Chapter 309 - 298: Chain of Fire Formations

Chapter 309: Chapter 298: Chain of Fire Formations

Once work officially began on the auxiliary array for the Core Formation Platform, the reconstruction of the ruins’ defense system started in parallel.

The Primordial Yang Sect centrally managed both projects, using a single process for personnel and materials. The first task assigned to Li Yuan was to set up a group of linked Defense Arrays in the transitional zone between the ruins’ middle layer and the outer ring of the Core Formation District.

The array setup was relatively simple, but the process was intricate and required coordinating with other personnel.

On the second day, the work area moved from the transitional zone to the outer ring of the Core Formation District.

After entering the outer ring in his capacity as an Array Master, Li Yuan had to survey and adapt the old Restrictions surrounding the Core Formation Platform while also setting up the new arrays. The new auxiliary array’s diversionary patterns had to bypass the nodes of the old Restrictions. Otherwise, the two flows of Spiritual Power would interfere with each other.

This gave Li Yuan a perfectly reasonable excuse to spend long periods at the key nodes of the old Restrictions.

Li Yuan squatted before a node on the first layer of the old Restrictions, a mapping jade slip in hand. He recorded the trajectories of the Array Patterns while simultaneously using his Divine Sense to carefully examine the node’s structure.

The node’s position matched the records from the daytime survey, and the nested relationships of the Array Patterns were also unchanged.

After he finished recording the survey data, Li Yuan casually left an extremely faint Spiritual Power fluctuation on the stone wall next to the node.

Simultaneously, a sudden surge of Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Vein combined with the Spiritual Power fluctuation to form a spiritual marker. This marker was completely ownerless, so no one would ever know he was the one who placed it.

The marker was almost invisible, just a thin film of Spiritual Power clinging to the crevices in the stone wall, blending in perfectly with the wall’s natural Spiritual Power fluctuations. Even if someone were to scan the area with their Divine Sense, they would find it nearly impossible to detect this man-made trace.

The marker’s purpose was simple.

When he came up from the underground passages at night, these markers would help him quickly pinpoint the exact locations of the nodes in the darkness, saving him the time it would take to search for them again.

Li Yuan placed an identical marker on each of the three key nodes of the first layer of old Restrictions, then resumed his regular work setting up the arrays, taking care not to linger too long at any one node.

During breaks in his work, Li Yuan also took note of the Array Materials being used for the project.

The quality of the materials provided by the Primordial Yang Sect was better than he had expected.

The Stabilizing Spirit Sand was of high purity, the spiritual conduction efficiency of the Drainage Stones was top-tier, and the array-stabilizing copper plates were polished with extreme precision. Li Yuan used his Divine Sense to inspect every material that passed through his hands, finding no signs of tampering.

No hidden Array Patterns, no compromises in quality, no Spiritual Power contamination.

Perfectly clean.

Li Yuan noted his findings and continued with the work at hand.

After several consecutive days of intense array construction, it was late at night by the time Li Yuan returned to his stone house.

Piled on his desk were several market transaction summaries from the administration office. After washing his face, Li Yuan sat down and flipped through them.

Material prices had risen again.

It was becoming increasingly clear that demand was outstripping supply.

Pills were up twenty percent, Array Materials thirty percent, and life-extending medicinal herbs had nearly doubled in price.

Profits from Li Yuan’s various business ventures soared accordingly. The prices for his Vessel Continuation Pills and Gathering Essence Pills were also much higher than a month ago. While the Spirit Medicines from his Spirit Fields hadn’t seen a direct price hike, the profits from the pills he refined using them had skyrocketed.

With several ventures turning a profit at once, he was accumulating resources faster than ever.

When he flipped to the last page of the summary, Li Yuan noticed a particular piece of information.

The Primordial Yang Sect seemed to be floating a rumor that Core Formation slots would be made available once the auxiliary array for the Core Formation Platform was complete.

There was no official announcement, just a passing mention by someone at the outpost that had subsequently spread throughout the marketplace.

The specific requirements for obtaining a slot hadn’t been announced. Some said it would depend on one’s Sect contribution ranking, others claimed it would require passing an assessment, and still others believed it would involve an additional large payment of Spirit Stones and materials.

The rumors were varied and conflicting, but no one knew for sure.

