Chapter 170 - 170: 170: Two Years Later
Chapter 170 - 170: 170: Two Years Later
However, in the eyes of some other people, it was not even comparable to the top three rewards.
He Song and his companions did not leave the venue of the Outer Disciple Competition, thus they got a very clear view of the wins and losses on the ten stages.
There were no surprises for He Song.
When no one else went up to challenge, the ten people left standing on the stages were almost all at the level of Qi Refining great perfection.
Outer Sect disciples who had not reached the Qi Refining Great Perfection could not defeat them.
Disciples who had reached the Qi Refining Great Perfection but possessed Foundation Establishment Elixirs would not participate.
Therefore, the people who could remain on the stages were mostly those who were at Qi Refining Great Perfection and did not have Foundation Establishment Elixirs.
Just like Chu Shuangshuang next to He Song.
She was at the Qi Refining great perfection stage but did not want to compete for the top ten spots on the stages with others because she already had a Foundation Establishment Elixir.
It wasn’t that she didn’t care about the improved success rate of Foundation Establishment with an extra Elixir.
Instead, there was an unspoken rule in this Outer Disciple Competition.
The ten Foundation Establishment Elixirs were reserved for those Outer Sect Disciples who were about to reach Foundation Establishment but did not have Elixirs.
Disciples like her who had Foundation Establishment Elixirs basically understood this rule.
It was Chu Shuangshuang who told He Song about this, and only then did he realize that there were such secrets.
At the same time, after knowing that there was an unspoken rule, He Song was also glad that he didn’t go on the stage.
If he really stood on the stage and grabbed a spot, he would have likely become a target and be seen as someone who broke the rules.
After all, He Song currently had two Foundation Establishment Elixirs on the surface.
These two Foundation Establishment Elixirs were passed down from the Sect
Leader.
They fell into He Song’s hands through Meng Guan and Wei Fan.
This was not difficult to find out.
Therefore, if He Song still grabbed a spot while having the two Foundation Establishment Elixirs, he would immediately be seen as a greedy person.
At that time, it would be hard not to be remembered by others.
Since he knew there was an unwritten rule in the Outer Disciple Competition, He Song’s original subtle desire to compete also completely dissipated.
This sudden Outer Disciple Competition was in fact just Master Fa Xuan’s way of winning people’s hearts in secret.
If one or two of the top ten disciples in this competition were able to successfully reach Foundation Establishment, they would probably owe Master Fa Xuan a favor.
Under such circumstances, He Song gained a deeper understanding of Master Fa Xuan through his actions.
“Although it’s simple and crude, it’s a good way to win people’s hearts.”
“But it doesn’t matter, after all, he is a Golden Elixir Master.”
He Song shook his head, his gaze thoughtful as he swept over the main peak of the Thick Earth Sect, and stopped dwelling on these thoughts.
Since he already knew that there was more to this Outer Disciple Competition, He Song had no expectations for the results.
Who would take first place.
Who would take second place.
Who would be in the top ten.
In fact, it didn’t make a difference for He Song.
Anyway, he was now fully prepared and just waiting to reach Qi Refining great perfection before attempting Foundation Establishment.
Now, He Song’s main task was to seclude himself in cultivation and quickly reach Qi Refining great perfection.
Therefore, after chatting with Ping’er and Chu Shuangshuang until the end of the competition, He Song didn’t even glance at the first place winner; he turned around and went back to the living quarters with the other disciples.
The Outer Disciple Competition ended.
He Song quickly immersed himself in cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. During these two years,
He Song spent his days practicing cultivation
As well as studying the Smoke Array and the Qi Sinking into Elixir Field Skill.
Finally,
One day,
He Song engraved all the intricate array patterns required for the Smoke Array on the Array Disk and Array Banners.
When the mysterious array patterns were densely distributed on the Array Banners in his hand, making the entire banner seem extremely mysterious, a smile appeared on He Song’s face.
“The Smoke Array is complete!”
Feeling delighted in his heart, He Song casually put the Array Banner into his storage bag.
There were already two sets of Array Skills in He Song’s storage bag.
One was the Spirit-Gathering Array, which He Song had made seven years ago and had been kept in the storage bag ever since.
The other was the Smoke Array, which He Song had finally succeeded in making now.
Originally, He Song had thought about leaving the Thick Earth Sect and opening a cave mansion in the outside world after creating the Spirit-Gathering Array.
From then on, he would no longer have to worry about a Golden Elixir Master discovering his secrets in the Thick Earth Sect.
Unfortunately, at that time, He Song hadn’t learned the Smoke Array yet. If he had rashly opened up a cave mansion outside, once discovered by others, he would likely be in a situation of certain death.
Because of this, he had been delaying until now.
However, now that He Song had truly created a set of Smoke Arrays, his idea of leaving the sect and opening a cave mansion immediately resurfaced.
“If I leave the sect and build a cave mansion, set up a small Spirit-Gathering Array, my cultivation speed will be even faster.”
