55: Chapter 55 Spirit Array Deployment, Impregnable Defense

The night wind whistled through the gaps in the mountain ridge, making the torches flicker.

Chen Tiezhu crouched on a blue rock at the foot of the West Ridge, holding a broken piece of an array-patterned stone, his brow furrowed like a knotted steel cable.

He didn't speak, but simply slapped the stone piece onto the ground, its crack facing upward.

"Old Seven, bring the Furnace Temperature Control Meter." He didn't even look up.

A young artisan behind him trotted over and handed him a Jade Slip panel, but just as his finger touched the cuff of his sleeve, he was stopped by a low shout:

"Don't touch my clothes! If they get stained with Talisman Ink and the furnace explodes later, will you take responsibility?"

The Jade Slip stopped in mid-air, and the man sheepishly withdrew his hand.

Chen Tiezhu scanned the data stream and snorted coldly.

"As I thought. The old warning array is still leaking Spiritual Pressure, and its frequency is clashing with the new Thunderfire Ambush Array. If we keep stacking them like this, we'll cause a landslide ourselves before the enemy even makes a move."

He stood up, the soles of his boots crushing a few grains of array base residue, and raised a hand to point at seven protruding rocky platforms ahead.

"Dismantle them! Strip all the Single-direction Detection Arrays to their foundations and replace them with Dual-direction Sensing Cores. Bury the Earth Vein Resonance Points three zhang deep, and make sure the Fuse Lines bypass the main water supply pipes—remember, these things aren't just for show; they're biting dogs, so we have to hide their teeth well."

The group immediately dispersed, and the sounds of hammers, chisels, and the hum of Psionic Cutting Machines suddenly filled the air.

Chen Tiezhu didn't go far, leaning against a large boulder as he took a yellowed sketch from his robe and spread it out.

There were several crooked arcs and markers drawn on the paper, with dried oil stains on the corners.

He poked one of the spots with the tip of his Iron Pen: "Add a set of Reverse Diversion Slots here. In case the enemy uses the Static Stealth Technique to sneak in, we can detect their movement through the geothermal difference."

An old artisan nearby leaned in to take a look and hesitated, "But... this change is too big, the Clan Head's side..."

"The Clan Head told me to set up the defenses; he didn't say I had to follow the ancestral rules," Chen Tiezhu interrupted him, his voice not loud but sounding like a hammer hitting an anvil. "He made it clear last night—let them find a flaw, then fall into the pit. If we don't dig it deeper now, who's going to take the fall for the clansmen when the fighting starts?"

The man fell silent.

The pace of construction quickened. A small boring machine rumbled forward, drilling neat holes into the rock layers.

As each node was completed, artisans quickly embedded newly crafted Thunderfire Crystal Cores and sealed them with Red Copper Wire.

The entire process was orderly, without a single redundant word.

A slight vibration came from the direction of the South River Valley.

Chen Tiezhu looked up and narrowed his eyes.

Over there, the final set of bottom-dwelling oscillation batteries was being installed; twelve pitch-black metal pods had already sunk beneath the riverbed's mud and sand, leaving only a very thin Psionic Wire snaking up the river bottom to connect to a control post disguised as a stone tablet on the bank.

He hurried over, his soles making muffled thuds on the slippery riverbank.

"Are the parameters adjusted?" he asked the assistant waiting at the terminal.

"The last set of calibrations is complete, but..." The assistant hesitated for a moment, "The optical refractive index is a bit off; the edges of the projected Shield Projection are blurry, and I'm afraid it won't stand up to close inspection."

Chen Tiezhu crouched down, fiddled with the wire interface for a bit, and suddenly laughed. "That's exactly what I want—for it to not stand up to close inspection."

He stood up and kicked the side of the control post. "Release!"

In an instant, the entire river surface shimmered with chaotic light.

A layer of pale golden light screen rose from beneath the water, spanning both banks, with layers of images floating on its surface—

Some were thick stone walls, some were Rotating Blade Arrays, and there were even flashes simulating a Psionic Cannon charging.

Light and shadow intertwined, making it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.

