Chapter 767: The Four Symbols Array
Chapter 767: The Four Symbols Array
Xun Ziyou sighed. If this kept up, he wouldn't know whether to worry about Mo Hua or the Myriad Demon Valley.
This thought gave him pause, and he shook his head immediately. Mo Hua was still just a child.
The Myriad Demon Valley, on the other hand, was a truly sinister place, full of dangers.
There were countless unknown perils awaiting Mo Hua within...
Xun Ziyou had no way of knowing what was happening inside the valley, so he could only repeatedly remind Mo Hua: "The valley is treacherous. Be careful in everything you do, keep a low profile, and avoid taking risks. If you sense any danger, tell me at once..."
"Mmhmm," Mo Hua nodded in reply.
He had always been cautious and conducted himself discreetly.
Even when he schemed against that managing demon cultivator, he had made sure to clean up afterward, destroying all evidence and leaving no traces.
However, things had changed now, and the Myriad Demon Valley wasn't as dangerous as Elder Xun imagined it to be.
Without the Golden Core, the valley no longer posed a true 'deadly situation'.
With the Yuan Magnet Spirit-seeing Formation lit up, every movement within the vicinity was under their control.
Now that they had obtained the Demon Banner, they had an even greater advantage!
After their chat, Mo Hua continued with his own matters.
He took out the storage bag of the manager and looked through it. Most of the items inside belonged to demon cultivators.
There were bottles of demon blood, pills made from human flesh, demon techniques for flying swords, and manuals on transforming into demons, among other things...
Mo Hua had no interest in these grotesque items.
However, the manuals on demon techniques were worth a look.
He took out the cultivation techniques and transformation manuals of the demon cultivators and browsed through them briefly to gain a general understanding of demon cultivators before stopping.
These things were only meant to be sampled.
Knowing the principles of demon cultivation and understanding your enemy was sufficient.
He mustn't delve too deeply, lest he became engrossed and the demonic nature took root, causing him to stray onto the path of evil and become a formidable demon lord in the future without even realizing it.
After he finished perusing the manuals, Mo Hua put away the demon cultivation techniques and then took out the item he had long coveted from the bottom of the storage bag—a black demon banner.
The banner had a black background adorned with blood-red patterns, and its rod was made of bone. It felt cool and slightly sticky in his hand, which made Mo Hua feel uncomfortable.
This was the natural repulsion that a righteous cultivator of spiritual power would feel toward sinister objects.
Without hesitation, Mo Hua proceeded to dismantle the banner.
Being a sinister artifact, the banner required demonic power to activate.
Mo Hua was an orthodox cultivator, and without demonic power, he couldn't activate the banner, much less use it to 'control' other demon cultivators.
There was no helping it.
He certainly couldn't start learning demon cultivation techniques just to use the banner against demon cultivators.
Nevertheless, the banner was still of great use to Mo Hua.
Mo Hua took out various artifact crafting tools and quickly disassembled the banner.
His artifact crafting skills weren't great, but he was fairly adept at dismantling spiritual artifacts, thanks to ample practice.
The banner lay in pieces, scattered on the ground.
Mo Hua shuffled through the pieces, searching, until he finally found a special kind of bloody array pattern on the inner side of the banner.
"The Four Symbols Array Pattern..."
He had found it!
Moreover, this array pattern didn't seem like an ordinary one; it seemed to be a special kind...
Mo Hua examined it for a few moments, his brow furrowed slightly. "...The Four Symbols Array Pivot?"
Something was amiss...
He took out a piece of paper and carefully transcribed the array pattern, which resembled an 'array pivot', from the banner. He then wrote down the various Four Symbols demon patterns he had obtained, recalling them from memory.
These demon patterns included the Four Symbols Hawk Pattern he had copied from the bald criminal cultivator, 'Vulture', at the very beginning.
They also included the Four Symbols Wolf Pattern he had obtained from the werewolf whose arm he had sliced off with his flying sword in the dense forest.
Mo Hua silently compared the Four Symbols array patterns he currently possessed, combining them with the structure of the array pivot in the banner and carefully deducing their functions.
At the same time, he recalled Elder Xun's sporadic teachings on the Four Symbols Array and his own previous conjectures about it, using them as references for his understanding...
Time passed slowly.
The logic of the Four Symbols Array gradually became clearer in Mo Hua's eyes.
