Chapter 139: Chapter 28: Nine Extremes Array Activation

"They promised to help me stabilize the Profound Turtle’s soul when I ascend," Elder Wu admitted freely after Wang Ping asked for the reason.

From Elder Wu’s explanation, Wang Ping learned that to advance to the Second Realm using the Earth Cave Sect’s "Great Earth Scripture," one needed to fuse with the soul of a Profound Turtle. At the same time, one must complete a blood exchange and gain the true recognition of the Earth Vein Power to be considered successful.

This was remarkably similar to the *Taiyan Talisman*, which also gave Wang Ping some speculations, such as those regarding the Demon Race’s records passed down from before the rise of the Human Dao...

The Demon Race claimed that when the heavens and earth first opened, two Saints were born. The first was called the Great Celestial, and the second was called the Nine Heavens.

This was a common consensus, acknowledged by both the Five Sects of Xuanmen and the two sects of Tianmen today.

Then, the Demon Race also said that the Great Celestial created the Five Elements Rules and gave rise to five Life Sacred Bodies. They, in turn, produced the later Five Elements Spirit Bodies. Meanwhile, the Nine Heavens created the world’s fundamental rules, giving birth to four life forms: Immortals, Demons, Asuras, and Ghosts.

This claim was unanimously opposed by the Five Sects of Xuanmen and the two sects of Tianmen. Their stance was extremely firm. However, books of this nature were not banned but were instead classified as folktales.

Pushing aside his chaotic thoughts, Wang Ping smiled and asked, "What can they offer?"

"An Earth Spirit Vein. I heard from your master that you’re setting up the Nine Extremes Array, and you happen to need one," Elder Wu said, making a tempting offer.

"And you? What are you offering in return?" Wang Ping asked.

"As long as I successfully ascend to the Second Realm, I can help you with three matters, free of charge." Elder Wu offered a promise.

"A fair trade." Wang Ping accepted gladly, then asked, "Are those two really that valuable?"

"You underestimate Entering Cultivators and Second Realm Cultivators. Look, in all of Qianmu Temple, are you confident you can train a single Second Realm Cultivator within three hundred years?"

The question struck a chord with Wang Ping.

Elder Wu continued, "Now that they’ve thrown their lot in with the Taiyin Sect, they can’t ever come back, and they pose no threat to you. If you’re still worried, you can just keep them under surveillance."

"How about this: once you ascend to the Second Realm, the first thing I’ll ask of you is to help me monitor Xuanhe Daoist and his disciple!"

"You sure know how to scheme. Fine, no problem!"

And so, the deal was struck.

Of course, this was just an agreement in principle for now. The deal would only be truly finalized once the item was delivered. Therefore, the pursuit would continue.

This transaction wasn’t completed until a year later, when Elder Wu personally delivered the Earth Spirit Vein.

Coincidentally, the connecting arrays for the Nine Extremes Array were also completed at this time.

Viewed from the sky, the entire array looked like a strange oval drawn across an area of a hundred *li*. Inside, seven regions with different terrains were interlocked and connected by stone paths that ran along mountain streams and rivers.

Each region had a different Spiritual Object for Gathering Spirit, and each had a specially opened Dao Field where disciples would be stationed in the future. The two Tianmen locations were placed on either side, designed by Wang Ping as two scenic areas. One of them was even equipped with a Thunder Law Altar, which could be activated by a Foundation Establishment cultivator in case of an emergency.

All the regional arrays led to Qianmu Mountain, and the core of the Qianmu Mountain array was located in Wang Ping’s Dao Field. It used a piece of Wood Spirit-attribute Celestial and Earthly Treasure as a catalyst, supplemented by the Spirit Gathering Array and the locust tree at the summit. With Wang Ping personally guiding it in the initial phase, success was highly probable.

However, the overall Spiritual Qi concentration had only reached (53/100). It wasn’t that something had gone wrong, but rather that some areas had just been built and needed enough time to be nourished. Otherwise, the only option was to do as they did at Yongming Port back then and find some sentient life forms.

Not wanting to cause more slaughter or make the array a bloody mess, the only choice was to wait patiently.

