by Gore, A. P.
Wei chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll impart the array diagram to you later, but before I do that, I need your help.”
“Master Li Wei, this lowly one will do whatever he can.” Old Man Wu stood like an obedient student next to him.
“Wei’er what’s going on? When did you learn arrays?” Grandfather asked, his brows turning into a straight line.
“Grandfather, we will talk about it later. Right now, we have to figure out how to plan for the Devil Cicada Challenge issue.” Wei got up from his chair and roamed around the study, pondering a solution. These Cicada Challenges had varying rules. A generic Cicada Challenge only allowed one to obtain whatever was given as a bet. A Hell Cicada Challenge allowed some killing, but only people taking part in battle could be killed. A Devil Cicada Challenge, on the other hand, allowed one clan to kill as many opponents as they wanted, and the winner could wipe out the entire opposing clan without punishment. Since the Du clan had issued a Devil Cicada Challenge, they were planning to wipe out the whole Li clan.
That would never happen. Wei wouldn’t let that happen at any cost.
“Old Man Wu, I need you to visit Fragrance Herb City and buy four Bone Barrier Hitting Pills from the Divine Fragrance Palace.”
Old Man Wu stiffened. “Master Li Wei, even if I had that much money, the sect wouldn’t sell me those pills.”
Wei snickered. “Don’t worry. Just offer to carve a few Temperature Sealing Arrays on their cauldrons. They’ll give out the pills for free.”
“Master Li Wei that’s a—”
Wei tapped the table next to him. “That’s a mid-tier Silver Grade array. I’ll teach you how to carve it. Once you show it to those alchemists, they’ll go mad.” A Temperature Sealing Array was used to drain fire at the user’s will. It was mainly used in alchemy and artifact refinement. Carving this array on a cauldron let an alchemist drain excess temperature from the cauldron. Although it was a mid-tier Silver Grade array, its recipe was lost in time; not even an Inheritance of Array Master had it. While searching some ancient ruins, Wei had obtained it.
Old Wu dropped to his knees, unable to speak. He stared at Wei in reverence.
Wei sighed inwardly. Being a stray array cultivator was hard. They never got a chance to study an Inheritance of Array Master, nor could they get high-level arrays from anyone.
“I’ll do my best, master Li Wei.”
“Grandfather, my master told me to buy Purple Cream Crystals and Three Layered Inscription Papers before he left. Can you procure as much as you can from nearby cities?” These things would be in high demand in future, and he better stack them now.
“I’ll get it done,” Grandfather said.
“Any news about my step father?”
Grandfather shook his head in a big no.
“Old man Wu, help me draw Essence Congealment Arrays in a few of the chambers.” Wei glanced at his grandfather. “Grandfather, you have to use this array while cultivating for the next fifteen days. Use all your resources to reach layer nine of the Foundation Realm and then eat the pill to breakthrough using the array. Also, give me one Earthly Fruit. My master will provide something precious in exchange. Can you do that?”
Grandfather nodded with a smile on his face.
With that done, Wei could head to the Alchemy Comprehension Tower to find a quick solution to this issue.
Chapter 12
Two-Colored Poison Repelling Flower
Li Wei moved through the woods, wrapped in a gray robe with an extension attached to cover his head. It was made from the same rough cloth he’d first found inside the storage ring. It irritated his skin, but Fei’er had left before she could make something out of softer cloth for him, and he needed this extension for missions like this. It acted as a concealing hood so he could pretend to be his own master, a peak Foundation Realm cultivator.
With every swipe, his green dagger hacked through the thick leaves, forging a path. He had been hacking through the forest for the last three hours. As he moved through the forest, he ate Red Toughened Berries that tasted like fine ale. Despite the flavor, they couldn’t make a cultivator drunk. They also had pure essence energy stored in their pulp that helped Wei cultivate Blood Essence Body while moving.
