Chapter 44

The establishment of such a large-scale magical array involves countless details, requiring the refinement of numerous small magical artifacts, which are then connected into a single system. Moreover, the array must be laid out according to the terrain and topography of the mountain. Clearly, Chen Fan alone could not accomplish this.

Chen Fan first thought of Old Master Wei.

Although Old Master Wei was not very capable, he had extensive connections in various circles.

When Chen Fan approached him, Old Master Wei was quite surprised: "Master Chen, you want to establish a 'magical array'? On the top of Cloudy Mist Mountain?"

At this point, he no longer cared how the villa he had given to the old man ended up in Chen Fan's hands. Instead, he was extremely puzzled: "What is a 'magical array'?"

To someone like Old Master Wei, who was outside the cultivation circle, the term 'magical array' was extremely unfamiliar. The most he could think of was the 'Eight Trigram Array' that Zhuge Liang set up in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Master Qi, who had been specially summoned by Chen Fan, rushed over and was greatly shocked when he heard Chen Fan's words.

"Master Chen, you want to set up a magical array?"

"Exactly. I want to use the villa on the top of Cloudy Mist Mountain as the center and set up a large-scale magical array around the entire mountain," Chen Fan explained.

Master Qi's eyes widened. What did it mean to set up a magical array that covered an entire mountain?

In ancient Earth's cultivation world, there was a specific name for this.

'Great Mountain Protection Array'!

Only the most top-tier Daoist lineages, using the combined efforts of several or even dozens of generations, could complete such a massive project. And this was something from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, recorded only in books. In modern times, let alone a Great Mountain Protection Array, even a regular magical array was extremely rare. Perhaps only the oldest few Daoist sects might still have such arrays.

But this was just a legend, and whether anyone had actually seen one was unknown.

After hearing Master Qi's explanation, Old Master Wei's expression changed. Master Chen actually wanted to establish a super-large magical array that had never been seen in the modern world. The scale of this project was truly shocking.

Chen Fan frowned and said, "It's not as exaggerated as you think."

A typical Great Mountain Protection Array would at least protect an entire mountain, right?

But the magical array Chen Fan wanted to set up only needed to protect the villa. The other parts were mainly supporting arrays for attracting spirits, gathering spirits, and creating mist.

A true protective magical array would require a vast amount of heavenly materials and treasures. To set up a Great Mountain Protection Array that could cover the entire mountain and resist modern weapon attacks, one would need at least the cultivation level of the Divine Sea realm.

By reducing the core part, the difficulty naturally decreased significantly.

Of course, even so, with his mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, it would still be very challenging, and he could only proceed step by step.

"Even so, it's still impressive!"

"Drawing the spiritual energy of the entire Swallow Return Lake and Cloudy Mist Mountain is like creating a new spirit vein. This is truly unprecedented," Master Qi shook his head in admiration.

He suddenly asked, "Mr. Chen, to my knowledge, there are very few experts in the world today who can set up magical arrays. Who do you plan to find to set up such a massive array?"

"Oh, no one in the cultivation world understands magical arrays anymore?" Chen Fan was surprised.

Magical arrays, talismans, alchemy, and artifact refinement were all basic skills. Any Foundation Establishment cultivator could explain them in detail.

"Let alone magical arrays, even those who can enter the path of cultivation are few and far between in the cultivation circle. Most people, like me, are just hovering at the entrance," Master Qi said with a bitter smile.

"Someone like Master Wu, whom we saw the other day, is already considered a high-level expert."

"Even those who pretend to be gods and spirits are considered experts?"

"The cultivation lineage has indeed declined!" Chen Fan's brows furrowed, and he shook his head. "No matter, I can do it alone."

"By yourself?" This time, Master Qi was truly stunned.

Such a grand and powerful magical array, with its overwhelming momentum, he had assumed it might be the work of Chen Fan's mysterious master. He never expected it to be Chen Fan's own creation.

"Exactly. I called you here to help me purchase the following items." Chen Fan pulled out a list.

The list contained the various materials needed for setting up the array.

With Earth's spiritual energy depleted and various spiritual materials and treasures scarce, Chen Fan could only try to find the closest substitutes.

"This time, we need to refine thirty-six small magical artifacts for the array. But for the core Gathering Spirit Array, only five artifacts are needed. First, help me find the jade needed to refine these five artifacts," Chen Fan tapped the table and said, "If you can do this, I can refine a magical artifact similar to the Eight Trigram Disk for each of you for free."

Old Master Wei and Master Qi were overjoyed.

To them, any magical artifact, regardless of its effect, was something they could only dream of.

Since Chen Fan had promised, they naturally acted immediately.

During the National Day holiday, Chen Fan stayed at home and began refining the first small magical artifact for the array.

Chen Fan decided to name the magical array for the Cloudy Mist Mountain villa 'Great Cloud Mountain Array.'

