Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Compendium

Since obtaining the Thousand Arrays Compendium, Mo Hua had been poring over it incessantly; whenever he encountered an array he found interesting, he would consult Master Zhuang's library and meticulously note down his doubts.

In the morning or evening, he would go to ask Master Zhuang questions.

Cultivators without sect affiliation found it difficult even to obtain a single array diagram; when copying arrays for Manager Mo, apart from basic ones like the Bright Fire Array, any slightly more complex diagrams required additional spirit stones.

But Mo Hua now possessed nearly a thousand array diagrams; if he mastered all these thousand arrays, becoming a Grade-One Array Master would be effortless. Just imagining it filled Mo Hua with excitement.

Mo Hua studied arrays day and night, like a little mouse fallen into a grain store, desperate to cram the entire storehouse into his belly.

By day he read array books, drew arrays, and asked Master Zhuang questions; by night he practiced repeatedly on the broken stele within his spiritual sense.

Having learned the Great Expansion Scripture, and according to Master Zhuang's words, studying arrays valued breadth over specialization, so Mo Hua did not strive for deep understanding—so long as he could draw the array, it was enough; some arrays he had just learned to draw, he even forgot the names of.

For months, Mo Hua's spiritual sense had remained in a cycle of fullness to depletion, then recovery back to fullness, only to be drained again.

Mo Hua's cultivation had made no progress, yet his spiritual sense grew deeper; his theoretical understanding of arrays had not increased, but when learning or inscribing arrays, he felt increasingly calm—once obscure and complex array patterns now seemed natural and familiar.

"What are you reading?"

One day, as Mo Hua was reading, Bai Zisheng leaned over to ask.

These past few days, Mo Hua had buried himself in array studies and barely paid attention to Bai Zisheng; Snow Aunt seemed to notice Bai Zisheng's distractedness and had become stricter with him, filling his schedule with cultivation, arrays, pill refining, and artifact forging.

Though Master Zhuang was the tutor to the Bai siblings, he had always left them to their own devices; the Bai siblings' goal did not seem to be receiving cultivation guidance from him, and to avoid provoking his displeasure, they rarely disturbed him except for scheduled greetings and lessons.

Thus, the Bai siblings' cultivation was still arranged by Snow Aunt, following the Bai family's traditional method of nurturing direct-lineage disciples.

Within the family, it was fine—Bai Zisheng didn't want to interact with clan members, so when locked in his room for cultivation, he could still focus; but now that he was outside, surrounded by novel and interesting things, and with Mo Hua to talk to, he found such cultivation dull.

Mo Hua's eyes remained fixed on the book; he merely lifted the cover so Bai Zisheng could see it.

Bai Zisheng tilted his head and read slowly, word by word: "Thousand Arrays… Compendium…"

"What's so interesting about this?"

Mo Hua asked: "Do you have one too?"

Bai Zisheng shook his head. "The Bai family's library has one—it compiles arrays collected within the clan into a volume for disciples to study and reference, broadening their array knowledge and making it easier to find specific types when needed. Every array-studying disciple gets one; it's not a rare thing."

Every sect disciple had one—nothing rare…

Mo Hua, a cultivator from outside the sects, had no patience for such idle talk; he merely grunted, "Oh."

Seeing Mo Hua ignore him, Bai Zisheng scratched his head and added: "How about you lend it to me?"

"You said your clan has one—why do you need to read it?"

"Different clans and sects have different transmissions; the arrays recorded in each compendium vary. I want to see what kinds of arrays Master Zhuang has collected."

Mo Hua hesitated.

"Just one look!" Bai Zisheng pleaded.

"Alright then."

Mo Hua closed the thick Thousand Arrays Compendium and handed it to Bai Zisheng.

Bai Zisheng took it, flipped through it roughly, then opened his mouth wide:

"There really are over a thousand arrays!"

Mo Hua rolled his eyes. "Isn't it called the Thousand Arrays Compendium?"

"You don't understand—compilers often have pride and like to embellish; if they collect ten arrays, they call it the Hundred Arrays Diagram; if they collect a thousand, they call it the Ten Thousand Arrays Diagram. Some even name their cultivation techniques with words like 'Opening Heaven,' 'Splitting Earth,' 'Creation,' or 'Divine Art'—impressive-sounding, but often just low-grade techniques."

"Do cultivators in the cultivation world do this too?"

