Chapter 19: Solid Earth Formation

The deposit for the Solid Earth Array was twenty spirit stones. Ink Painting took ten of the spirit stones he had earned previously and gave them to the fat manager. In exchange, he received the Solid Earth Array diagram and ten portions of paper and ink materials. The deadline was twenty days.

After leaving the trading firm, Ink Painting went to the pastry shop again. He spent two spirit stones to buy ten pieces of five-color cakes. Afterwards, he returned directly to the sect and divided the pastries into several pieces to give to Big Tiger and the other two.

The sect's meals were not good, and the three of them were usually greedy for food but had nothing good to eat. Ink Painting buying some pastries was considered satisfying their cravings.

Several days later in the evening, Ink Painting finished his classes for the day and was researching the Solid Earth Array's method behind closed doors in the disciple residence when he suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

When Ink Painting opened the door, he saw Double Tiger standing furtively at the entrance. Double Tiger secretly handed an oil paper package to Ink Painting and lowered his voice, saying:

"I specifically saved this for you, don't tell anyone else."

After speaking, he glanced left and right, then ran away like a thief.

The disciple residence was a dormitory provided by Tongxian Sect for disciples to live in. Each room housed two people. The room wasn't large, with two simple wooden beds and two somewhat worn-out wooden tables, just enough for disciples to live. Within Tongxian Sect, there were also luxurious and comfortable disciple residences, but those required extra spirit stones.

Ink Painting originally had a roommate from the same sect, but he had withdrawn this year. It wasn't because he couldn't pay the tuition but purely because he felt cultivation was boring and was unwilling to learn. So now, Ink Painting was the only person in the room.

Ink Painting closed the door and opened the oil paper, which was still somewhat warm. He discovered a freshly roasted chicken leg wrapped inside. The chicken leg was the size of a fist, emitting heat, and was slightly burnt. He could smell the tempting aroma, and a faint spiritual energy also floated from it.

It was spirit beast meat.

"Could this... have been stolen from somewhere...?"

Double Tiger and the others fundamentally couldn't afford beast meat with spiritual energy. Coupled with Double Tiger's sneaky appearance, it could only have been stolen.

Ink Painting hesitated for a moment, then took a bite. There was a slightly charred taste and the fragrance of meat, but it wasn't roasted through, and there was no seasoning, so the taste was somewhat bland.

Cooking meals in the cultivation world was also very particular. If one hadn't specially learned, it was difficult to make delicious food. This was because ingredients in the cultivation world were difficult to handle. For example, meat had a very tough texture, and some meats, like those of herbivorous demon beasts, couldn't be boiled soft at all without spending a large amount of spiritual power to urge flames for a long time. Spirit meat had a finer texture, but cooking it also required some effort.

Besides meat, other vegetables, fruits, and plain dishes, in addition to their own taste, also carried more or less some spiritual energy. This spiritual energy mixed with the taste of the original ingredients, and if not properly adjusted, the flavor would be very strange.

The chicken leg in Ink Painting's hand was simply roasted. He estimated they were afraid of being discovered and also secretly made a fire and quickly finished roasting it, so it was impossible for it to be very delicious. But Ink Painting, who hadn't eaten meat for over a month, wasn't so particular. Having food to eat was good.

Ink Painting ate the chicken leg with some effort, then lit a fire to burn the oil paper and threw the bones into the small stream outside the room, thoroughly eliminating the evidence.

Having eaten his fill, Ink Painting spent some time refining the spiritual energy contained in the chicken meat, then buried his head and continued researching the array.

Sure enough, two days later, Ink Painting heard that several Qi Refining stage disciples had stolen the golden chicken raised by the elder, plucked its feathers clean, roasted it, and ate it. The elder was greatly angered, caught the several disciples, and severely punished them.

Another two days later, Ink Painting saw Big Tiger and the other two with bruised noses and swollen faces, and two big bumps on the tops of their heads. The three of them were all on Tongxuan Peak, so the elder could find them with a check; they couldn't run away, and a round of punishment was unavoidable.

However, the several people just looked a bit miserable; their injuries were mostly skin and flesh wounds. The elder wouldn't possibly strike a real blow or truly do anything to them. It was nothing more than a small punishment to warn others and give other disciples a warning, that's all.

Big Tiger and the other two looked wretched but held their heads high and chests out, their expressions still a bit proud. After all, being able to steal a chicken from under the elder's eyes was not something ordinary disciples could do. They saw Ink Painting but pretended not to see him. Even Little Tiger still secretly gave Ink Painting a signal with his eyes, telling Ink Painting to also pretend not to know them.

