Chapter 69

In the back courtyard of the Mu Family Manor, Mu Chen stood straight, his eyes filled with excitement. After several days of cultivation, he had successfully condensed fifteen Spirit Seals, which met the basic requirements for the "Flame Spirit Array."

He could now tentatively try to see how powerful a first-level Spirit Array truly was.

Mu Chen opened his palm, and dark spiritual energy flickered, transforming into black Spirit Seals that emitted a leaping light. He controlled these Spirit Seals, one by one, embedding them into the air in front of him. The Spirit Seals vanished like raindrops falling into the sea, leaving only a faint ripple of peculiar fluctuations that could be sensed.

The complexity of a first-level Spirit Array far exceeded that of a minor Spirit Array. Although Mu Chen had been studying the "Flame Spirit Array" diagram for several days, he still found it quite awkward when he tried to set it up himself. By the time he had embedded the fifteen Spirit Seals into the air, sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

"Hum."

The fifteen Spirit Seals merged into the air, forming some spiritual energy light points that were hard to see with the naked eye. Then, Mu Chen focused his mind and controlled the light points to extend rays of light, which eventually intersected.

The array diagram was extremely complex, causing Mu Chen to be quite flustered. The intricate structure required an astonishing level of fine control over spiritual energy, and any slight mistake would lead to failure.

Clearly, a first-level Spirit Array was not so easy to construct, even though Mu Chen had a high talent in this area, he still couldn't achieve it in one go.

When the extension of the array diagram reached the most complex step, he finally made a mistake, extending a spiritual energy ray to the wrong position.

The moment the spiritual energy ray was off target, Mu Chen inwardly cursed. Suddenly, a violent spiritual energy fluctuation erupted in the air in front of him, and a fiery red color swept out, revealing the outline of an incomplete Spirit Array.

Bang!

The violent red spiritual energy directly struck Mu Chen's body, a low, heavy sound echoing as he was blasted back several meters, his appearance disheveled and rather pitiful.

Mu Chen got up from the ground, fortunately not seriously injured. He casually patted his body and fell into deep thought, reflecting on where he had failed. His black eyes flickered with light.

His first attempt at setting up a first-level Spirit Array ended in failure, but he did not give up. Instead, he was spurred on by a stubborn determination. After a brief rest, he tried again.

But the result...

Bang! Bang!

Throughout the afternoon, low, heavy sounds continuously echoed in the back courtyard, and the figure of a young man was repeatedly thrown back. The patrolling guards, hearing these sounds, exchanged glances but did not dare to disturb Mu Chen's cultivation.

As night approached, the disheveled Mu Chen finally stopped. He had spent the entire afternoon in failure, but this did not shake his confidence. Each failure had overcome the previous one, and at this rate, he would eventually succeed in setting up the "Flame Spirit Array."

Thinking this, Mu Chen grinned, clapped his hands, and turned to leave.

Over the next three days, Mu Chen almost devoted all his energy to the "Flame Spirit Array." He tried again and again in the back courtyard, failing each time.

Sometimes, even the patrolling guards would look at Mu Chen, who repeatedly got up from the ground, with some surprise. Although they did not know what Mu Chen was cultivating, his perseverance and determination in the face of repeated failures earned their admiration.

"Lord Young Master is indeed diligent. It seems the Mu Domain will have a successor in the future." The guards walked quietly, not daring to disturb the young man cultivating in the back courtyard, thinking to themselves.

Mu Chen's failures continued, and this persistence lasted until the evening of the third day, when there was finally a change.

The young man in the courtyard was once again disheveled, but his black eyes still sparkled with determination. His expression was serious as fifteen Spirit Seals danced at his fingertips, quickly merging into the air, causing ripples of spiritual energy.

Mu Chen's technique was much more proficient than a few days ago, indicating that his repeated failures had significantly improved his skills.

The air rippled, and the surrounding spiritual energy surged rapidly. Suddenly, a red light appeared in front of Mu Chen, and a complex, fiery red light array, about ten meters in size, slowly condensed.

In the fiery red light array, light surged, like flames dancing within, looking quite magnificent.

Mu Chen looked at the finally formed "Flame Spirit Array," his eyes filled with uncontrollable joy. After so many failures, he had finally succeeded!

Although the "Flame Spirit Array" still showed some signs of instability, it was indeed successfully set up by Mu Chen.

