Using Earthvein Gold to build an entire house was no small feat. Even if Joe Di were to forge two or three thousand blade weapons, he would barely use up half of it.
Arriving beside the house made of Earthvein Gold, Joe Di tried burning it with his Cosmic Flame for half a stick of incense before abandoning the unrealistic idea. It wasn’t that Earthvein Gold couldn’t be forged into blade weapons, but his sixth-grade Cosmic Flame was simply too weak for the task. At this rate, if he tried to forge over two thousand lower-grade spiritual weapons, it might take him more than a dozen years.
His Cosmic Flame must advance...
Wait, that’s not right. Joe Di suddenly realized he’d come here because his Cosmic Flame had started to flicker. Later, after being threatened by that Primordial Spirit Shadow, he’d set aside the main issue.
At least, up to now, he hadn’t discovered what caused his Cosmic Flame to flicker. Joe Di summoned his flame, but as expected, it didn’t react.
Joe Di frowned, recalling the moment he first entered this place. When he stepped between the two ley lines, the temperature suddenly rose, and before he could react, the Primordial Spirit Shadow had swept him into the Earthvein Gold house...
Since the temperature rose, there must be something wrong between these two ley lines.
Joe Di walked forward several dozen feet. When he reached the front ends of the two ley lines, the space didn’t get hotter, but instead, he felt something odd. Extending his divine sense fully, after half a stick of incense, Joe Di finally noticed something different. Between the two ley lines, there was a Veil Array. This array must be above ninth-rank, and with two top-grade ley lines supplying spiritual energy, even his divine sense hadn’t detected it until now.
Fortunately, his divine sense had reached ninth-rank. If it was still at eighth-rank, no matter how carefully he searched, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the Veil Array here.
If Joe Di had to break a Veil Array above ninth-rank, he doubted he could succeed.
If this were a ninth-rank Veil Array, Joe Di, now a ninth-rank Array King, believed he could unlock it. But the difference between ninth and tenth rank wasn’t just a single step—it was a fundamental leap.
Luckily, the methods used to set up this Veil Array were lacking. Or perhaps, when the Primordial Spirit Shadow arranged this array, it never expected anyone else to come here. So, the formation only used two top-grade ley lines as its energy source, not the method of gathering spiritual energy from the heavens and earth.
Joe Di took out a handful of Array Banners and quickly deactivated the protective array around the two top-grade ley lines, then stored both ley lines in his Pocket World.
With Joe Di removing the two top-grade ley lines that served as the energy source, the tenth-rank Veil Array was revealed. Without a source of energy, even a hundredth-rank formation was just an empty shell.
Joe Di wasn’t concerned with the tenth-rank Veil Array, but stared in confusion at a green flower bud at its center. It should have been a flame, so why was there a flower bud?
When Joe Di examined it closely with his divine sense, he realized it wasn’t a flower bud at all. Suddenly, he recalled a type of flame called Fortune Spiritfire.
Joe Di was well aware of the Fortune Spiritfire’s traits. It was a flame of wealth and abundance—so rare that ordinary people couldn’t possibly nurture it. This flame absorbed spiritual energy from heaven and earth to advance, but it required not just ley lines and spirit stones, but top-grade spiritual herbs and spirit-infused minerals.
If this really was Fortune Spiritfire, then after its master perished, it would naturally withdraw its flame and transform into a flower bud. After some time, the bud would become a fire seed, waiting for the next destined owner.
If it was Fortune Spiritfire, then the withering of the spiritual herbs here was easily explained—they’d all been absorbed by the flame.
The Veil Array also made sense, since Fortune Spiritfire needed spiritual herbs to advance. Without concealment, low-grade herbs might be fine, but high-grade herbs possessed spirit and would never grow wildly beside a flame.
After guessing it was Fortune Spiritfire, Joe Di tossed over a seventh-grade spiritual herb.
As expected, the green flower bud sensed the herb’s aura, jumped, and unfurled into a green flame. The seventh-grade spiritual herb Joe Di had thrown withered rapidly, its essence completely absorbed by the Fortune Spiritfire.
Joe Di’s Cosmic Flame began to flicker wildly again, clearly sensing the presence of Fortune Spiritfire.
Joe Di was overjoyed. Compared to the Pale Shade Flame auctioned off before, Fortune Spiritfire was countless times more precious—because it was a Heavenfire.
For Joe Di, its value wasn’t just because it was a Heavenfire, but because his Cosmic Flame needed it. Without his flame, he wouldn’t want such a treasure at all. If he obtained Fortune Spiritfire, his only option would be to sell it—he couldn’t afford to nurture a flame of such abundance.
Joe Di’s gaze landed on the withered Spirit Herb Garden. Every herb in this garden existed for the sake of this flame, all to help it advance. What a grand undertaking—Joe Di couldn’t help but marvel.
If this garden was truly left for Fortune Spiritfire by the Primordial Spirit Shadow, then that meant the woman really possessed a true spirit realm, where even greater and rarer herbs could be found.
