Chapter 109 - 71: A Storm Is Brewing

Chapter 109: Chapter 71: A Storm Is Brewing

Night fell over Bamboo Forest Peak. Inside Li Yinsheng’s Bamboo House, Meng Yu walked out accompanied by Li Yinsheng, her face pale with exhaustion and her expression dazed.

Having learned what had happened at the Shouyi Temple station last night, she had sought out Li Yinsheng this afternoon, worried that he might have been bullied by Shouyi Temple. Fortunately, Li Yinsheng was completely unscathed. He even had the leisure to consult her about the Array Dao.

Relieved, and considering that she had no pressing matters—coupled with the fact that Li Yinsheng seemed somehow even more handsome than yesterday—Meng Yu immediately chose to stay. Discussing the Array Dao was a good thing; fellow cultivators should always exchange pointers.

Then, she discovered that this person, who previously claimed to know absolutely nothing about Arrays, had already deduced the Arrays in the Array of Profound Mystery to an extremely profound Realm. If they were solely discussing the Arrays within the Array of Profound Mystery, he had already surpassed her.

Although the Array of Profound Mystery wasn’t her Major Cultivation and she devoted most of her energy to the core inheritance of the Jade Altar Temple, the fact that his mastery over it exceeded hers was still incredibly astonishing. Not a single person in the younger generation of the Jade Altar Temple could achieve such a feat.

For a moment, Meng Yu even suspected that Li Yinsheng had been playing her for a fool. Perhaps he was actually an Array Cultivator who had immersed himself in the Array Dao for years, but due to some unspeakable reasons, he had asked her to go to Xuanzhen Temple for the Array Formation. However, after a deep discussion regarding the Array Dao, she had to admit that this was likely Li Yinsheng’s first real encounter with it.

Classified by their duration, Arrays were broadly divided into two categories.

The first type was temporary Arrays. Their existence and functional duration ranged from a few hours to several months. Their main appeal lay in being convenient and cheap. They either required very few materials or only consumed Magical Power, completely eliminating the need for Array Formation materials. Generally, a single person could set them up.

The second category consisted of permanent Arrays, such as the Bright Spirit Refining Array and other Spirit Refining Arrays, or Mountain Protection Arrays. As long as they were properly maintained, they could last for centuries or even longer. Consequently, permanent Arrays consumed an exorbitant amount of materials and required a great deal of manpower.

Temporary and permanent Arrays shared many similarities and naturally complemented each other. The former was mostly used for Magical Combat and self-defense, while the latter was the fundamental means of earning talismanic coins. Any normal Array Master would never focus solely on just one.

Yet, during her discussion with Li Yinsheng, Meng Yu realized that he truly only understood temporary Arrays. Since the Array of Profound Mystery was a Magic meant for using Arrays against enemies, it only recorded temporary Arrays. Therefore, because Li Yinsheng relied entirely on the Array of Profound Mystery to deduce Arrays, his accomplishments were strictly limited to temporary ones. When it came to permanent Arrays, he only knew the most basic of concepts.

When it came to materials, he was practically clueless. He had basically asked, "Materials? What materials? Aren’t the materials for Array Formation just chess pieces manifested from one’s own Magical Power?"

After talking with Li Yinsheng for a long time and repeatedly testing him, Meng Yu finally had to concede that this guy’s knowledge of Arrays genuinely seemed to stem entirely from the Array of Profound Mystery.

She wondered, "Is he even human? How can someone spend just one day studying a Magic based on an Array Combat Technique and turn into a half-baked, specialized Array Master? Then what are my twenty years of bitter study since childhood worth?!"

Feeling her Dao heart subtly destabilizing, Meng Yu wanted to take her leave. Yet, staring at that face that seemed even more flawless than yesterday, she couldn’t help but stay a little longer. She then sold Li Yinsheng quite a few Array Dao books for ten talismanic coins each, helping him fill in the gaps in his Array knowledge.

