Chapter 339: Checks and Balances

Mr. Zhuang, in awe, said, "This array contains the true laws of the heavenly way. Under this array law, all living beings are equal. As long as they violate the taboos of this array law, regardless of their identity, whether noble or humble, and regardless of their cultivation level, high or low, all will be treated equally and erased."

"Therefore, this array is also called the 'Heavenly Way Great Array'!"

"Heavenly Way Great Array..." Mo Hua murmured, this name deeply imprinted in his mind. At the same time, expectation was born in his heart.

He hoped that one day, he too could draw such a heaven-penetrating and earth-reaching array.

Mo Hua couldn't help but ask, "Then, Mister, who drew this array law? Was it an immortal being?"

Mr. Zhuang shook his head and said, "When the Dao Court was established, this array law already existed. No one knows the origin of this array law, and no one knows whose hand this array law came from. The person who drew the array, even if not an immortal being, was at least a mighty cultivator who had stepped onto the path to immortality."

"So people also call this array law the innate great array, meaning it was born before heaven and earth."

"The Dao Court then, based on this heavenly way great array, delineated the grades of state boundaries. A great array in a certain state boundary limits what realm, and then it will be set as that many grades."

Mr. Zhuang sighed and said, "Few cultivators know about the 'Heavenly Way Great Array'."

"Many array masters don't even believe that this sky is actually a great array."

Mo Hua couldn't help but ask, "Is it because there is no inheritance, so they don't know?"

Mr. Zhuang shook his head, "Even if there are inheritance records, they still don't believe it."

Mo Hua was slightly startled, "Why?"

Mr. Zhuang pointed a finger to the sky and asked Mo Hua, "What can you see from above this sky?"

Mo Hua raised his small head and looked at the sky for a long time, looking until his neck was sore, then hesitated and said,

"There are clouds..."

"Besides that?"

Mo Hua shook his head, "Nothing."

Mr. Zhuang nodded and said,

"Yes, nothing... There are no array patterns, no array hub, not even knowing what the array medium is, and certainly no array eye. How can it be said to be an array law?"

"Mister, you can't see it either?"

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and said with a gentle smile, "Like you, I can't see anything either..."

"Not just me, cultivators in this cultivation world with deeper cultivation than me and higher attainment in array law also cannot see anything."

"Since nothing can be seen and nothing exists, how can it be said to be an array law?"

"But aren't there records in cultivation dao classics?" Mo Hua asked.

"All worldly records can have errors. Cultivation dao classics also cannot be fully believed," Mr. Zhuang explained.

"So that's how it is..."

Mo Hua nodded and again raised his head to look at the sky. He only felt the sky was infinite, the traces of clouds ethereal, seemingly containing boundless vastness and endless vitality mysteries.

Mo Hua seemed to have some realization and said with a firm expression,

"Mister, this is definitely an array law!"

Mr. Zhuang smiled slightly, "Why?"

Mo Hua shook his head, "I don't know either, but I feel it is."

Mr. Zhuang was slightly startled, and immediately touched Mo Hua's head, saying gently,

"An array master's intuition is a comprehension of the heavenly way, and sometimes it is also very important. I hope that one day in the future, you can truly see the array law from above this sky..."

Mo Hua received Mr. Zhuang's expectation and nodded seriously.

Immediately, he again said doubtfully,

"Mister, if there really is a heavenly way great array above this sky, what is the purpose of this great array? Or rather, what is the meaning of these heavenly way laws?"

Mr. Zhuang's gaze condensed slightly, and he said four words in a deep voice,

"Heavenly way balance."

Mo Hua seemed to have some realization, but for a while, he still couldn't think it through.

Mr. Zhuang raised his head, looked at the vast sky, and slowly said,

"Like you, I also believe that the heavenly way great array exists. It's just that our cultivators' divine sense is not enough, and our attainment in array law is shallow, so we cannot see it."

"Assuming the heavenly way great array really exists..."

Mr. Zhuang looked towards Mo Hua and continued,

"Then if state boundaries are not set in grades, cultivation is not limited, and there is no heavenly way great array to balance, what kind of world would this cultivation dao world be?"

Mo Hua thought for a while and considered, "It would be very chaotic?"

"Why chaotic?" Mr. Zhuang asked again.

"Because cultivators' power is not restricted?"

Mr. Zhuang nodded and said,

"Never overestimate human nature. Humans are a race that will slaughter for benefits, for grudges, and even purely for pleasure."

"If there is no cultivation limit, high-rank cultivators will surely greatly slaughter low-rank cultivators."

"Human's dao heart is not firm from the beginning. It is restless, wavering, and indulgent, just like duckweed floating on waves, rising and falling with the current, making it hard to find a fixed place. Even the most upright person will have times when evil thoughts are born."

"Among one hundred high-rank cultivators, even if only one person has evil thoughts in their heart, it is a great calamity for low-rank cultivators."

"Without heavenly way balance, high-rank cultivators can easily slaughter low-rank cultivators."

"Qi Refining cultivators might just face the slaughter from Jin Dan, Feather Transformation, or even Cave Void cultivators. In this situation, they will have no power to resist."

"It's possible for Jin Dan to slaughter a city, Feather Transformation to slaughter a boundary, and Cave Void to slaughter a state, and these things could happen frequently."

