Chapter 32: Experiment with the Counterfeit Spirit Gathering Array

After finishing the carving of all four jade stones, it was already past five in the afternoon. Zhou Yu did not stay in Jing City but drove straight to Taoyuan Village.

When he returned to Taoyuan Village, the sky had already darkened. He called Li Tianbiao and drove directly to Guomin Food Stall.

“Brother Universe, you must have made money again on your trip to the provincial capital, right?” As soon as Zhou Yu got out of the car, Li Tianbiao sneaked over and asked mysteriously.

Zhou Yu chuckled, “When Brother Universe gets involved, how could there be a loss? Oh, by the way, I filled up the gas tank for you.”

“Why bother with gas? Aren’t we brothers? My car is your car,” Li Tianbiao said with a tone of complaint.

Zhou Yu immediately took a step back. “Stay away from me. Trying to take advantage of me? Your car is yours, and mine is mine. I’m planning to buy a sports car in the future.”

“A sports car? You have to let me take it for a spin!” Li Tianbiao’s eyes lit up as he spoke with longing.

“Alright, enough joking. Hurry up and grill some fish for me to take back,” Zhou Yu said with a smile.

After Li Tianbiao finished grilling the fish, Zhou Yu packed them up and took them back to the Old Family House. As soon as he entered the door, Huzi rushed over like an arrow.

He smiled and rubbed Huzi’s head, then walked into the yard. After turning on the main light, he checked the situation in the yard—it looked exactly the same as when he left in the morning, with no signs of damage.

Then, Zhou Yu gave half of the grilled fish to Huzi and sat in the yard, enjoying the sea breeze as he ate.

After finishing his meal, he couldn’t help but take out the four jade stones from the small bag he carried with him. He placed them together in order, forming a complete pattern.

As long as the drawing was accurate, computer carving was even better than manual carving. The only question was whether this Spirit Gathering Array, carved automatically by a computer using jade stones from Earth, could actually form an array.

Carving with jade stones from Earth and then testing it was something Zhou Yu had thought of ever since he obtained the Spirit Gathering Array. He had been preparing for it all this time.

After all, back then, he thought the radio might have just been a fleeting opportunity, so he couldn’t rely solely on the Spirit Gathering Array from the Immortal World.

Looking at the four jade stones laid out before him, Zhou Yu felt they were far from comparable to Immortal Stones. The Immortal Stones that formed the Spirit Gathering Array would strike anyone who saw them as extraordinary.

It was already nighttime, which wasn’t suitable for testing. He decided to wait until the next day to conduct the experiment. If this set of Counterfeit Spirit Gathering Arrays actually worked, he would consider using better jade stones in the future for setting up the arrays.

If it didn’t work, then he could only pin his hopes of obtaining a Spirit Gathering Array on the Immortal World on the other side of the radio.

After sitting in the yard for a while, enjoying the sea breeze and sharing a few bunches of grapes with Huzi, Zhou Yu returned to his room.

Looking at the radio on the table, his face showed a hint of anticipation. It had been another day since the radio last turned on. He wondered if it would activate again tonight. The thought of Fairy Suxin’s ethereal and captivating voice and the wonderful treasures in Uncle-Master Wu’s hands filled him with excitement.

As it approached midnight, Zhou Yu woke up. Seeing the dark room with no glow, he shook his head and went back to sleep. After waiting for the past seven or eight days, he no longer felt the anxiety of worrying about gain and loss. As the saying went, “If I gain it, it’s my luck; if I lose it, it’s my fate.”

Based on his guess, the reason it took so many days last time might have been because the radio needed to connect to another frequency. Even though he had waited a week, listening to Fairy Suxin’s Zither Melody and her ethereal, captivating voice made it feel completely worthwhile.

As for the next time the radio would turn on, if it didn’t connect to a new frequency, it should be within the next few days. Of course, that was just his guess.

After a good night’s sleep, Zhou Yu still woke up early the next day. He exercised for a while in the yard and then picked a few bunches of grapes for breakfast.

From the moment he obtained the Spirit Gathering Array until now, he had been eating several bunches of grapes every day. Besides their delicious taste and the pleasant feeling they gave, he hadn’t noticed any obvious changes in his body, but feeling refreshed and energetic every day was definitely true.

Perhaps these grapes, nourished by Spiritual Energy, needed to be eaten regularly to gradually and subtly benefit the body.

After quickly finishing the grapes, Zhou Yu brought the four jade stones out from his room, ready to begin the long-prepared and highly anticipated experiment.

He thought for a moment and decided not to place them under the other trees in the yard this time. Instead, he found an open spot and dug four holes. Since he didn’t know whether this Earth-made Counterfeit Spirit Gathering Array could actually form an array, he would dig holes and bury the array first. If it really worked, he could then loosen the soil and plant something.

Following the explanations from Uncle-Master Wu, Zhou Yu dug four holes within the same area as the previous Spirit Gathering Array and placed the four jade stones into them in order.

Afterward, he carefully examined the setup and adjusted the positions of some jade stones to ensure nothing went wrong.

After completing all the preparations, Zhou Yu held a small knife in his right hand and extended the index finger of his left hand. He looked at the four jade stones and murmured to himself, “Spirit Gathering Array from another Immortal World, yield before this Earth-made counterfeit version!”

After chanting this somewhat silly-sounding slogan, he lightly cut his finger with the knife and squeezed a drop of blood toward the Spirit Gathering Array below.

The drop of blood fell directly onto the soil, but unlike the previous Spirit Gathering Array, which disappeared immediately, nothing happened this time.

A look of disappointment appeared on Zhou Yu’s face. Had the counterfeit version failed? He tried dripping another drop of blood, but it still didn’t disappear.

He didn’t give up. Squatting down, he carefully examined the blood on the ground. Suddenly, he noticed that the blood wasn’t completely disappearing, but it was vanishing at a very slow pace.

After further observation, he could confirm that the blood wasn’t just soaking into the soil—it was truly disappearing.

With excitement, Zhou Yu quickly walked over to one of the jade stones and carefully examined the carved patterns on its surface.

At first, he didn’t notice any changes. After a while, he saw a faint glimmer of light emerge from the patterns on the jade stone. The same was true for the other three jade stones, though the light was incredibly faint compared to the genuine Spirit Gathering Array—like the difference between the sun and the stars.

Even so, Zhou Yu couldn’t help but let out a cheer. The power of the Earth-made counterfeit version had reappeared in the Immortal World’s Spirit Gathering Array.

After waiting for quite a while, the two drops of blood on the ground finally disappeared completely. The glow from the four jade stones also became slightly brighter than before, though it was still easy to miss if you didn’t look closely.

It must have formed an array, Zhou Yu thought uncertainly. He decided to stay within the Counterfeit Spirit Gathering Array a little longer, wanting to feel the gathered Spiritual Energy. Only by sensing the Spiritual Energy could the Spirit Gathering Array truly be considered a successful counterfeit.