Chapter 3: Formation of Arrays

  The Supreme Yang Spirit, also known as the Extreme Yang Corpse, gives birth to all things in the world. All things carry yin and embrace yang. Humans have three souls and seven spirits, with a balance of yin and yang, and the five elements complete, making them the leader of all spirits. Therefore, humans find it easier to cultivate than demonic creatures by thousands of times. It is often heard that a Daoist disciple who has cultivated for several decades can easily kill a demonic creature that has lived for hundreds of years, and this is precisely the reason why.

  But the Tao is mysterious and profound, not everyone is like this. Each person has their own destiny and method, those who balance yin and yang, and the five elements, cultivate at a slower pace, but have a solid foundation. The path to immortality is one step at a time, as long as the heart is determined, it will surely be achieved.

  However, there are also people born with an affinity for one attribute, such people cultivate extremely quickly, but often lose themselves due to their powers growing faster than their dao heart, and are possessed by heavenly demons, losing their connection to the great Tao.

  Such disciples are precisely the most favored by the major sects. Where there is a place of human habitation, there is struggle, even among cultivators. When such a disciple appears in a sect, it is a great advantage in times of war, and their strength increases greatly.

  Like Xiao Ganping, an extremely yang spirit, that is a treasure among treasures, born with seven yang spirits, a fire spirit body, simply a genius at cultivating fire system dao methods.

  The five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth have spiritual bodies that are not to be underestimated. The Taixu Sect has a disciple who is a metal spirit body, cultivating for over 200 years, and has already reached the realm of the golden elixir. This pre-heavenly spiritual body is truly enviable. Other sects also have disciples with five-element spiritual bodies, but this extreme yang energy is a fire spirit body combined with the seven yang spirits. Either of these advantages can make the major sects go all out to seize them. With such a disciple, the prosperity of the sect is no longer an empty phrase. The fire spirit body cultivates quickly, and the extreme yang energy is born to overcome all evil, breaking through filth and pollution, making it a good seedling for cultivating thunder laws. This is also why Gan Ping was able to wield the yellow mulberry wood to injure the ghost. That ghost was an extremely yin and evil entity, and encountering this once-in-a-thousand-years extreme yang energy, how could it not be defeated?

  No wonder Xuan Mingzi was overjoyed when he saw Gan Ping, this is a good material that is hard to come by in the cultivation world for thousands of years, and it is also a spiritual being born from heaven and earth. Compared with ordinary heavenly and earthly spirits, Gan Ping is obviously more superior as an array eye. Even without this heavy reason, Xuan Mingzi would not miss it, and he would definitely capture its soul, seize its spirit, refine it into a treasure, and use the extreme yang energy to restrain all evil. If it were allowed to grow up, it would also be a great disaster for evil cultivators.

  Logically speaking, such a person must be carrying great luck and great opportunities, and cannot be easily touched. However, with the heavenly calamity looming over Xuan Mingzi's head, he can no longer care about so much. Such good material has fallen into Lao Zu's hands, and whoever tries to take it away will not succeed. After setting up the Xuantiān Duòlíng Array and cultivating a second yuan Shen, he will preserve this body. If he cannot withstand that heavenly calamity, he will abandon his own body and reincarnate into this one, which is also another way out.

  Xuan Mingzi suddenly arrived at the half-remaining spiritual eye of the mountain spirit, and with a wave of his sleeve, the grayish sword energy with thousands of points, accompanied by a sharp howl, rushed out and spread throughout the surrounding hundred miles. This thousand ghost character soul-stealing sword energy harmed people without leaving any marks, lightly brushing against living beings' bodies, taking away their entire souls and blood essence. It was extremely vicious, and as this sword energy struck down, the surrounding hundred miles became a land of ghosts, regardless of whether it was snakes, insects, rats, or flying birds and beasts, even some demon beasts were drained of their blood and soul, turning into desiccated corpses.

