Chapter 781: The Law
Chapter 781: The Law
"What...what are you going to do?" Jian Goutou's voice trembled slightly.
"Nothing much. I just need a little help from you." Mo Hua replied with a smile.
Looking at Mo Hua's friendly smile, Jian Goutou felt a chill rising from the depths of his heart.
Without waiting for Jian Goutou's refusal—of course, he had no room to refuse—Mo Hua began to take out his brush and ink, dipping it into the spiritual ink as he started to draw the Divine Lock Array on the White Bone Demon Sword.
With the first stroke, the sword's aura dimmed slightly.
Jian Goutou, whose essence was intertwined with the broken sword, suddenly felt a surge of pressure.
It was as if someone had bound his blood pool with a heavy chain.
Jian Goutou was stunned and terrified.
"Little ancestor, don't..." he pleaded.
But Mo Hua ignored him and continued to draw, stroke by stroke.
With each stroke, it was as if a heavy chain was being layered onto the bone sword.
Jian Goutou felt more and more suffocated.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, Mo Hua had completely drawn the Divine Lock Array on the White Bone Demon Sword.
"It's done!"
Mo Hua held up the broken White Bone Demon Sword, admiring the array he had just drawn. He was quite satisfied with his work.
Then he said, "Jian Goutou, try to break free."
He wanted to see if Jian Goutou, the Sword Demon, could break free from the "seal" of the Divine Lock Array he had just set up, using his own demonic power.
However, after waiting for a long time, there was no sound from within the sword.
Mo Hua was taken aback. "What's going on?"
Could it be that Jian Goutou had been completely suppressed and his soul scattered?
Mo Hua used his finger to rub one of the array lines, making it fainter and causing the seal to loosen slightly. A weak voice then came from the sword, "I... I'm sealed..."
"I can't transmit my voice..."
"Oh." Mo Hua understood.
He rubbed another line of the array, making it fainter. "How about now?"
"It's better..." Jian Goutou's voice was still soft, but it could be heard clearly now.
"Try to break free from the 'seal' now," Mo Hua instructed.
Jian Goutou hesitated.
He was afraid that Mo Hua was playing with him.
If he really broke free from the seal, this petty little ancestor might hold a grudge against him, and he would be in even bigger trouble.
Annoyed, Mo Hua struck the demon sword and said, "Break free as I told you to! Hurry up!"
"Yes, yes..." Jian Goutou had no choice but to obey.
He mustered his strength, and his body expanded as his bones turned into a complete "Sword Demon" form. He dared not hold back at all and attacked the Divine Lock Array that sealed the blood pool with all his might.
The sword energies, shrouded in demonic intent, slashed onto the seal's pale golden array lines.
The array lines did not move, but Mo Hua's brows furrowed slightly.
On the surface, the array lines seemed intact, but he could sense that the sealing power of the array was being gradually countered.
Each strike of the demonic sword energy diminished a fraction of the sealing power.
Although the reduction was minuscule, like an ant nibbling away, it was indeed being weakened.
A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant's nest.
If this continued, the seal would eventually be completely broken.
Above the blood pool, the sword energies were dense and sharp.
After a while, Jian Goutou grew tired and had to retract his "demonization," panting as he rested.
"Take a break and continue," Mo Hua said.
Jian Goutou gathered his courage and was about to protest, but when he met Mo Hua's profound gaze and thought of his "terror," all his courage dissipated.
"Yes..."
And so, he rested for a while, then transformed back into the "Sword Demon" and continued to slash at the Divine Lock Array.
This time, he treated each array line as the detestable Mo Hua, which gave him extra motivation.
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you! One day, I'll tear you into a thousand pieces!" Jian Goutou thought viciously.
However, he dared not reveal any of these rebellious thoughts and kept them firmly hidden in his heart.
He knew all too well that if he dared to show even a hint of these thoughts, it would be him who would be torn to pieces.
Thus, he continued to slash and rest, again and again.
After an unknown amount of time, a faint "crack" sound suddenly rang out, and a crack appeared in the chain formed by the divine consciousness.
Jian Goutou was taken aback, but his heart was soon filled with joy.
However, Mo Hua's brows furrowed even deeper.
As the Divine Lock Array showed signs of breaking, Jian Goutou's attacks became more vigorous.
