Mo Caihuan had been training talented people all along, and with twenty years of accumulated experience, the research team had become quite proficient in developing Teleportation Arrays.
When the Covering Moon Sect withdrew from the Ancient Battlefield, they had blasted the exit shut, burying the entire hundred-meter passage. It now had to be cleared again.
They began digging with a Mechanized Excavator that used a Spirit Stone Magic Array to convert spiritual energy into mechanical energy.
Spirit stone machinery was nothing compared to cultivators' puppets, but to mortals, it was a divine weapon.
After excavating the Ancient Battlefield, Food Immortal found the shattered Teleportation Array.
Three meters in diameter, smashed to bits.
The Circular Platform had been broken beyond recognition.
Mo Caihuan could only work with everyone to collect the fragments bearing patterns, piece them back together, and try to fill in the missing sections.
Even ancient cultivators faced countless trials and perils when building a Teleportation Array. They not only had to cross the Wilds to establish two locations, but also align those two points before they could travel through space.
Designing a long-distance teleportation Magic Array required tremendous supernatural powers, which mortals lacked. Mortals could only use the slow, laborious approach, calculating the Magic Array's balance values bit by bit.
Studying Magic Arrays had nothing to do with cultivation realm. It was truly a matter of some hearing the Way before others, and each craft having its specialists. Complex formations took a long time to comprehend, so a higher cultivation realm was still better: the longer one lived, the more one could achieve.
Mortals did not live long enough, so they made up for it with sheer numbers, working in teams to research together. Each person studied one section, and they combined the pieces according to the principles of mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
The fragments collected from the Ancient Battlefield were distributed among different teams, with over a hundred people joining the effort. Some complicated calculations were even delegated to university laboratories, where the universities performed and checked them.
Four years later, more than three hundred blueprints were gathered before Mo Caihuan.
"Girl," Food Immortal said quietly, looking at the blueprints.
"What advice do you have for me, Senior?"
"I've seen Magic Arrays before. Since when were they this complicated? More than three hundred blueprints-are you sure you're restoring a long-distance Teleportation Array?" Food Immortal had seen formations, and they certainly had not been this complicated.
"This is the restored Magic Array, but it's a Teleportation Array suited to mortal bodies."
"You're the senior here. You're even better at keeping people guessing than a senior." Food Immortal said in displeasure, "What do you mean by a Teleportation Gate suited to mortal bodies?"
"Activating a long-distance Teleportation Gate takes a lot of spirit stones, and may even require high-grade spirit stones. I can't find any high-grade spirit stones at all, so I can only use low-grade spirit stones."
"How can low-grade spirit stones replace high-grade spirit stones?" Food Immortal asked, puzzled.
"That's why I used the Hundred-Storehouse Immortal Art to construct a hundred Spiritual Power Warehouses. First, I convert low-grade spirit stones into spiritual energy, filter it through multiple stages of Filtering Formations, and store the purified spiritual energy in the hundred Spiritual Power Warehouses. When it's time to activate the teleportation, all hundred Spiritual Power Warehouses pour their spiritual energy into the Teleportation Gate's Array Core in one burst. That lets us bypass high-grade spirit stones and activate the Magic Array directly. But it consumes a lot of low-grade spirit stones-at least ten thousand." Mo Caihuan said ruefully, "With my assets, two trips would bankrupt me."
"It seems I still underestimated your wisdom," Food Immortal said approvingly.
"No, Senior, you didn't underestimate my wisdom. You underestimated the wisdom of mortals," Mo Caihuan said. "This isn't something I could have thought up alone. It's the final solution devised by countless brilliant mortals in the Mo Kingdom."
"Tsk." Food Immortal also acknowledged that cultivators had always looked down on mortals and been far too arrogant, but he would not admit it aloud.
"All right, it's too early to celebrate. Whether it works will still have to be tested in practice."
They spent another year gathering materials for the Teleportation Gate before beginning its restoration in the ruins of the Ancient Battlefield. The old Teleportation Gate had been a simple circular platform, but the restored gate was extremely complex. Countless Steel Supports branched out from the Circular Platform, bearing hundreds of intricate Array Disks, like the crown of a tree.
"You'll also need a Great Teleportation Token to teleport," Food Immortal said. "Your cultivation is too weak. Without a token, your body won't withstand it. Search the Ancient Battlefield. You're sure to find one. Great Teleportation Tokens aren't treasures. Without a Teleportation Gate, they're worthless."
Food Immortal kindly reminded her that there were still preparations to make before teleporting.
Mo Caihuan nodded and went searching at once, finding eight Great Teleportation Tokens on the battlefield.
