Chapter Thirty: The Battle Array

  Chen Yuan put away the Jade Flower Pill and heard Liang Qianqiu ask, "I heard that you obtained the qualification certificate of a second-level Array Master in the Array An Tianxia today. The array used during the assessment was the 'Tiger Elephant Array'. I traveled to Fengzhou in my early years and had heard of this array, but I have never seen it before. Can you demonstrate it once?"

  There was a gift before, Chen Yuan had no way to refuse, and naturally nodded in agreement.

  However, when the array was set up, Liang Qianqiu said to Liang Jianying: "I haven't studied your formation for a long time, go and have a match with Chen Yuan."

  Liang Jianying slightly stuck out her tongue, but seeing the Ling beast skeleton that Chen Yuan had laid out, she also felt that this formation was extraordinary, and in her heart, there was a sense of competition, so she nodded in agreement.

  Chen Yuan and Liang Jianying exchanged a glance, nodding to each other.

  Chen Yuan temporarily stopped and didn't rush to urge the Array Method, but instead watched Liang Jianying set up the array.

  Kokoro Castle is named after wood, and the way of array naturally leans towards the wood system.

  Liang Jianying continuously took out thirty kinds of spiritual wood from the cloth bag, then matched them with earth and wood-based demon crystals, operating the second-level soul-refining disc.

  "Let's begin!" With both sides ready, Liang Qianqiu, leaning back in his high seat with a hint of laziness, propped up his head with one hand and declared.

  "Brother Liang (Chen) is invited!" Chen Yuan and Liang Jianying said in unison, after their voices fell, they each refined the demon crystal spirit, five tigers and one elephant, white bones grew flesh, revived from death.

  Thirty spiritual woods, following the spiritual energy changes, also transformed into wooden soldiers, turning into thirty tree people. They wore earth and stone as armor, holding knives, guns, clubs, and rods, with a mighty momentum. Each wooden man had the cultivation of refining the air to its peak, although it was weaker than Chen Yuan's six foundation-building cultivations, but the number was five times that.

  "Wooden Spirit Great Formation! Please teach me, Brother Chen." As soon as Liang Jianying's voice fell, the jade fan fluttered, and the front row of wooden spirit soldiers rushed to kill first.

  Chen Yuan's five fingers were like plucking the strings of a zither, and the Five Tigers instantly formed an array. Huang Shan Xiang urged on the Earth Spirit Law to add protection. The two sides clashed, the Five Tigers were agile, and under Chen Yuan's changing fingers, the formation changed, suddenly tearing open a gap in the demon wood soldiers' defense.

  Liang Jianying's face was slightly urgent, and he recited the law, countless vines grew on the ground, wanting to tie up the five tigers.

  "Tiger Claw Swipe!" Chen Yuan reacted at the same time, Five Tigers Qi moved, sharp claws slapped horizontally.

  A tiger's paw, capable of splitting stone and cutting iron, slapped out a series of powerful air currents, instantly shattering the vines and sending them crashing to the ground.

  "Foolish kid, attack the person first!" Liang Qianqiu saw his son being put in a disadvantageous position and couldn't bear to see him lose face, so he spoke up to remind him.

  Liang Jianying's eyes lit up, Chen Yuanwu's ten silver tiger troops all charged into his own formation, as long as he cut off the rear route and divided out ten demon wood soldiers to attack Chen Yuan, it would be absolutely effective.

  "Still, the old man is formidable." Liang Jianying thought to himself, and in an instant, the formation dispersed, with ten demon wood soldiers charging towards Chen Yuan.

  Chen Yuanshan secretly laughed in his heart: "Li Qianqiu is obviously playing with kids! He actually recognizes the Tiger Elephant Formation, and should understand that Huangshan Xiang is the true core of this formation!"

  Seeing Liang Jianying control the demon wood to rush over, Huang Shan was still as calm as ever.

  "Idiot!" Liang Qianqiu muttered under his breath as he watched his son foolishly choose to divide their troops.

  As soon as the demon wood soldiers rushed to Chen Yuan's front one zhang away, a loud elephant roar sounded, and a stone mountain condensed in the void, falling from the sky.

  "The boundary of Shanshi Town!"

  Chen Yuan's magic stirred, and the mountain rocks fell. The ten demon wood soldiers hadn't even reacted yet when they were crushed by a mountain.

  "Is it that fierce?" Liang Jianying lost ten demon wood soldiers in an instant and was stunned for a moment.

  And on this side, the Five Tigers had already knocked down seven or eight of the demon wood soldiers. Seeing that their formation was torn apart, Liang Jianying felt that defeat was inevitable.

  "Old man! You deceived me!" Liang Jianying was not stupid, and he immediately realized that his old father's words were a reminder of his mistake. And his old father's eyesight would not be wrong, it was clearly intentional.

