Compendium of Low-tier Arrays!

Tianyuan Mountain.

The market.

"Sign in!"

Ye Xuan silently repeated the words in his mind.

There were no dazzling signs or commotion to draw anyone's attention.

But deep in Ye Xuan's sea of consciousness, it was as if a thunderclap had exploded.

Countless complex, profound runes, lines, and square-point diagrams surged in like floodwaters bursting through a dam.

Qian Kun Xun Zhen, Kan Li Gen Dui.

From the most basic Spirit Gathering Array and Bewildering Footprint Array to the unfathomable Nine Bends Yellow River Array and a... super-simplified version of the Heavenly Cycle Star Array.

Though it was a super-simplified version, the system had even labeled it "low-tier."

But the sheer volume of information still left Ye Xuan's mind blank for an instant.

Grand Unity Micro Dust, Two Forms Birth and Death, Four Symbols Ultimate Kill...

Just hearing those names made his scalp tingle.

Was this what the system called "low-tier"?

Ye Xuan couldn't help the corner of his mouth from twitching.

Back at Great Bamboo Peak in the Qingyun Sect, he had read plenty of books on arrays.

Especially after obtaining Low-tier Artifact Forging Technique.

To forge magical treasures, he had gained some experience in engraving arrays.

Therefore.

When it came to arrays.

Ye Xuan might not have been a master, but he was certainly no novice.

But compared with the Compendium of Low-tier Arrays in his mind,

everything he had learned before was little more than children's doodles.

Crude, simple, and full of flaws.

Even the Qingyun Sect's protective array would probably seem rather childish next to this inheritance.

"Hey!"

"You little brat, what are you spacing out for?"

Suddenly.

A coarse shout interrupted Ye Xuan's thoughts.

The old man selling goods had watched the kid point out his merchandise, say a bunch of unpleasant things, and then squat there without moving.

He was instantly furious.

Wasn't this obviously someone coming to wreck his business?

A fierce glint appeared in the old man's cloudy eyes.

His withered hand had already settled on the Storage Bag at his waist.

At this.

The noise around them died down a little.

Quite a few rogue cultivators stopped what they were doing and looked over with interest.

Enjoying the spectacle was human nature, and cultivators were no exception.

"I can tell you're just a brat looking for trouble!"

"You say it's got impurities, so it's got impurities?"

"You say it's cracked, so it's cracked?"

"Why don't you take a good look at yourself? Have you even grown all your hair yet? And you're already acting like you know everything!"

The old man pointed at the Red Iron Ore on the ground, spitting as he ranted at Ye Xuan.

At that.

Ye Xuan came back to his senses.

The bewilderment in his eyes vanished, replaced by a clear, focused gaze.

After absorbing the system's reward, the worthless rock before him looked different.

Before, he had relied on his experience in artifact forging to judge it.

Now, he could see right through it at a glance, grasping the essence of its material structure and the flow of its spiritual energy.

"Losing its fire essence is the least of its problems."

"You must have dug this Red Iron Ore from the edge of some abandoned array, right?"

Ye Xuan stood up, brushed the dust from his hands, and spoke as calmly as if he were discussing what to have for dinner.

The old man's eyelid twitched.

His hand froze on the Storage Bag.

How was that possible?

How could this brat know?

"It's been corroded by Earth Fire Fiendish Energy for a long time."

"The surface is as red as blood, but the Golden Essence Qi inside was scattered by the fiendish energy long ago."

"Don't believe me?"

"Try channeling a wisp of spiritual energy into this spot."

"Not much. A wisp is enough."

Ye Xuan pointed at the lower-left corner of the ore, speaking with complete confidence.

The old man's expression shifted uncertainly.

The boy sounded far too sure of himself.

So sure that it made the old man uneasy.

"Give it a try!"

"Old Huang Tou, give it a try!"

"Exactly! What are you afraid of? If it's good stuff, it can stand the test!"

The onlookers egged him on.

With everyone pressuring him, the old man had no way out.

He gritted his teeth, gathered a faint glimmer of spiritual energy at his fingertip, and touched the spot Ye Xuan had indicated.

