Mortal: I, Zhang Tie, started by joining forces with Han Li to kill a strategist.

Now that he has all the materials, he can start crafting the array flags for the Six Harmonies Sealing Array once he returns.

Once the array flags are completed, his combat strength will rise to another level. At that time, it will be time to explore the deep ravine that is suspected to contain earthly evil energy!

...

The Six Harmonies Sealing Formation requires six array flags, each corresponding to one of the six directions and nodes of the formation.

The process of crafting the array flags involves three steps: crafting the flagpole, the flag surface, and finally engraving the sealing array patterns!

The flagpole was naturally made of Tianxing wood, which had an excellent affinity with spiritual energy. Zhang Tie followed the method recorded in "An Introduction to the Five Elements Array" to divide a section of Tianxing wood into five segments, each one foot long and about an inch wide, and then cut them into uniform cylinders before polishing them smooth.

At the same time, spiritual runes guiding spiritual energy are engraved on the flagpole, and only then can a flagpole be considered to have been initially successfully made!

Zhang Tieben originally intended to use the hide of a first-tier demon beast, but since there was a better scorpion-tailed beast hide available, he naturally opted for the better one, as scorpion-tailed beast hide is very tough and is an excellent material.

Zhang Tie took out a piece of animal hide, cut it into five identical triangular pieces, and sewed them onto the flagpole using tough monster sinew.

The third and most important step is to inscribe the sealing array patterns. The array patterns are the core of the magic array. The quality of the array patterns will directly affect the flow of spiritual power and the power of the Six Harmonies Sealing Array. It cannot be taken lightly!

He carefully conceived the array pattern of the Six Harmonies Sealing Array in his mind.

After a moment, Zhang Tie took a deep breath, gathered his spiritual power at his fingertips, and used his fingers as a brush to slowly inscribe on the flag.

The first flag was only half-finished with its array patterns when the spiritual energy output became unstable, causing the lines to break. Zhang Tie had no choice but to stop and throw the flag aside; it was now useless.

The array pattern on the second flag was finished, but Zhang Tie got a little excited during the last stroke. When he finished, he used too much spiritual energy, and the array pattern exploded, ruining it again!

Looking at the two ruined flags in front of him, Zhang Tie frowned, but he was not discouraged. He readjusted his spiritual energy output and slowed down to continue carving.

The third flag was finally successfully raised; the array patterns lit up, and the entire flag emitted a faint spiritual light.

With the experience gained from the success, the fourth, fifth, and sixth flags were also quickly put into operation!

Two of the six array flags were ruined, and four were successfully made. Fortunately, Zhang Tie had plenty of scorpion-tailed beast hides in his storage bag, so he made two more, finally obtaining six complete array flags.

Half a month later, all six array flags were successfully refined.

Arriving at a secluded valley near the Red Jade Mine, Zhang Tie raised his hand and flipped it over, revealing six small cyan array flags in his palm.

With a thought, the six small flags transformed into streams of light, landing at various nodes in the valley according to the positions of the Six Harmonies Sealing Array. Zhang Tie formed hand seals and infused spiritual power into the array flags!

Six array flags lit up simultaneously, their spiritual light intertwining to form a light shield ten feet in diameter. Within the shield, the spiritual energy seemed to solidify, and the sealing power flowed repeatedly within the array.

The Six Harmonies Sealing Formation is complete!

With a thought, Zhang Tiexin stepped into the formation to feel its binding power, and his eyes lit up immediately.

This formation is quite powerful, with sealing power many times stronger than that of the Azure Gang Tower. However, the power of the Azure Gang Tower depends on the user's spiritual power and is not fixed.

However, according to Zhang Tie's estimation, the Six Harmonies Sealing Formation is enough to trap a Foundation Establishment early stage cultivator for one or two hours. If it is combined with the Azure Gang Tower, it is not impossible to trap a Foundation Establishment mid stage cultivator!

"Another trump card!" Zhang Tie put away the battle flag with satisfaction.

Once this shift is over, we'll go explore that deep ravine!

Only he and Zhao Dashan were on duty at the Crimson Jade Mine. The two Foundation Establishment cultivators took turns guarding it for a month each. During their duty period, they could not leave the mine area to avoid any emergencies.

