Chapter 15 - 12 [Is it a Treasure?]
Chapter 12: Could It Be a Treasure?
Chen Yan was studying his own yard, stepping in a peculiar pattern, reciting incantations from Qimen Numerology, Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends, and then to the Eight Trigrams Directions.
"Qian, Kun, Li, Kan, Zhen, Xun, Gen, Dui..."
Chen Yan roamed around the yard, holding a compass in his hand.
Hmm, the compass was bought, not a crafted magical artifact.
You could even get it on Taobao.
The one in Chen Yan's hand cost over 180 yuan with free shipping.
The seller dealt in crafts and claimed it to be pure copper, but Chen Yan wasn't that gullible.
Buying a pure copper compass for 180 yuan? Dream on.
But material didn't really matter; a compass is just for calculating directions, as long as the scale is accurate, it's fine.
He was just a newbie who had recently started cultivating magical arts.
So far, he had only mastered four spells.
The basic cultivation technique "Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi Transporting Technique."
A versatile technique "Destiny Cycle," considered one of the basic skills.
Then there were two spells, "Open Celestial Eye" and "Interruption Technique"—both were at the bottom of the list according to the book.
Magical artifacts were out of reach. Though the "Artifact Identification Chapter" listed many methods and materials for making them.
But after a few attempts, Chen Yan temporarily gave up.
Of the materials he could understand and buy in the secular world, his million yuan was far from enough.
The names of the ones he didn't understand clearly weren't easy to find either.
Without magical artifacts, he had to settle for simpler formations.
He ruled out any formations that could attack, defend, or trap enemies—those were out of the question.
He could only try some auxiliary arrays to get started.
These past few days, Chen Yan had been studying a Spirit Gathering Array described in a book.
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What attracted him was that the Spirit Gathering Array was flexible, had a low entry threshold, and a high upper limit.
If you had ample materials and abundant primordial qi, a top-tier Spirit Gathering Array could create a paradise on earth.
If materials were lacking...
The DIY version, the budget version, could use many common materials as substitutes—though the effect would be just as makeshift.
But Chen Yan didn't mind; his main goal was to practice first.
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The Spirit Gathering Array could enhance the circulation and gathering of heaven and earth primordial qi within a certain range.
Cultivating the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi Transporting Technique within this formation could improve efficiency.
The effectiveness would depend on the quality of the formation materials.
High-grade materials were out of Chen Yan's reach for now, so he started with the simple ones.
He went to a stone market and bought a typical long, green stone—to substitute for a material called "Five-Colored Jade Pendant."
What on earth is "Five-Colored Jade Pendant," Chen Yan had never heard of it.
But green stone was much cheaper, so he went to a construction materials market and had them transport a few pieces to his villa's yard.
Next, he cleaned and polished, enshrined and inscribed talismans...
First, he used a hose to wash the green stone, scrubbing it for a long time with a big brush.
Then he started inscribing talismans...
The book had several talisman inscriptions; Chen Yan practiced them and even bought some cinnabar.
First, he painted them on the stone with a brush, then used a carving knife to chisel.
After a whole morning of work, Chen Yan was feeling a bit speechless.
[Am I cultivating immortality or working manual labor here?]
He looked at the stone-cutting machine, sanding machine, and complete set of carving tools he had bought over the past two days spread out in the yard...
Alongside industrial dust masks and other gear.
Chen Yan sighed.
·
At noon, too lazy to cook, Chen Yan ordered takeout—an egg fried rice with extra egg, some stir-fried beef, and a pickled vegetable pork soup.
He ate quickly.
While eating, Chen Yan was thinking...
Using regular green stone for the other array materials was fine.
But for the array's core, cheap stone wouldn't work; it needed to be a magical artifact.
He couldn't make a magical artifact himself, and didn't know how to either.
But the book had a DIY method:
Find a top-quality jade or jadeite, and infuse it daily with heaven and earth primordial qi to nurture it.
Over time, the material might gain a trace of spirituality.
Although not a real magical artifact, it could store some heaven and earth primordial qi.
It could serve as the main material for a low-level array core, making the array functional.
However, such a core would consume primordial qi, and since it's not a real magical artifact, it could only store a limited amount.
It was like a small capacity rechargeable battery.
Low power meant the array level wouldn't be high.
Small capacity meant short battery life, requiring frequent qi replenishment to the core.
Chen Yan pondered what to use as the array core...
One high-quality jade or jadeite would work...
He did bring back an emerald jadeite ring from Port City.
Back then, among many jades in the warehouse, this one caught his eye immediately, it just felt right.
Other items were left in the warehouse untouched; he only brought back the emerald ring.
However, over the past few days, he had been busy cultivating the Primordial Qi Transport Technique, learning spells, moving house, and setting up the budget Spirit Gathering Array.
He had forgotten about the ring.
At this thought, Chen Yan was about to search his luggage.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Chen Yan glanced at it—an unknown number, and a landline at that.
He answered...
"Hello, is this Mr. Chen?"
Chen Yan was taken aback.
Whoa.
That voice is quite sweet.