Early in the morning, Mu Chen woke up, his mind still quite muddled. If not for the good fortune of having that black paper in his Qi Sea, and a beautiful Ling flower to imprison the Nine Netherbird, he might not have been himself at this moment.
"Beast!"
Mu Chen cursed for a while, gradually realizing that what had happened was real, and rubbed his face vigorously. Although the Nine Netherbird was currently trapped by the mysterious black paper, his heart always felt a sense of unease. The Nine Netherbird was truly too powerful. It was extremely weak now, but who knew if it would patiently wait, and perhaps recover a little later? What if that paper was no longer strong enough to trap it?
This thing remaining in his body was truly a ticking time bomb, always with the risk of exploding and posing a fatal danger to him.
Only after this struggle with the fierce and untamed Nine Netherbird could he truly understand how foolish his greed to refine its essence had been. With the Nine Netherbird's arrogance, if any fool dared to capture and refine it, Mu Chen could guarantee that this damned feathered beast would certainly retaliate terribly.
What good was keeping the essence of a spirit beast of that level in his hands?
Mu Chen continued to fiercely curse the Nine Netherbird in his heart for the entire morning before his mind finally settled. What had happened was done; no amount of venting would help. At least for now, it was temporarily trapped by the black paper, so he should have some time to think of a way to deal with the Nine Netherbird.
Mu Chen got out of bed, freshened up a bit, and then left his room. He quickly walked to the area where he usually studied spirit formations with Mister Wen Ling. After the journey to the Black Underworld Abyss, Mu Chen had fully realized the power of spirit formations. Even though he could only use minor spirit formations below Level 1, his interest in them had grown even stronger.
Upon arriving, Mu Chen did not yet see Mister Wen Ling, thinking he might have arrived too early. He was not one to easily lose patience, so he went to the mat and sat cross-legged, looking pensive. He was now officially a Spirit Wheel Realm expert, clearly feeling the abundant spiritual energy in his body had increased significantly, and controlling it was more comfortable and skillful.
"I wonder how many spirit seals I can condense now?"
Mu Chen murmured, his eyes eager as he reached out his hand, his palm rotating. Dark spiritual energy erupted, enveloping his entire hand. The speed of the coverage and the thickness of the spiritual energy made him smile with satisfaction. Indeed, the Spirit Wheel Realm; the efficiency of mobilizing spiritual energy far surpassed that of the late Spirit Movement Realm.
The dark spiritual energy quickly condensed on his fingertips, and eight spirit seals instantly appeared. Mu Chen subtly moved his fingers, and a ninth spirit seal quietly emerged.
He stared at the ninth spirit seal, not stopping, continuing to condense. Ten spirit seals, eleven, twelve... the dark spiritual energy flickered, finally stopping at a total of twelve spirit seals.
Mu Chen saw this and reluctantly nodded. He knew it was not yet his limit, but he had only just reached the Spirit Wheel Realm this morning and still needed some time to consolidate his foundation. Once it was stable, he believed he could do much better.
Mu Chen clenched his fist, and the twelve spirit seals quickly dissipated. He heard approaching footsteps, the door opened, and Wen Ling arrived.
"Mister Wen."
Mu Chen saw the old man and quickly stood up to greet him.
Wen Ling waved his hand, his usually stern face now showing a smile towards the young man.
"I heard the Domain Lord say that you used a small spirit array to overcome difficulties in the Dark Abyss. You did very well."
Wen Ling had been asked by Mu Feng to teach Mu Chen spirit arrays. Mu Chen was able to quickly grasp the basics and unleash the power of the spirit arrays very effectively, which made his master, Wen Ling, extremely proud. Though Wen Ling also admitted that this achievement was due to Mu Chen's excellent innate talent for learning spirit arrays.
Mu Chen smiled awkwardly. His small spirit array could, in fact, only deceive the low intelligence of spirit beasts.
"For the next two days, you'll probably have to study on your own. Your father plans to build a Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Array in Mu City. At that level, I alone don't have the ability to construct it, so your father generously offered a high price to invite three additional Tier 1 Spirit Array Masters to assist. They and I will try our best to see if we can succeed."
"A Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Array..."
Mu Chen stammered in surprise. The entire Northern Spirit Realm only had one single Tier 3 Spirit Gathering Array, located in the Northern Spirit Academy. Currently, Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Arrays had only been built in the wealthy Liu Domain. The Mu Domain only had an old, dilapidated Tier 1 Spirit Gathering Array. It seemed his father still harbored a deep desire to expand their influence and create a balance of power with the Liu Domain. Those people were hailed as the foremost domain among the nine domains of the Northern Spirit Realm, and the Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Array certainly contributed to their success.
