After a century of worship, I became the ancestor of the tribe.

Chapter 355 The Great Array is Halfway Complete, But There's Not Enough Ore
The colossal beast's clones floated high in the sky, bathed in starlight, their massive bodies resembling small stars floating in the air.

Its body reflects countless points of starlight, which appear to outsiders to be completely irregular.

But Shen Can could see at a glance that this was a star map composed of countless starlight points existing within the giant beast's avatar.

As early as after Shen Can broke through from the Stone Phase to the Spirit Phase, a new speculation emerged.

Why couldn't the clone sense the aura of advancement for decades before encountering the Weaver Girl and achieving enlightenment? And why couldn't it sense the power of the stars when it wasn't cultivating any techniques? Ultimately, it's because the clone was 'created' later.

Although the clone's body contains star nodes and star maps, it is completely different from the Weaver Girl's sudden enlightenment when she visualized the movement trajectory of a large star in the northwest and reflected several large stars and the surrounding stars into her body to form star nodes.

The star nodes within the Weaver Girl's body are obtained through her understanding of the stars, and they will continuously rotate according to the celestial trajectories she has perceived.

Even without practicing any techniques, the slowly rotating star nodes within the Weaver Girl's body can continuously draw small amounts of stellar power into her body.

As the power of the stars in the Weaver Girl's body grows stronger and stronger, the star nodes gradually become real, and the amount of star power drawn into the Weaver Girl's body during operation also slowly increases.

These are things that the 'solidified' star nodes within the clone do not possess.

Simply put, the star charts, star arrays, and star nodes inside the clone are all 'dead,' while the 'stars' inside the Weaver Girl's body are all 'alive.'

Because of the Weaver Girl's sudden enlightenment, the clone gained the opportunity to see the movement trajectories of several large stars in the northwest and the surrounding stars.

Originally, the star chart within her body was 'dead,' but when her clone saw the 'living' star array composed of the stars in the northwest during the moment of enlightenment in the Weaver Girl, it was revealed that the star chart within her body was 'dead.'

The part of the star chart of the northwest stars that was already in the star chart of the clone was "comprehension" by the clone itself.

At this point, the part of the star map centered on several large stars in the northwest came to life within the clone, and with this star array as the base, some of the surrounding star nodes also gradually showed signs of coming to life.

Therefore, Shen Can made a bold conjecture.

The star map that appeared in the clone and inside the Weaver Girl's body should correspond to the stone image condensed by the fifth-order human race.

Shen Can himself advanced to the Spiritual Aspect level, making the Stone Aspect spiritual. When placed on his clone, this corresponds to the 'dead' star map turning 'alive'.

This transformation into "life" means perceiving the movement of stars in the sky, which in turn allows the "star map" within the body to develop spirituality.

Similar to Shen Can's breakthrough to the Spiritual Aspect.

The star map within the clone is incredibly vast. In the long years to come, the clone's task is to survey the stars and awaken the dormant star map.

But when it comes to the Weaver Girl, it's something else entirely; she truly has a talent.

After her sudden enlightenment, the Weaver Girl directly projected the complete star map of the northwest constellations, centered on the Northwest Star, into her body.

When the illusory star map within the Weaver Girl's body appeared, it could be directly regarded as an extremely weak martial arts 'spiritual form'.

All that remains is for the Weaver Girl to use the power of the stars to replenish the 'spiritual form'.

This is why the Weaver Girl reached the peak of the fourth rank in a short period of time after her enlightenment.

This is because from the moment of her enlightenment, the Weaver Girl had already opened the path to the fifth rank; all that was missing was the accumulation of stellar power.

Even if Shen Can didn't pass on the "Zhou Tian Xing Dou Gong" to the Weaver Girl, she could still absorb the power of the stars on her own, it would just be a little slower.

Since the Weaver Girl reached the peak of the fourth rank, although she has not made any breakthroughs in the past thirty years, she has continued to absorb the power of the stars into her body.

