Chapter 531: Meditation Cushions
Chapter 533: Meditation Cushions
The next day, the Grand Elder opened the door and burned incense.
Smoke curled above the divine shrine.
Mo Hua and the other two sat on their meditation cushions, just as they had yesterday, calming their minds and focusing on the shrine.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi quickly entered meditation, continuing to visualize the array patterns.
Mo Hua, however, still couldn’t visualize anything.
The shrine was just a shrine.
On the Daoist training hall’s platform, the gathering of array masters looked like wooden statues, completely lifeless.
Above the array platform, smoke lingered, but not a single stroke of an array pattern appeared.
Mo Hua sighed, lay on the floor, and watched his junior brother and junior sister as they visualized the shrine.
Half an hour later, Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi opened their eyes, exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Mo Hua.
Mo Hua’s eyes brightened slightly. “How is it?”
Bai Zixi said, “Same as yesterday. What I see is still the Wood Spirit Array. Even after learning it, only the Wood Spirit Array appears in the hall—no other Five Elements arrays.”
Bai Zisheng nodded. “What I see is only the Fire Spirit Array, but I didn’t finish learning it yesterday. Today I finally completed it…”
Mo Hua frowned.
The Five Elements Spirit Arrays consist of five absolute arrays: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
Now they had the Wood and Fire Spirit Arrays. Where were the others hidden?
Mo Hua scanned the fourth floor of the Array Repository again, his gaze landing on the meditation cushions on the floor.
Five cushions… five elements arrays…
Bai Zixi noticed too and asked, “Could it be related to the cushions?”
Mo Hua nodded, thinking:
“That stingy old Grand Elder… before entering he reminded us not to damage a single brick or piece of wood in this room, not to move any of the furnishings…”
“‘Not to move any furnishings’…”
“Could he have meant these meditation cushions?”
“These cushions are definitely unusual…”
Mo Hua looked at the cushions again, his eyes gradually lighting up. “The difference in arrays learned comes from… the different meditation cushions…”
“Sitting on different cushions, you visualize different Five Elements Spirit Arrays…”
“Five cushions, perfectly matching the five arrays!”
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi’s eyes lit up. “Let’s try it!”
Bai Zixi sat on the leftmost cushion, Bai Zisheng on the rightmost one.
They focused their minds, eyes on the shrine, visualizing the array patterns.
An hour later, Bai Zisheng was still visualizing.
Bai Zixi had finished, exited meditation, and turned to Mo Hua:
“It’s the Metal Spirit Array.”
Mo Hua understood instantly.
His guess was correct: the Five Elements Spirit Arrays corresponded to the five cushions. Sitting on different cushions allowed one to visualize different arrays.
He was still a little surprised.
“Junior Sister, you’ve learned the Metal Spirit Array?”
In just one hour of meditation, she had already mastered it?
Bai Zixi nodded. “Once you grasp one pattern, all others follow naturally.”
Mo Hua’s mind cleared.
This must be what Master referred to—the supreme inheritance of the array system: the Celestial Heavens Array Flow.
Using the Celestial Heavens Array Flow, one could comprehend extremely profound arrays.
And with Junior Sister’s flawless roots, combined with the supreme array flow, the effect was even more remarkable.
Hence, she learned the Five Elements Spirit Arrays quickly.
Bai Zixi then said to Mo Hua, “Move over.”
Mo Hua was momentarily stunned.
Bai Zixi pointed at the cushion he was sitting on.
Mo Hua realized: one cushion, one array. The only array left unlearned was the one for the cushion he occupied.
He rose and made way.
Bai Zixi walked gracefully and sat down.
Sitting close, Mo Hua could even catch a faint fragrance—a clear, elegant scent that lingered in his nose and heart.
His face reddened slightly, and he felt a bit flustered.
Bai Zixi looked at him with curious eyes. “What’s wrong? Feeling unwell?”
Mo Hua shook his head, making an excuse in a serious tone:
“I’m embarrassed… I can’t learn arrays.”
Bai Zixi was silent for a moment, hesitated for a long while, then made up her mind. She slowly reached out, patted Mo Hua’s shoulder, exuding the poise of a senior sister:
“It’s fine, I’ll help you learn!”
Mo Hua’s heart warmed, and he smiled brightly. “Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Seeing Mo Hua’s clear smile, Bai Zixi’s heart stirred strangely. She composed herself, her expression serious, and said:
“I’m learning the array now. Don’t disturb me.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly, then sat cross-legged behind her, sitting upright as he “protected” his senior sister.
Bai Zixi felt his gaze, unsettling yet warming, like winter sunlight—clear, gentle, comforting, but slightly awkward for someone long accustomed to the cold.
She closed her eyes to calm herself, then opened them again, her eyes serene, focusing on the shrine to visualize the last of the Five Elements Spirit Arrays—the Water Spirit Array.
Mo Hua silently watched her, finding it far from boring.
The shrine was quiet. Time quietly passed…
Two hours later, the incense burned out again.
