Chapter 455: Manifest the Map

After Mo Hua left, the quiet room saw the Puppet Elder slowly materialize again.

He glanced at the calm expression of Mr. Zhuang and said displeased:

"Why are you teaching him all these devious things?"

Mr. Zhuang raised an eyebrow. "Devious is good. Better to be devious yourself than let the enemy be."

The Puppet Elder frowned, silently thinking:

"With how Mo Hua is learning, I'm starting to lose track of him…"

Supernatural perception beyond rank, divine thought as weapon, innate talent, manifesting arrays…

Just imagining it made it seem extraordinarily difficult.

I wonder if cultivating divine perception this way is good or bad…

The Puppet Elder suddenly remembered something, his heart tightened, and his tone turned solemn:

"Aren't you afraid he'll follow your elder brother's path and become the second Devious Daoist?"

Mr. Zhuang fell silent, his gaze dimming; after a long while, he slowly said:

"Who can say what the future holds?"

"Cultivators live long lives. Life is long."

"In this lifetime, he'll meet many people, face many events, and make many choices. Whether he can hold to his original heart and steadfastly uphold his Dao heart—that's up to him. I… can't stay with him that long…"

Mr. Zhuang's expression grew melancholy as he sighed:

"He's my little disciple."

"All I hope for is that he lives well, keeps cultivating, keeps learning arrays, stays true to his heart, and pursues the Heavenly Dao…"

"Just keep living…"

"Even if he becomes the second 'Devious Daoist,' it's better than becoming a 'Daoist' under the Devious Daoist's control."

Becoming the second Devious Daoist means he's still alive.

But if he becomes a 'Daoist,' he's been poisoned by the Devious Daoist—his divine perception extinguished, reduced to a puppet.

The Puppet Elder understood, and fell silent.

After a moment, he sighed and said nothing more, gradually fading from view.

…

Mo Hua returned to his room and began learning divine perception manifestation.

His room was small but fully furnished, refined and elegant, adjacent to his senior and junior siblings' chambers, and arranged identically.

Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the bed, carefully reading through the "Essentials of Divine Thought Manifestation" that Mr. Zhuang had given him, grasping its general meaning.

The key to manifestation is visualization.

First, through visualization, comprehend external objects; then, within the mind sea, manifest their form using divine thought.

Having mastered the basic method, Mo Hua began attempting manifestation.

He first tried manifesting others—and failed.

No matter who he tried—his parents, Mr. Zhuang, his senior brother, his junior sister, Elder Yu of Xiancheng, Brother Da Hu, Chen Dazhu—he couldn't manifest any of them.

So people won't work…

No, it's anyone except himself.

At least not yet.

If people won't work, what about beasts?

Mo Hua remembered the little cat demon he'd captured, and the great tiger it later became—but still couldn't manifest them.

Mo Hua thought of the Feng Xi… and decided against it.

If the little cat demon wouldn't work, a great demon was out of the question.

If beasts won't work, what about spirit beasts?

Mo Hua thought of Da Bai.

He tried—and Da Bai wouldn't manifest either.

Mo Hua sighed. At least living things were beyond his reach for now.

Then he could only try manifesting inanimate objects.

Mo Hua attempted to manifest the stool, table, screen, array brush, array paper, teacup, and other items in his room.

But none worked.

Probably because he wasn't familiar enough with them.

Mo Hua thought a moment, then tried manifesting the Thousand-Pound Staff.

He knew the Thousand-Pound Staff well—he'd watched Master Chen forge it, had drawn all its arrays himself, and had used it to bash many unsuspecting targets.

Mo Hua took out the Thousand-Pound Staff, stared intently, and memorized its shape, structure, and arrays in his mind.

Then he closed his eyes, sank into his mind sea, and attempted to manifest the Thousand-Pound Staff.

After a moment, a phantom staff appeared in Mo Hua's hand.

Mo Hua was overjoyed.

Though only a phantom, it was a clear improvement.

Now, within his mind sea, he could also deliver surprise strikes.

Mo Hua swung it several times, testing "Sweeping a Thousand Armies" and "Weight of a Yang Yang Qianjun"—and found he wielded them even more naturally than outside.

After practicing for a long while, Mo Hua reluctantly dismissed the "Thousand-Pound Staff."

All day, he'd tried nearly everything, confirming that among external objects and people, he could only preliminarily manifest the rudimentary form of the "Thousand-Pound Staff."

Next, he would attempt his own spiritual energy, spells, and arrays.

Mo Hua first attempted to manifest his spiritual power.