The Great Cloud Mountain Array consisted of four parts: the innermost Gathering Spirit Array, the protective array for the villa, the Spirit Attraction Array extending to Swallow Return Lake, and finally the Mist Array covering the entire Cloudy Mist Mountain.

Chen Fan cleverly combined the array with the mist of Cloudy Mist Mountain, using the Mist Array to enhance the mist, ensuring that the top of Cloudy Mist Mountain was always shrouded in dense fog. This would make it very difficult for anyone to find their way in.

The surging water-based spiritual energy of Swallow Return Lake would be drawn to the villa by the Spirit Attraction Array and locked in by the Gathering Spirit Array. This spiritual energy could be used for cultivation and as fuel to activate the protective array, achieving multiple goals.

In this system, the core was undoubtedly the Gathering Spirit Array. Without it, the other three arrays would be like cars without engines, unable to function.

The main material for setting up this large Gathering Spirit Array was jade, and the highest quality jade!

Only the best jade could carry the surging spiritual energy. To purchase this jade, Chen Fan spent over twenty million out of his sixty-five million funds.

He sat cross-legged in his room, a round, emerald-green jade disk floating in front of his chest. The jade disk radiated a brilliant green light from within, as if there were gas flowing inside.

Chen Fan closed his eyes and occasionally uttered an ancient, profound syllable. Each syllable, when it landed in the air, formed a golden rune.

One by one, the golden runes were imprinted on the emerald jade disk, like a master engraver meticulously carving.

"Chop!"

Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a stream of white vapor. This was his life essence, far purer than Master Wu's life force. The white vapor, like a white ribbon, struck the emerald jade disk forcefully.

The jade disk hummed and vibrated rapidly. The spiritual energy inside, like a sea, surged and shimmered with brilliant green light.

At this moment, the golden runes imprinted on the surface of the jade disk suddenly appeared, like chains locking the green light, gradually compressing it toward the center of the disk. The disk shook violently but eventually calmed down under the golden chains.

Chen Fan took a deep breath and reached out to take the jade disk.

The light on the jade disk had now dimmed, making it look like an ordinary piece of jade, but it was covered with countless golden runes, clearly not an ordinary object.

"This Gathering Spirit Disk is finally refined. With five Gathering Spirit Disks and the accompanying jade medulla talismans, I can set up a large Gathering Spirit Array covering the entire villa," Chen Fan thought, feeling a bit regretful.

There was only one piece of jade medulla. If he had more, it would be much easier. Compared to ordinary jade, jade medulla could carry many spells and arrays. With just five pieces of jade medulla, he could set up the entire array.

But now, Chen Fan could only break down the arrays, with each array requiring several small magical artifacts to form.

"The jade needed for the Gathering Spirit Array is the easiest to find, as long as you have money. However, the materials for the other arrays are extremely hard to find. Relying on Old Master Wei and others is not a long-term solution. I need to find ways to open some channels myself."

Chen Fan stroked his chin, deep in thought.

The Gathering Spirit Array needed to carry and condense spiritual energy, so it required the highest quality jade. Jade, besides spirit stones, is the material closest to spiritual energy, naturally containing a small amount of pure spiritual energy.

The other three arrays were different.

The Spirit Attraction Array needed to draw the vast water-based spiritual energy from Swallow Return Lake, so it required water-based materials. On Earth, it would be impossible to find all the 'Sea Wave Stone, Ice Mystic Crystal, Water Essence Stone,' and other water-based heavenly materials and treasures from the cultivation world. Therefore, Chen Fan listed deep-sea stones from ten thousand meters below the surface in the list he gave to Old Master Wei.

At a depth of a thousand meters, after millions or even billions of years of sea currents, even ordinary stones would contain a trace of water essence, barely enough to support the operation of the Spirit Attraction Array.

The Mist Array required thousand-year-old sunken pine wood. Pine wood is inherently yin, and thousand-year-old sunken pine can rival 'Yin Crystal Stone.' However, such aged sunken pine is extremely rare, and Old Master Wei might not be able to find it.

Finally, the materials for the protective array were very special, and Chen Fan planned to search for them last.

On the last day of the National Day holiday, Chen Fan finally refined the five Gathering Spirit Jade Disks. He also used the leftover materials to refine two jade pendants for Old Master Wei and Master Qi. These pendants contained a weakened version of the Gathering Spirit Array, which, while far inferior to the 'Gathering Spirit Jade Disk' and 'Jade Medulla Artifact' Chen Fan had personally refined, were still much better than the previous Eight Trigram Disks.

PS: Thank you to Lao Na Fahao Kouwei Zhong, Shu You 1606222, and Baobao Weiqu Dan Baobao Bushuo for your support. The number of favorites has finally surpassed five thousand, and I am very grateful to everyone. I hope you all continue to support me, and I will work hard to write well. O(∩_∩)O

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