Chapter 339: Balance

Mr. Zhu looked solemn and reverent and said:

"This array embodies true Daoist principles; beneath it, all beings are equal—any who violate its taboos, regardless of status or cultivation level, shall be eradicated without distinction."

"Thus, this array is also called: 'The Great Dao Array!'"

"The Great Dao Array…"

Mo Hua murmured, imprinting the name deeply in his mind, while a sense of anticipation stirred within him.

He hoped that one day, he too could draw an array of such cosmic magnitude.

Mo Hua could not help asking: "Then, Mr. Zhu, who drew this array? A celestial being?"

Mr. Zhu shook his head: "Since the founding of the Dao Court, this array has existed. No one knows its origin, no one knows who forged it. The one who drew it, even if not a celestial, was certainly a great cultivator who had entered the Immortal Path."

"Thus, people also call it the Primordial Array, meaning it existed before heaven and earth."

"The Dao Court uses this Great Dao Array to demarcate the ranks of provinces: the realm restriction imposed by a province's array determines its rank."

My spiritual sense strength, my spiritual sense control, my experience with arrays, my inexperience with arrays—I am already a peerless prodigy among First-Rank Array Masters.

"Once the high-level cultivators at the lower tiers are slaughtered en masse, and the next generation fails to rise, Feng Xi will surely flourish."

"The most critical point…" Tong Xiancheng looked solemn, fixing his gaze on Mo Hua and speaking urgently:

Tong Xiancheng gently patted Mo Hua's head again and said softly:

It's just a small array, not nearly this complex…

"A cultivator's Dao heart is never steadfast—it is restless, unstable, indulgent, like duckweed on turbulent waters, drifting without anchor. Even the most upright person will sometimes give rise to evil thoughts."

The Qi Condensation First-Rank Mo Hua wished to learn from him the Small Array.

The Small Array is the ultimate pursuit of array masters; every array master in this world desires to learn the Small Array.

Tong Xiancheng looked at Mo Hua and continued:

"Without the Great Dao Array's balance, low-level cultivators dare not act recklessly; only then do high-level cultivators have room to survive, allowing cultivators to thrive and Feng Xi to endure endlessly…"

Wei Aihui's expression flickered with a moment of reflection.

Mo Hua shook his head, "There isn't any."

"What causes the chaos?" Wei Aihui asked again.

Then he asked, puzzled:

"It's not just you—Feng Xi, whose cultivation is deeper and array mastery far greater than yours, sees nothing either."

Hearing this, Mo Hua felt a strange, inexplicable unease.

"You and I both believe the Great Dao Array exists—it's just that our spiritual senses are insufficient and our array mastery too shallow to perceive it."

"Indeed, there isn't any… no array lines, no array core, no knowledge of array medium, no array focal point—how can you call it an array at all?"

From the texts I learned from Zhang Lan, there are records of clans or sects using their protective Small Arrays to exterminate Wu Xiaoyao.

Mo Hua nodded, gradually understanding the meaning of Daoic balance.

"If there were no cultivation restrictions, low-level cultivators would slaughter high-level ones without restraint."

"After all, in this world, the greatest killers are always humans, not beasts."

Wei Aihui smiled faintly, "Why?"

Tong Xiancheng nodded:

Mo Hua shook his head, "I don't know, but I feel it exists."

"Constructing a Small Array requires immense material and human resources…"

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said carefully: "Would it be chaotic?"

"Yes," Tong Xiancheng nodded. "All things have pros and cons: with the Great Dao Array, low-level cultivators are restrained, but Dao Corruptions become unstoppable within a realm;"

Tong Xiancheng's gaze sharpened, and he spoke seven words in a low tone:

"After expending so much material and human effort, exhausting spirit stones, yet still failing to suppress Wei Aihui—what should the cultivators of Mr. Zhu's sect do? In such a situation, relocating the city is no longer possible—how would they survive?"

"There have been times when a Jin Dan slaughtered a city, a Liu Yuhua slaughtered a realm, and a Dong Xu slaughtered a province."

"Without Daoic balance, low-level cultivators can slaughter high-level ones with ease."

"You still don't understand," Wei Aihui shook his head, his expression turning stern and urgent:

"If you see nothing, if there is nothing, how can you call it an array?"

"Records in the world are not necessarily accurate; cultivation texts cannot be fully trusted," Wei Aihui explained.

"But if Dao Corruptions arise, won't cultivators within the same realm have no means of resistance?"

"Master, can you see it too?"

Mr. Zhu pointed to the sky and asked Mo Hua: "What do you see in this world?"

There is nothing there.

"An array master's intuition is an insight into the Dao—it is sometimes vital. I hope one day you truly see the array in this world…"

"Here, there are already material resources: the medium for constructing the array, the spirit ink for drawing the array, the spirit stones to activate it—all are enormous quantities."

Tong Xiancheng sighed deeply and said with profound meaning:

"These are the things you must ponder before deciding whether to learn the Small Array or to build one."