The hall was silent.
The Grand Elder opened the door, glanced at the three, and said lightly:
“The time is up.”
Mo Hua and the others left the Array Repository, returned to their room, and leaned over the table, reviewing their progress:
“I’ve learned the Earth Spirit Array!”
“I’ve learned the Metal Spirit Array, and more than half of the Water Spirit Array. I’ve recorded the patterns, but my understanding is still partial…”
Mo Hua nodded.
Earth, Metal, Water… adding the previously learned Wood and Fire Spirit Arrays, the Five Elements Spirit Arrays were basically complete.
“But… is it really that simple?”
Mo Hua frowned.
An absolute array with thirteen strokes shouldn’t be so easily mastered…
“Shall we test the effects?” Bai Zisheng suggested.
Mo Hua considered and nodded.
The purpose of arrays is to apply them.
If an array is drawn and has actual effect, it proves true comprehension.
If it’s ineffective, then they haven’t truly mastered the Five Elements Spirit Arrays.
The Five Elements Spirit Arrays could strengthen elemental attributes, amplify elemental power, enhancing elemental tools, devices, Dao techniques, and spells.
Bai Zixi took out a spirit sword embryo—a blank sword, recently forged, with no array patterns, something she practiced forging for fun.
She drew the Metal Spirit Array on the sword embryo, then used spiritual power to activate it and performed a sword technique.
Golden sword light condensed at the tip, slashing toward the ground.
The ground array was damaged; bricks cracked, leaving a golden trail of spiritual power.
“How was that?” Mo Hua asked.
Bai Zixi shook her head. “Slightly enhanced, but very minimal.”
Mo Hua was a little disappointed.
“Try the others,” Bai Zixi said.
Mo Hua nodded.
They tried all five arrays—Wood, Fire, Water, Earth, and Metal—testing elemental spells where possible.
For the ones they couldn’t use, like Wood and Earth Arrays, Mo Hua improvised “Flowing Sand Technique” and “Wood Poison Technique” to test the arrays.
Though he was a minor Five-Element spiritual root, capable of learning all elemental techniques, they were improvised and weak, not practical in combat, but sufficient for testing.
After all tests, they were somewhat disappointed.
The Five Elements Spirit Arrays seemed to work, but the effect was negligible.
Mo Hua sighed slightly.
Disappointment was expected.
Absolute arrays, besides complex patterns and high Divine-Sense requirements, involve changes in spiritual energy or special array inheritances.
Understanding certain rules was necessary to grasp an absolute array.
The Reverse Spirit Array required derivative calculations.
The Profound-Earth Array required sensing the Dao essence of the earth.
The Spirit-Pivot Array required insight into the central structure of spiritual energy, converting it into threads for precise control.
What about the Five Elements Spirit Arrays? How could one perceive the essence of their spiritual energy to truly master them?
All three were puzzled.
At the hour of Zi.
Mo Hua lay in bed, his Divine-Sense immersed in the Sea of Consciousness.
The Dao Monument appeared before him.
He practiced the Five Elements Spirit Arrays on it, over and over.
Mo Hua’s Divine-Sense was thirteen strokes; the Five Elements Spirit Arrays also required thirteen strokes.
Furthermore, though these were absolute arrays, their root was the Five Elements. Having drawn great Five Elements arrays before, he understood their principles well, so learning them was not too difficult.
After more than ten repetitions, Mo Hua could draw the Five Elements Spirit Arrays.
But that was all.
He could draw the patterns, clear the array pivots, construct the array eyes—only the framework, without grasping the spiritual essence.
This was not true mastery.
The Five Elements Spirit Arrays must hold deeper mysteries.
“Where is this mystery hidden?”
Mo Hua lay on the blank floor of his Sea of Consciousness, hands behind his head, reflecting on the people and events of the Five Elements Sect…
The Grand Elder loyal to tradition, the indifferent Sect Master Liao, a bunch of obscure elders, students in decline…
The sect was built on arrays, massive construction projects…
The Second-Rank Five Elements Guardian Array…
His thoughts wandered.
He felt an inexplicable sense of disharmony in the Five Elements Sect.
But what exactly caused it, he still could not see clearly…
He shook his head and focused on the Five Elements Spirit Arrays.
These arrays were the most important matter.
According to his Master, mastering the Five Elements Spirit Arrays was the foundation for establishing oneself before progressing to Foundation Establishment.
The arrays were hidden in the Array Repository.
Within the repository stood a shrine.
In front of the shrine were five meditation cushions.
The Grand Elder’s purpose was to prevent Mo Hua, his senior brother and sister, and even his Master’s lineage, from mastering the arrays.
He didn’t want the Five Elements Spirit Arrays to spread outside.
Conversely…
It meant that the shrine indeed contained the inheritance of the Five Elements Spirit Arrays.
If the Grand Elder did not intervene, it could be learned by others.
