Chapter 314

The days that followed were as calm as still water; through relentless day-and-night effort, Mo Hua's ability to extrapolate with his spiritual sense grew daily.

Until one day, he suddenly thought of a question:

"Could I try to cause a formation to collapse?"

Although Mr. Zhuang said he taught Mo Hua spiritual extrapolation not to collapse formations, since he had learned extrapolation, he ought to give it a try.

Mo Hua wanted to see what formation collapse looked like.

Just how powerful could this collapse force be, even Mr. Zhuang found it unimaginable?

The principle of formation collapse isn't difficult; the difficulty lies in mastering the Reverse Spirit Formation and spiritual extrapolation.

Mo Hua had already learned the Reverse Spirit Formation; his spiritual extrapolation wasn't yet refined, but after so many days of practice, he had become quite proficient and now possessed the basic foundation to collapse formations.

Still uneasy, Mo Hua sought out Mr. Zhuang and subtly asked about the precautions of formation collapse.

Mr. Zhuang saw right through what Mo Hua was scheming in that small head of his, but he didn't care.

Nothing was left behind.

"'One thought completes it' means all the formation's spirit lines and the shattered formation pivots must be drawn with a single, uninterrupted spiritual intent—otherwise, the formation will activate."

Mo Hua had spent time extrapolating the trajectory of the single formations within the Earth-Fire Formation, then, based on those trajectories, drew the Reverse Spirit Formation sequentially beneath each pivot.

"Does drawing a formation require 'one thought completes it'? Does spiritual extrapolation require it too?"

Moreover, formation collapse isn't easy to master.

The Earth-Fire Formation before him, if its explosive scale were a watermelon, then its collapse range could only be a hawthorn berry.

Even if it injured someone, a broken arm or leg meant little.

Mo Hua wasn't certain, so he tried again.

Mo Hua cast a fireball spell, precisely shattering the spirit stone to release spirit energy, which flowed into the Earth-Fire Formation.

"One can't be too greedy—learning extrapolation is enough; collapse can wait."

Mo Hua thought for a moment and roughly understood.

All was ready, only the formation's activation remained.

"Formation collapse is built upon Mr. Zhuang's extrapolations."

Mo Hua's heart trembled.

Mo Hua froze.

But collapse… was this what it looked like?

Mo Hua stared at the Dao Stele, frowning deeply.

This formation, meant to trap enemies, requires binding them to the formation—otherwise, it cannot harm anyone.

Because formations manifest externally as objective single-formations, while Mr. Zhuang's extrapolated trajectories were merely his understanding of the formation.

Mo Hua sighed.

Jie Zhili pointed out:

If I learned formation collapse, I'd have at least one way to deal with them.

But now it seemed his thoughts had been too complicated.

Single-formations composing strong formations are at most simple compound formations.

Mo Hua memorized every word Jie Zhili said, then found a time to go outside Great Baishan and begin testing formation collapse.

The power capable of threatening a Foundation Establishment cultivator isn't so easily obtained…

"After activating the formation, the spirit flow follows the pivots, each sequentially reversed and undone by the Reverse Spirit Formation, triggering the entire formation's collapse and generating a near-Dao-origin destruction of spiritual sense…"

Was collapse happening?

With just one glance, Mo Hua frowned, his confusion deepening.

With his current spiritual sense, he could only collapse special Grade-One spirit flows.

A flash of light appeared on the formation, then vanished instantly.

It also meant that it wasn't merely spirit energy, nor even compound formations or large formations—given enough time, he could extrapolate them piece by piece.

That meant he could use the Dao Stele to truly, and with limits, extrapolate formations.

It was a single-formation form outside the usual cultivator spirit-flow framework.

Mr. Zhuang's extrapolation didn't require calculating everything at once.

Single-formations composing strong formations produce only ordinary power upon collapse, but their scale is too vast to pose significant threat.

Mo Hua didn't run far; he observed while releasing his spiritual sense, focusing intently on the changes of formation collapse.

Mo Hua had assumed Mr. Zhuang's extrapolation worked the same way, but now it seemed Mr. Zhuang's method didn't have that requirement.

"So… was this a success?"

The Great Boss and Eighth Boss of Shanzhai have still not been captured—if left unchecked, they will surely become a major threat in the future.

Mo Hua silently warned himself.

No wonder Jie Zhili had told him this safe collapse method without hesitation.

Mo Hua hid nearby, feeling only a brief flash of light from the formation, then nothing afterward.