Finally, after much contemplation, Mo Hua's eyes lit up as he suddenly understood.
He realized what the underlying logic of the Four Symbols Array was...
So-called arrays were manifestations of the rules of heaven and earth.
Cultivators borrowed the power of heaven and earth through the use of arrays.
The Five Elements Array borrowed the power of the five elements, while the Eight Trigrams Array borrowed the power of the eight trigrams.
As for the Four Symbols Array, its essence was to borrow the power of the 'myriad beasts' of heaven and earth...
According to the knowledge Mo Hua had gained from the courses on the history of cultivation in the Nine Provinces and the Grand Void Gate, there were numerous types of beasts between heaven and earth.
There were mythical beasts from ancient legends;
There were beasts with unique attributes;
There were spiritual beasts born naturally or raised by cultivators;
And there were also ferocious and cruel demonic beasts...
...
If Mo Hua's speculation was correct, a pure Four Symbols Array should use orthodox 'beast patterns'.
Using beast blood as ink, one would paint the 'beast patterns' on their body, using their own flesh and blood as the medium of the array, their meridians as the array pivot, their heart meridian as the array eye, and their surging blood energy as the driving force of the array.
By integrating the power of beasts into one's body and becoming the array oneself, one could control the power of myriad beasts, howling like the wind and possessing the might of a thousand jun.
However, this type of array had one obvious problem...
Mo Hua drew in a slight breath of cool air, his expression turning solemn.
But as Elder Xun had said, this Four Symbols Array was indeed too dangerous.
The line between good and evil was blurry, and the scale was difficult to control.
Borrowing the power of beasts and integrating it into one's self, using one's body as the formation, was treading a fine line between righteous and wicked formations. A single misstep could lead to a descent into the realm of wicked formations.
Moreover, as Elder Xun had mentioned, beasts were akin to demons.
The beast patterns in the Four Symbols Array could easily evolve into demon patterns.
This was because superior "beast patterns" were hard to come by.
Divine beasts were mostly legendary, exotic beasts were extremely rare, spiritual beasts were not strong enough, and they were also very expensive.
These categories of "beast patterns" were either scarce or too weak to meet the wide-ranging applications of the Four Symbols Array.
If that was the case, then instead of beasts, one could only use "demons."
The only widely applicable and powerful Four Symbols Array patterns would be "demon patterns."
However, as soon as demon patterns were used, the Four Symbols Array would degenerate into a "wicked formation."
Once a cultivator painted the Four Symbols demon patterns on their body, integrating the power of demon beasts into themselves, the demon power would contaminate their flesh and blood, assimilate their vital energy, and erode their divine consciousness, causing their humanity to gradually fade away as they transformed into true "demon beasts."
Mo Hua sighed.
No wonder the Dao Court didn't promote the Four Symbols Array widely.
If this formation were to spread, it could cause harm to oneself and others.
If there were many formation masters who learned the Four Symbols Array, and the Demon Sect came to corrupt them, it would be easy to "mass-produce" a large number of wicked formation masters...
Mo Hua shook his head, thinking to himself:
"No wonder I felt like something was missing every time I tried to learn these Four Symbols Arrays before, and I just couldn't seem to grasp them..."
To master the Four Symbols Array, one had to learn not only the formation patterns and the structure of the formation pivot but also understand the blood and flesh formation medium and the blood energy circulation system of the formation eye.
In other words, learning the formation patterns alone was not enough.
This set of formation patterns had to use "blood and flesh" as the medium, the "heart meridian" as the eye, and "blood energy" as the power source.
Previously, when he had drawn the Four Symbols Array on formation paper, using the Spirit Gathering Array as the formation eye and spiritual power as the energy source, it was no wonder that he had never been able to master it.
Mo Hua scratched his head.
This was troublesome...
It was almost like the methods of a wicked formation master.
Moreover, the few copies of the Four Symbols Array that he had obtained all used "demon patterns," which were strictly speaking, "wicked formations."
They were not suitable for learning.
Even if he learned them, he wouldn't be able to use them.
To paint this Four Symbols Demon Array on himself? As soon as demonic power entered his body, he would become a demon cultivator.
Moreover, since he was not a body cultivator, his vital energy was weak, and the violent demonic power would likely cause his body to explode the moment it entered.
To paint it on someone else?
That would be nurturing "demon cultivators"...
