Cultivation begins with harvest.

The three of them stood on the spirit field, waiting for Chen Guang to point out a mu of spirit land where spirit rice had been harvested.

Logically, it should be the spiritual land for the Linquan pumpkins, but since most of the Linquan pumpkins have not yet been harvested, they will be left here for now. This year's tasks have all been completed, and Chen Guang has room to manipulate the spiritual land that is now free.

Once the location was confirmed, Zhong Qi got busy.

He was busy all by himself, and no one else could help with setting up the formation. Zhong Qi kept taking out stones, wood, jade and other materials that were specially carved with strange runes and placing them in their respective positions. The placement of each item was particular, and he tried to adjust it again and again.

Wei Donglai explained: "According to their power, the Xuanhuang Formation can be divided into first-tier and second-tier, but the specific classifications are different. It requires 'divination objects,' also called 'scattered divination objects.' The Xuanhuang Formation with these objects is classified as 'ordinary.' Not only is it troublesome to set up, but it also requires determining the exact points of each formation before it can be placed. It has strict requirements on the orientation, depth, and so on. Moreover, it is easily affected and is suitable for placement in a safe and undisturbed place. This means that even the formation master himself only understands how the formation works."

"The superior grade involves refining the scattered trigrams into more concentrated, less dispersed trigrams. Although it still requires finding a landing point, it is not as arduous because there are far fewer trigrams. Arranging the trigrams is simpler, but it still needs to be arranged before it can be activated. However, the lead time does not need to be as large, and careful calculation is still required. This level indicates that the array master has become familiar with the principles of array operation, so it is more refined. As for the top grade, it involves condensing the trigrams into main array flags, array flags, or array plates. They can be used and moved at will, and can be arranged with just a thought. Being able to express the array in the form of array flags and array plates means that the array master has thoroughly understood the array, so he can arrange the array with array flags with great ease."

"I thought 'ordinary,' 'superior,' and 'ultimate' were used to describe power," Chen Guang said honestly. He didn't really understand formations; he only knew about the realms of Xuanhuang, Qiankun, and Dongtian.

Wei Donglai said, "That is the overall classification of the formation. The specific power is divided into levels such as first-order and second-order. Ordinary, superior and top-grade represent the individual and specific level of understanding of different formations. In fact, it is also a manifestation of power. When the formation is in operation, it involves the degree of spiritual energy conversion and loss."

"Ordinary formations require too many nodes and scattered objects when set up, resulting in high efficiency and loss of spiritual energy circulation. In reality, they only unleash one-tenth of the power of top-grade formations, while high-grade formations unleash 30%. Only top-grade formations possess the power that a formation should have. Therefore, the difference in power between different grades of the same formation is obvious. Just think about it and you'll understand. The understanding and realm of the formation masters who created them are different. Isn't it natural that the formation artifacts they created have differences?"

"If one person is just learning to read and the other is a scholar who has already passed the imperial examinations, and both can read the same article, does that mean their understanding is equally profound and clear?"

Chen Guang was filled with awe.

Unexpectedly, these cultivators have even reached a point where they can express the flow of spiritual energy using simpler methods like conversion efficiency and loss rate. This shows that there are no stupid cultivators; they are also using their wisdom to think about and attempt to systematically understand everything in the cultivation world. However, there are too many mystical things in the cultivation world, so while there has been development in this area, its level is not exaggerated.

It's not that there aren't talented and virtuous people, but rather that understanding spiritual practice with this kind of mindset will inevitably lead to reaching the upper limit very easily, making further progress difficult.

Different places have different customs.

Moreover, what about this whole world?

It has its own operating principles.

Chen Guang thought for a moment before asking, "Senior brother just mentioned condensing scattered trigrams and refining them into array flags. Does that count as weapon crafting?"

Wei Donglai's expression turned serious: "I once heard a great cultivator assert that the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation are not a hundred isolated skills, but rather intertwined and interconnected. I have also thought about this carefully. The Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation are divided separately because they do have obvious differences, but there are also some commonalities, and some even combine to facilitate further progress. I think it's a good thing for an array master to have some background in weapon crafting. After all, some weapon crafters inscribe [restrictions] on spiritual weapons to make them spiritual weapons, which can be considered a connection with array formation. I think the view that they are completely independent of other cultivation arts is short-sighted."

Chen Guang seemed to understand something: "What you say is absolutely right, Senior Brother—Junior Brother has learned a lot."

While the two were talking and exchanging ideas, Zhong Qi didn't stop for a moment, arranging and adjusting various prepared spiritual objects, which are called scattered hexagram objects in the terminology of array masters. Her long robe was probably made of silk called "Falling Silkworm," which could be used to cool when hot and warm when cold, but she was still busy and sweating profusely.

