Chapter 946: Five Elements and Nine Palaces Formed

After meeting with Qing Nü, Chen Mobai hesitated, feeling he could no longer keep it from her. He told her that Yang Jing had been possessed by the Ascension Cult Master.

*Crack!* Upon hearing this, Qing Nü lost control of her emotions, crushing the wooden armrest of her chair. This was the first time Chen Mobai had seen such a murderous aura from her, showing how much she valued her sister, Yang Jing.

"I've just been appointed as the Hall Master of Zhengfa. After the Expansion War concludes, I will personally lead the Heaven-Mending Team to sweep through the Ascension Cult in the starry sky, hoping to rescue Kong Feichen."

Yang Jing had been taken away for too long; Chen Mobai had no way to help her after she was possessed. Now, he could only hope that Kong Feichen was still alright.

"It's all because Xiao Chen was misled. If only he were a bit more mature..." Qing Nü became even more agitated upon hearing Kong Feichen's name.

However, Chen Mobai knew that with so many top cultivators from the Ascension Cult targeting them, even if Kong Feichen hadn't fallen into their trap, someone else would have taken Yang Jing. Qing Nü was probably able to remain behind then because of Yan Xinjie and Lin Daoming, who was the Hall Master of Immortal Affairs at the time.

"Let's not dwell on that now. After all, he's still our brother. If there's an opportunity, we must try to save him." Chen Mobai could only offer this comfort. Although he didn't think much of Kong Feichen himself, such words could only come from Qing Nü. As her husband, his main role at this moment was to show his support.

"Waaah..." Qing Nü sobbed, throwing herself into Chen Mobai's embrace. "Thank goodness I have you. It's just a pity my cultivation is too weak; otherwise, I could go back and help..."

Hearing Qing Nü's words, Chen Mobai was actually relieved that her cultivation was only at the Core Formation stage. If she had reached Nascent Soul, she would undoubtedly feel compelled to return to the Immortal Sect. At the very least, Qing Nü had firmly etched the Ascension Cult Master's enmity into her memory.

"With your talent and the resources here in the Eastern Barrens, it's possible for you to reach Spirit Transformation in the future. Don't let this leave you with inner demons. Leave those people from the Ascension Cult to me." Chen Mobai spoke with full confidence. After successfully cultivating the fifth-tier Primordial Yang Sword-Fiend, he could arguably be invincible within the Immortal Sect, save for Spirit Transformation True Monarchs. Although the few evil path magnates of the Ascension Cult were all top Nascent Soul cultivators, Qi Yuheng could suppress them. Clearly, Chen Mobai would have no problem either.

"It's always you helping us..." Qing Nü said with a look of guilt. Ever since they met, she and her siblings had always caused trouble for Chen Mobai. It was fortunate that Chen Mobai had such a strong foundation; otherwise, any other Immortal Sect cultivator probably wouldn't have been able to deal with so many Nascent Souls from the Ascension Cult.

"You are my wife, and they are my siblings. Helping them is only natural." Hearing Chen Mobai's words, Qing Nü secretly resolved to quickly raise her cultivation, so she wouldn't always have to rely on him for everything.

After discussing that, the two then talked about the newly refined Golden Liquid Jade Return Pills. Because Chen Mobai knew that he might not return for a long time during the Expansion War, he had previously told Qing Nü that once refined, all pills, except for one reserved for Wang Xinying, could be directly put on sale at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

Qing Nü was already very familiar with refining the Golden Liquid Jade Return Pills; ten pills were formed, all of them free of pill toxins. However, she still entrusted the matter of selection to E Yun. After all, Core Formation spiritual items like these would surely be snatched up as soon as they went on sale. It was better to follow the previous rule: first determine the candidates, then put them on sale one by one.

"Currently, four pills have been distributed..." Qing Nü listed the names: Yuan Chiye, Yu Lian, Wan Dengyong, and Ban Zhaodan.

