Chapter 389: Dao Essence

In the vast spirit fields, there was a secluded area within the field ground.

Mo Hui sat on the field ridge. In front of him, on a patch of empty ground, he began to practice the Hou Tu Zhen.

Mo Hui had already mastered the Hou Tu Zhen itself by relying on the Dao Bei.

The only problem was that after drawing the array, it had no effect.

Hou Tu, meaning thick earth, embodies great virtue, carrying all things and nurturing all beings.

This array must use the land as the array medium to be truly activated.

Mo Hui held a brush, dipped it in ink, and began to draw the Hou Tu Zhen on the ground.

After a while, he completed drawing a mysterious, ancient, simple Hou Tu Zhen containing eleven array patterns.

Mo Hui injected spiritual power, wanting to light up the array.

But the spiritual power that entered the array was like flowing into a bucket with a hole at the bottom; it instantly poured out.

Mo Hui used his hand to wipe the array patterns, and they were easily wiped off.

Mo Hui sighed.

Failure.

Mo Hui was unwilling and began to draw again.

As expected, the second attempt also failed.

The third attempt also failed...

After his divine sense was exhausted, Mo Hui sat in meditation, waiting for his divine sense to recover before continuing to draw.

But no matter how he drew, these array patterns could not integrate with the land, and the spiritual power could not circulate.

Mo Hui furrowed his brows and thought to himself:

"It seems Master was right. Although the principle is simple, actually doing it is completely different..."

"No matter how I draw, the array patterns can't stay on the ground, and the spiritual power can't harmonize with the great earth."

"And I've drawn so many, but there's still no progress..."

"Should I go ask Master again?"

Mo Hui hesitated for a moment, then immediately shook his head.

Let me try to comprehend a bit more.

If Master wanted to tell me, he would have said it before.

Master didn't say it, so there must be another intention, wanting me to comprehend it myself.

As the saying goes, the master leads you to the door, but cultivation depends on the individual.

It's better to comprehend, learn, and think for oneself, so that the experience is more profound.

Mo Hui nodded and then thought:

"Maybe I just haven't drawn enough times."

"Draw the array a hundred times, and its meaning will naturally appear."

"Let me draw a hundred times first. If I still don't have a clue, then I'll go ask Master."

Mo Hui nodded, held his breath, concentrated his mind, and continued to draw the Hou Tu Zhen on the land.

He drew from morning to afternoon, and then from afternoon to evening.

Mo Hui didn't need to sleep at night.

When his divine sense was exhausted or he felt tired, he would sink his divine sense into his sea of consciousness.

Meditating in front of the Dao Bei for a while would make his divine sense abundant and his spirits lifted.

Mo Hui drew the array, forgetting to eat and sleep.

Bai Zi Xi brought Miao'er to deliver a meal to Mo Hui.

But seeing Mo Hui wholeheartedly drawing the array, he didn't disturb him, only quietly placed the meal beside him.

When Mo Hui was tired from drawing and resting, he would see the meal box and casually eat a few mouthfuls.

After eating his fill, he would continue to draw the array.

A few days later, Mo Hui had already drawn the Hou Tu Zhen eighty or ninety times, but the array patterns were still unable to harmonize with the land.

Mo Hui couldn't help but doubt himself a little.

Was the method wrong?

Or was his comprehension not enough?

Does he really need to draw a hundred times...

But according to this method, even if he drew a hundred times, it didn't seem like there would be any progress.

Mo Hui furrowed his brows, propped up his chin, and thought silently.

Is there something I'm overlooking?

The elements of an array: array medium, array patterns, array hub, array eye.

These should all be considered.

Besides, there's only spiritual ink, spiritual power, divine sense...

Mo Hui recited them one by one, and suddenly his heart was startled.

Divine sense...

Cultivators must use divine sense to comprehend arrays.

But am I also using divine sense to comprehend arrays?

Perhaps I should comprehend more than just the array?

The array is drawn on the great earth, embodying great virtue and the way of the earth... So, besides the array, should I also comprehend the "great earth"?

Mo Hui, with a tentative mentality, sat down cross-legged, held his breath, concentrated his mind, and began to communicate with the great earth using his divine sense.

Half an hour passed.

Nothing happened...

Mo Hui was a little dejected, and also a little puzzled.

Suddenly, he patted his head and thought of something.

Mr. Zhuang had just told him:

"Cultivators enlighten the way by only emphasizing perception, which is bound to be illusory and vague, flowing into form but without substance."

