``` You gazed at the surface of the Jade Marsh Mirror. Your eyes narrowed, and a knowing smile touched your lips.
After an hour of deduction, the mysteries of the Alphabet Mirror Array finally lay bare before you.
The array was formed from three thousand four hundred linked sub-arrays. Each was a world unto itself, yet intricate array patterns connected them all to the central mother array. On closer inspection, it fused the deceptions of an illusion array, the strict confines of a trapping array, and the wonders of Five Elements escape arts into one.
Judging by its design, it had probably not been made for a contest. It looked more like a cage for someone whose cultivation reached the heavens.
Your fingertips brushed the mirror's rim. Even a Great Dao Golden Core cultivator would have trouble breaking out of this arena, you thought.
Most astonishing of all, its maker had built such an ingenious array from common iron and ordinary materials, truly turning decay into wonder.
Your gaze moved to the edge of the Water Mirror. Runes finer than strands of hair had been engraved there, flickering in and out of sight amid the flowing light.
Four characters slowly appeared: "Crafted by Di Ku."
Di Ku? Patriarch Dixiang's full brother.
Mount Fangcun's records said that besides being a Supreme Grandmaster, this patriarch had also excelled at artifact refinement.
But this was no time to investigate. The contest came first.
You steadied your mind and returned your gaze to the Water Mirror.
The first array diagram appeared clearly: three fire-aspected array patterns crossed in a triangular arrangement.
This was the Bright Fire Array, a basic array of the cultivation world. Driven by magical power, it could summon raging flames. Even a Body-Molding Realm cultivator could use it.
You wrote down