Chapter 345: The Grand Array
Chapter 345: The Grand Array
Mo Hua made up his mind. He would create a grand array to slay the demonic pig, Feng Wei!
He had an escape route for himself, but he also wanted to provide a way out for all the loose cultivators, so they wouldn't have to leave their homes and live as refugees.
With his decision made, Mo Hua began to consider his next steps.
Grand arrays were immensely complex, requiring a massive undertaking in terms of cultivation engineering. They were not only difficult to learn but even more challenging to construct.
Mr. Zhuang, instead of discouraging Mo Hua by telling him about the challenges of building arrays, might have been urging him to plan more carefully and comprehensively.
Building a grand array required manpower and resources, but most importantly, it required time. Time to construct the array and time to master the knowledge of grand arrays.
Without time, nothing could be accomplished.
Mo Hua first sought out Commander Yang, asking, "Uncle Yang, how long will it take for that pig to refine its blood qi?"
Commander Yang, leading the Dao soldiers stationed at the edge of the deep mountains and keeping a close eye on the demon's movements, pondered for a moment before replying, "Probably one to two months."
One or two months... Mo Hua frowned.
Learning and constructing the grand array would likely take longer than that.
However, Mo Hua also felt perplexed, and he asked, "Do all demons take that long to refine their blood qi?"
It took less than half an hour for the Qian family's ancestor to start improving his cultivation after consuming the Transcendent Pill of Age Defying and Primordial Returning.
Could it be that this pig had digestion issues?
Commander Yang mused, "Generally speaking, it shouldn't take that long. But this particular Feng Wei is special. It didn't become a demon by its own consumption but was force-fed by someone else."
"The blood qi within its body is extremely mixed and foreign to it, never having been refined by itself. That's why it now needs more time to refine it."
"Moreover, this Feng Wei has died once, so it needs to digest the blood qi even more to regain its vitality."
Commander Yang glanced at the deep mountains, where the blood qi was a deep crimson, and his expression grew solemn. "But once it finishes refining, regains its vitality, and starts feeding again, the trouble will truly begin."
Mo Hua asked with a furrowed brow, "Is there a way to delay it?"
Commander Yang nodded. "After a while, the Bureau of Dao Soldiers will send more commanders at the Foundation Establishment stage. Together, we will harass Feng Wei, hindering its refinement process and buying time for the relocation of the Tongxian City cultivators."
"How much time can you delay it?"
"Probably about a month."
That would give him two or three months. The time should be barely sufficient.
Mo Hua nodded slightly. "That's good, then."
Commander Yang was taken aback. "What's good?"
"It's nothing, Uncle Yang. You're busy." Mo Hua waved his hand and then darted off.
Commander Yang watched Mo Hua's retreating figure and couldn't help but mutter, "What is this kid up to now?"
However, whatever he was doing would be futile...
Commander Yang turned his head back to the deep mountains, where the crimson blood qi lurked, harboring the demon and an aura that made one's heart palpitate.
This aura was growing more intense by the moment.
This demon pig had died, yet it lived again...
He had never heard of or seen a creature that went against the cycle of life and death like this. It was a blasphemy against the Dao.
Commander Yang sighed, his expression growing even more solemn.
Meanwhile, Mo Hua breathed a sigh of relief.
Although two or three months would be extremely tight, it was enough to attempt something.
First, he had to learn about grand arrays.
This was the foundation for everything; otherwise, it would all be empty talk.
Without hesitation, Mo Hua went to find Mr. Zhuang, his face serious as he said, "Sir, I want to learn about grand arrays!"
Mr. Zhuang was a little surprised, not by Mo Hua's desire to learn grand arrays but by how quickly he had made up his mind.
"Have you thought this through?" he asked.
Mo Hua nodded. "Yes, I have."
Grand arrays were the ultimate pursuit of array masters.
An array master who didn't aspire to create grand arrays wasn't a true master.
Since he wanted to be an array master, he would inevitably need to understand and construct grand arrays one day.
Moreover, he aimed to be the master array master of a grand array—the one who led its design and construction, the very core of the project, not just a regular array master contributing to the effort.
However, constructing grand arrays was incredibly challenging and required a massive amount of manpower and resources.
Usually, the master array master was chosen very carefully, considering various factors.
They had to be either highly respected, come from a renowned family, be exceptionally skilled in array theory, or have a stellar reputation.
At the same time, they needed to have experience in leading the construction of grand arrays.
None of these criteria applied to Mo Hua.