When Zhang Tie found Zhao Dashan to relieve him of his shift, he heard some unexpected news.

"Junior Brother Zhang, my mission deadline is next month. After I leave, the sect will send a new Foundation Establishment cultivator to take my place. I hope it's someone easy to get along with!"

Zhang Tie was stunned for a moment, but quickly accepted the news: "Senior Brother Zhao, I'll miss you!"

Zhao Dashan laughed heartily and joked, "Don't give me that, I think you just want my pills!"

Zhang Tie returned to the wooden hut and began a new round of duty.

The days on duty were monotonous. Zhang Tie spent most of his time cultivating. If there was any situation, the Qi Refining Supervisor below would come to report.

Zhang Tie used this time to study another Earth Rock Array, but setting up this array required many rare spiritual items, which were not available in this small valley and there was nowhere to collect them. He had no choice but to give up the idea of ​​refining the array flags for this array.

Half a month passed quickly, and I thought this month would be peaceful as well.

But the commotion that triggered the restrictions outside the house made Zhang Tie frown.

A quick scan with his divine sense revealed that it was a manager at the mine.

Zhang Tie stepped out of the wooden hut, frowning as he asked, "What happened?"

"Uncle-Master Zhang, three handyman disciples have died in the mine. It looks like they were poisoned, but our strength is too low to tell what kind of poison it is!" The steward's tone was somewhat tense.

Zhang Tie felt a chill run down his spine. Three of his menial disciples had died.

Although these servants are not disciples of the Spirit Beast Mountain, the sect's many mines and animal pens cannot function without them. For example, the Crimson Jade Mine cannot be used by outer disciples to mine.

If too many menial laborers die, the production of red jade ore will be affected.

At the mine entrance, a group of laborers stood around, all looking terrified. When they saw Zhang Tie coming, they quickly made way for him.

Zhang Tie approached and saw three corpses on the ground at the cave entrance.

They were three menial disciples who looked to be only in their early twenties, with pale faces, white lips, and faintly red pupils.

Zhang Tie frowned, scanned the area with his divine sense, and began to examine it carefully.

The three had no external injuries, and their symptoms did indeed resemble those of death from poisoning.

"What have they eaten these past two days?" Zhang Tie asked.

The steward thought for a moment and said, "The servant disciples usually eat the same food provided by the kitchen, but we can't rule out the possibility that they occasionally hunt some wild animals from the nearby area!"

After listening, Zhang Tie remained silent, entered the mine, activated his spirit-seeking technique and scanned every corner with his divine sense, but found nothing unusual.

"Bury the corpse. From today onwards, all servant disciples are strictly forbidden from eating anything brought in from outside!"

"yes!"

Just when Zhang Tie thought this was an isolated case, in the following days, more and more servants began to show symptoms of poisoning.

Realizing something was amiss, Zhang Tie went directly to Zhao Dashan.

"Senior Brother Zhao, how many antidote pills do you have left?"

Zhao Dashan was refining pills inside when he heard this and was immediately taken aback: "Antidote pills? What's this?!"

"Something's happened at the mine..."

Zhang Tie briefly recounted the events. Upon hearing that seven servants had already died from poisoning, Zhao Dashan's expression turned serious, and he immediately left the pass.

Zhao Dashan produced a batch of detoxifying pills, which worked well; the poisoned servants' symptoms were quickly brought under control after taking them.

But Zhang Tie understood that this was only a temporary solution; the source of the poison had not been found, and people were still being poisoned every day.

Zhang Tie began investigating the source of the poison and soon discovered that those poisoned were all menial disciples in the early stages of Qi Refining. The lower their cultivation level, the more severe their poisoning symptoms, but the managers were unaffected!

Neither the handymen nor the stewards ever left the mine. The stewards ate nothing but fasting pills every day, while the handymen and disciples ate all the food from the dining hall.

Following the clues, Zhang Tie quickly discovered the problem: under the gaze of the spirit-seeking technique, many items in the dining hall were emitting wisps of gray smoke.

"Yin energy!? Where did such heavy yin energy come from?!"