Chapter 27: Comprehending Arrays

The development of events was exactly as Lu Yang had predicted; in the end, Zhao Xuhe still sold the Nine Transformations Dragon Art to him at the low price of 1,500 contribution points.

People are like this when they owe debts.

After obtaining the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, Lu Yang immediately returned to his cave dwelling, memorized the content of the cultivation method word for word, and only then put it away again.

"Pity I cannot cultivate right now."

Having transformed into a blood shadow, my cultivation level neither increases nor decreases, forever stuck at the Late Qi Refining stage; even wanting to scatter my cultivation is impossible, so I can only wait for the next life.

Despite these words, Lu Yang did not rush to commit suicide.

After all, time is precious; even with the Book of a Hundred Lives, he would not squander it lightly. Even if he could not cultivate, there were other places where he could continue to progress.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang took out the Immortal Maiden Qingchen's Secret Interpretation of Array Treasures from his storage bag again.

That's right, he wanted to learn array formation!

The four arts of cultivation are Arrays, Artifacts, Pills, and Talismans; possessing even one of these skills makes one immediately a high-level talent in the cultivation world, able to get by anywhere.

For example, the Immortal Maiden Qingchen; Lu Yang felt this person was truly a talent, not only knowing array formation but also able to refine arrays into magical treasures. Unfortunately, her judgment of men was not very good; she successively fell for scumbags who turned their backs on her, so the ending of both lives was dying with resentment.

Opening the Secret Interpretation of Array Treasures, the very first page made Lu Yang unable to help but sigh.

"The so-called Array Treasure is to take the array as the treasure and the treasure as the array; the two complement each other. The skill within was researched only after the author poured out their heart and blood."

"To learn this path, talent and effort are both indispensable."

After the opening preface, the second page was covered in dense patterns, with every pattern bearing an annotation explaining what that pattern meant.

"The way of array formation takes array patterns as the main element. Tracing array patterns and depicting heaven and earth allows one to borrow the wonders of heaven and earth. However, the numbers of heaven and earth exhaust the mysteries of the world, making them difficult to comprehend, let alone transform into array patterns. This requires extraordinary comprehension; only by mastering array patterns can one have the ability to learn arrays."

"Very good, you now have a certain understanding of the basic principles of array formation."

"Next, turn to the third page. Let us look at the simple example below and put the knowledge we just learned into practice."

On the third page, an extremely complex and intricate pattern appeared before Lu Yang's eyes.

Is this an array diagram?

Lu Yang stroked his chin. The so-called deciphering of an array diagram is actually distinguishing the composition of array patterns within the array, thereby calculating the function of that array.

Array patterns are the foundation of all arrays.

Whether an array can take effect mainly depends on whether the combination of array patterns is reasonable, whether there are conflicts, and whether they can form a complete circuit to operate.

"Interesting."

Lu Yang smiled confidently, feeling this did not seem particularly difficult: "With my talent and effort, a mere simple array diagram, I am determined to succeed!"

One month later.

Lu Yang sat dazedly on the cushion, surrounded by a large pile of manuscripts, all containing the results of his calculations; he was utterly despondent.

In his hand were array patterns combined together.

Not knowing how much time had passed, a flash of spiritual light suddenly lit up at Lu Yang's fingertip.

"It worked!?"

Lu Yang instantly stood up, his face showing wild joy. He carefully examined the array patterns he had pieced together, calculated silently with his fingers for a moment, and then showed a look of confusion:

"That's not right, how did it work?"

"How does this thing operate?"

It was clearly the result of a month of pouring out his heart and blood, yet he himself did not understand why it worked; this feeling simply made Lu Yang go crazy.

After a month of bitter cultivation, he now had a deeper understanding of array formation.

In short, array formation is very similar to programming.

The so-called comprehending the array path is extracting usable parts from the mountain of shit code written by the Old Heavenly Lord of heaven and earth and composing one's own code.

However, with array formation, it is either you know it or you don't.

Just like panning for gold in a mountain of shit, people without talent will, like Lu Yang now, not find a single bit of gold, but instead pan out a pile of shit.

"Regardless, at least something was panned out."

