Chapter 424: Chapter 392: Array Stones and Array Plates

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

Of the twelve Spiritual Acupoints for the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, Zhao Lin had already opened eleven. With just one more, he would break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer!

The first revolution of his Nine Revolutions God Condensing Skill was also nearing completion, and he estimated he could begin cultivating the second revolution before the year’s end.

Each breakthrough to a new layer in the Qi Refining Realm expanded one’s Divine Sense by ten zhang, while the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions God Condensing Skill added another thirty zhang.

In other words, by then, Zhao Lin’s Divine Sense would be able to reach eighty zhang—on par with most Late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. This would overcome his disadvantage of having a limited attack range in combat.

This cultivation speed was much faster than Zhao Lin had anticipated.

Only a small part of the credit for this was due to arduous training; most of it was because he had been investing resources without considering the cost.

Zhao Lin had used merit points to exchange for a bottle of Jade Marrow Liquid, which temporarily elevated his Spiritual Root to high-grade for a month. Furthermore, he maintained a constant supply of precious pills like Yuan Condensing Pills, Yellow Valley Pills, and Soul Nourishing Pills.

He spent a day or two in a Spirit Cave every three to five days, and when it came to the critical juncture of opening a Spiritual Acupoint, he would even cultivate in the highest-grade Spirit Caves.

Zhao Lin’s incredible cultivation speed made many disciples burn with envy.

This was especially true for the disciples with high-grade Spiritual Roots. Despite their superior innate talent, they were being left in the dust by Zhao Lin’s progress. Even Lin Chaoran, who possessed an Earth Spirit Root, felt threatened.

Around the middle of the year, Lin Chaoran and three other disciples with high-grade Spiritual Roots approached Elder Nie, requesting to go out on a mission.

They had their eyes on a gold-level mission to hunt a Demon Beast. They wanted to go out together to earn some merit points so they, like Zhao Lin, could afford to exchange them for pills or for the privilege of cultivating in a Spirit Cave.

Elder Nie didn’t object, but he did propose a condition: the four of them had to spar with Zhao Lin. If they could last for a quarter of an hour, he would grant their request, win or lose. Otherwise, they would have to stay put in the Spirit Dao Institute.

Lin Chaoran and the others felt deeply insulted. No matter how formidable Zhao Lin was, there was no way he could take on four opponents at once. They agreed without the slightest hesitation.

They even took the initiative to raise the difficulty, changing the time limit from a quarter of an hour to half that. If they couldn’t defeat Zhao Lin within that time, they would give up on their request to go on a mission.

Elder Nie just gave a noncommittal smile and pulled Zhao Lin aside to give him a few quiet instructions.

The spar was held in public, attracting all the disciples of the Spirit Dao Institute. Even some cultivators from other peaks rushed over to watch the spectacle.

Before the match began, not many people favored Zhao Lin.

Although everyone knew he was a formidable fighter, Lin Chaoran and his companions were by no means weak. In a four-on-one fight, they held a massive advantage.

But the result was completely unexpected: the spar lasted less than twenty breaths. Zhao Lin won with ease, using a dazzling display of Magic to achieve a clean and decisive victory, without even resorting to his martial arts.

The crowd was stunned into silence, broken only by Zhao Changxing’s excited shout, "Senior Brother Zhao is my uncle! My uncle won!"

The crowd erupted in laughter, and even the two elders couldn’t help but chuckle. Realizing how his words had sounded, Zhao Changxing quickly shut his mouth.

Once the crowd quieted down, Elder Nie seized the moment and asked, "Zhao Lin, do you think these four have what it takes to go out and make their way in the world?"

Zhao Lin took the hint and shook his head. "They’re not quite ready yet. They need more practice. A high-grade Demon Beast’s strength is comparable to a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. It would be dangerous if they were to run into one."

Elder Nie turned to Lin Chaoran and the others. "Do you now understand your own limits?"

The four of them were utterly dejected. From that day on, they never again mentioned going out on a mission.

...

The rear mountain of Wendao Peak was the residential area for disciples of the Spirit Dao Institute.

The night was dark, and the disciples had long since retired to rest. Only a single stone house near the north ridge still showed a light.

Zhao Lin held an Array Pattern carving knife, his wrist twisting as he focused on engraving an Array Pattern onto a stone.

This array stone was only half the size of a palm. Its surface was smooth and rounded, a deep brown color, and it was incredibly hard.

This object could store Spiritual Qi and sense the shifting of heavenly mechanisms, making it a special type of Spirit Stone.

Array stones were used for inscribing Array Patterns, and multiple array stones could be combined to form an Array.

The one Zhao Lin was currently carving was a Fog Illusion Array. With only eight types of Array Patterns, it was the simplest of all Arrays.

With the aid of the Spirit Cultivation Map, Zhao Lin had already mastered the sixteen Array Patterns of the Sealing Spirit Array.

By mastering one, he could grasp others by analogy. His ability to wield the knife and carve Arrays improved dramatically, to the point where he could learn a simple Array like the Fog Illusion Array on his own.

"Done!"

A moment later, Spiritual Light flowed over the array stone. Zhao Lin lifted his Array Pattern knife and spoke with a smile.

He then pushed the array stone aside, placing it together with the other eleven on his desk.

The Fog Illusion Array only had eight types of Array Patterns, so in principle, only eight array stones were needed to set it up.

Zhao Lin had carved an additional four, replicating some of the Array Patterns to make the Array more complex and harder to break.

This was the advantage of being an Array Master: you could modify and expand an Array according to your own designs. Cultivators who didn’t study this particular art could only use pre-made Arrays, remaining completely ignorant of their inner workings.

A story was told of a cultivator who once bought a defensive Array from a market to guard his cave residence.

