Chapter 346: Above the Ten Patterns

Mo Hua returned home and immediately began to look at the jade slip for the Wuxing Demon-Slaying Great Array.

But he kept looking until evening, and still hadn't finished one jade slip. And the entire set of jade slips for the Great Array totaled ten pieces.

Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh. The Great Array was indeed a "great" array. The array formations were vast, and just the jade slips recording the method of construction were so numerous.

Time was pressing, but Mo Hua also couldn't be anxious. The Great Array was a significant matter and couldn't have the slightest error. He had to be patient and seriously learn, not being careless at all. If he carelessly made a mistake somewhere, it was very likely to cause a chain reaction and lead to the collapse of the entire Great Array.

But learning this way would take too long. Mo Hua thought for a moment, then decided to prioritize and grasp the main points, starting with the most crucial parts.

He first spent some time browsing through the ten jade slips from beginning to end. Then, he extracted the main array hub and array eye parts. The remaining content, including the arrangement of array patterns, the compatibility of single arrays, and the construction of array mediums, could be considered later.

Mo Hua first learned the array hub. The difficulty of the Great Array's array hub was far beyond that of the array hubs of compound arrays Mo Hua had learned before. The difficulty of this array hub was already at the peak of first-grade array formations.

The array hub of the Great Array, because it coordinated the entire Great Array and connected numerous single arrays, had to have a sturdy, tough, stable structure that also had the inclusiveness of a sea accommodating all rivers. Inside the array hub, it needed to accommodate numerous spiritual power operation trajectories, controlling the opening and closing, forward and reverse movement, starting and stopping, and circulation of spiritual power. The outer edge of the array hub also had to leave interfaces compatible with different single arrays of various functions.

In a Great Array, if the single arrays were like veins, then the array hub was like meridians; if the single arrays were like flesh and blood, then the array hub was like bones. The array hub was the trunk of the entire Great Array, the hub for the operation of the Great Array's spiritual power.

Mo Hua had understood these principles before, but now that he was actually learning them, he had a deeper realization.

Mo Hua first memorized a portion of the Great Array's array hub. In the evening, his divine sense sank into his sea of consciousness, and he began to practice on the Dao Stele.

After practicing twice, Mo Hua discovered something unbelievable: his divine sense was unexpectedly far from sufficient! He had only memorized a part of the Great Array's array hub, but even so, his divine sense was exhausted before he could complete drawing these array hubs.

The requirement for divine sense intensity was truly too exaggerated. Was this really a first-grade ten-pattern Great Array? Mo Hua found it somewhat hard to believe for a moment.

But then he thought again, if it wasn't truly that difficult, then the Great Array couldn't be called an absolute array, it couldn't be praised as the strongest array formation, and it couldn't be viewed by array masters of the world as their lifelong pursuit.

Since this was the case, no matter how difficult it was, it was all reasonable. Rather than complaining here, it was better to practice more times. Array formations emphasized perseverance. As long as one persisted unremittingly, there would always be a time when water drops pierced stone. If he couldn't do it once, he would draw it ten times; if he couldn't do it ten times, he would draw it a hundred times... Even if he still couldn't learn it in the end, at least he would have no regrets in his heart.

Mo Hua then forced himself to calm down. He didn't dwell on how difficult the Great Array was, nor did he worry about whether he could ultimately learn it. He just began to learn little by little, practicing repeatedly. Mo Hua drew the array hub once, exhausted his divine sense, then erased it and continued drawing again. The Dao Stele also went from nothing to something, and then from something to nothing, cycling repeatedly.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Mo Hua seemed to perceive a trace of indistinct Dao rhythm from the Dao Stele. This trace of flavor was hard to describe, but it made his state of mind more peaceful, his thoughts more focused, and his understanding of the array hub gradually deepened.

The Great Array's array hub, compared to compound arrays and single arrays, shared the same origin but was completely different. The array hub of a single array was extremely simple, with only a few strokes. Even simpler array hubs didn't require pen methods to outline, and could be considered array hubs simply by relying on the structure of the array formation itself. The array hub of a compound array was more difficult, required heavier use of the brush, and consumed more divine sense. But the array hub of the Great Array was much more complex.

The Great Array's array hub wasn't drawn with a single stroke, but by countless fine strokes connected and condensed into a single unified pattern, thereby forming the array hub. The unified pattern was the direction of the array hub, while the fine strokes condensed into the pattern were the specific trajectories of spiritual power flow. This unified pattern, on the surface, looked like a thicker line of ink than the array hub of a compound array, but in reality, it was filled in by countless fine strokes of specific lengths, shapes, and lines. It was like weaving fine hemp into a hemp rope. Only, the shape, angle, and sequence of each fine hemp when woven were strictly regulated. This was why the array hub was so complex and consumed so much divine sense.

After understanding this principle of the array hub, Mo Hua couldn't help but find it hard to believe. How was this array construction idea conceived? Or rather, was this really something a human could conceive? He was finding it so strenuous to learn, so the array master who established this Great Array, his understanding of the Heavenly Dao and his cognition of array formations were truly inconceivable.

