Chapter 204: Time Flies Like a Shuttle, Array Flags Refined

After all, as the only Ninth Stage existence in the current age, Saint Peter finally gritted his teeth and held on, enduring immense pain to finally eliminate the Sword Qi within his body.

The price he paid was bleeding from his seven orifices, his body riddled with holes, damaged by the Sword Qi until he was like a sieve and a funnel—a truly wretched sight.

Facing the Dao Palace, he did not even dare to harbor any malice or resentment, and bracing his ruined body, he stumbled down Xiantai Mountain.

But while still on the mountain path halfway down, he fainted as if his oil had run dry, only to be discovered by his subordinates waiting at the foot of the mountain, who panicked and carried him away, leaving Xiantai Mountain in extreme disarray.

After this group departed, Chen Zhantang came to report:

"Master, will this Saint Peter not die halfway?"

Lu Yuan did not take it to heart at all and laughed:

"That depends on his own fortune. Foreign races have always feared power but not virtue; today he brought this upon himself, so even if he dies, he cannot blame others. How go the matters of the Thousand-Year Peach Wood and the Heavenly Silkworm Silk?"

Chen Zhantang replied:

"The news has been announced to the entire province, and the local governments have already issued rewards. There is no news yet on the Thousand-Year Peach Wood, but it is said there is news of Heavenly Silkworms in Nanjiang, and disciples of the Heavenly Master Mansion have already headed there to verify it."

"Oh?"

Lu Yuan said, quite surprised:

"There really are Heavenly Silkworms?"

Chen Zhantang nodded and smiled:

"Master may not know, but the industry of raising silkworms is prevalent in the Nanjiang region; the so-called Golden Silkworms and Heavenly Silkworms have long been famous by name, though I do not know if these so-called Heavenly Silkworms are the kind you need."

Lu Yuan nodded: "Regardless of whether they are or not, find them all first."

"Yes."

Chen Zhantang respectfully acknowledged the order and then withdrew.

After no one was left to disturb him, Lu Yuan communicated with the Heavenly Book and received feedback:

【Divine Ability Master】: Lu Yuan

【Mastered Arts】: -

Ingestion (Earth: 31%); - Guidance (Earth: 29%); - Invisibility (Earth: 7%); -

Staff Sending (Earth: 8%); - Medicine (Earth: 23%); - Earth Travel (Earth: 10%); -

Generating Light (Earth: 11%); - Sword Technique (Earth: 9%); - Boiling Stones (Earth: 17%); -

Pot Heaven (Earth: 3%); - Great Strength (Earth: 2%); - Sprouting Head (Earth: 7%); -

Wind Control (Earth: 7%); - Obstacle Clothing (Earth: 3%); - Dream Grafting (Earth: 1%); -

Body Immobilization (Earth: 3%); - Nightmare Prayer (Earth: 3%); - False Form (Earth: 1%): -

Cloning (Earth: 1%); - Soul Absorption (Earth: 1%); - Disaster Averting (Earth: 1%); -

Rain Prayer (Earth: 1%); - Stone Penetration (Human: 1%); - Array Formation (Heaven: 1%).

Nine Breaths Serving Qi: (Divine Seed: 1%)

【Luck Power】: 305 units

Having successively lit up Disaster Averting, Rain Prayer, and Stone Penetration, and having lit up Array Formation and upgraded it to the Heaven tier, his Luck Power had fallen to the bottom, leaving only a three-digit number.

He had not experienced such a feeling of poverty for a long time.

"This is truly returning to the state before liberation in one fell swoop..."

"I had originally planned to save up Luck Power to upgrade Sword Technique to a Supernatural Power, or light up another Heavenly Gang Art, but now I have to start all over again."

Looking at this pitiful number, Lu Yuan could not help but sigh aloud.

After ascending to the pinnacle of the world, it was as if he had reached a certain limit; he basically no longer experienced situations where his Qi Luck suddenly surged by thousands, tens of thousands, or even tens of thousands. Now, the accumulation of Qi Luck could only rely on the long-term flow.

