Chapter 43: Formation Manual, Mortal Grade Section

Chen Xian opened the golden pages with a thought, and before his eyes appeared rows of mysterious characters, resembling tadpoles or musical notes...

He began to awaken his second spiritual wheel, following the method recorded in the Supreme Chaos Sutra.

Time flew by, and in what seemed like an instant, an hour had passed.

Boom!

A deep, muffled roar erupted from Chen Xian's dantian, resounding like the very creation of the world.

With his mind’s eye, he clearly saw two brilliant golden orbs appear within his dantian. As their radiance flickered, they gradually condensed into two six-pointed star-shaped, mysterious golden wheels.

These were the two spiritual wheels—Chen Xian’s cultivation had now leapt to the second level of the Mortal Shedding Realm.

Extending his consciousness into the two spiritual wheels, he found their internal spaces utterly empty, devoid of the slightest trace of spiritual energy.

The space of the second spiritual wheel was twice the size of the first.

Chen Xian did not feel anxious. He knew that all the spiritual energy once filling the first wheel had been consumed to awaken and condense the second.

With the advance in his cultivation, he noticed his physical body had grown much more powerful than before.

The Supreme Chaos Sutra, an invincible cultivation method, refined both body and spirit, strengthening not only his cultivation but also his mind, spiritual sense, and primordial spirit.

Reaching the second level of the Mortal Shedding Realm, Chen Xian's mental strength multiplied several times over, expanding the domain of his mind and rendering his thoughts piercingly sharp.

He felt an incomparable comfort throughout his body—if he were to describe it in a single word, it would be “exhilarating.”

Of the Ma family members standing nearby, aside from Ma Tian, the rest remained motionless like wooden figures.

Ma Tian stared at Chen Xian in utter shock, sensing that the aura emanating from him had multiplied several times over in just one hour!

At that moment, Chen Xian opened his eyes and looked at him.

Ma Tian instantly felt as if he were being gazed upon by some ancient, terrifying beast. His hair stood on end, and he hurriedly bowed, trembling with awe, “Co... congratulations, Grandmaster Chen, on your breakthrough!”

Chen Xian glanced at Ma Tian indifferently, then shifted his gaze past the other Ma family members, finally settling on the black evil spirit sculpture, of which only a third remained.

He could sense that a faint wisp of consciousness still lingered within the sculpture, not yet fully extinguished.

After a brief look, Chen Xian closed his eyes and continued to perform the Supreme Chaos Sutra. Swirling vortices appeared in the centers of his palms, slowly spinning, causing the damaged sculpture to rotate and dissolve...

A few minutes later.

Chen Xian opened his eyes, a divine light flashing within them. The evil spirit sculpture had completely vanished—more precisely, it had been transformed into pure spiritual energy, which now filled the space of his first spiritual wheel.

Nodding in satisfaction, having completed this most vital task, he closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the crimson fruit in his consciousness, radiant as a miniature sun.

“What surprise will you bring me?” he murmured to himself. Extending his mental tendrils toward the red fruit, he whispered, “Pluck!”

The sixth mysterious fruit fell from the branch as if in answer. Instantly, the entire strange tree seemed drained of all its power, turning transparent once more.

Crack!

As the fruit descended, it split in two, dazzling light bursting forth.

In his mind’s vision, Chen Xian saw a book coalescing from the light.

On the book’s cover were five ancient, enigmatic characters: Formation Manual, Mortal Grade.

He was taken aback: Formation Manual?

Recovering himself, Chen Xian directed his consciousness to open the Formation Manual, Mortal Grade. Inside was a table of contents:

Spirit Gathering Array (Mortal Grade);
Golden Thunder Array (Mortal Grade);
Scarlet Fire Array (Mortal Grade);
Azure Wood Array (Mortal Grade);
…
Tenfold Killing Array (Mortal Grade).

Chen Xian leafed through the table of contents and discovered over a hundred arrays listed. With anticipation, he turned to the next page.

“The Spirit Gathering Array (Mortal Grade), as its name suggests, can concentrate the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into a single location.

Depending on the area to be covered, there are small, medium, large, and super-large variants.

A small Spirit Gathering Array can concentrate spiritual energy from within a hundred-mile radius. Materials required:

Three pieces of jade infused with spiritual energy, of specific grade, to serve as the array’s core; millennium sandalwood, sea stone…

A medium Spirit Gathering Array can gather spiritual energy from within ten thousand miles. Materials required…”

Half an hour later, Chen Xian opened his eyes, his expression both pleased and troubled.

He was pleased because he had already learned the methods to set up ten arrays, including the Spirit Gathering, Golden Thunder, Scarlet Fire, and Azure Wood Arrays. Given time, he could master them all. Once arranged, these formations would greatly benefit his cultivation. As for the other arrays, he surmised he could not access them yet due to his level of cultivation.

What troubled him was that the materials needed to create these arrays were all extremely rare and precious—gathering them would be an almost impossible task. Even obtaining the materials for the smallest Spirit Gathering Array would be incredibly difficult.

Chen Xian shook his head, thinking to himself:

“Others wouldn’t even know where to begin learning the arts of array formation, yet I have already acquired this knowledge. What is there to worry about? In time, I’ll find a way to assemble the materials and set up some of the formations from the Manual. That way, my cultivation will progress by leaps and bounds!”

At this thought, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his lips.

He then closed the Formation Manual, Mortal Grade, letting it hover beneath the ancient, mysterious, translucent tree. His mind’s tendrils then reached toward the Dragon Elephant Divine Fist.

“Now that I’ve reached the second level of the Mortal Shedding Realm, can I cultivate the second form of the Dragon Elephant Divine Fist?”

Chen Xian opened the manual, but after reading through the first form, Soaring Dragon Strike, he found he could not turn to the next page.

“It seems my cultivation still isn’t sufficient,” he sighed inwardly, closing the Dragon Elephant Divine Fist and letting it float quietly beneath the mysterious tree.

His lashes trembled as he opened his eyes once more. His deep, obsidian gaze flashed with an almost tangible brilliance as he glanced at the still-dazed Ma family members, finally settling on Ma Tian.

Ma Tian shivered all over, his face immediately assuming an expression of terror.

“How much is your Ma family worth?” Chen Xian asked.

Ma Tian hesitated for a moment, then replied with a mixture of awe and trepidation, “Reporting to Grandmaster Chen, our Ma family’s total assets are estimated at around twelve billion.”

“So much!” Chen Xian’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

He had not expected that the seemingly modest Ma family would possess such wealth.

He did not deny Ma Tian’s respectful address of him as Grandmaster.

The first time Chen Xian had heard the term “Grandmaster” was from Fang Jing.

Chen Xian’s thoughts began to churn.

“In the future, whether cultivating or arranging formations, I will require vast sums of money and countless resources.

If I rely solely on myself, it would be impossible.

It seems I too need to establish my own power...”

Deep in contemplation, Chen Xian’s eyes flashed with dazzling brilliance as he looked at Ma Tian. “Tell me, in detail, about the Ma family’s affairs.”