Inside the Array Forging Hall of the East China Sea Dragon Palace, pale blue water energy auras weaved into a net across the dome. Countless tiny runes darted through the air like swimming fish, casting shimmering water reflections all over the hall.
Mo Yuan spread a beast-skin array scroll on the jade table. His black mist fingertips tapped lightly at the scroll's edge, but his brows were furrowed into a knot.
"Your Majesty, though the Profound Water Array is an ancient formation from the Primordial World, the East China Sea's spiritual veins have just stabilized," he said. "The water vein flow rates across the seventy-two sea areas are inconsistent. If we forcefully deploy the formation according to the original scroll, the array cores may collapse due to spiritual energy imbalance."
As soon as he finished speaking, the scroll on the jade table glowed with a faint red light. This was a "Warning Talisman" specially crafted by the Array Forging Hall—any flaw in the formation would trigger a red light alert.
Ao Xuan stood beside the jade table, leaning down to examine the scroll closely. The Profound Water Array Scroll was a fragment Mo Yuan had found in the ancient texts of the Cuttlefish clan. It depicted thirty-six array cores, which required converging the waters of the Four Seas to form the "Water Curtain Sky Barrier," capable of withstanding a full-powered strike from a Golden Immortal.
But at this moment, the red light at the three array core markers in the southern sea area was particularly dazzling—clearly a lingering hazard from the previously corrupted spiritual veins.
"Though the spiritual crystal vein in the southern sea has been confirmed, the chaotic miasma in the water veins hasn't been fully purified," Xuan Cang said, holding a spiritual vein detection wooden slip with a solemn tone. "Using this as an array core might allow demonic energy to seep into the formation."
"During the Water Spirit Department's inspection earlier, we discovered that the water vein flow deep within the mine is thirty percent slower than expected," he added. "It likely can't support the spiritual energy consumption of an array core."
Qing He stood nearby, her fingertips wreathed in emerald wood essence. She tapped gently at the red light on the scroll. The moment her essence merged with it, the red light faded slightly but didn't disappear completely.
"Wood essence can temporarily suppress the miasma, but it's only a stopgap measure," she said. "To stabilize the array cores, we need to use primordial spiritual veins as the foundation, supplemented by merit power for purification, to restore the water veins to their original flow rate."
Ao Xuan twirled his fingertips, and a wisp of merit golden light fell on the scroll. Wherever the golden light passed, the red light faded like melting snow—but once the golden light dissipated, the red light slowly reappeared. He realized instantly that the Profound Water Array required "living veins" as a guide, not just external suppression.
A "living vein" meant complete resonance between the array cores and the East China Sea's spiritual veins, flowing freely like the blood vessels of a human body.
"Jiao Xuan once said that the Profound Water Array shares the same origin as the Black Tortoise of the Four Symbols, with 'subduing water' as its core," Ao Xuan said, looking up toward the hall entrance. His dragon eyes pierced the Dragon Palace's barrier, clearly seeing the surging water veins in the depths of the East China Sea.
"We haven't found the remnant souls of the White Tiger or Vermilion Bird yet, and the Black Tortoise's trace is even harder to track," he continued. "But that doesn't mean we can't lay the foundation of the Four Symbols first. Using the Azure Dragon's water energy as a guide, we can simulate the Four Symbols' power through the East China Sea's spiritual veins."
Mo Yuan's eyes lit up. "Your Majesty, do you mean to take the East China Sea's spiritual eye as the core, then set up four 'false Four Symbols array cores' in the east, south, west, and north seas, connecting them into a network with spiritual veins?"
"Exactly," Ao Xuan said, raising his hand. A pale blue water mirror appeared in the hall, showing the entire East China Sea.
"The East China Sea's spiritual eye—where the Dragon Palace resides—boasts the strongest primordial water energy, and can serve as the Azure Dragon array core. The spiritual crystal vein in the southern sea is guarded by the Bone-Rot Poison Squid; we can borrow its ferocious aura to simulate the Black Tortoise's 'prison-suppressing' power as the Black Tortoise array core. Shan Yue's illusory arrays in the western coral reefs can weave wood essence with firelight to simulate the Vermilion Bird's 'evil-burning' power. Jiao Xue's ice-based divine arts in the northern cold pool can use cold qi to simulate the White Tiger's 'slaughter' power.