Li Yuan set the summary aside and didn’t dwell on the matter.

’I’ll just have to wait and see about the slots. I’ll walk my own path.’

The next morning, after handling his daily affairs at the administration office, Li Yuan casually browsed the Sect’s contribution exchange catalog.

A new item had been added to the list.

The Life-lock Talisman.

The contribution point cost to exchange for its creation method wasn’t cheap, but it was still within his current balance.

Li Yuan read the description for the Life-lock Talisman.

It was a Tier Two Talisman that slowed the rate at which the wearer’s lifespan decayed. The effect grew stronger the closer the user was to their natural lifespan limit, reducing the decay rate by a maximum of fifty percent.

Li Yuan immediately thought of the batch of old scrolls detailing life-nurturing Skills, which had come from the deeper levels of the ruins.

After those old scrolls had been sent to the outpost to be archived, the Primordial Yang Sect must have begun studying them. The Life-lock Talisman was likely a product of that research—a simplified, talisman-based version of one of the life-nurturing techniques from the scrolls.

Without hesitation, Li Yuan used his contribution points to acquire the creation method for the Life-lock Talisman.

Once he had the method, Li Yuan returned to his stone house and read through the entire talisman-crafting process at his desk.

The method for crafting the Life-lock Talisman was somewhat different from that of conventional talismans.

A conventional talisman’s core purpose is to seal a Magic’s effect onto the paper for one-time activation. The Life-lock Talisman, however, was designed to be worn long-term. Its pattern structure included an additional, continuously operating circuit that had to be embedded during the crafting process.

The main ingredient was an uncommon Spirit Medicine called Longevity Grass, supplemented by a Vessel-Nurturing Spiritual Sand and a mineral powder whose name Li Yuan didn’t recognize.

Li Yuan didn’t have any Longevity Grass on hand, but he had acquired a batch of life-extending auxiliary materials while stockpiling earlier. A quick search through his storage bag produced three stalks.

He had plenty of the Vessel-Nurturing Spiritual Sand and the mineral powder.

With all the materials ready, Li Yuan spread out a sheet of talisman paper and began to draw.

This was where the three Divine Sense Lines from his Divine Split skill proved useful. The main line guided the talisman brush as it drew the patterns, a secondary line monitored the stability of his Spiritual Power output, and the third line watched the saturation of the Spiritual Ink on the paper’s surface.

Li Yuan’s brush moved across the talisman paper for about ten minutes.

The main patterns were drawn, the circuit embedded, and the brush lifted.

The Spirit Patterns on the paper’s surface slowly began to glow, then the light receded, converging inside the talisman. All that remained on the surface was a faint, gentle shimmer.

The Life-lock Talisman was complete.

Li Yuan picked up the Talisman to examine it.

The talisman wasn’t large, just slightly thicker than an ordinary Tier Two Talisman. Its Spirit Patterns were intricate and seemed to recede into its depths. Holding it, he could feel the circuit inside humming with a slow, steady rhythm, like a faint heartbeat.

A panel materialized before him.

[Detected Equippable Item: Life-lock Talisman (Complete)]

[Affix Preview: Life-lock (Green)]

[Effect: The closer your lifespan is to its natural limit, the slower its rate of decay. Maximum reduction: 50%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Consume a cumulative total of 100 years of lifespan (natural loss included).]

’The condition for making it permanent is to consume a cumulative one hundred years of lifespan, and natural loss counts toward that total.’

’My current lifespan is around three hundred and fifty years. Thanks to my cultivation breakthrough and increased proficiency in the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill, it’s gone up by a fair amount.’

’Accumulating one hundred years of consumption through natural loss alone would take a very long time.’

’But if something else happens to consume my lifespan, the process would speed up.’

’Still, I’m not going to deliberately burn through my lifespan just to make this affix permanent.’

Li Yuan put away his talisman-crafting tools, returning the leftover Longevity Grass and Vessel-Nurturing Spiritual Sand to his storage bag.

The sky outside had grown dark.

The lights in the marketplace began to thin out. In the distance, toward the outpost, he could faintly see flashes of Spiritual Light as the patrol Cultivators changed shifts.

Li Yuan sat at his desk for a moment longer before moving to his meditation cushion. He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.