Chapter Fifteen: The Supreme Spirit Gathering Array

It seemed as if the spirit fish understood Song Changsheng’s words, for it began blowing bubbles even more enthusiastically. Song Changsheng shook his head and said, “Although this tea leaf isn’t of much use to me at the moment, it is still an extremely precious item. I have important uses for it in the future, so I cannot give it to you.”

With that, Song Changsheng turned to leave.

Seeing this, the spirit fish grew anxious, quickly blowing a chain of bubbles. Even though Song Changsheng had no understanding of “bubble language,” he could roughly guess that the fish was trying to communicate something to him.

This piqued his interest—such intelligence was beyond what a spirit fish at this stage should possess.

“Could it be that it has already approached the threshold of the second tier?” Song Changsheng mused secretly.

If that were the case, it would be an excellent development for the family—a second-tier spirit fish could breed a higher-quality and more plentiful population. As for Song Changsheng himself, there was a certain benefit as well: the power of a second-tier spirit fish was still weak enough that, even if it broke through, he could keep it under control.

“In that case, I suppose I could let you try, but you’ll have only one chance.” Song Changsheng took a tender tea shoot from the jade vial and tossed it into the spirit fish’s mouth.

Having achieved its goal, the spirit fish spun joyfully in the water and dove toward the lakebed…

Song Changsheng suddenly realized that the number of places on the island requiring spiritual energy was growing. The spirit plants needed vast amounts to grow, and the Mist Veil Tea Tree was a particularly heavy consumer.

His own cultivation demanded even more spiritual energy, yet the spiritual energy on the Heartlake Island was no longer sufficient.

“My skill in arrays has now touched that layer. It’s time to attempt a breakthrough—let’s begin with the Spirit Gathering Array,” Song Changsheng murmured softly.

He calmed his mind, took out his array tools from his storage pouch, and set them within easy reach.

This time, to set up the array, he needed a set of top-grade first-tier formation flags. Since the Spirit Gathering Array was a permanent array, he also required a top-grade array foundation.

With his current skill in artifact crafting, he could not yet forge a top-grade first-tier artifact, so he used the ones left by his late father, Song Luyan.

Perhaps it was truly the inheritance of blood— from Song Xianming to Song Changsheng, three generations of their family had shown remarkable talent in the way of arrays.

Still, since these tools were not crafted by Song Changsheng’s own hand, they could not bring out the array’s full potential. Yet, as his artifact-crafting technique was currently at an impasse, he had no other choice for now.

“Foundation, rise.” Song Changsheng tapped lightly, and the disc-shaped array foundation began to grow visibly, expanding until it was a full ten feet across before coming to a halt.

“Descend.”

With his spiritual power, the array foundation slowly sank into the earth before him. At that moment, Song Changsheng flicked his sleeve, releasing twelve triangular formation flags.

Holding his breath and focusing his spirit, he guided the flags with his energy, and soon the twelve flags were all embedded in the ground in a peculiar pattern. Under the pull of his spiritual power, the flags and foundation melded together perfectly.

“Now!”

Song Changsheng’s eyes snapped open, and he leaped into the array. With each step, faint array patterns formed beneath his feet. He strolled through the formation as if taking a walk in a tranquil garden, while intricate lines gradually took shape.

The patterns grew denser, and the connection between the flags and the foundation became ever tighter, until at last they were as one.

Now, Song Changsheng stood at the very center of the formation. He placed the final spirit stone in his hand, and with his last step, the entire array seemed to come alive, the patterns underfoot surging with vitality.

“Array, rise!” Song Changsheng stomped down, and all the array’s lines burst into dazzling light. He formed a complex hand seal, and the earth beneath began to tremble.

He was linking the formation to the spiritual veins below—permanent arrays had to be fused with the veins to become inexhaustible.

With this method, even if the foundation or flags were damaged, as long as the vein remained, the defense array could draw power and heal itself.

Even if an enemy breached the formation’s defenses, as long as enough spiritual energy was supplied, the gap would quickly close—truly formidable indeed.

Thus, in this world, whether a power could endure depended greatly on the strength of its protective array. If the Song clan had not possessed a mid-grade third-tier guardian array, they would have been annihilated by the Lieyang Sect in the last great battle…

As the earth shook violently, the lines spreading from the foundation successfully connected with the ley lines beneath Greenhill. As long as the vein existed, this Spirit Gathering Array would continue to operate.

He let out a long breath—the array was finally complete.

In just this short time, his face had grown as pale as paper, and sweat the size of beans poured from him, soaking the ground at his feet.

He quickly sat cross-legged, took several gulps of spirit wine from his treasured gourd, and then began circulating his technique to restore his spent spiritual and mental energies.

Not until the next morning, at the hour of Si, did he finish his recovery, and a flush of color returned to his cheeks.

“The difficulty of a top-grade first-tier array is indeed several levels higher. If I hadn’t practiced it daily in my mind, I doubt it would have gone so smoothly this time.” Song Changsheng looked at the Spirit Gathering Array before him with delight.

According to the standards of array masters, having independently and perfectly set up a top-grade first-tier array, he was now, from this day forward, a top-grade first-tier array master.

“Let’s test its effect.”

He took out the control token and activated the formation. The previously dormant lines instantly lit up and began to expand outward, stopping only at the limits of their reach.

The activated array now covered a much wider area, enveloping not only Song Changsheng’s cottage but also several spirit fields and a few green plum trees.

He could clearly sense the spiritual energy around him increasing rapidly, ultimately reaching nearly three times the average concentration of a second-tier spiritual vein.

However, within several hundred meters around Heartlake Island, the spiritual energy had fallen to less than half the average.

The Spirit Gathering Array was excellent, but not suitable for widespread use. The more cultivators in the area, the less appropriate it became, since it gathered all the spiritual energy from the surroundings to raise the concentration inside the formation.

A single array could only support the cultivation of two or three people, and the price was that the whole surrounding area became unsuitable for cultivation.

Only because there were so few cultivators on Greenhill did Song Changsheng dare use it this way—otherwise, in a densely populated area, he would have been beaten to death for it…

Time in cultivation always flew swiftly. In the blink of an eye, the year’s end had arrived, and the steward the family sent to collect the spirit fish appeared. After taking the required two hundred, there were still over twenty mature spirit fish left.

Naturally, these fell into Song Changsheng’s purse. Each spirit fish was worth two spirit stones—a considerable income for him.

As for the fish king, after consuming the Mist Veil Tea, it had gone silent. Whether the venture had succeeded or failed remained unknown…