage of spirit plants?

It was nothing more than a small effort.

Next, it was time to stock up!