Chapter 5
The Architect of the Falling Lotus
The back mountains of the Falling Lotus Sect had long been whispered about in the Cloud-Mist State as "The Grave of Earthly Spirit." For centuries, geomancers and sect leaders had surveyed the jagged, ash-grey peaks, only to leave in disappointment. The ground was hard as divine iron, and spiritual energy seemed to vanish into the rocks like water into sand.
Lin Tian stood upon the highest ridge, his **white hair** whipping in the mountain wind. To anyone else, this was a barren wasteland. But as he channeled a sliver of Qi into his eyes, the **[Divine Eye of Investment]** flickered to life.
In his vision, the grey world turned into a map of glowing veins. Deep beneath the "barren" crust, a pulse of violent, concentrated violet light thrummed.
**[Ding! Target Identified: Prehistoric Spirit-Marble Vein.]**
**[Status: Dormant. The surface rock acts as a 'Spirit-Seal,' preventing energy from escaping. This is why the area feels dead—it is actually hoarding energy.]**
"A treasure hidden in plain sight," Lin Tian murmured. "In the business world, this is a monopoly waiting to happen."
"Lin Tian? Why are we standing here?" Mu Rongxue approached him, her steps light. Since taking the Rank 5 pill, her **Core Formation** aura had stabilized, giving her skin a healthy, pearlescent glow. Her **slim waist** was cinched by a silk sash, and her **curvaceous figure** moved with a grace that spoke of regained confidence.
"Rongxue, do you trust me?" Lin Tian asked, not turning around.
"With my life," she answered without hesitation.
"Then tell the disciples to stop practicing their sword forms. Hand them pickaxes and chisels. We aren't a sect of warriors today; we are a sect of miners."
Rongxue was stunned, but she followed his command. Within the hour, the hundred disciples of the Falling Lotus stood at the base of the "cursed" mountain. They looked confused, some even fearful.
"Grand Elder, this mountain is said to swallow the soul," one disciple whispered.
Lin Tian stepped forward. He didn't use a tool. He simply pointed a finger. A beam of **Primordial Chaos Qi** shot out, piercing the grey crust.
*CRACK!*
A spiderweb of fractures raced up the cliffside. Suddenly, a blast of pure, concentrated spiritual energy erupted from the hole, turning the air purple. The disciples gasped as the "dead" mountain began to hum with a low, rhythmic vibration.
"Dig," Lin Tian commanded. "Every shard of violet stone you find is worth its weight in gold."
For the next week, the Falling Lotus Sect was transformed. Lin Tian didn't just mine the stone; he used his **[System]** knowledge to design a "product."
He sat in the main hall, surrounded by slabs of the violet Spirit-Marble. With a flick of his wrist, he carved intricate, lotus-shaped arrays into the stone. These weren't just decorations; they were **Rank 4 Spirit-Gathering Formations** that used the marble's natural conductivity to create a localized "Qi Vortex."
"We will call these **Celestial Lotus Mats**," Lin Tian explained to a wide-eyed Mu Rongxue. "A normal disciple spends twelve hours a day to gather a handful of Qi. On this mat, they can gather the same amount in two hours. We aren't selling stone, Rongxue. We are selling *speed*."
Rongxue touched the surface of a finished mat. The energy was so dense it felt like liquid silk. "Lin Tian... if the surrounding sects find out we have these, they will go mad with greed."
"Let them," Lin Tian smiled, his eyes cold and calculating. "In business, if you aren't being envied, you aren't making enough profit."
The first batch of ten mats was sent to the nearest trade city, **Cloud-Reach City**. Lin Tian insisted on a "Premium Only" release. He didn't sell them to shops; he placed them in the center of the square and let a disciple sit on one to meditate.
Within thirty minutes, a crowd had gathered. The sight of a low-level disciple causing a Qi-whirlwind just by sitting down was a sight the city had never seen.
"A thousand spirit stones!" a merchant shouted.
"Two thousand!" a rogue cultivator countered.
"Five thousand!"
By the end of the day, the ten mats had sold for a staggering **50,000 spirit stones**.
The rumors spread like wildfire. The "9th Grade Trash Sect" had suddenly discovered a treasure. People began lining up outside the Falling Lotus gates. Merchants who used to ignore Rongxue's letters were now bringing gifts, begging for a single mat.
"Grand Elder! There are three hundred people at the gate!" a disciple shouted, his face flushed with excitement. "They are offering mid-grade spirit stones!"
Lin Tian sat in his chair, sipping tea. "Tell them we are sold out for the week. If they want one, they can join the 'Waitlist' for a fee of 100 stones."
Rongxue, standing beside him, felt like she was in a dream. She looked at the piles of spirit stones filling their treasury. "Lin Tian... you've turned our sect into a gold palace in ten days."
But it wasn't just the mats. A darker, more intriguing rumor began to circulate among the elite.
People noticed that the mats were infused with Rank 4 formations, and Mu Rongxue's "incurable" foundation injury had miraculously vanished.
