Chapter 267: The Ninefold Grand Array, Jade Mountain's Spiritual Mines

Chapter 267: The Ninefold Grand Array, Jade Mountain's Spiritual Mines

The mist array stimulated by the jade talisman lasted for a quarter of an hour before the power of the mist gradually dissipated.

But Yu Gao was thrilled.

If he had had the mist talisman back then, how could he have ended up in such a miserable state?

If he had activated the mist talisman to hinder Zhu Liang for just a moment, he would have long escaped, and there would be no way for his opponent to catch up with him.

Moreover, the first time it was cast, the effect was the strongest.

Since the opponent was unaware of the existence of the mist talisman, they would suddenly be enveloped by the mist, their senses restricted, and their spiritual power unable to penetrate the mist. Their first reaction would be to protect themselves rather than pursue and kill the enemy.

"How many Divine Forge warriors are there in the League?"

Fang Hao asked in a low voice.

"A total of twelve," Yu Gao replied solemnly. "I'm in the late Divine Forge stage, the two guardians on the left and right are in the mid Divine Forge stage, and the rest are all in the early Divine Forge stage."

A loose cultivator force with more than a dozen Divine Forge warriors, one of whom was in the late Divine Forge stage—this strength was not inferior to that of a first-rate spiritual sect or aristocratic family.

It was only second to the Jade God Sect.

If Yu Gao were a little stronger and could rival Zhu Liang, the strength of the Alliance would not be much weaker than that of the Jade God Sect.

Of course, when facing loose cultivator forces, spiritual sects and aristocratic families would unite and join forces. This was evident in their current joint actions against the Alliance.

Although the Jade God Sect and the Su family were taking the lead, all the other spiritual sects and aristocratic families were also involved.

It was precisely because of this that the Alliance had been biding its time, only daring to act in secret.

"Twelve is not a small number," said Xu Yan as he began to deploy the tasks for these Divine Forge warriors. "Your task is to lure away the Divine Forgers from the Jade God Sect. Of course, the Jade God Sect is not foolish; they won't leave all their forces. But as long as you can draw away most of them, it will be enough."

"Brother Yu, why don't you lure Zhu Liang away?"

"Keep in touch with the message talisman!" said Xu Yan after assigning the tasks.

"Brother Yu, you must ensure that this matter is kept confidential. I'm sure you understand the consequences if it were to be leaked," Fang Hao said solemnly.

"I understand, and I assure you that not a word will be leaked. These people are all trustworthy!" Yu Gao nodded solemnly.

If the news of the mist talisman, the message talisman, and the teleportation talisman were to spread, it would definitely cause an uproar among the spiritual sects and aristocratic families, and the consequences would be dire for the Alliance, which was not yet strong enough.

Yu Gao left.

Xu Yan and his two brothers also bid farewell to Li Xuan.

After they left, Li Xuan sighed inwardly. His disciple was truly stirring up trouble.

This time, the Jade God Sect would definitely go crazy.

He had never underestimated the strength of spiritual sects and aristocratic families. In the end, he, as the master, would have to step in and suppress everything.

"Fortunately, with my current strength, I should have no problem being invincible in the Spirit Realm."

Even if he were besieged by Divine Forge peak warriors, it would be extremely challenging. Moreover, the stronger the cultivator, the more powerful the Transcendental Spirit Sect's expert would be.

"Even if I stand alone, if they come to besiege me, I will set up a grand array and see who kills whom!"

Li Xuan was not worried. With a grand array in place, who could be his match?

He stood up from his chair and, with a wave of his hand, set up a grand array in the manor. With this array in place, even a Divine Forge peak warrior would not be able to discover or break through it.

Then, he took a step and disappeared from his original spot.

"Master, are you worried that my senior brother and junior brother will make a big mess and attract the pursuit of strong enemies?" Su Lingxiu wondered silently as she saw her master leave.

She felt a bit regretful. Since her master was secretly protecting them, she should have gone to join in the fun as well.

Li Xuan appeared at the location of the Spirit Realm Gate. At this time, the Spirit Realm Gate had long been closed, and the two guardians in the hall looked bored.

However, this was their task, and someone had to guard the gate even if it was closed.

Without disturbing the two guardians, Li Xuan came to the Spirit Realm Gate and, with a wave of his hand, sent out a series of array devices, setting up layer upon layer of grand arrays.

The Spirit Realm Gate was now completely enveloped by the grand arrays.

Even if someone were to open the Spirit Realm Gate, they would not be able to enter, and they might even suspect that the Spirit Realm Gate had completely disappeared.