Fortunately, with the billions of living beings in Shenzhou as his base, he now had a stable monthly income of one or two thousand units of Luck Power, amounting to about twenty thousand units over a year.

This number was actually not small, and its strength lay in its relative stability. Saving for a few more years would allow him to upgrade his primary Earthly Fiend Arts to the Supernatural Power level, or light up more Heavenly Gang Arts.

For example, Mastering Five Thunders, Standing Without Shadow, Flying Body Tracking, Reverse Knowing Future, and so on—all are extremely powerful Heavenly Gang Supernatural Powers, not inferior to Nine Breaths Serving Qi. Lighting them up would surely be like adding wings to a tiger.

If he could truly repair the Heavenly Ladder in the future and ascend to the Upper Realm, these would all become his greatest trump cards and reliance.

"Thousand-Year Peach Wood and Heavenly Silkworm Silk, I hope you do not make me wait too long..."

As Lu Yuan hoped.

He indeed did not wait too long.

Just two or three months later, he received good news from the Council; both the Thousand-Year Peach Wood and the Heavenly Silkworms had been located.

Among them, the Thousand-Year Peach Wood was not found in some primeval forest, but according to rumors, in a long-abandoned Daoist temple in the Jin Ling area.

This temple was a grand temple during the Jing Dynasty, later slaughtered and razed by the Jin Dynasty, but the peach forest on the mountain behind it remained unharmed, and within it was a massive peach tree with an age exceeding one thousand years.

The Jin Ling government was overjoyed upon discovering this tree, and because they dared not fell it without authorization, they first sealed off the entire back mountain and sent the news back.

As for the Heavenly Silkworms and Heavenly Silkworm Silk, it was beyond Lu Yuan's expectations; in Dongling and Nanjiang, two places far apart, there were actually so-called Heavenly Silkworms, and special personnel were sent to bring the cocoons and silk to Tianjing for him to identify.

The Heavenly Silkworms of these two places had long-standing reputations, and their silk was a clothing material highly sought after by royalty and nobles. After Lu Yuan received the cocoons and silk, he quickly determined that these things were mundane objects; apart from the excellent quality of the silk, they had no supernatural properties.

Whether this stuff could be used to sew the flags for the Array Flags, he was not sure, so he could only have the craftsmen weave it first before attempting it.

Subsequently, he flew personally to that abandoned Daoist temple in Jin Ling and saw the tall, thousand-year-old peach tree.

This peach tree was thick enough for three people to embrace, more than enough to make forty-nine Array Flags. He immediately exerted his Dharma Power to uproot the entire tree and brought it back to Xiantai Mountain in his Pot Heaven Bag.

It is worth mentioning that after Refining Essence into Qi reached perfection, the space expanded by the Pot Heaven Art had reached ten zhang in size, and once cast, it could be maintained for more than half a year, so fitting such a peach tree was naturally a simple matter.

After returning.

Lu Yuan immediately devoted himself to the preparations for refining the Great Evolution Array Flag. First, he cut off the branches of the peach tree, cut it into even pieces, and then, without interruption every day, infused it with Dharma formulas, nourishing it with Dharma Power.

After all, the Great Evolution Mending Heaven Array was already in the ranks of high-level arrays. Even if he relied on his extremely high mastery of 【Array Formation】 to simplify it, certain key steps were indispensable, especially this Dharma Power nourishment, which was crucial for giving the Array Flags spiritual characteristics.

And while he was making the flagpoles for the Array Flags, on the other side, the craftsmen had woven the flag surfaces from the two different types of Heavenly Silkworm Silk.

Upon testing, Lu Yuan discovered that the Heavenly Silkworm Silk produced in Nanjiang was clearly better able to bear his Dharma Power nourishment, while the Heavenly Silkworm Silk from Dongling was somewhat inferior.

He immediately decided to use the Nanjiang Heavenly Silkworm Silk to make the Array Flags, and then a large number of cocoons were sent to Tianjing one after another. The craftsmen worked overtime, and before long, they completed their task, weaving dozens of Heavenly Silkworm Silk flag surfaces. The subsequent matters were not something ordinary people could intervene in; Lu Yuan went into seclusion again, ignoring outside affairs, and began to wholeheartedly carry out the refining of the Great Evolution Array Flag.

