Chapter 67

Jiuliu Yu is the master of Yinsha Valley, with a cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Nanyou Realm. In the Seven Evil Valleys, her status and position are very high. Even her disciple, Lu Li, is said to have reached the mid-stage of the Kaiyuan Realm. Grandma Jiuliu is very picky about taking disciples, so it can be considered a blessing for the Ling sisters to be accepted by her.

In the Star Cloud Pavilion, in Zuo Qian's elegant small building, she held a porcelain cup, drinking wine while speaking.

Qin Lie, along with Kang Zhi, Chu Peng, Han Feng, and others, were all in the small building, gathered around a table of dishes, eating and drinking. Except for Tu Ze, who was still in seclusion, the rest were all present.

The sky gradually darkened.

Crystal gems were embedded in the walls and pillars, illuminating the room brightly. Zuo Qian wore a loose silk nightgown, with a large expanse of white skin exposed at the neckline, making Kang Zhi, Chu Peng, and others glance at her with lustful eyes, wanting to look but not daring to.

Zuo Qian paid no attention to Kang Zhi and the others, only looking at Qin Lie and consoling him, "Grandma Jiuliu has always been proud and ambitious, and she is very attentive to her disciples' cultivation. It is a blessing for the Ling sisters to be accepted by her. Qin Lie, you are still young. Although you can't join the Seven Evil Valleys or the Senluo Hall for now, it doesn't mean you won't have the chance in the future."

Her beautiful face was filled with seriousness, "To be honest, I don't know you very well, but from my feeling... there is something unique about you. Qin Lie, the Seven Evil Valleys are not so unattainable. As long as you are willing to strive, you will definitely be able to enter such a force in the future."

"That's right, Qin Lie. You are now in the Star Cloud Pavilion. One step further, and you will reach the Senluo Hall. The Senluo Hall and the Seven Evil Valleys have a good relationship and often collaborate on missions. As long as you enter the Senluo Hall, you will definitely have the opportunity to reunite with your fiancée," Kang Zhi also advised.

Chu Peng, Han Feng, and others also took turns toasting and comforting him.

Qin Lie kept smiling and nodding, picking up his wine cup and drinking it all in one gulp, without any reservation.

He knew that Zuo Qian had set up this banquet specifically for him, hoping to help him resolve his inner knots and prevent the Ling family incident from affecting his martial cultivation.

He felt warmth in his heart.

The banquet continued until midnight, and everyone gradually dispersed. Qin Lie also bid farewell and returned to a small house near Zuo Qian's.

In the dimly lit room, he sat by the window, his mind not affected by the alcohol but becoming increasingly clear.

Perhaps because of the strong liquor from Li Mu, the wine he drank today tasted as bland as water, with no flavor and no hint of intoxication.

"Lu Li at the mid-stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, Jiuliu Yu at the mid-stage of the Nanyou Realm, the master of Yinsha Valley, a Black Iron-level force..."

Staring at the moonlight filtering through the tree shadows outside the window, he frowned and muttered to himself, then focused his mind and slowly closed his eyes, gathering qi spirals in his dantian spirit sea.

After half an hour, as the clusters of spirit clouds in the spirit sea dispersed, his efforts once again ended in failure.

"More than a month has passed, and every night I have been trying to gather qi spirals, but I have never succeeded. The advancement from the eighth level to the ninth level is indeed... more difficult than before. The main issue is that I have no clue, no glimmer of hope. Could it be that I am wrong in some aspect?"

He began to doubt, sitting there in deep thought, trying to determine a new direction.

"Ninth level, gathering qi spirals in the dantian spirit sea, spirals, spirals..."

Qin Lie's mind was in turmoil, filled with various thoughts. He recalled the spirit array diagrams and began to consider whether he should temporarily put it aside and shift his focus to the spirit array diagrams.

"Polymerizing spirit array diagram, amplifying spirit array diagram, storing spirit array diagram, reinforcing spirit array diagram..."

The four complex and mysterious spirit array diagrams alternated in his mind. He frowned and thought deeply, silently pondering.

"Polymerizing spirit array diagram, polymerizing spirit array diagram, polymerizing spirit array diagram! That is also a vortex!"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration appeared in his mind. His eyes brightened, and an uncontrollable idea emerged—what if he tried to draw the polymerizing spirit array diagram in his dantian spirit sea?

To this day, the only spirit array diagram he had mastered was the polymerizing spirit array diagram.

He had spent countless hours on it, damaging hundreds of spirit boards. His deep understanding of the polymerizing spirit array diagram had reached the point where he could draw it precisely with his eyes closed!

If viewed vaguely, the polymerizing spirit array diagram appeared as a vortex, with the spirit lines forming concentric circles that gradually converged inward, like a spiral, a three-dimensional funnel...

Polymerizing, polymerizing... only the vortex shape could more easily gather and attract spirit energy. Upon careful consideration, the polymerizing spirit array diagram was indeed a vortex shape.

Using spirit energy as the line, the dantian spirit sea as the spirit board, and his mental consciousness as the brush, could he draw the polymerizing spirit array diagram?

