Chapter 539: Foundation
Chapter 541: Foundation
The Grand Elder had already risen in haste, his expression grave, and hurried toward the fourth floor.
Mister Zhuang’s gaze darkened slightly. Patterns of calculation emerged in his pupils, deep and unfathomable. At the same time, he twirled a Dao formula between his fingers and waved his sleeve, seemingly erasing something from thin air…
With the severing of heavenly mechanisms, cause and effect were wiped away.
All those present, the sect leader and elders of the Five Elements Sect suddenly froze.
The Grand Elder also stopped in his tracks, stunned and lost in thought. After a moment, his eyes widened in confusion, and he murmured:
“What’s going on?”
“I just now… seem to have forgotten something?”
“What did I forget…”
His mind went completely blank. He furrowed his brow and racked his brain, but could not make sense of it.
It was as if something shocking had just occurred… but at the same time, it seemed like… it was all an illusion.
Like a nap in the afternoon, waking suddenly at midnight, where everything is nothing more than remnants of a dream.
The rain had passed without a trace, hazy and imperceptible.
The Grand Elder glanced at Mister Zhuang suspiciously.
Mister Zhuang was still sipping tea, relaxed and elegant, radiating the composure of an immortal, as if nothing had happened.
Sensing the Grand Elder’s gaze, Zhuang lifted his eyes and asked casually: “What’s the matter?”
The Grand Elder was taken aback and began to doubt himself.
Did Mister Zhuang meddle somehow? But it didn’t seem like it…
What could he have possibly done?
The Grand Elder looked around. Every object—the furnishings, tables, chairs, teacups, screens, and array tower—was exactly as he remembered, without the slightest change.
No trace of external interference.
The Grand Elder shook his head slightly.
“Just an illusion, perhaps…”
In recent days, he had been overly cautious: wary of the Zhuang, wary of that wooden puppet old man, and concerned that the Five Elements Sect’s inheritance might be secretly learned.
His mind had been overloaded, and now it played tricks on him.
If the inheritance had truly been stolen…
At that thought, the Grand Elder’s heart shuddered.
He wanted to go check the altar, but just as he stepped forward, he stopped.
Turning to Zhuang, he said, slightly displeased: “Mister Zhuang, it’s already over an hour past the appointed time. Isn’t that enough…”
Zhuang pretended to hesitate.
The Grand Elder glanced at Old Kui with caution, but only dared a brief look, then returned his attention to Zhuang and insisted:
“Over an hour already, the Five Elements Sect has already yielded. I beg you, sir, please be reasonable…”
Zhuang pondered briefly, then sighed:
“Very well. Whether they succeed or fail is the children’s own fate; it cannot be forced.”
The Grand Elder cupped his hands: “Mister Zhuang, you are truly magnanimous…” Then he gestured politely:
“Please, Mister Zhuang, follow me to take a look.”
Zhuang nodded: “Alright.”
The Grand Elder led the way to the fourth floor of the Array Storage Pavilion, slightly apprehensive as he opened the main door and looked inside.
The meditation cushions were undisturbed, and at first glance, the altar showed no abnormalities.
The incense in the censer had long burned out, leaving only cold ash.
The three young cultivators were all inside.
Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi seemed fine, but Mo Hua was holding his head, frowning, looking somewhat pained, as if…
His Divine Sense had been overexerted?
“Did he not learn it?”
The Grand Elder’s hope flickered.
Mo Hua looked up at Zhuang, hesitating to speak.
Zhuang sighed immediately:
“Very well, if you didn’t learn it, then you didn’t learn it…”
Mo Hua was stunned, then visibly disappointed, lowering his head: “Master… I’ve let you down…”
Zhuang’s expression was one of regret; he said nothing.
Seeing this, the Grand Elder was startled, then let out a long breath of relief. His expression brightened, and a smile spread across his face, blooming like a chrysanthemum.
He chuckled softly, pretending to comfort:
“The Five Elements Spirit Array is the sect’s ultimate formation, first-grade with thirteen patterns, a work of creation itself. Even if one has genius talent, it is extremely difficult to comprehend.”
“You disciples, though gifted and perceptive, are still young. Learning such profound formations, it is normal not to grasp them immediately. Do not be disheartened.”
“The path of cultivation is long… encountering setbacks only tempers the mind and spirit.”
The Grand Elder stroked his beard.
