Chapter 305: A Newly Devised Sword Array

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Upon entering the 6th floor of the Array Scripture Pavilion, the hall where the Infinite Void Temple…one of the three great sects of the human race…gathered formations, the first thought that occurred to Jin So-myeong was precisely this.

‘It is marvelous.’

Jeok Song had said that the arrays on the lower floors were too ambiguous to be called secret transmissions and told him to go straight to the 6th floor, but those were humble words.

He was currently checking the arrays on the lower floors through his clones, and even the formations on the 1st floor were sufficiently usable.

To the extent of being helpful even to Jin So-myeong, a Void Refinement stage sword cultivator?

In fact, in a way, it was only natural.

For were the arrays in the Array Scripture Pavilion not chosen and selected from among countless formations?

It was no exaggeration to call it the place where the essence of human formations gathered, so it would have been stranger if they were useless.

Even the 1st floor alone was quite rewarding, so what would the 6th floor indeed be like?

He checked whichever jade slip came to hand first, and his head nodded on its own.

The Myriad Mirrors Prison-Shattering Array.

‘An array that traps the opponent’s Divine Sense with ten thousand mirrors and even collapses their Law Domain.’

Its characteristic was that its power grew stronger as the number of mirrors increased, and it was an outstanding array excellent enough to work even against a Void Refinement stage Great Circle expert.

Of course, since the enemy he had to face was an Unity stage Dao Sovereign, he could not use this array as it was.

He planned to combine the advantages of several arrays to create a powerful ultimate technique.

Normally, weaving several arrays into one was a difficult task that took at least several hundred years, but with his Supreme Great Ability, there was no need to worry.

‘The Light-Splitting Shadow-Confusing Array? This is also not bad.’

It was an array that distorted the opponent’s senses by scattering brilliance that bewildered the soul, making it effective in a battle where life and death were decided in an instant.

He read carefully to understand the core principles, repeating the process of examining the next jade slip.

How much time had passed?

As he checked various arrays, he got a rough feeling of what kind of formation he should aim for.

‘It would be best to have an array that I do not need to worry about once it is laid out.’

He wished to establish a favorable environment with the array, and after that, focus on swinging his sword as usual.

He must not forget that formations were strictly auxiliary, and the sword was his primary force.

‘Should I focus on the effect of suppressing the opponent?’

For instance, if he dulled the opponent’s senses and targeted their vital points, even a strong enemy with whom he originally had to trade hundreds of blows could be cut down in a single slash.

‘Or an offensive array with extremely heightened destructive power is also not bad.’

While turning over such thoughts, he focused on the jade slips again.

He read the explanations about the arrays and immersed himself to understand the essence contained within them.

How many days had passed?

After examining all the arrays on the 6th floor of the Array Scripture Pavilion, Jin So-myeong headed to the 7th floor, and there were exactly five jade slips here.

He felt disappointed yet expectant at the same time.

Just how strict were the criteria for selection that there were only five?

He immediately reached out his hand toward the nearest jade slip.

‘The Ten Thousand Men Resonating Treasure-Controlling Formula?’

It was a method where ten thousand Soul Formation stage or a hundred Void Refinement stage cultivators combined their strength to activate a Rank 7 dharma treasure.

It was fascinating, but since he was a rogue cultivator who traveled alone, it did not seem like it would be of much help.

‘Still, I should read it.’

Perhaps because it was a Rank 7 array, it was difficult to understand, but it had its own useful parts.

‘If I research it well, I might even be able to unleash it with my clones…’

The method of gathering a large amount of low-realm energy to transcend ranks seemed like it would be put to useful use.

After reading it repeatedly several times, he moved on to the next.

The Heaven and Earth Life-Nourishing Age-Reversing Array.

It was a highly unique array, and summarizing simply only its core, it was the essence of a formation for living a long life.

A pulsating heaven and earth nature…for example, an array that could be unleashed in places like dense forests or oceans where life was beginning to stir.

It was said that while staying inside the array, one assimilated with the cycle of nature, extending one’s lifespan by up to five times.

He felt his eyes fly open at the marvelous effect, but the joy did not last long.

‘It is an array with many drawbacks.’

Strictly speaking, it was not that his lifespan was extended, but that the speed of aging was slowed.

While extending his lifespan with this secret art, he could not step outside the array, nor could he cultivate properly.