From time to time, he stopped in his tracks and checked markers pointing to his destination, Black Alley Town. It was four days’ journey from the Li clan compound, and he hoped to cover the ground more quickly by cutting through the woods. If everything went smoothly, he should be back to Old Martial Town in fifteen days, after visiting Black Alley Town and then the Alchemy Comprehension Tower, and by that time his grandfather should be in layer seven or layer eight of the qi Foundation Realm with the five-fifty-year-old Earthly Fruits Wei had left for him on the pretext that his master grew them in his own garden. Of course, the fruits were thanks to the yin yang liquid he had collected for many days.
Something moved within range of his divine sense, which covered a three-hundred-foot area around him. After breaking through to the body Foundation Realm, his divine sense had gained a hundred feet of extra area he could cover when spread in a hollow dome shape.
His heart palpitated strangely, and he got the sense someone was following him. But no matter what he did, he couldn’t trace this person with his divine sense. Or maybe he was being too cautious.
Wei paused and turned his divine sense into a beam shape to cover more distance.
A strange smell hit him. It reminded him of burned animal hide, and when he pried more, he found a peculiar plant growing at the edge of his divine sense. Gall Poison Plant. It exuded a particular smell that attracted beasts from a nearby area and then poisoned these beasts to convert them into fertilizer. This plant wasn’t dangerous for humans, but it was deadly to Ferocious Beasts.
But why was it growing in the outermost area of the Dark Forest? This area was frequently traveled by human cultivators, and humans hated these plants because its poison made beasts go berserk. If a human cultivator came into conflict with these berserk beasts, they would suffer heavily. So, whenever anyone found these plants, they instantly eradicated them.
A powerful Ferocious Beast appeared three hundred feet away, and Wei tensed. It was a Blood Vulture Python, a layer five Foundation Realm beast that was found within the inner perimeter of the Dark Forest.
Had he accidentally breached the inner perimeter?
No way. Black Alley Town was located in the outer perimeter, and if he hadn’t reached it yet, he was still in the normal forest area.
Pushing his leg on the ground, Wei leaped up and dashed to the top of the huge tree beside him. Although he could see everything through his divine sense, he wanted to check things out with his other senses and check a few markers to confirm Black Alley Town’s position. The town had a special history and didn’t belong to any political power or major clans. In fact, it had been established by criminals. For a criminal, it was a perfect refuge. But being on the edge of the Dark Forest, it had flourished as a trade destination and an herb market was established. People collected precious herbs only found in the Dark Forest and sold them in this town because it had developed a system of its own. Sellers and buyers received good protection from the town’s management, and even the Divine Fragrance Palace depended on this town for some rare herbs that couldn’t be found outside of the Dark Forest.
From the hundred-foot-tall tree, he observed the thirty-foot-long and one-foot-thick blackened snake crawling around the Gall Poison Plant. It was like the snake was protecting its precious plant.
Wei’s eyes lit up when he spotted two black and white flowers growing next to the Gall Poison Plant. Those were Two-Colored Poison Repelling Flowers. Each had six petals alternating between white and black. Every petal required one year to grow, and when the flower reached ten petals, it would become a goldmine. In four years, this flower would mature, but Wei didn’t need to wait it out. He had the Yin Yang Liquid that could mature an herb in no time, and he had been collecting it since learning the technique. C
urrently he had around two hundred drops of it, enough to raise dozens of herbs to fifty years old.
This flower was a low-tier Silver Grade herb that could save a cultivator from poisoning. The white petals acted as an antidote, and the black petals could aid one in poison martial skills. Many demonic cultivators practiced those skills and spent big on this flower. If he got his hands on it, he could draw a rare array on the poison dagger he had. It would increase the poison strength of his dagger tenfold. It would act as a trump card in the future.
The flower’s stem stored a potent poison that could be fatal if released in powder form, so he had to be careful while plucking it.
He had to get this flower, but it was difficult while the Blood Vulture Python roamed around in a berserk state. In a berserk state, it boasted strength equivalent to a layer seven Foundation realm beast, and he couldn’t go against the beast with his current strength.