Once this thought emerged, he couldn't suppress it!

In the dimly lit room, Qin Lie closed his eyes again, calmed his mind, and let his mental consciousness enter the dantian spirit sea, re-entering the vast spirit sea...

The vast cloud sea, with spirit energy like cotton clouds, filled every corner of the dantian, flowing with his will.

A thread of his consciousness, like a brush or a rope, began to draw in the air, guiding the spirit energy to flow and form clear, visible spirit lines...

He drew the polymerizing spirit array diagram in his dantian spirit sea, which he was extremely familiar with, focusing all his attention.

If someone could enter his dantian spirit sea at this moment, they would be surprised to see the scattered and unordered spirit energy forming a twisting, writhing line.

The line... moved like a snake, leaving clear traces in the vast dantian, with more and more traces appearing, sometimes crossing, sometimes connecting, sometimes sliding side by side...

Faintly, in the dantian, a three-dimensional polymerizing spirit array diagram was gradually forming!

Throughout the process, there was not a single mistake, not a single spirit line out of place, achieving the highest level of precision!

The gathered spirit energy, the cloud clusters fused together, showed no signs of dispersing!

He completed it in one go!

"Boom!"

The moment the polymerizing spirit array diagram formed, a strange spirit energy expansion sound came from Qin Lie's dantian spirit sea. In the next moment, the polymerizing spirit array diagram began to spin like a vortex, accelerating.

Qin Lie's mental consciousness was instantly swept away, and he could no longer perceive the condition of his dantian spirit sea.

However, he could feel the tumultuous waves in his dantian spirit sea, experiencing a surprising change that he could not measure!

Although he could not see it with his mind, he could feel it with his body. He vaguely sensed that the polymerizing spirit array diagram he had drawn in his dantian spirit sea was being corrected, being fine-tuned by the dantian spirit sea to its optimal form, the most suitable shape for the dantian spirit sea!

His dantian gradually began to ache, but his eyes became increasingly bright!

Outside the room, the moonlight filtering through the tree shadows had turned into sunlight, and a night had quietly passed, with daylight already here.

He paid no attention to the passage of time, still focusing on the subtle changes in his dantian spirit sea...

When the sun was high in the sky, his mental consciousness, which had been swept away, was allowed to re-enter the dantian spirit sea.

He could finally see the situation inside.

In the dantian spirit sea, a hurricane-like vortex was situated within the vast spirit clouds. The large vortex structure was similar to the polymerizing spirit array diagram but had been refined, as if corrected by the natural brush of the dantian spirit sea, to the most suitable form for the spirit sea...

The vortex was located in the center of the dantian spirit sea. Once he activated his power, the vortex began to spin, drawing the spirit clouds into it.

Through repeated rotations and refinement, the vortex made the spirit energy extremely pure and increasingly condensed!

Qin Lie's eyes were extremely bright, and his body trembled slightly, his face showing a look of indescribable joy.

He suddenly remembered a conversation his grandfather had with him years ago.

"The spirit array diagram is the core of artifacts, but do you know why the spirit array diagram exists? According to legend, the earliest spirit array diagrams were created by the strongest beings through their understanding of the principles of the universe, capturing the natural patterns, and refining them through countless attempts, gradually evolving into what they are today."

"The strongest and most mysterious spirit array diagrams were not created out of thin air but were derived from the principles of nature, observed from the laws of the universe, and learned from the heavens."

"Everything in the world, from mountains and rivers to the vast starry sky, is filled with spirit array diagrams. The starry sky is a spirit array diagram, and the movement of the stars is the flow of spirit lines. Looking down from the void, the rivers on the earth are spirit lines, and the mountains are also spirit lines, making the earth a spirit array diagram."

"The meridians in a martial artist's body are also spirit array diagrams, and the nerves in our brains are the most mysterious and complex spirit array diagrams. As long as you look with your heart, you will see spirit array diagrams everywhere in the universe!"

"If you can thoroughly understand the natural principles and the changes in the universe, an alchemist can create new spirit array diagrams, containing the great principles, which are the most advanced spirit array diagrams! The ancient sages, the earliest alchemists, and the most intricate and wondrous spirit array diagrams all came from this!"

"The true spirit array diagram is the great principle, the fundamental law of the universe, which is essentially the same as martial cultivation!"

"..."

Back then, when Qin Shan would sometimes say some profound things during his cultivation, Qin Lie was often confused and could not understand.

After several years, Qin Shan's words were recalled, finally fulfilling their intended purpose!

At this moment, Qin Lie finally realized why Qin Shan would often mutter to himself and say things that seemed incomprehensible to him during his cultivation.

It turned out that Qin Shan had forcibly implanted his deepest and most essential insights into his mind!

It was only now, at this moment, that he vaguely sensed and truly realized this!

"Everything is a diagram, and the great principles are interconnected!"

Qin Lie shouted, his face glowing with a new radiance, as if he had suddenly understood a profound truth.

"Grandfather did not fail to teach me; he had already told me the most profound things long ago. It is laughable that I did not realize it until now."

...