"Have you heard?" a tea-house gossip whispered in the city. "The Falling Lotus Sect didn't just find a mine. They found a **Hidden Alchemy Master**. They say he has white hair and eyes that see through the soul."
"I heard he refined a Rank 5 pill in a stone shed!" another added. "The Azure Cloud Sect kicked out a 'trash' elder, and suddenly a Master appears at the Falling Lotus? Could it be..."
"Don't be stupid. Lin Tian was a 3rd Level Foundation loser. This Master must be an old monster who took pity on Mu Rongxue's beauty."
As the rumors grew, the name of the Falling Lotus Sect began to rise in the rankings. The "beggar sect" was now the most talked-about power in the state.
Lin Tian stood on the balcony, looking at the long line of people at his gate. His **white hair** shimmered in the twilight.
The rumors of the "Celestial Lotus Mats" didn't just stay within the borders of the Cloud-Mist State. Like a spiritual wildfire, word of a revolutionary cultivation tool reached the ears of the high-ranking sects. In the grand halls of the **Azure Cloud Sect**, Xia Ning sat perched on her throne, staring at a report that seemed impossible.
"A 9th Grade Sect... producing mats that increase Qi absorption by five hundred percent?" Xia Ning's voice was laced with disbelief. "That's a myth. Not even the 1st Grade Sects in the Central Empire have such technology."
"It's no myth, Sect Leader," Elder Han said, his face shadowed. "I managed to secure one through a black-market dealer. It cost us **200,000 spirit stones**—an extortionate price for a piece of stone—but I felt it was necessary for us to investigate."
Xia Ning's eyes flashed. "Two hundred thousand? For a single mat? Bring it here."
A slab of violet stone, carved with intricate, glowing patterns, was brought into the hall. The moment it entered the room, the ambient spiritual energy began to swirl. Xia Ning stepped down from her dais and sat upon it.
The effect was instantaneous.
Her eyes lit up, glowing with a sharp, vibrant blue. It was as if the air itself had turned into a thick, nourishing nectar, rushing into her meridians without her even trying. The efficiency was staggering. For a Void Refinement expert like her, the difference was like trading a cup of water for an ocean.
"This..." she whispered, her heart racing.
"This is a miracle. Whoever designed this formation is a genius of the highest order."
She stood up, her mind already spinning with greed. In her world, if someone else had something good, you either took it or you copied it.
"Elder Han!" she commanded, her voice regaining its arrogant edge. "We have the best formation masters in the region. Take this mat to the Forbidden Research Hall. Strip the arrays, analyze the stone, and figure out how to mass-produce these. If a 9th Grade beggar sect can make them, we can make them better. We will sell them for half the price and bankrupt them before the year is out."
For the next three days, the Azure Cloud Sect's research hall was a hive of activity. They didn't have the **[Divine Eye of Investment]** or the **[Primordial Chaos Qi]** that Lin Tian possessed. All they had was brute-force analysis and the arrogant belief that they were superior.
"Sect Leader," the Chief Formation Master reported, sweat pouring down his face. "The stone is unique, but we've found a similar vein of high-density granite in our own mountains. We've managed to replicate the carvings."
Xia Ning watched as they poured 1,000,000 spirit stones into a massive array-furnace to "charge" a batch of a hundred imitation mats. This was the wealth Lin Tian had spent decades accumulating, now being thrown into a gamble.
"Activate it," Xia Ning ordered.
The furnace roared. The imitation mats began to glow, but the light was unstable. It was jagged and red, unlike the soft violet of the Falling Lotus mat.
*CRACK!*
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rocked the hall.
The granite, unable to handle the spiritual pressure without the specific "Spirit-Seal" properties of the violet marble, shattered into a million razor-sharp shards. The 1,000,000 spirit stones worth of energy detonated in a chaotic surge, leveling the research hall and sending several formation masters flying through the walls, their cultivation bases damaged.
Xia Ning shielded her face, her robes singed. As the dust cleared, she looked at the wreckage. One million stones—vanished in a second. Not only had they failed to copy the mat, but they had also destroyed one of their most expensive facilities.
"It... it failed?" she stammered, looking at the blackened remains of the imitation mats.
"The structure... it's too complex," the Chief Master groaned from the floor. "There is a secret 'anchor' in the formation. Only a Grandmaster of Alchemy and Formations could have balanced the energy like that.
Sect Leader, we cannot replicate this. We have lost a million stones... for nothing."
Xia Ning stood in the ruin, her hands clenching into fists. The 150 million she thought was an endless fortune was suddenly feeling a lot smaller.
"Who is the alchemist at that sect?" she hissed, her voice trembling with a mix of rage and a creeping, icy fear. "Find out who is behind the Falling Lotus. I want a name!"
She didn't know that the "Grandmaster" she was looking for was currently sipping tea in a 9th Grade Sect, laughing as his System notified him of a "Competitor's Failure" bonus.