Qi Tian slowly opened his eyes.
Morning had arrived.
A thin ray of dawn filtered through the gap in the window, falling quietly across his knees.
He rose to his feet, about to stretch his stiff limbs.
Then, as he turned—
He froze.
What the hell?!
The sixteen spirit stones embedded in the array the night before had all been reduced to powder. Pale gray dust lay scattered across the floor.
A sharp pain twisted through Qi Tian's chest.
Normally, a second-tier Spirit Gathering Array could run for twenty or thirty cycles on a single set of low-grade spirit stones. That was the expected consumption rate.
But him?
Just one night of cultivation.
Sixteen stones in the array.
Six more in his hands.
Twenty-two spirit stones in total—
Every last one had been devoured.
This wasn't cultivation.
This was burning spirit stones alive.
This was eating through his savings.
"...Sigh."
He lowered his head with a quiet sigh.
Then his gaze swept across the formation lines.