The only problem was—the collapse range was too large…

The collapsed formation was still a Grade-One Earth-Fire Formation.

Curiosity isn't a bad thing.

Until the Zi hour two days ago, Mo Hua sank into his spiritual sea, practiced extrapolation on the Dao Stele for a while, and suddenly froze.

He had once heard these words, half-understanding; now, having witnessed it firsthand, he truly grasped the terror of this near-origin destruction of spiritual sense.

The formation collapsed—completely, utterly—nothing remained, not even the formation medium, reduced to dust.

Cultivators normally use spirit flows to activate Dao techniques, generating wondrous forces like the Seven Stars and Eight Oddities—this process is forward; this collapse of spiritual sense, however, is reverse.

Mo Hua thought he understood, yet dared not rashly proceed; he waited a while longer in place, seeing no movement, then extended his spiritual sense and sensed a faint trace of a single-array flow, before finally stepping down.

No explosion, no sound, no ripple of spiritual energy—as if someone had lit a dud firecracker…

It was not the annihilating spiritual sense evolution described by Jie Zhili as approaching the origin of the Minor Dao…

That process was terrifyingly extreme, yet utterly silent.

Although Mo Hua's spiritual sense had reached Foundation Establishment, he could only comprehend the simplest array formations, and could only begin from special Grade-One arrays.

My Dao Stele is used to trace back spiritual sense.

If one lacks curiosity for arrays, lacks the thirst for knowledge, on the long path of cultivation, one will easily grow numb from the tedium of arrays and lose the original aspiration to seek the Dao of arrays.

Or did I make a mistake in my calculations?

On the Dao Stele, there were two traces of single-array paths.

At this thought, Mo Hua froze completely.

Jie Zhili explained in great detail.

He had calculated it: the arrays existed, he simply could not yet perceive their essence.

I cannot yet form compound arrays, let alone cause major arrays to collapse—thus I do not yet possess the true ability to annihilate Foundation Establishment cultivators!

At the moment the array activates, spiritual energy ceases its flow; from the array's core, it connects to the array patterns—but when the single-array flow reaches the Anti-Spirit Array, it is disassembled.

Thus, even facing a Foundation Establishment cultivator, one would no longer be helpless.

"First calculate the single-array path, then place the Anti-Spirit Array at the array's core based on that path."

Or draw the array first, let Master Zhu calculate it, then draw the Anti-Spirit Array at the core, and finally activate the array.

If one can calculate compound arrays, or major arrays, it means…

The destructive power of a Grade-One single-array collapse is not insignificant, but neither is it overwhelming; if he triggered it himself, even if he mishandled it, his life would not be in danger.

Only the stone bearing the array had turned into a fine powder, which scattered at the slightest breeze.

Mo Hua sighed again.

This was unlike any single-array form he had ever seen before.

The array was gone!

Since that was the case, he no longer dwelled on it; he settled down to practice Master Zhu's calculations, using calculation to deepen his understanding of arrays.

The pale blue single-array was disassembled—not becoming finer, but transforming into an entirely different form of spiritual energy, faintly edged with white fragments, radiating an aura of annihilation, disintegrating everything it touched, then erasing it.

With Mo Hua's current spiritual sense, being able to calculate and collapse a Grade-One single-array was already impressive.

I had originally intended to do just that…

An array—you can calculate a little today, a little tomorrow; as long as, in the end, what forms in your spiritual sea is a fragmented single-array path diagram, it's enough.

After much exertion, Mo Hua finally prepared everything.

A question naturally arose in Mo Hua's mind:

In other words, a compound array—you can calculate its spiritual energy one unit at a time, then piece them together to form a fragmented compound array's single-array path.

Yes—it must be that even the sound had been disintegrated! That's why it was utterly silent…

He didn't know how powerful the array's collapse was, so for safety's sake, it was better to keep his distance.

Mo Hua placed the spirit stone on the array, then ran far away.

One was the path he had just calculated; the other was one he had calculated earlier but forgotten to erase.

…

And just as Jie Zhili said, "Special spiritual energy is not worth collapsing, because the single-array structure is too strong…"

And this time, he finally saw what had happened.

With his current spiritual sense, he could not calculate compound arrays.

Mo Hua felt disappointed—he had originally hoped that if the array's spiritual sense collapse was strong enough, he would have gained a more powerful trump card.

At this moment, both single-array paths coexisted beneath the Dao Stele.

When an array explodes, the single-array spreads outward; when an array collapses, the single-array converges inward.