Chapter 198: The Principles of Arrays

Array brushes are generally classified by size into Micro-Hair, Small-Hair, Medium-Hair, and Large-Hair.

The larger the array brush, the larger the array pattern it can draw, and the greater the scale of the array, but the effect does not change qualitatively.

Large smelting furnaces require Large-Hair brushes to draw array patterns, consuming more spirit ink and more spiritual awareness.

This was Mo Hua's first time drawing such a large array; at first, his strokes felt clumsy, but after calming his mind, he followed the pre-planned array diagram, stroke by stroke.

Gradually, Mo Hua's brushwork became fluid.

Although the array medium was different, the fundamental array structure remained the same.

Mo Hua had already copied this compound array many times on array paper and Dao steles.

Elder Yu watched from the side, holding his breath, not disturbing Mo Hua.

Master Chen dared not even breathe; he had previously doubted whether Mo Hua could truly draw a Grade-One array, but now seeing Mo Hua personally drawing an array on such a massive smelting furnace, he was stunned—and deeply moved.

Such a huge smelting furnace, with such a massive array drawn on it—how immense must the furnace flame be…

Just imagining it made Master Chen's heart race with excitement.

But Mo Hua's array drawing was not going smoothly.

He had already been able to draw the Grade-One Melt-Fire Spirit-Control Compound Array on the Dao stele in his mind, and had assumed his spiritual awareness was sufficient—but now, drawing the array on the smelting furnace, the required spiritual awareness increased slightly.

That tiny increase was like the straw that broke the camel's back; Mo Hua's first several attempts all failed.

Mo Hua could only ask others to help him wash away the failed array pivots with Spirit-Dissolving Liquid, then start over.

He himself sat in meditation on the side, restoring his spiritual awareness to fullness.

Mo Hua continued drawing, then failed again.

Thus, he went through this cycle all day—drawing the pivot, washing it off, drawing again, washing again, repeating many times, yet making little progress.

Seeing the sky growing late, Elder Yu comforted Mo Hua:

"Rest well. Draw again tomorrow. Don't rush."

Mo Hua had drawn all day with no progress and truly felt exhausted; his spiritual awareness was no longer clear, so he nodded.

After Mo Hua left, Master Chen asked Elder Yu, "Is this array especially difficult?"

He had never seen Mo Hua fail to draw an array so many times in a row.

"If Mo Hua has failed so many times, it must be hard!"

Master Chen thought about it and found it very reasonable.

Night had just fallen, the sky not yet fully dark; Master Chen could still see the residual array patterns on the smelting furnace—vast, complex, and profoundly intricate.

He understood not a single bit of it.

Master Chen shook his head; he didn't draw arrays himself, yet after watching all day, he already felt spiritually drained—let alone Mo Hua, who had drawn and redrawn it repeatedly.

Mo Hua did feel tired, but more than that, he felt unwilling to give up.

It was just a little bit short…

After returning home, Mo Hua ate the dinner his mother had made, then went to his room, closed his eyes, and rested for a while.

Once refreshed, Mo Hua repeatedly replayed the process of drawing the array in his mind, reflecting on his successes and failures.

At midnight, Mo Hua lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and sank his spiritual awareness into his mind sea.

The Dao stele in his mind sea appeared.

Mo Hua began practicing the compound array on the Dao stele again.

Because drawing on the smelting furnace's inner wall had been so difficult—especially such a large array—it was like "weighted training"; now, drawing on the Dao stele felt noticeably easier.

The previously stiff array patterns now flowed much more smoothly.

Mo Hua practiced the array on the Dao stele all night.

Not only did he memorize the pivot structure and array patterns more thoroughly, but his spiritual awareness also strengthened slightly.

That tiny increase was enough for Mo Hua to cross the threshold and successfully draw the Melt-Fire Compound Array.

The next morning, Mo Hua woke early, ate the fragrant, delicious breakfast made by Liu Ruhua, then set off for the Smelting Workshop.

Elder Yu and Master Chen had both slept poorly.

Elder Yu worried about the Smelting Workshop; Master Chen worried about the smelting furnace; both worried about Mo Hua.

After all, Mo Hua was still a child. He had drawn all day, drawn and erased, made no progress—his morale must have been shaken.

As they worried, they saw Mo Hua walking over, satchel slung over his shoulder, chest puffed out, full of determination, as if he would not let go of this smelting furnace.

Only then did Elder Yu and Master Chen realize their worries had been unnecessary.

Energetic and spirited, Mo Hua said nothing, quickly took out brush and ink, and resumed drawing the array.

This time, Mo Hua's strokes felt much smoother.

Still, minor errors occurred, and in the end, he still failed to complete the pivot.

On the third day, Mo Hua finally drew the pivot.

The pivot is the core structure of the compound array and the spiritual awareness threshold; once the pivot is drawn in one continuous thought, half the task is already accomplished—the rest becomes much simpler.

Mo Hua let out a breath of relief.

"Finished?" Elder Yu asked softly.

"Not yet, but the pivot is done—the rest will go quickly." Mo Hua wiped sweat from his brow and smiled.

His face was smeared with red and black spirit ink, looking rather dirty.

Elder Yu wiped his face with his sleeve and offered a few words of encouragement.

Master Chen chimed in from the side: "You've drawn it very well!"

Though he had no idea exactly how well.

Mo Hua ate something, sat in meditation to restore his spiritual awareness, wandered around a bit to relax, then resumed drawing the array.

With the pivot completed, the compound array's structure was now established.

Next, I must draw the First-Rank Melt-Fire Array.

Among First-Rank arrays, the Melt-Fire Array is slightly harder, but nothing compared to a First-Rank Compound Array.

Mo Hua did not take long to finish drawing the First-Rank Melt-Fire Array.

The next arrays cannot be drawn yet; now, I must use the First-Rank Melt-Fire Array to test whether the Array Pivot can activate.

If it fails to activate, Mo Hua must erase and redraw it.

Thinking this, Mo Hua kept drawing and erasing, erasing and drawing, already wasting much Spirit Ink.

Mo Hua was heartbroken.

Indeed, the Dao Stele that can draw arrays without brush or ink is the best!

Drawing arrays on the Dao Stele requires no worry about wasting ink.

Mo Hua sighed and began verifying whether the Array Pivot activated.

"Oh right, there's also the Spirit Gathering Array."

Mo Hua suddenly remembered: the Spirit Gathering Array is the Eye of the Compound Array, needing Spirit Stones to absorb and supply spiritual energy to activate the array.

The arrays Mo Hua had drawn before had weak effects and were mostly single-use; even if reusable, their lifespan was limited, so no separate Spirit Gathering Array was needed.

For these arrays, just one Spirit Gathering Array motif, or the array motif's natural ability to absorb spiritual energy, sufficed.

But now it's different.

A large smelting furnace requires extremely powerful heat, meaning it must consume vast quantities of Spirit Stones to supply massive spiritual energy, and rely on complex arrays to convert that energy into heat.

The smelting furnace must also be durable, reusable many times, and provide heat efficiently and stably.

This means the arrays on the smelting furnace must include the Eye, the Pivot, the Motif, and the Medium—a stable spiritual energy circulation system.

The Eye supplies spiritual energy, the Pivot controls it, the Motif transforms it, and the Medium carries it.

This is the true spiritual energy circulation system, the most essential structure of spiritual energy flow within an array.

Only by constructing and applying such a compound array system can one truly grasp the fundamental logic of spiritual energy operation in arrays, and truly enter the realm of array mastery!

Thank you to Feng Bianwuhen for the tip~