Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua triggered the disintegration of the grand array, destroying Feng Xi and nearly all of the Deep Mountain while surviving inside its Life Gate. As the Heavenly Dao’s tribulation lightning withdrew, he glimpsed the Heavenly Dao Grand Array and recorded one stroke of its Immortal Pattern on the Dao Stele.

• Mo Hua’s reverse spirit arrays converted the grand array’s power into Disintegration Force, causing the array to collapse and tear Feng Xi apart.
• Mo Shan and Zhang Lan realized Mo Hua was still in the Deep Mountain as the disintegration spread, while Mr. Zhuang and Old Kui recognized that Mo Hua had left himself a Life Gate.
• Heavenly Dao Tribulation Lightning gathered over the surviving peak, where Mo Hua stood unharmed, then hesitated and withdrew without striking him.
• The Deep Mountain and Feng Xi vanished, leaving Mo Hua alone on the Life Gate as cultivators across the province watched in awe.
• Mo Hua glimpsed an Array Pattern beyond the thunderclouds, and the Dao Stele protected and reshaped his Sea of Consciousness when he tried to comprehend it.
• Mo Hua used the Dao Stele to record one stroke of the Heavenly Dao Grand Array’s Immortal Pattern before the sky closed.

After memorizing the Immortal Pattern, Mo Hua collapsed from exhaustion and recovered at Elder Feng’s place while his family and friends worried over him. He returned home with an injured Sea of Consciousness and eyes that sometimes failed him, while Elder Yu wondered how long he could keep hiding.

• Mo Hua exhausted his Divine Consciousness after memorizing the Immortal Pattern and collapsed, and Zhang Lan, Mo Shan, and the others brought him to Elder Feng for treatment.
• Mr. Zhuang waited anxiously while Mo Hua slept, and Elder Feng explained that Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness and eyes needed time to recover.
• Zhang Lan, Liu Ruhua, Chief Administrator Zhou, and others visited Mo Hua with food, while Mo Shan and the others accepted his explanation that he had made the Grand Array destroy itself.
• Mo Hua woke beside Mr. Zhuang, reassured her that he had calculated the danger, and asked for food before returning home after several days of rest.
• Old Kui urged Elder Yu to keep hiding rather than seek death, but Elder Yu wondered how long he could continue living that way.

After recovering, Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang and was warned to keep Divine Sense Derivation and Array Disintegration secret, while Bai Zisheng prepared to leave. At the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion, Elder Ge struggled to make sense of a report about Feng Xi’s death and the Great Array’s collapse.

• Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang, who told him not to reveal what he knew and warned him to use Divine Sense Derivation discreetly and never use Array Disintegration unless there was no choice.
• Mo Hua shared food with Bai Zisheng and Immortal City, and Bai Zisheng resolved to keep Mo Hua from becoming entangled in dangerous karma.
• Mo Hua asked Bai Zisheng whether they would meet again, and Bai Zisheng answered that they would.
• Elder Ge read a Zi Xi reporting that local cultivators built the Five Elements Demon-Slaughtering Great Array, which later disintegrated and drew down tribulation lightning that killed Feng Xi.
• Elder Ge questioned how an ordinary Immortal City could have built and collapsed such a great array, and wondered who had caused the tribulation lightning to descend.

After the Five Elements Demon-Slaughtering Grand Array destroyed Feng Xi and itself, Immortal City recovered, and Mo Hua helped other Array Masters while healing his injured Sea of Consciousness. He could not safely study the Immortal Pattern linked to the Tribulation Lightning, and Liu Ruhua prepared to leave with one concern still unresolved.