Mo Hua shook his head.
That would be harming others, and it was definitely not an option.
Mo Hua felt dejected.
"If I can't apply what I've learned, then have I learned it for nothing?"
"I've been pondering this for nothing, and all I've figured out is the essence of wicked formations..."
Mo Hua sighed and felt a little tired, so he lay down on the ground to rest.
As he lay there, Mo Hua's peripheral vision caught sight of the black demon banner that he had dismantled, scattered on the ground. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he sat up immediately.
"Control!"
Mo Hua's thoughts raced.
This formation couldn't be used on himself, nor could it be used on others, but it could be used on demon cultivators!
Just like this demon banner, it could be used to control demons!
Through the Four Symbols formation pivot, he could "regulate" other demon cultivators! Mo Hua's eyes sparkled with excitement.
He immediately turned over the Four Symbols formation pivot on the demon banner and studied it carefully, his mind stirring:
"The entire Myriad Demon Valley is likely controlled by the Four Symbols Demon Array, which governs the numerous demon cultivators within the valley..."
"It's not clear who created this demon array."
"But based on previous speculations, it's highly likely to be that 'Mr. Tu,' who believes in the Evil God of the Wilderness and has intricate connections with the Wild Mountain."
"If that's the case..."
Mo Hua thought to himself, "That Mr. Tu must be an extremely skilled formation master, at least an extremely skilled master of the Four Symbols Wicked Array."
"He divided the Four Symbols Demon Array into two parts."
"One part of the demon patterns is painted on the demon cultivators to enhance their demonic power."
"The other part of the formation pivot is painted on the demon banner, and through the control of the formation pivot over the formation patterns, the demon cultivators are regulated."
"This formation system is very well-designed, and judging from the scale of demon cultivators in the Myriad Demon Valley, it is also widely applied."
"Moreover, since the demon banner requires demonic power to activate, righteous cultivators cannot use it, thus preventing the 'control' from falling into the wrong hands to some extent."
"The entire Four Symbols Demon Array system is very tight."
"However, there is a loophole..."
Mo Hua's eyes gleamed, "If I can learn the Four Symbols formation pivot, then in a sense, I can 'usurp control' and indirectly hold the power over the life and death of the numerous demon cultivators in the Myriad Demon Valley!"
However...
Mo Hua frowned slightly.
The problem was that he was an orthodox cultivator, cultivating spiritual power, and couldn't activate the demon banner.
Moreover, the manager's demon banner had already been "dismantled."
Dismantling things was not a difficult task for Mo Hua, but expecting him to put it back together was unrealistic.
"Then... should I refine a new 'spirit banner'?"
Mo Hua thought for a moment and shook his head.
In this situation, where would he find the conditions to refine a spiritual artifact?
And the idea of using an orthodox "spirit banner" to control a demon method was obviously far-fetched.
Mo Hua continued to ponder:
"The essence of the demon banner is the array pivot."
"That manager used the demon banner because he didn't know how to set up arrays, so he could only use the 'demon banner' to control the demon cultivators."
"So, the demon banner was refined for 'array idiots'."
"But I'm not an 'array idiot'..."
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
With his array prowess, he could certainly forgo the demon banner and directly use the Four Symbols Array Pivot to control other demon cultivators.
"But without the demon banner as the array medium, how should I go about doing it?"
Mo Hua frowned.
"Should I directly use the demon cultivators' flesh and skin as the array medium, painting the array pivot on their bodies to control the Four Symbols Demon Array on them?"
"This is somewhat similar to the Spirit Pivot Array..."
However, there was also a clear distinction between the two.
The Spirit Pivot Array was a spiritual power array that used the weight of the array pivot to achieve hierarchical control, manipulating the actions of puppets.
Of course, if it were used to control zombies with demonic power, it would become a demonic array.
The Four Symbols Array - or rather, the Four Symbols Demon Array, was a demonic power array that controlled the flow of demonic power by manipulating the array patterns through the array pivot.
As for whether this plan would work or not, Mo Hua thought about it and decided to give it a try.
The only way to test the array and verify his hypothesis, as well as to find more problems and improve it, was to try it out himself.
Mo Hua turned his attention to the Spirit-seeing Formation.
He was about to select a "lucky one," or rather, an "unfortunate one."
