377: Chapter 377 Improved Spirit Array, Upgraded Defense

As the morning light just crawled onto the stone railing of the Main Peak's barrier platform, Ling Zhenzi was already squatting at the edge of the array eye, dragging that Jade Slip in his hand back and forth against the ground.

His brows were furrowed into a knot. He swiped his finger along the side of the Jade Slip, and a line of tiny characters popped out.

"High-frequency vibration three times, delay 0.3 breaths." After reading it, he smacked his lips. "Did that girl Bai Ling pull another big stunt last night? This isn't testing magic; it's clearly treating the barrier like a punching bag."

He didn't look up, just tossed the Jade Slip to the side, slapping it into the dirt with a thwack.

Standing nearby were two young Formation Masters; one was holding a recording board, while the other held a Formation Flag, not daring to breathe loudly.

"What are you looking at?" Ling Zhenzi suddenly turned his head. "Why aren't you going to adjust the rune sequence of the 'Earth Vein Resonance Layer'? The six-fold overlapping Formation can't handle this kind of impact. If you don't add more materials, next time a Golden Core comes along and blasts it, it'll leak air!"

The two hurriedly ran off. Ling Zhenzi snorted, pulled a small carving knife from his bosom, squatted down, and began scratching away at the bluestone.

Where the knife tip passed, runes emerged one by one, drilling deep along the stone crevices as if they were alive.

"The old rules won't work anymore," he muttered while carving. "Only knowing how to dodge when hit—that's a tortoise shell, not a defensive Formation. It needs to learn to bite back."

As he was saying this, the small copper bell hanging at his waist suddenly rang with a ding.

He reached up to touch it; a thin thread was connected to the bottom of the bell, leading to the sensing stakes buried underground.

This was the "Spiritual Energy Feedback Circuit" newly developed by the Family, capable of sensing the flow of residual Spiritual Qi after an attack.

"It's here." His eyes lit up. "Let's test this."

He grabbed a fist-sized crystal from the side, tossed it into the air, and thrust his palm upward—Boom! A fire snake shot out, heading straight for the test target ten zhang away.

The target was a thick iron plate with spirit patterns painted on the surface, used specifically to simulate enemy attacks.

The fire snake collided with it, and the iron plate vibrated with a hum. Before the energy dissipated, the string of sensing stakes underground rang out in succession, sounding like a string of firecrackers popping from left to right.

Ling Zhenzi stared at the copper bell by his feet, counting: "One, two, three... point seven has the strongest reaction."

Before he finished speaking, he slammed his left hand onto the ground. Seven runes lit up simultaneously, instantly weaving a pale golden net behind the target.

The remaining force of the fire snake hadn't dissipated; it lunged forward, hit the net, and was actually deflected at an angle, bouncing diagonally into the sand pit nearby.

"Deflection successful." He grinned. "Next—counterattack!"

He beckoned with his right hand, and the "Counter-Shock Lightning-Inducing Array Eye" hidden in the target's base popped its lid open with a click. A purple arc of electricity crackled out, striking exactly where the fire snake had hit.

Boom! The target was blown into two halves on the spot, the charred cross-section emitting smoke.

"Good!" He slapped his thigh and stood up. "Feedback capture is in place, counterattack path is precise. Now, whoever dares to crash into it will first taste the fist they threw coming back to smash their own face!"

The two Disciples nearby looked on with eyes nearly popping out. One of them stammered, "Se—Senior, this Formation... can it even fight back on its own?"

"Nonsense." Ling Zhenzi glared at him. "If your door only knows how to take kicks and can't push back, is that called a door? That's called a tattered curtain!"

He turned and walked to the East Gate hub Formation Plate, where twelve mysterious iron Formation stakes stood in a circle, each with a rice-grain-sized crystal embedded in its top.

"See that? These little gadgets can now recognize eight types of attacks." He pointed to one of them. "Fire attacks go to fire, ice attacks go to ice, sound waves are filed separately, and Spiritual Pressure is calculated separately. Wherever they hit, it's accounted for; it's all clearly distinguished."

He took out a copper token and gave it a gentle swipe on the first stake. The token was a specially made identity imprint; only members of the Chen Family could trigger the pass signal.

With a soft beep, the Formation stake flashed with blue light.

"Normal passage, access granted." He said, then switched to a trial token for a stranger.

This time, red light flashed three times, and an alarm sounded immediately.

"Suspicious source locked." He nodded. "As long as it's not our people, anyone approaching has to go through a screening. And—"

He squatted down, opened the small lid at the bottom of the Formation stake, revealing a micro crystal board: "I also added 'behavioral trajectory comparison.' Patrol route incorrect? Walking too fast? Turning angle off? All of them get escalated to Level 1 alert."

He stood up and clapped his hands: "Before, I defended wherever the enemy attacked. Now, wherever the enemy wants to attack, I prepare the nails in advance and wait for them to poke themselves."

The sun climbed to the zenith, and he took his people to the central array eye hall for final adjustments.

The entire hall was like an inverted bowl, with the dome filled with flowing rune chains, and a main pillar in the center leading straight underground, connecting to the entire Chen Family's earth veins.

"Last test," he said. "For real this time." He retreated outside the hall and shouted inside: "Release the Nascent Soul Late Stage simulated attack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the main pillar shook violently, and a burst of violent Spiritual Pressure soared into the sky, as if an expert inside had struck with full force. The entire hilltop shook.

The Spirit Array responded instantly: the first layer of deflection shields deployed, the second layer of regional reinforcement activated, and the third layer, "Phantom Shift Defense," created three fake weak points to lure the enemy in.

But when it came to the counterattack phase, the purple lightning rose halfway, suddenly paused, and then slowly extinguished.

"Damn it!" Ling Zhenzi slapped the wall. "Misjudgment again! Did it mistake the high-level Spiritual Qi for one of our own Elders?"

He rushed in, flipped through the log, and snorted coldly: "The threshold is set too strictly. It treats friendly signals as the standard, so when an outsider is strong, it can't recognize them."

He sat at the control console, his fingers moving rapidly, marking all non-Chen-surname Spiritual auras as red alerts, and added a movement pattern analysis module.

"Not a Family member and not on the patrol route? Treat them as a thief immediately!" He gritted his teeth. "I'd rather wrongly accuse a hundred than let a single loophole slip."

After finishing the modifications, he stepped up himself. He drew his sword, infused it with a Golden Core level Sword Qi, and thrust it straight at the main array eye.

Hum—! The Spirit Array identified it instantly: non-Family member, unconventional path, high-intensity attack—all three criteria met.

Shield deflection! Inductive illusion generated! Hidden array eye locked onto the target!

The final purple lightning bolt crashed down, striking precisely three inches in front of his sword tip, exploding into a blinding spark.

"It's done!" He threw his head back and laughed. "Four-stage response, millisecond-level judgment. Now, let alone sneak attacks, even if a Nascent Soul expert attacks head-on, they'll have to ask my lightning if it agrees first!"

He sheathed his sword and walked out of the hall. The setting sun was resting on the mountain ridge, dyeing the entire Main Peak gold and red.

He stood on the steps, took a sip of water, wiped his sweat, and looked at the lights gradually flickering on in the distance.

The city had already started lighting its lamps, smoke curled from chimneys, and the faint sound of children calling for their mothers drifted over.

The footsteps of the patrol team were uniform and rhythmic as they walked past the wall.

He sat on the stone steps, placed the empty water bottle beside him, and said in a low voice, "Now, I can finally get a good night's sleep."