Xu Yan and Meng Chong were about to make a big move. If the news from the Inner Realm were to be leaked, people would definitely try to enter the Inner Realm. To ensure the safety of the Inner Realm, Li Xuan had come to set up this grand array.

"As a master, I've really been worried sick," Li Xuan sighed.

Who could blame him when his disciple was the pioneer of his martial arts path and the foundation of his invincible journey?

"With the ninefold grand array here, even a Divine Forge peak warrior won't be able to enter."

Unless one was proficient in array techniques, it would be extremely difficult to break the array by brute force. One's strength would have to far surpass that of the person who set up the array.

Li Xuan was confident that with his current strength and the arrays he had set up, even ten or eight Divine Forge peak warriors would not be able to break through.

Moreover, these were the Divine Forge peak warriors from the Transcendental Spirit Sect, not ordinary ones.

There were no signs of any abnormalities in front of the Spirit Realm Gate, and no one could tell that it had been enveloped by an array.

Li Xuan turned and left.

He was going to check on his disciple and see how he was stirring up trouble and taking down the Jade God Sect.

...

"Ah, it's Young Master Shen," Fang Hao exclaimed in surprise. His senior brother's source of intelligence turned out to be Shen Haizhou!

"Fang Hao?" Shen Haizhou was also taken aback.

"You know each other?" Xu Yan asked in surprise.

Then he suddenly remembered that Shen Haizhou had mentioned having a friend who kept a Swallow Mountain Toad, and Fang Hao also had one. It turned out that the friend Shen Haizhou was talking about was Fang Hao.

"Young Master Shen is my big client. I've been relying on him for my livelihood all these years... I mean, I've been living comfortably under his care," Fang Hao laughed.

Shen Haizhou looked at Xu Yan and Meng Chong with suspicion, then stared at Fang Hao for a long time, feeling that Fang Hao seemed to have changed somehow.

"You know each other?" Shen Haizhou asked.

"Of course, they're my senior brother and second senior brother," Fang Hao said, putting his arm around Shen Haizhou's shoulder cheerfully.

Shen Haizhou was shocked.

"Fang Hao, I never expected that you've been hiding your true strength. No wonder you can forge such extraordinary items," Shen Haizhou exclaimed.

"Don't misunderstand, I only met my master recently and was fortunate enough to receive his favor and become his disciple," Fang Hao said, patting Shen Haizhou's shoulder. This young master of the Shen family was quite different from the other direct disciples of spiritual sects and aristocratic families. He did not look down on loose cultivators or bully them.

He was an anomaly among the spiritual sects and aristocratic families.

Shen Haizhou looked at him enviously, then seemed to think of something, and his face turned lewd. He took out the Spring Night Mirror from his storage bag.

Fang Hao quickly covered Shen Haizhou's mouth with his hand, his chubby face reddening slightly as he turned to his senior brothers and said earnestly, "Senior brothers, don't listen to his nonsense. Shen Haizhou has some peculiar hobbies and collects indecent items. He often forces others to view them with him; it's despicable!"

"You must not spread false words!" Fang Hao added, recalling how he had been forced to look at those albums against his will. As a lone cultivator, he had no choice but to yield to Shen Haizhou's coercion.

Ignoring Shen Haizhou's angry glares, Fang Hao dragged him away to a secluded spot.

Xu Yan's lips twitched as he recalled Shen Haizhou's collection, for which he had willingly paid millions of spirit crystals to redeem.

"Who would've thought that our junior brother also shares this interest!" Xu Yan exclaimed.

Watching Fang Hao and Shen Haizhou together, he mused that the two chubby fellows must have bonded over their shared interests.

After Fang Hao promised to forge an even more advanced and mystical Spring Night Mirror for Shen Haizhou, incorporating all his treasured collections, the young master finally relented. He returned, looking ashamed, and apologized to Xu Yan and Meng Chong, "It was all my fault for forcing Fang Hao to view indecent items with me. I apologize and admit my mistake! Fang Hao is an upright man, and although I pressured him, he kept his eyes closed and didn't really look."

"It's all due to my deviant hobbies, and Fang Hao is not to blame!" Shen Haizhou concluded.

Xu Yan and Meng Chong exchanged glances, perplexed by Shen Haizhou's sudden self-degradation. What had Fang Hao promised him to make him act this way?

Fang Hao, feeling embarrassed, forced a laugh and said to his senior brothers, "Senior brothers, Shen has some unusual hobbies. Please don't take offense. He's actually a good person."

In his heart, he cursed Shen Haizhou for making things up as he went along.

