Chapter 54

With all the principles and items prepared, Li Xian couldn't wait a minute longer, and neither could the others, so they immediately began their work. This busy period lasted for over ten days.

During this time, Xia Qingqing, Beichen Yuqing, Fang Shijing, and Ling Zhifeng also came to understand the group's crazy plan—they were actually preparing to replicate the temperature and environment of the heavenly fire!

It was too crazy! But also too exciting! Even Xia Qingqing, who was usually so composed, showed an overwhelming amount of curiosity.

Using magic, they carved a stone cave about three meters in size from the top of a mountain; then they used magic to repair the cave, ensuring there were no cracks. After that, they began to lay jade and copper wires inside the cave, drawing arrays on the jade. The Sanmei True Fire Array and the Hou Tu Array were also completed overnight.

After all this work, there was only about one and a half meters of space left in the center of the cave.

Finally, they placed a one-meter iron ball in the remaining space, then filled the space with about one-third water. They then used magic, jade, and mountain rocks to completely seal the cave.

"When the water boils, it will evaporate into gas, providing strong pressure in the space. Using the entire mountain as a seal, it should be able to withstand the enormous pressure!" This was Li Xian's plan.

To be honest, Li Xian couldn't be sure of success. After all, if the pressure was too great, it could very well blow up the entire mountain.

Why is explosives so powerful? Because they release enormous pressure instantly! And this time, the group had no experience at all, and everything was aimed at being the "strongest." They were striving for the highest temperature, the strongest pressure, and the most perfect extreme—naturally, safety was the biggest concern.

"Is everything checked?" Li Xian was excited; it was finally time to make history.

"It's all done!" Tang Rong was also very excited.

Li Xian then looked at Xu Ren, "Sir, are all the personnel here?"

"There are still more than thirty people checking the spirit-gathering array."

Li Xian was surprised, "More than thirty people? How many spirit-gathering arrays have we set up?"

In the past few days, Li Xian only knew that the newly arrived Ling Zhifeng was highly skilled in array techniques and had personally taken charge of setting up the spirit-gathering arrays, taking two spirit stones as the array eyes. Li Xian was very generous and directly provided them without asking a single question. Now, out of the ten spirit stones obtained from the sea clan, only one remained.

Xu Ren shook his head, "I don't know either, but it's said that Ling Zhifeng used over eighty kilometers of sea soul silk in the past few days."

So they waited. Without the completion of the spirit-gathering array, nothing could be done. But Li Xian took the opportunity to check everything several times, ensuring there were no problems.

After waiting for two hours, Ling Zhifeng finally arrived with some people, all of whom looked very tired. Ling Zhifeng had a proud look on his face, "Young Master, all the people responsible for setting up the spirit-gathering arrays are here. We have set up 366 small spirit-gathering arrays, which together form a large spirit-gathering array covering one acre of land.

This spirit-gathering array can gather the spiritual energy equivalent to about 100 standard spirit stones in a day. Although the spiritual energy is mixed and not as pure as spirit stones, the quantity is considerable. I've always wanted to do this, but never had the chance. Haha..."

Before Li Xian could speak, Xu Ren interjected, "Mr. Ling, isn't this too wasteful? You should know that both sea soul silk and spirit stones are limited resources."

"Not at all, not at all. This spirit-gathering array should be able to operate for over ten days, which should be enough to meet Young Master's research needs. And there's one thing everyone might have overlooked: the heavenly fire is a divine skill that only immortals can control. The cost must be significant, and only the large spirit-gathering array can possibly meet the demand for spiritual energy."

Li Xian quickly intervened, "Sir, you did a great job. Thank you, sir."

But this time, Xu Ren didn't relax, "Young Master, you need to handle this. Without your permission, and without even reporting to you, he acted on his own. Although it was well-intentioned, this behavior cannot be tolerated. Otherwise, the consequences will be serious."

Li Xian thought for a moment and understood that Xu Ren was right.

He steeled his resolve, "Mr. Ling Zhifeng, you did a great job this time. But I can't reward you. Consider this a warning, and don't let it happen again."