It was literally close to a desperate measure to live as long as possible.

‘It is a bit much to use as it is, but if I improve it with the Supreme Great Ability, it will become usable.’

Tapping the jade slip, which was so old that the carvings on its surface were faint, he examined the next array.

The Secret Vein Settling-Injection Array and the Mysterious Curtain Heaven-Sealing Grand Array.

First, since the Secret Vein Settling-Injection Array was close to a methodology for managing high-realm spiritual veins, he skimmed through it lightly and passed it by.

And the Mysterious Curtain Heaven-Sealing Grand Array was an array designed to escape the flow of causality.

He had an instinctive intuition that it was something extremely important, but no matter how much he examined it, he could not understand its contents.

He checked to see if it could be registered in the proficiency system, and as expected of a Rank 7 array, the required amount of Supreme Great Ability was massive.

He had to invest at least tens of trillions of units of Supreme Great Ability at once to barely gain entry.

‘…Let us simply master it slowly.’

Even if mastering it in one breath via the proficiency system was impossible, it was possible to receive the help of the Supreme Great Ability in the process of personal contemplation and realization.

Putting aside his regret, he examined the last jade slip, and this was incredibly useful.

The Myriad Arrays Strengthening Essentials.

It was literally a secret transmission concerning the knack of raising the power of arrays to their limit.

‘Oh.’

Since it was precisely the content he needed, he read it carefully and thoroughly, and it was easy to read since it was explained step-by-step from the basics.

[To unleash an array, one must roughly go through three stages.]

The first was to utilize various energies existing in the world to form an intangible flow, an array circuit.

The second was to lock the flow utilizing spiritual objects called array mediums.

Lastly, if one injected various power sources such as dharma power, immortal stones, or spiritual veins to activate the circuit, mysterious phenomena like sealing, explosions, amplification, or teleportation could be triggered.

In other words, the flow of energy, the array medium to lock the circuit, and the power source.

These three could be said to be the core that constituted an array, and the more these elements were developed, the stronger the array’s power became.

Simply put, the more elaborate the circuit, the more outstanding the array medium, and the larger the injected power source, the stronger the array’s power became.

Upon reading up to this point, a divine ability suddenly occurred to him.

Snap!

As he snapped his fingers, the lightning Qi poured into the air condensed into a single point and turned into a bright yellow crystal.

The Thunder Dao Refining Art, a divine ability obtained from hunting the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard in the desert in the past. Utilizing this divine ability, he could materialize lightning Qi.

‘Since I have the Thunder Dao Refining Art, it is not a problem even if an array requires many array mediums.’

Normally, arrays that required many array mediums tended to be stronger, and since lightning crystals could be made infinitely as long as he had dharma power, they were perfect to use as mediums.

It meant that one of the three stages for unleashing an array could be easily resolved.

Jin So-myeong, who had been nodding his head, continued to read down the jade slip, but the content that was simple to understand at first gradually became complex.

[All phenomena leave traces even as time flows.]

‘The present is made of countless pasts piled up. If only one can lift that veil, the power of the past can be summoned into the present…?’

It was said that if one resonated with the past along a stream of residual scent to break down the wall, they could exert power that far transcended limits regardless of the three elements of arrays explained earlier.

Reading silently, a bitter smile slipped out of him.

‘It suddenly becomes much more difficult.’

Could it be that true secret transmissions were not easily acquired?

He could roughly grasp what it meant, but he could not understand at all how to concretely carry it out.

Placing down the jade slip he had read repeatedly, Jin So-myeong sought out a wide, flat space and sat cross-legged.

He closed his eyes gently and fell into deep meditation.

This was to weave the knowledge obtained after coming to the Array Scripture Pavilion into one, and create a powerful array that would work even against Unity stage Dao Sovereigns.

*

The face of Jin So-myeong, who had not stepped out of the Array Scripture Pavilion for an entire year, brightened distinctly.

“Finally…!”

After investing trillions of units of the Supreme Great Ability and dedicating himself to research day after day, he was finally able to complete a sword array possessing Integration-grade power.

Jin So-myeong, clenching his fists tightly, sparkled his eyes.

‘I should test it.’

After leaving the Array Scripture Pavilion and heading to an empty wasteland, he converted the dormant Primordial One Qi into lightning Qi.

