Seeking Instruction

When Mo Shan and his wife heard that Mo Hua had been recommended by Instructor Yan and taken a master of Array Techniques as his teacher, they could not have been happier.

Mo Shan had initially harbored some concerns, but after thinking it over, he felt there was nothing to worry about.

Instructor Yan had taught at the Immortal Gate for many years and enjoyed a fine reputation. Anyone praised and recommended by him was naturally no ordinary person.

Mo Shan's family were merely ordinary Rogue Cultivators. They had neither Spirit Stones nor property, so there was no need to suspect anyone of coveting anything they had.

Besides, an Array Master of such standing was someone they normally might never even get to meet. This time was a rare stroke of fortune.

Now that Mo Hua was studying Array Techniques, eating and sleeping at home, Liu Ruhua could see her son every day and cook for him. She was even happier because of it.

Early the next morning, after finishing the lavish breakfast Liu Ruhua had prepared, Mo Hua set out for Southeast Mountain to visit Mr. Zhuang and seek instruction.

When Mo Hua reached the foot of the mountain this time, he followed the path to the bamboo gate and only then noticed that there was actually a plaque before the courtyard.

The plaque read, "Zuowang Abode." He had no idea why he had failed to notice it yesterday.

Mo Hua entered Zuowang Abode to find Mr. Zhuang sitting idly beside the pond, propping his cheek with one hand and fishing with the other. His rod was merely a length of green bamboo, and the line dangling beneath it was bare, without even bait.

Mo Hua craned his head over the pond and discovered that there were not even any fish in it.

He thought Mr. Zhuang might have some profound meaning behind this, so he looked up at him again, only to discover that Mr. Zhuang was not fishing at all—he was simply dozing off with his cheek in his hand.

Fortunately, when the old man from yesterday saw Mo Hua, he called him aside and said, "Sir often dozes off. When he does, just leave him alone. Of course, don't disturb him either."

"Ah, okay."

Mo Hua nodded, impressed despite not understanding why.

The old man added, "I am the... steward here, responsible for seeing to Sir's daily needs. You may call me Old Kui."

Mo Hua politely said, "Grandpa Kui."

Old Kui glanced at Mo Hua but said nothing. He took out a chessboard and asked, "Do you know how to play chess?"

Mo Hua looked at the board. "Five Elements Chess?"

There were many varieties of chess in the cultivation world—Eight Trigrams Chess, Five Elements Chess, Heavenly Origin Chess, Three Talents Chess, and so on. Five Elements Chess was among the simplest and most common. It was mainly used to introduce children to cultivation by helping them memorize the basic principles of the Five Elements' generation and restraint.

The rules were simple. Each side controlled two types of pieces, while Five Elements pieces of varying attributes would randomly appear on the board, their attributes revealed only after being turned over. Pieces generated by one's own Five Elements were stronger, while mutually restraining elements could capture each other.

Simple, entertaining, and requiring little thought, it was an excellent game for sharpening the minds of young cultivators.

Mo Hua had no problem playing Five Elements Chess himself, but Old Kui, with his face so weathered by life, playing it too...

Old Kui seemed to see through his thoughts. "Do you think Five Elements Chess is too simple?"

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, then went against his conscience and said, "The Great Dao is simplest at its core; returning to simplicity reveals one's true nature. The simpler something is, the less simple it often truly is."

Old Kui froze. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly understood. "That's a good reason. Next time I ask someone to play chess with me, I'll tell them exactly that."

Mo Hua: "..."

And so, Mo Hua began playing chess with Old Kui.

At first, Mo Hua assumed Old Kui must be an expert and gave it his utmost focus. But after a few rounds, he found that Old Kui was evenly matched with him—eight taels against half a jin, neither one any better than the other. His burden lifted, and the two played with great delight.

Before he knew it, noon had arrived, and only then did Mo Hua remember what he had come here for...

Mr. Zhuang had been resting by the pond while fishing, sleeping away the entire morning. At this point, he opened his eyes, glanced at the sun, and nodded. "It is time for lunch."

Thus, after playing chess all morning and whiling away half the day, Mo Hua mooched another meal.

Old Kui had cooked the food. There was meat, vegetables, and rice, all brimming with spiritual energy—but the taste was beyond description.

Judging from Old Kui's appearance, he truly did not seem like someone skilled in the culinary arts.

Mr. Zhuang, however, did not care. Once the five grains entered the belly, they became blood and qi; the senses of mouth and stomach were all illusion. No matter how the food tasted, every chopstickful and spoonful he ate was tranquil and elegant, as though he were consuming not grain, but the wind and dew between heaven and earth.

Mo Hua felt that Mr. Zhuang's bearing was truly fitting and carefree, and he could not help feeling a little envious.