"As long as they haven't become immortals, they're still human—and humans love to brag."

"Oh."

Mo Hua thought of his own cultivation technique, the Great Expansion Scripture—it carried the character 'Heaven,' and its grade wasn't high either. Was it just for show?

But it was an ancient technique, created by ancient cultivators; ancients probably were more honest…

Mo Hua sincerely hoped so.

Bai Zisheng continued flipping through the compendium, growing more astonished, and quickly waved to Bai Zixi: "Zixi, Zixi, come quick—so many arrays I've never seen!"

Bai Zixi, who had been quietly cultivating nearby, leaned her small head over.

Mo Hua asked curiously: "The Bai family is a major clan—does Master Zhuang's collection contain more arrays than yours?"

Bai Zisheng objected: "Only for arrays below Grade One. Higher-grade arrays are another matter."

"The Bai family does have array transmissions, but they're not known for arrays; it's normal that Master Zhuang's collection is larger," Bai Zixi said calmly.

"Hmph!" Bai Zisheng grunted, but dared not anger Bai Zixi, and had no rebuttal, so he sulked.

Bai Zixi continued flipping through the compendium, her eyes brightening with each page, clearly enamored; after a moment, she lifted her head, her eyes like clear autumn water fixed on Mo Hua.

She said nothing, but Mo Hua understood her meaning at once.

Mo Hua hesitated, then sighed. "Fine—you can borrow it for just this afternoon."

They were fellow disciples; Master Zhuang wouldn't scold them if he found out.

A faint smile touched Bai Zixi's flawless pale face, like morning clouds staining a lotus emerging from water—clear and radiant.

Bai Zixi took a book without a cover from her storage pouch and handed it to Mo Hua: "This is the Bai family's compendium of arrays below Grade One. Take a look—if you want to learn any, I can teach you."

Mo Hua's eyes lit up; he happily took the book and flipped through it.

The arrays recorded here were fewer than those in Master Zhuang's, but the more basic ones were documented far more thoroughly and clearly—clearly meant for beginner disciples—and many passages bore handwritten annotations, elegant and exquisite, likely written by Bai Zixi.

"Won't this violate clan rules?"

Mo Hua worried—he knew some clans strictly controlled array transmissions.

"Probably," Bai Zisheng nodded.

"No," Bai Zixi denied.

"Why?"

"Because I'm giving it to you!"

Bai Zixi said it lightly, yet with absolute finality.

Though he didn't know why, Mo Hua felt that the Bai Zi Xi who said this had a certain inexplicable handsomeness about him.

In the days that followed, besides studying formations on his own, Mo Hua would occasionally learn from Bai Zi Xi as well. Only then did he discover that Bai Zi Xi's foundation in formations was deeper than his own by an immeasurable degree, and so he admonished himself all the more: the Dao of formations is boundless, one must not grow complacent.

When studying formations, Bai Zi Xi occasionally had questions too. Mo Hua would note them all down together, then go ask Mr. Zhuang. Once he understood, he would go back and explain to Bai Zi Xi. This also caused the number of times Mo Hua consulted Mr. Zhuang to increase more and more.

One day, after Mo Hua finished consulting Mr. Zhuang on his questions and left, Mr. Zhuang frowned and said, "This won't do."

"What won't do?" Puppet Elder asked casually from the side.

"This child Mo Hua comes to ask me things every day — I have no time to close my eyes and contemplate the Dao!"

"You mean sleep, right…" Puppet Elder mercilessly exposed him.

Mr. Zhuang pretended he hadn't heard, and mused, "What should I do…"

"Just don't answer, wouldn't that do it?"

Mr. Zhuang recalled Mo Hua's clear, transparent eyes, full of a thirst for knowledge, and at times full of admiration, and shook his head:

"How could that be? When a disciple asks, to know and not answer — that is not what a good teacher does."

"Since when did you start caring about something like this?"

"Just now."

Puppet Elder couldn't be bothered with him. He held a piece of wood in his hand, carving something unknown. The carving knife glided over the wood, wood shavings drifted down one after another, yet not a single sound was made.

Mr. Zhuang lounged leisurely on a chair, gazing up at the sky, staring at the wooden beam above the pavilion for a long while, his spirit wandering beyond the heavens, only coming back to himself after a moment.

"I need to find an excuse to sleep in," Mr. Zhuang thought to himself.