Chapter 347: Above the Ten Threads (End of Chapter)
Chapter 347: Above the Ten Threads (End of Chapter)
Mo Hua returned home and immediately delved into studying the jade slip containing the information about the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Array.
However, by the time night fell, he had not even finished perusing a single jade slip, and there were ten in total for the entire grand array.
Mo Hua sighed. Indeed, a grand array was 'grand' in every sense of the word. The array was intricate and complex, and there were so many jade slips just for the construction methods.
Time was of the essence, but Mo Hua couldn't afford to rush.
The grand array was of paramount importance, and a single mistake could have disastrous consequences.
He had to be patient, diligent, and meticulous in his studies, leaving no room for carelessness. A single oversight could potentially cause a chain reaction, leading to the collapse of the entire grand array.
But if he were to be thorough, it would undoubtedly take an excessive amount of time...
Mo Hua pondered his options and decided to prioritize. He would skim through the ten jade slips first to get a general understanding and then focus on the crucial aspects: the array's hub and its core. The rest, including the arrangement of the array patterns, compatibility of individual arrays, and construction of array mediums, could be dealt with later.
Mo Hua started with the array's hub.
Compared to the array hubs he had learned from composite arrays, the hub of the grand array was even more challenging.
The complexity of this array hub had reached the pinnacle of first-grade arrays.
The grand array's hub was exceptionally intricate due to its role in coordinating the entire grand array and connecting numerous individual arrays. Thus, the structure of the hub had to be robust, resilient, stable, and all-encompassing.
Within the hub, there needed to be room to accommodate the trajectories of countless spiritual energy flows, controlling their opening and closing, reversal, initiation, and cessation.
On the outer periphery of the hub, interfaces had to be left to ensure compatibility with individual arrays of different functions.
In the grand array, if the individual arrays were like the network of veins and capillaries, then the array hub was the meridian. If the individual arrays were the flesh and blood, then the array hub was the skeleton.
The array hub was the backbone of the entire grand array, the pivotal point for the flow of spiritual energy.
Mo Hua had understood these principles before, but it was only now, as he truly delved into studying it, that he gained a deeper insight.
Mo Hua memorized a portion of the grand array's array hub. That evening, he immersed his spiritual sense into his sea of consciousness and began practicing on the Dao stele.
After practicing it twice, he discovered something astonishing: his spiritual sense was far from sufficient! Even after memorizing only a part of the array hub, his spiritual sense was exhausted before he could finish drawing it.
The requirement for spiritual sense strength was unbelievably high...
Could this truly be a first-grade ten-thread grand array? Mo Hua found it hard to believe.
However, upon further reflection, if it weren't this challenging, the grand array wouldn't be hailed as an ultimate array, revered as the strongest array formation, and pursued as a lifelong goal by array masters.
Since that was the case, no matter how difficult it was, it would be reasonable.
Instead of complaining, it would be better to practice repeatedly.
Persistence was crucial in the path of array mastery. As long as one persevered, there would eventually be a breakthrough.
If one failed once, try ten times, and if ten times weren't enough, try a hundred...
Even if, in the end, one still couldn't master it, at least there would be no regrets.
Mo Hua forced himself to calm down.
He put aside thoughts of the grand array's difficulty and his own doubts about eventually mastering it. He began to learn bit by bit and practiced repeatedly, again and again.
Mo Hua would draw the array hub until his spiritual sense was exhausted, erase it, and then start over.
On the Dao stele, the array hub would appear and disappear, repeating the cycle over and over.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Mo Hua seemed to perceive a faint trace of the Dao's rhythm from the Dao stele.
This subtle sensation was indescribable, but it brought him a sense of peace and helped him focus his mind. His understanding of the array hub gradually deepened.
The array hub of the grand array shared the same origin and principles as the composite and individual arrays, but it was vastly different in its complexity.
The array hub of an individual array was extremely rudimentary, consisting of only a few simple strokes.
Even simpler array hubs didn't require intricate brushwork; the structure of the array itself served as the hub.
The array hub of a composite array was more challenging and required bolder brushstrokes, consuming more spiritual sense.
However, the array hub of the grand array was far more intricate.
It wasn't a single brushstroke but a myriad of fine lines intertwined to form a unified pattern, thus creating the array hub.
The unified pattern was the direction of the array hub, while the fine lines that formed it were the specific trajectories of spiritual energy flow.
On the surface, this unified pattern appeared as a bolder brushstroke compared to the composite array hub. Still, in reality, it was composed of countless fine lines, each with specific lengths, shapes, and trajectories, carefully woven together.
It was like braiding fine hemp fibers into a sturdy rope.
However, each fiber had to be shaped, angled, and linked according to strict guidelines.
That was why the array hub was so intricate, and that was why it consumed so much spiritual sense.