Connecting these four array cores with the Profound Water Array as the meridian will form the 'Four Symbols Profound Water Array'—it should be able to hold off even a fiend tide."
Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with joy.
Xie Ao immediately clasped his fists. "Brilliant plan, Your Majesty! The Black Tortoise Guard will inform the Sea Generals at once—let Li Hong regulate the southern water veins, Jiao Xue reinforce the northern cold pool, and Shan Yue perfect the western illusory arrays!"
"Wait," Ao Xuan raised his hand to stop him. "This formation deployment must be kept secret. If the chaotic fiends detect the array cores, they may launch an early attack. Mo Yuan, lead the Array Forging Hall disciples to the spiritual eye first to conceal the array's movements. Qing He, accompany Xuan Cang to the southern mine to sort out the water veins and help the Bone-Rot Poison Squid purify the residual miasma in its body. Xie Ao, order Xia Ji to lead the Elite Battalion to secretly escort the Array Forging Hall disciples. If any rogue cultivators spy on us, show no mercy."
Three days later, a team consisting of cuttlefish spirits, crab generals, and Elite Battalion soldiers quietly left the East China Sea Dragon Palace.
The Dragon Palace had undergone several expansions. The location of the East China Sea's spiritual eye was no longer what it used to be. Under Ao Xuan's repeated adjustments, the spiritual eye had sunk tens of thousands of meters, wrapped by nine water veins in a "nine-bend interlocking" pattern. It was a gathering place of primordial water energy, with extremely complex water currents—ordinary people would be torn apart by the turbulent flows if they approached casually.
Ao Xuan named it "Dragon Abyss" and built a prison at the bottom, publicly declaring it the Dragon Palace's detention center.
As soon as they approached Dragon Abyss, Ao Xuan sensed something amiss. The water veins at the bottom were much more turbulent than usual, mixed with a faint black aura.
"Chaotic demonic energy?"
Ao Xuan's dragon eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth and let out a cyan-gold dragon roar. The sonic wave spread out, instantly churning the surrounding sea water.
"Who's spying in the shadows?"
His voice, heavy with dragon's might, echoed through the deep sea. After a moment, a black shadow darted out from behind the rocks at the bottom of the abyss—it was an emaciated demonized spirit shark. Its scales were pitch black, its eye sockets glowed with scarlet light, and it held half of an aquatic creature's corpse in its mouth. Clearly, it had been corrupted by demonic energy and turned into a fiend.
"Your Majesty, be careful! This is a demonized fiend—its teeth contain chaotic miasma!" Mo Yuan's black mist surged, transforming into dozens of black spears that shot toward the demonized spirit shark.
But the spirit shark was extremely fast, nimbly dodging the spears and pouncing instead at one of the Array Forging Hall's cuttlefish spirits.
At that moment, a silver flash streaked by. Xia Ji, wielding his red-tipped spear, leaped out from the team. The spear's tip glowed with crimson spiritual light as it accurately pierced the demonized spirit shark's eye socket.
With a squelch, the spirit shark's eyeball was punctured. Black blood sprayed out, creating black ripples in the sea water.
"Hmph!" Ao Xuan snorted coldly. He flicked a wisp of golden light toward the black ripples. The golden light instantly devoured the miasma, and the sea water cleared again.
Seizing the opportunity, Xia Ji swung his red-tipped spear, which was now wreathed in water energy. He stabbed fiercely into the demonized spirit shark's skull and pried out its inner core—now blackened by demonic energy, it crumbled into ashes at the lightest touch.
"It seems Luo Hu's infernal flames have already begun to seep into the East China Sea," Ao Xuan said, his brows furrowed. "This demonized spirit shark's cultivation isn't high, yet it could bypass the turbulent currents to reach here—clearly, the demonic energy has enhanced its speed. If the fiend tide is filled with such demonized creatures, the pressure on the Profound Water Array will be even greater."
