Chapter 287 - Foundations and Hidden Flaws

Chapter 287: Chapter 287 - Foundations and Hidden Flaws

The gathering on Clear Cloud Peak did not last much longer.

Once Su Bai agreed to begin developing the Sect-Scale version, the others had little reason to remain. The larger formation would take time to design, but the existing Sect Suppression Array was already complete enough to begin construction immediately.

Huo Yan was particularly unwilling to waste another moment.

Before leaving, he looked toward Su Bai and gave a rare satisfied laugh.

"That phenomenon of yours came at a good time. One of those needles showed me something I had overlooked in my own formation work."

Su Bai looked at him with interest.

Huo Yan continued, "It was not a flaw large enough to ruin a formation, but I had developed a habit of compensating for unstable circulation by strengthening the surrounding formation lines. It worked, so I stopped questioning it."

He shook his head.

"After seeing the weakness directly, I finally understood why several parts of your Sect Suppression Array felt strange when I first studied them. You solved the same problem by changing how the sections supported one another instead of simply reinforcing everything around them."

Su Bai nodded slowly.

That was exactly one of the principles he had used.

The formation was not meant to become a single massive structure where every part depended on everything else. Each section had to remain useful on its own while still being capable of supporting the surrounding sections.

If one area was breached, the entire formation could not be allowed to collapse with it.

Huo Yan’s eyes had already begun drifting toward Heavenly Forge Peak.

"We have the blueprint, the construction method, and more than enough material to begin. What I need now are people to help me place the anchors and establish the first circulation routes."

Li Xuanzong nodded.

"Take whoever you require."

That was enough.

Within moments, the senior figures departed Clear Cloud Peak to begin preparations.

Su Bai watched them leave before turning toward his hut.

He had his own work to do.

Inside, he gathered several large sheets of parchment, along with ink and the brush.

One sheet would not be enough this time.

The Large-Scale Sect Suppression Array had already required an intricate network of formation lines, but extending the same concept across the entire sect was another matter entirely.

The peaks, the outer sect, and the remaining occupied areas could not simply be enclosed beneath a larger copy of the original design.

The terrain was different.

The existing defensive formations were different.

Even the spiritual veins flowing beneath the mountains did not behave uniformly.

Su Bai spread the parchment across the table until most of its surface disappeared beneath white sheets.

Fortunately, he was not beginning from nothing.

The Large-Scale formation already contained the principles he needed. Its sections could restrict movement, interfere with Qi circulation, reinforce neighboring areas, and isolate compromised sections without bringing down the rest of the array.

The Sect-Scale version simply had to make those principles work across a much larger and more complicated structure.

More importantly, whatever Huo Yan built today would not become useless once the larger formation was ready.

Su Bai had already considered that.

The Large-Scale formation could become one of the inner layers of the future Sect-Scale array. The larger design would spread beyond it, connect additional peaks and defensive nodes, and allow the existing formation to continue operating as part of the whole.

Nothing needed to be dismantled.

That saved them time they did not have.

Still, Su Bai did not immediately lower his brush.

Speed mattered, but a mistake at this scale could turn a defensive formation into a disaster.

If two circulation routes conflicted, spiritual energy could accumulate where it should not. If one isolation section was designed poorly, sealing an invaded area might also trap allies inside or cut reinforcement from the wrong direction.

The larger the formation became, the less forgiving such mistakes would be.

Su Bai closed his eyes for a moment.

The Dao-Shattering Jade activated within him.

The familiar pressure sharpened his thoughts almost immediately.

When he opened his eyes again, his brush descended.

Ink flowed across the first sheet of parchment.

...

While Su Bai worked in isolation, Radiant Sky Sect was anything but quiet.

The Dao Phenomenon had already vanished, but the effects it left behind were only beginning to appear.

Disciples who had spent months struggling against bottlenecks suddenly understood what had been holding them back.

Several breakthroughs occurred before midday.

None of them were caused directly by the illusory needles. The phenomenon had only shown each cultivator where the problem was.

That alone had been enough.

Training grounds throughout the sect filled quickly as disciples rushed to test what they had learned while the realization remained fresh.

No one needed to ask where the phenomenon had come from.

By now, the answer was almost embarrassingly obvious.

Clear Cloud Peak had become the first place everyone looked whenever something impossible happened.

Shen Youran had already ordered the disciples and elders who understood the significance of the event to keep the details within the sect. The instruction was accepted without complaint.

After everything Su Bai had brought home, few people needed convincing.

The comprehension walls had already benefited countless disciples. The materials from Fallen-Star Sanctuary would strengthen the sect for years, and now his breakthrough had briefly allowed nearly everyone to see weaknesses they might otherwise have spent years discovering.

The old stories surrounding Saint Su Bai began circulating again before the day was even half over.

Some of the younger disciples embellished them shamelessly.

Fortunately, Su Bai was too busy drawing formations to hear any of it.

...

At Heavenly Forge Peak, construction preparations had already begun.

The mountains of materials Su Bai had left outside Huo Yan’s forging chamber were finally being disturbed in earnest.

