South of Carp Tide City, several mountain ranges nestled against one another.
Sunken Chime Mountain was only one of them.
Xie Xuanyi had always been unafraid to judge his enemies with the utmost malice...
As for Rank Six, whom he had never met and was about to rendezvous with—
He truly found this person rather strange.
The Demon Kingdom's venerable one wanted the Finger Bone as soon as possible to verify whether the Bai Ze Secret Realm was real, yet Rank Six had taken it upon himself to delay the delivery by three days.
Three days were enough for many things to happen.
"Is this where we'll be practicing formation arrays next?"
Deng Baiyi held Jiang Huang as she stood atop a small hill, looking somewhat lost.
"That's right."
Xie Xuanyi stood at the summit. The place was desolate and rarely visited, but Sunken Chime Mountain was only a few miles away. The trading site Rank Six had chosen lay within sight.
This was the best possible place to set up an array!
"The threshold for carving array patterns isn't particularly high. As long as one can draw upon the world's primal energy, one can carve array patterns..."
Xie Xuanyi said, "In theory, even a Qi Refiner with the frailest cultivation foundation can complete a grand formation! But the lower the threshold for something, the harder it is to do it perfectly!"
"That is why array-pattern masters are far rarer than great cultivators."
Xie Xuanyi said meaningfully, "Carving arrays tests one's patience, and it also tests one's talent."
Some grand formations had immensely complicated details.
They required days and nights of carving without ever closing one's eyes...
Even more complex grand formations required more than ten array masters working together, with construction times measured in years!
From this alone, it was clear that carving arrays demanded far more of a cultivator's mind and soul than of their cultivation!
Over these past few days together.
Xie Xuanyi had discovered that Deng Baiyi's talent for talismans and array patterns was actually far greater than her talent for cultivation... The eldest daughter of Jade Pearl Town could enter meditation for hours at a time, unmoved by wind or thunder. That was an exceptionally rare quality. The two talisman arts he had taught her did not contain many secrets; they simply emphasized that practice made perfect.
The process of making talismans was, in truth, exceedingly dull.
Yet Deng Baiyi seemed to be "finding joy within it."
That was also one reason Xie Xuanyi had been unwilling to let Deng Baiyi cultivate alongside him... Though he understood some talisman arts and the way of array patterns, whenever he entered meditation, he found it difficult to maintain it for long.
Most sword cultivators were unsuited to laying arrays.
When they drew their swords, they were fast, precise, and ruthless!
Life and death, victory and defeat, all came down to a single instant!
Xie Xuanyi had possessed a photographic memory since childhood. He had memorized countless array diagrams and remembered innumerable talisman patterns, yet he could never settle down to cultivate this path.
Heaven was fair.
Having picked up the sword, he naturally had to cast some things aside.
"Can... can I do it?"
Deng Baiyi was somewhat nervous. She had little confidence in herself.
It had only been several dozen days since she first came into contact with cultivation and began refining primal energy.
According to Xie Zhen, the grand formation he was about to teach her possessed terrifying, peerless power and was a forbidden art...
Could she really draw something like that?
"I think you can."
"Carving arrays is much like drawing talismans... If you enjoy drawing talismans, then you will most likely be able to become an outstanding array master as well."
Xie Xuanyi smiled.
He extended two fingers and slowly placed them against Deng Baiyi's brow.
Her pupils contracted slightly.
With a hum.
Ripples spread through the empty air brushed by his fingertips.
Xie Xuanyi transmitted the most precious part of his memories... without holding anything back, into Deng Baiyi's sea of consciousness.
"Xuanyi, aside from your talent in the sword path... your gifts in array patterns and talismans are also quite good."
"Shifu, Xuanyi has no interest in such side paths. I only wish to devote myself wholeheartedly to the sword path."
"The great Dao under heaven has no distinction between left and right. The myriad arts of the world have no inherent rank. It is still early. Go memorize every Dao scripture on Lotus Peak."
"Shifu..."
The instant his fingers touched Deng Baiyi's forehead.
Xie Xuanyi fell into a brief daze.
Shattered memories of the past surged in like a tide.
He unconsciously murmured, "Shifu..."
"Shifu?"
