Setting Up the Array

How could that be!

Fang Yu shook his head and said, "How could a prodigy like Fairy Ruyan be familiar with me? I'm only somewhat acquainted with Zhang Zhonghu, a fellow villager, and it was through him that I asked Fairy Ruyan to help set up the formation."

Upon hearing this, True Person Jade Liquid smiled and said, "Fairy Ruyan's achievements in Dao of Arrays are outstanding among the younger generation, and she is also the most promising disciple of the Star-Splayed Peak Dao of Arrays formation lineage to advance to the fourth-level Grand Array Master. Your fellow villager must be extraordinary to be able to invite him. Tell me who Zhang Zhonghu is."

Although they were both disciples of the Ascension Immortal Sect, the Ascension Immortal Sect was too large, with not only the eight True Disciple but also countless ordinary disciples. It was perfectly normal that True Person Jade Liquid had never heard of Zhang Zhonghu.

"Zhang Zhonghu's original name was Zhang Erhu. He only had Low-Grade Spirit Root. Last time, he entered the Nine-Lock Secret Realm and gained a lot of fortuitous opportunity. After coming out, I don't know how he was taken in as a disciple by Elder Ding Yue of the ' Seven Ingenious Workshop ' lineage. I asked him how he got such good luck, and he said he didn't know either..."

Fang Yu chattered on and on about Zhang Zhonghu to True Person Jade Liquid, while simultaneously listening to Jiang Xiasheng on the platform explaining the Water-Method Alchemy.

In the blink of an eye, several days have passed.

On this day, Fang Yu received a message from Fairy Ruyan that all the materials for setting up the formation were ready and the formation could be set up.

Fang Yu immediately informed True Person Jade Liquid and returned to his cave abode.

"Thank you so much, Fairy!" Fang Yu greeted her, but seeing only Fairy Ruyan, he immediately asked, "Didn't Zhonghu come along?"

Upon hearing this, Fairy Ruyan seemed to realize something and explained, "Junior Brother, have you misunderstood something? Junior Brother Zhang and I have only gone on a few missions together. We don't have any special relationship. How could we be together all the time?"

"Oh!" Fang Yu was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly said, "Senior Sister, please forgive me, I misspoke!"

Ruyan didn't say anything more. She took out various materials and began to set up a third-order formation.

Fang Yu watched for a moment, recalling the contents of the Dao of Arrays inheritance. When Fairy Ruyan was setting up an array eye, he asked a common-sense question that only a beginner in Dao of Arrays would ask.

"Senior sister, I saw in the array book that the eight gates are Life, Death, Shock, and Open... Is this the array eye located at the Shock Gate?"

Upon hearing this, Fairy Ruyan turned to look at Fang Yu, "You're right, this is indeed the Gate of Shock, but once the great formation is activated, the eight gates will change with the passage of time; they are not static..."

"I see!" Fang Yu immediately understood and quickly took out a small notebook to write it down.

Fairy Ruyan was slightly taken aback upon seeing this, and a hint of disgust appeared on her usually expressionless face. "What are you memorizing?"

Fang Yu immediately replied, "Of course I'll write down what Senior Sister said so I can review it later. This is a habit I've had since I was little. My father always told me that a bad pen is better than a good memory, and that important things like this must be written down."

"That's a really good habit!" Fairy Ruyan said, then asked, "May I see your booklet?"

"Certainly!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yu naturally handed over the booklet in his hand.

Fairy Ruyan took the booklet and glanced at the understanding of formations recorded inside. This differed somewhat from what she had just said; it wasn't a verbatim transcription, but rather included her own interpretations.

'Could it be that this Jiang Yao is actually interested in the Dao of Arrays?'

She thought to herself, and slowly flipped through the notes.

As he turned each page, the disgust in his eyes gradually faded, for the booklet contained only explanations of Dao of Arrays.

As she turned another page, she saw records of Dao of Alchemy. After flipping through only a few pages, she vaguely felt a throbbing pain in her head. She could only understand a small portion of the Dao of Alchemy content recorded in the notebook, but she could discern that it contained extremely profound Dao of Alchemy.

She flipped through the pages a few more times, and her aching head immediately felt better, because she saw the relevant content about the first-order Dao of Alchemy.

'I never expected that Jiang Yao would actually want to cultivate both alchemy and array formation, and his Dao of Alchemy level is probably already close to the third rank.'

Ruyan glanced at Jiang Yao beside her subconsciously, feeling ashamed of her earlier suspicions.

She had initially thought that Jiang Yao's behavior was merely an attempt to attract her attention, never expecting that he actually had such a habit and was quite accomplished in Dao of Alchemy.

She once had the lofty ambition of cultivating the four arts of array formation, alchemy, artifacts, and talismans. After advancing to the third level of Dao of Arrays, she began to cultivate Dao of Alchemy as well. She thought that she could master Dao of Arrays formation, the most difficult of the hundred arts of cultivation, let alone Dao of Alchemy.

However, upon closer examination, he discovered that alchemy seemed even more difficult than Dao of Arrays. He could easily understand Dao of Arrays Yin-Yang and Five Elements of array formation, but he only had a superficial understanding of the combination of medicinal properties. Even under the personal guidance of the ancestor, he could only forcibly refine some common first-tier pills, with a success rate of less than 10%. Therefore, he had no choice but to give up.

The Jiang Yao in front of us already has a talent for Dao of Alchemy that is comparable to her talent for Dao of Arrays. Moreover, judging from her understanding of Dao of Arrays, her talent for Dao of Arrays should not be bad either. Perhaps she really will become Master of both alchemy and array formation in the future.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared in her eyes as she handed the booklet back to Jiang Yao, "Junior Brother Jiang has such a good habit; he remembers things in great detail, although there are a few mistakes."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yu immediately stepped forward and said, "There's a mistake! Where is it wrong? Please point it out, Senior Sister!"

Fairy Ruyan showed no aversion to Jiang Yao, who had already approached her. Instead, she smiled and said:

"Setting up an array requires consideration of the timing and terrain. The undulating terrain can aid in the formation, but if the fluctuations of the earth's veins are ignored, even the most exquisite array diagram will be unable to withstand the power of nature. The way of the array master lies in the heavens..."

Fang Yu listened to Fairy Ruyan's words and nodded repeatedly, looking completely absorbed. This immediately brought out Fairy Ruyan Ruyan's natural inclination to teach, and she began to give Fang Yu a long and detailed explanation of the various key points of the formation.

Fang Yu listened and took notes, his mind racing with thoughts.

'All my preparations were worthwhile; I've finally managed to get closer to this Fairy Ruyan. Indeed, the master-disciple relationship is the easiest to cultivate.'

As he pondered, a faint fragrance wafted over, emanating from Fairy Ruyan. Upon smelling it, Fang Yu involuntarily bent his waist slightly. He could clearly sense that he was one step closer to the ' Impure White Bone Contemplation ' realm—the realm where one can see a beautiful woman as a beautiful woman.

Meanwhile, Fairy Ruyan remained oblivious to Fang Yu's unusual behavior. She continued setting up the formation while explaining key points to consider, essentially giving a live demonstration.

"Formations of the third rank and above rely heavily on guiding the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. When setting up the formation base, it is necessary to calculate the flow of Spirit Vein and the changes of time; otherwise, although the formation is completed, it will be like water without a source, merely having an outward appearance..."

"The array's core is the heart of the formation, but it cannot be isolated. It must resonate with Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. If a fire-element array core is placed in a water-dominant area, it needs to be balanced with earth-elemental materials; otherwise, the formation will be unbalanced and lose all its power..."

"..."