Chapter 75: The Man in Blue

Mo Hua returned home and practiced cultivation while drawing arrays.

According to Mr. Zhuang's words, Mo Hua had learned the Great Expansion Sword Art, strengthening his spiritual sense; he had also learned meditation, accelerating his spiritual sense's recovery.

This meant Mo Hua now drew arrays faster during the day, recovered his spiritual sense quicker, could draw more arrays each day, yet also grew tired more easily.

Occasionally, when tired from drawing arrays, he took out the book *Initial Explanations of Reconstructed Arrays* given by Mr. Zhuang, reading it as leisure to ease his fatigue.

On this day, Mo Hua was lying on a table in the eatery's courtyard, studying an array book, when a man in a blue robe entered, ordered a pot of wine, a plate of beef, and two side dishes of vegetables and fruit, then sat down to eat.

Since it was not yet noon and not mealtime, only a few scattered cultivators were eating noodles in the eatery—all locals making a living, either beast-hunters or petty traders—dressed plainly.

The man in a single blue robe, spotless and pristine, stood out starkly among them.

Mo Hua glanced at him and noticed the man was handsome, around thirty-some years old, yet clearly lived in comfort and appeared much younger. He wore a jade pendant; his robe was primarily blue, its style unassuming but likely made of expensive fabric—Mo Hua could faintly discern that the robe bore array patterns.

Fabric for Dao robes was soft and unsuitable as array medium; fabric suitable as array medium was never cheap.

The man in blue might have sensed someone watching him; he looked up and saw a boy dressed plainly but with features like a painted scroll, his clear black-and-white eyes studying him.

The man smiled faintly and waved at Mo Hua.

Mo Hua closed his book and walked over. The man spoke gently: "Little one, what would you like to eat? My treat."

Mo Hua shook his head. "This is my family's shop. I can treat you."

The man paused, then glanced at the sign outside and chuckled: "You're surnamed Liu?"

Mo Hua, seeing no malice in the man, replied: "I'm surnamed Mo. My mother is surnamed Liu."

The man nodded, then noticed the book in Mo Hua's hand and asked: "What book are you reading? Any part unclear? I can teach you."

Mo Hua eyed the man—seemingly idle and carefree—and asked: "You know arrays?"

"Naturally. Arrays touch every facet of the Dao. Even if you don't walk the path of an array master, you must know the basics. I can't claim mastery, but I understand far more than you, little one."

Mo Hua, hearing his confident tone and sensing no lie, handed him *Initial Explanations of Reconstructed Arrays*.

The man in blue took it, saw the words "Reconstructed Arrays" on the cover, and his eyelid twitched involuntarily.

Mo Hua eyed him suspiciously again: "You really know this?"

"Naturally."

The man in blue said calmly, yet his fingers holding the book trembled slightly, inwardly grumbling:

"This is *Reconstructed Arrays*! Who the hell is giving a child a book like this? Don't they fear he'll drain his spiritual sense to death?"

Of course, he couldn't lose face before a child, so he gritted his teeth and opened *Initial Explanations of Reconstructed Arrays*.

"This kid's probably just browsing. He can't possibly understand. I'll just give a few vague answers—should be fine."

The man thought, then flipped to the first two pages and asked: "What part don't you understand? Ask."

But Mo Hua didn't even look—he flipped ahead two pages and pointed: "'Gather array markings into single arrays, gather single arrays into reconstructed arrays.' Why not just stack array markings to strengthen the array? Why reconstruct with single arrays? Isn't that redundant?"

The man in blue tensed, scrambling to recall his clan's array master's lectures.

Fortunately, he'd studied diligently then; he still remembered.

"Within the same realm, a cultivator's spiritual sense is limited; within the same rank of array, the number of array markings it can hold is also limited. Once the array exceeds a certain number of markings, the cultivator's spiritual sense is insufficient to draw it—and may even die from spiritual sea depletion due to forced array drawing…"

"To break past this limit, one must recombine and link single arrays into reconstructed arrays. This not only enhances the array's power but also allows different arrays to interact, producing more varied effects…"

"Oh, oh, I see…" Mo Hua nodded involuntarily.

The man in blue wiped cold sweat from his mind.

Before he could relax, Mo Hua's white, slender hand flipped several more pages and pointed to another passage:

"'Single arrays have simple array pivots; reconstructed arrays have complex array pivots.' What's the difference between the pivots of single and reconstructed arrays? Array markings are arranged by pivots to form single arrays; single arrays are arranged by pivots to form reconstructed arrays. The difference between the two pivots shouldn't be great, right?"

"Cough, well… that's a long story. Beasts differ from beasts, cultivators differ from cultivators, so pivots naturally differ too—you can't assume they're the same just because they're all called pivots…"

The man spoke trivial nonsense while his spiritual sea raced, then added:

"The pivot of a single array is simple—used only to link array markings. But the pivot of a reconstructed array is far more complex: it must link single arrays, sometimes regulate the opening and closing of spiritual energy, balance its strength and weakness, soothe conflicts between different elemental energies, and… stabilize the entire reconstructed array's structure…"

The man racked his brains to finish this passage.

Books are never enough when you need them!

In all his life, he'd never been forced by a child cultivator to rediscover this truth!

"Oh oh."

Mo Hua nodded, then his small hand flipped again.

Each page turned quickened the man's heartbeat—he nearly reached out to grab Mo Hua's hand and stop him. If he flipped one more, he might not be able to answer.

Finally, Mo Hua's hand stopped, fingertip resting on an array diagram.

The man's heart sank.

Damn. It's a diagram.

He only knew theory—he'd never drawn one. Who in their right mind draws these, unless they're truly devoted to becoming an array master?

"Cough, this diagram… it's not suitable for someone your age to draw…" the man in blue said delicately.

Mo Hua said: "I tried drawing it, but I don't know why the reconstructed array never activates…"

The man's vision darkened.

Tried drawing it?

What does that mean?

What realm are you in? What cultivation level? How deep is your spiritual sense? How bold are you to dare draw a reconstructed array?! Who gave you the nerve?!

Mo Hua pulled from his storage pouch a sheet of paper, on which an array was drawn—clearly just completed, not yet activated, but every marking present, stroke perfect.

The man in blue was speechless.

After calming his emotions slightly, he examined Mo Hua's array closely—and suddenly felt a flicker of relief.

"Though it's a reconstructed array, all the single arrays within are familiar to me, and all are simple—each contains only two or three array markings, well within my array knowledge."

The young man steadied himself, cleared his throat, and spoke with calmness:

"Array theory is one thing, but actually putting brush to paper and drawing it is far from simple. The problem with yours is the array hub—you used a single-array hub to apply a compound array, so naturally the formation can't take effect…"

Mo Hua suddenly understood, nodding repeatedly, feeling he had underestimated the blue-robed man, and then…

He stretched out his little hand, ready to flip further back.

The man's earlier composure melted away like snow meeting hot water, collapsing in an instant.

Don't flip anymore…

Fortunately, Mo Hua turned one page and found that what came after he hadn't read either, so he didn't keep flipping. Instead, he closed the book and said in a tone full of admiration: "Uncle, you really know a lot."

The blue-robed man let out a breath of relief.

Mo Hua pointed at the wine pot on the table with his little finger and said: "This pot of wine is my treat to you."

The man finally set his mind completely at ease, and couldn't help pouring himself a cup of wine to steady his nerves.

The instant the wine touched his lips, it seeped into his heart and spleen, and the man felt he had never in his life tasted such a clear, sweet, and fine wine.