Lu Ye naturally wouldn't stimulate his Innate Skill Tree to absorb the power of the Earth Fire here. Bai Qian had kindly brought him here to make Array Flags, so if he really did that, it would be too outrageous.
That would be digging into someone else's corner.
The furnace quickly turned red. Bai Qian raised his hand and threw a metal ingot into the furnace while testing Lu Ye, "How do you usually choose the materials to make Array Flags and Array Bases?"
"Usually, we have to choose a light and sturdy metal. At the same time, it has to be extremely conductive to spiritual power. Honeycomb steel and black iron are the most commonly used materials. In addition, if there is a need, the flag can also be refined from some demonic beast skin …"
Lu Ye recalled Bai Qian's previous teachings and spoke frankly.
Bai Qian nodded with satisfaction and asked a few more questions, to which Lu Ye quickly answered.
"Theories are just theories in the end. You need to grasp these theories and have the ability to realize them. Otherwise, it will just be an armchair strategist."
The metal ingot that Bai Qian had thrown into the furnace quickly turned into a flowing liquid. He activated his spirit power and raised his hand to grab it. The red and hot liquid was immediately grabbed by him. Under the control of his spirit power, the liquid immediately transformed into the shape of the formation flag.
"When you have enough control over your Spirit Power, you can refine Array Flags without the help of external forces. If you can't do it, you can use molds." Saying so, he placed the hot liquid into a mold pit on the Weapon Forging Platform, which was the mold for the Array Flag.
After cooling down a little, Bai Qian took out the rough base of the Array Flag, grabbed the hammer, and smashed it down.
Under the hammer, Lu Ye seemed to hear a series of hammering sounds, but the many strikes were connected together, making it difficult for him to distinguish between what was real and what was fake.
"Regardless of whether it is refining formation flags or spiritual weapons, one needs to have extremely strong control over one's own strength. The biggest reason why formation flags and spiritual weapons can be used is because of the restriction imprinted on them. Without the restriction, no matter how precious the material is, it is only an empty shell. Outstanding refiners can change the internal structure of the spiritual weapon during the process of weapon forging and weapon forging to form the restriction imprinted on it. It can even be said that some refiners can use one material to forge weapon blanks and another material to forge the restriction. By combining the two into one, the power of the spiritual weapon will be even stronger. However, that requires very profound skills. This old man has no talent in this field, so I can't do such a thing."
Along with Bai Qian's words, there were also sounds of hammering. Lu Ye observed carefully and discovered that at the instant Bai Qian hammered, the hammer would tremble violently. This was why there were so many hammering sounds. With the augmentation of the Insight Spirit Inscriptions, Lu Ye could see even more clearly. It was just as Bai Qian had said. As he hammered, the internal structure of the soldier billet changed slightly, forming layers of restrictions.
"That's why this Old Master said that for someone like you who is a Fire Elemental Cultivator, those who cultivate Fire Elemental Cultivation Methods will have a unique advantage in weapon forging and artifact forging. Once your skills are profound in the future, you won't need to rely on external objects to refine anything you want in the air. You'll also be able to use many techniques as you please. However, your cultivation is still low, so don't think about these things.
"Yes."
Clanging sounds continued to resound. In less than half an hour, a small and exquisite array flag that was only the size of a palm came out of the furnace.
The Array Flag was only a carrier, and the Restrictions inside the Array Flag were the key. Depending on the Restrictions, the Array Flag could play a different role. However, a single Array Flag was useless. Different Array Flags had to cooperate with each other to set up and break the Array.
After observing it from beginning to end, Lu Ye found that it was not difficult to forge the Array Flag. It could be said that as long as there was a mold, he could casually make a rough Array Flag. It didn't matter if it was ugly. The difficult part was creating the Restrictions inside the Array Flag.
This was different from him using his own Spiritual Power to construct Spirit Inscriptions. He had great control over his Spiritual Power. It was not difficult for him to construct Spirit Inscriptions that he learned from books.
However, with the help of a hammer, he had to create Spirit Inscriptions to form Restrictions. Moreover, he had to form them inside the Array Flag. This was extremely difficult.
"Give it a try!" Bai Qian instructed.
Lu Ye nodded. Seeing it ten times was not as good as seeing it with his own hands. Bai Qian had already shown him how to make array flags once. Although he did not really understand Bai Qian's method of making array flags, this kind of thing could only be understood through practice.
Lu Ye took a metal ingot from Bai Qian and threw it into the furnace. He waited for it to turn into liquid before wrapping it with his spirit energy and placing it in a mold. After it cooled down a bit, Lu Ye grabbed a hammer from the side. Recalling Bai Qian's technique, he swung the hammer down.
Two rhythmic clanging sounds rang out. As Lu Ye hammered, his Spiritual Power began to surge.
"It's just the beginning. Don't be too anxious. First, you have to learn how to use hammering to imbue your Spiritual Power into the Array Flag. Then, you can use your Spiritual Power to change the internal structure of the Array Flag. Only then can you construct Spirit Inscriptions inside the Array Flag and form Restrictions." Bai Qian carefully taught from the side.
"Yes."
* Clang clang clang clang … *
Lu Ye was sweating profusely. Bai Qian would give him pointers from time to time. Every time, his pointers were on the key points, allowing Lu Ye to clearly understand his shortcomings.
He failed again and again.