Mo Hua sighed in his heart. Array formations, this thing, the more you learn, the more you realize your shallowness, the more you learn, the more you feel your ignorance. And the more you feel your shallowness and know your ignorance, the more you go to learn.

Mo Hua's determination was firm. He began to discard distracting thoughts and concentrate on researching the array hub. In the following days, Mo Hua forgot about sleep and food, continuously practicing the Great Array's array hub day and night. Even when eating, his hand would sometimes inadvertently gesture something. Sometimes, while eating, he would stare blankly, falling into a trance, not knowing what he was thinking about, until the food in front of him had completely cooled down. Liu Ru Hua was helpless and could only reheat it for him. Mo Shan also quietly watched his son without disturbing him.

Mo Shan and his wife had originally planned to relocate to the city. Their brothers and neighbors who hunted demons together would also relocate. But they couldn't feel at ease about Mo Hua. Mo Hua was their flesh and blood. No matter how Mo Hua chose, what he did, or what he would become in the future, they wanted to stay by his side.

Several days later, Mo Hua's comprehension of the array hub showed significant progress. The reason for this was that his divine sense was growing again, and the growth was quite noticeable. Mo Hua thought for a moment and then understood. Mister Zhuang had once said that divine sense had a limit. The closer one was to the limit, the more difficult divine sense growth became. The limit of divine sense in the Qi Refining stage was at the ten-pattern Foundation Building. So before, Mo Hua's divine sense grew quite slowly by purely relying on practicing array formations to temper it. But after Mo Hua "ate" the green-faced little ghost and refined the divine thought of the visualization diagram, he achieved divine sense Foundation Building in one go, already breaking through the ten-pattern limit. In other words, Mo Hua's current divine sense limit was the Foundation Building limit. The Foundation Building limit was still very far from Mo Hua. Therefore, by relying on practicing complex array formations, his divine sense could still have quite considerable enhancement!

Before, Mo Hua hadn't realized this because the array formations he had learned weren't difficult enough, consuming not enough divine sense, so the tempering intensity wasn't high enough, and the divine sense growth wasn't fast enough either. But now, the Great Array was difficult enough, consuming enough divine sense. Naturally, divine sense growth was also fast enough. According to the current progress, with continuous enhancement of his divine sense, he might really be able to learn the Wuxing Demon-Slaying Great Array before relocating to the city!

With this thought, Mo Hua's eyes all lit up. With hope, he practiced even more forgetfully. When he encountered difficulties, he would also go ask Mister Zhuang. If Mister Zhuang was resting, he would wait by the bamboo room door or under the big locust tree. While waiting, he would simultaneously take out paper and ink and practice the array hub of the Wuxing Demon-Slaying Great Array.

One day, while Mo Hua was practicing array formations under the big locust tree, Bai Zi Sheng saw him and was a little curious. He put down his own book, leaned over to take a look, and couldn't help but frown.

"What is this?" It was dense and numerous, looking very complex. It was like a casual ink sketch, but not so regular. It was like drawing an array formation, but he had never seen such an array formation.

"Array hub," Mo Hua replied, but didn't lift his head or stop his hand, still fully focused on drawing.

Bai Zi Sheng was stunned. Array hub? What kind of array hub was so complex? He wanted to ask clearly, but seeing Mo Hua drawing the array formation with a single mind, he didn't want to disturb him. But his heart couldn't help but be curious, so he just watched Mo Hua draw from the side.

As he watched, Bai Zi Sheng covered his forehead. He felt a wave of dizziness and secretly thought, "Not good, divine sense consumption is a bit excessive..." He quickly shifted his gaze away and rested for half a day before recovering. He looked at Mo Hua with a trace of shock. What exactly was Mo Hua drawing?!

"I thought I was only looking for a while, how did my divine sense just get consumed?" Bai Zi Sheng had a face full of disbelief. In a daze, he felt that the array formation Mo Hua was drawing was no longer the same as what he understood in array formations.

Bai Zi Xi, who was on the side, saw the situation and was also a little doubtful. She stepped lightly and quietly walked to Mo Hua's side, looking at the array formation Mo Hua was currently drawing. Bai Zi Xi's willow eyebrows slightly furrowed. As she watched, she suddenly had a guess, and her expression also had a moment of daze.

"Zi Xi..." Bai Zi Sheng had just started to speak when Bai Zi Xi shook her head at him, indicating for him not to disturb Mo Hua drawing the array formation.

It wasn't until Mo Hua's divine sense was exhausted and he stopped writing to rest that he suddenly found two pairs of good-looking big eyes staring at him intently. One pair had sword eyebrows and star eyes, and the other pair had bright eyes like water.

This book's first alliance leader is greatly appreciated!

The first volume's plot is concluding, and it's written quite slowly with no saved drafts. I can only owe a bit first and add more later.