Lu Yang sighed and continued to study, forgetting to eat and sleep. Just like that, another month and a bit passed before he finally deciphered the pattern in his hand.

"This is a lighting array!"

"Within the range covered by the array, light shines everywhere; most methods of concealing one's presence will fail. Apart from that, it has no offensive or defensive power."

Lu Yang's expression was haggard, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, yet his face overflowed with excitement, and with a sense of full accomplishment, he turned to the third page of the Secret Interpretation of Array Treasures.

"Actually, failing to decipher it is normal."

"The question on the third page is mainly to make you understand how difficult array formation is. Approach comprehending arrays with a humble heart; do not always aim too high and reach too far."

Lu Yang: "..."

"You beast! You beast!"

Lu Yang suddenly stood up and threw the book in his hand onto the ground. He was now one hundred percent certain that this was absolutely an array book written by a Saint Sect array master!

After quite a while, Lu Yang picked the book up again.

There was no way; some things do not care whether you like them, understand them, or want to do them. To make a living, one must still grit one's teeth and keep going.

However, after further study, Lu Yang discovered his talent was not as bad as he had imagined.

As the book stated, the intricate pattern on the third page was simply not meant for beginners to decipher, which is why Lu Yang had been stuck on it for two months.

But there were benefits; now that he had switched to some simpler and easier-to-understand arrays, Lu Yang's learning speed had visibly increased significantly. Occasionally encountering a bottleneck, he would research it for a few days and get past it, allowing Lu Yang, who had been heavily discouraged before, to regain his confidence.

In the cave, years are unknown; time flies.

In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.

During this period, Lu Yang could be described as having ears deaf to outside affairs and a heart solely reading array books; he even became too lazy to pay the cave dwelling rent and moved directly to the Outer Sect.

After all, he could not cultivate now; without a hard necessity, naturally, he just rotted away and stopped working.

And during those twenty years, almost every few years, a destined son with the same great fortune as the former Xiao Shuye would suddenly rise in the Outer Sect.

However, after that destined son obtained a great opportunity known to everyone in a certain Saint Sect, they would suddenly disappear.

Along with them, a large number of unlucky souls who had discovered the Fate-Chosen One's fortune and harbored ill intentions, hoping to cling to his coattails and bask in his luck, also vanished.

"That elder must be fishing again."

Every time he heard news like this, Lu Yang felt a pang of anxiety—after all, with Xiao Shiyè's brilliance before him, he could only keep a respectful distance from the Fate-Chosen One.

He couldn't afford to provoke them; he could only avoid them.

And there was Zhao Xuhe—he had reached the peak of Qi Condensation twenty years later and become a renowned True Disciple of the Sacred Sect, but years ago, he failed to break through to Foundation Establishment and passed away.

Lu Yang merely sighed at this and no longer cared.

What truly brought Lu Yang joy was that, after twenty years of diligent study, he had finally mastered every detail of the "Secret Explanations of Array Treasures."

Inside his cave dwelling, Lu Yang's entire spirit was focused on the sword pellet before him; at this moment, he could not even maintain his human form, and his blood shadow was exceedingly dim.

This was a sign of his approaching end.

The long-term side effects of his cultivation of the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light had finally caught up with him, leaving him with depleted lifespan at only forty years old, his energy exhausted, his lamp nearly out.

Yet Lu Yang paid no heed—he remained utterly absorbed in engraving the array, even as he neared death; he did not rise, nor did he attempt any action to reverse his fate, for such efforts would only shatter his inspiration, and he did not wish to waste such precious inspiration.

"I understand! Wait, no—that's wrong!"

"Oh yes! Right! No, wait—still wrong? Yes! Right! Right!"

Thus passed a long time—until, just as Lu Yang's blood shadow was nearly dissolved, at the very brink of life and death, he suddenly widened his eyes—

"Hahaha! I succeeded!"

Watching the array patterns he had painstakingly traced now assemble and activate around the sword pellet, Lu Yang burst into loud laughter, the sound echoing through the cave dwelling.

And in the midst of his laughter, he lost his breath.

"The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes!"

(End of Chapter)