“In this world of martial dao, the levels of arrays are denoted according to the power of their output, not their complexity. Therefore, both Lee Kee’s Shrieking Array and the Sandstone Raising Array are considered Level 1 Arrays, even though the Shrieking Array only consists of two layers while the Sandstone Raising Array requires nine.” Remian was reading the Alchemist’s Basic Guide to Formations. “However, generally speaking, the more power an array employs, the more complex it needs to be. Simple yet powerful formations are the dream of every array master, but are few and usually held very secret and very precious by those who know them and are not easily learned.” Remian took a break. He glanced over at Xiao Yan, sitting next to the Food Processor. “How goes your reading?” They had actually bought two copies of the same book so they could both read at the same time. “I’m still at the components.” Xiao Yan rubbed her head. “Core, supports, catalys

Gary went shopping with aplomb. “I want that house!” he picked a spacious bungalow close to the Academy. “I want that horse!” “I want that necklace! It should fit Siti…” Of course, Gary wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to ignore the actual reason why he had sudden unlimited shopping funds, and he wasn’t crazy enough to spend Mindy’s money until she was broke. Just a few million Lir for the sake of a better future with Siti… most of it had to be spent properly, on the things they would need for their trip to the Wildlands and the investigation of the spatial anomaly. For example, the minute Tang Yin heard that they had funding, he started scribbling a long list of lab equipment he wanted. This included at least ten blue mana crystals bought directly from the Academy’s Emergency Stores, each of which came at the escalated cost of 200,000 lir. Adding in the rest of the equipment brought Tang Yin’s bill up to nearly five million lir. Gary a

They were attacked ten seconds after they reached the Spectre lines. “But… but we have perfect cloud cover!” Gary protested, as Loh brought their airship into a tight swerve to avoid a blast of ghostly energy from a Tier 7 Spectral Beast. “Well, that proves my theory.” Tang Yin mentioned, holding on tightly to some safety netting. “What theory?” “Spectres don’t use eyes.” Gary stared at him, gaping for the better part of five seconds as Loh sent the airship into crazy maneuvers to avoid more and more Spectral blasts. “SAY THAT EARLIER!” “It was just a theory!” Tang Yin said defensively. BOOM! The airship took a direct hit from one of the smaller Spectral Blasts. This one came from a Tier 5 Spectral Flyer that had swooped in close. It had triangular wings, three tails, claws on the wingtips and feet, but only a three-tentacled mouth for a head. There were no eyes, ears, or any such sensory organs visible on the opaque beast.

[Guys… I’m sorry.] [Mindy? Mindy!] Darian called. [Darian. They’re coming. Two Tier 8’s. Sharphorn and Three-Arms are headed straight for you.] [Blast!] Darian would have spewed bad words if he hadn’t been considerate of Mindy’s state of mind. [Gary! Hurry up!] [We’re going as fast as we can!] Compared to Mindy’s mental voice, Gary’s was tiny, like a little squeak. [Kor’ag! We’ve got incoming!] Darian warned. Kor’ag-dras roared, filling the skies with fire, but it was already all he could do to hold back the swarm of Tier 7 flyers. Adding another two more Tier 8’s on top of all this… [Tim! George! We need backup!] [We’re already throwing everything we’ve got at them!] George’s answer was filled with frustration. Then, there was a short silence. [Tim?] Darian dared ask hopefully, even as Three-Arms and Sharphorn approached. [I’m sending over the Wind Emperor.] Tim said at last. [Can you manage?] D