Array Formations

"Heaven and earth themselves were a vast array. Wind, thunder, rain, lightning, and the changing of seasons all flowed within it. You cultivated immortality techniques; if you could supplement them with the Array Dao, you could borrow the power of heaven and earth for your own use. When the time came, even against an opponent a realm above you, you would have the strength to contend with them."

Sect Leader Tongtian raised a hand and waved. The Array Diagram transformed into a streak of light and rushed into Xiao Peng's brow.

In an instant, countless pieces of Array Dao knowledge surged into his mind like a tide.

From the most basic Spirit Gathering Array and Defense Array to complex Killing Arrays and Trapping Arrays, even Teleportation Arrays capable of prying open space—the methods, principles, and taboos of every formation became incomparably clear.

Xiao Peng felt his Sea of Consciousness buzzing. The Array Dao knowledge flooding into him seemed to come alive, independently deducing itself within his mind.

How the seven-star positions of the Spirit Gathering Array stirred tides of Spiritual Energy, how the nine-palace configuration of the Defense Array borrowed the earth's power to form a barrier, and how the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements within a Killing Array had to be reversed to unleash its greatest force...

Xiao Peng sat cross-legged, fine sweat beading on his forehead, yet he could not bear to spare the attention to wipe it away.

Sect Leader Tongtian watched quietly from the side. Seeing the spiritual light shifting between Xiao Peng's brows, he watched as the complex Array Dao gradually fused together within Xiao Peng's Sea of Consciousness.

After a long while, Xiao Peng's eyes suddenly flew open, as though galaxies flowed within them.

The Array Dao patterns circling through his Sea of Consciousness condensed into a miniature Array Diagram in his eyes, then vanished in an instant.

"So that was it..." Xiao Peng exhaled a breath of stale air and tapped the air before him with his fingertips.

His Spiritual Power became an invisible brush, tracing a simple Array Pattern.

In mere moments, several potted plants in the corner of the room suddenly unfurled their branches and leaves. The sparse Spiritual Energy in the surrounding air gathered toward that area, forming a miniature Spirit Gathering Array without his realizing it.

Sect Leader Tongtian nodded in approval. "To incorporate Array Principles into your Spiritual Power in such a short time, your comprehension is even better than I expected."

Xiao Peng hurriedly rose and bowed. "It was all thanks to your teachings, Master." Only now did he truly understand that the Array Dao was not merely a collection of diagrams to memorize. One had to carve the laws of heaven and earth into one's bones, making formations an extension of the body.

"Comprehension alone is not enough." Sect Leader Tongtian raised his hand.

A palm-sized bronze disk appeared in his hand. Its surface was carved with dense patterns, yet it emitted no Spiritual Energy fluctuations.

"This is the Jingzhe Disk. It can stir the pulse of the Earth vein. Use it to set up a Spirit Locking Array and trap the life force of that old locust tree outside the courtyard. You have the time it takes for one incense stick to burn."

Xiao Peng accepted the bronze disk and found it icy cold to the touch. The patterns on its surface faintly resonated with the Array Dao knowledge in his Sea of Consciousness.

He quickly walked into the courtyard. The old locust tree, which took three men to encircle, was lush with branches and leaves, brimming with vitality.

The Spirit Locking Array uses the array disk as its pivot, draws the earth energy from the four directions into chains, and severs the connection between living things and heaven and earth... Xiao Peng silently recited the Array Principles.

He buried the Jingzhe Disk beneath the tree's roots, then used Spiritual Power as a guide to place eight stones around it as Array Anchors.

The instant the stones entered the earth, pale golden patterns appeared across the ground, winding toward the trunk like chains.

But just as the formation was about to take shape, the old locust tree suddenly shook violently. Its luxuriant leaves glowed green, forcibly distorting the golden patterns.

"Hm?" Xiao Peng frowned.

Only then did he recall that a plant's vitality was inherently connected to the earth. If the Spirit Locking Array could not suppress the backlash of earth energy, it would instead suffer a backlash from that vitality.