"See that?" He pointed at the illusions. "It's not meant to fool experts; it's for the scouts. When they go back and report that the Chen Family's outer perimeter is filled with killing arrays, the higher-ups will panic. The more mysterious it seems, the better. Anyway, no one will dare to actually touch it."

The assistant grinned. "I get it. A bluff on the surface, but killing them from underwater."

"Smart." Chen Tiezhu patted his shoulder. "Before tonight, give all the battery casings a weathered look—add some rust and algae spots, the more broken the better. Make people think they've been out of repair for years; that's the only way to catch them off guard at the critical moment."

The order was passed down, and everyone went their separate ways.

At the top of the north tower, a silver-white figure stood silently.

Chen Wuwang had been there for a while.

Standing on the observation deck, his right Mechanical Prosthetic Eye slowly scanned the entire area, and countless fine data streams appeared in his vision: energy distribution, node response, signal delay... everything was laid bare.

He looked closely, especially at the feedback curve of the Phantom Light Mystery Array in the South River Valley.

"Not a bad performance," he murmured to himself.

Then, he lightly tapped his brow with his fingertip, and his consciousness sank into the depths.

The System interface floated quietly, with the three heavenly secret instructions appearing as usual, their content unrelated to the current project. He didn't look further and exited his Sea of Consciousness.

Footsteps approached from a distance.

"Clan Head." Chen Tiezhu walked up to the top of the tower, panting and sweating. "The seven Thunderfire Arrays at the West Ridge are charged and ready, and the twelve batteries in the South River have completed their sealing tests. Except for a 0.3-breath signal delay in the North Zone Auxiliary Arrays, everything else is normal."

Chen Wuwang nodded without speaking, walked straight to the northern railing, and aimed his right eye at a hidden small Array Core in the distance.

A faint blue light pattern flashed by.

"Fluctuations caused by switching the Backup Furnace's power supply," he said calmly. "The impedance of the temporary connection line doesn't match. Switch to the main dedicated line for a direct connection and handle it immediately."

"Yes." Chen Tiezhu immediately took out a Jade Slip and gave the order.

In less than fifteen minutes, the signal returned to normal.

Only then did Chen Wuwang turn around and walk down the stone steps of the tower one by one. His steps were steady and silent, with only a corner of his cloak fluttering slightly in the night wind.

Chen Tiezhu followed behind him and asked in a low voice, "Do you need to check anywhere else?"},{

"No." Chen Wuwang stopped and looked back at the entire defensive zone. "I've already seen everything."

He raised his hand and entered a set of encrypted commands. There was a subtle ripple in the air, as if some invisible protocol had been quietly activated.

"Now, all Spirit Arrays are entering low-power standby mode," he said. "The appearance remains unchanged, but the traps are fully active. What the enemy sees is a solid wall of brass and iron, but what they won't expect is that this wall bites."

Chen Tiezhu grinned, revealing a row of teeth yellowed by smoke. "Then let them come and try."

Chen Wuwang didn't smile. He just gazed at the pitch-black mountain forest in the distance, his eyes calm but hiding a sharp edge.

A moment later, he turned and walked toward the Inner Hall.

Chen Tiezhu stood still until the silver-white figure disappeared at the end of the porch.

He looked down at the Iron Pen in his hand, then at the last battery still being tuned in the South River Valley, and ordered in a deep voice, "Continue working. Three-shift rotation. I'm not leaving, so don't even think about sleeping."

He didn't leave either, pulling up a low stool to sit on the riverbank, munching on dry rations while staring at every jumping value on the monitoring screen.

The night grew deeper.

Chen Wuwang walked through the long corridor without stopping. The candlelight on both sides reflected half of his face, the mechanical lens of his left eye glinting coldly, while the three claw marks on his right cheek were hidden in the shadows.

He stopped at the entrance of the Inner Hall and looked back toward the river valley.

The wind was very light, and nothing could be heard.

But he knew that some things had already been buried in the ground, just waiting for a single command.

He pushed the door open and entered, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

Outside, a night owl skimmed over the eaves again, its wings cutting through the silence.

On the riverbank, Chen Tiezhu exhaled a breath of turbid air and swallowed the last bite of his dry rations.

He wiped his mouth and stared at the steady energy curve on the screen, muttering a single sentence:

"Come on."