  Xuan Mingzi gazed at the hundred-mile-wide desolate and eerie ghost town, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. His fingers snapped in succession, counting down to the sword energy flying out, transforming into a thick black fog that enveloped the entire area.

  The Xuantian Duoling Array was also an ancient mysterious array passed down from the primordial era. Although it wasn't as unpredictable and powerful as the Doutian Blood Slaughter Array, its mystique surpassed even that of the Doutian Blood Slaughter Array.

  Xuantian Duoling relied on a single spiritual vein's earth eye as its foundation, serving as the source of the grand array's spiritual energy. Using heavenly and earthly spiritual objects as the array's eyes, it rotated the grand array, breaking through spatial barriers, summoning powerful living beings from another realm, seizing their souls and primordial spirits to merge with the array's spiritual objects. Ultimately, they were refined into a second primordial spirit, revealing a glimpse of its profound mystery.

  However, to lay out this heaven-defying great array, it must be supported by the consumption of a spiritual eye of the earth vein. After the array is run, the spiritual energy of the earth vein will be completely lost, and this spiritual eye will also be abandoned. Although there are many spiritual eyes in the world, no one would be willing to consume them in such a way. It was fortunate that Xuan Mingzi could find this incomplete spiritual eye, which was only inhabited by a few low-level demon creatures. Although it was incomplete, it was enough to lay out this great array.

  At this point, Xuán Míng Zǐ no longer hesitated. With a flick of his finger, several pieces of Líng Shí flew out and shot into the air. Then, with a series of rapid finger movements, those Líng Shí fell down like raindrops, forming a mysterious array. If someone were to witness this from the side, they would surely secretly admire the old demon's grand stroke, having accumulated so many Líng Shí.

  Ling stones are the condensation of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, containing a strong spiritual energy. When cultivators sit in meditation to practice their breath, having one ling stone will definitely have an effect of doubling their efforts. In times of battle, having several ling stones in hand will undoubtedly increase one's chances of winning. Even when refining equipment or alchemy, ling stones are essential items that cannot be lacking. These ling stones are the universal currency among cultivators. The high-quality ling stones scattered by Xuan Mingzi were all top-grade, and it's likely that there were tens of thousands of them. This was all thanks to this ruthless person who had killed countless people over a thousand years, accumulating a large amount. If it were someone else, they might not have been able to make such a grand gesture. Even so, with such an arrangement, Xuan Mingzi's family would still feel the pinch, but with the heavenly tribulation looming, he couldn't care about that much anymore. After all, it was better than dying and having his thousand years of cultivation destroyed in an instant.

  Looking at the nearly completed grand array, Xuan Mingzi's eyes flashed as he calculated the positions with his fingers. Suddenly, several top-grade spirit stones appeared in his hand. If high-grade spirit stones were extremely precious, then these top-grade spirit stones could be considered treasures. A spiritual vein of ore might not even produce a few top-grade spirit stones, showing just how valuable they were.

  These few top-grade spirit stones appeared, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth increased again. These top-grade spirit stones were obtained by destroying several small sects, and in these small sects, they could be considered as the treasure of the sect. However, it was precisely because of these few top-grade spirit stones that Xuan Mingzi, a ruthless person, came to kill and exterminate the entire sect.

  Looking at these spirit stones, Xuan Mingzi's eyes flashed, and he immediately shook his hand, causing the spirit stones to fly towards the center of the array. Instantly, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth surged, and although the spirit eye was damaged, under the operation of the Xuan Tian Du Ling Array, the spiritual energy within a thousand miles flowed towards this large array through the broken spirit veins.

  In an instant, the spiritual energy in the array surged, more than ten times that of other places, and it continued to increase.

  Looking at the already formed large array, Xuan Mingzi nodded secretly and waved his hand to release a purple-black object. This object was like a small net, with a purple glow all over it, and five black small dragons coiled on its surface. This was also one of Xuan Mingzi's famous magical treasures - the Kui Shui Gui Long Net.