"Go!"

Suppressing his joy, Mu Chen changed his hand seal, pointing his two fingers at a large rock in the back courtyard.

Hum.

A burst of firelight erupted from the Flame Spirit Array, and a bright red flame pillar, like a volcanic eruption, shot out, striking the rock with great force.

Bang!

The ground seemed to tremble, and the black rock, the size of a small room, instantly shattered, sending debris flying everywhere, leaving the back courtyard in a mess.

"Such powerful force!"

Seeing the power of the Flame Spirit Array, Mu Chen's face showed surprise. This power was enough to make even a mid-stage Spirit Wheel Realm expert feel quite uncomfortable. A first-level Spirit Array indeed lived up to its reputation, though it also consumed a lot of his energy.

"Lord Young Master!"

The guards outside the back courtyard heard the commotion and rushed in. Seeing the mess, they were startled, thinking Mu Chen had been attacked and quickly surrounded him.

"It's fine, I did it myself."

Mu Chen smiled and waved his hand. Looking at his disheveled appearance, he also smiled helplessly, then turned to clean up. The guards exchanged glances, wondering when Lord Young Master had become so strong. Even their captain, who had reached the initial stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm, couldn't shatter such a rock.

After cleaning up, Mu Chen walked out of the room and saw the guards cleaning the back courtyard. He then strolled out, feeling quite tired after days of intense study of the "Flame Spirit Array."

Mu Chen leisurely wandered through the Mu Family Manor, eventually reaching the side of the meeting hall. He saw the light inside and realized his father was still discussing matters late at night.

Mu Chen thought for a moment and approached. Then he heard a loud noise from the meeting hall, a familiar sound of his father slamming the table in anger.

Father hasn't been this angry in a long time. What's going on?

Mu Chen was startled and listened closely.

In the meeting hall, Mu Feng's face was ashen, and the table in front of him was shattered. He stood up and shouted angrily, "Those bastards from the Liu Domain, always trying to trip us up behind our backs!"

Zhou Ye, standing beside him, also had a dark look and sighed, "Those guys, once they heard we were constructing a second-level Spirit Array, not only raised the prices of materials but also paid a lot to restrict many Spirit Array Masters. Now, we can't afford another failure with the remaining materials."

Mu Feng clenched his fists and then looked at the other four figures in the hall, one of whom was Wen Ling, and the other three were middle-aged men, likely the other three first-level Spirit Array Masters Mu Feng had invited.

"Mr. Wen Ling, is there any trouble in constructing the second-level Spirit Array now?" Mu Feng asked, his voice softening.

Wen Ling sighed and said, "Lord, we've already tried once, but it failed, and we lost a lot of materials. Based on our estimation, we probably need another first-level Spirit Array Master to help."

Zhou Ye frowned and said, "We've already invited most of the Spirit Array Masters in the Mu Domain, and with the Liu Domain's interference, finding another first-level Spirit Array Master will be quite difficult."

Wen Ling laughed bitterly, knowing the difficulty but having no choice. They had tried, and four of them were still not enough.

"Zhou Ye." Mu Feng's eyes flashed, and he waved his hand, saying, "Spread the word. Any Spirit Array Master who can help the Mu Domain, regardless of what the Liu Domain has offered, we will double it!"

Zhou Ye was slightly surprised. This meant a significant financial loss, and the cunning Spirit Array Masters might take advantage of the situation, making it unfair to the three invited Spirit Array Masters and causing imbalance.

Thinking this, he glanced at the three Spirit Array Masters, who indeed looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Lord, don't say things in anger. It will only cause us to lose our composure," Wen Ling said with a bitter smile.

Mu Feng also came to his senses, first bowing to the three Spirit Array Masters, then sitting down, his eyes dark. The news of the Mu Domain constructing a second-level Spirit Array had already spread, and if they couldn't manage it, it would be a laughingstock.

The meeting hall fell silent again, the atmosphere heavy.

Creak.

As everyone was silent, the tightly closed door suddenly opened slowly. Mu Feng frowned, about to scold, but when he saw Mu Chen, he held back.

Mu Chen smiled at Mu Feng and then looked at Wen Ling, saying, "Mr. Wen, do you think I can fill in for the missing Spirit Array Master?"

(To be continued)