He visualized his own body, simulating the flow of his meridians, and soon felt a mysterious energy stirring within him.

Mo Hua's spirit lifted; he focused intently and further visualized the manifestation.

Several hours later, the Mo Hua within his mental sea opened his eyes and discovered faint spiritual power coiling around his body.

These were not, in fact, spiritual power.

They were manifestations of his spiritual awareness.

On the surface, they appeared as spiritual power, but in essence, they were still spiritual awareness.

Though they were spiritual awareness, their effect was nearly identical to spiritual power.

Neither real nor false, neither solid nor illusory.

It bore the flavor of: seeing a mountain as a mountain, seeing a mountain not as a mountain, yet the mountain still being a mountain.

Spiritual power is the foundation of spells.

After manifesting spiritual power, Mo Hua began attempting to simulate spells using it.

Within Mo Hua's spiritual awareness phantom, he could see through his skin: pale blue spiritual power flowing along his meridians, from his dantian and arms, gathering at his fingertips, then forming a spell.

But the fireball spell he formed flickered a few times and then extinguished.

The first attempt failed.

Yet Mo Hua was not discouraged.

He tried several more times, each attempt slightly better than the last.

After practicing countless times, Mo Hua realized his spiritual awareness was exhausted.

Spiritual awareness manifested spiritual power; without spiritual awareness, there was no spiritual power, and thus no spell could be cast.

Mo Hua sat in meditation to restore his spiritual awareness, then continued practicing.

After two days of such relentless, sleepless practice, Mo Hua finally succeeded in casting his first fireball spell.

Its power was slight—just an ordinary fireball spell.

But its significance was different.

He could now, at last, use spells within his mental sea!

With this, he had a basic offensive means should any sinister thought invade his mental sea.

Mo Hua's spirit lifted.

Afterwards, he practiced Water Prison Spell, Flowing Water Step, and Concealment Technique.

Flowing Water Step was effective.

But Concealment Technique was uncertain—after all, within his mental sea, he could not tell whether he had become invisible; he would have to try again later.

After manifesting these spells, Mo Hua felt greatly reassured.

Now, if danger arose, he had means of attack.

Next came the manifestation of arrays.

Mo Hua began with the simpler Seven-Wave Earthfire Array.

He first expended his spiritual awareness to manifest spiritual power, then controlled the spiritual power, painstakingly tracing the Earthfire Array's patterns.

Pale blue spiritual power flowed autonomously, winding and twisting across the ground of his mental sea, forming the array.

But after drawing only three array lines, he made a mistake.

Mo Hua's spiritual awareness faltered; he lost control of the spiritual power's trajectory, and the array collapsed.

"Controlling spiritual power purely through spiritual awareness does indeed seem difficult…"

Mo Hua muttered, frowning.

He knew how to draw the array, but his spiritual awareness simply could not control the spiritual power—he could not make it flow and coalesce into the array as he wished.

Mo Hua tried several more times, with minimal progress.

Moreover, drawing arrays this way was extremely slow.

Mo Hua frowned.

This wasn't what Mr. Zhuang said…

Had he missed something?

Mo Hua reconnected the key points from beginning to end, reviewing them once more.

Tian Yan Jue, Ling Shu Array, spiritual awareness computation…

Could it be the Ling Shu Array?

Mo Hua recalled Mr. Zhuang's words:

"The Ling Shu Array's core is control, but control is merely surface; discerning the structure of spiritual power is the Ling Shu Array's essence."

Controlling corpses or objects may be merely superficial applications.

Its essence lies in perceiving the structure of spiritual power.

Mo Hua no longer tried to control spiritual power with spiritual awareness to draw the array.

Instead, he calmed his mind and contemplated the Ling Shu Array, using his spiritual awareness to penetrate the essence of spiritual power.

After a cup of tea, Mo Hua's spirit trembled, and his understanding cleared.

He realized his spiritual power had changed.

The spiritual power manifested by his spiritual awareness became finer, as delicate as silk threads.

These spiritual threads were the finer components beneath the structure of spiritual power.

Moreover, these spiritual filaments seemed to resonate and merge with his spiritual awareness.

Mind moves as intention moves; spiritual power moves as awareness moves—like commanding arm and limb, perfectly natural.

Controlling the spirit threads with spiritual awareness was as natural as breathing.

Mo Hua was stunned.

Only then did he realize how exquisitely subtle the spiritual principles within the Spirit Pivot Array truly were.