“Moreover, within the small Spirit-Gathering Array, even if I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, it wouldn’t cause any commotion. With the concealment of the Smoke Array, not even a Golden Elixir Master’s divine sense could detect the existence of the cave mansion.”
“In this case, it is indeed the best time to leave the sect and establish a cave mansion. ”
With various ideas flashing through his mind, He Song made up his mind after a brief contemplation and then stood up from his meditation chamber, putting all his belongings into the storage bag.
He Song was definitely moving out of the small courtyard where the outer disciples of the Thick Earth Sect lived.
Would he return here again in the future?
He Song was not too sure about that either.
However, taking away all his belongings would not hinder him from returning in the future.
Of course, with the storage bag available, it was only natural to take all these belongings to his new cave mansion on a whim.
Since he was leaving the sect in order to open a cave mansion, it wasn’t like He Song would never return after opening up his cave mansion.
Therefore, He Song did not say goodbye to Wei Fan, Ping’er, and the others.
Instead, after packing his things, he came to the periphery of the Thick Earth Sect alone.
Seeing that no one was around, He Song’s figure sunk into the ground using the Earth Tunneling Skill and quickly headed towards the outside of the Thick Earth Sect’s mountain gate.
Soon enough,
He Song’s figure appeared dozens of miles away from the Thick Earth Sect.
After floating up to the surface and surveying the surroundings, He Song confirmed his current location but didn’t stay, instead using the Earth
Tunneling away towards the east of the Thick Earth Sect’s mountain gate.
In that direction was the Green Wall Immortal City.
However, he wasn’t trying to go to Green Wall Immortal City. The reason was that a few years ago, He Song had come across a beautiful place with clear mountains and rivers, birdsong and fragrant flowers while searching for a suitable place to establish spirit fields.
Although the spirit Qi in that area was scarce, as long as He Song deployed a small Spirit-Gathering Array, the concentration of spirit Qi would naturally increase.
Moreover, that place was several hundred miles to the east of the Thick Earth Sect’s mountain gate.
Such a distance would take He Song several hours to travel at his current speed.
Presumably, even if the Thick Earth Sect experienced any changes or was attacked by a Golden Elixir Master, it would not affect the location of He Song’s cave mansion.
As such, it was naturally a very safe place to be.
Living there, He Song could return to the Thick Earth Sect in just a few hours it was not exactly near but still relatively convenient.
Under such circumstances, it was only natural for He Song to choose that place as the location of his cave mansion.
After traveling underground for several hours,
He Song’s figure finally appeared beside a river.
Gazing into the distance, He Song’s eyes flashed with satisfaction.
This place was truly a good location.
The continuous mountains in the distance and the hazy mist on the river, along with the occasional sounds of insects, birds, and fish leaping in the river, all gave He Song a wonderful feeling of being integrated with heaven and earth.
With a flash in his eyes,
only after detecting that there were no spirit power fluctuations around him, He Song waved his hand, and an Array Disk and six Array Banners appeared before him.
One Array Disk and six Array Banners were the items needed to set up the Smoke Array.
He Song chose a low hill by the river for his cave mansion.
The view from here was excellent, and anyone passing by would be immediately noticed by He Song.
Also, with the steep hill nearby, even if the cave mansion was discovered, He Song could easily escape through Earth Tunneling without worrying about being trapped on a mountain peak.
Thus, He Song formed hand gestures, and the Array Disk in his hand quickly floated up, transforming into a ray of light and falling into the small mountain not far away.
When the Array Disk was in position,
He Song changed his hand gestures, and the Array Banners shot out from his hand one by one, flying towards the small mountain not far away.
When they reached the top of the small mountain, the Array Banners fell into the mountain under He Song’s control, forming a mysterious array within the mountain.
Having done all this, He Song casually scattered five hundred spirit stones, and the small mountain instantly flashed before returning to its normal state.
Only faint wisps of smoke, invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by divine sense, drifted with the wind around the small mountain.
When ordinary cultivators perceived it, they would subconsciously stay away from this place.
Seeing this, He Song’s face flashed a faint expression of joy, and he immediately flied towards the small mountain.
The Array Skills described in Array Tao Primary Introduction consume a tremendous amount of spirit stones.
Maintaining an array for just one year requires five hundred spirit stones.
This is the case for the small Spirit-Gathering Array and for the Smoke Array.
However, fortunately, both the small Spirit-Gathering Array and the Smoke Array could store more spirit stones at once, so He Song didn’t have to replenish spirit stones every year.
If he put enough spirit stones in at once for the Array to run for decades, the Array would naturally operate for decades.
Unless it were offensive or defensive arrays.
For these two types of arrays, if someone tries to break through, the consumption of spirit stones would be extremely terrifying. Perhaps even thousands of spirit stones might not last long.
However, as He Song hadn’t learned these types of arrays right now, he didn’t need to worry about running out of spirit stones.
The moment He Song stepped into the range of the small mountain, his figure suddenly disappeared..