He tried to imitate Mr. Zhuang, eating slowly and elegantly one chopstickful at a time, but he could not pull it off. It felt awkward no matter what, and in the end he honestly picked up his bowl and shoveled down the rice.

Though the food did not taste especially good, the ingredients were all excellent and contained spiritual energy. Besides, Mo Hua had never been much of a picky eater.

Seeing Mo Hua eat so heartily, Old Kui gave him several more pieces of meat.

After the meal, Mr. Zhuang seemed to finally remember why Mo Hua had come. He led Mo Hua to a bamboo pavilion in the courtyard.

A fresh breeze blew from all sides, accompanied by wave after wave of rustling bamboo.

"I have taken disciples before, but what they studied differed from what you study, so they cannot all be treated the same. Let me first see how far you have progressed in Array Techniques."

Mr. Zhuang asked Mo Hua several questions, which Mo Hua answered one by one.

After Mo Hua had finished, Mr. Zhuang pondered for a moment, then took out a thick tome and instructed him, "Your theoretical knowledge of Array Techniques is far too weak. What you have learned is also mostly just a few basic Array Patterns, scattered and incomplete. With such an unstable foundation, it will be difficult for you to understand more profound Array Techniques later on. On the path of Array Techniques, you will not go far."

Mr. Zhuang handed the tome to Mo Hua and said, "You must still begin with the most basic things. This contains foundational theories on Array Techniques from the cultivation world, encompassing different schools, attributes, and lineages. Memorize these first. Understand what you can; if there is anything you cannot understand, come ask me. Once your theoretical foundation is solid, I will teach you how to draw Array Techniques."

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Mo Hua accepted the thick tome on Array Techniques. "Thank you, Sir!"

Mr. Zhuang waved a hand. "Make yourself comfortable somewhere in the courtyard. I'm going to rest my eyes."

Mo Hua took his leave, then carried Origin of Array Formations beneath a tree, found a shaded patch of grass, and lay sprawled on the soft ground as he read.

The opening of Origin of Array Formations stated its purpose plainly: ancient immortals looked up to observe the heavens and down to examine the earth, comprehending the Heavenly Dao through the transformations of all things between heaven and earth. They manifested these insights as array formations, using arrays to emulate the workings of the Heavenly Dao, thereby wielding unfathomable power.

Among the hundred professions of cultivation, only array formations offered the most direct and fundamental path to comprehending the Heavenly Dao. At the same time, they were also the branch of cultivation with the most exacting demands on Divine Consciousness.

Array Masters were ranked in nine grades, with the Ninth Grade as the highest. Beyond the Ninth Grade lay immortals, known as Immortal Array Masters.

Yet Immortal Array Masters existed only in legend. In the past twenty thousand years, no one had truly ascended to immortality, and naturally no one had become an Immortal Array Master. No one knew what immortal arrays capable of reshaping heaven and earth actually looked like.

Not only were there no records of Immortal Array Masters, there were none even of Ninth-Grade Array Masters. Eighth Grade was likewise legend. Records existed only for a few Sixth- and Seventh-Grade Array Masters, all towering figures from great aristocratic clans, ancient sects, or the Dao Court's Grand Elders—cultivation masters already far beyond ordinary reach.

Only from Fifth Grade down to Third Grade did records of Array Masters become more numerous. Below that, there were none. Clearly, Array Masters of lower grades had no place in the books unless they had made an unprecedented breakthrough in array formations.

After recounting the history of array formations, the book went on to briefly analyze various array schools and array terminology.

Different aristocratic clans, sects, and regions had vastly different schools of array formations. Even a single inheritance of the same array could sometimes branch into several smaller lineages. Different lineages carried subtle differences in how they learned, researched, employed, and how effective their arrays were.

Every major power treated its core arrays as secrets, studying and applying them independently. This had led to a cultivation world where array formations bloomed in a hundred flowers, yet each remained stubbornly confined to its own ways.

Classified by the type of Array Hub, formations included the Yin-Yang Array, Three Talents Array, Four Symbols Array, Five Elements Array, Six Harmonies Array, Seven Star Array, Eight Trigrams Array, and more. The most widely circulated and used were the Five Elements Array and the Eight Trigrams Array, while the other formations each had their own uses.

Mo Hua spent most of the day skimming through Origin of Array Formations. When he finished, he felt both enlightened and even more keenly aware of his own smallness.

For Mo Hua, becoming a First-Grade Array Master was difficult enough, let alone reaching the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, or even Immortal Grade. The Dao of arrays was like a vast sea. Mo Hua, not even a First-Grade Array Master yet, was merely a grain of foxtail millet within it.