Time flies, like a shuttle through the sun and moon.

During his seclusion to refine the array flags, no one came to disturb him, and the vast New Nation also developed rapidly while recuperating, its national strength advancing by leaps and bounds.

A major event occurred during this period: the Pope of the Holy See, Saint Peter, had fallen ill and never recovered since leaving Xiantai Mountain and returning to the Shenluo Holy See. Less than a year later, he officially announced his abdication, and then allowed the Twelve Cardinal Archbishops to elect a new Pope, Hellers.

When this news spread, it naturally caused quite a stir worldwide. All parties were speculating about what exactly Saint Peter, who had just broken through to the Ninth Stage, had encountered on Xiantai Mountain to make him hand over the papal throne.

After all, the secret exploration of the Extreme North by the Shenluo Holy See and Sunlight Country had always been conducted in shadows; let alone other countries, even the interior of the New Nation was not very clear about it, let alone Lu Yuan's punishment of Saint Peter.

Amidst the attention of various countries, shortly after the new Pope completed his enthronement ceremony, he led the Cardinal Archbishops to visit the New Nation, and even specifically came to Xiantai Mountain to pay respects to Lu Yuan, putting on an extremely humble posture.

It was just that Lu Yuan, being in seclusion, naturally had no time to see them. These people were stopped at the foot of Xiantai Mountain and could only have Chen Zhantang convey their greetings; after waiting for several days with no result, they could only leave in low spirits.

Although the new Pope's visit to pay respects to Lu Yuan carried a strong implication of submission, the high-level officials of the New Nation unanimously believed that this was merely a move of forbearance by the Holy See's leadership, who were terrified that a true Immortal like Lu Yuan might, on a whim, completely annihilate the Holy See, so they could only submit to survive, just like Sunlight Country.

And if the Immortal were to leave one day, these people would in all likelihood bare their fangs once again.

Of course, now that the New Nation has been reborn from the ashes, it is no longer what it once was. A large number of talents have emerged, and its national strength is climbing step by step. Although there is still a slight gap in various aspects compared to the old top power, the Shenluo Holy See, with the current trends of growth and decline, the New Nation will surely catch up or even surpass it in eight to ten years at most.

In addition, regarding individual cultivation, because Lu Yuan opened up all the martial arts classics in the Golden Court Scripture Hall, whether they were students applying to the Martial Academy or instructors hired through examinations, all were qualified to study the martial arts within. This has led to the development of martial arts in the New Nation over the past few years being nothing short of rapid, with a large number of Refining Blood Martial Artists and Embracing Dan Martial Arts Masters emerging like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, and even several more Martial Arts Masters of the True Martial Realm have appeared!

With such a flourishing scene like oil poured on a raging fire, even if the Immortal leaves in the future, the New Nation will still be able to remain wealthy and strong, standing at the pinnacle of the world, fearing no threats.

Just like this, amidst the intense development, five years passed in a flash.

On this day, at the Dao Palace of the Heavenly Master on Xiantai Mountain.

In the side hall, Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, a one-person-tall array flag floating motionless before him, blooming with a hazy spiritual light.

One could see his Dharma Power fluctuating like a surging tide, with waves of incantations continuously cast out; every incantation that landed on the array flag caused it to hum and vibrate, making its spiritual light even more agile and dense.

It is unknown how much time passed.

Following the casting of the final incantation, the complex array patterns on the array flag suddenly burst into brilliant light. As the banner swayed, it seemed to possess life, emitting a sensation as if it were about to merge into the void.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan took it into his hand to observe it briefly, then bloomed with a joyful smile.

"The final Great Evolution Array Flag, it is finally complete."

With another wave of his sleeve, a full forty-eight identical array flags, shimmering with hazy spiritual light, piled up on the floor before him. The slight fatigue in his eyes could not hide the joy in his heart, and he let out a long breath of relief, mocking himself:

"Five years, do you know how I spent these five years?"