  "Hmph! Are you blaming me for your own lack of vision? The Tiger Elephant Formation evolved from the Dragon Elephant Formation, and is considered a top-notch second-level formation. This formation takes the elephant as its core, renowned for its strength and thickness, but slow in movement. To break this formation, one must choose an attacking formation that emphasizes speed, first breaking through the Five Tigers' offensive, then using speed to shatter the elephant's main array. And yet you've used the Wood Spirit Heaven Formation, which excels at entangling and confining enemies, against me - are you too confident or just foolish?"

  "I..." Liang Jianying looked at his old father, wanting to argue but having nothing to say.

  Chen Yuanchao cupped his fists: "I concede."

  Although Liang Jianying lost, he was angry not at Chen Yuan, but at his own father's trickery. He walked up to Chen Yuan and bowed his fist: "The Tiger Elephant Formation is indeed famous for a reason. I was too confident this time. Next time, I will definitely make you astonished once."

  "Expected." Chen Yuan smiled and nodded. He actually understood that Liang Jianying's strength was not just this, it was just a test of each other's skills, neither side had used their full force yet.

  Liang Qianqiu praised Chen Yuan highly:

  "Your array manipulation is extremely meticulous, and the control of the Five Tigers is excellent, making it hard to find any flaws. In terms of array refinement, Jian Ying can't compare to you."

  "The castle owner praised! Sword Brother is better than me in many ways." Chen Yuanchen humbly replied.

  "He? At most can jump around in Ruo Mu City, and you, the future is boundless." Liang Qianqiu shook his head, with high expectations for Chen Yuan's future.

  Such praise made Chen Yuan's heart calm and composed. A year ago, he was still a small cultivator in a small manor worrying about his livelihood, but now he was being praised by a Golden Dan Great Cultivator, he knew that everything about him had changed because of the Jade Stele, but the problem was that if he revealed his sharp edges like this, he would definitely make enemies everywhere.

  Li Qianqiu seemed to understand Chen Yuan's mind and said:

  Young people should be a bit more open-minded, being too humble and introverted is not the material for being a leader! If you want to build a villa, you need to show your momentum, if you want to make progress, you need to show your ambition, only then can you truly gather followers. In this world, humility and prudence are not the demeanor of successful people, ambition and dominance are the demeanor of those in power.

  "Thank you, City Lord, for your guidance." Chen Yuan nodded, what Liang Qianqiu said was not unreasonable. Before this city lord became the master of Ruo Mu City, there was a struggle for the position of city lord in Ruo Mu City. At that time, Liang Qianqiu, who had the weakest forces, attracted countless young supporters due to his personal charm and finally seized the position of city lord.

  After the fight, Chen Yuan and Liang Jianying sat under Liang Qianqiu. The father and son of the Liang family seemed to love arguing, Liang Qianqiu was serious and tried to maintain his dignity as the master of Ruo Mu City, but Liang Jianying would occasionally scold him a few words, this father-son relationship is very good, it's clear that such conversations are daily routines.

  Li Qianqiu admired Chen Yuan very much, but didn't know what kind of insight his 'discerning eye' had gained into Chen's nature.

  As for the construction permit requested by Chen Yuan, it was naturally obtained as wished.

  "This is the Hundred House Command, used to open up a homestead. I suppose you should understand its function if you want to build an estate too." Liang Qianqiu handed over a piece of unblemished white jade to Chen Yuan, who felt the extraordinary energy stored within the jade. This Hundred House Command could open up a thirty-mile radius of pure land, enhance the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a thirty-mile range, expel evil spirits, and was suitable for human survival and cultivation.

  "Has the address for opening the store been decided?" asked Liang Jianying.

  Chen Yuan replied: "The address is basically confirmed, but we still need to go to Julu Fort to get the final confirmation."

  "Take the hundred households' order and go, they will naturally respond. Tell me about your site selection!" Liang Qianqiu said.

  "Choose the west of Julong Fort, close to Youming Forest, and also on the banks of Heihe River. With a hidden valley as the backyard of the manor, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack." Chen Yuan told them about the place he had already selected.

  "Hmm? The canyon terrain is indeed good, but it's too close to the Black River and the Youming Forest. During the demonic tide period, more demonic beasts will be attracted. The first demonic tide of building a manor is very important, it will affect the future development of your manor." Liang Qianqiu reminded with a nod.

  "I've thought of that too, but I have confidence in my own defensive array." Chen Yuan replied confidently.

  "You can be so confident that I have some interest in your protective array. Jian Ying, you'll understand it yourself when the time comes!"

  "Yes!" Liang Jianying's eyebrows danced with joy, he didn't expect his old man would voluntarily let him out.

  "Hmph! I sent you to gain experience, did you think you could still inherit the Lingmu City? With your current cultivation, who knows if you'll even outlive me!" scolded Liang Qianqiu coldly.

  "Yes, yes, yes, may our patriarch live forever and prosper for a thousand autumns. Your useless son has never had any designs on your position as city master." Liang Jianying hastened to flatter.