What a pity—he had no way of knowing where that true spirit realm was. Joe Di shook his head in regret and released his Cosmic Flame.
Once released, his Cosmic Flame lunged straight toward the Fortune Spiritfire.
The greatest advantage of Fortune Spiritfire was in alchemy. Having absorbed so much spiritual essence from herbs, its success rate in refining pills was at least ten percent higher than ordinary flames.
This Fortune Spiritfire was probably already eighth-grade. If its master were still alive, it might even be able to contend with Joe Di’s Celestial Nightfire. But now, with its master gone, it had no power to resist his Cosmic Flame.
Joe Di could clearly sense the joy and excitement in his Cosmic Flame. Now at sixth-grade, as it devoured the Fortune Spiritfire, its aura grew noticeably stronger.
After a stick of incense, his Cosmic Flame burst forth with crackling sounds, and its green hue became even more vibrant.
With a flick of his hand, Joe Di summoned his Cosmic Flame to his palm, unable to contain his delight. His flame had reached seventh-grade—a qualitative leap from sixth to seventh.
Joe Di released the two ley lines again. Even while forging, he could operate the Starstream Technique. Though this slowed his cultivation a bit, he could still make progress.
Seventh-grade Celestial Nightfire was on a completely different level from sixth-grade. This time, when his Cosmic Flame touched the Earthvein Gold, it melted rapidly.
Joe Di forged his first blade weapon—a mid-grade spiritual artifact.
Joe Di was ecstatic. Not only had his forging skills improved, but the key was his material—Earthvein Gold, a ninth-grade resource. Plus, his flame was now seventh-grade, and as a ninth-rank Array King, his carved array patterns were far superior to those of ordinary artificers.
Joe Di continued melting Earthvein Gold, forging blade after blade and tossing them aside.
At first, the hundreds of blades he forged were mid-grade spiritual artifacts. But soon, nearly every blade that emerged was high-grade.
Half a year later, Joe Di’s cultivation broke through to the eighth layer of the Void Spirit Stage, and he could occasionally forge top-grade spiritual artifacts.
A year later, Joe Di stopped forging blade weapons. Originally, he’d planned to use more than two thousand lower-grade blades to form a Seventh-Rank Skyveil Blade Array.
Now, Joe Di had changed his mind. His cultivation was at the peak of the eighth layer of the Void Spirit Stage, just a step away from breaking into the ninth.
By the time he deployed the blade array, he’d likely be at the first layer of the Seabreaker Stage.
Once he reached the Seabreaker Stage, his true essence would undergo another qualitative change. Controlling a blade array relied mainly on divine sense, but true essence couldn’t be too weak either. At Seabreaker, he could just barely manage over two thousand top-grade spiritual artifacts—but since he forged them himself, they’d be even easier to control.
Joe Di’s new plan was to use forty-nine top-grade blade weapons as the array core, and forty-nine times forty-nine high-grade blades as the array banners. Though not as powerful as an array made entirely of top-grade blades, it was far stronger than his previous concept.
Moreover, his divine sense was constantly improving. As long as he had Firegod Herb, Joe Di believed he could push his divine sense to the tenth level while at Seabreaker.
Joe Di summoned forty-nine top-grade blades. Under the Spirit-Link Technique, they instantly formed the foundation of a Seventh-Rank Skyveil Blade Array. The space became a chilling skyveil—even before the array banners appeared, the terrifying blade intent was already brewing.
Joe Di marveled inwardly—this blade array was formidable. He could only imagine how terrifying it would be once the array banners were in place.
With another wave of his hand, Joe Di sent out 2,401 high-grade blades.
As the blade banners flew out, they instantly merged with the forty-nine core blades, forming a massive Skyveil Blade Array.
Within the domain of the Skyveil Blade Array, blade intent swept in all directions, forming a force that reduced everything within to dust. The swirling blade aura resembled a vortex of annihilation.
Crack! Crack! A series of shattering sounds rang out as a top-grade ley line before Joe Di was ground to fragments beneath the Skyveil Blade Array.
A wave of exhaustion swept through his sea of consciousness. Joe Di swept his hand and collected all two thousand-plus blades.
One top-grade ley line was destroyed by the blade array, but Joe Di felt no regret. He wondered if even Shu Haolan could escape his Skyveil Blade Array now.
Still, with his current cultivation, trapping an Ascendant in the array was likely unrealistic.
After putting away the two thousand-plus blades, Joe Di felt exhaustion in both true essence and divine sense.
He quickly sat atop the pile of shattered ley lines and frantically cultivated using the Starstream Technique.
In less than a month, his cultivation, already at the peak of the eighth layer of the Void Spirit Stage, broke through its shackles—Joe Di entered the ninth layer.
Joe Di didn’t rise, continuing his mad cultivation. He was eager to leave, but he had to reach the Seabreaker Stage first.
Time slipped by as Joe Di cultivated relentlessly. Two months later, he’d advanced from the early ninth layer to its peak.
Three months later, Joe Di was still at the peak of the Void Spirit Stage. Four months later, he remained at the peak...