However, as an Array Master, prying into a client’s cultivation secrets was a major taboo.
He quickly composed himself and said with a troubled expression, "Sir, while this Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array is a type of Spirit Gathering Array, it is far more complex. It requires maintaining the balance of the five types of Qi, ensuring they mutually generate and restrain each other in an endless cycle. This makes it several times more troublesome to set up than a single-element Array."
"This kind of Array has extremely high requirements for the positioning of the array eyes and the purity of the materials. Although I have the Lii Family’s legacy, my personal experience in setting up such a complex Grand Array is still limited."
He paused, then added sincerely, "I will do my utmost to plan it out for you, Sir.
If anything goes wrong midway, I will go home and ask my father to step in. I guarantee your silver coins won’t be wasted."
Hearing his candid words and lack of arrogance, Chu Bai felt a greater sense of trust. He nodded slightly, signaling for him to continue.
Seeing that Chu Bai had no objections, Lii Feng began to detail the costs. "Regarding the expenses for this Array, my Lii Family has always been fair. A standard Spirit Gathering Array, one that only intercepts the Pure Qi filtered by the Law Net, costs about a hundred taels of silver to complete.
For Arrays that the great families request with specific attributes, such as pure Metal Qi or Fire Qi, the price typically ranges from two hundred to five hundred taels of silver, depending on the scale."
"As for the Five Elements Circulation Grand Array you’ve requested..." Lii Feng mulled it over for a moment, then held up five fingers. "To create a complete and stable system, the total cost will be around five hundred taels of silver. The material fees alone will account for three to four hundred taels. The remainder is my labor fee and the price for the Lii Family’s reputation."
Five hundred taels of silver.
Chu Bai calculated silently. ’That’s almost five months of my salary. Even in Anping County, that’s enough to buy three residences like Qingfeng Courtyard.’
But he also knew that cultivation was an extremely resource-intensive endeavor.
The reason the residences of the great families in the city had Spiritual Mechanisms as thick as fog and produced a steady stream of experts was all thanks to such expensive, custom-built Arrays.
"Once the Array is set up, although it can intercept the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism to form its own cycle, you, Sir, will still need to find a source for the Spiritual Qi."
Lii Feng explained earnestly, "You will need to place corresponding Spiritual Objects into the five elemental array eyes as catalysts. Only then can the Array operate normally and continuously generate the Five Element Spiritual Energy."
Chu Bai nodded in understanding. "The price is fair. As for the necessary materials, Array Master Lii, please just list them out."
Upon hearing this, Lii Feng took out the paper and brush he carried with him and, with flamboyant strokes, wrote out a long list.
The most eye-catching item on it was the requirement of fifty Spirit Stones.
"These fifty Spirit Stones are the power source for the Array Disc and are extremely difficult to procure," Lii Feng explained.
Chu Bai glanced at the list and said calmly, "I happen to have some Spirit Stones on hand. We can use them to offset part of the material cost."
In the time that followed, Lii Feng was once again busy in the courtyard.
He held a Compass of Fixing and repeatedly surveyed locations like the main gate, the main house, the spirit screen, and the dry well in the backyard, roughly confirming the specific locations for the Five Elements array eyes.
"The locations are set. Next is to prepare the Array Banners and inscribe the Talisman Array."
Lii Feng put away his tools and cupped his fist in a salute to Chu Bai. "Sir, once the materials are ready, it will take me about half a month to complete the setup. When the Grand Array is activated, Qingfeng Courtyard will become one of the top cultivation Blessed Lands in all of Anping County."
Chu Bai rose to see his guest out. As he watched Lii Feng’s retreating figure, a glimmer of anticipation flashed in his eyes.
’Half a month.’ He just had to wait for this Five Elements Gathering Spirit Array to be completed, and his future cultivation should speed up considerably.
After Lii Feng left, silence returned to Qingfeng Courtyard.
Chu Bai stood alone in the center of the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the array eye locations Lii Feng had just marked out, and couldn’t help but feel a stir of emotion.
’These Hundred Skills of Cultivation, if mastered to a profound level, are truly a shortcut to great wealth and fortune.’
He calculated silently: Lii Feng would earn a net profit of over a hundred taels of silver for half a month’s work. Furthermore, as a Registered Cultivator of the Celestial Observatory, this job didn’t interfere with his official duties or his daily cultivation. It was truly the envy of others.
However, Chu Bai was also aware that this kind of income had a high barrier to entry.
The Lii Family had been managing its Array legacy for four generations. What Lii Feng possessed was not just the technique of setting up Arrays, but also the hundreds of years of planning experience and exclusive Array Maps accumulated by his family.
If it were an ordinary cultivator, just trying to grasp the basics of Arrays would likely require spending a massive amount of resources on practice, with no guarantee of success in the end.
And for Chu Bai, who bore the "Non-stop Rushing" Fate Chart, the one thing he lacked most was time.
At this stage, he had no intention of dividing his focus to study these complex skills from the Hundred Arts. He had only one thought: set up the Spirit Gathering Array as soon as possible and use it to rapidly raise his Realm.
’The Array is good, but to get all Five Elements moving, I’ll have to put some thought into the matter of the ’catalysts’ myself.’
The core of a Spirit Gathering Array was to intercept the Spiritual Qi under the Law Net and form a self-contained cycle, thereby accelerating one’s breathing and cultivation efficiency.
But Lii Feng had also made it clear that if he wanted to cultivate specific Five Element Spiritual Energy, he had to offer corresponding Spiritual Objects in the array eyes to serve as the source of production.
Chu Bai performed Introspection. Although the Guiyuan Technique he cultivated had reached Perfection and his Five Elements Circulation was unobstructed, the Five Elements Spiritual Power within his body was currently unbalanced.
His Metal, Wood, and Fire Qi had all been obtained from the Spirit Pavilion at the Daoist School. He had chosen rare types of Qi of high quality, so they were naturally sufficient.
In contrast, his Water and Earth Qi were now somewhat lacking. This caused his grand Five Elements circulation to be less than perfect and smooth when it operated.
’I don’t have any treasures on hand that can produce Spiritual Qi long-term. It looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the Marketplace.’

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