However, a Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Array was not easy to build. Even Tier 2 Spirit Array Masters couldn't be 100% certain of successful construction. Furthermore, the rare materials needed to build a Spirit Gathering Array were extremely luxurious. If it failed, it would be a heartbreaking loss for the Mu Domain. That's why Mu Feng had been diligently saving for many years and hadn't acted rashly, but it seemed his father could no longer hold back.
Even now, with three additional Tier 1 Spirit Array Masters invited to work with Wen Ling, whether they would succeed was still hard to say for sure.
"Yes, Mr. Wen, please do your work."
Mu Chen replied politely.
Wen Ling nodded. He seemed to be so worried about the construction of the Tier 2 Spirit Gathering Array that he was racking his brains. He didn't say anything more and was about to turn and leave.
"There's something... Mr. Wen..."
Mu Chen suddenly spoke, his eyes slightly hesitant as he looked at Wen Ling.
"I currently have some theories about small spirit arrays. I wonder if Mr. Wen could lend me a Tier 1 array diagram for reference?"
Hearing that Mu Chen wanted to ask for a Tier 1 array diagram for reference, Wen Ling frowned, his expression turning serious again.
"It's good that you have talent, but why do you forget what I told you? Don't be too eager to advance quickly! A Tier 1 spirit array requires at least 15 spirit seals. Its complex construction far surpasses small spirit arrays. If you want to reference a Tier 1 array diagram, you must first condense 10 spirit seals for me befo—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his teeth began to chatter, and his stern face turned into one of wide-eyed astonishment, because in Mu Chen's hand were exactly 10 shimmering spirit seals.
"W-what..."
Wen Ling stammered, taking a long moment to regain some composure. He looked at Mu Chen with a strange gaze. How long had this kid been exposed to spirit arrays? Yet he could condense 10 spirit seals. His talent in this area was equally monstrous.
"Ahem..."
Wen Ling cleared his throat, adjusted his surprised expression, and said softly,
"Since you've met the requirement, then I'll grant your request."
He took out a fiery red array diagram and handed it to Mu Chen.
"This is a relatively simple Level 1 spiritual array diagram, called the Blazing Fire Array. This spiritual array requires at least 15 spiritual seals to set up. Just take a look; there's no need to try it out. It wouldn't be good if you encountered a spiritual array backlash."
Mu Chen excitedly accepted the fiery red array diagram, nodding repeatedly, though it was unclear if he was actually listening.
Seeing this, Wen Ling waved his hand and left. He still had to discuss and negotiate with the three Level 1 Spiritual Array Masters to find a perfect plan for constructing a Level 2 Spirit Gathering Array. It was a difficult task, but also a good opportunity. Perhaps he could use this chance to advance to the level of a Level 2 Spiritual Array Master.
Only after seeing Wen Ling leave did Mu Chen carefully open the Level 1 array diagram. A burst of red light hit his face, vaguely carrying a slight warmth. Mu Chen focused his mind and observed.
On the array diagram, red light flashed, and a tail of light stretched out, intertwining to form a rather complex pattern.
Mu Chen stared at the diagram, feeling dizzy, and couldn't help but lick his lips. A Level 1 spiritual array was indeed far more complex than a minor spiritual array, but it also made him more interested.
Mu Chen immersed himself in the Blazing Fire Array, carefully examining the intricate spiritual lines, and only closed it a moment later. Although he was very eager, he managed to restrain himself and didn't rush into it. This Level 1 spiritual array required at least 15 spiritual seals as its foundation. Currently, his strength was obviously not enough.
"It seems I'll have to focus on cultivation even more now."
Mu Chen contentedly put away the array diagram, closed his eyes, focused, and began to try and condense more spiritual seals.
In the following days, Wen Ling was still busy constructing the Level 2 Spirit Gathering Array and had no time to guide Mu Chen. Mu Chen, however, was delighted to have the leisure, dedicating all his time to practicing the condensation of more spiritual seals.
His efforts, forgetting to eat and sleep, yielded significant results. As he gradually grew accustomed to his own Spirit Wheel Realm strength, his control over spiritual power became increasingly skillful. On the fifth day after his strength increased, he successfully condensed 15 spiritual seals.
Having achieved this foundational step, Mu Chen could barely suppress his excitement. He happily pulled out the Blazing Fire Array. Perhaps he was finally qualified to truly attempt to construct a Level 1 spiritual array.