Chapter 17 - Chapter 17: The Spirit-Converging Formation

"Nineteenth Uncle has always been cautious—this arrangement is prudent. These thousands of jin of Jade Marrow Rice are no small fortune. If enemies set their sights on it, we could be in trouble. With the Cloud-Stepping Beasts here, even if we can't fight, we can return to the mountain safely," Zhang Zhixuan thought. He then activated the protective formation and invited Zhang Mengyuan and the others inside.After exchanging greetings with Zhang Mengyuan and the other elders, he led them directly to the White Jade Bee hive. The two examined the hive carefully; Zhang Mengyuan's expression grew serious, and he said solemnly: "If I'm not mistaken, those dozen white bees are indeed White Jade Bees. They seem to have evolved from wild bees that absorbed spiritual energy. It's rare to see ordinary bees evolve into such rare spiritual insects—something that happens only once in a century."The dozens of spiritual herbs in our medicine garden include one that's already Rank 4, and the rest are precious Rank 3 spiritual herbs. Even as the clan declined over the past hundred years, we never consumed these herbs—hoping they would increase in value and be exchanged for ingredients to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Though these herbs didn't yield resources, they helped the White Jade Bees evolve—this is truly a stroke of good fortune."This type of spiritual insect is extremely valuable to the clan—no less so than this spiritual well. This place is growing more important by the day, yet there's no spiritual vein here! Without a spiritual vein, we can't send more cultivators to guard it. This area can no longer be casually entered by younger clan members—they're loose-lipped and inexperienced. If they leak the secret, the spiritual fields will be in danger. Fortunately, few clan cultivators have been here. I'll report this to your Nineteenth Uncle when I return—we'll stop sending irrelevant people to disturb this place."Zhang Mengyuan was an experienced elder who had witnessed countless battles between immortal cultivators. He knew well that the competition for immortal cultivation resources was far crueler than the mortal world. Like raising Gu worms, only the most talented, intelligent, capable, and lucky immortal cultivators could rise to the top.Thirty years ago, during the clan's great crisis, Zhang Mengyuan had been an eyewitness. Thirty clan cultivators guarding Jiuhua Mountain had gone to battle—only eight, led by the Clan Leader, had returned alive. After that battle, the clan's core Le-generation cultivators were nearly wiped out. It took another thirty years for the Meng-generation cultivators to mature and restore some of the clan's vitality.The discovery of evolving White Jade Bees in the spiritual fields made Zhang Mengyuan and the others too anxious to linger. They hurried to pack the spiritual rice and returned to Lushan that night.A few days later, four elders—Law Enforcement Elder Fourth Uncle Zhang Menglong, Instruction Elder Fifteenth Uncle Zhang Mengchong, Pill Pavilion Elder Ninth Uncle Zhang Mengquan, and Seventh Uncle Zhang Mengyuan—descended the mountain together, hurrying to the spiritual fields.Fourth Uncle Zhang Menglong was over eighty years old but the clan's top Formation Master. The clan's mountain-protecting formation, the Green Light Bamboo Sea Formation, was his life's work. His formation cultivation had exceeded Rank 3—if he had joined the Qingxuan Sect in his youth, his outstanding formation talent would have earned him a Foundation Establishment Pill from the sect. Regrettably, as the Zhang Clan had declined over the past hundred years, it could no longer provide Foundation Establishment Pills to its cultivators. Thus, Zhang Menglong, Zhang Mengquan, and other talented cultivators had repeatedly missed their chance at Foundation Establishment, eventually remaining stuck in the Qi Refining Realm for life.Formation Masters advance more slowly than alchemists or artifact refiners. In the four hundred years since the Zhang Clan settled in Lushan, Zhang Menglong was the only Third-Rank Formation Master produced. With his skills, if he had overseen the formation at Jiuhua Mountain back then, the enemy might not have broken through the formation and seized the mountain so easily.The four elders spent an entire afternoon examining the White Jade Bee hive. Finally, Zhang Menglong reluctantly took out thirty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, set up a High-Grade Rank 2 Spirit-Converging Formation beside the spiritual well, and took out a High-Grade Rank 2 green gourd artifact. He cast several incantations to activate it as the formation's core.He looked at Zhang Zhixuan and said: "It seems you've been blessed with good fortune, Nephew. You discovered something valuable as soon as you came down the mountain. As long as this beehive produces a queen bee—even if it's low-ranked—the royal jelly it produces will greatly help the Clan Leader recover from his injuries. Once Third Uncle's injuries improve, our difficulties will ease a little."In recent years, the clan has been shrinking