He had to think of a way to kill it quickly. If the battle became prolonged, the person trailing him might act up and strike at a critical point.
His gaze darted to his inventory. A few wood pieces that had a Fake Exploding Array carved on them, but it won’t be useful in current case. A metal sword hung at his waist and had a Strength Expanding Array carved on it. With his current layer one of qi Refinement Realm, he could barely use that array. It would remain active for ten seconds maximum. This array couldn’t be activated with a Qi Stone; it required him to spend his own energy. Only after reaching the peak of the Refinement Realm could he sustain the array usage for over ten minutes.
If he attacked with his full strength and used the array, he might stand a chance against this beast, but if he couldn’t kill it in ten seconds, he might suffer heavy injuries instead.
Should he skip the flower and go straight to Dark Alley Town?
Nope. His gaze fell on the set of Holy Thunder Trees growing in this section of the forest, and his eyes gleamed. This was his chance. And if he wanted to live a leisurely life as a Lazy Immortal, he had to snatch every opportunity like this and profit from it. And this wasn’t a life-threatening opportunity. Worse case, he might get injured and retreat. The python wouldn’t venture far from the Gall Poison Plant, so he didn’t have to worry much.
The main issue that plagued his mind was the cultivator trailing him. So far, he couldn’t track this mystery person using his divine sense, and that made Wei cautious in his plans. This person acted cautiously, and they would only attack at a dire time. Wei didn’t like that setup.
In fact, he hated sneak attacks on him. There was only one way to solve this issue: A Beast Trapping Array Formation, which needed a thunder-attributed tree. Fortunately, with a single strand of his qi and a slightly modified formation eye, he could use this formation.
Smirking, he dropped from the tree and started carving a small diagram on the tree trunk he had just climbed on. It was his formation eye.
Chapter 13
Trapping a beast
Tian Wu observed Li Wei from the shadows of the thick trees surrounding him. The brat was carving something on a tree trunk, but from five hundred feet away, Tian Wu couldn’t see what Li Wei was carving. Li Wei finished the first carving and started carving on another tree. Watching him carve the strange diagram on five trees, Tian Wu’s curiosity was piqued. He wanted to see those carvings.
A thought flashed through Tian Wu’s mind. Was this brat trying to lure him in?
That made little sense. Unless the brat was a complete idiot. Then what was he doing?
Damn that brat. Tian Wu had to keep at least five hundred feet distance from Li Wei, otherwise he would get caught. Three hours before, Tian Wu had accidentally moved closer to Li Wei, and the brat had sensed him. This happened three or four times before Tian Wu realized Li Wei must have a mysterious artifact that let him sense anyone coming within a certain radius around him.
There were two more reasons Tian Wu didn’t attack this brat yet. One was the mysterious aura that brat emanated. When he’d first tracked Li Wei leaving the Li clan compound, he was a mere layer one Refinement Realm cultivator, but soon his cultivation had jumped to the peak of the Foundation Realm. That made Tian Wu take a step back and watch everything from a distance first.
There was another reason—or rumor, he could say. A friend had told him a strange rumor, that Li Wei had walked out of the fight with a mysterious cultivator and Du Su. A person who could walk out of a fight between Bone Baptization Realm cultivators wasn’t an easy man.
He had to be careful about this.
Shit, this brat had too many secrets. Did he find them in the Ancient Ruins?
A cold glint flashed in Tian Wu’s eyes when he thought about the sacred map this brat had got his hands on.
It had to be something from the Ancient Ruins. Tian Wu’s eyes burned with desire. Everything inside the Ancient Ruins belonged to him. He was the first person to go in there and have a fortuitous encounter. This brat had to die so Tian Wu could retrieve his things from the brat’s body.
Tian Wu’s neck tensed when he sensed someone closing in on him. It wasn’t Li Wei. Someone else. A black figure dashed through the woods and rushed ahead toward Li Wei.
Li Wei had carved something on the fifth tree, and was doing something to his carving, unaware of death rushing toward him.
