Chapter 9: Chapter Nine: The Minghuo Array

In the mind sea, Mo Hua's figure appeared identical to his physical form, movable at will, yet not made of flesh or blood, nor even of spiritual energy—only a phantom of his spiritual awareness.

Mo Hua's phantom held his breath, focused his mind, and used his fingertip as a brush to draw the pattern of the Minghuo Array on the Dao Stele.

Faint blue lines danced nimbly with his finger, gradually emerging on the jet-black Dao Stele, each thread evolving from simple to intricate, weaving into an arcane pattern.

After completing the second pattern, as he continued, Mo Hua began to feel an unprecedented fatigue, even pain.

His mind sea was like a dam breached, his spiritual awareness flooding out like a tidal wave.

The more spiritual awareness flowed out, the closer his mind sea neared depletion, resembling a riverbed drained dry, its surface cracking under unseen pressure, his scalp tingling faintly.

Mo Hua gradually felt his thoughts growing sluggish, the third pattern drawn ever slower.

Suddenly, a needle-like pain pierced his mind sea; Mo Hua momentarily lost focus and lost his composure, misplacing one stroke on the stele.

Mo Hua had to stop, clutching his head as the pain slowly subsided.

It took a full cup of tea's time before Mo Hua recovered. After a moment's thought, he finally understood:

"Cultivators drawing arrays require immense spiritual awareness—far more than any other cultivation path consumes! Far more than I ever imagined!"

"That's why the diagram specifically marked in vermilion ink: 'Proceed with caution if your realm is insufficient.' If your realm is too low and your spiritual awareness too weak, forcibly copying an array will overconsume spiritual awareness, even causing spiritual depletion…"

Spiritual depletion brings intense pain to a cultivator, and may crack or damage the mind sea; if the cracking becomes excessive, the mind sea shatters outright, and the cultivator dies, his Dao extinguished.

This was what the array instructor had taught in class; Mo Hua hadn't paid much attention then, but now recalling it, a chill crept into his heart.

"The Minghuo Array requires Foundation Establishment Level Three—I'm only Level Two. My spiritual awareness is indeed slightly lacking…"

Mo Hua hugged his head, lying on the ground of his mind sea, pondering slowly:

"Though slightly lacking, it can't be that much. My spiritual awareness is already stronger than most, and I've studied arrays for so long—practice a few more times, I might still draw it."

"If I can't draw it once, I'll draw it a second time, a third time… each time my spiritual awareness grows a little, each time I add even one more stroke, I'll eventually complete the array…"

After thinking it through, Mo Hua rose and erased the unfinished pattern on the Dao Stele, and his spiritual awareness immediately replenished.

As if he had never drawn the array before, yet every stroke he had made was etched into Mo Hua's mind.

Mo Hua couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Thank goodness for this Dao Stele—otherwise, with his spiritual awareness nearly depleted, he wouldn't know how long he'd need to rest before attempting a second drawing. By the time he mastered the Minghuo Array, ten days or even half a month might pass—and if it exceeded ten days, the pledged spiritual stones would be fully forfeited.

Thinking of this, Mo Hua's heart ached, his spiritual awareness sharpened further, and he began drawing the Minghuo Array for the second time…

In the vast white void of the mind sea, time passed unnoticed.

Mo Hua drew for a while, paused, rested, and when he could draw no more, he simply erased everything and started over.

After drawing it for the umpteenth time, he finally completed the full Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua exhaled deeply, collapsing onto the ground, feeling like a dried salted fish drained of every drop of spiritual energy.

After resting another half-cup of tea's time, Mo Hua finally rose to admire his first-ever drawn array—the Minghuo Array.

On the jet-black Dao Stele, a complete pattern of faint blue lines glowed, the array's lines precise and elegant, radiating an unknown mystery; as the patterns brightened and dimmed, they seemed to contain unfathomable rules and power.

This was an array!

Mo Hua felt dazed, as if nothing in the world could be more beautiful than such rule-bound patterns—even merely gazing at them drew one irresistibly into their depths…

As Mo Hua stared, he suddenly noticed something wrong.

When he drew it, the lines were faint blue—but now they were gradually fading, their hue dulling, turning pale gray.

It was as if… the Dao Stele was telling Mo Hua he had made a mistake…

Mo Hua froze.

"Made a mistake?"

"No way…"

Mo Hua felt disheartened, but rallied himself, carefully checking each stroke—and ultimately confirmed: he had indeed made errors, and not just one.

Some strokes were extra, some connection angles were wrong, some fire patterns were fused incorrectly…

Because he made mistakes, his spiritual awareness wasn't consumed as much—allowing him to finish the Minghuo Array.

Mo Hua scratched his head, noted down the errors, erased the array again, and began drawing once more.

…

After repeating this many times, Mo Hua grew dizzy and nauseous; his mind sea ached and grew numb, the array lines on the stele blurring into overlapping shadows.

At some point, Mo Hua, half-unconscious, completed the final stroke.

The Dao Stele trembled slightly; the faint blue array lines emitted a soft white light, within which flickered faint flames, like a lamp illuminating the darkness.

Minghuo Array!

Mo Hua could barely contain his excitement; all his night's fatigue vanished.

For the first time in his life, Mo Hua truly felt a cultivator's power—the sensation of self-realization, self-creation, embodying the Dao's rules through an array, mastering the power of heaven and earth.

Though it was only a tiny step, a minuscule fraction of power, it was the first drop of water forming the great river of the Dao!

Mo Hua felt proud—even though the Minghuo Array could only provide light, one of the most common and cheapest arrays in cultivation, at least this array had illuminated Mo Hua's first step on the Dao path.

Eager to draw it again, Mo Hua longed to repeat it several more times—but he knew his fragile spiritual awareness was like a candle guttering in the wind, unable to endure further strain.

If he drew again, his mind sea might not deplete, but he would surely go mad.

Though spiritual awareness recovers, the process of drawing arrays continuously drains it—and that process is far from comfortable.

This was Mo Hua's first time successfully drawing a formal array—but it would certainly not be his last.

He planned to practice the Minghuo Array every night; once thoroughly mastered in a few days, he would use materials from the Array Hall to draw arrays, then exchange them with the steward for spiritual stones—ideally enough to cover his sect tuition, so his parents wouldn't have to suffer so much.

"That's enough for tonight…"

The Minghuo Array on the Dao Stele glowed brilliantly; Mo Hua admired it once more, nodded involuntarily, then reluctantly waved his hand to erase the array.

The instant he erased it, his spiritual awareness surged back like tide receding then returning, moon waxing and waning, like a dammed sea reversing its flow, like sunset followed by sunrise—his depleted spiritual awareness instantly replenished, filling his mind sea once more!

Mo Hua stood before the Dao Stele, his spiritual awareness fully restored, just as it had been hours earlier when he first entered the mind sea.

This sensation of spiritual awareness draining then refilling—no matter how many times he experienced it, still felt profoundly mysterious.

And this time, the realization was deeper than ever before.

Mo Hua stared at the Dao Stele. Its surface was dark and profound, seemingly a void, yet as if containing everything; seemingly empty, yet as if able to manifest all things.

Transform divine sense into a formation, reverse the formation back into divine sense; being and non-being give rise to each other, and transform into each other.

A line from an ancient text surfaced unbidden in Mo Hua's mind:

"Being is used for benefit; non-being is used for function!"