  To refine this magical treasure, Xuan Mingzi traveled to the five great rivers of the Tian Fu continent, which were infamous for their ferocity. The rivers were teeming with river monsters, and huge waves crashed against the sky. It was unknown how many people had lost their lives in these rivers. He extracted one strand of fierce energy from each river and combined it with the essence of Kui Shui from the extreme north to refine it into this treasure. Its power was immense, capable of both attacking and defending.

  Now that it was released, it grew longer as it met the wind, transforming into a blue sky in an instant, covering the entire area of hundreds of miles, isolating all contact with the outside world.

  As the arrangement was completed, the sky had almost darkened. Xuan Mingzi looked at the sky and shook his sleeve, and a small figure flew out from it - it was Gan Ping with the body of the Supreme Yang Spirit. Gan Ping was quite clever and had been waiting in Xuan Mingzi's sleeve for several hours without crying or making a fuss. Now that he saw the sky and the sun again, he saw the old man in front of him and immediately knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly, saying: "Immortal Grandfather, Gan Ping doesn't want to cultivate immortality anymore, please let me go back, I miss my father." His head knocked against the ground with a loud thud. Xuan Mingzi saw this and raised an eyebrow, smiling and saying: "Child, many people wish for this immortal fate but can't achieve it, how can you give up so easily?" As the Xuantian Duoling Array was set up, Xuan Mingzi was in a great mood and even joked with Gan Ping.

  "Ha ha, I didn't think you'd be so clever, but now that you're in this state, even if I wanted to let you go back, you wouldn't make it far before being eaten by wild beasts. Come, come, as long as you help me with one thing, I'll personally send you back." Gan Ping's eyes lit up with joy upon hearing these words, and he hastily lifted his head, asking "Really?" But then he was frightened into a daze, looking up to see Xuan Mingzi's triangular eyes gleaming with cold light, revealing a ferocious aura. Just as Gan Ping was stunned, Xuan Mingzi snapped his fingers and said "It's nothing much, I just need to use your physical body and soul." As soon as he finished speaking, Gan Ping's small body fell to the ground. Xuan Mingzi had lost patience and didn't want to bother with this young child anymore, so he pointed a finger and sent Gan Ping tumbling down.

  Looking at the small child who was sleeping soundly, Xuan Mingzi's dry palm waved gently, and his body slowly rose into the air, flying towards the array eye and stopping in mid-air. Xuan Mingzi flipped his palm over, and an ancient bronze bottle appeared in his hand. He opened the lid, and his eyes flashed as if he was thinking about something. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "Forget it, forget it, this body is mine anyway, whoever uses it makes no difference." As soon as he finished speaking, his finger flicked, and a green light flew out of the bottle, which was the precious Mu Ling cream that he had treasured for a long time.

  This Wood Spirit Infusion Body Milk was obtained by Xuan Mingzi during his travels to the overseas islands, where he coincidentally encountered a spiritual beast that was about to ascend to heaven and was guarding the heavenly medicine. At the time, Xuan Mingzi used his newly advanced Yuan Shen powers to secretly take away one drop of it, which led to the guardian spiritual beast chasing him for thousands of miles. Although he managed to escape by luck, almost all of his magical treasures were lost, and even his physical body suffered severe injuries. He spent nearly a hundred years recovering from his wounds. The fact that this spiritual beast could cause such severe damage to a Yuan Shen cultivator shows just how ferocious it was. However, despite the danger, if Xuan Mingzi had to choose again, he would still go after it without hesitation, simply because the Wood Spirit Infusion Body Milk is too enticing.

