Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

The voice of the Lord of Xuan Chen immediately emanated from the Mirage Pearl: "Array formations? That's nothing."

His tone carried a hint of arrogance, as if he truly thought the formation was insignificant.

"Why all this nonsense?" Lin Ran said impatiently. "I'm asking you if you understand formations?"

"I understand, I understand." The Lord of Xuan Chen immediately became more composed: "I wonder what kind of formation Master needs?"

Lin Ran thought for a moment: "A simple one will do, just to prevent others from entering my room without permission."

"Then let's use the Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array," Lord Xuanchen replied.

"The Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array?" Lin Ran frowned slightly, his tone tinged with suspicion. "It sounds very powerful."

The Four Symbols, Yin and Yang, Eight Trigrams, and Tai Chi—they all sound quite complex.

He set up the formation simply to prevent ordinary people from entering his room; there was no need for anything too complicated.

The Lord of Xuan Chen understood and immediately explained, "It's just a very simple shielding formation; the name is just misleading."

Hearing this, Lin Ran nodded: "Alright, how should we set it up?"

"You will probe your divine sense into the Mysterious Star Pearl, and I will pass on the True Explanation of the Dao of Arrays to you."

"Mysterious Star Pearl?" Lin Ran was slightly taken aback, then suddenly realized.

Since this mirage pearl is Xuan Chen's dragon pearl, it should naturally be called the Xuan Chen Pearl.

I have to say, this black dragon is quite impressive.

It's both the Lord of Xuan Chen and the Xuan Chen Pearl; it sounds quite plausible.

However, Lin Ran did not easily probe into it with his divine sense. Instead, he became wary: "You won't take this opportunity to possess me, will you?"

"Is there even the most basic trust between master and servant?" Lord Xuanchen's voice rose a few decibels, his tone filled with indignation.

"I've already sworn an oath to the Heavenly Dao, how could I dare harm you? Do you think I want my soul to be scattered? Besides, you're just a mortal, I wouldn't even look at you!"

"Cough cough cough..." Lin Ran looked slightly embarrassed: "When you put it that way, it seems to make some sense."

So he sat cross-legged and probed the mirage pearl with a wisp of his divine sense.

The light and shadow shifted before my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found myself in a hazy, gray space.

Beneath my feet was a smooth, mirror-like black floor, and above my head, a colorful halo slowly swirled.

In the very center of the space sat a young man in black robes. He had a thin face and a lazy arrogance between his brows and eyes. His black hair was casually tied back.

"Greetings, Master." Xuan Chen stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.

Lin Ran glanced at him and asked curiously, "I thought you would be depicted as a black dragon."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Chen once again revealed an arrogant expression: "My dragon race is born with the ability to transform into human form."

"Heh, you're so high and mighty, so impressive." Lin Ran curled his lip. "If you're so capable, how did you end up like this?"

Xuan Chen's expression froze for a moment, his tone slightly desolate: "Let bygones be bygones."

Then, he raised his hand and made a hand seal, a golden light condensing at his fingertips and entering Lin Ran's brow.

A vast stream of information surged into his sea of ​​consciousness, encompassing everything from the simplest Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array to the most complex Celestial Array.

After digesting the information, Lin Ran couldn't help but feel surprised and asked, "You, a mere mirage dragon, actually possess such a formation inheritance?"

"How novel is that?" Xuan Chen said matter-of-factly, "In my time, every cultivator with some skill knew about this 'True Explanation of the Dao of Arrays'."

Lin Ran raised an eyebrow: "Is that so?"

Other formations are one thing, but the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Formation is a guardian formation of the ancient Heavenly Court.

Once activated, it can draw upon the power of the stars in the heavens to protect the Heavenly Court, thus becoming one of the foundations of the Heavenly Court.

Lin Ran couldn't understand how this thing had become so common.

"At that time, there was a great master who upheld the principle of teaching without discrimination. He created cultivation techniques without reservation, and all cultivators could learn them."

Xuan Chen said solemnly, "It also includes some formations that he has collected and improved, such as the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Formation."

"This story sounds familiar." Lin Ran paused, his tone meaningful. "Most of those who learned his techniques didn't end up well, did they?"

Xuan Chen paused slightly: "How did you know?"

"Just a guess." Lin Ran naturally couldn't easily reveal his identity as a transmigrator, so he quickly changed the subject: "So you were also implicated, which is why you ended up like this?"