• The grand array disintegrated and killed Feng Xi, while Immortal City and its trades gradually returned to normal.
• Cultivators opened a convenient road through Great Black Mountain, and Mo Hua guided Array Masters as they helped rebuild the city.
• Mo Hua tried to study the Immortal Pattern recorded on the Dao Stele but found that even sensing it consumed his divine sense and risked further injury.
• Mo Shan hunted demon beasts and brought Liu Ruhua choice cuts, while Immortal City sent her a feast in gratitude for teaching Mo Hua.
• Mo Hua learned that Liu Ruhua was preparing to leave and worried he would lose the chance to ask her about arrays.
• Liu Ruhua said she had thought everything through, but there was one problem.

Bai Zisheng accepted Mo Hua as his personal disciple after Mo Hua’s parents agreed, while Fan Shengcheng became the master of the other children. Mo Hua prepared to leave with Bai Zisheng, and his parents comforted themselves with the hope that he would return.

• Mr. Zhuang explained to Old Kui that he planned to confuse karma rather than avoid touching it.
• Mo Hua asked Bai Zisheng whether he would accept him as a disciple, and Bai Zisheng asked him to discuss it with his parents first.
• Mo Hua’s parents agreed that he should learn from Bai Zisheng despite their sadness at the coming separation, and Fan Shengcheng encouraged the decision.
• Bai Zisheng accepted Mo Hua as his personal disciple, while the other children became Fan Shengcheng’s disciples.
• Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang the next day, and his parents reassured each other that he would eventually return.

Bai Zisheng held a simple apprenticeship ceremony, making Mo Hua, Lan Yuanfan, and Immortal City his personal disciples. As the new disciples argued over seniority, Aunt Xue learned that Mo Hua had drawn the great array that killed the Lesser Monster and began to understand why Bai Zisheng valued him so highly.

• Bai Zisheng held an apprenticeship ceremony beneath the Small Locust Tree, and Mo Hua, Lan Yuanfan, and Immortal City became his personal disciples.
• Mo Hua, Lan Yuanfan, and Immortal City argued over who should be the senior martial sibling, while Bai Zisheng told Mo Hua to accept being the junior martial brother.
• Aunt Xue asked Bai Zixi why Mr. Zhuang had changed his mind about taking disciples, and Bai Zixi said he valued Mo Hua.
• Bai Zixi told Aunt Xue that Mo Hua had drawn the great array that killed the Lesser Monster, leaving Aunt Xue astonished by his talent and Bai Zisheng's regard for him.

As Mo Hua prepared to leave Immortal City to travel with his master, he arranged for Master Luo and Master Qian to help preserve and pass on array knowledge. He left Master Qian with a comprehensive array manual and entrusted him with teaching arrays to independent cultivators and to Chu Zhou'er.

• Mo Hua gave Master Luo a copy of the General Explanation of First-Grade Arrays, and Master Luo gratefully accepted it as a precious inheritance.
• Mo Hua asked Master Qian to teach arrays to independent cultivators using the manual, and Master Qian agreed.
• Mo Hua entrusted Master Qian with teaching Chu Zhou'er arrays while Mo Hua was away, and Master Qian promised to teach him carefully.
• Master Luo reflected that Mo Hua's journey and direct inheritance could lead to great accomplishments, while Elder Yu felt both reluctant and happy for him.

Mo Hua said farewell to his friends in Immortal City and asked Manager Mo about Mr. Zhuang’s whereabouts, learning of the betrayal that had forced Mr. Zhuang to seek justice and recover his sect’s foundational array technique. Before leaving, Mo Hua arranged for array techniques to be passed on among independent cultivators, hoping they would thrive after he was gone.

• Mo Hua bid farewell to Commander Yang, who urged him to stay cautious, offered the Yang Family’s protection, and invited him to visit in Kan Province.
• Mo Hua visited Manager Mo, thanked him for helping him learn arrays, and asked about Mr. Zhuang.
• Manager Mo explained that Mr. Zhuang had been his fellow sect brother and had pursued a traitorous disciple who murdered their master, stole the sect’s foundational array technique, and fled.
• Mo Hua parted from Zhang Lan, who was preparing to return to his clan, and encouraged him to be open to the blind date.
• Mo Hua left Immortal City after arranging for array techniques to be taught to other independent cultivators, hoping their improved lives would continue in his absence.