Chen Guang and the other man, however, did not feel comfortable interfering. They simply chatted idly by the edge of the field, watching the spiritual energy of the entire spiritual field grow stronger and stronger.

More than two hours later, Zhong Qi finally let out a long breath and took out a black magic plate larger than a washbasin. It had golden symbols that resembled the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) on it. Then, Zhong Qi took out a white, smooth stone the size of a goose egg, which had an astonishing amount of spiritual energy.

Spirit stone.

This was the first time Chen Guang had ever met him.

Zhong Qi walked over with the black magic disc and showed Chen Guang the spirit stones in her palm: "From now on, you will be in charge of this ice mist array. These spirit stones are of utmost importance."

"Seeing is not enough, junior brother, catch it." Zhong Qi flicked his wrist, and the spirit stone floated up. Chen Guang quickly caught it.

The stone, about the size of a goose egg, seemed heavy to Chen Guang, but upon holding it, it felt just right, a perfect weight. Upon closer inspection, it was divided into 108 complete facets. Without looking closely, it appeared to be a perfectly round oval shape. Its abundant spiritual energy astonished Chen Guang. The spirit stone itself was incredibly stable, without the "high concentration" flowing to "low concentration" that he had imagined. Unless he deliberately guided the spiritual energy within, there was absolutely no sign of it leaking out.

Zhong Qi then explained, "A spirit stone contains the spiritual energy of 108 pots of mana, and it is extremely pure. Absorbing the spiritual energy in a spirit stone to restore mana is more effective than ordinary mana-restoring pills."

One hundred and eight pots!

Chen Guang looked at the small spirit stone in his hand in disbelief, realizing that it possessed such a huge amount of spiritual energy.

It should be noted that a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining only possesses sixty pots of magical power.

Before seeing the spirit stone, Chen Guang thought that sixty pots of magic power was a lot, enough to cast the most powerful spells many times. But it turned out that it was not as much as the amount of spiritual energy contained in a single spirit stone.

Zhong Qi paused, and only continued after Chen Guang accepted the explanation: "Moreover, spirit stones are extremely stable. Unless deliberately guided, the spiritual energy within them will not leak due to environmental influences most of the time. Another characteristic is that as long as the amount of spiritual energy in a spirit stone is greater than eighty-one pots, it can slowly recover."

"Even the elders don't know the specific reason. Eighty-one is a watershed. Beyond this amount, and in a quiet and undisturbed environment, the spirit stone can naturally absorb spiritual energy from the environment to recover. Within a thousand miles of Purple Spirit Peak, a spirit stone recovers about one pot of spiritual energy in about twenty days. The closer to one hundred and eight pots, the faster the recovery speed. Therefore, I hope you will not overuse the function of the Ice Mist Array to regulate and separate the environment. Otherwise, a spirit stone will lose more than half of its spiritual energy in a year. Try not to use it as much as possible. I can replace the spirit stone and reuse it."

Chen Guang understood, but was even more puzzled: "Doesn't that mean that as long as you have multiple spirit stones, even if you use them repeatedly, the number of spirit stones in your possession will never decrease?"

Zhong Qi shook her head: "That's wishful thinking. When you leave the area within a thousand miles of Ziling Peak, you'll understand that the difference in spiritual energy concentration between the outside world and Ziling Peak is too great. In the outside world, it takes several months for a spirit stone to restore a pot of spiritual artifact. More importantly, there's no such environment."

"Carrying them on your person is problematic because most of the spiritual energy is captured and refined by other cultivators during cultivation, making it almost impossible for spirit stones to recover. Putting them in a storage spirit artifact means there's no spiritual energy inside, so they won't recover either. In addition, spirit stones only slowly recover in a stable environment with abundant spiritual energy. In reality, only disciples of our sect can do this. We have a safe home, an astonishingly high concentration of spiritual energy, and a stable channel to obtain spirit stones. Outside, many cultivators don't even have storage bags. Every one used is one less available. The ability to reuse them is something only disciples of our sect can achieve."

Seeing that Chen Guang had taken a look and was now handling the objects, Zhong Qi took back the spirit stone and placed it in the groove in the center of the magic plate. She walked to the center of the spirit field, and Chen Guang and Wei Donglai quickly followed. They watched as Zhong Qi activated her magic power, and the runes on the magic plate lit up one by one. At the same time, the scattered divination objects buried in the ground also emitted a radiant light, connecting into one. The next moment, an incredible scene unfolded.

The temperature suddenly dropped, and wisps of cold mist rose from all directions, instantly revealing the cold and misty atmosphere of this acre of spiritual field.

It is the perfect cold environment for the growth of Ice Rush and Concentration Flower.