Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 37 Creating an Improved Spirit Gathering Array

The cabin was originally empty, but Lin Jingchu flicked the storage bag, and a low table, futons, tea sets and many other items flew out one after another, instantly setting up an elegant tea room.

Senior Brother Ye sat down on the futon, clicking his tongue in amazement: "Junior Brother's style is unlike that of an ordinary newly promoted Foundation Establishment disciple. Could he be a young master from some cultivation family?"

"How could that be? If I were from a noble family, would I, Junior Brother, need to go through the trouble of making and selling magic arrays? It's just good luck." Lin Jingchu poured him tea while casually asking, "Senior Brother...where did you come from just now?"

He remembered that this Senior Brother Ye was a disciple of Suoyan Peak, but the direction from which the other party came was not Suoyan Peak.

"I left the sect a while ago to take care of some personal business and have just returned. I was planning to go to the market to buy some things," Senior Brother Ye took the teacup, took a sip, and continued, "I didn't expect to run into you, Junior Brother. That's perfect, I have something I'd like to trouble you with again."

"Speak freely, and I will certainly not refuse if it is within my power."

"That's right. A friend of mine needs a spirit-gathering formation and a formation that can capture earth-elemental demonic beasts that can burrow underground."

"A Spirit Gathering Array?" Lin Jingchu's eyebrows twitched slightly, showing some curiosity. This kind of array could be bought anywhere in the market, so why would anyone need to hire someone like him who took on custom-made jobs?

Senior Brother Ye continued, "The Spirit Gathering Array must be set up in a place where spiritual energy is almost depleted. Therefore, the effectiveness of the Spirit Gathering Array in consolidating spiritual energy is extremely important, which is why we asked for your help, Junior Brother. As for that demonic beast... it is extremely troublesome and ordinary arrays are unlikely to capture and kill it."

"This demon is in worm form, ranging from several to over ten feet in length. Although it is only a low-level demon beast of the first or second rank, its body can secrete a strange black liquid. This liquid not only helps it to move extremely fast underground, but also has the defensive ability to neutralize and weaken spiritual attacks. In addition, it can also spew out an acidic liquid that corrodes spiritual power and magical artifacts."

A hint of helplessness appeared on his face: "I have tried several trapping formations before, and even spent a lot of money to buy a 'Dragon Binding Wood Killing Formation' that is specifically designed to counter earth-elemental demonic beasts, but I still couldn't get rid of it."

Lin Jingchu pondered for a moment and said, "The Spirit Gathering Array... I might be able to finish it today if I put in some effort. But this special array for hunting demonic beasts probably won't be so quick. First, I need to leave the sect to do some errands, and I estimate I won't be back for about a month; second, I need my senior brother to provide a specific sample of the demonic beast. Even if we can't capture it alive, we need at least a complete demonic corpse so that I can create a targeted array."

Upon hearing this, Senior Brother Ye waved his hand and said, "It's alright. There's no rush for the magic array to hunt down the demon beasts. Providing a sample will take a lot of time, so a month will be just right. Junior Brother, you can prepare the spirit-gathering array for me first."

Lin Jingchu nodded: "Although the Spirit Gathering Array requires special reinforcement to lock the spirit, its foundation remains unchanged. Let's make it one hundred spirit stones."

Senior Brother Ye readily agreed, immediately taking out fifty spirit stones: "Thank you for your trouble, Junior Brother!"

Lin Jingchu flicked his sleeve and put all the spirit stones into his storage bag: "Senior Brother Ye is so generous. I will return to my residence immediately to set up the array and will definitely present them to you before nightfall."

Senior Brother Ye cupped his hands in farewell and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Junior Brother." With that, he got up, boarded his flying sword, and left.

Lin Jingchu then packed away all the utensils in the tea room, restoring the Qingyi Boat to its original size. However, he did not immediately return to Tianquan Peak, but instead changed direction and flew back towards the market.

He needed to buy a spirit-gathering array to modify first. Fortunately, he had a deposit from Senior Brother Ye, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to afford the array materials right now.