"Some demonic path giants' actions will also be more unrestrained. It's possible they will refine all living beings in a state boundary for refining magic treasures..."

Mr. Zhuang sighed and continued, "The prosperity of the cultivation world lies in high-rank cultivators, but the longevity of the cultivation world lies in the bottom-layer cultivators."

"Once the low-rank cultivators at the bottom are slaughtered empty, and the connection between cultivators is broken, the cultivation world will surely decline."

"If this continues for a long time, the entire cultivation world will be destroyed because of slaughter."

"With the balance of the heavenly way great array, high-rank cultivators do not dare to act arbitrarily, low-rank cultivators have space to survive, cultivators can multiply, and the cultivation world can also have endless vitality..."

Mo Hua nodded, gradually understanding the meaning of heavenly way balance.

For example, Tong Xian City is a two-grade state boundary. If a Foundation Building cultivator causes trouble, there will also be Foundation Building cultivators to respond. If not, Qi Refining cultivators can unite against the enemy and also contend with it.

But if there is no heavenly way balance and they suffer invasion from high-rank cultivators, no matter what they do, they cannot resist.

Mo Hua subsequently asked again,

"If that's the case, if Dao evils breed, within the same state boundary, don't cultivators also have no power to resist?"

Because the blood qi of Dao evils is too powerful and they can kill people to replenish their blood, they are almost "endless vitality."

"That is correct," Mr. Zhuang nodded and said, "Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Having the heavenly way great array balances high-rank cultivators, but it will also make Dao evils invincible in a boundary."

"However, without the heavenly way great array, although there are ways to suppress and kill Dao evils, it is also easy to indulge high-rank cultivators and create boundless slaughter..."

"Between two harms, choose the lesser. The disaster brought by Dao evils at most destroys a state boundary, while cultivators' abuse and killing will destroy the entire cultivation world."

Mr. Zhuang sighed with emotion and said meaningfully,

"After all, in this world, those who kill the most are forever people, not demonic beasts."

Those who kill the most are forever people, not demonic beasts... Mo Hua heard this, and his heart was complex and indefinable.

Mo Hua pondered for a long time, hesitated for a while, and ultimately still asked the question he was most concerned about,

"Is there a way to deal with Feng Xi?"

He grew up in Tong Xian City and really couldn't bear to watch the cultivators of Tong Xian City migrate to barren lands and live in hardship.

He also couldn't bear to see Tong Xian City destroyed because of the disaster brought by Feng Xi.

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua, with some gratification in his gaze, "Do you already have an idea?"

"Um," Mo Hua nodded, "I've thought about it over and over again, the only way to deal with Feng Xi is a great array..."

He learned from Zhang Lan's records that there were families or sects that relied on protective sect great arrays to suppress and kill great demons.

Mo Hua raised his head and looked at Mr. Zhuang with some hope, "Mister, can I learn great array?"

Mr. Zhuang's expression had a moment of emotion.

He thought that such a day would come, but he didn't expect that this day would really come...

Mo Hua, who is in the Qi Refining first grade, wants to learn great array from him.

This was originally nothing.

Great array is the ultimate pursuit of an array master. All array masters in this world want to learn great array.

Even if they are not the main array master of a great array, just participating from the side and adding a few array patterns is already considered a great honor.

But what is different about Mo Hua is that he truly has the qualification to learn great array.

His divine sense strength, his divine sense control, his array law experience, and his array law proficiency are already the elite among elites in the first-grade array masters.

However, great array is not that simple...

Mr. Zhuang sighed, "You need to think clearly."

"I have thought clearly!" Mo Hua nodded.

"You are still not clear," Mr. Zhuang shook his head, his expression stern, and slowly said,

"Great array is the most complex, most difficult, and also the largest scale project among array laws. It's not something you can learn just because you want to, nor is it something you can build alone."

"Constructing a great array requires a large amount of manpower and resources..."

"The array medium of a great array needs weapon refiners to refine and craftsmen to build. You can draw the array hub yourself after learning, but within the great array, there are thousands upon thousands of single arrays. Relying on you alone is not enough to draw them all; other array masters must help you."

"Furthermore, there are resources. The materials for constructing the array medium, the spirit ink for drawing array laws, and the spirit stones for activating array laws are all extremely large numbers."

"What's more, the array hub of a great array is extremely difficult, and the consumption of divine sense is extremely high. Learning it is fundamentally not that easy."

"The most crucial thing is..." Mr. Zhuang said with a solemn expression, looking at Mo Hua, and slowly said,

"Even if you exhaust all efforts to build a great array, what if it still cannot withstand Feng Xi?"

"Having invested so much resources and manpower, and exhausting spirit stones, still failing to suppress and kill Feng Xi, what would the cultivators of Tong Xian City do? In this situation, it would be impossible to migrate the city again. What would they rely on to live?"

"Have you considered all these things?"

With every sentence Mr. Zhuang said, Mo Hua's heart became colder. In the end, he couldn't help but show a disappointed expression and hang his small head low.

Mr. Zhuang again gently touched Mo Hua's head and said gently,

"Think clearly about these matters, and then decide whether you want to learn great array and whether you want to build a great array."