Chapter 596: Fourteen Marks

Master Xun was stunned.

At the very beginning of Foundation Establishment, he has a mental awareness of the Fourteen Mark realm?

What kind of little monster is this?

No wonder he dares to claim he's "skilled in arrays"—he truly has the grounds to say so…

"But this… it's impossible…"

Master Xun frowned.

A cultivator's mental awareness has its limits.

Blood qi can be cultivated, spiritual energy can be cultivated, but mental awareness has no dedicated cultivation technique.

Visualization diagrams can enhance mental awareness, but visualization diagrams are not considered stable or reliable cultivation methods.

The act of "visualization" is essentially "borrowing"—it is "borrowing," not "cultivating."

The mental awareness gained through visualization, you may not even know what its true composition is.

Moreover, it's hard to call it truly yours.

Thus, among cultivators in this world, blood qi and spiritual energy might occasionally exceed the limits of their realm.

But mental awareness is always strictly within its boundaries.

Mental awareness exceeding one's realm is not unheard of…

Historical records of the Dao Court's twenty-thousand-year history, and even legends predating the Dao Court, have documented cultivators with "mental awareness exceeding their realm."

But these cultivators were either mere legends, their truth impossible to verify.

Or they were vessels possessed by certain "Dao essences," "true gods," "demon gods," or even "heavenly demons"—though their mental power was immense, their own will was either dull, malevolent, or deranged, and thus could not be counted as true "human beings."

But Mo Hua is different.

Master Xun looked at Mo Hua.

This child is clever and alert, his eyes bright, his speech and mannerisms innocent and lively—a perfectly normal young cultivator…

There were no traces of possession by demonic or malevolent forces.

Under these circumstances, how could his mental awareness exceed his realm?

Master Xun pondered for a moment, then asked:

"Do you… have a master?"

Mo Hua nodded.

He did not conceal it, but neither did he reveal everything fully—only said:

"My master lives in seclusion among the mountains and forests, fond of quietude, extremely skilled in arrays, but he forbids me from revealing his name to outsiders…"

Master Xun nodded, not pressing further.

It was common for reclusive masters to take disciples and avoid revealing their identities.

Yet he remained curious: "Who exactly could have trained such a disciple as Mo Hua…"

Mental awareness beyond ordinary, even exceeding the realm.

Exceptional comprehension, arrays—especially Five Element arrays—with an exceptionally solid foundation and profound depth…

His temperament is also excellent.

Not only innocent and charming, kind-hearted, but more remarkably, he genuinely loves arrays and wholeheartedly pursues the Dao, free of distractions.

At his age, to be able to settle his mind, remain patient, neither arrogant nor impatient, and perfect arrays to such a solid level—truly rare…

"Who could possibly have taught him…"

Master Xun glanced at Mo Hua's eyes, then suddenly changed expression, his heart chilling.

"Could it be… that person's disciple?"

He studied Mo Hua's eyes again, recalling the appearance of that person from long ago, his heart trembling slightly.

Externally and in aura, they were different.

That person back then carried supreme arrogance, his gaze filled with defiance.

But Mo Hua was as innocent as water, gentle and kind, his eyes pure and clear.

Yet their spiritual essence shared a faint similarity.

Especially when observed closely, Mo Hua's clear eyes occasionally revealed depth—within that depth glowed a subtle radiance, as if celestial secrets flowed within.

This was very much like that person back then…

"But still, it doesn't add up…"

Master Xun was puzzled again.

If he were that person's disciple, shouldn't he have gone to Qiandao Sect? Why did he end up in my Grand Void Gate?

Qiandao Sect is the sect with the deepest ancestral ties to their lineage.

It's inconceivable that Qiandao Sect would have forgotten its origins to the point of abandoning such ancient roots…

Master Xun shook his head.

"Could he be that person's disciple…?"

He glanced at Mo Hua again, and suddenly his heart leapt.

There was something else in Mo Hua's eyes…

Not just glowing radiance—but also a faint, pure, jet-black sinister hue, hidden deep within the depths, invisible at first glance…

"What is this?!"

Master Xun drew in a sharp breath, then shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, this is even more impossible…"

"Such an absurd thing… cannot be…"

Even if this child Mo Hua has a master, a lineage, and has benefited from that person's fortune…

But for those two master-brothers to have taught him even one thing would be a tremendous karmic bond.

