I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

As you sail out of Tingfeng Pass in a flying boat, looking down, you see rows of meticulously planned, crisscrossing spiritual fields.

Lin Che couldn't help but sigh softly, "It seems that the most fertile and safest lands beyond the Great Wall belong to Chuyang City!"

Emerging from the majestic Tingfeng Pass and crossing the massive cliff that resembles the dividing line between heaven and earth, a vast and boundless flat plain suddenly opens up before you, stretching all the way to the distant Chuyang City, a distance of at least two hundred miles.

It was the season when the spirit rice was nearing maturity. The rice paddies below resembled a golden sea, with heavy ears of rice bending the stalks and swaying gently in the breeze, exuding vibrant vitality and a faint fragrance of spirit rice.

With the formidable Chuyang City as a natural barrier, this plain is considered the only "safe zone" outside the pass, untouched by demonic beasts. This has attracted a large number of independent cultivators who dislike fighting and specialize in planting to settle down here.

Unlike the reclusive cultivators who hunt demons and live on the edge, their lives are relatively stable, but they also have fewer ways to obtain cultivation resources. As a result, many of them marry and have children early on, move their families here, and start new ones.

Most of the current permanent residents of Chuyang City come from this.

The distance was not far, and the flying boat soon came to a steady stop at the Cloud Boat Ferry outside Chuyang City.

Lin Che followed the crowd off the flying boat, without lingering in the city. He directly controlled an inconspicuous, ordinary magical flying sword and sped towards Shattered Star Lake.

However, as they approached the Shattered Star Lake area, Lin Che's extraordinary spiritual sense immediately detected some unusual auras.

Near the various paths leading to Shattered Star Lake, several seemingly idle cultivators were scattered about, wandering around aimlessly.

However, their shifty gaze and their seemingly casual yet constantly attentive demeanor towards passersby revealed their true intentions.

"Heh, are they spies sent by the Zhao family?" Lin Che sneered inwardly, immediately guessing the origins of these people.

Presumably, the Zhao family wanted to confirm whether their previous ambush was successful, and also wanted to see if any other members of the Lin family had been dispatched to Burning Bone City to investigate the situation.

To avoid any unforeseen complications and to prevent the Zhao family from discovering the situation and using more unknown methods, Lin Che did not hesitate to fully activate his Absolute Concealment Divine Power.

His figure and aura vanished completely from the air in an instant, as if merging into a gentle breeze, silently passing through the surveillance of these informants.

Soon, he returned safely to the island in the center of Shattered Star Lake.

A sweep of divine sense revealed that Liu Qingxue, Liu Yunzhou, and Su Wanwan were still diligently cultivating the "Ten Thousand Beasts Technique" in their respective temporary caves, their spiritual energy flowing around them, showing signs of having entered the first stage.

Lin Che did not disturb them and went straight to the entrance of the ancient cultivator's cave deep in the island. This was also the core of the original "Cloud Mist Locking Array" on the island.

"System, upgrade it!"

As soon as the command was given, a familiar golden light instantly surged from his palm, enveloping the ancient array core.

The next moment, the golden light, as if alive, spread rapidly along the pre-carved array patterns, quickly flowing to cover every array node across the entire island!

"Buzz—!"

An invisible wave rippled outwards from the island in the middle of the lake, and the spiritual energy on the island suddenly became more active.

The three people who were cultivating were awakened almost simultaneously, their faces showing surprise and uncertainty.

Lin Che's voice transmission rang in their ears at just the right moment: "No need to panic, I'm back and modifying the island's formation."

At the same time, he also used the Heart of All Beasts to inform the Ironclad Alligator Turtle clan in the lake of his intention to transform Shattered Star Lake, thus calming their restless emotions.

Under the powerful influence of the system, the original second-tier superior-grade "Cloud Mist Locking Array" is undergoing a fundamental transformation!

The array patterns became more complex and profound, and the level of spiritual power contained within them suddenly increased!

Before long, the upgrade was completed, and the formation became a third-tier superior-grade Nine Heavens Cloud Realm Formation!

