Chapter 399

Qianjia Town, Dongshan Village.

After Su Zimo left, not long after, a group of uninvited guests arrived outside the village.

They stood on the hill, gazed distantly at Dongshan Village, then pulled out a golden compass, as if searching for something.

The compass needle wobbled erratically, pointing nowhere clear.

They frowned, found nothing, and finally slipped away quietly.

These cultivators came quickly and left quickly, without disturbing the local cultivators.

The spirit farmers of Dongshan Village knew nothing of outsiders having surveilled them.

They still cared for their spirit fields, for their harvests, for their livelihoods, and sought ways to resist the Sun Clan.

Several days later, three more cultivators arrived.

A withered old man, a middle-aged cultivator holding a paper fan with a refined appearance, and a pale-clad youth with clear, bright features.

The withered old man took out a copper coin, tossed it into the air, and caught it in his palm.

Seeing the divination result, he murmured something under his breath, then sighed after a long while:

"It seems to be right here, but I can't pin it down…"

The middle-aged cultivator said: "Grand Elder, you've determined that man is within this state's borders; finding him is merely a matter of time."

The withered old man snorted. "What are you thinking?"

The middle-aged cultivator froze.

The old man sighed: "Great sound is silent; great form has no shape."

"At his realm, even if he's in the same state, even if he's in the same small immortal city, if he conceals his traces, you won't find him."

"Silent cannot be heard; formless cannot be seen; without Dao, cannot be known."

"He has masked his qi signature—we're powerless."

"Heavenly destiny calculations—how could such cultivators as us possibly comprehend them?"

The middle-aged cultivator frowned:

"Aren't you holding the Three Talents Yi Number copper coins you gave us?"

The old man weighed the copper coins in his hand and sighed:

"These Three Talents Yi Number copper coins are fine tools—but it depends on who uses them, and who they're used to calculate."

"My cultivation isn't sufficient; using them to calculate others is acceptable, but using them to calculate him? That's like showing off swordplay before a master."

The middle-aged cultivator was puzzled: "But wasn't it said his mental sea shattered, his dantian destroyed, his blood and qi vanished? How is he still so troublesome?"

The withered old man glanced at him: "Because he's an array master—still, one with near-demonic talent, whose array arts border on Dao."

The middle-aged cultivator's eyes filled with deep wariness, then he sighed:

"Then why did he fall to this state?"

"Don't ask. Better yet, don't even wonder—this isn't something you or I have the standing to inquire about."

The withered old man said coolly: "We only need to fulfill the tasks given to us."

The middle-aged cultivator sneered: "If that's true, and we can't track his whereabouts, won't we spend our whole lives unable to find him?"

"Even lions sleep sometimes."

"Besides, we're not the only ones chasing him."

"We can't find him—but we must ensure no one else does."

After speaking, the old man turned back and warned the pale-clad youth:

"Little Master, I never wanted to bring you out—but your father insisted you needed training, and you wanted to see the world, so I reluctantly agreed."

"But unless absolutely necessary, never strike."

"Be even more cautious—even with your Life-Long Talisman planted, don't grow careless."

"This is too complex, too many factions involved—I may not even be able to protect you…"

The withered old man made the situation sound dire.

He did so to ensure the young master stayed humble, didn't act clever, and didn't do anything reckless.

Otherwise, he might truly fail to save him.

Then he felt regret.

Why had he gotten stuck with this mess?

This young master was twenty-three, at the early Foundation Establishment realm, and already a second-rank array master—his future was limitless.

Why wasn't he kept safely at home, pampered like a treasure? Why send him out to train?

The Dao is perilous—is it that easy to train in?

Poor wandering cultivators, fine—they must leave, endure hardship, or starve later.

But you, a scion of a noble house, have no worries over food, no worries over cultivation—why not stay safely in your wealth and comfort?

Why come wading into this muddy water?

And even he himself didn't know how deep this water truly was.

If something major happened, even the Life-Long Talisman might not save his life.

Thinking of this, the withered old man wanted to slap himself.

It was his own stupid mouth.

He'd been plied with several jars of fine wine by the boy's father, got drunk, and carelessly agreed to this.

As soon as he sobered up, he regretted it.

But regret came too late…

The pale-clad youth, unaware of the stakes, solemnly replied:

"You may rest assured, young master remembers."

The withered old man looked at the pale-faced youth and could not bring himself to say more; he sighed instead.

Yet the white-robed youth's gaze revealed a flicker of determination.

He came this time partly to undergo trials, to see what the cultivation world beyond the great families was truly like.

Another reason was to meet the legendary Mr. Zhuang.

In his family, he was universally recognized as a prodigy of formation art.

Though young, he had already become a Second-Rank Formation Master.

He had once been proud, thinking formation art was nothing special—that even those stronger than him were not much better.

Some high-rank formation masters were merely older and had drawn more formations than he had.

Given time, he would surely far surpass them.

Until, by accident, he saw Mr. Zhuang's early formation sketches and learned of his deeds, at last realizing his own insignificance and ignorance.

Beyond the sky lies greater sky; beyond the man lies greater man.

In this world existed profound formation arts he had never studied, and masterful formation masters he had never seen.

The Dao of formation art is vast and profound.

What he had learned before was but a fraction of an iceberg.