For both to teach him—this is absolutely impossible.

Even if the sun rose in the west, this could never happen!

Mr. Guan Chenji was startled again.

This cannot be… so conversely, this child may have no connection to either of them…

"Probably just my imagination…"

Mr. Guan Chenji looked again at Mo Hua; in Mo Hua's eyes, the oddness had vanished, replaced only by water-clear clarity.

"It must be some other fortune…"

Mr. Guan Chenji nodded slightly.

This child likely merely has extraordinary spiritual awareness talent, and by chance encountered a high-level master who guided him—hence his exceptional progress in array formation.

Moreover, if he were a disciple of either of those two,

he would not be so lopsided.

He would not excel only in the Five Elements arrays.

His foundation in the Eight Gates arrays would not be so weak.

And he does not seem to know the Immortal Heaven Array Stream either…

"That settles it—I've been overthinking."

Mr. Guan Chenji's heart eased; he looked at Mo Hua, his gaze turning warm with approval.

"A fine seedling…"

Mr. Guan Chenji pondered again seriously:

"Such astonishing spiritual awareness talent…"

"If this child enters Grand Void Gate and in the future does good, bringing blessings to the Nine Provinces' cultivators, it will be a blessing to all under heaven—but if his nature turns askew and he uses array power to ravage the Nine Provinces, that will be Grand Void Gate's fault…"

"Therefore, we must teach him well—not only arrays, but also his nature…"

"If his nature harbors evil, we must earnestly guide him toward goodness;"

"if his nature is good, we must honor his true heart and nurture his virtue."

"With such talent, if taught well, Grand Void Gate may truly have found a treasure…"

"This generation's sect leader has done something good after all…"

…

In a short time, Mr. Guan Chenji's expression shifted—now nodding, now shaking his head, his thoughts turning endlessly, his emotions rising and falling.

Mo Hua, watched by Mr. Guan Chenji for so long, felt confused and strangely guilty; he whispered quietly:

"Mr. Guan Chenji…"

Mr. Guan Chenji blinked, snapping back to reality, remembering Mo Hua's earlier request to learn the Fourteen Pattern Array; his expression turned serious, solemn:

"Agreed."

After making the promise, Mr. Guan Chenji paused, then added: "But I must consider what array to teach him…"

Mo Hua's heart leapt with joy; he smiled:

"Thank you, Mr. Guan Chenji!"

Mr. Guan Chenji nodded, his gaze gentle, then dismissed Mo Hua to return.

He himself walked along the jade-paved path toward the back mountain, pondering as he went; disciples greeted him along the way, but he did not notice.

Only when he reached the back mountain, passing the sect leader's residence, did he encounter the Grand Void Sect Leader, dressed in brocade robes.

The Grand Void Sect Leader first bowed respectfully:

"Greetings, Old Master."

But Mr. Guan Chenji did not hear him; only after passing by and walking several steps did he suddenly recall something, turn back, glance at the Grand Void Sect Leader, and nod:

"You've done well."

Then Mr. Guan Chenji walked on.

The Grand Void Sect Leader, unexpectedly praised by Mr. Guan Chenji, was both flattered and bewildered.

"Done well…"

"What did I do?"

…

Back at the Elder's residence, Mr. Guan Chenji still frowned in thought.

We must teach him well.

Since this child has delved so deeply into the Five Elements arrays, he must not neglect the Eight Trigrams arrays either…

Other array systems are obscure and narrow in application; they can wait for now.

Master the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams first—build a solid foundation as firm as Taishan—then explore other array types later, and it won't be too late.

But as Mr. Guan Chenji pondered further, he suddenly realized a more critical issue:

"The Qianxue Province border is not peaceful…"

Mr. Guan Chenji's gaze darkened slightly.

In recent years, noble families have flourished, sects have clung to them, and disciples of different factions compete fiercely for fame and gain, their conflicts sharpening.

The Mo Sect, long dormant, now stirs with hidden currents, its intentions unknown.

The situation is complex, danger lurking, hearts treacherous.

Qianxue Province, a land of learning, is not as tranquil as it appears on the surface.

Mo Hua is a lone cultivator, with no background, no power base…

We must find a way to protect him.

