Chapter 489: Azure Water Palace

A month and a half later.

The largest lake in the Chaotic Spirit Domain, known as the 'Cloud Glow Lake', covers an area of a thousand miles. In the lake, there is not only a large third-rank spiritual vein but also more than ten large and medium-sized spiritual veins.

The surroundings of such a huge lake, which is like a small ocean, are sealed by thick white fog all year round. Not to mention ordinary mortals, even ordinary Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot penetrate the lake by even a fraction.

Occasionally, cultivators or spirit boats enter and exit from the white fog, most of them wearing Azure Water Palace attire or imprinted with the 'green water droplet' logo representing the Azure Water Palace.

Wherever these Azure Water Palace cultivators and spirit boats pass, the white fog automatically separates, clearly carrying special magical artifacts for identification.

On this day, a bone boat flew in from afar.

There were no markings on the boat, but a young man wearing Azure Water Palace attire on it simply raised his hand, and a green translucent token flew out, directly sinking into the railing at the very front, before blooming with dazzling blue light.

As soon as the white fog in front touched the green light, it immediately rolled apart, giving way to a passage.

The bone boat flew in without stopping.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, this white fog looks unremarkable, but in reality, it is the outermost restriction of the sect's fourth-rank grand array, the 'Ten Thousand Waves Thousand Layers Water-Drawing Array'.

The white fog is also not an ordinary illusion or blinding technique, but has great corrosive power. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators like us, as long as we are trapped inside for a slightly longer time, will turn into a pool of thick water."

On the bone boat, Li Tianqi, who was standing at the very front pointing the way, explained to Wang Yu beside him.

"A fourth-rank grand array!"

Wang Yu felt a great awe in his heart upon hearing this.

The Four Symbols Sect also had a sect grand array, and the sect's Golden Core cultivators had even once relied on the sect grand array to resist a larger number of demonic Golden Cores.

But even so, the Four Symbols Sect's sect grand array had barely reached the third-rank level.

It was also completed by the sect's only two array masters working together and spending many years.

Array masters are naturally divided into ranks.

Those who can use various celestial and geographical advantages to independently set up complete large-scale arrays are collectively referred to as formal array masters.

Those who can only set up partial arrays and local restrictions can only be called array master apprentices.

But unlike artifact refiners and alchemists, formal array masters start at the second rank; there is no such thing as a first-rank array master. Among them, those who can independently set up complete second-rank arrays are second-rank array masters, and those who can independently set up complete third-rank arrays are third-rank array masters.

The reason for this is naturally because first-rank arrays are a bit lackluster. Whether used for trapping enemies or for lethality, they only have effects on Qi Refinement Stage cultivators. Therefore, most cultivation sects also classify array masters who can set up first-rank arrays as apprentices.

Ximen Mei back then was exactly like this.

At a young age, she was already able to independently set up complete first-rank arrays and had extraordinary potential in the path of arrays, but she was still an array apprentice in the Four Symbols Sect, not a formal array master.

For cultivation sects, they would rather spend a large amount of resources to cultivate young apprentices with array potential and talent than recruit middle-aged or elderly array masters who can only set up first-rank arrays.

After all, the former still has hope of breaking through to the second or third rank and is of great use to the cultivation sect, while the latter's potential has reached its end, and they can only set up first-rank arrays for a lifetime.

However, compared to alchemists and artifact refiners, array masters are even rarer. Although those great cultivation sects look down on 'first-rank array master apprentices', outside the sect, for those rogue cultivators or small cultivation forces, even a first-rank array is good, always better than having no array protection.

Therefore, outside the sect, 'first-rank array master apprentices' are still in short supply and are often invited by cultivation families or rogue cultivators to set up and maintain arrays, and are also respectfully called 'array masters'.

That Daoist Sang who helped Wang Yu set up the "Three Peaks Water Mist Array" in the Mishan Sect was exactly like this. In fact, he was only an array master apprentice who could only set up first-rank arrays, so he only hung a guest name in the Azure Water Palace and was not directly accepted into the sect by the Azure Water Palace for cultivation.

After all, even though there are not many second-rank array masters, for a top-tier sect that possesses Nascent Soul great experts and occupies one-third of a large domain, they are naturally not lacking; it is estimated that they only lack array masters above the third rank.

Wang Yu was thinking quickly in his heart, and the bone boat had already turned into a ball of white light and flown out for more than ten miles. Only then did the scene in front of him suddenly brighten, appearing on a vast lake surface that was white and boundless, impossible to see the end of at a glance.

Below the bone boat, flat-leaf small boats floated on the water, and numerous agile mortal fishermen were casting nets to catch fish.

After the bone boat flashed by, it left these small boats behind.

After flying forward for only a few miles, more than ten disciples wearing Azure Water Palace attire were driving groups of sharp-beaked water birds with snow-white feathers, catching large fish in the lake leisurely.

Like this, after flying on the lake for a period of time and encountering more than ten waves of Azure Water Palace cultivators and ordinary mortal boats, they finally saw a huge wooden wall about ten zhang high in the distance, with no end in sight on either side.

When the bone boat flew directly over the huge wooden wall, one could see that on the lake surface behind the tall wooden wall, there were floating islands composed of giant wooden ships.

The large ones had a diameter of several miles, and the small ones were about an acre in size, dense and numerous, and one didn't know how many there were, connected to each other by wooden bridges.

On these wooden ship floating islands, countless mortals could be seen walking, and there were also cultivators flying at low altitudes.

"This is the outermost mortal gathering place of our Azure Water Palace. All ships are made of 'Iron Wood' that does not enter the ranks. Not only is it harder than ordinary stone, but it can also float on water for a hundred years without rotting. Those who live here are mortals related to the sect's disciples, and it is also a place where outer sect disciples often move about.

Many of our sect's disciples grew up here since childhood, and after being tested for spiritual root aptitude, they joined the Azure Water Palace. I am exactly like this.

The Azure Water Palace's Outer Affairs Hall also has a branch hall and some external shops here, and there are sect law enforcement teams patrolling here often. This is also where the second layer of our Azure Water Palace sect grand array is located."

On the bone boat, Li Tianqi looked at the floating islands below, introducing them while a smile appeared on his face.

"So that's how it is. The number of mortals here is indeed not small." Wang Yu looked at the continuous floating island group, and his face was also somewhat moved. But after scanning around with his divine sense, he did not sense the so-called "second layer restriction", and his heart was somewhat suspicious again.

Li Tianqi did not intend to introduce it in detail. Under his urging, the bone boat flew past this 'floating island' area and flew out for another ten miles or so toward the further lake surface.

A huge island like a pyramid appeared in front of them.

Looking from afar, the huge island had a diameter of no less than thirty or forty miles and was about a thousand zhang high above the lake surface, getting narrower and narrower layer by layer. Each layer was planted with lush green trees, and one could vaguely see buildings one after another. It looked entirely emerald green, and in the void above the very top, countless five-colored light ribbons were dancing, looking extremely mysterious!

"Is this the Azure Water Palace?" Wang Yu couldn't help but ask while looking at the emerald giant island in the distance.

"Hehe, of course not. Since it's called the Azure Water Palace, it's naturally a palace. What you see is only the top of the Azure Water Palace." Li Tianqi chuckled, saying with a hint of mystery. ===== CHAPTER 490 =====