Crackle…!

The instant he guided and poured forward the lightning Qi that caused discharging phenomena, rumble!

The bundles of lightning tearing the empty sky apart divided into three branches and formed the shape of giant swords.

Thump, thump, thump!

Giant swords with lengths reaching several kilometers pierced vertically to form a triangle, and the swords standing tall in the earth vibrated with a hum and began to resonate.

Clang!

The moment a sharp metallic sound rang, a whitish slash discharged from the giant swords cut through the empty sky.

It was a considerably sharp energy, but to speak honestly, it was weak compared to the slashes Jin So-myeong unleashed personally.

If considering power alone, was it at the level of one-thousandth?

It was no exaggeration to call it a pathetic level, but it did not matter.

For it was from now on that the sword array would exert its true power.

Clang!

The instant the slash traversing the empty sky collided with another sword, it bounced off as if reflected by a mirror, and amazingly, a single slash divided into two.

The slashes, which increased to two, collided with other swords and divided once more, and similar scenes were repeated countlessly.

And so, in the end, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang…!

A deafening metallic sound continued endlessly.

‘It is a magnificent sight.’

There was so much sharp Qi flying through the empty sky that the entire heaven was filled with silver due to the sword Qi, which was so whitish that it could barely be seen clearly.

Jin So-myeong, who had been admiring, pulled out a Rank 6 mineral that was in his sub-space and threw it.

Shatter!

The mineral, which flew drawing a parabola, turned into dust and scattered.

It had been completely chopped into pieces by the countless sword Qi and turned to powder.

‘Not bad.’

Looking at the exponentially increasing sword Qi, the name of the newly devised sword array occurred to him.

Limitless Sword Heaven.

Since sword Qi more numerous than the stars in the night sky filled the heaven, it was a perfectly fitting name.

‘If I increase the number of lightning swords, the power will grow larger.’

Since it was a test run this time, he had limited the lightning swords to three, but in actual combat, there was no need to do so.

If he poured out dozens of lightning swords he had made and stacked in advance all at once, he could exert a power that was difficult even for himself, the one who unleashed the array, to handle.

Jin So-myeong, nodding in satisfaction, flew into the center of the sword Qi storm.

Clang, clang!

The raging sharp Qi brushed past his skin.

Faint sword wounds appeared here and there on his skin, but it was bearable.

It was not because the power was weak, but because the spirituality contained in the slashes recognized the master and avoided him.

Of course, it was not perfect.

Splat…!

He jerked his head at something whitish flying toward his glabella, and his earlobe split open.

Although sharp Qi that broke out of control attacked occasionally…

‘This much is good enough.’

To be a threat to an Unity stage Dao Sovereign, stability had to be abandoned.

And, this array had another utility other than combat.

“Mugeuk. Come out for a second.”

Hum…?

A white cotton candy looking plumper than usual…no, Mugeuk, upon discovering the sword Qi storm, froze stiff.

Only for a brief moment, it shook its body quickly left and right, refusing.

“Are you full already?”

“Hum!”

Its struggling was as if it had caught indigestion.

It seemed to have reached its limit after he had kept feeding it sharp Qi recently to research the array.

Looking at the fellow who was right on the verge of reaching Rank 6 high-grade, he nodded.

“Tell me when you have digested it. I will give you more.”

…Hum!

Drawing a crooked circle unlike its usual self, Mugeuk flew with a whoosh and began to drift between the sword Qi storm.

It was not absorbing the sharp Qi, but was flying around and playing between the sword Qi storm like a fish swimming in the sea.

Looking at the sword Qi responding in accordance with Mugeuk’s movements, he stroked his chin.

‘I can leave controlling the sword array to Mugeuk.’

Looking away after watching Mugeuk play as if swimming, he pulled out one of the elixirs in his sub-space and swallowed it, and his mind, which had grown fatigued from researching formations, cleared up while his Divine Sense grew stronger.

If anyone had seen this scene, they would have been dumbfounded.

For what he had just eaten casually like a snack was the Clear Soul Mind-Settling Pill, the secret transmission elixir of the Dark Soul Demonic Sect.

A treasure that healed a broken soul and grew Divine Sense.

The reason he could swallow an elixir that was too precious for even the Dark Soul Demonic Sect elders to consume rashly, was… naturally because he had already copied over ten of them.