Help him hold firm to his quest for the Dao, devote himself to cultivation, learn arrays in peace, avoid being corrupted, and not stray onto the wrong path…

And above all, he must not be bullied!

Mr. Xun's expression turned grave.

A child as innocent and pure as Mo Hua is indeed easy to bully…

"But what solution is there…?"

Mr. Xun fell into deep thought.

For a moment, he could not think of any reliable solution, and sighed:

"Let's speak of this matter later—first, teach him arrays…"

…

The next day, Mr. Xun handed Mo Hua an array diagram:

"The Mountain Binding Array"

A Bagua array, second-rank with fourteen runes, a binding array belonging to the "Gen" trigram.

After explaining the array's difficulties to Mo Hua, Mr. Xun told him to study it himself, and to come ask if he had questions.

Mo Hua nodded eagerly, his heart racing.

Fourteen runes!

Finally, a fourteen-rune array!

If I master this fourteen-rune array and practice day and night, I can further hone my spiritual sense.

Because there were no difficult arrays to study, his spiritual sense had stagnated at fourteen runes since his Foundation Establishment, untouched for a long time.

Derivation and Calculation, though consuming immense spiritual sense and making it more resilient and sharp, seemed to have little effect on increasing it.

To increase spiritual sense, arrays are still the way.

The Mountain Binding Array is a Gen-trigram array.

Gen-trigram arrays originate from the Bagua but also align with the Five Phases, encompassing transformations of Metal and Earth.

Moreover, because they belong to the Bagua, the array's core position must follow specific rules.

The core position of Bagua arrays differs greatly from that of Five Phases arrays.

The arrangement of runes must conform to the Bagua's directional layout, and the flow of spiritual energy must match the Bagua's pattern.

At first, these concepts will feel unfamiliar.

But with prolonged study and repeated practice, one gradually comes to understand and integrate them…

And there are many more Bagua arrays.

The more Mo Hua encountered, the more his heart swelled with anticipation.

In the Bagua, Kan represents Water, Li represents Fire.

These two types of arrays resemble the Water and Fire phases of the Five Phases, with little difference.

Gen represents Mountain, Dui represents Marsh.

Gen-Mountain encompasses the evolution of Metal and Earth.

Dui-Marsh encompasses the evolution of Water and Earth.

Compared to Five Phases arrays, these two types of Bagua arrays differ more significantly.

Then there are Xun and Zhen.

Xun represents Wind, Zhen represents Thunder.

Mo Hua had never studied Wind arrays and did not know which Five Phases transformations Xun-trigram arrays encompassed.

But Thunder!

Mo Hua's heart surged.

He had seen thunderous tribulation with his own eyes!

The thunder, born from the Heavenly Dao Array, capable of erasing all things, emerged from a single thunder rune.

Mo Hua had seen this immortal rune containing Lei Jie, and had personally recorded one stroke of it, carving it onto the Dao Stele in his spiritual sea!

That stroke of thunder rune was utterly terrifying.

Even his Senior Brother could not withstand it—he glanced at it and was reduced to ashes.

Mo Hua had warned him, but failed to stop him!

His Senior Brother did not understand his sincere intentions!

Mo Hua nodded.

Thunder arrays—just hearing about them felt incredibly powerful.

But he did not know whether the thunder of heavenly tribulation differed from the thunder in Zhen-trigram arrays…

Then there were Qian and Kun arrays.

Kun represents Earth, likely evolving from the Earth phase, but probably far more complex and vast, bearing all things, embracing all phenomena, possibly even touching upon Earth's "Dao essence"…

But he was already familiar with Earth's "Dao essence," so he was not afraid.

Finally, there was the "Qian" Dao.

Qian means Heaven.

Mo Hua could think of two things: one, the "Heaven" of the Three Powers;

the other, the "Heaven" of the Heavenly Dao Array—the one all other cultivators disbelieved in, but which he had once secretly glimpsed and confirmed existed.

He wondered what form the Qian-trigram array, symbolizing "Heaven," might take…

Mo Hua muttered to himself, "daydreaming" for a while, then set his mind aside and steadied his spirit.

In short, there were still so many, many arrays to learn!

These arrays, not one of them would escape him!

But now, he still had to proceed steadily, starting with the second-rank, fourteen-stroke Binding Mountain Array of the Gen trigram.