Mo Hua learned that he could take the First-Grade Array Master assessment through Chief Administrator Zhou’s recommendation, and Mr. Zhuang arranged for him to sit it in Baishan Prefecture before traveling abroad. Manager Mo also asked him to persuade Instructor Yan to let go of his fixation on revenge and build a life for himself.

• Mo Hua learned from Manager Mo about the First-Grade Twelve-Pattern Spirit Pivot Formation and heard that Instructor Yan had once been a talented array cultivator.
• Manager Mo told Mo Hua that Instructor Yan had learned where the traitor who killed his master was, and asked Mo Hua to persuade him to settle down rather than let revenge consume his life.
• Mo Hua asked Mr. Zhuang about taking the First-Grade Array Master assessment, and Mr. Zhuang explained its recommendations, quotas, and political complications.
• Mr. Zhuang wrote Mo Hua a recommendation letter for the assessment in Baishan Prefecture on the twenty-eighth of the tenth month and told him to finish it before traveling abroad.
• Mo Hua promised Manager Mo that he would try to persuade Instructor Yan, accepted his pastries, and left calling Mr. Zhuang Master.

Mo Hua traveled with Mo Shan to Cangyun Sect to take the Array Master grading assessment. After an elder’s attempt to probe Mo Hua’s Divine Consciousness failed, the elder apologized and helped them register, leaving them with credentials and a map before the assessment.

• Mo Hua traveled by Dao Court Office carriage with Mo Shan and asked his father about the sights along the way.
• At Cangyun Sect, a disciple directed Mo Hua and Mo Shan to the registration hall for the Array Master grading assessment.
• Shi Dingpin examined Mo Hua’s recommendation letter and tried to probe him with Divine Consciousness, but Mo Hua blocked the attempt.
• Mo Hua confronted Shi Dingpin, who apologized and registered him after confirming the letter’s recommendation.
• Shi Dingpin gave Mo Hua a credential, an identity badge, and a map, and explained that the assessment would take place at Wenxian Hall the day after tomorrow.

Mo Hua took the First-Grade Array Master assessment at the Cangyun Sect, where his age and Dao Court Office recommendation drew suspicion from the chief examiner. He finished the exam’s arrays with ease and fell asleep at his desk, leaving the examiner stunned and unsure what to make of him.

• Mo Hua toured the Cangyun Sect, reviewed arrays, and enjoyed the spirit meat served at his lodgings.
• Mo Hua entered Wenxian Hall with his Dao Court Heavenly Pivot Pavilion jade token, startling the chief examiner and the other Array Masters with his young age.
• The chief examiner opened the sealed exam questions, and Mo Hua completed the array theory section before drawing the required first-grade arrays.
• Mo Hua quickly finished the array drawings, used up his Array Paper, and fell asleep at his desk while the other candidates continued working.
• The chief examiner watched Mo Hua sleep and wondered how he had received a recommendation from the Dao Court Office.

Mo Hua completed the First-Grade ranking examination and was formally named a First-Grade Array Master, astonishing the examiners with his skill and the fact that he was only sixteen. After the examiners debated whether to include him, he left Qingshan City with Mo Shan and headed home.

• Mo Hua finished the examination early, slept until the bell rang, and handed in his answer sheet while the examiners watched him.
• Examiner Zhao discovered Mo Hua's exceptional array work and revealed that he was only sixteen, prompting the examiners to reconsider their proposed rankings.
• The examiners agreed to grant Mo Hua First-Grade status, fearing the consequences of excluding a prodigy with such profound array foundations.
• Mo Hua found his name on the First-Grade list the next day, and Cangyun Sect asked Yan Kening to let him draw a Molten Fire Array.
• Mo Hua drew the Molten Fire Array with effortless skill, then bid farewell to Yan Kening and returned home with Mo Shan.

