Earth Stabilizing Array

The deposit for the Earth Stabilizing Array was twenty spirit stones. Mo Hua took out ten spirit stones from his previous earnings and handed them over to Manager Pang, receiving the Earth Stabilizing Array diagram and ten pieces of ink paper materials with a deadline of twenty days.

After leaving the shop, Mo Hua went to the pastry shop, spending two spirit stones to buy ten colorful pastries, then headed straight back to the sect, where he shared the pastries with Da Hu and the others.

Note: Made changes to the Meng Family juniors, Dahu -> Da Hu etc

The sect's meals weren't great, and the three often craved snacks.

Mo Hua bought some pastries to satisfy their cravings.

A few days later, in the evening after finishing a day of classes, Mo Hua was studying the array formations of the Earth Stabilizing Array in his disciples' residence when he suddenly heard someone knock on the door.

Mo Hua opened the door and saw Shuang Hu standing there surreptitiously.

Shuang Hu secretly handed Mo Hua an oiled paper package and whispered, "This is specifically for you. Don't tell anyone."

After saying that, he glanced around and then hurried away like a thief.

The disciples' residence was a dormitory provided by the Tongxian Sect for its disciples to live in, with two people sharing a room. The room wasn't large, containing two simple wooden beds and two slightly worn-out wooden desks, just enough for daily living.

Within the Tongxian Sect, there were more luxurious and comfortable disciples' residences, but they required additional spirit stones.

Mo Hua originally had a roommate, but he dropped out of school this year not because he couldn't afford the initial training expenses, but simply because he found cultivation boring and didn't want to continue. So now Mo Hua lived alone in the room.

Mo Hua closed the door, opened the still slightly hot oiled paper, and found inside a freshly roasted chicken leg.

The chicken leg was the size of a fist, steaming hot and slightly burnt, emitting an enticing aroma, with faint spiritual energy floating above it.

It was meat from a spirit beast.

"This... could it be stolen from somewhere?"

Meat with spiritual energy like this was something Shuang Hu and the others couldn't afford at all. Judging by how Shuang Hu acted sneakily, it was definitely stolen.

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, took a bite, finding it slightly burnt but still flavorful. However, it wasn't cooked through, and lacked seasoning, so the taste was somewhat bland.

Cooking in the cultivation world was also quite particular. If one hadn't specifically learned it, it was difficult to make something delicious.

Handling ingredients in the cultivation world was challenging. For instance, the texture of meat was tough, and some meats, like those of herbivorous demonic beasts, couldn't be boiled soft without expending a lot of spiritual energy.

The flesh of spirit beasts had a finer texture, but cooking it also required some skill.

Besides meat, other vegetables and ingredients also contained some spiritual energy. If this spiritual energy mixed improperly with the natural flavors of the ingredients, the taste could turn out quite odd.

Mo Hua struggled a bit to finish the chicken leg, then lit the oiled paper on fire, and threw the bones into the small stream outside the room, completely eliminating the evidence.

After filling his stomach, Mo Hua spent some time refining the spiritual energy contained in the chicken meat, then buried himself again in studying array formations.

Sure enough, a couple of days later, Mo Hua heard that several Qi Refinement stage disciples had stolen a splendid chicken raised by an elder, plucked its feathers, roasted it, and eaten it.

The elder was furious and caught the disciples, giving them a severe punishment.

Two days later, Mo Hua saw Da Hu and the others, with bruised faces and two large bumps on their heads.

The three of them were all at Tongxuan Peak, and since the elder could easily find out about it, they couldn't escape. A severe punishment was inevitable.

However, the injuries were not too serious; most were just flesh wounds. The elders wouldn't really punish them severely, after all.

It was just a small punishment to warn the other disciples.

Da Hu and the others looked pitiful, but they held their heads high and even seemed a bit proud. After all, not just any disciple could steal from under the elders' noses like they did.

When they saw Mo Hua, they pretended not to notice, and Xiao Hu even gave Mo Hua a covert signal, pretending not to recognize them.

Mo Hua couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking that next time during the monthly break, he should buy them some pastries.

There were still seven days until the next monthly break and thirteen days since he had received the array materials from the fat steward, but Mo Hua's understanding of the Earth Stabilizing Array was not progressing smoothly.