Soon, one of the array lines was covered in cracks, and the sealing power completely disappeared.
Since the array lines of the Divine Lock Array were interconnected, the sealing effect of the other array lines was also greatly reduced.
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Jian Goutou shouted weakly but triumphantly in his heart.
After countless more slashes, the Divine Lock Array formed by divine consciousness finally collapsed, and the sealing power dissipated completely.
Jian Goutou straightened his waist, feeling proud and elated.
He glanced at Mo Hua, with a hint of self-satisfaction, "Your array doesn't seem that effective..."
Mo Hua looked at him indifferently.
Jian Goutou immediately felt a shiver down his spine.
He had let his guard down! In a moment of carelessness, he had spoken those arrogant words.
He quickly wiped the nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and forced a smile, "Your array is truly profound and unfathomable. It was pure luck that I was able to break it..."
But Mo Hua was no longer paying attention to him, lost in his own thoughts with a furrowed brow.
Jian Goutou silently breathed a sigh of relief, while cursing in his heart:
"You're the one who made me break the array, and now that I've really broken it, you're still unhappy.
"However, that formation from earlier, while it looked powerful and his divine consciousness was terrifyingly refined, almost not like a human's at all, it's too rigid and too strong. It's like a solid stone dam; it looks sturdy, but a constant drip will wear away the stone, and it will eventually collapse..."
Mo Hua also became aware of this issue.
On the surface, his divine consciousness was powerful and had undergone a qualitative change. The 'seal' chains, formed through the Shinto array patterns and refined using the Shinto formation, were as solid as gold and stone.
But this divine consciousness was "dead" and fixed in quantity.
It would be difficult to withstand the constant erosion of the evil presence over the years, and it would never achieve the effect of a long-lasting seal.
Even a minor Sword Demon like this was beyond his ability to seal.
Not to mention sealing a massive evil god.
The "Divine Lock Array" he had drawn was merely a seal in form, without the substance.
"But what is the substance of a seal?"
Is it a special heavenly principle?
Similar to the collapse of spiritual power in the Reverse Spirit Array.
The Earthen Principle within the Thick Earth Array.
The manipulation of spiritual power in the Spirit Pivot Array.
And the fusion of divine consciousness and spiritual power in the Five Elements Supreme Array?
What exactly is the principle of sealing? Mo Hua was perplexed.
No one had ever taught him this, and no one had given him any pointers. How could he possibly figure it out on his own in a short time?
How could he possibly gain a true understanding?
Mo Hua sighed and felt a headache coming on.
Indeed, the art of formations was profound and profound. Even with his wit, he sometimes felt lost and didn't know where to start.
Mo Hua thought for a while and decided to practice on the stele to see if he could gain any further insights.
But the time wasn't right yet.
So Mo Hua took out the Taiji Order and sent a message to Elder Xu, sharing all the intelligence he had gathered.
This included some of the internal structures of the Myriad Demon Valley, as well as the identities of Jin Yikuang, Jin Yicai, and Jin Yixuan, disciples of the Broken Golden Gate.
Of course, he left out the parts about Mr. Tu and the evil god, as the karma involved was too deep and complicated to explain.
Upon receiving the message, Xu Ziyu's expression also turned solemn.
Standing by his side, Official Xu saw this and couldn't help but coldly smile, "What an audacious Broken Golden Gate. They truly have guts!"
Xu Ziyu remained silent for a moment before sighing, "Let's keep this matter under wraps for now."
Official Xu's brows furrowed as he slowly said, "If we find a cockroach in the house, it means..."
Xu Ziyu slowly nodded.
Official Xu's expression turned grave, "Then the trouble might be even bigger than we thought..."
Xu Ziyu sighed deeply, lifting his head to gaze at the sky above the Qian Xuezhou realm, remembering the words of his ancestor. Suddenly, a thought struck him.
"An inch of ice is not formed in a day."
"It's possible that the trouble started a long time ago, and it's already quite severe..."
Xu Ziyu murmured to himself.
...
After speaking with Elder Xu, Mo Hua sat cross-legged for a while, reviewing the Shinto array patterns. When the hour of the rat arrived, he sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.
Within his sea of consciousness, the stele loomed vast and ethereal.