In recent years, the rapid development of the Five Elements Sect had led to a shortage of cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Completion stage. After all, Qing Nü had previously refined dozens of Core Formation spiritual medicines in succession, and most cultivators who were supposed to reach Core Formation had already done so. Those Foundation Establishment Completion cultivators who hadn't yet formed cores had largely exhausted their opportunities. From the previous batch of Wood Element Core Formation Pills, besides Chu Zuozhu and Liu Wenbai, Mu Yuan also successfully formed a core, while Yan Yuanhao failed.

Among the four who received pills this time, Yuan Chiye and Yu Lian were Chen Mobai's direct lineage. After they cultivated to Foundation Establishment Completion, E Yun naturally arranged for them immediately. Ban Zhaodan was a sword cultivator from the Metal Vein, one of the original Five-Colored Immortal Seeds. As for Wan Dengyong, Chen Mobai had promised to make him an example for outsiders. Following Chen Mobai's guidance, he had already taken the Water Element Core Formation Pill and the Wood Element Core Formation Pill, primarily to gain experience. Now, with this Golden Liquid Jade Return Pill, countless insights from the Beiyuan City Library, and the bonus from the Jade Crane Technique, Chen Mobai would have no other recourse if he still failed.

"Let's give Yan Yuanhao another chance." After listening, Chen Mobai thought of the Sect cultivator who had contributed significantly to desertification control in Hong Prefecture and spoke to Qing Nü. Yan Yuanhao had used most of his Sect contributions to exchange for the Wood Element Core Formation Pill last time. After recovering from his failed Core Formation attempt, he continuously took on missions in Beiyuan City, trying to accumulate enough to exchange for another opportunity.

"Then I'll hire him to escort pills under the name of Danxia Pavilion later." Qing Nü understood Chen Mobai's intention. They wouldn't break the Sect's rules; since Yan Yuanhao's contributions weren't enough, they would operate within their own means.

After discussing this matter, Chen Mobai took one Golden Liquid Jade Return Pill and headed to the Divine Tree Secret Realm. He brought Zhuo Ming along on this trip. During the twenty years he was busy with the Immortal Sect's Expansion War, Zhuo Ming diligently completed the setup of the Five Elements Profound Mystery Array and the Reverse Nine Palaces Array for the Five Elements Sect, as per his master's instructions.

However, although the grand arrays were completed, the final step of spiritual vein aggregation and fusion involved the realm of a fifth-tier array master, which Zhuo Ming was unable to achieve. Chen Mobai had returned at just the right time; Zhuo Ming had only just completed the infrastructure for these grand arrays this year.

"Ming'er, you've worked hard!" Chen Mobai, controlling the Taiyi Five-Smoke Luo, overlooked the glittering spiritual hubs of the two fifth-tier grand arrays across the Eastern Barrens from the sky, and couldn't help but praise his disciple beside him.

"It's also thanks to the concerted efforts of the Sect's array masters, as well as the help from the Grand-Age Boy and Little Yellow Dragon Girl." Zhuo Ming didn't take all the credit, pointing to the Grand-Age Boy beside her, who immediately puffed out his chest towards Chen Mobai. Little Yellow Dragon Girl hadn't come out; after all, she was a true spirit, and nominally belonged to Qing Nü. Ordinarily, she wouldn't step foot outside the house unless necessary.

The news of Yang Jing's possession also greatly stimulated Qing Nü, who decided to change her "foundation-focused" belief system. She began refining pills to enhance her cultivation, aiming to reach Core Formation Completion and then Nascent Soul as quickly as possible. Chen Mobai naturally approved. For so many years, besides managing the Danxia Pavilion's business and refining Golden Liquid Jade Return Pills, Qing Nü hadn't forgotten her husband. She had even directed the Five Elements Sect to gather materials for a batch of Pure Yang Condensing True Pills. The pills were currently being nurtured and would be ready soon. Chen Mobai was very grateful for this.