None of these books were exclusive or restricted. Although ten talismanic coins was indeed a friendship price, buying them through regular channels would only cost thirty to fifty talismanic coins each. After all, when it came to Arrays, a massive mountain range often stood between reading a book and actually understanding it.

Being able to afford Array Books rarely had anything to do with becoming an Array Master. For a one-inch-thick Array Book, if someone with above-average comprehension listened to an Array Master explain it for two or three hours every day, they would have to study bitterly for a year just to barely understand it. Understanding ten such books was roughly enough to take the first steps toward becoming an Array Master.

One Array Book cost fifty talismanic coins. Hiring an Array Master to explain the book also cost fifty talismanic coins per hour. Good luck trying to learn Arrays with prices like that.

In one breath, Meng Yu sold Li Yinsheng a hundred of these Array Dao books. Among them, seven or eight were so profoundly obscure that even she only half-understood them. Not caring whether Li Yinsheng could comprehend them or not, she handed the books over and hastily took her leave.

She had to tell her master about this immediately! It would be best if her master could directly pull Li into the Jade Altar Temple, making him change allegiances. No matter the cost, it would be worth it. She even felt that with Li Yinsheng’s talent, they could absolutely invite a secluded Daoist ancestor out of cultivation and beseech them to personally take him as a disciple.

***

After seeing Meng off, Li Yinsheng returned to his room. Leaning back in his reclining chair, he picked up an Array Book and began reading leisurely.

Meng was truly a scholar of profound knowledge, pulling out a hundred books in one go. However, these were only the basic foundations of the Array Dao. Precious items like Array Maps, which were no less valuable than Pill Formulas or Secret Techniques, naturally couldn’t be bought for a mere few dozen talismanic coins.

He had already decided to spend all his outside cultivation time cramming his knowledge of Arrays. With his current Cultivation, the increase in Cultivation gained from daily practice was truly a drop in the ocean. If he poured all his energy into studying Arrays, his progress would be exponential.

Li Yinsheng read, silently memorizing the Array Dao knowledge within, while simultaneously expending his Heart and Spirit to activate his Chess Soul, comprehending and deducing the things he memorized.

***

Meanwhile, at the Shouyi Temple station.

The previously devastated Shouyi Temple station had basically been restored to a functional state after a day and a night of cleaning. The roofs that had been blown off were replaced with new ones. The disciples of Shouyi Temple lined up in the clearing, every single one of them looking listless.

"Come, hold onto these Protective Talismans. They will protect you from being ambushed by monsters while patrolling."

Steward Chen and Steward Xu handed out simple metal plates to the disciples one by one. These metal plates all looked roughly the same: three inches long, two inches wide, and one inch thick. They were iron-gray all over, with a few simple arcs engraved on the front.

"For tomorrow’s patrol, no leaves of absence and no tardiness are permitted. Anyone who misses the assembly will be punished with the disciplinary cane! You all must remember this well!" Vice Temple Master Zhao lectured the disciples, his beard charred black.

"Understood," a feeble, lifeless response echoed from the crowd.

"Why is it so quiet!" Vice Temple Master Zhao barked, thoroughly dissatisfied.

"Understood!!!"

Vice Temple Master Zhao nodded in satisfaction. The Magical Artifacts meant to awaken the Subordinate Insects had already been distributed. He only needed to wait until tomorrow when these disciples scattered across the mountain, and then he would notify Elder Chongyun. At that time, all the Subordinate Insects would collectively break out of their cocoons and drain the Cloud Bamboo entirely, effectively ruining the Huang Bamboo Temple.

That old fossil Liang Qiwu had the audacity to blatantly take sides yesterday, favoring that brat from Xuanzhen Temple. Once all the Cloud Bamboo withered and died, he would see if Liang Qiwu could still keep his position as Vice Temple Master!

Now, he just had to wait for Elder Chongyun to appear tomorrow. Vice Temple Master Zhao couldn’t wait to see the looks of despair and utter hopelessness on the faces of Liang Qiwu and Qi Jiushan.