After comprehending the principles behind this array hub, Mo Hua found it hard to believe that anyone could have conceived such an array design.
How could anyone have come up with such an intricate concept for array formation?
However, the more he felt his own inadequacy and recognized his ignorance, the more determined he became to learn.
Mo Hua steeled his resolve, putting aside all distractions and focusing solely on studying the array's hub.
In the following days, Mo Hua immersed himself in practicing the grand array's array hub, forgoing sleep and meals.
Even during mealtimes, his hands would unconsciously sketch intricate patterns.
Sometimes, he would space out in the middle of eating, lost in thought, until the food in front of him turned cold.
Li Ruhua could only sigh and reheat his meals.
Mo Shan quietly watched his son, choosing not to disturb him.
Mo Shan and his wife had originally planned to relocate to the new city along with their fellow demon hunters and neighbors.
However, they couldn't bring themselves to leave Mo Hua behind.
Mo Hua was their flesh and blood, and they wanted to stay by his side no matter what choices he made or what path he took.
A few days later, Mo Hua's understanding of the array hub showed significant progress.
The reason behind this progress was the noticeable growth of his spiritual sense.
Mo Hua pondered for a moment and quickly understood the reason.
Mr. Zhuang had once mentioned that spiritual sense had its limits.
The closer one got to those limits, the more difficult it became to increase one's spiritual sense.
For cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm, the limit of their spiritual sense was the First Tier Foundation Establishment.
That was why Mo Hua's spiritual sense had been increasing at a slow pace before, as he had been solely relying on practicing formations to temper it.
However, after Mo Hua "devoured" the Green-faced Little Ghost and refined the Green-robed Elder's divine sense within the visualization diagram, his spiritual sense had abruptly reached Foundation Establishment, breaking through the ten-thread restriction.
In other words, Mo Hua's current spiritual sense limit was that of the Foundation Establishment realm.
The limit was still far from Mo Hua's reach.
Therefore, by practicing complex formations, he could still significantly enhance his spiritual sense!
The reason Mo Hua hadn't realized this earlier was that the formations he had been studying weren't challenging enough, and they didn't consume enough spiritual sense, resulting in a less intense tempering effect and slower growth.
Now, with the grand array being exceptionally difficult and demanding a substantial amount of spiritual sense, his spiritual sense was naturally increasing at a much faster rate.
At this rate, with his spiritual sense continually strengthening, he might truly be able to master the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Array before the relocation!
With this newfound hope, Mo Hua threw himself into his studies even more fervently, foregoing sleep and meals.
Whenever he encountered difficulties, he would seek guidance from Mr. Zhuang.
If Mr. Zhuang was resting, Mo Hua would wait outside his bamboo room or under the ancient pagoda tree.
While waiting, he would take out his ink and paper and continue practicing the array hub of the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Grand Array.
On this particular day, as Mo Hua was practicing under the ancient pagoda tree, Bai Zisheng noticed him and became curious. He put down his book, leaned over, and took a look, furrowing his brows.
"What is that?"
It was intricate and dense, looking rather complex.
It seemed like random ink strokes, yet it lacked the uniformity of a proper drawing. It resembled a formation, but Bai Zisheng had never seen such a formation before.
"Array hub," Mo Hua replied without looking up, his hands continuing to move as he focused intently on his drawing.
Bai Zisheng was taken aback.
Array hub?
What kind of array hub was so complex?
He wanted to ask more questions, but seeing Mo Hua's undivided attention on his drawing, he hesitated to disturb him.
However, his curiosity got the better of him, and he continued to watch Mo Hua draw.
As he observed, Bai Zisheng suddenly felt a headache coming on and quickly covered his forehead.
"Not good, my spiritual sense is being consumed too quickly..."
He quickly averted his gaze and took a moment to rest before recovering. He looked at Mo Hua with a hint of shock in his eyes.
Just what was Mo Hua drawing?!
"I only glanced at it for a moment, how could my spiritual sense be exhausted already?"
Bai Zisheng's face showed his disbelief.
In that moment, he felt like the formation Mo Hua was drawing was something entirely different from what he understood formations to be...
Bai Zixii, who was standing nearby, noticed his brother's reaction and furrowed her brows in confusion. She tiptoed over to Mo Hua's side and glanced at the formation he was drawing.
Bai Zixii's delicate eyebrows knitted together as she studied the formation, and suddenly, her eyes widened in realization, and her expression froze for a moment.
"Zixii..."
Bai Zisheng started to speak, but Bai Zixii shook her head, indicating for him not to disturb Mo Hua while he was drawing the formation.
When Mo Hua finally paused to rest, having exhausted his spiritual sense, he noticed two pairs of beautiful eyes staring intently at him.
One pair belonged to a handsome face with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and the other to a face with clear eyes like still water.
(End of Chapter)
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