At this time, it was Liu Shuang’s turn to attempt Foundation Establishment.

It was a success. Nothing unexpected happened.

After all, with Wang Ping protecting her and with ample preparations, it was a natural success. However, her true cultivation path had only just begun.

「Six years later.」

Wang Ping had outlived another Emperor, and the Spirit Communication Talisman inside him had fused to (42/100).

In these past few decades, the Zhongzhou World had enjoyed favorable weather and presented a scene of prosperity. People no longer discussed the wars in the north, but rather poetry, opera, and the top courtesans of the brothels. It was as if the chaos of decades past had been nothing but a dream.

Qianmu Temple had developed rapidly in recent years. With more resources, second-generation disciples Zhao Qing and Lv Xin successively completed their Foundation Establishment, and among the third-generation disciples, Yang Hou and Liang Tao also successfully reached Foundation Establishment.

Tao You, who had the best innate talent, chose to leave the mountain at the age of one hundred, handing over the Precepts Institute to his disciple, Wei Ming.

Many people like Tao You had left the mountain over the years. Some went out to gain experience and returned to secular life. Some followed the examples of Su Dun and Wang Kang and went to make a name for themselves in the army. Some traveled abroad in groups. Others became obsessed with archaeology.

It was these disciples who went out into the world who carried the name of Qianmu Temple to various places. Many people came, drawn by its reputation, bringing Qianmu Temple many good prospects and a great deal of Incense Money.

One morning.

Wang Ping awoke from his meditation as usual. He put away the Spirit Gathering Array, and as he stood up, he suddenly felt something and took out his divination blocks to cast a hexagram...

"Hehe!"

A smile on his face, he opened the Nine Extremes Array strategy panel. Just as he expected, the Spiritual Qi concentration had reached (71/100), exceeding the passing mark by 11 percentage points.

Just then, a gray-white figure quickly descended from the sky.

It was Yu Lian. In recent years, whenever she had nothing to do, she would go to Baisui Lake to play. Not only could she catch shrimp to eat, but she also had Hu Qianqian to chat with and relieve her boredom.

"What are you so happy about?" Yu Lian shrank as she landed and flew two circles around Wang Ping. Sensing his mood, she asked curiously.

"We can activate the Nine Extremes Array now." As Wang Ping walked back to his small courtyard, he sent a voice transmission to the disciple outside, telling him to call Yang Hou up.

...

Today was a very ordinary day.

However, the several thousand disciples of Qianmu Temple were all gathered at this moment in the plaza of the Inner Courtyard, which had been expanded twice. They raised their heads to gaze at Wang Ping and Yu Cheng, who were floating at the summit of Qianmu Mountain.

"Are you confident?" Yu Cheng Taoist asked.

"I am. I just need to be a little careful during the initial activation."

"That’s good. You just focus on casting. I’ll watch over everything else."

"Alright!"

After nodding, Wang Ping formed hand seals for his Magic Formulas and activated the Spirit Gathering Array. Beside him, Yu Lian also enlarged her body and circled around him. Their consciousnesses and Qi Seas connected in an instant.

Then, Wang Ping summoned the Spirit Communication Talisman and manipulated the Wood Spirit Qi to surge toward the Magic Array Core, which had been established in advance at the center of the mountain summit’s Dao Field. The lifeless core region seemed to come alive with the influx of Wood Spirit Qi. The pulsating Spiritual Qi shook the branches of the surrounding Spirit Wood Trees, making them tremble back and forth.

A few breaths later, the pulsating Spiritual Qi lit up the rune array surrounding the core. A beam of light shot into the sky—its source, the rune connecting to the Fire Spirit Array, which was immediately activated. Then, another beam of light shot into the sky, this one from the rune connecting to the Earth Spirit Array. This was followed by the Golden Spirit Array and the Water Spirit Formation, before the sequence finally returned to the Wood Spirit Array on Qianmu Mountain.

Five-colored lights intertwined and rose, then shot toward the two poles of yin and yang on either side. Soon, a beam of light shot up from each of the two great mountains. All the lights converged in the sky, forming a closed-loop diagram of the creation and destruction cycle of the Five Elements, before vanishing into nothingness.

The array was successfully activated!