  The Wood Spirit Infusion Body Milk, obtained from the Primordial Wood of Heaven and Earth after millions of years of gestation. This Primordial Wood is a heavenly treasure that cannot be damaged by any ordinary means, except for a few ancient divine artifacts. Even if one's cultivation is extremely high, they would still find it difficult to harm this wood in the slightest. Therefore, even if a cultivator were to obtain this Primordial Wood, they would not be able to refine it into a divine artifact. However, within this wood lies a hint of life energy from the dawn of creation, and after millions of years, it can give birth to a single drop of Wood Spirit Infusion Body Milk. This is a treasure beyond measure for cultivators, and with it in hand, even if one's soul were reduced to a mere thread, they could recover to their former state. Originally, Xuan Mingzi had intended to use this to repair his damaged body during the Heavenly Tribulation, but now he has decided to refine his second Yuan Shen, so he sends it into Gan Ping's body, intending to temper this body with the Earth Vein Spirit Fire, and one day make it his own.

  After sending the Wooden Spirit Infusion into Gan Ping's body, Xuan Mingzi pinched a Dao seal in his hand. His dry and withered hand grasped at the air, and a bright red light ball suddenly appeared on Gan Ping's small body. It was indeed Gan Ping's soul being pulled out. In an instant, a vast and powerful Yang energy filled the space between heaven and earth. The extremely Yang energy restrained all evil, even Xuan Mingzi, an old monster like him, felt some discomfort. If it were someone with weak cultivation, this spell would not only fail to capture the soul but also cause the caster's own body to be counterattacked by the majestic Yang energy.

  Xuan Mingzi's hand seal changed rapidly, and he pinched several more law seals. The soul suddenly shrunk dramatically and hovered in mid-air. Xuan Mingzi hastily squeezed out a drop of essence blood and injected it into the soul. The blood transformed into silk, forming a strange symbol that tightly wrapped around the fiery red soul. This was the unique secret technique of Dacui Ze's Wangyue Mountain - Soul Silk Seal. By mixing his own essence blood with a thread of soul spirit, he could control the other person's thoughts and actions after refining it. It was incredibly sinister, far surpassing those methods that seized people's souls and imposed restrictions to control them.

  After such a process, it can be said that this group of souls already belongs to Xuan Mingzi. As long as he initiates the Xuantian Duoling Array, using this group of souls as bait, breaking through the external barrier, he can attract the strong spirits from other realms to devour and merge with them. Then, by initiating the Xiaoliu Jiu Rong Shenmi Shu, it will naturally be possible to refine them, transforming them into his second incarnation. Moreover, because this incarnation comes from another space, outside of the Heavenly Way, even if the Heavenly Tribulation arrives and cannot be resisted, all spiritual consciousness can still escape into this second Yuan Shen. The heavenly thunder will then cease. At that time, it will be possible to roam freely between heaven and earth. What's more, with this originally unified Fire Spirit body, seizing a new shell and reincarnating for rebirth, without needing a hundred years, not only can all strength be recovered, but also surpass the previous level. By then, it will be possible to once again transcend the tribulation and ascend to the Immortal Realm.

  As he thought of this, Xuan Mingzi's heart became eager, and with a flick of his finger, the soul orb floated to Gan Ping's brow, where a flame burst forth, enveloping Gan Ping's body. The flame slowly refined it, merging Gan Ping's fire spirit body with the wood spirit body, and using the gentle earth vein spirit fire to temper the body. One could imagine how rapid Gan Ping's future cultivation would be. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with poor little Gan Ping anymore. With a faint smile, Xuan Mingzi released another seal, and the spiritual energy circulated as the Xuantian Devouring Spirit Array was activated.

  Xuan Mingzi stood outside the grand formation, his expression solemn, a series of seals on his hands controlling the operation of the formation. The sky above, shrouded by the formation, occasionally flashed with lightning, heavily striking the Kui Shui Gui Long shield. The heavens were severe, and Xuan Mingzi knew that this was a warning to those who had set up the formation. Such a heaven-defying grand formation would be strange if it didn't bring about heavenly punishment. For now, it was just a warning, so the power of the lightning wasn't great. Only when the formation truly activated would the power of the heavenly punishment increase a hundredfold. Even so, Xuan Mingzi didn't have a worried expression. For someone with his level of cultivation, the power of the heavenly punishment, although not to be taken lightly, was still enough to be dealt with.

