Chapter 44: Mountain Defensive Array

Such a large Dharma Array required meticulous preparation; first, Chen Fan would need to create many small fragments of the array, then he would have to painstakingly piece all the fragments together. Much of the process also required a detailed survey of the topography of the mountain; it soon became clear to Chen Fan that in order to pull it off, he would need some help.

The first person Chen Fan thought of was The Third Lord of Wei.

Although the Third Lord of Wei knew nothing about cultivation, he had a wide network of contacts, which could be useful to Chen Fan.

When Chen Fan explained what he was trying to do, The Third Lord of Wei was taken aback. "Master Chen, you mean you want to create a 'Dharma Array' in at the top of the Yun Wu Mountain?"

He was so confused yet intrigued that he had forgotten the fact that his father had re-gifted his present to him to Chen Fan.

"What the heck is a 'Dharma Array'?"

Third Lord of Wei was unfamiliar with the jargon of the cultivators, and the only thing he could relate to the Dharma Array was the military formation called the Eight Trigrams Array. That was described in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Before Chen Fan could explain what a Dharma Array was, Master Qi stormed into the room. He received a notice from Chen Fan, asking him to attend the meeting.

"Master Chen, you are planning to cast an array?"

"Indeed. I wanted to use the Yun Wu Mountain as the base and cast a large Dharma Array around it." Chen Fan said.

Master Qi gaped at Chen Fan, his eyes wide open with disbelief. He had never heard of anyone casting a Dharma Array the size of a mountain.

Such a large scale array was only described in ancient legends, and it was given a name, "Mountain Defensive Array."

This was said to be the magnum opus of the most powerful cultivation families. It took hundreds if not thousands of years to complete, and the last time it happened was a few dozen thousand years ago, as stated by books that were half as old. In the present day, even a micro-sized array was rare, much less the large scale ones. Nonetheless, some people believed that there were still a couple of Mountain Defensive Array's that had survived the test of time and were kept as top secrets by the most ancient Dao sects.

However, without seeing it with his own eyes, Master Qi was convinced that those were just high tales.

After listening to Master Qi's explanation, the Third Lord of Wei was stunned by the magnitude of the work. A Dharma Array the size of a mountain. Was that even possible?

Chen Fan knotted his brows and said, "It's not as big as you think."

A Mountain Defensive Array was used to protect an entire mountain, but his spell would focus on just the house at the mountain peak. As for the rest of the area, he designed to patch it up with less demanding arrays such as the Spirit Gathering array, the Spirit Channeling Array and the Mist Array.

The real Mountain Defensive Array not only called for a tremendous amount of numinous treasures but also required the cultivator to reach the level of Divine Sea.

Since Chen Fan only need to focus on one area, the difficulty in creating the array decreased drastically.

Even though the array was only a fraction of the original version, Chen Fan still needed to take baby steps.

"Even if it's just a watered down version, it will still be an impressive feat!"

"Channeling the Spirit Qi around the Yan Gui Lake and the Yun Wu Mountain and then to reroute them into one reservoir. The scope and vision were unprecedented." Master Qi exclaimed.

He suddenly thought of something and then asked curiously. "Master Chen, there are not many people left in the world who are versed in the art of casting arrays. I wonder who you would ask to join you for the project?"

"Oh? no one else in the field of cultivation knew how to cast an array?" Chen Fan was staggered by the question.

Dharma Array, Talisman Inscription, Elixir Brewing and Artifact Crafting were all the basic training of a cultivator. Any Foundation Establishment Level fledging would recite at least one hundred different kinds of methods of the art.

"We don't even have many cultivators, much less, ones that could cast arrays." Maser Qi gave Chen Fan a wry smile.

"Master Wu who you had defeated, was already considered one of the most powerful experts."

"Even that snake oil salesman?" Chen Fan couldn't believe his ears.

"It seems like cultivation had fallen out of fashion in this world." Chen Fan frowned slightly and then said, "Doesn't matter, I will do it myself."

"You will do it all by yourself?" Master Qi was stunned.

The sheer scale of the project made Master Qi believe that it was Chen Fan's teacher who had envisioned the array. However, when Chen Fan announced that he was going to build the array by himself, Master Qi realized that it was Chen Fan's idea all along.

"Yes. The reason I decided to meet up with you two was that I need you to buy something for me." Chen Fan produced a list from his pocket.

The list included most of the material needed to cast the array.

The Qi on the earth is near depletion, and therefore, Chen Fan would have to be creative and use alternative materials.

"This array will need thirty-six small Dharma Artifacts, and five of them will be used by the Spirit Gathering Array at the center. You can help me find the jade I need to create these five Dharma Artifacts.

"If you could bring me those jade stones, I will create a Dharma Artifact similar to the Eight Trigrams Plate for each of you."