"While arrays are manifestations of the heavenly way and are bridges between cultivators and the illusory heavenly way."

Arrays are bridges between cultivators and the way of heaven and earth.

That means it's not just empty thinking, but rather, using the array as a bridge, drawing the array while comprehending the great way.

Mo Hui's eyes lit up. Then he dipped his brush in ink again and began to draw the Hou Tu Zhen on the ground.

Only this time, as he drew, he released his divine sense and communicated with the great earth.

And as he put his brush down, Mo Hui faintly felt that his divine sense seemed to have some contact.

It seemed that the vast great earth had an indistinct breath, which little by little emerged as he traced the array patterns.

Every stroke of the array patterns he drew made the breath of the great earth a little thicker.

Mo Hui's divine sense perception also became a little clearer.

When Mo Hui finished drawing the array, he was certain in his heart that he had indeed perceived something.

That was a vast, deep, compassionate breath.

But this was still only a perception.

After the perception, the great earth was still silent, without a trace of breath.

Mo Hui lowered his head and looked at the array he had drawn.

Some of the array patterns had already gradually merged with the land, but only a shallow layer had fused, and it could only absorb faint spiritual power.

Even so, Mo Hui's spirit was lifted.

This proved that his idea was right.

Comprehending the Hou Tu Zhen is not just purely comprehending the array, but also experiencing the great way contained in the array at the same time.

Only in this way can the array and the way be combined, using "earth" as the array medium to draw this absolute array.

He had now experienced something mysterious, but he had drawn too few times, the time for comprehension was short, and the heat was not yet enough.

Next, he just needed to continue drawing.

Mo Hui's eyes were bright like starlight.

He roused his spirits and continued to practice the Hou Tu Zhen according to the method he had just enlightened.

This time, the practice effect was obviously much better.

Every time he drew an array, the array patterns would harmonize with the land a little more.

The breath of the great earth perceived by his divine sense also gradually became clearer.

It seemed that the vast and boundless great earth also had its own will, eternal and unchanging, silent and wordless, but also broad-chested, nurturing all things.

Mo Hui communicated with this eternal will, experienced it little by little, and his divine sense resonated with it.

His understanding of the Hou Tu Zhen also became more and more profound.

Finally, after an unknown period of time, Mo Hui finally successfully drew the first Hou Tu Zhen on the land.

The array patterns were one with the great earth.

Mo Hui lit up the array with spiritual power.

In the deep night, the Hou Tu Zhen emitted a warm glow.

The spiritual power within the array also underwent a special change.

It was as if it had its own life, deriving itself and turning into more refined, more gentle spiritual power.

This spiritual power was like fine spring rain, integrating with the land, nurturing life, and proliferating endlessly.

Mo Hui could even feel a thick vitality from the soil.

"The position of the earth is Kun, and its thick virtue carries things. This is my Hou Tu Zhen..."

Mo Hui felt something in his heart and was lost in thought for a moment.

He finally understood why absolute arrays were called absolute arrays.

Because the circulation of spiritual power in absolute arrays has an essential difference from ordinary arrays and is closer to a deeper layer of the way.

Mo Hui now mastered two types of absolute arrays.

One was the Ni Ling Zhen, and the other was the Hou Tu Zhen.

The Ni Ling Zhen would make spiritual power reverse and dissolve, while the Hou Tu Zhen would make spiritual power derive.

Reverse spirit to destroy and dissolve is silent killing.

Thick earth nurturing is endless life.

Both are changes in spiritual power, completely different from each other, but from the same source, derived from the way.

Mo Hui suddenly had an epiphany, his mind became clear, and his understanding of the great way became more profound.

"Exhaust arrays, and approach the way..."

This sentence of Mr. Zhuang was also deeply engraved in Mo Hui's sea of consciousness.

By this time, it was already past midnight, and the night sky was full of stars.

The moonlight was like gauze, draped between the spirit fields and the mountain colors.

Mo Hui's mood was much more relaxed, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He had spent so much time, and finally learned the Hou Tu Zhen.

Mo Hui wanted to rest for a while, but he felt joyful and full of spirit, as if he didn't need to rest.

It would be better to consolidate the Hou Tu Zhen a bit more.

So Mo Hui drew another Hou Tu Zhen on the ground.

But this time, he felt something was wrong.

The array patterns under his brush, although integrated with the great earth, were occasionally intermittent, and the spiritual power was not particularly smooth.

Mo Hui thought for a moment and then understood.