With no backing or connections outside of Tongxian City, no sect would be willing to take the enormous risk of inviting a loose cultivator like him to lead the construction of a grand array, a project of immense scale and complexity.
This was his first opportunity to not only talk the talk but also walk the walk, to learn about grand arrays and try his hand at constructing one.
As long as he had the experience of building a first-grade grand array, he could gradually move on to understand and build even higher-grade grand arrays.
But if he didn't take that first step and gain experience with grand arrays, he might never have anything to do with them in his life.
Therefore, whether it was for his own pursuit of arrays or for the loose cultivators of Tongxian City, he had to take this step.
Even if he didn't succeed, he would give it his all.
Mo Hua's expression was firm, and although Mr. Zhuang felt slightly relieved, he still reminded him, "Grand arrays are very difficult to learn."
"I'll learn them even if they're difficult!" Mo Hua insisted.
"Are you sure?" Mr. Zhuang asked, his expression carrying a deeper meaning.
"Yes!"
"And what if you can't learn it?"
Mo Hua replied calmly, "If I can't learn it, then it's my own lack of ability, and there's nothing more to say. But if I don't try, then it's because I'm afraid of arrays, and my heart is weak. With such an attitude, it will be difficult to go far in the path of arrays."
Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly, showing his approval.
Seeing Mr. Zhuang's expression, Mo Hua breathed a slight sigh of relief. He then asked quietly, "Sir, I can learn the grand array, can't I?"
Mr. Zhuang was taken aback, "How do you know?"
Mo Hua explained, "If I truly couldn't learn it, you would have refused me from the start instead of asking me to consider my decision."
"Since you told me to consider, it means it's within my ability."
Mr. Zhuang shook his head helplessly and then took out a set of ten jade slips, placing them on the table. He said solemnly, "These are the jade slips for the grand array."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up. As he had guessed, Mr. Zhuang had indeed prepared them in advance.
"Before you learn the grand array, there are some things I need to make clear to you," said Mr. Zhuang.
Mo Hua sat up straight and listened attentively.
Mr. Zhuang asked, "What is a grand array?"
"It's a more complex and massive compound array."
This was something Mr. Zhuang had taught him before, and Mo Hua remembered it clearly.
"Then what is a compound array?"
"It's a composite array formed by connecting single arrays through an array hub."
"What is the fundamental difference between a compound array and a single array?"
"The array hub."
Mr. Zhuang nodded slightly, "The array hub of a single array is simple, the array hub of a compound array is complex, and the array hub of a grand array is even more intricate."
"What makes it so complex?" Mo Hua asked.
"The array hub of a single array needs to connect the array patterns; the array hub of a compound array needs to connect the single arrays; and the array hub of a grand array needs to connect a vast number of single arrays."
"This means that the grand array's array hub requires stronger spiritual sense, connects more single arrays, has more complex spiritual power trajectories, and also needs to consider the compatibility between the grand array's array hub and the single arrays."
Mo Hua thought carefully about this and then asked, "So the core of a grand array is still the array hub. As long as we can master the array hub and ensure the flow of spiritual power and compatibility of the single arrays, can we then master the grand array?"
Mr. Zhuang nodded, "That's right."
"What's difficult about that?"
"Spiritual sense."
"Spiritual sense again..."
Mr. Zhuang nodded, "In the end, all the problems a formation master faces come down to a lack of spiritual sense."
Mo Hua felt relieved that at least he had decent spiritual sense.
Although that was probably his only strength...
Then he asked weakly, "Is the spiritual sense of the Foundation Establishment stage enough?"
"It's enough, but barely so," Mr. Zhuang explained.
"Spiritual sense is intangible, so it's impossible to quantify it precisely. We can only make a rough estimate."
"The most objective criterion is to go by the formation master's standard, judging the strength of spiritual sense by the number of array patterns they can draw before their spiritual sense is exhausted."
"Even so, this standard is still difficult to refine precisely."
"This leads to a situation where, on the surface, two arrays may both require ten units of spiritual sense, but one array may be simpler and actually require less than ten units in practice, while the other array may be exceptionally complex and consume far more than ten units of spiritual sense without quite reaching the level of eleven units."
"Grand arrays belong to the type of arrays that start with a requirement of ten units of spiritual sense but demand more due to their complexity."
"Ten units of spiritual sense as a starting point..." Mo Hua mumbled to himself.
And it sounded so complicated...
Mo Hua felt a headache coming on.
"So, as I said," Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and said slowly,
"A first-grade grand array is not really meant to be learned by a first-grade formation master."
Thank you to the reader for the support!
(End of Chapter)
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