Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

The valley has a special aura, and some things can only happen during a specific period in the Jia Shen year. These nine people must have some special qualities that meet the conditions.

If the final fifteen are replaced, the pool of potential sacrifices is also clear: all thirty-six bandits are there for all to choose from.

Chapter 204 Master of Acting

The sacrificial offerings for the position of Marshal Jia Yin can be Zhang Huaiyi; for Liu Yi Zhi Ji, it's necessary to find out Feng Tianyang's birth date; in addition, there's Xiao Yingzi from Jishetang, Gu Jiting who stays in the valley, Lin Zifeng who is serving as a guard outside, Xu Xin and Dong Chang from Tangmen...

The chosen offerings cannot be living people, and the fewer people who know about the existence of the Qimen Liujia Formation, the better.

As the fox stared at the formation in thought, a soft female voice came from the mountain path.

"Brother An, what are you doing?" Two figures, one tall and one short, walked up from below. Zhang Shuying had a heroic appearance and an aura that kept strangers at bay, while Luo Shuning next to her was gentle and charming, giving people the feeling of a girl from a good family.

It was Zhang Shuying who spoke. Chen Ruoan glanced at her and replied, "I'm setting up an array to surround Shufen's grave, so that bandits and hooligans can't get close."

The fox wants to disrupt a certain point in the past. To prevent the consequences of altering the cause and effect of the past, all operations must be carried out based on the established fact of Wei Shufen's "death." There cannot be anyone in the world who knows the true purpose of the formation.

"So that's how it is." Luo Shuning sighed, "Sister Shufen was busy until the very end, hoping that the mountains and fields of western Hunan could bring her peace."

"How is the Grand Gu Master?"

After her most beloved disciple passed away and the sacred object of Qinghe was lost, the old woman stayed indoors for seven days straight.

It seems that an unknown force has entered the area around Qinghe. After the disaster at Mianshan, the Hiei ninja, who were no longer under the control of the second-generation ninja leader, began to investigate the true cause of Ono Noriyoshi's death.

"Grandma is alright."

"As you get older, you understand some things once you think about them." Zhang Shuying gazed at the tranquil green mountains in the twilight and let out a long breath.

Luo Shuning then asked, "Brother An, are you going back to the battlefield again?"

"Yes." Chen Ruoan stood up. "Even if we can't change the overall situation, we must make sure that more of the other side dies and more of our people live."

"Qinghe Miao Village is isolated and will not be affected by the war in the short term. We will protect Sister Shufen's grave."

"You two need to be careful too." Chen Ruoan examined the two Gu women. The array patterns were still drawn on the mountainside. When the wind blew, the dust in the forest covered the ravines, obscuring several key array points.

insanity···

Chen Ruoan thought that since the intention of the Qimen Liujia Formation could not be known to others, then it would be better to use Gu (a type of poison) to replace people as sacrifices.

Using the blood of several people to refine the Golden Shadow Gu, which even Wei Shufen failed to refine back then, "light accumulates to create shadows, and shadows accumulate to create shapes," thus preparing sufficient substitutes of the same quality.

During the war, in order to resist the alien invaders, the various factions maintained contact with each other, so locating a few individuals was not difficult.

"It's another race against time."

Swish!

The fox flew towards the horizon.

A painful scream came from in front of the Celestial Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain. Zhang Jingqing and Zhang Zhiwei rushed out upon hearing the sound. Zhang Huaiyi, who was responsible for sweeping the fallen leaves, dropped the broom, clutched his left arm, and leaned against the stone lion.

"Huaiyi, what's wrong?" Zhang Jingqing asked.

"It's nothing, Senior Brother Chen came by."

"What's the fox doing here?" Zhang Zhiwei asked, puzzled. "Is it going to leave without even having a cup of tea?"

"I don't know, Senior Brother Chen came over and slashed me with his knife before running away." Zhang Huaiyi released his right hand, revealing a faint bloodstain on the torn part of his Taoist robe on his left arm.