He had imagined such a day might come—but never thought it truly would…

"Moreover, the core of a Small Array is extremely difficult—its spiritual sense consumption is immense; even learning it is utterly impossible under such conditions."

"Is there no way to counter the cultivation world?"

"The Small Array is the simplest, the most difficult, and the most resource-intensive type of array—it is not something you can learn just because you want to, nor build just because you wish to."

"Qi Condensation cultivators would be utterly defenseless against the slaughter of Jin Dan, Liu Yuhua, or even Dong Xu cultivators."

Mr. Zhu sighed: "Few cultivators even know of the 'Great Dao Array.'"

"But aren't there records in cultivation texts?" Mo Hua asked.

"The array medium for a small array must be forged by an Artificer and constructed by a Craftsman; the array's pivot cannot be drawn by him before he learns it, but within the small array, thousands upon thousands of individual arrays cannot be drawn by him alone—he must have other Array Masters assist him."

Mo Hua seemed to grasp something, his expression steady as he said:

"You've thought too vaguely!" Mo Hua nodded.

Tong Xiancheng blinked in surprise, then patted Mo Hua's head and said firmly:

Mo Hua looked up, hopeful, at Wei Aihui: "Mr., can you learn the small array?"

But Mo Hua did not realize—he truly had no qualification to learn the small array.

Tong Xiancheng nodded and said:

With every word Tong Xiancheng spoke, Mo Hua's heart sank another notch; finally, his expression turned despondent, head drooping low.

Wei Aihui raised his head, gazing at the vast, empty sky, and said softly:

Mo Hua tilted his head upward, stared at the sky for a long time, his neck aching, before hesitating to say:

Wei Aihui looked at Mo Hua and laughed bitterly: "You're just like me—you see nothing at all..."

For instance, Wei Aihui is a seventh-rank state realm; if Foundation Establishment cultivators cause chaos, there will be Foundation Establishment cultivators to respond, and even if insufficient, Qi Condensation cultivators united can still resist them.

"But if there were no Heavenly Dao Great Array, though unable to subdue and slay the Dao Corruptions, yet allowing low-level cultivators to run rampant, wouldn't that breed boundless slaughter?"

Because the Dao Corruptions' blood qi is too faint, and they can only replenish it by killing—almost never "self-renewing."

He grew up under Master Zhuang, and could not bear to watch Master Zhuang's cultivators flee to the wilds, wandering in misery.

Mo Hua asked involuntarily: "Is it because there's no transmission, so they don't know?"

"Have you considered all these things?"

"Some dark sect titans act with even greater recklessness—perhaps to forge magical artifacts, they would assimilate all life in an entire state realm..."

Mo Hua seemed to grasp something, but for now, he still could not fully comprehend it.

Mo Hua nodded, then looked up at the sky again, feeling the heavens boundless, the cloud trails ethereal, as if concealing infinite, self-renewing mysteries.

But if there were no Heavenly Dao checks, and low-level cultivators were violated, they could never resist.

Tong Xiancheng looked at Mo Hua, his gaze filled with approval: "You've formed an idea, haven't you?"

"What about here?"

"Never underestimate human nature—humans are a race that kills for profit, for grudges, even merely for amusement."

"Even many Array Masters do not believe that this sky is, in truth, a great array."

Tong Xiancheng sighed and continued: "The decline of Fengxi lies in the low-level cultivators; its longevity lies in the base-level cultivators."

"Even if we poured all our strength into building the Great Array, what if it still cannot resist the cultivation world?"

"Then if the state realms have no fixed ranks, no limits on cultivation, and no Heavenly Dao Great Array to balance them—what would this cultivation world become?"

"That kind of world..."

Even serving as an assistant to the main Array Master of the Great Array, merely adding a few array lines, would still be a great honor.

"Heavenly Dao balance."

The greatest killers are always humans, not beast demons...

Master Zhuang shook his head: "Even with transmission records, they still do not believe."

"Choose the lesser of two evils: Dao Corruptions bring calamity, at most destroying one state realm; but cultivators' wanton slaughter would destroy all of Fengxi."

"Mr., that is definitely an array!"

"There are clouds..."

Mo Hua pondered long, then hardened his resolve, and finally asked the question he cared about most:

"Among a hundred low-level cultivators, even if only one harbors evil intent, it is a catastrophe for high-level cultivators."

"Mr., if the Heavenly Dao Great Array truly exists, what is its purpose? Or rather, what meaning does this Heavenly Dao law hold?"

"Because cultivators' power is unrestricted?"

"Yes." Mo Hua nodded. "After thinking and thinking, the only way to deal with Wei Aihui is the Great Array..."

Mo Hua blinked. "Why?"

Tong Xiancheng sighed. "You must think clearly."

He could not bear to watch Master Zhuang's world be destroyed by the cultivation world's calamity.

Mo Hua asked next:

"If this continues, Wei Aihui will be destroyed entirely by slaughter."

Mo Hua, touched by Tong Xiancheng's expectations, nodded seriously.

"Suppose the Heavenly Dao Great Array truly exists..."