The upper-grade yuan spirit stones alone from this draw had brought in a full thirty thousand pieces.
Palace Master Dan Chi and Elder Yun Nie each contributed five thousand, totaling ten thousand.
Elder Lian Cheng sent over ten thousand. On top of that, during the draw, he'd swindled another ten thousand out of that sucker Shen Qinghong.
Three sets of ten thousand added up to thirty thousand.
Coupled with what Jiang Chen already had, plus the winnings from his various bets along the way, Jiang Chen's stash of upper-grade yuan spirit stones now totaled nearly sixty thousand.
That was three times what he had originally expected.
"Sixty thousand upper-grade yuan spirit stones — enough to power the formation at fifty to sixty percent. Once it's set up, it can be maintained for ten years."
Jiang Chen did a quick mental calculation. Originally, he had needed roughly twenty thousand stones.
Twenty thousand would power the formation at thirty percent.
Now, with sixty thousand upper-grade yuan spirit stones, powering the formation at fifty to sixty percent was well within reach.
"In the art of formations, naturally the more power the better. The Nine Gates Heaven-Burning Formation, if fully powered at its full ten tenths, would be difficult for even an Imperial-level expert to breach casually. At fifty to sixty percent, it could at least hold off a Heavenly Sage-level powerhouse."
Jiang Chen didn't distrust the people of Dangqian Palace — it was just that the Spirit of Wood Spring was far too important. He had no intention of letting it become exposed.
If word got out, it would trigger absolute chaos across the entire Myriad Phenomena Region, and potentially draw even more powerful forces to seize it.
This formation, while it appeared to guard against unauthorized entry by Dangqian Palace members, was ultimately about protecting the people of Dangqian Palace itself — preventing any information leak that could invite catastrophe.
With all these materials in hand, Jiang Chen had now gathered everything needed for the formation.
Of course, the art of formation — especially one on this scale — was not something that could be completed in two or three days.
Jiang Chen was in no rush.
The first step was to refine the formation flags. The hundred jin of purple-black gold he had requested from Elder Lian Cheng was precisely for this purpose.
Purple-black gold was not the ideal material for formation flags, but within the Myriad Phenomena Region, it was already considered excellent.
Anything of higher quality simply couldn't be found in the Myriad Phenomena Region.
At the very least, Jiang Chen couldn't be sure Dangqian Palace could produce it.
As for the Nebula Sand and Scarlet Cinnabar, those were materials needed for inscribing runes during the formation's construction.
A single formation involved a vast scope — one could say it was composed of countless small details. Not a single link in the chain could afford to go wrong.
If any one element was even slightly weak, it would compromise the quality of the entire formation.
Having invested so much effort and so many resources, Jiang Chen naturally could not allow a single error in any part.
This formation would serve as his guardian for at least the next ten years.
Of course, Jiang Chen's ambitions extended far beyond this.
The Nine Gates Heaven-Burning Formation could be continuously refined. His ultimate goal was to unleash its full power — a true ten-tenths output that could genuinely withstand an Imperial-level expert.
That, however, was a long-term project, not something achievable overnight.
Refining formation flags required specialized equipment for artifact forging, and Jiang Chen's personal cave dwelling certainly didn't have anything so well-equipped.
Fortunately, among Dangqian Palace's nine halls, there was an Artifact Refinement Hall dedicated to forging divine weapons and legendary blades. It ranked sixth among the nine.
If the Nine Gates Heaven-Burning Formation were to operate at full capacity, it would require a total of eighty-one formation flags.
Jiang Chen didn't aim that high for now. His current plan was to refine thirty-six formation flags.
This meant the formation's power and coverage area would take some compromises.
Jiang Chen had previously agreed with Little Gold Cicada to let it enter the Spirit of Wood Spring for a cleansing in ten days. There were still a few days left before that, so he decided to spend the time refining the formation flags.
With time pressing, Jiang Chen didn't linger and headed straight for the Artifact Refinement Hall.
Given Jiang Chen's current reputation, no one in the Artifact Refinement Hall would dare give him anything less than their best. Who didn't know by now that Jiang Chen was the rising star closest to both Palace Master Dan Chi and Elder Yun Nie?
Even Lian Cheng, the Master of the Martial Arts Hall himself, had acknowledged Jiang Chen's standing.
So while Jiang Chen might not yet stand on equal footing with Shen Qinghong, he was not far behind.
The Artifact Refinement Hall, though an important department, still fell noticeably short compared to powerhouses like the Martial Arts Hall and the Herbal Hall.
When a steward in the Artifact Refinement Hall saw Jiang Chen approach, he nearly tripped over himself to greet him with an eager, fawning tone: "Junior Brother Jiang Chen! What wind blows you to the Artifact Refinement Hall? Is there some divine weapon you need forged? Our hall specializes in solving exactly these kinds of problems for the sect's geniuses."
Jiang Chen smiled and regarded the steward. "I was hoping to borrow one of the Artifact Refinement Hall's forging rooms, if that would be permissible."