The array patterns of the Earth Stabilizing Array were ones Mo Hua had never studied before, more complex than the basic earth element arrays taught by the sect, and he found them quite challenging to comprehend.

Moreover, the Earth Stabilizing Array consisted of four array patterns, demanding a high level of spiritual consciousness.

Mo Hua could remember the array patterns fairly easily, but practicing them on the stone stele consumed a lot of spiritual consciousness and was prone to mistakes.

Either the drawn array patterns wouldn't form a complete array or they would be entirely ineffective, unable to conduct spiritual energy.

After grappling with it for about ten days, Mo Hua still had no clue. Sometimes he thought he understood, but mistakes would still occur when he put brush to stone.

Finally, at his wit's end, Mo Hua decided to seek guidance from Instructor Yan.

One day, after Instructor Yan finished his class and was tidying up his desk, the disciples dispersed in small groups.

Mo Hua approached with several basic earth element array patterns and respectfully asked, "Instructor, I don't quite understand these earth element array patterns. Could you please enlighten me?"

Instructor Yan examined the array patterns Mo Hua handed him and said, "These are earth element array patterns from the basic Five Elements array, quite standardized and should not be too difficult for you. If you don't draw them well, just practice more."

The sect's teachings on earth element array patterns were very basic, certainly not difficult for Mo Hua. What he really wanted to ask about was something else.

Mo Hua brought out several earth element array patterns from the Earth Stabilizing Array and said, "Occasionally, I've come across these array patterns, which seem different from those in the textbooks. I can't pinpoint the differences exactly, but they're quite prone to mistakes when drawn. I'm not sure where I'm going wrong."

Instructor Yan looked them over and was somewhat surprised. "These are variations of the Five Elements array patterns, different from the formally taught ones at the sect. They are non-standard and not widely used. Drawing these array patterns requires adjusting the brushstrokes and the sequence differs from the standardized array patterns. Basically, the order of these strokes needs to be adjusted..."

Instructor Yan took a piece of paper and casually drew several array patterns while explaining.

Mo Hua suddenly realized.

Array patterns were somewhat similar to calligraphy. Besides the standardized patterns, there were also distinctive array patterns with variations in brushstrokes.

There were numerous types of these variant array patterns, unclassifiable, so the sect typically only taught standardized patterns.

"No wonder they say arrays are vast and profound, filled with countless pitfalls. Without asking for guidance, even with two heads, I wouldn't have figured it out..." Mo Hua inwardly complained.

"Connecting these array patterns to form an array, like this one..."

Finally, Mo Hua brought out the diagram of the Earth Stabilizing Array.

Instructor Yan glanced at it and recognized it. He exclaimed, "This is the Earth Stabilizing Array," then looked at Mo Hua and said, surprised, "It's too early for you to understand this right now. This isn't something you can draw yet."

"I'm just curious and want to understand the principles behind it," Mo Hua earnestly asked for guidance.

"Well... that's fine too. It's good for you to know some things ahead of time," Instructor Yan became more spirited. Normally, he taught basic array patterns, which were somewhat dull. It was rare to discuss a decent array like this, clearly increasing his interest.

"Arrays are composed of array patterns arranged and connected together. Simple arrays include fewer array patterns, while more difficult ones contain more, with complex and ingenious arrangements of spatial constructions and connections. The Earth Stabilizing Array includes four array patterns that need to be drawn in fixed positions and in a specific sequence, with additional requirements for the positions of Qian and Kun..."

Instructor Yan spoke enthusiastically, and Mo Hua listened with great interest until the end of the lesson. Instructor Yan still seemed somewhat reluctant to stop and then cautioned, "The path of arrays is vast and profound. Understanding in advance is good, but what the sect teaches is just the basics of the basics. It's not even considered an entry. If you want to become a true array master, the difficulty and effort required are beyond your current imagination..."

Instructor Yan paused for a moment and added, "At the same time, you must never aim too high and attempt to draw arrays you cannot yet master. It's okay to look, but actually drawing them can easily deplete your spiritual consciousness. Remember this!"

Mo Hua bowed respectfully, "I've learned a lot, Instructor!"

(End of the chapter)