After taking the blood, Chen Ruoan treated the wounds of the big-eared thief. Perhaps because he had given him half a demon core, the healing ability was greatly reduced. The wounds that should have healed left marks, as if they had been scratched by a blunt object.

"Master, see? I told you Huaiyi was hated," Zhang Zhiwei shrugged and complained. "Huaiyi, what did you do to offend him?"

"I...I don't know!" Big-eared thief was completely bewildered.

"That's strange." Zhang Zhiwei glanced in the northwest direction.

···

After going around in circles and collecting enough blood from the individuals based on their birth dates and times, the fox then buried itself in Wei Shufen's small workshop, tinkering with the Golden Shadow Gu.

The precious slip from "Zhuge Bagua Village" had been used, but the plate representing the love between Zhuge Yunhui and Tian Xiaodie was still hanging on the branch. Chen Ruoan held the thread of fate, shook it gently, and made a wish.

Inside the workshop, snakes and insects from the mountains and fields were put into ceramic jars and placed on the table one by one.

“Not enough, I need more,” Chen Ruoan said to the two sisters.

Even if a wish is made, it only increases the success rate of the refining process; the fox still needs to summarize the experience and reflections. In any case, once the Golden Shadow Gu is refined, not only can the magic array be set up, but it will also complete a piece of the inheritance for Qinghe Miao Village.

Chen Ruoan kept using Qi, and Luo Shuning finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"Brother An, even if you use the Golden Shadow Gu to recreate Sister Shufen, she won't be the same person she was before. A Gu is a Gu; it has no feelings. The rumors about those who mate with Gu are nothing more than those who satisfy their own lust!"

“I know, but this way there’s always something to look forward to,” Chen Ruoan explained. “The extra Golden Shadow Gu are for setting up an array, and I don’t want anyone to disturb your sister.”

This entire scheme was orchestrated by him alone; the truth remains hidden, left to chance to be revealed. Yet, upon further reflection, it seems the fox is playing a tragic role in some way.

You have to perform until the audience believes it, God believes it, and you yourself believe it.

If a fox were to cultivate the "Divine Mask" nowadays, it would surely achieve great success with ease.

"But..." Luo Shuning hesitated, her emotions now delicate and complex. She felt that watching the fox and Sister Shufen was too painful. She raised her arm, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and returned to the mountains with the empty can she had replaced.

The fox had no time to comfort her; instead, it guided the golden light with its fingertips, slowly injecting it into the insect's body.

The insects tumbled in the light; some couldn't hold on and burst open, while others became translucent and radiant.

The light gradually coalesced into phantoms, which then combined to form physical shapes, allowing one to barely perceive their concrete substance.

"almost."

The first one was a success, and the rest were a piece of cake.

When Luo Shuning returned with a jar full of insects, the fox had already disappeared.

Chen Ruoan dug up a vacant lot on the west side of Qinghe River. He dug extremely deep, creating an underground space the size of two basketball courts. The surrounding earthen walls were plastered with a mixture of lime, sand, and clay, and tamped down to make them strong and durable.

The coffin containing Wei Shufen's body was placed in the corner.

Hey!

The fox stepped forward, and an array shimmering with a ghostly blue light was set up. With a flick of its sleeve, fifteen golden shadow gu, saturated with blood, were placed at several key nodes of the array, gradually taking on human form.

Chen Ruoan slowly walked to the center of the formation and exhaled to regulate her breathing.

"Just a little bit, just a little space to block out the heavens' view. Let me do something opportunistic within the established facts."

Chen Ruoan closed his eyes and recited the incantation for the formation that no one had dared to attempt for nearly a thousand years:

Yin and Yang in harmony and disharmony, the three elements converging at the top.

The Four Symbols attain their destiny, and the Five Elements return to their true nature.

Six directions welcome life, seven stars foretell death.