Mo Hua imitated Zhuang, sighed, and cupped his hands: “What you say is true, Grand Elder.”
The Grand Elder raised an eyebrow, glancing at Mo Hua.
This prodigy, once so arrogant and capable of crushing the greatest talents in Dali Mountain Prefecture, now faced the sect’s inheritance and suffered defeat, his face full of disappointment.
It was a sweet feeling in the Grand Elder’s heart, like honey.
He had rarely felt such satisfaction in his life.
He even said: “Mister Zhuang, if you don’t mind, you could stay in the Five Elements Sect for a while longer, so that we might show proper hospitality…”
Zhuang, seemingly uninterested, waved his sleeve: “Perhaps another time.”
With that, he departed.
The three young disciples saluted briefly and followed Zhuang out.
The Grand Elder watched their backs, his smile fading, snorting coldly to himself:
“Serves them right.”
“Do they think anyone can master the inheritance of the Five Elements Sect?”
…
On the way back, no one from the Five Elements Sect was around.
Mo Hua’s disappointment lifted, and he couldn’t help but beam with joy.
But after a while, he frowned, rubbing the back of his head, and said strangely:
“My head… it hurts a bit.”
Bai Zixi paused, her cheeks slightly pink: “That’s because I hit you…”
“Ah…”
Mo Hua froze.
Bai Zixi spoke softly, with a hint of apology: “You had woken before, but you seemed off. So I knocked you out…”
Mo Hua thought for a moment and understood.
When he had been trapped in the altar, the Five Elements little ghost had escaped into his Sea of Consciousness, trying to take advantage of the chance to flee.
Fortunately, his junior sister was clever and knocked him out…
Mo Hua nodded: “It’s alright.”
Still, he rubbed his head, muttering:
“Junior sister hits really hard…”
She’s cultivating magic, but she hasn’t trained her body too, has she…
Seeing Mo Hua continue to rub his head, Bai Zixi realized she might have been too rough and felt a little guilty:
“Still hurts?”
Mo Hua shook his head: “Not much…”
Bai Zixi offered softly: “I’ll massage it for you.”
Mo Hua’s face turned slightly red: “No need…”
Before he could finish speaking, he felt her fingers on his forehead, cool and soft, and the pain disappeared instantly.
Mo Hua’s heart trembled, and his face flushed further.
After a moment, he realized another hand was on his head. Turning, he saw Bai Zisheng massaging as well.
Mo Hua was startled: “What are you doing?”
Bai Zisheng said: “Helping you too.”
Mo Hua refused: “No need!”
Bai Zisheng, rough and careless, ruffled his hair.
“This is a senior’s care for a junior!” he complained.
“No need…”
“You don’t appreciate your blessings?!”
“…”
The two bickered.
Zhuang walked behind them, watching his disciples with a gentle gaze, a faint smile on his lips.
A breeze blew, and Zhuang looked up at the sect’s protective array. His smile slowly faded.
After a moment, his gaze softened again.
But in that softness, there was both regret and melancholy.
…
Once back in their guest room and after a short rest, Zhuang asked Mo Hua:
“Did you learn the Five Elements Spirit Array?”
“Yes!”
With the Grand Elder gone, Mo Hua no longer hid anything and nodded with a smile.
“Not only that, I also saw other things inside the altar…”
Mo Hua recounted in detail everything he had seen and experienced inside the altar.
Zhuang was also surprised:
“Source patterns?”
“Yes,” Mo Hua nodded, then asked:
“Master, are these source patterns the ‘array flow’ of the Five Elements? Does every array flow have source patterns?”
Zhuang looked at Mo Hua and sighed:
“Normally, the secrets of array flows are not something I should reveal to you now…
But since you’ve already seen them and learned the derivative method, I will explain briefly…”
Mo Hua sat upright, listening intently.
Zhuang said: “An array flow, formally called the ‘origin of formations,’ seeks the common principles and essence of a class of formations.”
“The forms of array flow vary.”
“Some are a general-purpose array, like a skeleton. Once learned, drawing similar formations becomes far easier;”
“Some are a Daoic essence; once understood, one can grasp similar formations by analogy;”
“Some take physical form: swords, diagrams, sculptures, even mountains and rivers…”
“Of course, some are like what you saw: a single array pattern.”
“Simplifying complexity into unity, condensing myriad formations into a single ‘source pattern.’”
