"The strength of the Purple Mansion beast is extremely terrifying. We may not be able to take it down," someone remarked.
The old patriarch pondered for a moment before cautiously replying, "It is impossible for you to confront the Purple Mansion Thunder Roc alone. Thus, your task this time is mainly reconnaissance. You must exercise extreme caution."
"If you encounter the Thunder Roc, do not act rashly. Return to the clan, and we will discuss and plan together."
"Understood," Elian nodded in agreement. Riding his sword, he departed Pingyang City. With the Fiery Void Sword, which could traverse thousands of miles in a day, Elian reached the great wilderness spanning ten thousand miles in just two days and began searching for the Purple Mansion Thunder Roc.
This search lasted over three months. The Thunder Roc seemed to have vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the sea. Despite numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators from Yu County and Tianxu Mountain scouring the wilderness, they found no signs of the beast.
"Could it be that the Thunder Roc has already fled the great wilderness?" Elian felt a pang of disappointment. High-level beasts had become increasingly difficult to hunt down, possessing formidable combat abilities and unparalleled escape skills.
A Purple Mansion beast in its early stages could fly twenty to thirty thousand miles in a single day. For such a creature, escaping the ten-thousand-mile wilderness would take mere days. Given three months, it could have fled multiple times over.
The longer the delay, the more disheartened the searchers grew. Many cultivator families from the surrounding regions eventually gave up the hunt, resigned to the idea that the Thunder Roc was beyond their reach.
"What a pity. Such a grand opportunity, and it's been missed," someone lamented.
With no leads on the Thunder Roc, Elian prepared to ride his sword back to Yu County. Suddenly, his sword light flickered, and he halted in mid-air.
"Judging by this position, I'm not far from the cave dwelling left by Senior Yang."
"More than twenty years have passed. Now that the family's strength has grown significantly, perhaps we can allocate resources to seize that spiritual vein."
With this thought in mind, Elian maneuvered his flying sword toward Yang Yuanqing's cave dwelling.
That cave dwelling contained a second-tier spiritual vein. If they could establish an array formation and assign one or two late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators to cultivate spiritual fields there, it might bring considerable benefits to the family.
After flying a few thousand miles, Elian's eyes narrowed with caution. He landed his sword light several hundred miles away and began walking forward on foot.
After covering dozens of miles, he frowned slightly, sensing something amiss. Low-level beasts were not uncommon in the great wilderness, yet not a single one could be seen here, which was highly unusual.
"Could it be..." Elian's expression shifted slightly. He concealed his aura and proceeded cautiously until stopping twenty miles from the ancient cultivator's cave dwelling.
"So, the Purple Mansion Thunder Roc is here."
Suppressing his excitement, Elian fixed his gaze on the ancient cave dwelling.
He dared not approach further. An early-stage Purple Mansion beast's spiritual sense could cover a ten-mile radius. If he moved within that range, he would undoubtedly be discovered. However, this distance was enough.
The Thunder Roc seemed to be recuperating inside the cave, using the spiritual spring to heal its wounds. Its injuries were more severe than expected, to the point where it could no longer completely conceal its aura.
Traces of its presence emanated faintly within a twenty-mile radius, scaring away all low-level beasts.
"Given the Purple Mansion beast's terrifying power, I must return and prepare thoroughly before attempting to slay it."
Suppressing his excitement, Elian quietly retreated beyond a hundred miles and rode his sword back to Pingyang City. Upon arriving, he immediately reported his findings to the old patriarch.
The old patriarch was ecstatic and promptly summoned Chen Qinghao and Chen Nianfu, sharing the news about the Thunder Roc. He then said, "For it to remain hidden in the great wilderness to heal instead of fleeing, its injuries must be extremely severe. Otherwise, it wouldn't dare stay here."
"For our Chen family, this is a rare opportunity. Even if it costs us dearly, we must slay that Purple Mansion Thunder Roc."
Chen Nianfu, equally excited, asked with a flushed face, "Uncle, how do you plan to deal with the Thunder Roc?"
The old patriarch stroked his beard thoughtfully and replied, "Thanks to the spiritual peaches provided by Elian, I broke through to the ninth stage of Foundation Establishment last year."
"With the Blazing Fire Divine Flags and my magical treasures, my strength now rivals half that of an early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator. Elian, armed with the Fiery Void Sword, is nearly as powerful as I am."
"That Thunder Roc is only at the early stage of Purple Mansion and likely lacks suitable magic tools. Moreover, it is severely injured. Together, we should have a sixty percent chance of success."
"However, we must spare no effort to ensure victory," he added after a pause. "This is what we'll do: over the years, our family has refined three sets of Blazing Fire Divine Array. I'll modify and combine them into a single set of Blazing Fire Divine Flags."
"Qinghao and Nianfu, you two Foundation Establishment cultivators will lead the formation, along with eighteen late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. Together, the array's power should match that of two or three late-stage Foundation Establishment experts."
Without delay, Elian and the old patriarch began refining the array flags that very night.
Fortunately, the Blazing Fire Divine Array had been designed based on the Blazing Fire Divine Flags, so the modifications were not overly complicated. The two re-forged eighteen fire flags as secondary nodes of the array and used two mid-grade second-tier magical tools as core formation artifacts.
The two artifacts were the Green Ape Pearl and the Heart-Piercing Cone. The Green Ape Pearl was a tool Elian had discarded.
With four high-grade second-tier treasures in his possession, the pearl was no longer useful to him, so it was repurposed as part of the array.
The Heart-Piercing Cone, meanwhile, was the signature treasure of Lin Baixi. After Baixi was slain by Elian, the spike had fallen into the Chen family's hands.
To optimize it for the Blazing Fire Divine Array, the old patriarch infused it with a significant amount of blazing energy in just half a day, converting it into the Flaming Piercing Cone.
This treasure, now the array's offensive core, saw its power increase significantly. However, the rapid infusion of elemental energy weakened its structure. It could now be used only ten times before disintegrating.
But for the Chen family, slaying the Thunder Roc was worth any cost. Even sacrificing several high-grade second-tier artifacts was an acceptable trade.
Once the preparations were complete, Chen Qinghao quietly gathered eighteen late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. Without alerting anyone, they left Qingyuan Mountain under the cover of darkness.
...
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I need POWAAA! Gimme Power Stones :D