Within the Spirit-seeing Formation, the silhouettes of demon cultivators composed of Yuan Magnetism moved back and forth incessantly within the Myriad Demon Valley.
Soon, Mo Hua selected a demon cultivator.
This demon cultivator was not very strong, probably only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He was tall and skinny, with vertical pupils and a long tongue, giving him a sinister appearance.
He was a prison guard, and the demon patterns on his body were located on his back.
Through the channel of the array pivot, Mo Hua approached this demon cultivator and quietly observed him for a while. Taking advantage of his inattention, Mo Hua secretly used his spiritual sense to paint the Four Symbols Array Pivot on the demon cultivator's back with spirit ink.
This demon cultivator had an abnormal body temperature; he was as cold as a corpse, and he was dozing off, not noticing a thing.
Finally, the array pivot was complete.
However, Mo Hua's experiment failed...
He tried to control the demon patterns on the demon cultivator's body through the Four Symbols Array Pivot, but for some unknown reason, it didn't work at all, and he was even detected by the demon cultivator.
"There's something crawling on my back!" the demon cultivator exclaimed in horror.
His loud shouting put Mo Hua in a difficult position.
Mo Hua had no choice but to use a small meteorite technique, blowing the demon cultivator's head off on the spot.
The demon cultivator died instantly, his head gone.
The reason Mo Hua blasted his head instead of his chest was that he wanted to leave a relatively intact corpse so that he could copy the Four Symbols Demon Patterns on the demon cultivator's body and study why he had failed.
After copying the patterns, Mo Hua also tampered with the chains, freeing a demonic beast.
The demonic beast ate the demon cultivator's corpse, went berserk, and rushed out of the prison, causing another commotion.
The Myriad Demon Valley was once again in chaos.
Meanwhile, Mo Hua calmly returned to his array pivot chamber.
He began to analyze why he had failed. Why, despite painting the Four Symbols Array Pivot, did the array pivot indeed activate, but he was unable to control the demon patterns?
Was it an issue with the ink? Should he use pure demon blood instead of spirit ink?
Or should he mix it with human blood?
Mo Hua frowned and thought that it probably wasn't such a minor issue.
At the very least, that wasn't the fundamental problem.
There must be some subtlety in the structure of the array pivot that he had overlooked.
Mo Hua further fiddled with the dismantled demon banner, combining the Heavenly Machine Strange Calculation with the Heavenly Machine Derivative Calculation to further deconstruct the array and discovered that there were some tiny demon patterns inside the banner that he had previously ignored.
These demon patterns had different beast shapes.
They seemed to represent different... permissions? Mo Hua paused, then suddenly realized something.
A single demon banner naturally couldn't control all types of Four Symbols Demon Patterns at the same time.
Different demon cultivators had different types of demon patterns, and naturally, the corresponding array pivots would also be different.
Eagle patterns, wolf patterns, bear patterns... each type of demon pattern should have a corresponding array pivot.
The demon banner was an integration of array pivots.
The more types of array pivots it contained, the more corresponding demon patterns it could control.
This seemed to be a highly advanced method of array pivot fusion and design, and the corresponding demonic artifact refinement should also have special requirements.
Mo Hua was clueless about all of this.
With his current array prowess, he had not yet come into contact with such a complex array craftsmanship.
The integrated array pivot was exceedingly complex, and even if others obtained these array pivot patterns, they wouldn't be able to utilize them effectively.
However, that was true for others, but not for Mo Hua.
Mo Hua's eyes lit up.
As long as he understood the principles, everything else would fall into place.
The Four Symbols Array Pivot and the Four Symbols Demon Patterns had to be compatible with each other.
Mr. Tu had integrated the array pivot into the demon banner, allowing him to invoke the array pivot through the banner and adapt it to the Four Symbols Demon Patterns for control.
This was the effect of a sinister artifact.
However, Mo Hua couldn't use the demon banner, and since he intended to paint the array pivot onto the demon cultivators, it meant that he couldn't use an integrated array pivot.
He could only adapt them individually.
One set of array pivot for one set of demon patterns.
For example, the eagle-shaped array pivot would be paired with the eagle demon pattern, the wolf-shaped array pivot with the wolf demon pattern, the bear-shaped array pivot with the bear demon pattern, and so on...
This meant that he had to 'deconstruct' the integrated array pivot and extract a singular demon-shaped array pivot to match the specific demon beast demon pattern.