Mo Yuan retracted his black mist, his face solemn. "Your Majesty, we must speed up the formation deployment. Demonic energy has already appeared in Dragon Abyss's water veins. If we don't set up the array core soon, the spiritual eye at the bottom of the abyss may be corrupted."
No one dared to delay. They quickly dived to the bottom of Dragon Abyss. The entire bottom was cyan-gold, covered in fine dragon patterns. The primordial water energy seeping from the stone crevices was several times denser than that of the Dragon Palace's spiritual eye.
Mo Yuan instructed the Array Forging Hall disciples to embed thirty-six "Array Stabilizing Pearls" around the Azure Dragon Stone according to the scroll's coordinates. Each pearl contained the essence blood of the Cuttlefish clan, allowing it to resonate with the water veins.
"Your Majesty, we need to use your Azure Dragon soul as a guide to activate the Array Stabilizing Pearls," Mo Yuan said, handing over a translucent array flag. "This is the 'Azure Dragon Water-Subduing Flag,' forged from primordial spirit wood. It can bear your water energy laws and guide the convergence of spiritual energy from the Four Symbols array cores."
Ao Xuan took the array flag, infusing it with both merit golden light and water energy from his fingertips.
In an instant, a cyan dragon pattern emerged on the flag. It coiled toward the Array Stabilizing Pearls, and each pearl glowed with pale blue light as the dragon pattern touched it. When the last pearl lit up, a powerful surge of water vein energy erupted from the bottom of Dragon Abyss. Cyan spiritual light gushed out from the Azure Dragon Stone, weaving into a net with the pearls' light.
"By the order of the East China Sea Dragon King—converge the southern water veins!" Ao Xuan shouted loudly.
Far away in the southern mine, Li Hong received the message and immediately activated the Water Spirit Department's "Water Vein Guide," channeling the water vein energy from the spiritual crystal mine toward Dragon Abyss.
Deep in the East China Sea, a pale blue water dragon rose from the southern sea area and flew toward Dragon Abyss. Wherever the water dragon passed, the sea water parted automatically, forming a smooth water vein channel.
At the same time, Shan Yue waved her coral staff in the western coral reefs, weaving wood essence with firelight into a crimson spiritual light that flew toward Dragon Abyss. Jiao Xue exhaled cold qi in the northern cold pool, condensing a silver-white ice dragon that also converged toward Dragon Abyss. The Bone-Rot Poison Squid in the southern mine spewed a cloud of black miasma, which, under Qing He's wood essence guidance, transformed into a dark black spiritual light and merged into the water vein channel.
The four-colored spiritual lights converged in the air above Dragon Abyss, weaving with the Profound Water Array's pale blue light to form a Four Symbols phantom—the Azure Dragon coiled in the east, the Vermilion Bird soared in the south, the White Tiger roared in the west, and the Black Tortoise lurked in the north.
The moment the phantom descended, the entire East China Sea's water veins shook violently. The water veins in the seventy-two sea areas glowed simultaneously, dotting the East China Sea like stars.
"It's done!" Mo Yuan exclaimed excitedly. The Profound Water Array Scroll on the jade table was now fully lit, the red light completely faded and replaced by soft blue light. "The Four Symbols Profound Water Array has initially taken shape! If we encounter a fiend tide, we just need to activate the Azure Dragon Water-Subduing Flag to summon the Four Symbols phantom and form the Water Curtain Sky Barrier!"
Ao Xuan put away the array flag, but he didn't feel much joy.
He could clearly sense that the spiritual light of the Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise in the Four Symbols phantom was extremely weak. Obviously, without the true Four Symbols' blessing, they could only rely on spiritual vein simulation. If they encountered a truly powerful enemy, the formation might not hold for long.
"It's not enough," Ao Xuan said, staring at the Four Symbols phantom. "This is only a temporary solution. After the fiend tide passes, we must find the White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise as soon as possible. Only the true power of the Four Symbols can bring the Profound Water Array to its full potential."
As soon as he finished speaking, a panicked Array Forging Hall disciple ran over. "Your Majesty! A large number of fiends have appeared in the eastern sea area! Leading them is a 'Black Armored Giant Whale'—even larger than General Jing Ba! It's charging toward Dragon Abyss!"
Everyone's faces turned pale instantly.