Mo Hua began to draw the Shinto arrays—the Divine Lock Array, the Divine Mist Array, and the God-Concealing Array—one by one on the stele.
Soon, three Shinto arrays, pure and composed entirely of divine consciousness, appeared on the stele, shimmering with a faint golden light.
Mo Hua studied the arrays for a moment before shaking his head.
"Indeed, it won't work..."
The flow of consciousness within the arrays was abstruse and obscure.
They had form but lacked spirit.
When Mo Hua had drawn these array patterns on the White Bone Demon Sword to seal the Sword Fiend, he hadn't noticed this issue.
But now, as he presented the array patterns on the stele, which contained the principles of the Great Dao, the problem became evident.
The arrays lacked luster and radiance.
It meant that the stele did not recognize them.
In other words, his understanding of the Shinto arrays was still shallow, and he had not grasped the essence of the arrays.
"But what exactly are the principles of the array laws within the Shinto arrays?"
Mo Hua frowned and thought hard, but even after a long time, he couldn't figure it out, and he felt a bit dejected.
"It seems that Mr. Tu was right. This Shinto array is 'stealing the ways of the gods with mortal consciousness' to control the power of sealing the gods. It's abstruse and profound, and it's not something that can be easily learned."
Indeed, Mr. Tu had not spoken falsely.
In his heart, Mo Hua silently apologized to Mr. Tu.
Previously, he had thought that with his extraordinary talent, he could learn it quickly, but now it seemed that he had been a bit naive and had underestimated the array masters of the world...
Mo Hua sighed.
So, what now? He had obtained the array diagram, learned the array patterns, but he didn't understand the essential array principles and the array path laws they entailed.
He couldn't even come up with a clue in a short time.
The situation had stalled...
Frowning, Mo Hua's thoughts suddenly turned to what Mr. Tu had said to Jin Yixuan before he disappeared:
"Familiarize yourself with the array patterns first. I'll teach you the essence of the array later..."
When the time came for Mr. Tu to teach Jin Yixuan, he could eavesdrop and learn as well?
Since Mr. Tu could use these Shinto arrays, it meant that he understood the principles of the Great Dao that they entailed.
As long as he taught Jin Yixuan, he would also be "teaching" Mo Hua.
This way, even if he couldn't fully comprehend these laws, he would at least know the direction to strive for, instead of being completely clueless.
"But time might not be on our side..."
Mo Hua felt concerned.
He didn't know how talented Jin Yixuan was when it came to understanding arrays.
If he was a dunce and took ten days or half a month just to understand the array patterns, wouldn't everything be too late by then?
But for now, he had no other choice.
Mo Hua sighed once more. He could only continue practicing the Shinto arrays on the stele, hoping that by drawing them repeatedly, he would gain a deeper understanding and perhaps gain some insights.
On the stele, the Shinto array patterns appeared one by one.
Mo Hua calmed his mind, his consciousness clear, as he drew each of the Shinto arrays over and over.
After finishing one, he would erase it and then start drawing again...
Time passed slowly.
Mo Hua didn't know how many times he had drawn the arrays, but while he became more familiar with the patterns, he made no progress in terms of deeper understanding.
He refused to believe that even after drawing the arrays hundreds or thousands of times, he would not gain any insight at all.
With his eyes closed, Mo Hua emptied his mind and banished all extraneous thoughts.
His fatigue gradually faded away.
After resting for a while, Mo Hua felt rejuvenated and ready to continue painting.
Just then, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a pitch-black crack, causing him to pause in surprise.
This was a crack of nothingness.
Ever since Mo Hua's divine consciousness reached the peak of seventeen strands and was about to break through to eighteen, this crack had appeared out of thin air in his sea of consciousness.
This crack seemed to have come from nowhere, its origin unknown, yet it was incredibly profound, almost like a brushstroke of the Grand Dao, as if it had appeared to make up for Mo Hua's "flaw."
Mo Hua's divine consciousness could only grow by being devoured by this crack.
Thus, the divine consciousness he had painstakingly cultivated over the past year or so had mostly been consumed by this "uninvited guest," preventing any improvement in his cultivation.
This crack was the main reason his divine consciousness had been suppressed.
Previously, every time Mo Hua saw this crack of nothingness, he would feel unhappy.
But now, he suddenly froze.