Deng Baiyi's puzzled voice pulled Xie Xuanyi's thoughts back to reality.
"It's nothing."
Xie Xuanyi came back to himself and looked at the bright-eyed, white-toothed woman before him, her face full of suspicion.
Deng Baiyi asked curiously, "Do you miss your Household? Your sect?"
Xie Xuanyi shook his head and softly changed the subject. "Have you digested the memories I passed on to you?"
"Some of them are rather profound..."
Deng Baiyi muttered softly, "But strangely enough, I can understand them."
She extended two fingers and slowly gathered primal energy at her fingertips. Then she cautiously painted in the air. The energy spilling from her fingertips was like ink. Holding her breath in concentration, Deng Baiyi followed the memories Xie Xuanyi had passed on to her, carefully carving those complex and obscure paths through the air stroke by stroke...
After silently watching for several dozen breaths, Xie Xuanyi knew that he had indeed not misjudged her.
Deng Baiyi's aptitude for array patterns and talismans was absolutely outstanding!
This array pattern was enormous, with details everywhere.
He had deliberately split it into several parts... Yet Deng Baiyi's movements had not slowed. Instead, they grew faster and faster. This was the sign of someone immersed in carving an array.
Deng Baiyi's mind gradually became still as water, and her gaze became incomparably focused.
The entire process was very long.
Xie Xuanyi was patient. He simply watched quietly as Deng Baiyi recreated the grand formation...
It continued for half an hour.
Only then did the outline of the grand formation take shape.
The primal energy first inscribed in the air had long since dispersed, but that did not matter. Xie Xuanyi had watched every one of Deng Baiyi's strokes from start to finish.
"Is the array I carved... correct?"
Having completed such a cumbersome and enormous task in one breath, Deng Baiyi's face was somewhat pale, yet her spirits were incomparably high. She looked nervously at the white-clad youth across from her.
"There are only two minor mistakes."
Xie Xuanyi, who had never liked praising others, spoke honestly this time. "For a beginner... this is already remarkable."
At that assessment, brilliant light lit up Deng Baiyi's eyes.
She broke into a grin.
This was the first time she had heard such sincere praise from Xie Zhen.
"What was this called again... Nine something Fire..."
Deng Baiyi rubbed her brow in frustration. She had memorized the complete carving paths of the grand formation, but damn it, she could not remember that long formation name.
Xie Xuanyi smiled.
Looking at the primal energy dispersing through the air, he spoke softly. "It is called the Ninefold Bright Phoenix Fire Void-Refining Grand Formation. There is a reason its name is so long."
"Ninefold Bright Phoenix Fire Void-Refining Grand Formation..."
Deng Baiyi drew a deep breath and voiced the doubt in her heart. "Is this formation really as powerful as you say?"
Crossing realms to kill was strictly forbidden by Great Chu imperial law!
Xie Xuanyi lowered his eyes and smiled. "The array-pattern paths you have memorized are only an abbreviated version. The complete grand formation is roughly a hundred times this size."
"A hundred times?"
Deng Baiyi's face turned somewhat pale.
"The full version of this grand formation is far more powerful than you can imagine."
Xie Xuanyi said indifferently, "But even the abbreviated version will be enough... All we need to do is kill one insignificant Grotto-Heaven."
Deng Baiyi froze. "Wait, kill a Grotto-Heaven? By Grotto-Heaven, you don't mean a Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivator, do you?"
"Yes... What else would I mean?"
Upon hearing that answer.
Deng Baiyi felt her scalp tingle faintly.
She still remembered the oppressive pressure that resident official in Fengsui City had brought her—
The Grotto-Heaven Realm!
Would that not be even stronger than that resident official!
Xie Xuanyi continued, "Now that you have memorized the array-pattern paths, that is only the first step. Over the next three days, you need to lay down the complete array pattern on this hill. It will require certain special materials. I will teach you every precaution one by one..."
Deng Baiyi vaguely guessed, "The special material you mentioned—is it Jiang Huang's hair?"
She turned back to look at the little one, who was still asleep.
"That's right. In addition, her essence blood must be dripped into the position of the array eye."
Xie Xuanyi nodded. "You need not concern yourself with why. You only need to know... Jiang Huang has a special physique. Only with her assistance can the formation be completed."
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