"Crack~"

A barely audible snap.

Then.

Spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across the surface of the dark-red Red Iron Ore.

Before two breaths had passed,

with a clatter,

the entire stone crumbled into a pile of dark-red powder, giving off a pungent, scorched-sulfur stench.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

The rogue cultivators who had been hoping to see Ye Xuan make a fool of himself now had their mouths hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.

That eye for detail...

Incredible!

Even the old shopkeepers who specialized in buying materials might not have had such a keen eye.

The old man's face turned liver-purple, then green and white.

The loss of his goods was secondary. The real problem was how badly he'd been humiliated.

Who would dare buy anything from Old Huang Tou in Tianyuan Market after this?

"You... you..."

The old man pointed at Ye Xuan, his finger trembling. He wanted to fly into a rage, but didn't dare.

A kid with an eye like that couldn't come from an ordinary family.

Maybe he was the young master of some artifact-forging family, out gaining experience.

Not someone he could afford to offend.

Ye Xuan couldn't be bothered to give him another glance. He turned and left.

This kind of low-tier face-slapping scene wasn't all that satisfying.

But the old man was too noisy. Unless Ye Xuan shut him up, he wouldn't be able to inspect the system in peace.

He threaded his way through the crowd.

Ye Xuan walked to an old, crooked tree in a corner of the market.

There were no stalls here, only a few bare boulders.

He found a reasonably clean stone and sat down, pretending to rest with his eyes closed.

In truth, he sank his consciousness into his mind and called up the system panel.

A pale-blue screen appeared in Ye Xuan's mind.

[Host: Ye Xuan]

[Race: Human Race (Innate Dao Body)]

[Realm: Yuqing Realm, sixth layer (Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao)]

[Cultivation Method: Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao]

[Treasures: Myriad Ancient Cauldron (High-grade Magic Tool), Evergreen Sword (Mid-grade Magic Tool)]

[Skills: Low-tier Alchemy Mastery, Low-tier Artifact Forging Technique, Compendium of Low-tier Arrays]

[Items: None]

[Current Sign-in Location: Qingyun Sect Ancestral Hall (Not signed in)]

Yuqing Realm, sixth layer.

At his age, this level of cultivation was almost unheard of in the history of the Qingyun Sect.

After all.

An ordinary disciple needed at least twenty or thirty years of cultivation to reach this stage.

Those with poor aptitude might spend their entire lives stuck at the fourth layer, Object Moving Realm.

Ye Xuan was only ten.

If word of this cultivation speed got out,

even Dao Xuan Zhenren might be so shocked he jumped out of the Sect Master's seat.

His gaze moved down.

Ye Xuan's eyes settled on the last line.

Qingyun Sect Ancestral Hall.

Ye Xuan's usually composed little face instantly crumpled like a bitter gourd.

"Seriously?"

"I've only been away from the mountain for a month! One month!"

Ye Xuan grumbled furiously to himself.

He had finally persuaded Tian Buyi to let him go down the mountain and gain experience.

And now it wanted him to go back?

Great Bamboo Peak's food was nourishing, Mistress Su Ru treated him like her own son, and his senior brothers were all kind to him.

But how could any of that compare to the excitement of the outside world?

Besides, that Ancestral Hall...

An image surfaced in Ye Xuan's mind: a down-and-out old man holding a broom.

Wan Jianyi.

A peerless genius of the Qingyun Sect a hundred years ago, now forced to hide his identity and sweep the Ancestral Hall.

He was a powerful ally, but not an easy one to win over.

What if Wan Jianyi decided Ye Xuan had too much potential and insisted on teaching him Slay Ghosts and Gods...

That would be a good thing.

But it would also be a lot of trouble.

Ye Xuan hated trouble most of all.

"Forget it. Whatever happens, happens."

"The sign-in mission doesn't say there's a time limit."

"Putting it off for a year or so shouldn't be too unreasonable, right?"

Ye Xuan closed the system panel.

He leaned his head back against the tree trunk.

The system's sign-in rewards were great!

But since he had left the Qingyun Sect, he was going to enjoy himself out here before heading back.