Unfortunately, he inadvertently revealed his wealth, and the Array Master who sold him the Array secretly snuck into his residence and plundered all of his possessions.

An investigation later revealed that the Array Master had tampered with the Array, leaving a "backdoor" for himself.

Having finished carving the stones, Zhao Lin took an Array Plate out of his storage bag.

The Array Plate, also called an Escape Armor Plate, followed the principles of the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Qimen Dunjia.

It was made of the same material as the array stones, was a little over seven inches in diameter, and was shaped like an Eight Trigrams Diagram. Three concentric rings were carved on its surface, and in the center was a fist-sized indentation.

In order to study Arrays, Zhao Lin had spent several hundred Spirit Stones on items like a carving knife, array stones, and the Array Plate.

In truth, none of the four great arts—Alchemy, Talismans, Artifact Refining, and Arrays—were cheap to practice. Reaching a respectable level required investing massive amounts of Spirit Stones and even merit points.

However, once mastered, the returns were equally substantial.

Zhao Lin had only been willing to make such a large investment because he had accumulated a great number of Spirit Stones during his mission out at sea.

The other disciples studying Arrays alongside him could still only afford to practice on Profound Armor or discarded array stones.

Zhao Lin picked up his carving knife and engraved a simplified Array Pattern on each of the eight positions of the Array Plate.

Simplified Array Patterns weren’t true Array Patterns; they were only used to control the Array. The patterns on the array stones were the ones that did the real work.

The Array Plate was nearly finished. Entering the final stages, Zhao Lin’s knife flew across its surface, and he finished the carving in the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

’It took half a month just to carve a simple Fog Illusion Array. This really isn’t easy!’

Zhao Lin sighed softly, reminded of his past life as a programmer.

Back in school, his teachers had said programming was an art. It was only after he started working that he discovered the truth. ’What art? It’s just grunt work.’

Zhao Lin put away the Array Plate and array stones, then got up and went outside, circling his residence once.

’Seventy-eight paces long, forty-two paces wide, for a perimeter of two hundred forty paces. Life, Death, Rest, Harm, Delusion, Scenery, Fear, Open... I’ll set up the Gate of Life first!’

As he surveyed the terrain, Zhao Lin silently calculated the proper positions for the Array.

SWISH...

An array stone shot from his hand and buried itself deep underground.

Then, from that stone’s position, he walked seventeen paces east and four paces north before placing the second array stone...

Setting up an Array was a matter of precise positioning. The stones had to be arranged according to the eight trigram directions—Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui—so that they would resonate with one another in accordance with the numerology of the Eight Trigrams.

To unleash an Array’s full power, precise calculations were essential.

When Zhao Lin buried the final array stone, all twelve stones began to vibrate in unison.

They emitted a low hum, resonating with one another across the distance. Together, they formed a great net that pulsed with waves of Mana.

A moment later, a faint white mist enveloped the entire courtyard.

’I finally did it!’

This was the first Array Zhao Lin had ever set up, and a powerful sense of accomplishment washed over him.

Next, he picked up the Array Plate and placed three Spirit Stones in the central indentation.

The center of the Array Plate flashed, and the three Spirit Stones vanished instantly, as if swallowed by an invisible mouth.

The Array Plate then shot out twelve beams of white light, each one flying toward the location of an array stone.

This white light was the Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Stones. As long as the stones were replenished, the Array could run indefinitely.

Zhao Lin placed his palm on the Array Plate and felt himself merge with the Array. Every subtle change within it became clear to his mind.

’Time to test its effectiveness.’

Zhao Lin muttered to himself, set the Array Plate on the ground, and walked slowly toward the courtyard gate.

He did this to test the Array’s effects. If he carried the Array Plate, the Array would sense it and wouldn’t activate its defenses.

CREAK...

Zhao Lin pushed open the gate and was immediately met with a thick, white fog that billowed toward him.

His vision was limited to the blurry shapes of objects within one zhang.

His Divine Sense was also hampered, making it difficult to probe more than three zhang away.

’Excellent.’

Zhao Lin nodded in satisfaction.

With this Array for protection, any intruder would be instantly detected, immediately alerting the Array’s master.

Anyone wishing to break through would have to either rely on brute force, crudely attacking with Magic, or be familiar enough with the Array’s structure to bypass its barriers.

Either way, it would buy time for the person inside.

Of course, compared to the Three Yin Illusionary Killing Array laid down by the Ghost Cultivators of the Yinfeng Realm, the Fog Illusion Array was far weaker.

It possessed no offensive power, nor could it create illusions.

It only had its white fog to obstruct sight and sound, but as it was the very first Array he had personally crafted, Zhao Lin was already quite satisfied.

After testing the Array, Zhao Lin retrieved the Array Plate and went back inside.

He picked up a jade tablet from the desk, used his carving knife to engrave a special pattern on it, and placed it on the Array Plate.

The Array Plate released a red light that shot into the jade tablet.

The jade tablet was made from the same material as a jade slip and could copy the simplified Array Patterns from the Array Plate, allowing it to function as a Token.

This way, Zhao Lin wouldn’t need to carry the Array Plate. As long as he held the jade tablet, he could move through the Array unimpeded.

If he wished, he could make several more jade tablets to give to trusted friends and family.

’The uses for Arrays are truly endless!’

Zhao Lin thought to himself, feeling fortunate that he had chosen to study this art.

Early the next morning, a messenger arrived and delivered a Communication Talisman to Zhao Lin.

The Chenghua Sect had a Communication Tower in every county, specifically for receiving Communication Talismans and Hongyan Talismans.

Several messengers were stationed in each tower. Upon receiving a talisman, they would follow the corresponding address to deliver it to the intended cultivator.

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