The array pivot within the demon banner was a comprehensive, integrated structure.
What Mo Hua needed to do was the opposite: to break down the integrated array pivot and extract different Four Symbols demon-shaped array pivots.
As for how to derive and deconstruct it...
Mo Hua thought for a moment, feeling that this was somewhat similar to the Yuan Magnet Formation.
By using fixed magnetic patterns and secondary thunder currents, one could derive indeterminate magnetic patterns.
Similarly, by using the integrated array pivot and specific demon patterns, along with the Heavenly Machine Strange Calculation for derivation, he could probably also analyze the corresponding demon-type array pivot.
Mo Hua immediately gave it a try.
His pupils deepened, and the heavenly machine within his eyes fluctuated as he employed the Heavenly Machine Strange Calculation to derive and deconstruct the integrated array pivot within the demon banner, matching it with the wolf pattern in his hand.
Everything went smoothly.
After about an hour, Mo Hua successfully analyzed a set of Four Symbols 'Wolf-shaped' Array Pivot.
Mo Hua was overjoyed and eager to try again.
He turned his attention back to the Spirit-seeing Formation and selected another "unfortunate" demon cultivator.
This unlucky individual was a Green Wolf Demon Cultivator.
Since he had derived a "Wolf-shaped" Four Symbols Array Pivot, he could only test it on a wolf-type demon cultivator.
This Green Wolf Demon Cultivator was patrolling near the prison.
After his shift, he would take a short break, eating some meat and drinking some blood.
However, it was unclear what kind of meat he was eating and whose blood he was drinking.
After he had his fill, the demon cultivator's mouth was stained with blood as he leaned back in his chair, resting with his eyes closed. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth, and in his dreams, he seemed to be thinking about devouring humans.
In the darkness, a blood-colored spirit ink writhed in the air, forming a line that slithered like a tiny snake onto his arm.
The demon cultivator's arm was marked with a wolf pattern, seamlessly integrated with his flesh and blood.
The spirit ink, like a blood line, crawled up his arm, bringing with it a chill.
But the demon cultivator had tough skin and thick flesh, and he was a bit drowsy, so he didn't notice the blood line at all. Unbeknownst to him, it wriggled on his arm, forming an array pivot that linked all the demon patterns together, slowly eroding and taking complete control...
Once the array pivot was complete, it firmly grasped control of the demon patterns.
Concealed in the shadows, Mo Hua curved his lips in a slight smile, his divine consciousness stirring.
Suddenly, the Green Wolf Demon Cultivator's arm turned blood-red, and a surge of greenish-red demonic power gushed from his arm, flowing over his shoulder and straight toward his head.
The rampant demonic power surged backward, instantly shattering his sea of consciousness and obliterating his intellect.
In that instant, his humanity was completely extinguished, and his demonic nature erupted.
The residual demonic power raged within his body.
Driven by instinct, the demon cultivator clutched his head and howled incessantly, his eyes bloodshot as he sought to devour someone.
Several patrolling demon cultivators sensed the anomaly and rushed over.
However, they were immediately attacked by the Green Wolf Demon Cultivator.
A string of curses rang out, followed by the sounds of demon cultivators howling, fighting, and devouring each other's flesh...
The chaos continued until the Green Wolf Demon Cultivator exhausted his demonic power and perished.
By then, the unruly demonic power had also destroyed the demon patterns on his arm, leaving his flesh and blood a blurry mess with no traces of the array.
Before the disturbance subsided, Mo Hua, the instigator, had already sneaked away.
At the same time, he had validated his hypothesis.
Through the Four Symbols Array Pivot, he could indeed bypass the demon banner and perform a 'coup' on the formation, taking control of the Four Symbols Demon Patterns on the demon cultivator's body.
As long as he killed one demon cultivator of each type and copied their Four Symbols Demon Patterns, he could then use those patterns and the integrated array pivot within the demon banner to derive the corresponding demon-shaped array pivot.
In this way, for an entire class of demon cultivators, as long as he found an opportunity to paint the 'array pivot' on them, their lives would be entirely in his hands.
And if he could derive the corresponding Four Symbols Array Pivots for all types of demon cultivators in the Myriad Demon Valley...
Mo Hua couldn't help but smile faintly.
This smile was somewhat pure, but in the darkness, it looked extremely dangerous.
(End of Chapter)
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