He had learned and applied the Spirit Pivot Array before, but had never deeply comprehended its mysteries.

No wonder it's the White Hidden Sect…

No, perhaps it was the secret transmission of the ancient Great White Hidden Sect…

Using such an array to control corpses is truly a waste of heaven's gifts.

Mo Hua felt a pang of regret.

He then tried again—using spiritual awareness to control spiritual energy, transforming that energy into spirit threads, and drawing arrays with those threads.

This time, the flow of spiritual energy became far more agile, precise, and swift.

The moment Mo Hua willed it, within just a few breaths, spirit threads coalesced on the ground to form a Seven-Stripe Ground Fire Array!

No brush, no ink—merely a thought, and the array patterns spontaneously formed.

Fast and convenient.

Thus, within his spiritual sea, there appeared to be no arrays at all—but the instant he willed it, every point could become an array!

Mo Hua was speechless with shock.

This was simply too powerful.

Though it was only a Seven-Stripe array, the speed of its formation was truly unbelievable.

Immediately, Mo Hua felt a pang of regret.

This technique could only be used within his own spiritual sea—it couldn't be applied outside.

"I wonder if one day I'll be able to form arrays instantly with sheer spiritual power, even beyond my spiritual sea…"

Mo Hua couldn't help but dream of it.

Of course, for now, it was only a dream…

Now that he had mastered the methods of spell manifestation and array manifestation, all he needed was constant practice and refinement.

The Fireball Spell's power was still insufficient—he needed more practice.

As for arrays, while he could draw Seven-Stripe ones quickly, Eight- and Nine-Stripe arrays would be much slower.

Mo Hua needed to find some Rank-One Nine-Stripe arrays to practice within his spiritual sea.

Obsessed day and night, he trained for one or two weeks, and his spiritual awareness for combat finally achieved minor mastery.

Next came a small test of his abilities.

Mo Hua took out Zhang Quan's ancestral portrait.

For safety, he summoned Bai Zixi and Bai Zi Xi to guard him.

"Big Brother, Big Sister, you must not look at this painting!"

"No matter what sounds you hear, don't believe them!"

Mo Hua warned them first, then continued:

"I'll sneak a glance, then close the painting immediately…"

"If everything proceeds normally, you need do nothing."

"If I stare at the painting and don't close it, you must close it for me, throw it on the ground, and kick it hard several times."

"If my nature changes drastically while I'm looking at it, knock me unconscious and go fetch Master."

"If the painting mutates or something tries to escape, burn it immediately—and scatter the ashes!"

…

Mo Hua had considered every possible scenario and arranged everything clearly.

Bai Zixi and Bai Zi Xi were confused, but nodded anyway.

After thorough preparations, Mo Hua unrolled the Zhang family's ancestral portrait.

As the painting unfurled, Mo Hua's gaze flickered over it like a dragonfly touching water.

With just that one glance, he saw the entire image.

It was a group portrait depicting the ancestral master teaching.

A lofty pavilion stood solemn, incense smoke curling gently.

At the center sat an elderly man with white hair and beard, of high virtue and great prestige, delivering a lecture.

Below him, rows upon rows of disciples sat in order.

These disciples, arranged by seniority, sat from highest to lowest.

All wore white robes, sitting with dignified and reverent postures.

It was clearly a solemn and majestic portrait of the ancestral master teaching.

But with that same single glance, the scene within the painting abruptly changed.

The figures in the painting seemed to stir faintly to life.

Mo Hua heard again the old man's seductive voice:

"You are gifted…"

"Your constitution is extraordinary…"

"Join my sect… I shall help you attain the Dao…"

"Join my sect… I shall help you become an immortal…"

"Join my sect…"

…

At the same time, the old man's disciples suddenly turned their heads, all at once, toward Mo Hua.

Their faces revealed a zombie-like pallor.

Mo Hua was slightly startled.

Is this Zhang family ancestor teaching the Dao to zombies?

Or have all members of the Zhang family become zombies?

Before he could make sense of it, the zombie disciple seated farthest from the Zhang family ancestor, at the very end of the row, suddenly twisted his face into a snarl, leapt from his seat, and lunged straight for Mo Hua's crown, diving into Mo Hua's consciousness.

Mo Hua's gaze flickered with a moment of vacancy, then instantly brightened again.

As the other zombies, one after another, twisted their faces in snarls, trying to invade his consciousness,

Mo Hua moved swiftly, snapping the painting shut.

He trapped the group of zombies inside the painting.

He also trapped one zombie within his own consciousness.

(End of Chapter)