Beneath the iceberg lay the essence of formation art—and the great Dao it contained.

The white-robed youth now devoted himself even more deeply to formation art, and at his young age had already become a Second-Rank Formation Master.

He was also the youngest Second-Rank Formation Master in his family's eight-hundred-year history.

He felt gratitude toward Mr. Zhuang, admiration, and growing curiosity.

He wanted to know what kind of person Mr. Zhuang truly was.

Was he, as rumors claimed, a peerless genius, arrogant and unmatched, looking down upon all beings?

He wondered whether he could even speak to Mr. Zhuang…

The youth thought silently to himself.

The withered old man tossed the copper coins again several times.

Still, he could not discern anything.

He could only roughly tell that the man had been here.

Why he came, what he did, when he left—all remained utterly unclear.

With no clues left in this place, the three prepared to leave.

Suddenly, the white-robed youth exclaimed, "Huh?"

The middle-aged cultivator asked:

"What is it?"

The white-robed youth pointed to the distant spirit fields: "There is a formation there."

The middle-aged cultivator frowned. "Those are spirit fields—they naturally contain formations…"

The white-robed youth shook his head. "Not the same."

The middle-aged cultivator paused, released his spiritual sense, sensed for a moment, then slowly furrowed his brow.

Indeed, something was different…

It was merely a First-Rank spirit field—why did it radiate such intense vitality?

This did not seem achievable by a First-Rank formation…

The withered old man also noticed the anomaly, but since he was not skilled in formation art, he asked:

"What have you found?"

This young master had exceptional formation talent, and Mr. Zhuang was a formation master—perhaps he had truly uncovered something significant.

The white-robed youth frowned and shook his head:

"I only know this formation in the spirit field is unusual, but how exactly—it's not clear yet. I need time to study it."

The middle-aged cultivator asked the old man: "Do we have time?"

The old man said: "Whether we have time or not is none of our concern—it depends on the man's mood. If he grants us time, we have time; if he refuses, we have none."

The old man pondered a moment, then added:

"If you wish to study, then study. A few days won't matter."

The white-robed youth's face lit up. "Thank you, Elder."

In the following days, the three remained in Qian Family Town.

The white-robed youth often visited the spirit fields, wanting to know what formation had been drawn there.

But days passed, and he made no progress.

The field clearly contained only simple formations like the Soil-Nourishing Formation, yet the entire spirit field radiated a completely different vitality.

The youth could not fathom it.

Until one day, he climbed a mountain and gazed far across the entire spirit field—then suddenly realized, his mind clearing.

The entire spirit field was, in fact, one single formation!

The white-robed youth told the old man and the middle-aged cultivator.

Both were equally astonished.

The withered old man nodded and said:

"Yes—this kind of unbelievable formation is truly the work of that man."

The middle-aged cultivator asked the youth: "Do you know what formation this is?"

The boy shook his head.

"Isn't this a Rank-One array?" asked the middle-aged cultivator.

"It is Rank-One."

The middle-aged cultivator was surprised. "You're a Rank-Two array master—could there still be a Rank-One array you don't know?"

The boy mumbled, "This should be a Rank-One Absolute Array."

"Absolute Array?" The middle-aged cultivator was completely lost. "Even if it's an Absolute Array, isn't it still just Rank-One?"

The white-robed boy shook his head. "It's different."

But he gave no further explanation.

To a cultivator who wasn't an array master, explaining such obscure array concepts was impossible.

"What do we do now?" asked the middle-aged cultivator again.

The emaciated elder said, "This array proves the man truly came here. We just need to keep searching."

Then he muttered to himself:

"Chased by so many, yet still has the leisure to draw arrays? The ways of a master are truly unfathomable…"

The middle-aged cultivator was disappointed. "After all this searching, it's no different from searching for nothing? What does one array prove?"

The middle-aged cultivator brushed his sleeve and left.

The elder said to the white-robed boy:

"He's impatient—don't mind him. Finding an Absolute Array is already a great gain, and this may well be the man's own handiwork—that's no small thing…"

"Carefully memorize the array patterns—don't make a mistake—then we'll set out again."

"Mm." The white-robed boy nodded.

Afterwards, he spent a full day memorizing the array patterns of the spirit field, then, out of curiosity, tried to learn them himself.

But he found he couldn't master them at all—not in the short term.

"This must be Mr. Zhuang's work…"

The white-robed boy sighed and set the matter aside for now.

The next day, the three set out, leaving Qianjia Town, following the direction indicated by the Three-Coin Divination Coins.

The Three-Coin Divination Coins weren't always accurate, but they were their only lead.

…

After the three left, some time passed, and on the mountain path of Qianjia Town, another strange figure appeared.

He wore a wide-brimmed hat, concealing his face.

Not a trace of aura emanated from him.

His footsteps were uneven—deep then shallow—as if he were a man unaccustomed to stilts.

Passersby saw him, yet acted as if they didn't see him—as if he simply didn't exist.

The man walked along the mountain path, through Qianjia Town, through Dongshan Village, until he reached the spirit field. There, he removed his hat and shed his straw cloak.

He revealed the attire of a Daoist.

At the same time, a strange aura emanated from him.

A bit tired, wanted to take a day off—but seeing everyone cast monthly votes, it felt rude to ask…

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