Immortal City held a festival to celebrate Mo Hua becoming a First-Grade Array Master and the defeat of Feng Xi, while also seeing Mo Hua off as he prepared to travel with Mr. Zhuang. After bidding farewell to his family and friends, Mo Hua left Immortal City and began his journey.

• Elder Yu and Chief Administrator Zhou established the first day of the eleventh month as the Immortal Festival, celebrating Mo Hua and Immortal City's victory over Feng Xi.
• Mo Hua led Elder Yu and Immortal City through the festival, where they watched Han Yingmei's Monster Fighting Play, shared the Pig-Slaughter Feast, and admired Mo Hua's seven-colored fireworks formation.
• Mo Hua and the people of Immortal City gathered at the Monster-Suppressing Stele, where Old Master An's name and the names of Feng Xi's vanquishers were recorded.
• Mo Hua's family, Elder Yu, Bai Zixi, Elder Feng, Master Chen, Chief Administrator Zhou, Zhang Lan, and his friends bid him farewell before he departed in the Bai Family carriage.
• Mo Hua left Immortal City to travel with Mr. Zhuang, while Liu Ruhua watched until the carriage disappeared into the distance.

Mo Hua and the Bai siblings traveled south from Immortal City, adjusting to rough days on the road and cooking meals when they tired of Inedia Pills. After a night camping beneath the mountains, Mo Hua looked back toward Mr. Zhuang and continued the long journey.

• Mo Hua traveled in a sturdy Bai Family carriage with Mr. Zhuang, Old Kui, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi, studying Array Techniques along the way.
• Mo Hua had an Artifact Refiner forge a four-burner stove using his plans and Array Techniques, and the refiner was stunned when Mo Hua drew the Arrays himself.
• When the group grew tired of Inedia Pills, Mo Hua cooked steamed fish and spicy beef, while Bai Zixi tried cooking a pot of meat and produced an inedible meal.
• Mo Hua fed Little White, the Bai Family's gentle spirit-beast horse, and continued cooking for the group because his meals were better than the others'.
• The travelers camped in the mountains, where Mo Hua set stone arrays and an Early Warning Array before they slept beneath the moon.
• As the carriage rolled onward, Mo Hua looked back at the distant mountains and sighed at how far he had traveled from Mr. Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang explained that Mo Hua’s Heavenly Derivation Art advanced through array study and that his Divine Sense could become his greatest strength. He urged Mo Hua to master Absolute Arrays and temper his Divine Sense beyond Eighteen-Pattern before Foundation Establishment.

• Mo Hua arrived in Shangtai City with the others and spoke privately with Mr. Zhuang.
• Mr. Zhuang explained that Mo Hua’s cultivation and Array Techniques were inseparable, and that learning profound arrays would strengthen his Divine Sense.
• Mr. Zhuang told Mo Hua to study Eleven-Pattern and higher Absolute Arrays rather than rely on Grand Arrays, which were scarce and impractical for training.
• Mr. Zhuang urged Mo Hua to raise his Divine Sense above Eighteen-Pattern before Foundation Establishment so he could build an exceptional Dao Foundation.

Mr. Zhuang explained why Absolute Arrays were hard to find and told Mo Hua that he would have to seek out scattered inheritances. Bai Zixi planned to take Mo Hua to a sect to learn an Array Technique she had once failed to master, while Mo Hua connected the Eerie Daoist’s familiar impression of his aura to Bai Zixi.

• Mr. Zhuang told Mo Hua that Absolute Array inheritances were mostly controlled by the Dao Court, aristocratic clans, and sects, but some had escaped their grasp; he also revealed that he had lost most of his own inheritances.
• Mr. Zhuang urged Mo Hua to keep advancing his Array Techniques, Divine Consciousness, and cultivation toward the Great Dao.
• Bai Zixi said she would take Mo Hua to visit a sect and learn its Array Techniques, while they searched for Absolute Arrays along the way.
• Bai Zixi told Mo Hua that the Array Technique they would study was one she had failed to learn, and Mo Hua vowed to master it and avenge her humiliation.
• Mo Hua recognized Bai Zixi beneath her altered appearance and worried that the Eerie Daoist’s familiar impression of his aura might point to a connection between them.