Eight gates of gods, nine palaces of sacrifice!

···

Final Formation: Qimen Liujia Formation, a low-end version.

Chapter 205 The Fox's Character Design

Swish!

The fifteen array points flickered with spiritual light, and a hazy golden glow appeared in the dark blue. The golden shadow Gu, which manifested a human form, twisted and leaped in the light, while Chen Ruoan, who was at the center of the array, was even more exhausted.

Creating a tiny space to isolate oneself from the world and conceal the secrets of heaven is already so difficult, let alone Zhuge Liang's defying heaven-defying act during the decline of the Han Dynasty.

"Form ranks!"

Chen Ruoan continued to circulate his Qi, and the spiritual light from the array points converged into a pillar of light that shot into the sky, piercing through the surface layer of stone and heading towards the horizon.

After stabilizing, the Golden Shadow Gu attached themselves to the earthen wall covered with the three-in-one soil, forming special patterns that stabilized the operation of the formation.

After the towering light faded, the entire underground space became eerily quiet.

Judging from the formation's performance, the result was a success, but its specific effectiveness cannot be assessed.

After thinking it over, Chen Ruoan decided to trust Zhuge Liang, since the Marquis of Wu was a habitual offender when it came to defying and deceiving Heaven.

The modified Qimen Liujia Formation will completely shield this small space from the gaze of the heavens.

Chen Ruoan lay in the center of the open space, panting heavily. This formation was very strange, with extremely strict requirements for the offerings to the formation's eyes.

The fox couldn't help but wonder if Zhuge Liang had chosen himself as the sacrificial offering for the Empress because there were no other suitable candidates.

If it exists, there's no need to risk your life, expending your energy and innate Qi.

Is there any need to preserve this formation for future generations?

If Zhuge Bagua Village is not properly preserved and falls into the hands of those with ulterior motives, who knows what kind of trouble it will cause.

Setting up an array and preparing offerings isn't difficult; later generations developed cultivation furnaces capable of altering fate and potential...

Offerings to the Empress are even easier to say; people like Zhang Zhiwei and Feng Baobao would be suitable, though the former is more difficult to obtain, while the latter is still somewhat attainable.

Chen Ruoan suddenly realized that his idea was somewhat similar to the plan of Yaoxing Society.

"Let's wait until things are stable in the secular world before discussing it. We can leave the formation to the Wuhou Sect afterward."

Once the formation is complete, preserving the corpses is still a problem. Frequently mobilizing the vitality of the Xiangxi mountains and fields will not only confine the foxes to the mountains, but also easily attract the attention of the heavens, rendering the Qimen Liujia Formation useless.

Do you need a refrigerator?

At this time of year, very few households in Qinghe Miao Village have electricity.

Chen Ruoan pondered a replacement for the refrigerator, recalling a trending news story from her previous life:

What about the Siberian mammoth carcass, preserved intact for millennia, even containing liquid frozen blood; what about Ötzi the Iceman of the Alps, its internal organs perfectly preserved; what about the prehistoric human remains in the Arctic permafrost, unchanged for millennia, with clearly identifiable features…?

Glaciers, or even snow-capped mountains, might be good choices.

In the world of "One Man", there happens to be a great snow mountain atmosphere, which is the world's third highest peak - Kangchenjunga.

"We're both really unlucky, but we're also incredibly lucky." Chen Ruoan patted the coffin lid and lightly jumped down onto it.

The next task is to wipe out the second generation of Biheren, and then frequently travel back and forth to western Hunan. Given the established fact of Wei Shufen's death, I need to find a reason to go to Ganchenjunga Peak, so that at least to outsiders, my actions appear reasonable...

Perhaps I could play a melancholy fox spirit heartbroken over love, or a loser like Lu Mingfei?

Everything Chen Ruoan did was based on working backward from the goal of "becoming an immortal." If he didn't succeed in the end, all his preparations would be meaningless.