In the pavilion, Shen Diexin’s beautiful eyes remained fixed on the Array Seal in Lin Huang’s hand. For an instant, she lost focus, unable to believe what she was seeing.
"It succeeded?!"
At this moment, she felt as if all her understanding of the Array Path was about to be overturned.
PHEW...
Lin Huang let out a long breath and pushed the Array Seals in his left and right hands forward. In the air, one blue and one red Array Seal flew, pulling long trails of light behind them. An aura of alternating cold and heat spread through the air.
Then, the two Array Seals crashed into each other fiercely!
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the moment the two Array Seals collided, the clash of auras exploded violently. The loud boom shattered the potted plants and other objects within a ten-foot radius.
"Hahaha, not bad, not bad! The collision of two Array Seals—this can be considered the starting point of Arrays," Xiao Yishan laughed heartily, looking at Lin Huang with a face full of admiration.
The more advanced an Array was, the more Array Seals it required. Through the control of the Array Spirit, the Array Seals would move along identical or different trajectories. By coordinating with each other, they formed an Array.
Although Lin Huang’s move couldn’t be called an Array, it demonstrated the underlying principles of one.
"Pardon my meager display!" Lin Huang looked at Shen Diexin and smiled warmly. "I hope Elder Diexin can still offer me some guidance in the future."
"Not meager, not meager at all! How could this be meager? Number Four, can’t you have a bit of a temper?" Xiao Yishan waved his hand, laughing without caring in the slightest about Shen Diexin’s feelings.
Shen Diexin raised her head and stared coldly at Xiao Yishan. Her heart was filled with incredibly complex emotions—anger, surprise, grievance, and even a trace of humiliation.
Ultimately, she let out an icy harrumph and smashed the jade slip in her hand to the ground. "Since you have such an amazing master, I suppose you won’t be needing the answers for the second round of the Martial Arts theory exam either!"
With that, Shen Diexin stormed out of the pavilion. Her original intention in seeking out Lin Huang today was to lend him a hand, hoping he could smoothly pass the second round of the assessment.
But the result...
"I will definitely tear that man surnamed Xiao to pieces," Shen Diexin muttered through gritted teeth. Her heart was full of resentment and grievance. In all these years, no man had ever been so rude to her.
"She left just like that? I still wanted to chat with her about life!" Xiao Yishan said with a face full of regret as he watched Shen Diexin’s graceful retreating figure, which resembled a clear lotus swaying in the breeze.
Looking at the shattered jade slip on the ground, Lin Huang could only smile helplessly. He cursed Xiao Yishan in his mind, "You’ll just pack up and leave in a few days. But when I enter Piaoxue Palace in the future, she’s definitely going to make my life miserable."
"Kid, focus on your cultivation. I’m going out for a stroll. Hurry up and become a Third-Level Array Master so this little lady won’t have anything to be arrogant about anymore. Only then will you do right by your master!" Xiao Yishan encouraged Lin Huang with a completely straight face, and then vanished in the blink of an eye.
Watching the two of them disappear one after another, Lin Huang smiled helplessly. Afterward, he returned to his room to continue his cultivation.
When it came to Arrays, condensing Array Seals was only the first step. After that, one still needed to engrave Array Patterns to connect the power between the Array Seals, forming a cohesive whole. Next came condensing the Array Spirit, which was also the Array Hub.
The Array Spirit was the central nervous system of the entire Grand Array, controlling the operation of all the Array Seals.
In this way, the Array Seals possessed their own power and trajectories, operating under the control of the Array Spirit. Depending on the power and trajectories of the Array Seals, as well as the varying control of the Array Spirit, an Array could produce endlessly changing effects—powerful attacks, impregnable defenses, or the ability to absorb Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth.
The more formidable an Array was, the more versatile and unpredictable even to Ghost Gods it became. And the foundation of these variations lay in needing more Array Seals and a far more complex Array Spirit.
Therefore, the grading system for Array Masters and Arrays on the continent was entirely determined by the number of Array Seals.
An Array composed of eight Array Seals was called an entry-level Array. Anyone who could condense eight Array Seals while simultaneously forming an Array Spirit to create an Array was called an Array Master.
An Array consisting of sixteen Array Seals was called a First Level Array, and someone who could simultaneously condense sixteen Array Seals was known as a First Level Array Master.
Thirty-two Array Seals was known as Second Level.
Sixty-four Array Seals was known as Third Level.
As for those mighty Array Masters across the world, their true strength lay in their ability to casually condense thousands upon thousands of Array Seals with a mere wave of their hands, completing the Array Patterns and Array Spirit all at once.
Just imagine being trapped inside an Array. If one Array Seal was seen as a sword, then thousands of Array Seals would be thousands of swords, all attacking simultaneously from different angles and in different ways. How could anyone defend against that?