He had personally experienced the effects of the Pure Yang Condensing True Pills; they allowed him to accumulate true qi in the shortest possible time. With ten pills formed this time, plus the one remaining from before, he might even be able to reach Nascent Soul Stage Six directly. During the twenty years of the Expansion War, under the watchful eyes of the Immortal Sect's Twin Saints, Chen Mobai had only dared to absorb spiritual qi and refine true qi step by step. This made him, accustomed to rapid progress, somewhat unaccustomed to the pace. With the departure of Old Ancestor Baiguang and Spirit Venerable, his restraints would become fewer and fewer. After learning about the Purple Firmament Star River, the Central Dao Field, and realms beyond Spirit Transformation, Chen Mobai also hoped to master more powerful strength in the shortest possible time. The resources of the Eastern Barrens were his greatest reliance for progress. Therefore, materials for the Pure Yang Condensing True Pills still needed to be continuously collected.

As he pondered, Chen Mobai had already brought Zhuo Ming and the Grand-Age Boy to Divine Wood Immortal City. Fu Zongjue was stationed here. Zhou Shengqing, during Chen Mobai's "seclusion," had gone to Beiyuan Immortal City.

"Junior Brother, long time no see!" Fu Zongjue was very happy to see Chen Mobai. He even put on a show, riding a lifelike thousand-zhang-long wooden dragon, circling three times in mid-air to greet him.

"I didn't expect Senior Brother to actually complete the repair of the Little Azure Dragon, impressive!" As soon as Chen Mobai saw the wooden dragon, he understood. Listening with his Empty Valley Sound, he discovered the fourth-tier power it contained and couldn't help but greatly praise Fu Zongjue. Completing the repair meant that Fu Zongjue had thoroughly mastered all the blueprints. The highest realm of Longevity Puppet Art, the Longevity Azure Dragon, possessed fifth-tier power. As the current successor of the Longevity Sect, Chen Mobai felt that he should eventually command a Longevity Azure Dragon himself.

"It's also thanks to Junior Brother's previous guidance, but this Little Azure Dragon requires top-grade spirit stones to activate. One stone can only sustain it for about a month..." Given Fu Zongjue's status, only top-grade spirit stones would give him a headache.

"Senior Brother, don't worry, leave this to me." Each Little Azure Dragon possessed power equivalent to the fourth tier. If every Core Formation cultivator of the Wood Vein could wield a Little Azure Dragon, then apart from the Holy Lands, the Five Elements Sect would truly fear no other force. Chen Mobai naturally strongly supported this. Once the Five Elements Grand Array was completed, this place would soon be upgraded to a fifth-tier spiritual vein. Recharging spirit stones here then would yield twice the results with half the effort. Fu Zongjue's face lit up with joy upon hearing this.

After they had tea and reminisced, Chen Mobai first went to the Divine Tree Secret Realm to absorb the wandering spiritual consciousness of the Grand Dao Tree using the Soul Devouring Art. After completing that task, Chen Mobai led Zhuo Ming to inspect the final preparations for the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array. During this time, Zhou Shengqing, who had heard of his emergence from seclusion, also arrived. Mo Douguang, meanwhile, had accompanied Chu Zuozhu to the Eastern Lands. Chu Zuozhu now presided over the Five Elements Chamber of Commerce, expanding its business beyond the local Three Border Regions to Dongyue and the Eastern Lands.

The complete collection of materials for this batch of Pure Yang Condensing True Pills was a direct result of Chu Zuozhu's diligent work. However, his ability to bring all the precious main medicines back to the Eastern Barrens relied entirely on Mo Douguang, a Nascent Soul sword cultivator, who escorted them all the way. This time, Yue Zutao had secured a large business deal worth several million spirit stones in the Eastern Lands. Chu Zuozhu, leveraging the Five Elements Sect's influence in the Three Border Regions of Eastern Continent, painstakingly gathered all the goods. To ensure these goods were transported safely and intact to the Eastern Lands, Mo Douguang was once again invited out to escort them.

"Senior Brother Mo must be working too hard," Chen Mobai sighed upon hearing this.

"It's fine. With large teleportation arrays, it doesn't take much time to go back and forth." Zhou Shengqing waved his hand dismissively. Anyone familiar with the customs of the Heavenly River Realm understood that goods worth millions of spirit stones, without a formidable character guarding them, would be a tempting target for rogue cultivators. It was even possible that during the transaction, the other party would simply seize both the people and the goods. It was only after Mo Douguang reached Nascent Soul that Chu Zuozhu and Yue Zutao, master and disciple, dared to discuss such large deals.

