Chapter 229: Chapter 227: Spirit Devouring Array

"Why did you let him in?"

Elder Zhang looked at Elder Zou, displeasure written all over his face.

Elder Zou laughed heartily. "Even if you didn’t let him in now, he would just take his Sword Pool Tokens to the Law Enforcement Hall, and they’d have to let him in eventually. The game isn’t worth the candle, so why bother?"

"Even so, we shouldn’t have let him into the Sword Pool so easily!" Elder Zhang said angrily.

He was also a member of the Celestial Alliance.

Naturally, he was unwilling to let Jiang Chen enter the Sword Pool to cultivate and improve his strength.

Elder Zou smiled mysteriously, a crafty look on his face. He lowered his voice and said, "Did you not understand what I said? I sent him to Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight!"

"What’s so special about Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight? Wait... Seventy-Eight?"

Elder Zhang froze for a moment, then a gleam of excited laughter appeared in his eyes. He clapped Elder Zou on the shoulder and roared with laughter. "Hahaha, you truly are my old partner! I knew you wouldn’t let me get the short end of the stick. The Spirit Array in Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight has been broken for ages! The Spiritual Qi it can gather is less than one percent of the other pools. Cultivating in there is even worse than cultivating outside!"

The Saint Martial Sword Sect couldn’t possibly have all its disciples cultivating in one place.

Therefore, the Sword Pool was divided into 367 smaller pools. Each one was enhanced with a Spirit Array to maintain a constant level of Spiritual Qi.

Once a Spirit Array was damaged, the effectiveness of cultivation would naturally be greatly diminished.

Elder Zhang looked toward the Sword Pool, a smug smile on his face. He gloated, "Hmph, so what if he took first place in the Outer Sect? He’s just wasted ten Sword Pool Tokens for nothing, hahaha..."

...

「Inside Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight.」

As soon as Jiang Chen entered, the stone door to the outside sealed shut automatically.

Jiang Chen scanned his surroundings and couldn’t help but frown. ’Is this the Sword Pool? Weren’t they saying the Spiritual Qi here is so dense that one day of cultivation is like a month outside? But the Spiritual Qi here is even weaker than on Martial Saint Mountain. What’s going on?’

Immediately after, Jiang Chen opened the stone door and returned to the entrance of the Sword Pool.

Elder Zou was taken aback but feigned confusion as he looked at Jiang Chen. "Hm? Why are you out already?"

"Elder Zou, Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight is broken. The Spiritual Qi inside is even worse than on Martial Saint Mountain. I request to switch to a different one!" Jiang Chen said.

Elder Zhang snorted, a cold sneer spreading across his face. "Switch just because you say so? Do you think you’re the Saint Child?"

"But Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight is broken..." Jiang Chen tried to explain.

But Elder Zhang gave him no chance, saying coolly, "Broken? That’s just your bad luck. What does it have to do with us?"

HUUUFF!

Jiang Chen let out a long breath and said in a low voice, "Elder Zou, if you’re unwilling to let me change pools, then please return my tokens!"

He had already figured it out. The two of them had clearly set him up on purpose.

’They must have known Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight was broken!’

Elder Zou said indifferently, "Jiang Chen, we already let you into the Sword Pool. You’re the one who chose not to cultivate inside, which can only be considered you forfeiting this opportunity. The Sword Pool Tokens have been handed over to us, so we naturally can’t return them. You now have only two choices..."

Elder Zhang continued, "...either continue cultivating in Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight, or get lost!"

"Hahaha, kid, you’re still too green to mess with us!"

Elder Zhang said with a smug look.

Jiang Chen frowned, staring at the two of them. He gritted his teeth and said, "Elders, are you saying that today I either have to waste these ten Sword Pool Tokens for nothing, or I have to stay in that pool—which is worse than Martial Saint Mountain—and cultivate for ten days?"

"That’s right!"

