Chapter 9: Bright Fire Formation

In the sea of consciousness, Mo Painting's figure was the same as his external physical body. He could move as he pleased, but he was not flesh and blood, nor was he even made of spiritual power; he was merely a virtual shadow of divine sense.

Mo Painting's virtual shadow held its breath and concentrated, using his fingers as a brush to draw the array patterns of the Bright Fire Array on the Dao monument.

Pale blue lines followed Mo Painting's fingers, winding flexibly across the deep black Dao monument. They gradually appeared, thread by thread, wisp by wisp, connecting from simple to complex, forming intricate patterns.

After drawing the second array pattern, then continuing to draw, Mo Painting gradually felt an unprecedented fatigue and even pain.

His sea of consciousness was like a dam that had been chiseled open, and the divine sense within flowed out like a tide, non-stop.

The more divine sense flowed out, the closer his sea of consciousness came to depletion, like river water receding from a riverbed, gradually drying and cracking. Due to some unknown pressure, a stinging pain arose, and his scalp also felt faintly numb.

Mo Painting also gradually felt his thoughts becoming sluggish, and the third array pattern was drawn increasingly slowly.

Suddenly, a needle-like pain shot through his sea of consciousness. Mo Painting experienced a brief moment of distraction and involuntarily lost control, making a mistake in one part of the array pattern on the monument.

Mo Painting had to stop, covering his head, and waited for the pain to slowly subside.

It took a full cup of tea's time for Mo Painting to recover. He thought for a moment, then understood:

"Cultivators drawing array methods require a massive amount of divine sense, far more than other cultivation categories consume! And far more than I thought!"

"So the diagram explanation specifically used vermilion pen to note: 'Those with insufficient realms should cautiously learn.' If the realm is not high enough and divine sense is not strong, forcibly copying array methods will excessively consume divine sense, even leading to divine sense depletion..."

Divine sense depletion would cause cultivators intense pain and could even damage and crack the sea of consciousness. If the cracks were excessive, the sea of consciousness would directly shatter, and cultivators would consequently die and their Dao would be eliminated.

This was taught in the array methods class. Mo Painting hadn't paid much attention at the time, but now, recalling it, he felt a faint chill in his heart.

"The Bright Fire Array requires Qi Refining Stage Three, and I'm only at Qi Refining Stage Two. My divine sense is indeed a bit short..."

Mo Painting hugged his head with both hands, lying on the ground of his sea of consciousness, slowly pondering:

"Although it's said to be a bit short, it shouldn't be too much. My divine sense is already a bit stronger than others, and I've been learning array methods for so long. If I practice a few more times, I might not necessarily be unable to draw it."

"If I can't draw it in one go, then I'll draw it a second time, a third time... Each time my divine sense will improve a bit, and each time I'll draw a bit more than before. Eventually, I'll be able to draw the array method..."

After thinking this through, Mo Painting got up and erased the unfinished array patterns on the Dao monument, then his divine sense filled up again.

It was as if he had never drawn array methods before, but the strokes he had just drawn were all etched in Mo Painting's mind.

Mo Painting couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Fortunately, he had this Dao monument. Otherwise, with his divine sense near depletion, he didn't know how long he would have to rest before drawing a second time. By the time he learned the Bright Fire Array, it would probably be ten days or half a month later, and if it exceeded ten days, the mortgaged spirit stones would be completely deducted.

As soon as he thought of this, Mo Painting's heart ached, and his divine sense became more focused. He began to draw the Bright Fire Array for the second time...

In the virtual white sea of consciousness, time seemed to lose its meaning.

Mo Painting would draw for a while, stop for a while, and rest for a while. When he truly couldn't draw anymore, he would directly erase it and start over from the beginning.

He didn't know how many times he had drawn it, but finally, he completed the full array method of the Bright Fire Array.

Mo Painting let out a long breath and sprawled on the ground, feeling as if he were a small salted fish whose divine sense had been squeezed dry.

After resting for another half cup of tea's time, Mo Painting finally had the presence of mind to stand up and appreciate the array method he had drawn for the first time – the Bright Fire Array.

On the pitch-black Dao monument, a complete array method of pale blue lines was drawn. The array method's patterns were rigorous and elegant, possessing an unknown mysterious sense. Between the light and dark of the array patterns, they seemed to contain rules and powers that were difficult to describe.