"I gave a Nascent Cultivation Pill to Zhou Ye. Once he completes his Nascent Soul formation, we can consider letting him handle these matters," Chen Mobai mentioned. Zhou Shengqing nodded upon hearing this.

"Then we'll have Zhou Ye stationed long-term in the Eastern Yi region. The large teleportation array there goes directly to Jiutian Immortal City in the Eastern Lands, so it will be convenient for him to travel if anything comes up." This was something they had discussed long ago. However, in recent years, because Zhou Ye had performed well with the matters concerning Fengyu Immortal City, they hadn't sent him back to Eastern Yi. Now that Fengyu Immortal City was completed, if Zhou Ye successfully formed his Nascent Soul, it would be time to send him out to oversee a region.

After finishing their discussions, Chen Mobai also brought Zhou Shengqing along to see the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array, which encompassed most of the Eastern Barrens Plain.

"I didn't expect Junior Brother to have such profound attainments in array formations!" Cultivators in the Heavenly River Realm generally admired versatility. Zhou Shengqing's achievements in array formations were not low; he was even one of the original directors of the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array. Now, seeing Chen Mobai deploy this fifth-tier array in such a manner, he couldn't help but feel immense admiration.

"Oh, no, no. It's mainly because the Patriarch left behind complete blueprints. I merely made a few minor modifications." Chen Mobai had always been very humble in the Heavenly River Realm.

However, Zhou Shengqing was an expert and knew that to be able to modify a fifth-tier array master's work meant Chen Mobai's array attainments were outstanding, even among fifth-tier array masters. Because Zhou Shengqing was also proficient in the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array and was a Nascent Soul cultivator, Chen Mobai had him oversee the most crucial central hub here in Divine Wood Immortal City. Chen Mobai himself would be responsible for guiding the other four major spiritual hubs, rotating the Five Elements Grand Array, and controlling the integration of the various spiritual veins marked with array flags and plates across the Eastern Barrens Plain.

Chen Mobai had previously led the elite array masters of the Immortal Sect to set up a complete Earth Vein Grand Array on Dragon God Star. Compared to that, the difficulty of this Profound Mystery Five Elements Array wasn't even one percent. And with Zhou Shengqing's help now, it was even easier. Besides the two Nascent Soul cultivators, Chen Mobai also summoned Luo Xue'er and Ning Leshan. Along with Zhuo Ming, they formed a group of five, perfectly controlling the five elements.

The key to this array lay in the rotation of the five elements and the sequence of their activation. Since the Wood spiritual hub would ultimately absorb everything, it needed to be activated at the Fire spiritual hub's location, and then, following the sequence of Fire generating Earth, Earth generating Metal, Metal generating Water, and Water generating Wood, the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array would be mutually generated.

After Chen Mobai first activated the grand array of Fire True Immortal City, he used the Small Sky Screen Big Dipper Array for positioning and Spatial Great Shift to travel successively to the other immortal cities, directing Zhuo Ming and others to control the array's flow and connect all the spiritual veins marked by the Five Elements Sect across the Eastern Barrens Plain. Because the preliminary preparations had long been completed by Zhuo Ming leading the Five Elements Sect's array masters, there were no surprises during this activation of the fifth-tier grand array.

"Junior Brother, the spiritual veins of Giant Wood Ridge are increasing day by day!" After the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array, which covered the Eastern Barrens Plain, was activated, Zhou Shengqing was the first to sense it. The endless spiritual vein qi from the vast land flowed through the fifth-tier grand array into the depths of Giant Wood Ridge, where it was then fused and refined by the Wood Element Grand Array before being released into the various mountain peaks and cave-dwellings.

"The spiritual veins of Giant Wood Ridge will also need a period of adaptation. I estimate that in a few years, this place will be upgraded to a fifth-tier spiritual vein." Chen Mobai sensed with his Danfeng Chaoyang Diagram's Earth Spirit realm, confirming that the spiritual veins of Giant Wood Ridge were integrating with the various spiritual veins of the Eastern Barrens Plain at the most perfect rate of enhancement. He nodded in satisfaction.