"It's suppressing the growth of my divine consciousness..."
In other words, wasn't it equivalent to... "sealing" my divine consciousness?! In other words, this crack of nothingness was a heavenly "seal"?
And this crack of nothingness obviously contained some kind of heavenly principle.
That meant that this crack was a clear and straightforward heavenly "seal" principle?!
Mo Hua was stunned and found it hard to believe.
After searching high and low...
The most crucial sealing principle of the Shinto array had already been imprinted by the Grand Dao in his sea of consciousness in the form of a "patch"?
The purpose was to seal his divine consciousness and fix this "flaw"?
Mo Hua's mouth hung open as he felt a sense of awe.
Then his eyes lit up as his thoughts took a turn:
"If I want to know how the Shinto array seals the evil god, all I need to do is figure out how this heavenly principle is 'sealing' me..."
This principle could seal his consciousness.
So, if he could understand this principle and incorporate it into the Shinto array, he would naturally be able to seal other evil beings, even incredibly powerful evil gods!
Mo Hua continued his train of thought:
So, how did this principle seal his sea of consciousness?
Almost instantly, Mo Hua thought of a word:
Devour!
"If this principle is to continue existing, it must constantly 'devour' and absorb the thoughts of the sealed individual to achieve a self-sustaining cycle of power, maintaining the stability and continuity of the principle itself."
"Similarly, the Shinto array must also 'devour' the thoughts of the sealed individual to sustain the array's existence, ensuring that the 'sealing power' is everlasting and unwavering over time."
"Therefore, the core principle of sealing lies in 'devouring.'"
Mo Hua had a sudden realization.
A river without a source will run dry.
All power in the world is conserved and has its source.
Spiritual power, demonic power, and even divine power are no exceptions.
Ordinary arrays can be powered by spirit stones.
However, there are no similar "spirit stones" for divine power.
Shinto array masters cannot continuously provide their arrays with spiritual power.
Therefore, for a Shinto array to achieve a long-term "seal," it must "borrow" power from elsewhere, devouring and absorbing the thoughts of the sealed evil being to create an "internal cycle" of power within the array.
The more profound this devouring principle is, the more solid the Shinto array becomes, and the more impenetrable the seal is.
To some extent, the Shinto array and the evil being it seals are one and the same.
As long as the evil god and its minions do not perish, the Shinto array will also never disappear.
Mo Hua was deeply shaken by this realization.
Indeed, the heavenly principles were profound and mysterious.
And the predecessors who had managed to turn these principles into tangible arrays were truly exceptional and worthy of admiration.
Mo Hua's expression turned solemn.
"The Grand Dao is boundless, and the path of arrays is vast, with array masters surpassing even the extraordinary."
"I must not be arrogant or complacent but remain humble and diligent in my studies, so that I may one day truly master the art of arrays and comprehend the Grand Dao."
Mo Hua nodded to himself.
Then, his eyes shone with a brilliant light.
The heavenly principles were right before his eyes!
Previously, he had considered trying to understand this principle, but given his limited cultivation experience, he had no idea what this principle truly meant.
Moreover, knowing the principle without a tangible "form" to apply it to was useless.
Now, he finally understood.
The Shinto array patterns were the form, and the sealing principle was the essence.
Combining the two would give this principle a tangible means of expression.
Mo Hua calmed his mind and began to draw the Shinto array patterns on the stele while looking up at the crack of nothingness and contemplating the flow of thoughts within it.
Then, he compared and merged the two.
By studying the Shinto array patterns, he could understand the heavenly principles, and by understanding the heavenly principles, he could imbue the Shinto array patterns with true essence.
After an unknown amount of time, Mo Hua's brush paused and then finished the final stroke.
And just like the finishing touch on a dragon's eye, a complete array was formed.
Brilliant golden light flashed, and the condensed thoughts circulated.
"Success!"
The true Shinto array, imbued with the sealing principle—the God-Lock Array—emerged, its golden light flowing like chains binding a god, right before his eyes! Mo Hua smiled triumphantly.
At the same time.
In a jade palace, within a sect that resembled the White Jade Capital of Heaven, an elder who had been meditating with his eyes closed suddenly opened them, his heart filled with a sense of dread.
It seemed as if some important secret that mortals should not dare to touch had been lost...
(End of Chapter)
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