A few months passed quietly after Lin Sheng's return to the Lin Family, and during that period, he spent most of his time together with the Grand Elder, travelling throughout Dragon Yuan Mountain and carefully examining the terrain beneath their feet.
The two of them moved through mountains, valleys and underground passages that ordinary members of the Lin Family had never even known existed, while Lin Sheng's divine sense spread outward like an invisible tide, penetrating deep into the earth and tracing the complicated network of spiritual veins and earth nodes beneath the mountain.
Dragon Yuan Mountain was far more complicated than it appeared from the surface.
Its mountains were connected beneath the earth, the natural terrain forming an enormous network that had developed over countless years, while the spiritual vein running beneath the mountain continuously supplied spiritual energy to the surrounding land, nourishing the entire Lin Family territory.
Lin Sheng stood on the summit of one of the mountains, his robes fluttering gently in the wind as he closed his eyes and extended his perception into the earth.
After several breaths, he slowly opened them.
"This one can be used."
The Grand Elder stood several metres away, his hands behind his back as he looked towards Lin Sheng.
"You've found another?"
Lin Sheng nodded.
"Yes, but this one is only suitable as a secondary node. The pressure would be too great if we used it as one of the main formation cores."
The Grand Elder nodded thoughtfully.
During the past few months, he had gradually gained a deeper understanding of just how terrifying the perception of a genuine Formation Grandmaster could be.
To him, the terrain of Dragon Yuan Mountain had always been familiar.
He had lived here for countless years and knew almost every mountain and valley within the family's territory, yet Lin Sheng could look at the same land and see things that he had never noticed.
The formation grandmaster could see the invisible relationship between the mountains, the spiritual vein, the earth qi and even the natural flow of spiritual energy.
It was as though Dragon Yuan Mountain had become a gigantic formation in his eyes before a single formation inscription had even been carved.
Lin Sheng slowly raised his hand.
A strand of spiritual energy emerged from his fingertip and descended towards the mountain beneath them.
The earth trembled slightly.
A faint golden line emerged beneath the surface, spreading several dozen metres before disappearing again.
"The main formation can be constructed around these earth nodes," Lin Sheng said calmly. "The Rank 4 spiritual vein will provide the energy, while the earth nodes will serve as the natural carriers for the formation's foundation."
The Grand Elder's expression became increasingly serious.
"And the formation itself?"
"Complex."
Lin Sheng looked towards the vast mountain range.
"It will not be a simple defensive formation."
His voice remained calm, but his eyes carried a trace of seriousness.
"The formation will contain defensive formations, offensive formations, illusion formations and auxiliary formations. The defensive layer will protect the mountain, the offensive layer will allow the formation to attack enemies who enter the range, the illusion layer will interfere with divine sense and conceal the actual structure of the mountain, while the auxiliary formations will regulate spiritual energy, repair damaged formation nodes and strengthen the other formations."
The Grand Elder's eyes brightened.
"All of that can be incorporated into a single formation?"
"Not a single formation."
Lin Sheng shook his head.
"A formation of this scale would be too complicated if every function were forced into a single structure. It will be a main Rank 4 formation with multiple subordinate formations connected to it."
The Grand Elder nodded slowly.
He understood.
Lin Sheng wasn't constructing one formation.
He was constructing an entire formation system.
Once completed, the entire Dragon Yuan Mountain would become an enormous formation array.
An enemy entering the mountain would not simply be facing the Lin Family's cultivators.
They would be facing the mountain itself.
The Grand Elder looked towards the earth beneath his feet, his eyes becoming increasingly solemn.
"How long will it last?"
"That depends on how well the spiritual vein develops."
Lin Sheng looked towards the distance.
"The spiritual vein beneath Dragon Yuan Mountain is currently only a medium-grade Rank 4 spiritual vein, but there are signs that it is naturally advancing towards high-grade Rank 4. If nothing interferes with its growth, it should have a chance of completing the transformation within roughly a century."
The Grand Elder's expression changed slightly.
"A high-grade Rank 4 spiritual vein..."
Even for the Lin Family, such a spiritual vein was an extraordinary resource.
The spiritual energy produced by it would be vastly greater than what they currently possessed, and if the new formation could perfectly utilise it, the entire defensive strength of Dragon Yuan Mountain would rise by another level.
Lin Sheng naturally understood this.
"Once the formation is completed, the spiritual vein will provide the energy required to operate it, while the earth nodes will stabilise the structure. As long as the core isn't destroyed, even a powerful attack won't easily collapse the entire formation."
The Grand Elder's expression became solemn.
"And how many people will know the complete structure?"
"Very few."
Lin Sheng answered without hesitation.
"The more people who know the true structure of a formation, the greater the possibility of the information leaking. The Lin Family only needs to know how to activate and maintain it. The actual structure should remain restricted to a handful of people."
The Grand Elder nodded.
He understood the importance of secrecy.
A formation capable of protecting the entire Lin Family could become one of their greatest trump cards.
If outsiders learned exactly how it worked, they could prepare methods specifically designed to break it.
Lin Sheng turned his gaze towards the mountain range.
"Once it is complete, the Lin Family should avoid displaying its full power unless absolutely necessary."
"Why?"
"Because something like this will attract attention."
Lin Sheng's expression remained calm.
"An ordinary Rank 4 mountain-protecting formation isn't unusual, but a formation capable of combining defence, offence, illusion and auxiliary functions while perfectly utilising a Rank 4 spiritual vein will eventually attract the attention of other forces."