  As he struck out with his Fa Jue, the entire Xuan Tian Du Ling formation was activated, and the spiritual energy within a thousand miles surged towards the array eye. The density of the spiritual energy increased, causing the spiritual fire in the array eye to burn even more vigorously. At this time, Gan Ping had been completely enveloped by the flames, and the Mu Ling Quan body milk inside him gradually dispersed and merged into his various meridians. Although the width of his meridians did not change due to the lack of spiritual energy flowing through them, they became even more resilient with the nourishment of the Mu Ling Quan body milk, which would be extremely beneficial for his future cultivation. The burning of the earth vein spirit fire also triggered a resonance in Gan Ping's Huo Ling body, and a small flame was generated inside him. Although it was only a tiny spark, it wandered through his internal organs, and it was actually the San Jiao Xin Huo that cultivators used to temper their internal organs. It had unexpectedly appeared within this young child's body without any deliberate effort, and indeed, the innate Huo Ling body was extraordinary.

  Xuán Míng Zǐ didn't notice these, he carefully controlled the large array, this matter related to his key to becoming a Daoist, not even a bit of carelessness was allowed, which made the face of this thousand-year-old old demon also have a hint of tension. In an instant, a set of controlling array techniques had been completed, single finger pressed a sword technique, pointing remotely at the empty space in front of the array eye, shouting: "Reversing Heaven's recognition, Xuán Tiān's beheading spirit, all laws follow the heart, Yōu Míng opens up. Go!" Along with this loud shout, a point of sword light flew out from his hand, transforming into a cluster of dark blue light, bursting open, the entire large array suddenly increased in speed by nearly a hundred times. The sky occupied by the blue light gradually faded away, a black hole over a hundred zhangs in diameter formed above the array, and faintly transmitted came waves of whistling sounds.

  Xuan Mingzi was overjoyed and looked forward to it, but unexpectedly, it was a dragon. It seems that the Xuantian Duoling Array broke through the spatial barrier and brought in a top-notch powerful creature from another realm. What a lucky coincidence! The dragon's head resembles a camel, its horns resemble deer antlers, its eyes resemble rabbit eyes, its ears resemble cow ears, its neck resembles a snake, its belly resembles a tortoise shell, its scales resemble carp scales, its claws resemble eagle talons, and its palms resemble tiger paws. On its back, there are 81 scales, with the number of yang energy being 99. Its voice is like the sound of a bronze bell. There are whiskers on either side of its mouth, a bright pearl under its chin, and an inverted scale under its throat. On top of its head, there is a broad mountain, also known as a ruler, without which the dragon cannot ascend to heaven. With a breath, it can create clouds; it can transform water and fire, making it a divine creature cherished by heaven and earth.

  If it were in ordinary times, Xuán Míng Zǐ would have retreated three houses upon encountering such a powerful creature, and even a cultivator with a fully formed Yuan Shen wouldn't dare to fight this heavenly beast. However, the current situation is another story altogether. As long as this dragon swallows that ball of soul essence in the array, Xuán Míng Zǐ's thoughts stirred at the mere thought of it. The Xuán Tiān Duō Líng Great Array broke through the spatial barrier, attracting an even more powerful creature, and naturally, his own second Yuan Shen would also rise to new heights. At that time, with this one Yuan Shen, he could go anywhere in the world.

  Just as Xuan Mingzi was secretly pleased with himself, a black hole in the array suddenly shot out a flame, and when he looked up, this light was less than three feet long, with deer antlers, cow ears, fish scales, eagle claws, snake body, and tiger palms. It was a fire spirit dragon. Looking at this flame, Xuan Mingzi couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye. Such a heavenly spiritual beast's body was extremely large, so why was this one so small? Moreover, a dragon pearl on its neck emitted powerful blood pulse fluctuations? A bad feeling instantly surged up in Xuan Mingzi's heart, and he immediately threw out a spell seal, shouting: "Blood slaughter transforms shape, spirit eyes open!"