Thus, as long as a powerful Array Master kept the location of their Array Spirit well hidden, they were practically an invincible existence when fighting opponents in the same Realm. Even fighting those at higher levels was commonplace for them!
Inside the room, Lin Huang’s expression was incredibly calm. The ten fingers of his hands twitched as Primordial Qi coiled and condensed around them, leaping and nimble like spritely elves.
As time passed, two Array Seals slowly took shape within Lin Huang’s gentle palms, radiating faint traces of a sharp and fierce aura.
PHEW...
Lin Huang exhaled deeply, looking slightly fatigued. Condensing Array Seals indeed consumed a massive amount of Spiritual Power. It required a Martial Artist’s undivided attention, allowing not a single trace of outside interference.
Currently, Lin Huang could only condense two Array Seals at the same time. This was merely the very beginning. Only when he could condense eight Array Seals would he barely qualify to be called an Array Master, and the process would still require engraving Array Patterns and condensing an Array Spirit.
Condensing Array Seals was merely the simplest step!
"No wonder Array Masters are so strong. Such a complicated and difficult array setup naturally justifies their immense power," Lin Huang murmured, feeling no apprehension in his heart whatsoever.
Toying with the two Array Seals in his hands, Lin Huang slightly raised an eyebrow. Even though the path of an Array Master was an exceedingly arduous one for him, he would not back down in the slightest, because this was the path he had chosen for himself.
"If I can become an Array Master before the Four Sects’ grand selection ends, I’m sure Crown Prince Lingyun will love this grand gift when I face off against him." Lin Huang smiled playfully and suddenly crushed the Array Seals in his hand!
Over the following days, apart from cultivating the Great Vajra Technique and Three Thousand Miles, Lin Huang spent all his time condensing Array Seals. He condensed them over and over again...
From a quarter hour to half a quarter hour!
Then down to a hundred breaths.
Then down to taking only ten breaths to condense a single Array Seal.
And then, from one Array Seal to two Array Seals, then three Array Seals, four Array Seals, and eventually even six Array Seals...
Inside the room, Lin Huang calmly opened his bright eyes. Watching the five Array Seals dancing on his fingertips, a faint smile finally curled the corners of his lips.
Five Array Seals in three days.
This speed was already quite impressive. As long as some more time passed, he would be able to attempt to truly condense an Array.
"Go!"
Lin Huang opened his five fingers and tossed the Array Seals swirling with Primordial Qi. The five Array Seals instantly traced a beautiful arc through the air, flew out the door, and crashed fiercely into one another.
With a loud BOOM, a deafening explosion erupted in the courtyard. Even the entire ground seemed to tremble slightly.
"Holy shit... Which son of a bitch did that?! You scared the crap out of me!" Fatty Bai’s curses suddenly rang out from the courtyard.
BANG!
Lin Huang’s door was violently smashed open. Fatty Bai stood there in tattered clothes, his hair blown up into a smoking bird’s nest. His entire face was pitch-black, and his burly figure completely blocked the doorway.
"Boss Lin, someone in your house tried to assassinate me! Right here in your courtyard, some unknown thing almost blew up my little brother! Thank God I reacted quickly," Fatty Bai said, his face boiling with fury.
"To dare make a move inside my Divine General’s Mansion... that is truly quite brazen." Lin Huang kept a serious expression. While Fatty Bai wasn’t looking, he quietly dispersed the Array Seal that was about to take shape in his palm and said sternly, "Don’t worry. No matter who tried to ambush you, I will make them pay a heavy price."
Fatty Bai nodded in satisfaction. He walked into the room and immediately downed three pots of tea—GLUG GLUG GLUG—before plopping down on his butt and sighing resentfully. "I’ve been a total disaster magnet these past few days. Today, I stepped in dog shit the moment I walked out the door, and then I almost got blown to the heavens when I came here.
"A few days ago, I provoked a chick, but I never expected her to be a disciple of Qianying Valley. That tigress was absolutely unhinged—she chased me for ten whole blocks!
"Yesterday, I bumped into some swindling old geezer who bragged about being an Elder of Fengyu Tower and acted like he was incredibly powerful. He insisted that I had an extraordinary bone structure, that I was a Martial Arts prodigy, and wanted to take me to Fengyu Tower to cultivate some Unparalleled Martial Technique. I tried talking some sense into him, but I ended up having to curse him out until he didn’t even know his own last name before he finally scrammed. But even then, he still had the nerve to shove a jade slip into my hand."
"An Elder of Fengyu Tower... Qii Lie?" Lin Huang asked.
"Yeah, that’s the old geezer." While rummaging through Lin Huang’s room for food, Fatty Bai tossed a jade slip over to him.