The Grand Elder's expression became slightly grim.
"You're right."
Neither of them continued speaking.
The two men simply stood on the mountain summit, looking across the vast territory belonging to the Lin Family.
Neither realised that while they were strengthening Dragon Yuan Mountain, the outside world was becoming increasingly unstable.
The first major piece of news arrived several weeks later.
The Purple Extremity Dan Sect had made a move.
And unlike the previous conflicts that had remained hidden beneath the surface, this time they had acted openly.
The Purple Extremity Dan Sect issued an order restricting the circulation of pills and alchemical resources throughout territories controlled by the Seven Star Palace.
The order wasn't limited to a single city or market.
Large numbers of alchemists, medicine shops and pill merchants operating within those territories suddenly found themselves unable to obtain supplies from the Purple Extremity Dan Sect.
The news spread throughout the Eastern Region like wildfire.
At first, many ordinary cultivators didn't understand the significance.
After all, the Eastern Region possessed countless alchemists.
Why would the temporary reduction in pill supplies matter so much?
Those who understood the cultivation world, however, immediately realised how serious the situation was.
The Purple Extremity Dan Sect was not merely another sect.
Its influence came from its control over an enormous portion of the pill trade.
Countless cultivators relied on pills refined using spiritual herbs supplied through their channels, and while independent alchemists existed, very few possessed the resources, inheritance and supply networks required to replace the Purple Extremity Dan Sect on such a scale.
Without a stable supply of pills, cultivators would eventually be forced to find alternatives.
Some would attempt to purchase pills from unknown alchemists.
Some would risk consuming pills whose origins were uncertain.
Others might even purchase medicines secretly circulated by demonic cultivators, believing them to be ordinary cultivation pills.
The consequences could be disastrous.
A cultivator who consumed a pill with hidden impurities could damage their cultivation foundation, suffer Qi deviation, or even die during a breakthrough.
But that wasn't the only purpose behind the move.
The sudden restriction would also place enormous pressure on ordinary cultivators living within Seven Star Palace territory.
Some would simply leave.
They would abandon their cultivation markets, leave the cities controlled by the Seven Star Palace and migrate towards neighbouring territories where resources were easier to obtain.
The Seven Star Palace could tolerate the loss of a few merchants.
It could tolerate the loss of a few Foundation Establishment cultivators.
But if enough ordinary cultivators began leaving, the economic foundation supporting its territories would gradually weaken.
The Purple Extremity Dan Sect had effectively struck at the Seven Star Palace without sending a single army onto the battlefield.
When Lin Sheng heard the news, he remained silent for several breaths.
"So they've finally made their move."
The Grand Elder, who was sitting nearby, nodded.
"It seems so."
Lin Sheng's fingers lightly tapped the armrest.
The three major Nascent Soul forces had maintained a fragile balance for countless years, but that balance was beginning to collapse.
The Seven Star Palace, the Dao Reaching Sect and the Purple Extremity Dan Sect had all begun moving pieces.
The tension that had previously existed only beneath the surface was now becoming visible.
The Grand Elder sighed.
"At this point, it is difficult to believe that the situation will return to how it was before."
Lin Sheng didn't answer.
He also didn't believe it would.
The Eastern Region had entered a period of change.
And once the first crack appeared in a balance that had existed for centuries, the resulting collapse could happen much faster than anyone expected.
The answer from the Seven Star Palace came several months later.
It was far more violent than anyone anticipated.
Reports began arriving from the border territories controlled by the Purple Extremity Dan Sect.
Several mortal kingdoms had suddenly gone silent.
Entire cultivation markets disappeared overnight.
Travelling cultivators found abandoned cities where the streets were stained with blood, shops had been destroyed and entire populations had vanished without leaving behind a clear trace.
The strangest part was that the destruction wasn't caused by ordinary bandits.
There were traces of ghostly Qi in some locations, strange remnants of poison in others, and several places contained signs that powerful demonic techniques had been used.
The news immediately caused an uproar.
Demonic cultivators had appeared in the territories surrounding the Purple Extremity Dan Sect.
At first, nobody knew who they were.
The Seven Star Palace denied involvement.
The Purple Extremity Dan Sect naturally accused the Seven Star Palace of secretly supporting the demonic cultivators.
The Seven Star Palace responded by accusing someone else of deliberately framing them.
Neither side produced decisive evidence.
But rumours didn't require evidence.
They only required fear.
Before long, a terrifying rumour began spreading throughout the Eastern Region.
The Seven Star Palace Sect Master was not actually a member of the Seven Star Palace.
He was allegedly the descendant, inheritor or even remnant of an ancient demonic power that had once dominated the Eastern Region.
A fallen power whose name had almost disappeared from history.
The Profound Union Sect.
The name alone was enough to make some older cultivators change expression.
It was an ancient name.
A name that had once represented a terrifying demonic force before disappearing from the Eastern Region after a devastating conflict.
Nobody could confirm whether the rumours were true.
Some claimed the Profound Union Sect had been completely destroyed.
Others claimed that only its surface forces had been exterminated and that its true inheritance had survived somewhere in the Eastern Region.
There were even rumours that the Seven Star Palace itself had been established using the remains of the Profound Union Sect.
None of these claims could be verified.
But as more mortal kingdoms disappeared, as more cultivation markets were destroyed and as more traces of demonic techniques appeared along the border, the rumours became increasingly difficult to suppress.