Ink Painting was a bit amused and helpless, thinking in his heart that next time there was a ten-day rest, he would buy more pastries for them to eat.

There were still seven days until the next ten-day rest. Thirteen days had passed since he received the array materials from the fat manager, but Ink Painting's understanding of the Solid Earth Array was not yet very smooth. The array patterns of the Solid Earth Array were something Ink Painting had never learned before. Compared to the earth element basic array patterns taught by the sect, they were much more complex, and comprehension was quite laborious. Moreover, the Solid Earth Array was composed of four array patterns, and the requirements for divine sense were also high.

Ink Painting found remembering the array patterns not too difficult, but when practicing on the stone stele, it consumed quite a lot of divine sense, and it was very easy to make mistakes. Either the painted array patterns didn't combine into an array, or the painted array patterns were fundamentally invalid and unable to conduct spiritual power. Ink Painting fumbled like this for over ten days, still without any clue. Sometimes he seemed to understand, but once he took the pen, he still made mistakes.

Finally, with truly no other way, Ink Painting decided to go ask Teacher Yan.

One day, after Teacher Yan finished class, he was packing the books on his desk, and the disciples scattered in twos and threes. Ink Painting then went to Teacher Yan with several basic earth element array patterns and respectfully asked:

"Teacher, these earth element array patterns here, this disciple does not understand them very well. Please also ask the teacher to point them out."

Teacher Yan looked at the several array patterns Ink Painting handed over and said:

"These are earth element array patterns among the basic five elements array patterns, and they are relatively standard general array patterns. They should not be too difficult for you. If you don't paint them well, just practice more."

The earth element array patterns taught by the sect were very basic, of course, not difficult for Ink Painting. What Ink Painting wanted to ask was actually something else. Ink Painting took out the several earth element array patterns within the Solid Earth Array and said:

"This disciple occasionally saw these several array patterns and found them somewhat different from those in the textbook, but I can't specifically say where they are different, and it's very easy to make mistakes when painting them. I don't know where the problem is."

Teacher Yan looked, some surprised, and said:

"These are modified five elements array patterns, different from those formally taught by the sect. This kind is not standard, nor very general. To paint these array patterns, you need to change the pen method a bit, and the sequence is also different from standard array patterns. Basically, the sequence of these several strokes changes a bit..."

Teacher Yan took a sheet of paper and casually drew several strokes of the array patterns, explaining as he drew. After listening to Ink Painting, he suddenly realized. The drawing method of array patterns was also somewhat similar to calligraphy. Besides standard system array patterns, there were also some more characteristic array patterns, and the pen methods differed more or less. There were numerous types of these variant array patterns, and they couldn't be classified, so the sect normally only taught standard system array patterns.

"No wonder everyone says array methods are vast and profound, and there are too many twists and turns and pitfalls inside. If I hadn't asked the teacher, I couldn't have figured it out even with two heads..." Ink Painting secretly complained in his heart.

"Then, to connect these array patterns together to form an array, for example, like this array..."

Ink Painting finally directly took out the Solid Earth Array diagram. Teacher Yan glanced at it, then recognized it, and said in surprise: "This is the Solid Earth Array!" Immediately afterwards, he looked at Ink Painting and said:

"It's still too early for you to look at this. This is not something you can paint now."

"This disciple is just curious and wants to understand the reasons behind it," Ink Painting asked seriously.

"This... is also true, it's good for you to know some things in advance."

Teacher Yan's spirit lifted. He taught basic array patterns every day, which was somewhat boring. At this time, he could rarely chat about some proper array methods, and his interest was obviously much higher.

"Array methods are all formed by the arrangement, compounding, and connection of array patterns. Simple array methods contain simple array patterns, and the number of array patterns is also small. The more difficult array methods are, the more array patterns they contain, and the arrangement, spatial structure, and connection unity of the various array patterns are also more complex and exquisite. The Solid Earth Array contains four array patterns. The array patterns need to be drawn with strokes according to fixed positions and in sequence. The remaining Qian and Kun two positions..."

Teacher Yan lectured with great interest, and Ink Painting also listened with keen interest. Teacher Yan was still a bit reluctant to stop until he finished teaching. Afterwards, he warned again:

"The way of array methods is vast and profound. It's good for you to understand a bit in advance. The things taught by the sect are just the basics within the basics, not even considered entry-level. To become a true array master, the difficulty and effort required are unimaginable to you now..."

Teacher Yan paused for a moment, then said:

"At the same time, absolutely do not aim too high and blindly go paint array methods that you have not mastered. If you just look at them, it's okay, but if you truly take a pen to paint, your divine sense will be depleted very easily. You must remember this point!"

Ink Painting bowed and said: "This disciple has been taught!"