"To think that a mere Spirit-Gathering Array could keep you puzzled for so long... Oh well."
Jiang Yan let out a slight sigh, then looked at Qin Feng. "Do you still have any spirit stones on you?"
Qin Feng was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then subconsciously nodded.
"Take out two hundred," Jiang Yan said without any nonsense.
Qin Feng immediately flipped his hand, retrieved two hundred spirit stones from his storage bag, and handed them over to Jiang Yan.
Right in front of him, Jiang Yan divided the two hundred spirit stones into two piles. He placed one pile before himself and directly stored the other pile away in his own storage bag.
Qin Feng was perplexed and just about to ask when he saw Jiang Yan already starting to set up an array.
Using the hundred spirit stones before him one by one, he channeled spiritual power into the array.
In less than a quarter of an hour, a small Spirit-Gathering Array was successfully set up.
"Hum!"
Between heaven and earth, spiritual power surged like it was answering some kind of summons, pouring endlessly toward the location of the Spirit-Gathering Array. In an instant, the spiritual energy inside the array reached an intense degree of concentration.
Qin Feng was astonished, staring with his jaw dropped.
Because he could feel that the Spirit-Gathering Array set up by Jiang Yan had an extremely powerful effect in gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—at least nearly ten times stronger than the one he had managed to create himself.
Not only that, but whether it was the core or the surrounding barrier, Jiang Yan's Spirit-Gathering Array gave an impression of absolute stability.
"Do you know why your Spirit-Gathering Array couldn't maintain itself for very long?"
At that moment, Jiang Yan's gaze swept over.
Qin Feng shook his head. The arrogant look from earlier had completely vanished from his face, replaced by a humble desire to learn as he asked, "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
Jiang Yan smiled. "A Spirit-Gathering Array is different from ordinary arrays. It gathers a massive amount of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, so once the spiritual energy reaches a certain level, if the array's barrier isn't strong enough, it will inevitably burst open. To maintain the array, you need to set up multiple array cores during construction so that the solidity of the array reaches a point where it won't be blown apart by the spiritual energy."
"However, even with multiple array cores, there will inevitably come a time when absorption reaches saturation."
"Therefore, the best method is to leave an opening in the array so that the gathered spiritual energy has a place to release."
"You guys are simply too rigid and lack flexibility. Whatever array you set up, you seal every last part of it tight—the kind where not even a mosquito or a fly can slip inside. It would be a miracle if that kind of thing could be maintained for long."
"This is a Spirit-Gathering Array, not a killing array meant to trap people. Why seal it up so tightly?"
"And your array-setting technique also has some problems; it's simply atrocious. I find it hard to imagine that someone like you is actually considered a genius of Array Peak?"
Jiang Yan's series of remarks left Qin Feng utterly ashamed.
Though harsh to hear, he had to admit that what Jiang Yan said made a lot of sense.
A Spirit-Gathering Array differed greatly from ordinary grand arrays. Sealing it off completely was indeed unfeasible.
"Senior Brother, I understand. I'll give it a try later. Now, let's continue," Qin Feng said, sitting up straight with a face full of eagerness to learn.
"Continue what?" Jiang Yan paused.
Qin Feng was dumbfounded by the question. "Didn't Senior Brother just take two hundred spirit stones? You only used a hundred so far, leaving another hundred. Surely there's more to it?"
"What more could there be? That other hundred spirit stones counts as your tuition fee," Jiang Yan stated flatly.
With that, he told Qin Feng to go ahead and construct a Spirit-Gathering Array here according to his own train of thought. Then Jiang Yan turned to check on Liu Ruyan, Yun Feiyang, and Lin Yuan. Confirmed that everything was fine with them, Jiang Yan simply lay down on the reclining chair in the courtyard and took a nap.
Days like this were relatively cozy.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
During these three days of cultivation at Jiang Yan's place, Liu Ruyan and the others had all made tremendous progress.
Through trial and error, Lin Yuan finally succeeded in refining a tier-three Body-Tempering Pill.
"How come the quality of this pill feels a bit different from before? It seems much worse?"
When Jiang Yan handed the pill to Yun Feiyang, curiosity naturally appeared on Yun Feiyang's face.
"Go ahead and eat it with confidence, it won't kill you," Jiang Yan shamelessly replied. Of course, he couldn't very well tell the other party that this pill did not come from his own hands, but was refined by Lin Yuan; hence, both its quality and medicinal potency were naturally much inferior to the first one.
However, Jiang Yan had already inspected this pill. Although the quality and medicinal potency were indeed much lower, at least there were no problems with it.
On the fourth day.
Early in the morning, Jiang Yan unexpectedly woke up and called Liu Ruyan and the four of them before him.
It wasn't that he had woken up early; rather, Jiang Yan hadn't slept at all last night.
"Your progress over the past few days has been quite good. Senior Brother has seen it all and knows you've all worked hard. Therefore, I have specifically prepared some things for you today."
Jiang Yan spoke, then took the items out from his storage bag and placed them in front of each of them in turn. "Here are a sword manual, an array canon, a body-tempering method, and a pill recipe, prepared for each of you respectively."
"Senior Brother, you've already made us so grateful just by instructing us. How could we possibly dare to accept your items?" Qin Feng was the first to step forward, speaking with a flattered expression.
"No, you must take them."
Jiang Yan shook his head instead. "There is no end to learning. You have already tempered everything you currently master until it is as familiar as can be. If you want to continue improving, you can only learn new things—these are the things I've prepared for you."
"Besides, they aren't free gifts."
"Since we are fellow disciples, I can sell them to you at a discount."
At these words, everyone couldn't help rolling their eyes.
After interacting with him over the past few days, they should have seen right through this money-grubbing Senior Brother long ago. How could he possibly give them gifts for nothing?
Sure enough, it was still a transaction.
Liu Ruyan didn't care much for wealth. She was the first to pick up the sword manual in front of her. Opening it up and taking a look, she was immediately filled with shock. "This is actually a Xuan-grade intermediate sword technique?"
Sword techniques and martial skills were both divided into grades, from high to low: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang.
Within each grade, they were further divided into primary, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Although Dao Sect was one of the six major sects within Xuan Province, the most powerful martial skill it possessed only reached the Xuan-grade primary level.
Therefore, one could easily imagine how shocked Liu Ruyan was to find a Xuan-grade intermediate sword manual lying right before her eyes.
To put it without exaggeration, if a martial skill like this were to leak out into the outside world, it would inevitably stir up a terrifying bloody storm across the entire Xuan Province.