“This kind of array flow inheritance is harder and more intricate, consuming the most Divine Sense in derivative calculations.”
Zhuang shook his head, his expression full of admiration:
“I did not expect that the ancestors of the Five Elements Sect had such boldness, pouring the entire sect’s effort into deriving source patterns, creating array flows to make the sect’s formations flourish and become a powerhouse of formation arts…”
Mo Hua asked:
“Master, what’s the difference between the Five Elements array flow and the Immortal-Heavens Formation Flow?”
“Does our sect’s Immortal-Heavens Formation Flow include the Five Elements array flow?”
Zhuang paused, then explained:
“An array flow represents the origin of formations.
But what is called a ‘source flow’ is not necessarily the true source flow.”
Mo Hua’s eyes widened:
“The source flow is a personal understanding. Even if it approaches the Dao, it might not be the true Dao?”
Zhuang nodded with satisfaction:
“Yes. So the so-called origin of formations is not necessarily the true source, but the array master’s comprehension and summary of it.”
“Immortal-Heavens array flows are like this; Five Elements array flows are the same.”
“In other words, the array flows derived from Five Elements formations by the sect are called ‘Five Elements array flows.’”
“Other sects’ understanding of the essence of Five Elements formations can also be called ‘Five Elements array flows.’”
Zhuang glanced at Mo Hua meaningfully:
“One day, if you comprehend the essence of the Five Elements yourself and create your own array flow, it can also be called a ‘Five Elements array flow.’”
Mo Hua suddenly understood:
“So the Immortal-Heavens Formation Flow encompasses the source flows of all heavenly formations. Even if it includes Five Elements formations, it may differ from the Five Elements array flow of the Five Elements Sect, or even be completely different?”
Mister Zhuang nodded and said:
“Every formation flow have their strengths and weaknesses.”
“The Immortal-Heavens Formation Flow contains extremely profound understanding, revered by ordinary array masters as a standard.”
“But no matter how profound, it is still only one school of thought.”
“Blind trust is worse than not believing at all.”
“That is why I told you not to rush into learning formation flows. Step by step, comprehend and study the world’s formations yourself, learn to apply them, integrate them, and eventually form your own formation flow. Then, with the formation flow, seek the true Dao.”
Mister Zhuang said meaningfully:
“Attain the Dao through the method.”
“All methods are but rafts.”
“Formation flows are the ‘method,’ the ‘raft,’ not the ‘Dao.’”
Mo Hua felt he understood somewhat, though not completely, and carefully stored Mister Zhuang’s words in his heart, intending to verify and gradually comprehend them as understanding deepened.
After hearing Mister Zhuang, Mo Hua roughly gained a grasp of “formation flows.”
A formation flow is the summary and comprehension of the source of formations.
All formation flows in the world, including Celestial-Heaven Flows and Five-Element Flows, relate to the origin of formations. On one hand, they are extremely profound and mysterious; on the other, each has its own strengths, with true and false often difficult to distinguish.
One must learn and use them personally.
Unity of knowledge and practice, learning to apply, distinguishing through practice, and turning it to one’s own use.
Blindly revering a “formation flow” makes one a “puppet” of the flow, treating the “raft” as the “Dao,” becoming stagnant and hopeless in seeking the Dao.
Mo Hua’s eyes grew brighter.
Mister Zhuang nodded slightly.
Mo Hua, having understood part of it, suddenly frowned and asked another question:
“Master, can a ‘source rune’ have its own will?”
Mister Zhuang’s gaze sharpened, his tone darkening. “Its own will?”
“Yes,” Mo Hua thought for a moment and said, “It can spontaneously propagate, spread, parasitize, and control. It cannot speak, but the rune is like an eye, with human-like emotions…”
Mister Zhuang’s expression turned solemn. “You mean that ‘Five-Element Source Rune’?”
Mo Hua nodded.
Mister Zhuang’s face darkened, his finger tapping the table, his thoughts stirring. After a long moment, he spoke:
“Ordinary source runes do not possess that…”
“Inheritance is just inheritance. It is the cultivator’s comprehension, a method, and has no will.”
“What has a will, is the person controlling the inheritance.”
“The ‘source rune’ is abnormal…”
Mister Zhuang frowned, pondering:
“Did something go wrong in the Five-Element Sect back then, a miscalculation in derivative methods, causing the source rune to mutate?”
“Or was there a calamity, an invasion of evil spirits?”