Leaving the Mo Kingdom's affairs to the Cabinet ministers, Mo Caihuan decided to go to Great Jin in search of opportunities for body tempering and medicinal herbs to cure her illness.
Food Immortal's nascent soul floated above the Teleportation Array and fed in spirit stones. The spiritual energy within them was filtered layer by layer before finally entering the spiritual energy warehouses to build up power.
The multistage formation glowed, illuminating the ruins.
"All right, girl. Get ready to depart," Food Immortal said happily.
But Mo Caihuan suddenly said, "May I ask which senior is here? Please come out and meet us."
Food Immortal froze, then warily examined their surroundings, but found nothing.
The light ahead distorted, and an old man in gray appeared before Mo Caihuan. His eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through everything, swept over her. Mo Caihuan felt as though he had seen right through her, leaving her with no secrets at all.
Food Immortal paled in shock. He had not sensed anyone else in the ruins. Though the newcomer's manner seemed ordinary, he gave Food Immortal an unfathomable, terrifying feeling.
"May I ask your esteemed name, Senior?" Mo Caihuan asked.
The old man was in no hurry to introduce himself. Smiling, he said, "I thought I came without a shadow and left without a trace. How did you discover me?"
She rubbed the bridge of her nose sheepishly and said, "I don't have many strengths, Senior. My sight, taste, and sense of smell are just rather keen. I noticed your presence through your scent. There was a smell of medicinal herbs."
"My scent?" The old man paused, then smiled. "The empress of the Mo Kingdom never fails to surprise. I certainly never thought to conceal my scent. Heh, I'm Xiang Zhili, just an old man hoping to catch a ride."
Xiang Zhili? Mo Caihuan immediately cupped her fist and lowered her head to hide the shock on her face. He was one of the few Deity Transformation experts in the Lower Realm, yet he wanted to catch a ride?
"It would be my honor to travel with you, Senior. The Teleportation Gate can transport multiple people. If you don't mind the danger, please feel free." Mo Caihuan struggled to steady herself and spoke in a low voice.
Xiang Zhili chuckled. "Then I won't stand on ceremony. It's getting late. Let's depart."
"Please."
The two stood one behind the other on the Circular Platform. Mo Caihuan swallowed a spirit stone, and the spiritual energy from the hundred storehouses gathered in her stomach. Lowering her head, she poured it into the Array Core in a single breath.
As her delicate lips parted, the formation blazed with white light, swallowing the two figures. Then it gradually dimmed, and everything fell silent again.
After a churning, tempestuous journey that was far from comfortable, Mo Caihuan's pretty face lay pressed against the cold ground.
Cold and solid.
Rather than getting up immediately, she opened her eyes and carefully examined her surroundings. Only after finding no danger did she rise.
Ever-burning lamps cast a faint light around her. The whole chamber was coated in gray dust, and every movement she made stirred up clouds of it. By contrast, the old man remained spotless. Even when he walked, he left no marks in the dust, truly treading upon it without a trace.
"Your Majesty, this place is unsafe. If you act alone, I'm afraid the wild beasts in these mountains will devour you, bones and all, as soon as you step through that door," Xiang Zhili said. "As thanks, why not stay with me for a month? You can find somewhere to settle during that time."
"Thank you, Senior." Mo Caihuan could already faintly hear beasts roaring. She had no idea how far away they were, yet their cries still reached her, which showed that the creatures outside must be Demon Beasts.
Her Hundred-Storehouse Immortal Art had now stopped working altogether; she was beyond its transmission range. Her only means of defending herself were the firearms in her backpack and Food Immortal's nascent soul.
"Let's go." Xiang Zhili led the way out of the room housing the Teleportation Gate. He pushed open the heavy stone door, revealing a lush mountain range stretching as far as the eye could see.
The stone chamber was halfway up a mountainside.
Mo Caihuan sensed spiritual energy. Her body absorbed it with ravenous thirst, and her cultivation realm, which had remained unchanged for so long, actually seemed to rise a little.
The spiritual energy was even denser than at the Covering Moon Sect.
"This is the Jinling Mountain Range, stretching across the heart of Great Jin. Magnificent, isn't it?" Xiang Zhili asked.
"Towering mountains, winding waters, and countless sights," Mo Caihuan said admiringly.
"Heh, it's also a dangerous place that mortals steer clear of. Quite a few Demon Beasts lurk here." He swept his gray sleeve and tossed out a Flying Boat, saying, "For this month, I'll take you around to have a look."
"Thank you, Senior." Mo Caihuan thanked him profusely.