This formation is far superior to the standard "Five Directions Thick Earth Formation" that Lin Che purchased before. Its exquisite structure and profound runes mean that, unless directly upgraded by the system, it would require a high-level formation master to painstakingly set it up.

Fortunately, this upgrade was done directly on the basis of the existing perfectly functioning formation, saving the tedious steps of re-surveying the earth veins and drawing the formation base.

The upgraded formation has achieved a qualitative leap in its concealment capabilities.

It can not only distort and reflect the divine sense of external cultivators, but also simulate a near-perfect natural illusion, making it difficult for cultivators below the Golden Core stage to see through the illusion.

Lin Che took out the core jade tablet controlling the formation, and with a thought, he activated it with all his might!

"rise!"

In an instant, the thick clouds that had originally only covered the island in the middle of the lake seemed to come alive and began to spread outward rapidly!

The clouds drifted across the main lake, skimmed over the heads of the armored alligator snapping turtles that were looking up in the water, crossed the six satellite lakes that guarded it, and passed through the dense forest along the lake... Finally, an invisible boundary settled down.

It completely covers the entire Shattered Star Lake area, which spans a radius of fifty miles!

"Transform, conceal!"

As Lin Che activated it again, the jade tablet shone brightly.

To those outside the formation, the once shimmering Shattered Star Lake and its surrounding woodland slowly dissipated and distorted like a mirage, eventually transforming into an ordinary plain covered with low shrubs that seamlessly blended with its surroundings!

This formation is certainly capable of more than just concealment.

Those seemingly gentle flowing clouds actually conceal hidden secrets, capable of disorienting intruders and trapping them in the sea of ​​clouds.

The formation can absorb and store some of the energy from external attacks, and when necessary, it can condense clouds and mist, transforming them into countless incomparably sharp cloud-like sword energies for counterattack.

Originally, in Lin Che's clan land plan, the formation was only used to defend and hide the clan's residence, and if there were any invaders, they would rely on spirit beasts to deal with them.

The fact that the upgraded magic circle gained offensive capabilities was a pleasant surprise.

Next, Lin Che set up the second-tier high-grade "Five Directions Thick Earth Array" inside the Nine Heavens Cloud Realm Grand Array to achieve double protection.

Once activated, a pale yellow aura shield, the same size as the cloud and mist, slowly rose up, intertwining with the cloud and mist to provide an additional layer of protection.

Considering that a third-tier formation would be too conspicuous and easily attract unnecessary attention, Lin Che deliberately suppressed the power of the Nine Heavens Cloud Realm Formation to a level that mainly targets Foundation Establishment cultivators, thus greatly reducing the consumption of spirit stones.

With preparations complete, the next step is the most crucial one.

Activate the spiritual energy channels and make them manifest!

Lin Che took out the "Mini Rising Dragon Formation" that he had acquired at great expense.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, carefully recalling the path and nodes of the second-order spiritual vein that had partially revealed itself, which he had observed in the Hidden Mulberry Secret Realm.

Following the array formation instructions in the seller's jade slip, he began the meticulous operation:

The first step is to locate the acupoints.

His powerful divine sense, like the most precise probe, penetrated deep into the ground to pinpoint the location of the spiritual veins and acupoints in his memory.

The second step is to plant the battle flags.

He used a special technique to precisely insert nine array flags made of extraordinary materials into nine key spiritual nodes surrounding the acupoint, forming a mysterious nine-palace pattern.

The third step is to set up the array's core.

At the center of the Nine Palaces, the core of the array is buried, containing centuries-old earth milk, Bauhinia jade, and dragon blood.

Nine mid-grade spirit stones were carefully placed around the array's core according to the nine palaces arrangement, serving as the activation energy.

"Sparrow, Crimson Flame, come out and help me!"

A flash of light appeared, and the Heavenly Sacred Sparrow and the Crimson Flame Tiger appeared beside him.

Activating the Small Rising Dragon Formation requires three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators to exert their power simultaneously.

Lin Che quickly used the Soul Imprint to inform the two beasts of the locations and incantations where they needed to input spiritual power.

With everything in place, Lin Che waited patiently.