In a flash, Tian Wu recognized the person. It was Du Sung, the madman of the Du clan. He was an assassin fostered by the Du clan, and he only came out of Du clan territory when he had to kill someone.
An uneasy feeling spread through Tian Wu’s chest when he noticed Du Sung’s cultivation. Du Sung had already reached layer eight of the Foundation Realm, and that meant Tian Wu might not have a chance of survival if they fought against each other. Despite their realms being same, Du Sung was known for his Mad Elephant Stomp, a Silver Grade martial skill that could surpass realms and battle against a higher cultivation opponent.
This was bad. If Du Sung killed that brat, he would get all the treasures on the kid’s body, and Tian Wu couldn’t let that happen. He might have to draw his Demon Killing Crossbow today.
Li Wei finished the fifth carving on a Holy Thunder Tree two hundred feet away from the Gall Poison Plant, completing a perfect circle surrounding the plant and python. Once he activated his formation, the beast would be trapped for him to play as he wanted.
Taking a deep breath, he inhaled the fresh scent of virgin forest. It always made him feel tranquil. Tranquility deepened his knowledge and sense of carvings. Tracing his fingers over the smooth lines made using his poison dagger and beast blood, he sensed the belonging of an array carver. It wasn’t different from a sculptor. Sculptors connected with life using their carvings, and array cultivators used carvings to connect with heaven and earth.
If he’d had access to this array formation in the Ancient Ruins, things might have gone differently.
Anyway, that was then. Taking out the water skin he carried on his back, he sprinkled cold water on the carving before taking a deep sip himself. He liked making carvings look more natural and blend with the host object. Why, he didn’t know. This formation eye he had carved looked like a small fish, reminding him of the fish curry Fei’er had cooked for him before she left with Tang Sia. It was good, and he missed her already.
Soon he would be with her.
After he quenched his thirst, he carved another string of lines around the formation eye, modifying it a little to make it accept qi from external sources. This was his own modification he had devised in his previous life, but it could only convert twenty percent of the qi from the external source. But that was fine for his current requirement.
“Done. Now it’s time to play,” he muttered when he was satisfied with his work. This modified Silver Grade array formation could trap any Foundation Realm beast. If he could drive out the whole power of this array formation, it would be sufficient to trap a Marrow Cleansing Realm beast easily.
Stomping his leather shoe on the dusty ground, he leaped and landed
on the middle branch of the tree where he had crafted his formation eye. From the formation eye, he could control the whole formation.
Formations differed from arrays, and only a few people walked on both paths simultaneously. Arrays delivered quicker power while formations had unmatched flexibility.
A complex array was made of multiple simple arrays overlapped using source points, and a formation was made from multiple poles. Arrays had source points and formations had poles. These poles could be set up separately, without physical contact, and the formation eye would control them.
However, there was a common path between these two cultivation systems, and that was array formations: formations set up using various arrays. In fact, this was a complete path in itself. It built upon the power of arrays and the flexibility of formations. Normally, array cultivators stayed away from this path, as there was too much to learn in arrays. The same was true for formation cultivators. They worked on their own art and stayed away from array formations, but Wei had a different opinion. He believed in forming his own path of cultivation, so he studied both. He’d even wanted to study talismans and talisman arrays in his previous life, but he’d never found time to do that.
Thanks to the bitch Wang Zia.
Anyway, this life he focused on alchemy, and this trip to Dark Ally Town was an important step in getting into the Divine Fragrance Palace.
Sighing inwardly, he checked the Beast Illusion Array diagram one final time. A Beast Trapping Array Formation was made of five Boundary Forming Arrays connected with a formation eye made from a Beast Illusion Array. It also required a thunder-attributed natural material to carve the arrays on, and the Holy Thunder Trees satisfied that condition. It was a fairly simple setup, but he couldn’t count on this before because of his lack of cultivation. Once he reached the Foundation Realm in qi cultivation, he would get access to high-tier Silver Grade array formations, and then defeating a Bone Baptization Realm cultivator would be a joke.