As always, Mo Hua first memorized the array lines and array pivots of the Binding Mountain Array, then practiced it simply a few times; at night, when he slept, his spiritual sense sank into his consciousness sea and began formal practice on the Dao Stele.

Fourteen-stroke spiritual sense learning a fourteen-stroke array was not as easy as the previous twelve- or thirteen-stroke ones, but it was certainly not difficult.

And Mo Hua discovered that his fourteen-stroke spiritual sense seemed different from other cultivators' fourteen-stroke spiritual sense.

Perhaps due to the transformation in spiritual sense quality, his current spiritual sense was extremely condensed and unusually resilient.

Thus, the actual volume of his spiritual sense was somewhat greater than that of other fourteen-stroke spiritual senses.

But the "strength" was incomparable.

Other cultivators' spiritual sense "strength" was determined entirely by stroke count—that is, by the volume of spiritual sense.

The more strokes, the greater the spiritual sense volume, and naturally the stronger it was.

But Mo Hua's spiritual sense seemed to have expanded a new "dimension," allowing its "strength" to be measured by its "quality," not merely by stroke count.

Although the stroke count was the same—fourteen strokes—he could learn only fourteen-stroke arrays.

Yet because of the difference in spiritual sense "quality," Mo Hua always felt that using this purer, more condensed spiritual sense to learn arrays led to deeper comprehension of the arrays.

His understanding of the Dao would also be more profound.

At the same time, Mo Hua discovered that the volume of his spiritual sense seemed somewhat elastic.

Even though he had fourteen-stroke spiritual sense, it never truly ran dry after use.

He could still draw more spiritual sense from his consciousness sea.

His spiritual sense was like water in cotton—seeming spent, yet squeezing it yielded more…

Only, this process was extremely painful.

It felt as if his consciousness sea was being squeezed, agonizingly so.

Thus, Mo Hua could only stop before overexertion.

He had to cease once he used just one or two tenths more than fourteen-stroke spiritual sense, or else his head would split open, and he'd be torturing himself for no reason.

The fourteen-stroke Binding Mountain Array was not difficult, and Mo Hua learned it smoothly.

But it took immense time to become familiar with and internalize the Eight Trigrams array system:

to apply the already thoroughly memorized Gen-trigram array lines, to comprehend the array pivots of the Eight Trigrams layout, to construct the array focal points of the Eight Trigrams' flow, to observe holistically the spiritual energy circulation of the Eight Trigrams arrays…

After half a month, Mo Hua had mastered the second-rank, fourteen-stroke Binding Mountain Array.

He could now truly draw the second-rank, fourteen-stroke array.

And the fifteen-stroke arrays…

Mo Hua's spiritual sense realm had not yet reached that level, so he could not learn them yet.

Upon learning that Mo Hua had mastered the second-rank, fourteen-stroke Binding Mountain Array, Mr. Xun was no longer surprised—he had grown numb, and at the same time, he quietly exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Finally, that's enough…"

Fourteen strokes were sufficient; learning further would truly be excessive.

Mr. Xun spoke with solemn gravity:

"Although you can now draw fourteen-stroke arrays, you haven't studied many thirteen-stroke arrays—your foundation is still not solid…"

"Therefore, from now on, I will prepare some fourteen-stroke arrays mixed with thirteen-stroke ones; you must study them thoroughly, one by one…"

Mo Hua said happily: "Thank you, Mr.!"

Mr. Xun gave a slight nod, silently thinking:

"Fourteen-stroke arrays should keep this little brat busy for a while…"

"Fourteen strokes…"

Mr. Xun sighed.

"This is already an entry-level array of second-rank middle stage…"

"At Foundation Establishment early stage, knowing a second-rank middle-stage array…"

"What's the point of being a disciple? He might as well be a 'minor instructor' already…"

Mr. Xun silently shook his head.

In the days that followed, Mo Hua continued studying arrays day and night.

He studied both thirteen- and fourteen-stroke arrays.

Of course, mostly fourteen-stroke ones.

Mo Hua wanted to use fourteen-stroke arrays to temper his consciousness sea and push his spiritual sense further!

Accumulate sand into a tower; water drips until it pierces stone.

He learned array after array, drew them over and over…

And his spiritual sense, without his noticing, slowly climbed toward fifteen strokes…

Just one update for now~

Rest up, and work harder by month's end~(.)

(End of chapter)