Teleportation Array

“...” The Saint's remnant soul said nothing. Looking at the smiling youth before him, he felt that Xu Yuan was probably joking. Yet everything that had just occurred made the quip seem not like a joke at all. Even the smile on the youth's face appeared steeped in profound meaning. But if that were truly the case... Ever since setting out on this journey, hadn't Xu Yuan's conduct in so many respects seemed like that of a completely clueless greenhorn? Whenever he saw the bloody sight of severed limbs from ordinary village women and old men after demonic beast attacks, he would look away. The first time he encountered bandits blocking the road and killed them with his own hands, his heart had raced when the blood splattered across his face, and he had even gagged in revulsion. When cultivating, he made the very same mistakes typical of a novice taking their first steps on the path. None of these behaviors resembled those of a calculating, ancient monster. Still, perhaps all of it had been an act... Xu Yuan interrupted Old Man Luo's train of thought with a chuckle. “I've noticed you're remarkably easy to fool, old man. This young master is no ancient monster. Of course, if you insist on calling me Senior, I won't turn it down.” “Heh heh.” The Saint's remnant soul remained noncommittal. “You don't believe me?” “What do you think?” “Looks like you don't.” “Naturally.” Xu Yuan spread his hands somewhat helplessly. “Then if I told you I took this body through possession, would that make you feel any better?” “...” The Saint's remnant soul pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “No, that feels even worse.” “...” Xu Yuan went quiet. After a second of silence, Xu Yuan stopped in his tracks, turned, and went to pat the Saint's remnant soul on the shoulder, saying earnestly, “Old Man Luo, let me tell you—” Before he could finish, his hand passed straight through the Saint's ethereal body. “...” The Saint's remnant soul cast him a sideways glance. Xu Yuan smacked his lips. “Use Source Qi,” the remnant soul reminded him. Xu Yuan cleared his throat, wrapped his palm in Source Qi, and patted the middle-aged scholar's ethereal shoulder. “In short, Old Man Luo, I merely came across a few fortuitous opportunities. There's no need to overthink it. As for secret techniques like soul-refining, I don't know the first thing about them.” “...” The Saint's remnant soul stared. After a silent standoff, the Saint's remnant soul suddenly chuckled, his voice booming with low resonance. “Since you say so, kid, this old man will take your word for it for now.” Xu Yuan replied in kind, “Then I'll take it that you believe me.” With that, the young and the old exchanged a knowing smile. Their act concluded, the two silently entered a hollow beneath the cherry tree. The hollow was much like the underground chambers back at Xu Manor—dim, narrow, and of fathomless depth. Xu Yuan paced slowly down the steps, calculating quietly in his mind. He had long been prepared for the Saint's remnant soul to notice something amiss. Without this old grandpa, he would never have dared venture into the depths of a secret realm, not even with Ran Qingmo by his side. Entering such secret realms at his current strength was roughly equivalent to a level 30 character in Cangyuan running a level 80 dungeon. Take the Meishen cherry tree and the Leech King, for instance. Although both were only level 85 bosses in Cangyuan, under the specific conditions of Cherry Leech Lake, even an ordinary player at level 90 might not be able to defeat them. Rounded off, they were roughly on par with a First Rank Transcendent Realm expert in reality. Without the Saint's remnant soul, would Xu Yuan have dared come here? Just like in Cangyuan, cheesing a run was entirely viable, but only if you had the baseline strength to reach the destination in the first place. If his luck had been poor and he had been teleported elsewhere, encountering common mobs along the way, even a graze from an attack at that power level would have made him bid farewell to this world without the Saint's protection. This time, it had been pure luck that he was teleported straight to Cherry Leech Lake— Thinking up to this point, Xu Yuan's thoughts hitched slightly. He paused, then shook his head in wry amusement. Being teleported here should probably be considered terrible luck instead. After all, Cherry Leech Lake was among the most dangerous areas in Vault Palace, and he had been dropped directly into the Soul-Confusing Corridor right from the start. His ability to pass through so effortlessly had solely been because he knew the secrets behind it. Had he not known, then even with the Saint's remnant soul guarding him, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he would have perished here. Tsk, a Luck stat of three truly did not lie. In the future, he would need to be mindful of this. If there was another random teleportation, he had to make sure he grabbed onto that big block of ice. Amidst these thoughts, Xu Yuan and the Saint's remnant soul reached the bottom of the hollow. Over ten thousand years, the roots of the Meishen cherry tree had penetrated deep into this secret chamber, twisting and tangling through the stone room in an intricate web. Fortunately, the array runes within did not seem damaged. Releasing his intent-soul to sense them, Xu Yuan found that they were array runes he had never encountered before. Guessing that they likely formed a teleportation array, he glanced back at the Saint's remnant soul. “Old Man Luo, how do you use this teleportation array?” The Saint's remnant soul stared at him in silence, his gaze practically saying: *Keep acting. Go on, let's see how long an old geezer like you can keep up the act.* The corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitched. Right then, the Saint's remnant soul spoke up: “Kid, you knew there was a teleportation array here, and yet you don't know how to use it?” Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and muttered, “Teleportation array runes have long been extinct across Great Yan. Where would I have ever used one?” “Fair enough.” Whether he believed it or not, the Saint's remnant soul gave a nod and waved his hand. The intricate runes carved into the stone chamber filled instantly, like clear water flowing into an irrigation canal. The glowing white light they emitted illuminated the dim tree hollow. Seeing this, Xu Yuan asked, “Old Man Luo, do you know why teleportation arrays went extinct in the outside world?” The Saint's remnant soul chuckled. As he activated the array, he replied offhandedly, “The art was lost.” “Lost?” Xu Yuan frowned. Looking at Xu Yuan's expression, the Saint's remnant soul felt an urge to scoff, but offered a brief explanation nonetheless: “Engraving certain special arrays requires unique resources. Over the ages, however, cultivation mining and shifts in worldly Source Qi have caused some of those resources to die out completely. Without them, many arrays could no longer be carved. As time passed, the methods were naturally lost.” Xu Yuan listened carefully, understanding dawning within him, and asked no further. Yet the Saint's remnant soul clicked his tongue in wonder. “The arrays in this tree hollow are quite something. Aside from the teleportation array, there are other grand arrays here.” As he spoke, he shot Xu Yuan a meaningful glance. Xu Yuan ignored him. After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the glowing light inside the hollow suddenly faded back into stillness. Seeing this, Xu Yuan asked, “Did it work?” The Saint's remnant soul shook his head. “This array requires a soul key to activate. Forcing it would trigger a backlash from the array.” “...” Xu Yuan's expression turned slightly odd. Even array activations in this cultivation world had password protection? Reflecting for a moment, he found it completely reasonable. Grand arrays situated in critical locations in this world held an importance roughly equivalent to nuclear launch controllers in his past life. If any random person could operate a central hub like this, that would be truly absurd. After brief deliberation, Xu Yuan said quietly, “Old Man Luo, try taking control of my body.” “Hm?” The Saint's remnant soul let out a faint sound of curiosity. Recalling the cherry blossom petal that had merged between the youth's brows earlier, he chuckled and slipped straight into the soul ring. A second of silence passed. Xu Yuan waved his hand, and the array activated once more. After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a cherry blossom imprint suddenly surfaced between Xu Yuan's brows. The moment the mark appeared, the array seemed to bridge a crucial juncture, letting out a resonant hum! In the next instant, the entire tree hollow was illuminated as bright as day by the radiance of the array runes!