The last time, when Song Xing went to Wuyang City to investigate the Wang family's neon light business, Li Xian gave him a substantial reward. That was because it was a thousand miles away, and he couldn't report back, so he had to act on his own.

But this time, Ling Zhifeng could have reported but didn't, which was inappropriate.

Ling Zhifeng chuckled, knowing he had overstepped this time. After all, he was now under someone else's command and had to adhere to certain principles.

The "scholars" had an interesting style. They wanted to enter the world, to do things, to complete their cultivation—Li Xian thought there was more to it, but he couldn't find out—yet they didn't want to be entangled in cause and effect, to be at the forefront of the "worldly affairs," and they also wanted to grow rapidly. The best way was to find a "lord" to rely on.

But since they were relying on others, they had to adhere to certain principles, such as basic professional ethics.

However, after many years of development, some things had changed. Now, capable "scholars" were very powerful, and even emperors had to personally visit them, and they might not come out of seclusion.

But no matter how powerful they were, once they entered the world to cultivate, they still had to adhere to certain rules.

So, Xu Ren wanted Li Xian to set an example, at least to issue a warning to the others—no rules, no square.

After saying this, Li Xian finally began to focus on the "huge furnace" they had prepared for over ten days: using the entire mountain as a furnace, powered by fifty small array generators, and a large spirit-gathering array to gather spiritual energy. This was the limit of what Li Xian and the group could achieve for now.

Tang Rong, responsible for the entire project, closed the switch, connecting the spirit-gathering array's circuit, and the generators began to work one by one.

Gradually, a faint green light seemed to surround the nearby mountaintop, almost unnoticed if not carefully observed.

Beichen Yuqing exclaimed, "The large spirit-gathering array! What a powerful effect, it has almost gathered all the spiritual energy within ten miles!"

"Haha, nothing much, nothing much. It's also thanks to Young Master's two spirit stones and a large amount of sea soul silk, otherwise, it would have been impossible to set up this almost lost large spirit-gathering array."

Li Xian cleverly asked, "With so many cultivation techniques and arrays now, how could they be lost?"

Ling Zhifeng sighed, "It's all due to resource issues. Spirit stones and spirit materials are gradually disappearing, and many arrays and cultivation methods that rely on spirit stones and materials are becoming ineffective, and thus gradually lost."

Li Xian's eyes lit up, "Sir, I have a task for you. Collect all the arrays, cultivation techniques, and especially those that are about to be lost, already lost, or considered useless by others."

"I will allocate one thousand taels of gold to you. According to our rules, you get 5% profit."

"Great, I love traveling. Give me a team, and I guarantee to clean up the entire Daxia Kingdom within a year and the surrounding countries within three years, with no duplicates."

As everyone was chatting, the generators began to show signs of trouble, with some becoming unstable.

Li Xian looked and shook his head helplessly. It was a small problem—quality issues caused by manual work and rushed construction. But this change made everyone a bit worried—would this succeed?

The spirit-gathering array continued to gather a massive amount of spiritual energy, and some generators began to fail; the scene remained quiet overall.

Time gradually passed...

Suddenly, in the middle of the night, a creaking sound came from the rock wall of the cave they had excavated. Before anyone could react, an explosion occurred. Golden lava and flames burst out, releasing a scorching and intense heat. All the generators almost instantly overloaded and then gradually failed.

Tang Rong was quick to act, immediately pulling the switch of the spirit-gathering array, stopping its operation. The massive amount of spiritual energy that had been gathered suddenly dispersed, and the sky showed a faint green, wave-like pattern.

But everyone was too preoccupied with the changes in the sky and the generators. Tang Rong rushed to the front of the cave, casting a large number of spells over the golden lava. However, the lava was too hot, and the spells were like water droplets in a steel furnace, evaporating before they could even get close.

Xu Ren, feeling the intense heat, narrowed his eyes, but a sharp light flashed in them: "Perhaps, it really has the temperature of heavenly fire!"

Although the golden lava was extremely hot, under everyone's efforts, it slowly cooled down.

After watching for a while, Li Xian said, "Everyone, guard this place. In two days, when the cave is completely cooled and confirmed to be safe, we will enter to search for any special substances that may have appeared."

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