Earth Realm Phenomenon

Kate returned to the tent to change her inner robe and fix her hair, and once she returned Shui stored the tent. While Kate sat cross-legged in the same place Shui remained for the night, he took out the necessary materials to create Kate's seclusion space. His highest priority was hiding the phenomenon she produced, but if he couldn't hide the phenomenon then he had to ensure that Kate couldn't be pinpointed as the source. With this in mind, he decided that the first and largest array would be a complete concealment array which would block all forms of perception with Kate as the main target. 

Array masters usually only drew focused concealment arrays, which blocked specific forms of perception, not only because that was more practical but also because the cost and complexity of complete concealment arrays were of the highest level in each tier. Even fresh tier 5 array masters would struggle with drawing a tier 4 complete concealment array, and this would be Shui's first time drawing one as well so he intended to devote his full focus to the task. 

"Senior Brother, I want to devote my attention to construct a few arrays for Kate. Could you guard us while I work?"

"You needn't ask. I'll ensure nothing disturbs you."

With that matter settled, Shui began thinking of what the array flags should be made from. There would be no reason to affix the array to this location and she would be able to make use of it elsewhere so Shui intended to give the array flags to Kate afterwards. Previously, he had used adamantine, but considering the nature of a complete concealment array, he would have to make some adjustments. The best attribute for an array flag to have would be space, but such materials were so rare that even Shui didn't have any, so he had to settle with the second best option, earth. 

To create the array flags, Shui melted a piece of adamantine with his heart flame and then mixed it with earth-attribute materials, before re-solidifying it into eight one-foot-long rods. Deciding the ratio wasn't a problem as he could use his spiritual sense to detect the nature of the adamantine alloy while it was melted. Once the array flags were complete, Shui placed them around himself at equidistant points and then took out a prepared mixture and an brush to draw the connections between them.

He had recently gotten used to drawing with his mental control, but even though his soul was strong enough to compete with tier 5 array masters, he lacked experience so he didn't want to take any risks. Arrays could be drawn in a lower proportion that what was needed and then expanded, but that resulted in a slight decline in quality so usually array masters would work together or have their apprentices aid with the process. In this case, though the decline in quality was unfortunate, Shui believed that he could make up for it with the pseudo-array he had set up the previous night. 

After entering the Still Heart state, it took Shui five hours to construct the concealment array, which he then expanded to cover a region with a radius of two hundred cales from Kate. Its effects couldn't be experienced from within, but Shui was certain that it had ended up as he wished. Since the concealment array was finished, Shui then began working on various other arrays to make Kate's break through smoother, such as spirit soothing and heaven and earth harmonization arrays. As these arrays weren't as difficult, Shui was able to finish them by the time the stars were clear in the sky.

"I'm done now. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

As soon as she answered Shui, Kate closed off all senses and then took out the core material for her phantom palace. She had already sorted out the insights she gained from her spar with Shui, so now it was time to put it into practice.

The core material that Core Elder Ren had chosen and Reinhart bought at an auction, was a pair of wings from a mid-rank spirit. Spirits were innately asexual and born from nature, but due to the events which occurred during the Divine Uprising, natural spirits above mid-rank rarely appeared, so mid-rank spirits were the highest rank that most would ever see, especially in this mortal plane. 

Low-rank spirits had low intelligence and couldn't be touched, but mid-rank spirits had corporeal forms. Each mid-rank spirit also had a core which was the essence of their being. For mid-rank wind spirits, this core was usually in the form of a pair of wings as mid-rank wind spirits usually appeared as birds. Unless the spirit willingly offered its core, it would vanish with the spirit's death so their cores were rarer than the spirits themselves. 

As it would be very useful in boosting Kate's wind affinity and harmony with nature, Shui also thought that it was an excellent choice for her core material. While Kate began the process of her breakthrough, he and Reinhart moved outside the concealment array to prevent disturbing her. Shui could still sense what was happening inside so there was no need to be worried about her having an accident. 

The general process of breaking through to the Earth Realm involved refining a selected material into the foundation of one's phantom palace. As the phantom palace housed the soul, this was a very delicate process, but thanks to continuous improvements to the process by generations of cultivators, it was possible to escape with light damage to the soul as long as the problem didn't happen near the critical closing stage. Even that light damage would be very expensive to fix, but it wasn't something impossible for Shui or Reinhart's master to do.

With Kate's talent and comprehension, neither of them thought there was a high chance of something going wrong so they should have been able to wait peacefully until her breakthrough was complete, but as the next day arrived, Shui discovered that that wouldn't be the case. 

"Senior Brother, I believe you said that one of the assailants escaped. What's the chance that they or any of your other enemies might have been keeping watch on us?"

"Rather high actually. They might not have noticed that Kate's undergoing her break through, but I wouldn't be surprised if they all teamed up."

Even though he couldn't sense them, Reinhart didn't need Shui to directly say that enemies were approaching. Believing in Shui's senses, he stood up and summoned his sword.

"Stay here and protect Kate. I'll handle them."

"I trust you but don't take on too much. It looks like they came well prepared for you this time."

"Very well."