The refinement level of the Great Evolution Mending Heaven Array's flags directly relates to the effect after the array is formed. Even with the lowest standards, nurturing and refining a single flag without rest requires one month of time, so forty-nine array flags would require forty-nine months.

Even though Lu Yuan's Refining Essence into Qi had reached the realm of Bigu, allowing him to go without food or drink, relying solely on Nine Breaths Serving Qi to replenish his Dharma Power and vital energy, such high-intensity refinement and nurturing still left him exhausted.

Fortunately, the hard work was completely worth it. Although there were setbacks during the process, and even several array flags were ruined, delaying things for some time, now it was finally a complete success, and he could proceed with the attempt.

At this thought.

He flicked his sleeve, using a light breeze to push open the side hall door, which also caused the bronze bell in front of the door to sway, emitting a crisp sound.

Before long, he saw Chen Zhantang leading several young boy and girl acolytes hurrying over in surprise, all bowing together in salute toward Lu Yuan:

"Disciples greet the Heavenly Master upon his emergence from seclusion!"

"Rise."

Lu Yuan smiled slightly and looked at the eight acolytes behind Chen Zhantang, who were extremely awestruck and reserved, all only fifteen or sixteen years old:

"How is the cultivation of these children?"

In such a large Dao Palace, it was clearly insufficient to have only Chen Zhantang as a disciple, so five years ago, before entering seclusion, he allowed Chen Zhantang to select age-appropriate students with excellent aptitude from the Heavenly Master Mansion and even the Martial Academy to come up the mountain, teaching them the method of Hundred Days Foundation Establishment to see if any could be cultivated into talent.

Chen Zhantang immediately said: "These children are clever, but their temperaments are not yet settled. Among them, two have already completed the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment, while the rest are still a bit short."

"Even with your guidance, it is truly not easy to achieve Hundred Days Foundation Establishment at such an age. You must have spent a great deal of effort."

Lu Yuan nodded and smiled, then looked at Chen Zhantang:

"In five years, you have refined nearly a hundred wisps of True Qi. It is clear that you have not been slack, which is very gratifying."

Chen Zhantang said with immense gratitude:

"This is all thanks to the Pill bestowed by Master. Without those, this disciple would never have been able to achieve such progress. This disciple will never forget Master's kindness."

Lu Yuan waved his hand dismissively:

"It is just a few pills, no need for this. Have there been any major events in the outside world these past five years?"

After cracking the secret of the Extreme North, in order to cultivate useful helpers, he had increased his efforts in training Chen Zhantang, personally firing up the furnace to refine several bottles of Bait Stone Pill before his seclusion, bestowing them upon the other for cultivation.

With the Bait Stone Pill combined with the Ingestion Technique he had previously passed down, Chen Zhantang's originally slow cultivation efficiency climbed rapidly, advancing by leaps and bounds; in five years, he had unexpectedly condensed nearly a hundred wisps of Dharma Power.

With such Dharma Power, combined with Earthly Fiend Arts, he was already capable of engaging a Seventh Realm True Martial Grandmaster in battle and emerging victorious.

Of course, as of now, Lu Yuan had not yet passed down any offensive Earthly Fiend Arts; if Chen Zhantang, who only had some Dharma Power and cultivation, were to truly fight a True Martial Grandmaster, he might not necessarily be the opponent.

Chen Zhantang hurriedly replied:

"During your seclusion, the New Nation has developed rapidly. Not only are there factories everywhere, but even Steam Automobiles and airships can now be mass-produced. Moreover, our craftsmen have found a new path, developing machinery that uses burning fuel oil to generate power. This thing possesses much higher efficiency than steam; once perfected and promoted nationwide, it will inevitably bring about a huge revolution.

Besides this, in these five years, Sunlight Country has seen frequent natural and man-made disasters, with separatist rebellions occurring endlessly in various places. The Shenluo Holy See and Sha'e Country have been behaving themselves, especially the Shenluo Holy See; ever since the new Pope ascended the throne, the old Pope, Saint Peter, has never appeared in public again. Rumors say that he contracted some incurable disease and may have already passed away, but the Holy See is keeping the death secret. That is all worth mentioning; there is nothing else."