Mo Hua considered it from the perspective of the sect’s ancestors:
If he were an ancestor of the Five Elements Sect…
The first priority wouldn’t be worrying about others learning the inheritance—it would be ensuring disciples truly grasped the sect’s legacy.
If they couldn’t learn it themselves, the sect would collapse.
Even if others learned only fragments, it wouldn’t matter.
In that case…
The shrine must have been crafted by the Five Elements Sect’s ancestor.
The sect’s inheritance was sealed within the shrine.
Future disciples could visualize the shrine and comprehend the Five Elements Spirit Arrays.
If so, this inheritance included not only the array patterns but also the true inner secrets of the arrays.
These secrets could be a Dao essence, a Divine-Sense technique, or a principle of array mastery.
The array patterns were merely the form.
The true secret was the essence of the inheritance.
And this secret must be hidden within the shrine.
Otherwise, no one in the Five Elements Sect could learn the Five Elements Array!
Although now, in truth, no one in the sect could anyway…
Mo Hua thought for a moment and nodded.
It had to be this way!
Not that he was arrogant.
When it came to learning and comprehending a First-Rank absolute formation, few could rival his experience, and few First-Rank array masters had Divine-Sense stronger than his.
Even he couldn’t fully grasp it yet.
Let alone the younger disciples of the Five Elements Sect.
So there must be something hidden inside the shrine…
…
The third day.
As usual, the Grand Elder burned incense, performed the rites, and then closed the doors.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi took turns sitting on the meditation cushions, visualizing the shrine’s dojo.
This was both to reinforce the formation patterns they had learned and to check for any overlooked details.
Mo Hua, as always, neither meditated nor visualized.
Because he couldn’t perceive anything.
The shrine seemed determined to show him nothing.
Instead, Mo Hua focused on something else.
He studied the layout of the fourth floor, the formations, and the specific construction and function of the shrine.
As he observed, he thought:
If he were the founder of the Five Elements Sect, how would he arrange the formations, construct the shrine, and design the method of inheritance—so that disciples could genuinely learn the sect’s orthodox transmission,
while preventing ill-intentioned outsiders—like himself—from stealing the secrets?
First came the formations.
Defensive arrays, soundproofing arrays, and arrays that obstruct Divine-Sense would be indispensable.
Mo Hua scanned the surroundings.
Some formations emanated an extremely obscure, profound, and powerful aura—these must be the methods laid down by the sect’s ancestors.
Though Mo Hua’s experience was limited, he could guess that these formations were at least Third-Rank.
Third-Rank formations were beyond his comprehension.
He would have to ignore them for now.
Next was the shrine.
Mo Hua studied it for a long time, gradually connecting the dots from yesterday’s observations:
The shrine wasn’t necessarily dedicated to ancestors.
Family shrines honor bloodlines.
Sect shrines revere transmission, so this shrine must honor inheritance.
Thus, although the shrine contained ancestral names and wooden carvings of array masters,
its core was the dojo.
The dojo’s meaning is to transmit the Dao.
Its purpose is to allow all disciples of the Five Elements Sect to gaze upon the shrine as if present in the dojo, hearing the ancestors teach, perceiving the true principles of formations, and grasping the profound mysteries of the Dao.
But how does one “hear” it?
Mo Hua glanced at his Little Senior Brother and Sister.
They sat upright on the meditation cushions, staring at the shrine, visualizing the formation diagrams appearing in the dojo.
Meditation cushions…
Mo Hua studied the cushions.
They were ordinary cushions.
Although made of special material, Mo Hua couldn’t understand it; inside, there were no formations, and scanning with Divine-Sense revealed nothing unusual. So the cushions themselves weren’t the key.
“But to visualize, one must sit upon the cushions…”
Mo Hua recalled the Grand Elder’s words:
“All furnishings must not be moved…”
A chill ran through him.
“Must not be moved” meant the cushions couldn’t change position. In other words, the critical aspect of the cushions lay in their orientation…
As his master had said, all things in the world have an exterior and an interior, the tangible and the intangible.
The cushion is the exterior; the orientation is the essence.
The tangible cushion is empty;
The intangible orientation is real.
It isn’t merely sitting on the cushion that allows one to visualize the shrine and comprehend the absolute formation.
It is sitting at the cushion’s precise location that reveals the shrine’s essence.
The Five Elements’ positions…
These five positions correspond to learning the formation patterns of the Five Elements Array.
Could there be other positions?
Sitting in these positions, visualizing the shrine, one could see the shrine’s true secret and grasp the Dao essence hidden within the formation patterns of the Five Elements Array.
Mo Hua’s spirit brightened. He began taking out paper and brush, meticulously marking all positions and layouts on the fourth floor of the hall.
Including the shrine and the five meditation cushions corresponding to Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
Looking at the diagram, his eyes narrowed.
Each cushion corresponded to an element.
Each cushion corresponded to a Five Elements Array.
There seemed to be a special formation relationship between these arrays and the shrine.
And this relationship contained formation principles, which could possibly be derived using Divine-Sense…