This was array methods!

Mo Painting felt a sense of trance in his heart, as if there was nothing in the world more beautiful than these patterns containing rules. Even just looking at them made people involuntarily immerse themselves in them...

Mo Painting looked and looked, and suddenly discovered that something wasn't quite right.

When he was drawing, the array patterns were pale blue, but now they seemed to be gradually fading, and the color was dull, gradually turning light gray.

It was as if... the Dao monument was telling Mo Painting that he had drawn it incorrectly...

Mo Painting was stunned.

"Drew it wrong?"

"No way..."

Mo Painting was a little disheartened, but still cheered up and carefully checked each stroke. Finally, he discovered that he had indeed drawn it incorrectly, and not just in one place.

Some were extra strokes in the array patterns, some were wrong connection angles, and some were wrong fusions of fire patterns in two places...

Because he had drawn it incorrectly, the divine sense consumed wasn't that much, which was why he was able to complete the Bright Fire Array.

Mo Painting scratched his head and had no choice but to carefully note down the incorrect places, then erase the array method again and redraw it.

...

Drawing back and forth like this many times, Mo Painting couldn't help but feel dizzy and his eyes were blurry. In addition to the pain in his sea of consciousness, it was also a little numb. Looking at the array patterns on the Dao monument, he saw hazy double images.

He didn't know when, but in a daze, Mo Painting finished the last stroke.

The Dao monument seemed to tremble gently, and the pale blue array patterns on the monument emitted a warm white light. In the white light, there seemed to be a faint flicker of fire, like the lighting of a bright candle in the dark night.

Bright Fire Array!

Mo Painting could hardly contain his excitement, and the fatigue of the night was all swept away.

For the first time in his life, Mo Painting personally felt the abilities of cultivators. That kind of feeling of comprehending by oneself, then creating by oneself, embodying the rules of the Heavenly Dao with array methods, and grasping the might of heaven and earth.

Although it was only a slight small step, a tiny bit of might, it was the first drop of water that converged into the great river of the Dao!

Mo Painting was very proud. Although the Bright Fire Array could only be used for lighting and was one of the most common and cheapest array methods on the cultivation path, at least this array method illuminated the first step of Mo Painting's cultivation journey.

Still not satisfied, Mo Painting wished he could draw a few more times, but he also knew that his weak divine sense was already like a flickering candle in the wind and couldn't withstand the torment.

If he redrew it, his sea of consciousness might not be depleted, but he would definitely go mad.

After all, although divine sense would recover, the process of drawing array methods involved constant gradual consumption of divine sense, which was not a comfortable process.

This was Mo Painting's first time drawing a formal array method, but it was definitely not the last time.

He planned to practice the Bright Fire Array several times every evening. After thoroughly mastering it in a few days, he would start using the materials from the Array Pavilion to draw array methods, and after drawing them well, he would find the manager to exchange them for spirit stones. It would be best if he could make up for the sect's tuition fee so that his parents wouldn't have to work so hard.

"That's enough for tonight..."

The Bright Fire Array on the Dao monument shone brightly. Mo Painting appreciated it for a bit longer, nodded involuntarily, then somewhat reluctantly waved his hand to erase the array method.

At the moment of erasing, divine sense surged like the ebb and flow of the tide, from a new moon to a full moon, like seawater breaking a dam and then returning, rising again after sunset. The exhausted divine sense instantly flowed back, filling Mo Painting's sea of consciousness!

Mo Painting stood in front of the Dao monument, his divine sense full. At this moment, he was exactly like he was several hours ago when he first entered his sea of consciousness.

This feeling of divine sense going from full to empty, and then from empty to full again, no matter how many times he experienced it, still felt exceptionally profound.

And this time's experience was more profound than any time before.

Mo Painting looked at the Dao monument. The monument's surface was pitch black and deep, seemingly a piece of nothingness, but also seeming to contain everything, seemingly nothing at all, but seeming to be able to manifest everything.

Transforming divine sense into array methods, reversing array methods back into divine sense. Having and not having, mutually giving birth and mutually transforming.

A sentence from an ancient book involuntarily emerged in Mo Painting's mind:

Have it as benefit, none as use!