"Excellent! This way, my disciples from the Wood Vein will have the best cultivation conditions in the future." Although Zhou Shengqing himself could not enjoy fifth-tier spiritual qi, he was still very happy about this. This was a fifth-tier spiritual vein! Even the Xingtian Dao Sect, which commanded the entire Dongyue, only had fifth-tier spiritual veins. Moreover, Zhou Shengqing had seen Chen Mobai's development plan for the Eastern Barrens. He knew that after the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array, there was also the Reverse Nine Palaces Array. Once these two grand arrays were completed, the Five Elements Sect would essentially control the spiritual veins of most of the Eastern Barrens. If their territory expanded to include Yunmeng Marsh, Eastern Wu, Eastern Yi, and even the Desolate Ruins, it wouldn't be impossible for it to be upgraded to a sixth-tier spiritual vein in the future!

The promising future filled Zhou Shengqing with increasing anticipation. He hoped he could live to see the day when the Five Elements Sect's array flags were planted throughout all three border regions of the Eastern Continent.

After completing the Profound Mystery Five Elements Array, Chen Mobai then went to Beiyuan Immortal City. Over the past twenty years, although he had been "in seclusion," E Yun had remembered his instructions and used most of the spirit stones earned by the Five Elements Sect for infrastructure development. Besides the two major immortal cities at each end, Beiyuan and Wanhua, the remaining seven immortal cities had all been completed! Although these immortal cities were not yet fully populated, with a few even resembling ghost towns, all the supporting facilities related to the Reverse Nine Palaces Array had been completed.

"Once the Nine Palaces Array is set up, I'll have Qing Nü open a branch of Danxia Pavilion there. Then, I'll have Yue Zutao contact the Grand Void Ethereal Palace to arrange for medium-sized teleportation arrays in each immortal city, diverting the population from older cities like Beiyuan to these new cities..." Chen Mobai, leading the high-level cultivators of the Five Elements Sect through the Nine Palaces Immortal Cities, laid out a thirty-year plan for developing new cities. E Yun nodded repeatedly upon hearing this.

As long as Danxia Pavilion was present, ensuring that residents of the new cities could participate in lotteries to purchase the Three Foundation Establishment Treasures, there would be no shortage of cultivators moving there. After all, housing prices in Beiyuan City had become so exorbitant that even Core Formation cultivators found them ridiculous. The cave-dwellings on Beiyuan Mountain allocated to the Five Elements Sect's Core Formation cultivators, at current housing prices, represented astronomical sums that these cultivators would need decades to earn. Not to mention the lower-tier rogue cultivators and Qi Condensation cultivators. Beiyuan City was rapidly losing space for them, so diverting them to new cities was the best option. The only hesitation for these Qi Condensation cultivators was that once they left Beiyuan City, it would be extremely difficult to return.

However, by solving the transportation problem, this concern could be dispelled. With medium-sized teleportation arrays, no matter which immortal city they lived in, coming to Beiyuan City would just be a single teleportation trip. If salaries were high enough, they could even work in Beiyuan City and then settle in a new city via teleportation arrays. The transport capacity of medium-sized teleportation arrays was incomparable to small ones. Although placing one in each new city seemed wasteful, Chen Mobai believed these spirit stones would quickly be recouped. To get rich, build roads first. After all, only with more people could housing prices in these new cities be driven up. Beiyuan City had developed very well; it was time for the "first rich" to lead the "later rich."

Chen Mobai roughly explained the Immortal Sect's experience with urbanization and population diversion. E Yun and the other Five Elements Sect cultivators beside him felt enlightened. They felt their horizons greatly broadened! Over the past twenty years, in order to build various immortal cities, develop the Eastern Barrens' infrastructure, and the Earth Vein Grand Array, the Five Elements Sect had spent hundreds of millions of spirit stones, enriching many cultivation families and forces in the Eastern Barrens. Even many local cultivators working as laborers and rogue cultivators from other regions accumulated significant sums in their accounts. After witnessing how easy it was to earn spirit stones in the Eastern Barrens and the good atmosphere of not needing to worry about being robbed, these cultivators largely chose to settle down. However, due to the absurd housing prices in Beiyuan City, coupled with the fact that many large infrastructure projects had to be obtained from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, they dared not leave and could only choose to rent.