Although he had perceived the breath of the great earth, his comprehension was still very shallow.

So this perception was sometimes there and sometimes not, and the array was also intermittent.

In this way, it could only be said that he had barely learned it, not that he was proficient.

At least compared to the Sun family's old ancestor, he was still far behind.

To be able to learn from the Sun family's old ancestor and restructure the spirit fields with the Hou Tu Zhen patterns, he was even farther away.

Mo Hui furrowed his brows.

The root of this problem was not in the array itself.

He had drawn it so many times, and Mo Hui was already skilled enough at the Hou Tu Zhen array that he could draw it with his eyes closed.

The problem lay in the perception of the breath of the great earth.

Once his divine sense lost its perception of this breath, the array patterns would be unable to harmonize with the great earth.

Mo Hui closed his eyes and communicated with that breath using his divine sense again.

This time it was much clearer, but still indistinct, unable to grasp it, unable to perceive deeper.

Even with more effort, it was still the same.

Mo Hui propped up his chin, furrowed his brows, and his thoughts raced.

He had to find a way...

If he couldn't clearly perceive this breath and his divine sense couldn't communicate with the great earth, then he couldn't accurately draw the Hou Tu Zhen one hundred percent.

It was even more impossible to construct spirit fields.

In this way, he couldn't be considered to have learned the Hou Tu Zhen.

"My divine sense is limited, so why not borrow the 'Dao Bei'?"

Mo Hui's thoughts turned, his gaze shifted slightly, and then his divine sense sank into his sea of consciousness.

In the sea of consciousness, the Dao Bei appeared.

Mo Hui drew the Hou Tu Zhen on the Dao Bei while borrowing the Dao Bei to perceive the breath of the great earth.

Suddenly, Mo Hui actually felt a trace of trembling from the Dao Bei.

It was as if the divine thought of heaven and earth had descended and resonated with the Dao Bei.

In an instant, Mo Hui was shocked both in mind and spirit.

It seemed that his divine sense had perceived an eternal and unchanging colossal divine thought.

This divine thought was compassionate and broad, vast like a vast sea.

While his own divine sense was tiny and insignificant, only like a grain in a vast sea.

And the breath of this divine thought was faintly familiar.

Suddenly, Mo Hui understood.

When he drew the Hou Tu Zhen, the breath he perceived came from this divine thought.

But his own divine sense was too weak, so what he perceived was only a tiny breath.

Now, borrowing the Dao Bei, what he perceived was a vast divine thought!

This was the divine thought of the vast great earth!

This divine thought did not contain good and evil, joy and anger, or any selfish thoughts of the human world.

Like the great earth itself, it carried all things, nurtured all things, and let the life and death of all things flow without interfering.

Rather than calling it a divine thought, it was more like the "way" of the great earth.

Mo Hui, feeling inspired, drew the Hou Tu Zhen on the Dao Bei.

This time, the Hou Tu Zhen was incomparably thick and heavy.

Each stroke was as if it contained the power of the great earth.

When the Hou Tu Zhen was completed, using the array as a bridge, Mo Hui felt that he had faint contact with this divine thought.

His own divine sense resonated more and more with the divine thought of the great earth.

And from within the divine thought, Mo Hui also personally experienced the "way of the earth."

Although it was only an instant of experience, it was incomparably profound.

Heaven gives birth to all things, and earth nurtures all things.

Grasses wither and flourish, fruits ripen and fall, endless life, generation after generation.

On the great earth, scenes of all things deriving were present.

In a trance, Mo Hui seemed to have a feeling.

"Earth follows heaven, and humans follow earth."

It was as if he was truly standing on the vast great earth, glimpsing the "way" of the great earth.

His divine sense harmonized with the way of the great earth.

Mo Hui faintly felt that one day, he could truly use his thoughts as a brush, and "earth" as paper.

Heaven covers, earth reaches, divine sense moves, draw the ground into an array!

At the same time, Mr. Zhuang, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, and then saw Kui Lao with the same shocked expression.

In that instant, they both felt an indistinct shock.

Mr. Zhuang muttered in disbelief:

"Who... touched the essence of the Dao?"

Then the two of them were suddenly shocked and looked towards the spirit fields in the southeast.

In those spirit fields, his little disciple always stayed there comprehending arrays.

And at this moment, within the spirit fields, there was actually a deep, unfathomable, yet endlessly vital aura.

Mr. Zhuang's gaze became more and more inconceivable...