Mo Hua took stock of his supplies and learned how to use divine sense and Dan Jade to search for Absolute Arrays as the group traveled to Qianjia Town. Elder Yu decided they would stay there after Mo Hua sensed a hidden Absolute Array, leaving him eager to investigate it.

• Mo Hua practiced the Reverse Spirit Array, noticed his divine sense was growing more slowly, and reviewed his Spirit Stones, tokens, and array tools.
• The group traveled through the mountains and reached Qianjia Town, where cultivators worked in broad fields and the town looked poor and worn.
• Elder Yu explained that Mo Hua could search for hidden Absolute Arrays by sensing Dan Jade and reasoning back to the Array Patterns rather than relying on sight.
• Mo Hua spread his divine sense over Qianjia Town, sensed something unusual, and asked Elder Yu whether an Absolute Array was there.
• Elder Yu confirmed Mo Hua's suspicion and chose to stay in Qianjia Town for a while; the group rested at an inn that night.

The Sun Family sensed Mo Hua's divine-sense probing and welcomed Mr. Zhuang's group into their estate, believing they might include a powerful cultivator. Sun Ze remained wary of their guests and resolved to observe them while treating them courteously.

• Sun Yi sensed a subtle, profound divine sense and summoned his son, Sun Ze, to discuss the possible presence of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Sun Ze urged his father to avoid offending the mysterious outsiders and led the Sun Family in welcoming their carriage.
• Mr. Zhuang introduced himself, and Old Kui said the group was passing through and would rest for a few days.
• Sun Yi invited the group to stay at the Sun Family estate, and Sun Ze arranged guest rooms for them.
• After the guests settled in, Sun Ze questioned whether they were dangerous and decided to observe them while remaining courteous.

Mo Hua planned to investigate Qianjia Town and the Ling Tian estate for a hidden Absolute Array, while explaining the daunting process of learning such arrays to Bai Zixi and Yuan Zhenhang. After leaving the estate, he noticed spiritual energy above the Sun Family’s Spirit Rice fields and headed toward them.

• Mo Hua told Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi that he had to learn Absolute Arrays, then described how he would gradually train his Divine Sense by studying increasingly complex arrays.
• Bai Zixi offered to secretly teach Mo Hua what she knew, and Mo Hua realized Bai Zisheng had already given him some special instruction.
• Mo Hua proposed that Bai Zixi and Bai Zisheng investigate the Ling Tian estate while he searched Qianjia Town for clues to the hidden Absolute Array.
• Mo Hua declined the Ling Tian family’s offer of an escort and left the estate alone to inspect the town.
• After surveying Qianjia Town, Mo Hua noticed spiritual energy swirling above the Sun Family’s Spirit Rice fields and walked toward them.

Mo Hua visited the Spirit Fields near Qianjia Town and learned that the Sun Family exploited poor Spirit Farmers by monopolizing repairs to their cultivation arrays. He repaired Old Man Ding’s broken array for free, leaving the field able to retain water again.

• Mo Hua explored the Spirit Fields and saw that the Spirit Farmers worked in poverty despite the fertile land.
• Mo Hua met Old Man Ding, who explained that the Sun Family charged ten Spirit Stones to repair arrays and forced indebted families to send their children into service.
• Mo Hua examined the crude, repeatedly patched Soil Cultivation Array and offered to repair it.
• Mo Hua redrew the array, restoring its pale yellow light and allowing it to store water vapor again.
• Old Man Ding invited Mo Hua to his home and served him a meal, while he and his grandson ate watery porridge.