In the area where the Weaver Girl's abdomen is hidden, seven stars are arranged in a row and a column, each like a pearl, and there are also a number of auxiliary stars that appear and disappear around them.

Once all the auxiliary stars are fully lit and the complete star map is solidified, Vega will have officially entered the fifth rank.

It might even be equivalent to entering the level of human martial arts spiritual manifestation.

Similarly, due to its later modifications, the clone had already reached the fifth rank.

His fifth-tier appearance is more like a treasure trove, which needs to be explored and illuminated little by little.

Furthermore, because they had not attained enlightenment about the Way of the Stars for the previous hundred years, they only absorbed the power of the stars during their cultivation and knew nothing about the cultivation of star charts.

It was precisely because of the body that was modified later in life that the clone still possessed an incomparably powerful physique, even without comprehending the stars.

However, this unparalleled power has its limits. If one cannot comprehend the trajectory of the stars and activate and control the star map within their body, their potential will actually stop at what it is now.

Fortunately, this bottleneck has now been overcome. The understanding of the movement trajectories of the Northwest Stars is like finding the key to control the star map, and the door that was blocking the way has been opened.

……

hum!
Seven large stars suddenly lit up on the body of the giant beast clone that was absorbing starlight.

At the same time, seven enormous stars shone brightly in the sky to the northwest of the Juyue Mountains.

As the seven major stars grew brighter, the auxiliary stars surrounding them also began to reveal themselves.

The largest of the seven stars is surrounded by nine auxiliary stars, which guard this great star like bodyguards.

Of the remaining six major stars, there are at least four minor stars.

Scattered across the northwestern sky like chess pieces on a chessboard, they appear chaotic at first glance.

When the seven stars, along with dozens of auxiliary stars, lit up at the same time, starlight also shone on the Weaver Girl.

Behind her, seven large stars appeared, arranged in the same way as the seven stars in the night sky.

Subsequently, Shen Can led the Weaver Girl and the giant beast clone to travel another distance, widening the gap between them to tens of thousands of miles.

But to the vast starry sky, a distance of ten thousand miles is as close as a foot.

Seven stars, along with dozens of auxiliary stars, twinkled and lit up in the northwestern sky at that moment.

In the star map phenomenon that appeared behind the Weaver Girl, a point of starlight suddenly lit up around the third large star and quickly began to turn from illusory to real.

This is an auxiliary star of the third major star. Previously, Vega had not been able to draw much of its stellar power, so she had not been able to solidify the illusory image.

At this moment, with the help of the transformation of the giant beast's avatar, the Weaver Girl clearly sensed the positions of these auxiliary stars and also received a lot of star power that she had previously lacked.

Shen Can also looked up at the starry sky, where countless stars were scattered and twinkling.

When he looked at the starry sky from his own perspective, the seven major stars in the northwest were brighter than usual, but not particularly eye-catching.

But when this perspective falls on the giant beast's clone, the scene changes drastically.

The other stars in the sky were the same, but the seven large stars seemed to have been pulled down countless distances from the vast starry sky and suddenly appeared in front of him, allowing him to see the light and shadow on them clearly.

In the darkness, strands of starlight converged and entered the giant beast's clone.

Similarly, some of it landed on the Weaver Girl, even though it was thousands of miles away.

Their cultivation was not greatly affected. The vast star power was as deep as an abyss. Even if the Weaver Girl and her clone absorbed it together, they could not even draw one ten-millionth of the star's power.

The seven major stars, along with their auxiliary stars, could easily provide enough starlight for the two of them to cultivate.

A continuous stream of stellar power flowed into the giant beast's body, spreading throughout the vast star map within its body, and the stars corresponding to the seven major stars shone brightly.

As a small part of the entire star chart, the Seven Star Chart is formed by streams of star power falling into it and beginning to travel along the chart's veins, quickly spreading to every star in the chart.