But now, if Chen Mobai's plan were implemented, the spirit stones in these cultivators' accounts would soon be spent on buying houses, purchasing the Three Foundation Establishment Treasures, and other expenses in the new cities, flowing back into the hands of their Five Elements Sect.

"Junior Brother, you are truly capable of turning clouds into rain with a flick of your hand." Zhou Shengqing couldn't help but praise. In just half a day, he had already foreseen a future where the Merit Hall would soon have hundreds of millions more spirit stones in reserve, piling up like mountains. Moreover, their earning of these spirit stones would be praised by the cultivators of the Eastern Barrens. In comparison, rogue cultivation was truly too low-tech.

"I merely wish to establish an era of peace and prosperity here in the Eastern Barrens!" Chen Mobai said with a smile after hearing this. Jiang Zongheng, who had listened all along, felt greatly enlightened, as if a new system was forming in his mind.

After outlining the Five Elements Sect's development plan for the next few decades, Chen Mobai led the cultivators around him to activate and open the Reverse Nine Palaces Array as well. Soon, cultivators residing in Beiyuan City felt the spiritual qi become even more concentrated. They all felt curious, because Zhuo Ming had previously led thousands of array masters from the Five Elements Sect in twenty years of infrastructure development on the Eastern Barrens Plateau, and rumors about the fifth-tier grand array had also leaked out. So, after the Reverse Nine Palaces Array was completed, well-informed individuals quickly learned about it: Beiyuan City would soon be upgraded to a fifth-tier spiritual vein!

This news caused the already absurdly high housing prices to skyrocket by another third, with no signs of stopping.

"Junior Brother, the current housing prices in Beiyuan City alone could buy the entire Eastern Wu and Eastern Yi regions combined!" E Yun reported this to Chen Mobai and Zhou Shengqing. The latter did a quick mental calculation and was stunned.

"It's just an inflated bubble. The higher the housing prices, the lower the transaction volume. What we need to do now is, after Beiyuan City's housing prices reach their peak, use this to divert the rogue cultivators and lower-tier Qi Condensation cultivators currently confined here to the other immortal cities in the Eastern Barrens." Chen Mobai, however, had seen the severe consequences of real estate bubbles more than once in Immortal Sect textbooks. Knowing this, he immediately followed his previous plan to begin population diversion and develop other new cities.

For this purpose, he even personally communicated with Zhang Pankong of the Grand Void Ethereal Palace. Upon hearing that medium-sized teleportation arrays were needed, although the quantity was somewhat large, Zhang Pankong didn't mind and immediately arranged for personnel to come. In the Eastern Continent, large teleportation arrays were controlled resources, but medium-sized ones were not. As long as one had status and standing, the Grand Void Ethereal Palace would generally show respect. The Five Elements Sect, after Mo Douguang formed his Nascent Soul, was now the undisputed top force in the Eastern Continent's border regions, having earned this qualification.

Soon, the Five Elements Sect posted an announcement stating that medium-sized teleportation arrays would be installed in every newly constructed city to solve transportation issues. This news immediately brought a ray of hope to cultivators who had despaired of settling in Beiyuan City due to the spiritual vein upgrade and soaring housing prices!

However, some cultivators, mostly those at Qi Condensation Completion, were still hesitant as they greatly yearned for Foundation Establishment. Therefore, E Yun had the Five Elements Sect post a second announcement. It listed the new cities where Danxia Pavilion would be introduced, and stated that residents of these new cities would be eligible to participate in lotteries to purchase the Three Foundation Establishment Treasures.

As soon as these two pieces of news were released, all cultivators no longer hesitated. Fearing that they would be unable to choose good locations if they waited too long, they flocked to the newly completed immortal cities to purchase homes and settle down!