Chapter 267: Reverse Spirit

"This is the formation diagram for the Concealment Array."

Mr. Zhuang handed the diagram to Mo Hua, "Take a look yourself, practice more—it shouldn't be too difficult for you."

Mo Hua received it respectfully and glanced at it briefly.

The core of the Concealment Array is unusual, the formation lines are obscure, differing somewhat from standard Five Elements formations, but it truly isn't too difficult—at least not for Mo Hua.

For a formation master learning formations, the hardest part is truly only the spiritual sense.

As long as your spiritual sense is sufficient, the rest can be solved with time and effort.

But if your spiritual sense is insufficient, you don't even qualify to learn formations.

"Thank you, Mr.!" Mo Hua said cheerfully.

Mr. Zhuang gave a slight nod, his gaze darkening as he pulled out another diagram and said:

"This is the complete Ten-Line Reverse Spirit Array."

Mo Hua's heart tightened; he accepted it solemnly, glanced at it briefly, mentally traced it again, and exclaimed in shock:

"Mr., this one seems much harder…"

"Ten lines is the upper limit of Qi Condensation spiritual sense; the closer you get to this limit, the slower your spiritual sense grows, naturally making it harder," Mr. Zhuang said slowly.

Mo Hua sighed, "I wonder how long it'll take to learn."

"Until Foundation Establishment."

Mo Hua froze, then realized: Ten-Line formations were indeed only learnable by Foundation Establishment cultivators.

If he could draw the Reverse Spirit Array, he would indeed possess spiritual sense sufficient for Foundation Establishment.

"Mr., given my current progress, how long will it take me to gain Foundation Establishment-level spiritual sense?" Mo Hua asked timidly.

Mr. Zhuang did not answer, but asked instead:

"What if it takes ten years—or a hundred?"

Mo Hua's heart sank, "A hundred years?"

"Just hypothetical," Mr. Zhuang said.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, helplessly said, "There doesn't seem to be another way—just keep cultivating, keep drawing formations."

Mr. Zhuang nodded approvingly:

"Good. No matter the outcome, what you must do remains unchanged. Don't let success or failure, or any expectations, disturb your inner cultivation."

Mo Hua suddenly understood, smiling: "Thank you for your teaching, Mr.!"

Mr. Zhuang smiled faintly: "Still, don't worry too much—you might have some stroke of fortune and leap across this chasm in one step."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Mr. Zhuang added: "Just hypothetical."

Then, with his long fingers, Mr. Zhuang tapped Mo Hua's forehead: "Fortune is external. Don't let fortune disturb your own Dao cultivation."

Mo Hua's gaze sharpened, then said: "Disciple understands."

Seeing Mo Hua's clear gaze and unclouded mind, Mr. Zhuang nodded softly:

"Just focus on learning formations. Don't overthink other matters. If you reach Qi Condensation Ninth Layer and still lack sufficient spiritual sense, I have my own methods."

Mo Hua's heart warmed, and he smiled: "Thank you, Mr.!"

Mr. Zhuang waved him off: "Go learn your formations. I'll rest a while."

"Yes."

Mo Hua turned to leave, then suddenly remembered something, hesitated, and fell silent.

Mr. Zhuang noticed, and said: "Ask what you want to ask."

"But…" Mo Hua hesitated, "Won't it disturb your rest?"

Mr. Zhuang stretched out lazily on the bamboo chair: "I'm already resting. A few words won't hurt."

Mo Hua smiled and said: "Mr., is the Reverse Spirit Array truly only used for dismantling arrays?"

Mr. Zhuang's half-closed eyes flickered open in surprise: "Why ask that?"

"If it's only for dismantling arrays, it wouldn't be this hard…"

Mo Hua carefully said: "The Reverse Spirit Array can dismantle arrays, but it's a Grade One, Ten-Line formation—most Qi Condensation cultivators can't learn it. If they can't learn it, they can't use it to dismantle arrays."

"And there are many ways to dismantle arrays; you don't necessarily need the Reverse Spirit Array. So this formation is hard yet useless—somewhat redundant."

"A redundant formation—even if it's a celestial anomaly—wouldn't be treasured by noble families or great clans."

"If noble families and great clans value it so highly, doesn't that suggest this formation has other important uses beyond dismantling arrays?"

Mr. Zhuang's eyelid twitched, then he shook his head and chuckled:

"You child, your mind has seven openings—where did you get so many tricks?"

Mo Hua smiled shyly.

Mr. Zhuang said: "One thing you got wrong: dismantling arrays with the Reverse Spirit Array isn't hard and useless—it's profoundly useful."

"When dismantling arrays with formation lines, you might need to unravel hundreds—or even thousands—of lines. But with the Reverse Spirit Array, you target the core directly, needing only to dismantle a few key Spirit Gathering lines."

"As long as you find the array's core, using the Reverse Spirit Array to dismantle it speeds up the process by several times—even dozens of times."

Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.

That would also save several times—or even dozens of times—the spirit ink.

Mo Hua had always lacked sufficient spirit ink; saving so much was truly vital.

"Another thing you got right."

Mr. Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and nodded approvingly: "The Reverse Spirit Array isn't just for dismantling arrays—its most important use is to cause arrays to collapse."

"Collapse?" Mo Hua's expression startled, "You mean the array breaks down or goes out of control?"

"It collapses—but not uncontrollably. More like the formation master's will directing the array's collapse."

"Control the array's collapse?" Mo Hua scratched his head, puzzled. "What's the point?"

Mr. Zhuang fell silent for a long time, his expression shifting several times, before finally sighing and speaking:

"An array follows the Dao of Heaven, embodying the ultimate principles of heaven and earth and the fundamental mechanics of Qi flow."

"When an array disintegrates, the Qi within its framework reverses chaotically along the array runes, clashing and constantly arising and perishing, generating an immensely powerful Qi fluctuation with extreme and unimaginable potency."

"If the array's rank is high enough, its collapse force can be described as annihilating heaven and earth!"

Mr. Zhuang's tone was more solemn than ever before.

Mo Hua was profoundly shaken, yet also deeply intrigued.

"So if I learn the Reverse Qi Array, can I also collapse arrays?"

Mr. Zhuang gave a half-smile. "When you learn the Reverse Qi Array, you'll be close to Foundation Establishment. A Rank One Reverse Qi Array can generate power that transcends rank, but it's still roughly the strength of a Foundation Establishment technique—why bother with such effort?"

"Huh?" Mo Hua froze. "What about a Rank Two Reverse Qi Array?"

"That's only possible once you become a late-stage Rank Two Array Master."

A Rank Two Array Master… and late-stage at that…

When in the world would that ever happen?

Mo Hua sighed. "So the Reverse Qi Array is kind of useless."

A Rank One Reverse Qi Array can't be learned by Rank One Array Masters, and Rank Two Array Masters don't need it.

"It's not that the array is useless—it's that Array Masters have limited ability, unable to comprehend the array and thus unable to unleash its power."

Mr. Zhuang said coolly, "Moreover, collapsing an array isn't easy—even an ordinary Rank Two Array Master lacks the ability to collapse a Rank One array."

"Or rather, in this world, there are truly few Array Masters who can fully master the Reverse Qi Array and use it to collapse arrays."

Mo Hua frowned. "Does using the Reverse Qi Array involve other subtleties?"

Mr. Zhuang was about to say more, but suddenly looked exhausted, yawning:

"If you ever truly learn the Reverse Qi Array, I'll teach you then—there's still plenty of time."

Thank you to An Ye Xing Chen and Tang Long for the tips!