At this moment, the clone could clearly feel that it could mobilize the power of the stars guided by the Seven Star Chart and reach any corner of its body through the star chart's meridians.

Similarly, this part of the 'stars' belonging to the Seven Star Chart can operate according to the thoughts of the clone, or it can operate on its own.

At this moment, the seven major stars and their surrounding stars came to life.

……

Within the Kyotake mountain range.

Many of the figures who were building the formations were also looking up at the sky at this moment.

Most people can't actually see the changes in the stars. The vast starry sky is full of countless stars. Even if a few stars are a little brighter than usual, there are many that are even brighter.

The reason it attracted everyone's attention was that the star-guiding arrays near the clone were behaving strangely, drawing in stellar energy dozens of times stronger than usual. In addition, two dazzling points of light appeared in mid-air, drawing everyone's attention and speculation.

"Is there something in the sky reflecting the starlight?"

"I think so. With so many star-attracting arrays receiving beams of light, it's possible that one of the arrays is malfunctioning."

"Brother, you really know your stuff. You'll be the chief engineer for the next great formation."

"Forget it then. I'm not even a formation master, so why would I be the chief engineer of a formation? That would be asking for trouble. But my kid has already become a wizard at the Wizard Academy, hehe."

"Hehe my ass."

"Look at you, you're in such a hurry again. Is it because your son is disappointing? If he can't go to the Witch Academy, he can go to the Martial Academy. No way, no way, your son didn't even pass the Martial Academy's assessment?"

"roll roll roll."

“It’s no big deal. You can have a few more. The alliance encourages having children. It’s not like you can’t afford to raise them. When you go back on your leave, wrestle with your sister-in-law more often. Don’t be like last time, when your sister-in-law came to visit and all you two did was eat sausages and go for a walk.”

……

The number of witchcraft artisans gathered among the mountains exceeds forty million.

Over the decades, the alliance has developed a comprehensive system that provides excellent treatment to artisans and wizards in various departments.

Although the construction of the large array in the mountains is subject to military control, it does not restrict the artisans' relatives from visiting. The artisans working here are also entitled to leave to visit their families.

In short, the benefits are top-notch, and accidental injuries are compensated according to wartime regulations.

Every day, fleets of ships from the four provinces transported food and daily necessities into the Kyotake Mountains.

To support these artisans and array masters, and to protect the soldiers and others, the billion-strong human race across the four continents has been working tirelessly.

For decades, apart from cultivation, Shen Can has devoted his mind to building the grand formation. As the chief engineer of the formation, his main task is to grasp the overall situation and make further improvements to the construction of the formation.

Under his overall supervision, the construction of the Heaven-Sealing and Earth-Locking Formation is now about halfway complete.

The first layer of the inner formation, which draws upon the power of the stars to repel the five elements, has now been nearly completed, comprising 129,600 fifth-order nodes.

The next step is to build the second outer array, which draws in the cold, yin energy of the underground cave to add an extra layer of protection to the inner array.

The Juyue Mountain Range consists of 373,973 peaks of varying sizes, running from west to east.

On average, there is one array base between every three mountain peaks, and these array bases are integrated with the mountains.

The stars shone brightly under the night sky until dawn, when their light began to fade into the daylight.

In the sky, a seven-star pattern appeared on the face of the giant beast's clone. The hazy starlight resembled a small star array, making it difficult to fathom its mysteries.

The trajectory within the Seven Stars diagram is intricate, with the seven stars operating as a large system.

The auxiliary stars surrounding the main stars revolve in accordance with their respective main stars, and the smaller stars surrounding the auxiliary stars also have their own revolving system.

At the same time, every star, large and small, in the entire star map has its own independent operating rules.

Each star is a foundation in the star array, large and small, one after another, layer upon layer, intricately complex, yet perfectly formed by nature.

Even after dawn, the seven-star diagram within the clone remained in constant contact with the hidden stars in the northwest of the sky.