its forces. Apart from these spiritual fields and a few shops in the market, we've abandoned almost all our external assets. Our annual income can't cover our expenses—we're living off our past savings. This time, we spent three thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones to refine this Rank 2 Spirit-Converging Formation. In half a year, it will nurture a Low-Grade Rank 2 spiritual vein here. From today onward, on the first day of every month, you must use the spiritual well water to water the jade gourd. If you persist for ten years—until the Spirit-Converging Formation fully refines these thirty Middle-Grade Spirit Stones—this spiritual vein will advance to Middle-Grade Rank 2, enough for three Sixth Layer Qi Refining cultivators to practice simultaneously."Regrettably, the clan's reserves are empty—we have no more resources to nurture the spiritual vein. If we could immediately raise it to High-Grade Rank 2, I'd retire here to spend my remaining years."A Middle-Grade Rank 2 spiritual vein could support three Sixth Layer Qi Refining cultivators practicing at the same time. If they took turns cultivating, it could accommodate at least six mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Even the newly nurtured Low-Grade Rank 2 spiritual vein could support three Third Layer Qi Refining cultivators—barely enough for Zhang Zhixuan to meditate and cultivate."Zhixuan, your responsibilities will grow heavier from today onward. You must nurture the spiritual vein and keep an eye on the beehive at all times. If anything unusual happens, send word to the mountain immediately. From now on, you must no longer use Communication Spiritual Talismans—lest they be intercepted by outsiders and expose this place," Zhang Menglong warned.Zhang Zhixuan nodded and said: "Rest assured, Fourth Uncle—I'll be vigilant. Actually, I wasn't the one who discovered the White Jade Bees—it was this little girl behind me. Her father was Lushan County's City Patrol Officer; he died saving me from a cat demon. I took her in because she had no one else to rely on and looked 可怜. Though she can't speak, she's very intelligent. I've been preparing to teach her to cultivate recently. From her progress, her spiritual root aptitude should be good—at least a Three-Spiritual-Root, possibly even a Two-Spiritual-Root cultivator."The Zhang Clan had lost Jiuhua Mountain and its Spirit-Measuring Platform—leaving them unable to test spiritual roots or provide suitable cultivation techniques to cultivators. Thus, over the past thirty years, the Zhi-generation cultivators had progressed even slower than the Meng-generation. Without a Spirit-Measuring Platform, cultivators relied entirely on the experience of elder cultivators to choose techniques and guess their spiritual root type.In reality, Zhang Zhixuan suspected Qingchan had a Heavenly Spiritual Root—but the declining Zhang Clan could not protect a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator. Thus, he lied to protect her.Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivators have extraordinary aptitude—they require minimal resources to advance to the Purple Mansion Realm. The Purple Mansion Realm ranks among the high-ranking immortal cultivators; if the clan could gain a Purple Mansion cultivator, its fortunes would change dramatically overnight.The reason Zhang Zhixuan did not send Qingchan to the Qingxuan Sect—where her future would be brighter—was fear of hidden risks within the sect. Golden Core cultivators and above have fully condensed their spiritual souls, granting them one chance to reincarnate or seize a new body. Reincarnation often traps Golden Core cultivators in the "Mystery of the Womb" (losing their memories), while seizing a low-rank cultivator's body is relatively easier. Though body-seizing has a bad reputation, and some Nascent Soul cultivators despise it and severely punish those who practice it, Golden Core cultivators will do almost anything to survive.Golden Core cultivators have high standards—unless forced, they will only seize cultivators with excellent spiritual roots, such as Special Spiritual Roots or Heavenly Spiritual Roots. Thus, some loose cultivators with good spiritual roots are hesitant to join sects. Immortal cultivation clans, too, carefully track the lifespans of Golden Core ancestors in various sects before sending their talented cultivators—lest their clan's hope be stolen through body-seizing.If Qingchan's Heavenly Spiritual Root were discovered, the Zhang Clan's careless response could spell disaster for the entire clan. Qingchan's fate would become unpredictable. Any immortal cultivation clan with a shred of means would hide a Heavenly Spiritual Root cultivator if possible—unless they had no other choice. Such cultivators, with normal cultivation and modest resources, can mostly reach the Purple Mansion, Golden Core, or even Nascent Soul Realm—becoming a pillar of their sect or clan. Even the Qingxuan Sect, a local hegemon, rarely accepts a Heavenly Spiritual Root disciple once every few hundred years. Qingchan's discovery was a stroke of good fortune accumulated by the Zhang Clan over centuries.