As the sun sets in the west, its golden rays bathe the earth, and the yang energy between heaven and earth gradually recedes, the earth's energy is at its most gentle and peaceful—this is the best time to activate the formation.

"The time has come! Activate the formation!"

Lin Che's expression was solemn. He gave an order and then activated the control array!

He, along with the Burning Sky Sacred Sparrow and the Crimson Flame Tiger, were positioned at the array's eye and the estimated nodes at the beginning and end of the spiritual vein, respectively, while simultaneously channeling their own pure spiritual power into the array according to specific techniques!

"Buzz..."

A deep, resonant sound, as if from the depths of the earth, rang out.

The spiritual energy within the array's range began to transform into a visible breeze, swirling and rising upwards.

Beneath the ground, wisps and threads of light, like fireflies, began to emanate, growing denser and denser.

The formation is now fully operational!

Lin Che's divine sense clearly "saw" that the originally dormant spiritual vein deep underground seemed to have been injected with vitality. The pure spiritual energy, like clear water stained with ink, began to slowly but steadily seep upwards and spread.

Gradually, the damp ground began to seep out water droplets, which were like dew and contained pure spiritual energy.

Within the array's range, the plants and trees visibly grew taller, sprouted new branches, and blossomed with magnificent flowers.

On the ground, countless streams of spiritual energy, resembling giant leaf veins and radiating soft white light, emerged, forming a magnificent and mysterious pattern!

"This...this is spiritual energy? The spiritual energy from underground is emerging!" Liu Yunzhou was the first to exclaim in surprise. He squatted down and looked curiously at a small grass growing at several times the speed at his feet.

Although Liu Qingxue did not speak, her cold eyes could not hide her surprise.

She could clearly feel that the concentration of spiritual energy in the surrounding world was steadily increasing and becoming more refined.

She looked in the direction of Lin Che. Although Lin Che was obscured by the clouds and mist, her opinion of this young family head rose even higher.

Su Wanwan covered her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief: "This is amazing... The patriarch can actually make the hidden spiritual veins appear?"

Hearing the three people's barely suppressed astonishment, Lin Che, hidden at the core of the formation, smiled slightly.

With another thought, he manipulated the clouds and mist of the Nine Heavens Cloud Realm Array to further obscure the core area of ​​the array where he was located, ensuring that the three of them could not see the real changes that were about to happen.

"System, upgrade the Lesser Dragon Ascending Formation!"

The command was given again, and brilliant golden light descended once more, completely enveloping the entire formation!

The reason he set up the formation before upgrading it was because the complete version of the Rising Dragon Formation is a third-order formation, which can only be activated and controlled by a Golden Core cultivator.

His actions were precisely using the power of the system to perform the heaven-defying "Foundation Building and Golden Core Control Array"!

"Boom—!"

As the formation began to transform into the complete Rising Dragon Formation, the entire Shattered Star Lake area experienced even more violent tremors!

As if an earth dragon had turned over, waves surged on the lake, and the woods rustled!

Such a huge commotion immediately alerted all the independent cultivators active in the vicinity of Shattered Star Lake.

"What's going on? Has the earth dragon turned over?!"

"Look! Shattered Star Lake... Shattered Star Lake is gone! It's become a plain!"

"There's light over there! And incredibly strong spiritual energy is emanating from it!"

"It's the Lin family! It must have been the Lin family who did this!"

The rogue cultivators gathered in the direction of the original Shattered Star Lake, only to be shocked to find that the familiar lake and forest had disappeared, replaced by an unfamiliar plain and an invisible barrier.

They stood outside the barrier, discussing amongst themselves, their faces filled with surprise and speculation.

Among the crowd, a Zhao family spy, who was mingling among them, had a face so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

He stared intently at the conjured plain and the faint, unsettling fluctuations of spiritual energy and rumbling sounds emanating from within the barrier.

"A concealment formation? The Lin family actually set up such a large-scale protective formation so quickly and silently! And this abnormal earth vein movement..." He gritted his teeth, his heart turning cold: "Now... how am I going to explain this to the clan?!"