The Third Lord of Wei and Master Qi's faces lit up with glee after hearing the reward.

They don't care what kind of Dharma Artifact it was, as long as they could have one.

After the meeting, the three of them started to work towards their goals.

Chen Fan used the free time during the national holiday to work on the first Dharma Artifact.

Since the array would be cast over the misty mountain, Chen Fan decided to name it the "Misty Mountain Array."

The Misty Mountain Array consisted of four main components, at the center of the array, inside the Villa, was a Spirit Channeling Array; around the villa was a Guardian Array which connected to the Spirit Channeling Array; Lastly, high above the mountain peak was the Misty Mountain Array.

By combining the mountain mist with the Mist Array, not only was the effect of the array amplified, but the constant thick mist also concealed the villa from the view of the public.

The Yan Gui Lake had a large amount of Water Spirit Qi, and they would be channeled towards the villa. This Qi could not only be used for cultivation; it could also be used to fuel the Dharma Array.

At the center of the large yet complicated system of arrays was the Spirit Gathering Array. It was the pulsing heart that drove all of the other components. Without it, all the other components would stop working and fall apart.

The most crucial material for creating this Spirit Gathering Array was supreme-grade jade stones.

Only the flawless jade could hold a massive amount of Spirit Qi. In order to purchase these Jade Stones, Chen Fan had spent a third of his money in just a couple of days.

He sat in a quiet room of the villa while a piece of emerald-colored jade floated in the air in front of him. The jade was suffused with a green glow and with every pulse, energy erupted from inside.

Chen Fan closed his eyes and let out an ancient sound. The sound formed a shape in the air and turned into a golden symbol.

Chen Fan made a few more sounds, and with it, a few different golden symbols appeared out of thin air. These symbols drifted toward the jade and left a slight but precise impression of its surface.

"Hur!"

Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes and puffed out a white gas from his mouth. This was Raw True Essence in its purest form. The gas merged into a writhing white light as it shot at the jade.

The white light agitated the Jade plate and made it hum. Inside the jade, in between the pulses of the green glow, Chen Fan can see energy roil and tumble like the powerful undercurrent of the ocean. All the while, the jade started to glow brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, the golden symbols surfaced on the Jade Plate. The strokes of the symbols formed a golden chain that confined the pulsing energy that threatened to break free. The struggle between the confining power of the symbols and the tumultuous green undercurrent made the Jade plate shake violently. After a while, the struggle finally subsided.

Chen Fan heaved a sigh and reached for the jade plate.

By then, the jade plate was no longer glowing. However, its surface was covered with countless small symbols made out of hair-thin strokes.

"Finally, the first Spirit Gathering Plate was completed! Four more to go! With these five plates, I should be able to construct the large Spirit Gathering Array in no time!" Chen Fan cheered in his mind.

He wished he could have more than just one piece of Jade Marrow since it was much more convenient to work with, and it was much more powerful. He wagered that he could have completed the entire project with just five Jade Marrows.

Without the Jade Marrows, Chen Fan had to separate the array into small segments and use inferior Dharma Artifacts to support each one of them.

"The jade stone for the Spirit Gathering Array was the easiest to find. I can gather enough of them as long as I have abundant funding. However, the materials required for other arrays are going to be difficult to find. I shouldn't just sit and wait for Third Lord of the Wei to find them for me; I need to work on it as well."

Chen Fan rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully.

Since the purpose of the Spirit Gathering Array was to gather and hold Spirit Qi, it called for the highest grade of jade. Jade was the most compatible with Spirit Qi since there were already small amounts of Spirit Qi inside of a high-grade jade.

However, the other three arrays were a whole new ball game.

In order to channel the Water Spirit Qi, Chen Fan will have to find material with a natural affinity with water. He didn't expect to find high-grade water class numinous treasures on earth, so he had asked Third Lord of Wei to purchase rocks from the deep sea.

Being buried a few thousand kilometers under the sea, a rock would attain some degree of affinity with water even if it was just an ordinary rock. That should be enough to keep the Spirit Channeling Array going.

The Mist Array called for the thousand-year-old Pine Driftwood. The pine wood was of yin attribute by itself, and the thousand-year-old Pine Driftwood would be as effective as the "Yin Crystals." However, Chen Fan was not hopeful that the Third Lord of Wei would be able to acquire such rare material.

The Guardian Array required even more special material, and Chen Fan decided to worry about it later.

By the last day of the National Holiday Season, Chen Fan had finished all five Spirit Gathering Plates. He had also used the leftover materials to create two more jade talismans which contained a lesser version of the Spirit Gathering Array. Although the effect of the lesser version was inferior to that of Chen Fan's Jade Marrow Talisman, it was much more powerful than the Eight-Trigrams-Plate.