The Spiritual Power at Xiao Peng's fingertips abruptly shifted. Rather than forcefully severing the connection between the tree's life force and the earth, he followed the force of the rebounding earth energy and adjusted the positions of the eight stone Array Anchors by half an inch.

The straight golden patterns suddenly began to wind like flowing water, spiraling around the trunk. They neither blocked the rising earth energy nor let the outward-spreading life force escape, catching it like a fishing net.

The old locust tree gradually stopped shaking. The green glow on its leaves intertwined with the golden patterns, forming a strange balance.

"So this is the true essence of the Spirit Locking Array." Xiao Peng exhaled softly.

Sect Leader Tongtian stood at the courtyard gate, watching the scene with a slight nod. "Only by understanding how to follow the natural course can you be said to have truly entered the path."

Xiao Peng turned and bowed. The Jingzhe Disk in his palm was slightly hot, and the patterns on its surface faintly resonated with the veins of the old locust tree.

Just as the time for one incense stick to burn came to an end, Xiao Peng withdrew the Jingzhe Disk. The golden patterns slowly faded, and the old locust tree was once more bathed in sunlight.

Sect Leader Tongtian waved his hand, and one man and one soul arrived within the Trial Space.

That was the name Xiao Peng had given it himself.

With a thought from Sect Leader Tongtian, the surrounding scene changed into a forest, and several Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators appeared in the distance.

"Trap them for half an hour, then kill them with a Killing Array," Sect Leader Tongtian said as he looked at Xiao Peng.

Xiao Peng held the Jingzhe Disk, his fingertips gliding over its patterns as his gaze swiftly swept across the surroundings.

Ancient towering trees blotted out the sky, their roots twisting like coiled dragons. It was the perfect natural aid for setting an array.

Xiao Peng quickly selected his positions, embedding the Jingzhe Disk into the heart of an old pine tree. He then used Spiritual Power as a guide to stir the essence of grass and trees within thirty meters.

He began his careful preparations to deal with those cultivators.

"Trapping Array, rise!"

In an instant, countless vines shot from beneath the earth, weaving into an impenetrable green wall that enclosed the Foundation Establishment cultivators at its center.

The cultivators sensed something was wrong and slashed with their swords, but the vines regenerated the moment they were cut, wrapping even tighter around them.

Even stranger, mist abruptly rose through the forest. Visibility dropped to less than three feet, and the mist disrupted their Spiritual Power senses, leaving them unable even to see each other's positions.

"Is this... an Illusionary Trance Array combined with a Wisteria Trapping Array?" one cultivator cried out.

He tried to strike the array wall with Spiritual Power, only to be shaken until his blood and qi churned by the force rebounding from the vines.

Xiao Peng hid behind a tree, constantly adjusting the output of his Spiritual Power.

The vine Trapping Array formed a barrier outside, while the Illusionary Fog Array disrupted Spiritual Sense within. The two formations interwove like a nest, leaving the trapped cultivators as helpless as headless flies.

They had barely cut through the vines before them when they turned and crashed into another mass of fog, unable even to tell which direction their companions' voices came from.

One cultivator tried to burn through the vines with flames, but Xiao Peng had long been prepared. He drew upon the dew gathered among the trees, and fine droplets instantly fell through the mist, precisely dousing the sparks.

Someone attempted to break out using a flying technique, only to be forced back by suddenly jutting branches. Those branches seemed to have eyes, always blocking the way the instant he made his move.

Over the half hour, the trapped cultivators gradually changed from furiously hacking away to growing restless and anxious.

Xiao Peng watched coldly. Only after more than half their Spiritual Power had been depleted did he quietly change the formation.

"Killing Array, activate!"

With that low shout, the once-docile vines suddenly hardened like iron. Inch-long barbs sprang from their tips and lashed toward the cultivators.

At the same time, countless points of light emerged within the fog array. They appeared weak, but were actually killing rays condensed from the essence of grass and trees, shooting precisely along the cultivators' paths of movement.

"Not good! It's a Killing Array!" One cultivator sensed the danger and tried to exhaust his last strength to break through the formation, only for vines to lock tightly around his ankles.

The points of light in the fog fell like torrential rain, piercing their weakened Spiritual Power shields and instantly destroying their life force.