"Sigh..." Xuan Chen's sigh came from the bead, his tone somber: "The wheel of fate turns, and it is ultimately difficult to defy it."

Lin Ran was skeptical: "Alright, I'll try out this Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array first."

Regardless of how much truth there is in Xuan Chen's story, this "True Explanation of the Dao of Formations" cannot be wrong.

Formations aren't exactly a cultivation method; if they can't be set up, at most it's a waste of materials and won't affect Lin Ran's cultivation.

Therefore, even if Xuan Chen is dishonest, there is no need to lie to him about this kind of thing.

After withdrawing his divine sense from the Xuan Chen Pearl, Lin Ran carefully reviewed the contents of "True Explanation of Array Dao" in his mind.

From basic defensive formations to trapping formations, illusion formations, and killing formations, to large-scale formations that require the joint efforts of many cultivators, everything is available.

However, with the materials at his disposal, he could only barely set up some basic defensive and offensive formations, and couldn't even maintain a decent illusion formation.

Fortunately, he doesn't need to deal with any powerful opponents right now; the most basic Four Symbols Spirit Locking Array is enough.

He took out four first-order crystal cores from his backpack and walked to the center of the room.

Using his feet as the focal point of the formation, spiritual energy seeped from his fingertips and extended outwards along the seams of the floor.

A crystal core is buried in each of the four directions (east, south, west, and north) to guide the flow of spiritual energy, which finally converges at the top of the room.

Four crystal cores define the four directions, forming a closed loop of spiritual energy, and an invisible barrier instantly takes shape.

hum!

A faint golden light flashed across the surrounding walls before disappearing.

He stepped out of the room, attempting to enter without breaking the formation.

A membrane of light condensed in front of him, its texture firm and resilient, making it absolutely difficult for anyone below the Innate Realm to break through in a short time.

Even a martial artist at the Innate Realm would inevitably awaken those inside the formation if they tried to break it.

From today onwards, no one can enter his room without his permission.

Just as Lin Ran was about to try again, footsteps came from the stairwell.

Turning around, Song Yishu appeared at the corner of the stairs: "Xiao Ran, let's eat first, it'll get cold again later."

"Okay, coming right away."

Lin Ran glanced at the door, then turned and walked towards the stairwell.

There were four dishes and a soup on the table, which was a bit wasteful for him to eat alone.

However, since Song Yishu meant well, Lin Ran didn't say anything unnecessary.

Moreover, for the Lin family, this should be considered a relatively simple dinner.

After finishing his meal, Lin Ran put down his chopsticks, said hello, and went upstairs.

Seeing this, Song Yishu's voice came from behind: "This child, so anxious and flustered..."

The Four Symbols Locking Spirit Array is functioning normally; only by controlling the array's core can one enter and exit normally.

Lin Ran returned to his room, sat cross-legged, and placed the forty-seven third-order crystal cores in front of him.

Just as he was about to circulate his energy, an inspiration suddenly struck him.

The True Explanation of Formations not only contains various offensive and defensive formations, but also includes spirit gathering formations.

If these crystal cores are directly put into the Spirit Gathering Array and transformed into spiritual energy, and then absorbed by the Xuanhuang Cauldron, could it achieve the same efficiency as absorbing fourth-order crystal cores?

He closed his eyes and focused his mind, reviewing the relevant information about the Spirit Gathering Array.

Nine or more crystal cores can be used to arrange the Three Talents Spirit-Attracting Array.

The number of crystal cores in each array must be an integer multiple of three.

The three array eyes need an equal number of crystal cores; otherwise, the array will only operate at the lowest efficiency.

The higher the grade, the better the effect.

Following the formation, Lin Ran arranged the thirty-six third-tier crystal cores and activated the formation's core using his own spiritual power.

hum!

Thirty-six crystal cores lit up simultaneously, and spiritual energy converged on Lin Ran from three directions, creating a shimmering glow.

He quickly activated the "Myriad Treasures Spirit Forging Technique" to rapidly absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.

The Xuanhuang Cauldron began to devour the substances frantically, purifying and refining them before returning them to Lin Ran's limbs and bones.

The vortex of energy in his dantian rapidly grew stronger, reaching the late stage of the sixth level of Qi Refining.