"Junior brother, don't be embarrassed. It's only natural," Xu Yan said after a moment of silence.

The four of them then discussed their plan of action and the latest intelligence on the Jade God Sect. Shen Haizhou provided an update on the sect's pursuit of Xu Yan and Meng Chong, as well as their efforts to track down the mysterious loose cultivator group.

"The Jade God Sect and the Su family are still after you two, as well as that mysterious loose cultivator group," Shen Haizhou reported. "As for their spirit mines, nothing has changed."

"Since that's the case, let's get started," Xu Yan said in a low voice.

"Shen, you just need to wait for our message," Meng Chong added. Shen Haizhou's role was limited to providing intelligence and he would not be directly involved in their operation.

Before leaving, Xu Yan transmitted a message to Shen Haizhou, "Shen, what did our junior brother promise you to make you act like this?"

Smiling awkwardly, Shen Haizhou replied, "Fang promised to forge an even more incredible Spring Night Mirror for me, one that can project all my treasured collections. He also swore that he would never forge another Spring Night Mirror after this, so I had to seize this opportunity!"

"I wish you success. I shall continue to expand my collection. There may only be this one chance, as Fang might refuse to forge another Spring Night Mirror in the future!" Shen Haizhou's face fell as he expressed his regret.

Xu Yan's lips twitched. Shen Haizhou was beyond redemption.

Jade New Mountain was an obscure peak in Jade State.

The mountain wasn't particularly tall, and it was sparsely covered with vegetation and rarely visited by travelers.

However, beneath this seemingly desolate mountain lay a vast spirit crystal mine, one of the two major mines owned by the Jade God Sect.

Despite its outward appearance, powerful experts from the Jade God Sect were stationed here.

A Jade God Sect elder at the Refining God stage presided over the site, and it was the sect's disciples, not captured loose cultivators, who were tasked with mining the spirit crystals.

This was considered a training exercise for the lower-tier disciples of the sect, providing them with an opportunity to gain experience while maintaining secrecy.

The disciples didn't need to work tirelessly, as their task was more about completing a quota rather than putting in a certain amount of time or effort.

Additionally, they were rewarded with spirit crystals upon completing their assignments.

This incentive encouraged the lower-tier disciples of the Jade God Sect to actively participate in the mining operations.

Jade New Mountain was also home to Spirit Swallows, a type of spiritual bird used for transmitting messages. These birds were agile, swift, and highly vigilant, serving as an early warning system of sorts.

However, the Jade God Sect didn't solely rely on the Spirit Swallows for their security. They were aware that there were ways to circumvent the birds' detection, so they had additional measures in place.

"Junior brother, how long will it take to set up an array to completely seal off Jade New Mountain?" Xu Yan asked in a solemn tone.

"About a quarter of an hour," Fang Hao replied after a moment's thought.

The mountain was quite large, and he couldn't instantly deploy an array that covered such a vast area.

"I'll take care of the guards," Meng Chong volunteered.

"Leave the Spirit Swallows to me, junior brother. You can start setting up the array," Xu Yan instructed.

He then took out a small bottle and silently circled the mountain, leaving no trace of his presence. The bottle contained a special drug crafted by Su Lingxiu, designed specifically to intoxicate the Spirit Swallows without raising any alarms.

Meng Chong stealthily knocked out the guards hidden in the shadows, ensuring that no one would raise the alarm.

Fang Hao walked around the perimeter of Jade New Mountain, placing array devices at regular intervals. Before long, he had completed the setup without anyone noticing.

This was the first time he had deployed an array on such a large scale.

"The array is ready," he announced excitedly. "I've layered three grand arrays, and once activated, no one outside will notice anything unusual. Those inside might sense something amiss, but they won't be able to break through or escape.

"It can definitely hold off a Refining God stage expert for an hour without any issues."

Fang Hao's heart raced with excitement as this was their first strike against a spiritual sect, and it just so happened to be the number one sect in Jade State.

With his current strength, he was confident that the array could contain a Refining God stage expert for an hour with no problems.

"Let's go and kill that Refining God stage expert," Xu Yan said coldly.

With the elder dead, the remaining Jade God Sect disciples wouldn't pose much of a threat, and they could all be sealed within the array.

The three of them changed into the uniforms of Jade God Sect guards, concealing their auras and altering their appearances. They then entered the mountain through a hidden passage.

As they stepped inside, a dense spiritual energy rushed toward them from the depths of the cave.

"No wonder loose cultivators are willing to endure the hardships of mining here despite the risks," Fang Hao remarked, impressed by the rich spiritual energy.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end