Fortunately, this practice didn't cause any waste of materials. If he broke the Array Flag, he could just throw it into the furnace and continue forging.
The Soul Cleansing Water he gave Bai Qian had undoubtedly played a role. Otherwise, how could Bai Qian personally teach an outer sect disciple like Lu Ye so patiently?
A day later, a somewhat crude Array Flag came out of the furnace.
Bai Qian inspected it a little and nodded lightly, "Not bad, but there are many areas that need improvement. Continue."
With the first successful experience, it was easy to make other array flags.
As time passed, Array Flags were forged one after another.
According to Bai Qian's previous teachings, the most basic Array Flags were thirty-six. With Lu Ye's current cultivation, as long as he could forge thirty-six Array Flags, it would be enough.
For the time being, he wasn't in a hurry to forge more advanced Array Flags. It wouldn't be too late to consider it after his cultivation and Array Dao attainments improved.
In the beginning, Lu Ye could only forge one Array Flag a day on average. The main reason was that it was too difficult. It was easy to change the internal structure of the Array Flag with a single strike of the hammer, but it was difficult to change the structure into a spirit pattern. If there was a mistake, the Array Flag would have to be reforged.
According to Bai Qian, true Master Refiners could often directly create a spirit pattern with a single strike of the hammer. In this way, whether it was the efficiency or the margin for error, it would greatly increase.
As for cultivators like Lu Ye, who mainly cultivated fire in the Five Elements and also cultivated a fire attribute Cultivation Method, when their cultivation was high enough, they could directly use their spirit power to change the internal structure of the array flag. In this way, they didn't need to beat it.
By the time Lu Ye finished refining the most basic set of Array Flags, half a month had already passed.
As Bai Qian walked out of the Weapon Forging Workshop, under the dazzling sunlight, Lu Ye couldn't help but feel as if a lifetime had passed.
"Go back and rest for today. This old man will take you to the Hundred Formation Pagoda tomorrow." Bai Qian brought him back to his residence and left after instructing him.
After Bai Qian left, Lu Ye directly lay on the bed, not wanting to move at all, and fell into a deep sleep.
Refining Array Flags for half a month without much rest during this time was truly exhausting.
When he woke up, Yiyi had already prepared a sumptuous meal. Lu Ye stuffed himself with food and felt his vitality recover.
Bai Qian arrived as promised and wrapped Lu Ye with his spirit power before flying off in a certain direction.
Not long after, the two landed in a valley where a several-dozen-meter-tall Stone Pagoda stood. The base of the Stone Pagoda was about a hundred meters wide and gave off a strong sense of vicissitudes.
This was Lu Ye's purpose for coming to the Heaven Expanse Sect: the Hundred Formation Pagoda.
However, his initial thoughts were too simple. He thought that he could enter the Hundred Formation Pagoda after coming to the Heaven Expanse Sect. In the end, just learning Array Dao and forging Array Flags from Bai Qian took him a month and a half.
However, it was worth it in the end. As the saying goes, sharpening a knife won't delay the work of cutting firewood.
Just like how the Heaven Expanse Sect withdrew all of their manpower from the Weapon Forging Workshop in order to prevent the news of Lu Ye's survival from leaking out, today, the Heaven Expanse Sect also withdrew everyone here and sealed off the valley where the Hundred Formation Pagoda was located.
Therefore, when Bai Qian brought Lu Ye here, there was no one here.
The Hundred Formation Pagoda wasn't complete. From the outside, it looked like the stone pagoda had been cut off from the middle. Only the lower half of the pagoda was left, while the upper half was missing.
Zhao Li had told Lu Ye that the Hundred Formation Pagoda was divided into three parts. One part was in the Heaven Expanse Sect, one part was in the Cloud River Battlefield, and no one knew where the last part was.
At the bottom of the stone tower, there was a stone tablet. Spirit light flowed on the stone tablet, and occasionally, some messy patterns would appear.
Lu Ye stared at it for a while but couldn't understand what these patterns were.
"It's said that this is a list." Bai Qian explained, "Anyone who performs well in the Hundred Formation Pagoda is qualified to leave their name on this list and be revered by future generations. However, because the pagoda itself is incomplete, this list can't be revealed. Perhaps only by making the Hundred Formation Pagoda complete will this tablet be restored."
He turned his head and looked at Lu Ye solemnly. "I'm sure you've learned some information about the Hundred Formation Pagoda. There are opportunities in the pagoda, but there are also dangers. When you enter the pagoda, remember to act according to your capabilities."
"Yes."
During his days in the Heaven Expanse Sect, he naturally learned about the Hundred Formation Pagoda from various sources. He knew that Bai Qian wasn't exaggerating. The Hundred Formation Pagoda's array path cultivation was greatly beneficial. It could be said that all the array cultivators in the Nine States' Grand Heaven Alliance would think of ways to come to the Heaven Expanse Sect to challenge the Hundred Formation Pagoda. The Heaven Expanse Sect welcomed them and didn't keep it to themselves. They didn't even use it to gain any benefits.
However, it was undeniable that the Hundred Formation Pagoda brought the Heaven Expanse Sect a lot of connections. This was an intangible benefit.
The Hundred Formation Pagoda was very dangerous. It wasn't just the array itself that was dangerous, but also the benefits obtained after passing each level's test. These benefits were also dangerous.
This was because there were many array cultivators who died in the Hundred Formation Pagoda. Among them, there was no lack of genius array cultivators from large sects.
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