Huo Yan stood before a large projection of the Sect Suppression Array while Li Xuanzong, Lu Canghai, Jian Wushuang, Shen Youran, Mo Shanyue, and Yao Ding remained nearby.

Several elders from Heavenly Forge Peak had also been summoned.

Huo Yan pointed toward one of the outer sections of the projected formation.

"We are not building a single cage around the sect."

His finger moved across the interconnected lines.

"The array is divided into sections. Each section controls its own area, but neighboring sections can reinforce one another."

He shifted his hand toward another part of the projection.

"If an enemy enters here, we can suppress movement and interfere with Qi circulation only in this area. The surrounding sections remain active and can strengthen the suppression without affecting the rest of the sect."

One of the elders studied the pattern carefully.

"And if the section is compromised?"

"We cut it off."

Huo Yan tapped the boundary between two sections.

"The formation seals the damaged area away while the remaining sections continue operating. Losing one part will not bring down everything connected to it."

That was what had impressed him most when he first examined Su Bai’s design.

Most large defensive formations became increasingly vulnerable as their scale grew. A failure in one important node could spread instability through the entire structure.

Su Bai’s formation expected parts of itself to fail.

It was built to survive that possibility.

Huo Yan turned toward the piles of materials surrounding them.

"The first anchors will be placed around the most important inner areas. Once those are stable, we connect them through secondary nodes and gradually extend the suppression field outward."

They already possessed suitable metals, ancient components, spirit-conducting ores, and enough miscellaneous materials from Fallen-Star Sanctuary that Huo Yan had several possible substitutes for nearly every required part.

For once, resources were not the problem.

The difficult part would be placing everything correctly.

Orders spread quickly across Heavenly Forge Peak.

Elders began selecting materials while others left to survey the intended anchor locations.

Lu Canghai watched the activity for a while before his attention drifted toward Li Xuanzong.

Something that had bothered him since the Dao Phenomenon suddenly returned to mind.

"Old Li."

Li Xuanzong glanced toward him.

Lu Canghai narrowed his eyes.

"Those illusory needles never touched you, did they?"

Several nearby conversations slowed.

Li Xuanzong’s expression remained perfectly calm.

Lu Canghai’s suspicion deepened.

"It seems our Sect Master has already perfected himself so thoroughly that even Heaven and Earth could not find a flaw."

The corner of Li Xuanzong’s eye twitched.

It was small, but unfortunately, Lu Canghai knew him too well.

After a brief silence, Li Xuanzong coughed.

"Small matters need not be discussed."

Mo Shanyue laughed first.

Huo Yan stopped sorting materials long enough to glance over.

Even Jian Wushuang’s normally restrained expression softened.

Lu Canghai stroked his beard with obvious satisfaction.

"So there was something."

"I said nothing of the sort."

"That sounded very much like something."

Li Xuanzong ignored him and picked up another formation component.

Mo Shanyue, still amused, suddenly remembered something else.

"Speaking of that, I did not see any of the needles approach Sister Shen either."

The laughter weakened.

Several heads turned slowly.

Shen Youran was standing a short distance away, calmly examining a group of metals.

Lu Canghai snorted.

"That is hardly surprising. The Old Witch has no weakness."

He paused.

His expression became thoughtful as he looked at her.

A dangerous idea clearly entered his mind.

"No, that cannot be right."

Huo Yan immediately sensed trouble.

Lu Canghai continued anyway.

"Her weakness simply isn’t here. How could the needles possibly find it?"

For a heartbeat, nobody reacted.

Jian Wushuang looked away.

Mo Shanyue failed first.

A laugh escaped him, and Huo Yan followed soon afterward. Even Li Xuanzong lowered his head while a quiet chuckle escaped despite his earlier dignity.

Shen Youran did not turn around.

That somehow made it worse.

The temperature around Heavenly Forge Peak seemed to drop several degrees.

Lu Canghai’s smile slowly disappeared.

Mo Shanyue stopped laughing.

Huo Yan suddenly found the materials in his hands extremely interesting.

Li Xuanzong returned to examining the formation component as though he had never participated in anything.

Shen Youran finally spoke without looking at them.

"Are you all finished?"

No one answered.

The elders farther away continued working with admirable dedication and carefully avoided looking toward the Peak Masters.

Huo Yan cleared his throat.

"We should place the first anchors before evening."

Everyone immediately agreed that this was an excellent idea.

...

Back on Clear Cloud Peak, Su Bai remained completely unaware that his Dao Phenomenon had nearly caused another incident among the sect’s senior generation.

Several sheets of parchment were already covered in dense formation lines.

The original Large-Scale array occupied the center of the design, but new connections had begun spreading beyond it, following the shape of Radiant Sky Sect itself.

Su Bai’s brush slowed as another possibility emerged within his sharpened thoughts.

The Sect-Scale formation did not merely need more sections.

It needed something capable of coordinating them.

His gaze settled on the unfinished space between the formation networks.

After several breaths, the brush descended again.

This time, the structure he began drawing was different.