Beyond the Dark Willows, Another Village Blooms

Heaven Beyond.

Xiao Tian Ce's residence.

After putting everything away, Xiao Tian Ce entered seclusion. He was not doing so to cultivate Dou Qi, but to study in earnest and see whether he could master Spiritual Arrays and become a Spiritual Array Master.

As a fan of Heavenly Silkworm Potato's novels, Xiao Tian Ce had always been deeply curious about the profession of Spiritual Array Master in Potato's works. He still remembered the gist of what Wen Ling, Mu Chen's first guide to Spiritual Arrays in the original The Great Ruler, had said: to become a Spiritual Array Master, one first had to master Spiritual Seals.

Setting up a Spiritual Array required absolute control over Spiritual Seals. Any minute fluctuation or unusual resonance could cause the array to fail, and sometimes that failure would cause spiritual energy to backlash against its creator. In severe cases, it could even cost them their life.

Thus, Xiao Tian Ce did not rush. Instead, he carefully examined the contents of the notes.

First comes control over Spiritual Seals-the more, the better. The last thing I can do now is rush. I have to understand how Spiritual Seals are formed before learning to control them.

More importantly, I'm on the Dou Qi Continent right now, not in the Great Thousand World.

Converting Dou Qi into spiritual energy so I can control Spiritual Seals and become a Spiritual Array Master-that alone will take plenty of research.

Fortunately, time is the one thing I have in abundance. I'll first see whether there's any way to convert Dou Qi into spiritual energy.

With that thought, Xiao Tian Ce became engrossed in the notes. Only when he reached their middle did he find information about their author's identity.

So this man also traveled from the Dou Qi Continent to the Great Thousand World. He was a Dou Di from tens of thousands of years ago, known as Fengtian. He probably left these notes behind to give those who came after him a few more means to rely on.

However, the notes state that to learn the arts of a Spiritual Array Master on the Dou Qi Continent, one's soul power must at least reach spirit realm grand perfection. Not only that, one must also find the Storage Ring Fengtian Dou Di left behind. Only inside it can one find something that converts Dou Qi into spiritual energy.

But tens of thousands of years have passed. Where could I possibly find Fengtian Dou Di's Storage Ring now?

That must be why the Heavenly Huang Clan never managed to cultivate these arts after obtaining the notes, right?

At that thought, Xiao Tian Ce could not help feeling dejected. It was like meeting a peerless beauty who had already stripped naked and lain down on the bed, waiting for him to leap onto her and enjoy himself.

Yet at the very last moment, someone told him he could not perform. That was downright miserable.

With the intention of passing the time, Xiao Tian Ce continued reading the Spiritual Array Master's notes in his hands. The more he read, the more remarkable he found their author. In all honesty, even if Xiao Tian Ce himself had been Fengtian Dou Di, he could never have matched the man's accomplishments.

After half a month, Xiao Tian Ce finally finished reading the notes. He rolled them up and put them into his Storage Ring.

Suddenly, inspiration flashed through his mind, and his figure swiftly vanished.

Moments later, he arrived inside the Heavenly Phoenix Palace.

"Greetings, Senior Huang!" The moment Xiao Tian Ce appeared, he bowed respectfully to Huang Jiuji.

"Oh? Young Tian Ce, what brings you here? I heard from Qing'er that you sent her out on errands, yet shut yourself away in a secluded chamber and wouldn't let anyone disturb you." Huang Jiuji paused in surprise before speaking with a smile.

"Senior Huang, while sorting through the Heavenly Huang Clan's assets, I found a scroll of notes concerning Spiritual Array Masters. As far as I know, these notes came from Fengtian Dou Di and contain knowledge he obtained from the higher plane.

"Do you happen to know where these notes came from, Senior Huang?"

Xiao Tian Ce wasted no words and stated his purpose directly.

Hearing this, Huang Jiuji pondered for a moment, then nodded and asked, "Are you talking about a green scroll?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Tian Ce took Fengtian Dou Di's notes out of his Storage Ring. Holding them in his hand, he asked, "Is this the one you mean, Senior?"

Huang Jiuji examined it carefully, then nodded. "Yes, that's the one.

"Back then, the clan leader and I traveled across the Dou Qi Continent together and happened upon this scroll in a secret realm. At first, we wanted to learn from it too. After all, it was something a Dou Di had left behind.

"Unfortunately, no matter what we tried, we couldn't condense the Spiritual Seals described in it, so we gave up.

"The clan leader thought that since it was useless, we might as well destroy it. But I felt that, as something left behind by an ancient Dou Di, it ought to be preserved properly. So all these years, it has sat gathering dust on a high shelf."

By this point, Huang Jiuji understood why Xiao Tian Ce had come. He shook his head and said, "I'm afraid you may have made this trip for nothing, though. We don't know what Fengtian Dou Di meant by something that could convert Dou Qi into spiritual energy either. Otherwise, it wouldn't have remained here until now without anyone becoming a Spiritual Array Master."

It would have been a lie to say Xiao Tian Ce was not disappointed. After all, these notes contained a cultivation method for becoming a Spiritual Array Grandmaster.

A Spiritual Array Grandmaster was a top-tier existence comparable to a Heavenly Sovereign. In terms of the Dou Qi Continent's combat strength, that would at least place them above a Dou Di.

"Ah, it's all right, Senior Huang. I only wanted to ask. Since there are no clues to be found, perhaps it simply means I'm not destined to become a Spiritual Array Master," Xiao Tian Ce said with a smile.

Hearing this, Huang Jiuji shook his head and comforted him. "Among everyone I've ever met, your talent ranks in the top three at the very least. Take your time and focus on cultivating. Sooner or later, you'll surely become one of the strongest people on this Dou Qi Continent."

"Thank you for your reassurance, Senior. I'll leave you to rest and take my leave."

"Go on!"

After leaving with the Spiritual Array Master's notes in hand, Xiao Tian Ce returned straight to his residence.

Distracted as he was, he accidentally spilled water onto the scroll while pouring himself a drink.

"Oh, damn!"

Xiao Tian Ce hurriedly moved the cup aside, then quickly picked up the notes.

Suddenly, he noticed faint writing emerging on the water-soaked surface of the scroll.

"Hmm? There seems to be another secret hidden here!"

As he spoke, Xiao Tian Ce unrolled the scroll again, turned it over, and carefully read the words on its back.

One look filled Xiao Tian Ce with delight. What was written there was precisely the method for making the thing mentioned in the notes that could convert Dou Qi into spiritual energy.

"Hahaha! Heaven truly never seals off every path! I wore out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it without the slightest effort. Beyond the dark willows, another village blooms-this turn of fortune couldn't have come at a better time!"

Overjoyed, Xiao Tian Ce hurriedly copied down the words on the back of the scroll. Before long, he looked at the sheet of paper he had filled, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he sighed. "It seems Fengtian Dou Di didn't want this cultivation method to vanish from the Dou Qi Continent either. That's why he deliberately left the method for making the Converter on the back."

Now that he had the exact method, Xiao Tian Ce was not worried about the materials. Having just returned from the Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm, he had almost everything he needed. The only thing missing was a material called mithril.

If Xiao Tian Ce remembered correctly, he had once seen this mithril in the Xiao Realm's Treasure Pavilion.

"Looks like I'll have to make a trip back. It'll be a good chance to see how Brother Xuan's preparations are coming along!"