……

At the end of Shenshi (3-5 PM), Lin Jingchu, who had been busy for most of the day, finally returned to his cave dwelling.

He strode into the quiet room and placed the newly purchased array plate, the nine-pole array flags, and several jade boxes containing auxiliary materials on the stone platform.

"Ordinary spirit-gathering arrays not only provide energy from the spirit stones, but also require the continuous extraction of their spiritual energy as a guide to gather and concentrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in one place. During this process, the spiritual energy will continuously leak out due to the pressure difference, making it a completely expensive endeavor. If it is placed in an area with sparse spiritual energy, the leakage will be even more severe, resulting in much more effort for little gain... Where exactly does that long-distance teleportation array that Senior Brother Ye discovered connect to?"

As Lin Jingchu's thoughts raced through his mind, he made hand seals and pointed in the air. The spirit-gathering array plate in front of him instantly unfolded, revealing several layers of array pattern substrates inside.

At the same time, he opened a jade box and used his magic to retrieve a half-foot square piece of translucent white jade.

The jade disc was as thin as a cicada's wing, and was semi-transparent under the light of the bright pearl.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Jingchu manipulated a small, less than two-inch-long engraved brush on the stone table, suspending the brush tip above the jade disc.

As spiritual energy was infused into the engraving brush, the silver crystal at the tip, as fine as a hair, immediately lit up with spiritual light.

Lin Jingchu held his breath and carefully manipulated the engraving brush, making the first stroke towards the brand-new, clear jade disc below.

Engraving on jade discs is extremely demanding. Folding, turning, hooking, and connecting all need to be done in one go, without the slightest hesitation or deviation.

The array patterns are nested layer upon layer, interlocking like a grain of rice carving mountains and rivers; the slightest mistake will render all previous efforts futile.

Fortunately, his consciousness was already strengthened by the awakening of his innate wisdom, and it became even stronger after being tempered by the moonlight.

With his early Foundation Establishment cultivation level, his spiritual sense strength was already approaching that of an ordinary mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The silver crystal pen tip touched the surface of the jade plate, its light flowing and its lines moving swiftly, leaving behind delicate, hair-like, yet spiritually rich, pale silver trails.

Half an hour later, one side of the jade disc, which was about half a foot in size, was covered with intricate and precise improved array patterns that faintly shone with spiritual light.

"Phew... Success on the first try. Thank goodness." Lin Jingchu breathed a sigh of relief. These jade discs were made of clear spirit jade, and each disc cost eight spirit stones. If more discs were lost, the profit from this deal would be reduced by more than half.

Without daring to rest for long, he immediately replaced the newly carved jade disc with the corresponding position inside the disassembled spirit-gathering array plate, quickly reconnecting the spiritual energy circulation of the array patterns.

This is only the first step. After the array plate is modified, the array patterns of the nine matching array flags also need to be adjusted and modified simultaneously to ensure that the energy of the entire array is connected and operates smoothly.

When a crescent moon hung on the bamboo tip, Lin Jingchu finally stopped what he was doing.

"Finally... finished." He wiped away non-existent sweat from his forehead and immediately set up the newly improved spirit-gathering array in the quiet room, embedding a few spirit stones and starting the test.

The array activated, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was immediately drawn into the quiet room. Lin Jingchu closed his eyes and carefully sensed it.

"Two more layers of the 'Three Elements Spirit Locking Array' have been added to the original Qi Gathering Array, reducing the rate of spiritual energy dissipation by about 60% compared to the original version... However, the spiritual energy within the sect is already abundant, so the test results may be inaccurate. If it were set up in a place where spiritual energy is truly depleted, the spirit locking effect would probably be somewhat reduced. But for now, this is the best improvement that can be achieved."

Lin Jingchu quickly dispelled the formation and, without stopping, steered the Azure Wing Boat straight towards Senior Brother Ye's cave on Suoyan Peak.

Today I was busy running around and refining formations, and I haven't even started my routine cultivation yet. The night is long, so after delivering the formations, I'll take advantage of the bright moonlight to cultivate for a while.