"If you beg me, perhaps I’ll be merciful and let you leech a bit of Spiritual Qi from the entrance of someone else’s pool!" Elder Zhang grinned.

Jiang Chen’s icy gaze swept over the two of them.

A moment later...

The corner of his mouth lifted into a cold smile. "Fine, then I’ll cultivate in Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight. From now on, for the next ten days, Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight is my, Jiang Chen’s, private domain. No one is to disturb my cultivation!"

"But of course!"

"The Sword Pools are protected by Spirit Arrays. Not even an expert at the Peak of the Heavenly Destiny Realm could disturb you!"

The two elders nodded.

"All the better!"

Jiang Chen snorted coldly and returned to Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight.

Inside the Sword Pool, his gaze was frigid, radiating a chilling intent. ’Trying to screw me over? Not so easy. You want me to end up with nothing and still scam me out of my Sword Pool Tokens, is that it? Hmph, I hope you won’t regret today’s actions!’

A cyan-gold light flashed in Jiang Chen’s eyes from his Ten Thousand Laws Golden Boy, and the internal structure of the Sword Pool quickly appeared in his mind.

Upon inspection, he discovered that the reason Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight had no Spiritual Qi was because its Spirit Gathering Array was broken!

’It’s just a Spirit Gathering Array? Hmph, I can repair it with ease...’ Just as he was about to fix the Spirit Gathering Array, Jiang Chen’s eyes suddenly lit up with a wicked smile. ’Those two old bastards dared to set me up, so they can’t blame me for being ruthless. A Spirit Gathering Array? Hmph, I’ll set up a Spirit Devouring Array instead and turn this place into a bottomless pit!’

A Spirit Gathering Array was a Spirit Array that gathered Spiritual Qi.

A Spirit Devouring Array was like an upgraded version of a Spirit Gathering Array—far more violent and powerful.

Jiang Chen took out ten thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals and began to set up the Spirit Devouring Array.

Once the Spirit Devouring Array was successfully deployed, Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight’s speed of devouring Spiritual Qi would be ten times that of the other pools!

If Elder Zhang and Elder Zou had let Jiang Chen enter an intact Sword Pool, he would have cultivated in peace without thinking of altering the Spirit Gathering Array. But since the two of them had schemed to frame him, Jiang Chen certainly wouldn’t be polite!

After spending a full half-day and consuming twenty thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Crystals, Jiang Chen finally completed the setup of the Spirit Devouring Array.

"Array, activate!"

The light of the Array surged, forming a bottomless black vortex that began to frantically devour Spiritual Qi.

The entire Sword Pool complex shuddered violently as endless Spiritual Qi was devoured and drawn toward Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight.

Personally feeling the rapid surge of Spiritual Qi, Jiang Chen’s face lit up with excitement. He leaped into the center of the Spirit Devouring Array, circulated the Profound Yellow Undying Technique, and began to absorb it frantically.

RUMBLE—

Torrent after torrent of Spiritual Qi was endlessly devoured by Jiang Chen.

As the Spirit Devouring Array operated, it consumed more and more Spiritual Qi. After just one double-hour, the Spiritual Qi concentration had reached the level of the other Sword Pools.

After three double-hours, it was already three times that of the other pools!

「One day later!」

The Spiritual Qi concentration in Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight had reached ten times that of the other pools. The Spiritual Qi within the entire pool had transformed into viscous Spirit Liquid. Jiang Chen submerged himself in the Spirit Liquid, frantically absorbing it. He simultaneously circulated the Profound Yellow Undying Technique and the Divine Demon Tyrant Body, his strength rapidly increasing.

Meanwhile, in the other Sword Pools, the Spiritual Qi was rapidly decreasing.

For the first day or two, no one felt much of a difference.

But by the third day...

With the exception of Sword Pool Number Seventy-Eight, the Spiritual Qi concentration in all the other pools had dropped to a third of its original level, finally attracting the attention of Elder Zhang and Elder Zou...