“Or perhaps someone schemed and raised something…”
“Could the decline of the Five-Element Sect be due to this ‘source rune’…”
Mo Hua nodded repeatedly.
He thought the same.
As his Master’s disciple, he truly shared the same line of thinking!
Mister Zhuang’s gaze darkened. “What about that source rune?”
“I have it hidden in the painting.”
“The painting?”
Mo Hua took out the visualization diagram.
Previously, this diagram had been the Zhang family’s Zombie Patriarch Diagram. Now there were no zombies, only the source rune. Imprinted with the formation inheritance, it had become the “Five-Element Formation Flow Diagram.”
Mister Zhuang placed several copper coins on the table, forming a formation Mo Hua could not comprehend, then put the diagram within the formation and slowly opened it.
On the diagram, a multicolored formation rune appeared.
The rune was sealed, its light restrained, but its aura ancient and simple.
“Master, be careful. It might open its eyes,” Mo Hua whispered.
Open its eyes?
Mister Zhuang paused slightly, looking at the Five-Element Formation Flow Diagram. The runes remained motionless, showing no sign of “opening eyes.” It was very calm—almost… obedient.
Mister Zhuang asked in puzzlement: “What’s wrong with it?”
“Probably moved from the shrine, injured its primordial energy, so it doesn’t dare show itself,” Mo Hua said.
How its energy was injured involved the Dao Monument; Mo Hua did not elaborate.
Mister Zhuang roughly understood and did not press further. He glanced at Mo Hua, thinking that though this young disciple appeared harmless, he seemed merciless when dealing with “people”…
That put him at ease.
Mister Zhuang studied the Five-Element Formation Flow Diagram again, and with a bit of derivative calculation, he became increasingly astonished, almost incredulous:
“This really is… the Five-Element Sect’s old foundation…”
“Old foundation?” Mo Hua asked, puzzled.
Mister Zhuang’s expression was complex. He looked at Mo Hua helplessly:
“Thousands of years of foundation… isn’t that the ‘old foundation’?”
Mo Hua opened his mouth, incredulous.
Thousands of years of foundation…
He pointed at the Five-Element Source Rune, struggling to understand:
“Just this thing?”
The Five-Element Source Rune trembled with anger but still did not dare “open its eyes.”
Mister Zhuang nodded. “Consolidating the many into one, deriving the source rune, the Five-Element Sect, to calculate the formation flows, encoded all the sect’s formations into this source rune…”
“In other words, this source rune contains all the Five-Element Sect’s formation inheritance over thousands of years…”
Mo Hua was stunned.
He knew the source rune was derived from formation flows and should be extraordinary, but he never imagined it would be extraordinary to this degree!
“But…” Mo Hua asked, puzzled, “how is this ‘source rune’ used?”
He knew nothing about formation flows.
He wasn’t clear on the purpose of the source rune.
It couldn’t be used as a ‘pathogen’ to infect someone else’s Sea of Consciousness…
Mister Zhuang said: “There are two possibilities…”
“First, if you cannot suppress the will of the source rune, do not look at it, do not study it. Otherwise, if the rune parasitizes you, your Sea of Consciousness could change hands, with unimaginable consequences…”
“Second…”
Mister Zhuang looked at Mo Hua. “If you can suppress this ‘source rune,’ then you can attempt to reverse-derive it, to dismantle the rune…”
“Reverse-derive, dismantle the source rune?”
Mo Hua was taken aback.
Mister Zhuang nodded and continued:
“You’ve learned the Five-Element Sect’s derivative methods, capable of summarizing runes, simplifying the complex. Conversely, you can also take the summarized runes and dismantle them back into their original form…”
Mister Zhuang sighed:
“This source rune contains all the Five-Element Sect’s formation inheritance. Once you dismantle it, you will obtain the diagrams of these formations…”
All the Five-Element Sect’s formation inheritance…
Mo Hua nodded, then suddenly realized something, his heart jolting. “Then that means…”
Mister Zhuang smiled slightly, nodding:
“Exactly. Naturally, this includes… the inheritance of the Five-Element Spiritual Formation!”
“And it’s not ordinary inheritance…”
Mister Zhuang could not hide his astonishment:
“Very likely, from first-grade to second-grade, even third-grade, and above, an entire set of precious, nearly lost, ancient absolute formation inheritance!”
“This is the true foundation of the Five-Element Sect over thousands of years!”