At this moment, the giant beast clone finally broke free from the shackles on its cultivation path.

In terms of skill level, it should be considered to be between the early and middle stages of the fifth rank.

According to Shen Can's previous thinking, the 'death' star map inside the clone should be the stone phase. The giant beast clone only lit up the seven star maps, occupying only a very small part of the star map inside the clone, and it cannot be considered to have fully entered the 'spiritual phase' level.

However, clones are too special, being creations made through later modifications, and cannot be measured by normal cultivation levels.

It should now be considered to be at a level between the early and middle stages of the fifth order.

Once the Seven Star Chart is fully 'alive', the clone will be at the mid-stage of the fifth tier.

In the future, the realms can be referred to as the five-tiered spiritual forms and dharma forms.

But in private, the clone can illuminate more star charts, repeating this process from 'stone form' to 'spiritual form'.

Shen Can found this easy to understand; a star map is a stone form, and an avatar can cultivate ten thousand stone forms.

The first seven-star pattern, representing the 'stone appearance,' can be used to display one's external realm.

When the time comes, once the 10,000 stones have become spiritual entities and are unified into a grand star map, the sixth-tier beings will just be food deliverymen.

After dawn, the Weaver Girl finished her cultivation.

With the breakthrough of her clone, Vega also completed the solidification of the main star and the auxiliary star, and initially formed the seven-star pattern.

Once enough star power is absorbed and the entire star map is completely solidified, one can advance to the fifth rank.

It won't take long, probably within one or two years.

……

To the southwest of the Juyue Mountains, a fleet of hundreds of flying boats of various sizes, escorted by three warships and thousands of flying cavalry, entered the Juyue Mountains.

On the flying boat, there are basic array bases forged from the Muzhou Forging Workshop.

Although these array bases are made of third-tier materials, after years of research and experimentation, the alliance has long mastered the method of smelting several kinds of minerals together to upgrade them to the fourth tier.

Even though the array base has been upgraded through research, the array's consumption is like a bottomless pit. Even with the combined power of one billion humans in the Human Alliance, it is still somewhat insufficient to cover the costs.

The airship fleet landed in Xiji City, west of Juyue, a transit point in the west.

"The first thirty ships are carrying materials for the large formation, and the rest are supplies."

"Why are there only thirty ships of materials for the great formation? That's ten fewer than last time."

The logistics elder of West Pole City, who was in charge of the handover, said with dissatisfaction, "All the factions that have been building up camps have sent requests for array bases. These thirty ships are simply not enough to go around."

"There's nothing we can do. We've run out of ore recently. The mines in all the states of the alliance have already been mined to their maximum capacity."

The alliance has intensified its efforts to mine mineral veins north and south of Mount Ju.

The situation in West Pole City is not unique.

The entire Juyue region is divided into three transit cities: East, Central, and West. Each city is considered an independent unit in terms of merit and rewards.

If you do a good job, the whole region will be rewarded.

The selection is held every ten years, with amazing awards from top to bottom.

Of course, with rewards come punishments. The Hall of Punishments will not tolerate those who neglect their duties and cause accidents.

At this moment, the amount of forging materials sent from Yunzhou to Dongji City and from Daizhou to Zhongji City has also decreased.

Shen Can naturally knew about this matter and the reason behind it.

The consumption was too great. The Giant Mountain Range was already poor in energy resources because of the underground caves. The minerals obtained from the Earthworms, Wood Gingers and other tribes had long been poured into the Giant Mountain Range.

The Alliance has now dispatched mining teams to explore beyond the Great Mountain.

But mineral veins not only need to be mined, but they are not something that can be found just by looking for them.

Tier 3 materials are the minimum required to build a large array; Tier 1 and 2 materials are simply unusable.

In addition to smelting several types of Tier 3 ores into alloys, the smelting workshop also adds Tier 4 materials to improve the quality.

Under such circumstances, where would the Juyue Mountains get so many mineral veins?

(End of this chapter)