"Swish, swish~"

Chen Xuantian performed magic from a distance, his fingers dancing erratically, remotely manipulating his Ten-clawed Octopus avatar to activate.

This thing looked as if someone had chopped off human hands and stitched them together at the base. The tentacles were as flexible as fingers, resembling a bizarre mix between a crab, a spider, and an octopus hybrid. Swiftly and deftly, it skidded and flashed through the Great Array.

While the ten tentacles swiftly crawled, bright yellow octopus eyes opened at the fingertips, exploring and observing the glow of Daoist energy, probing a path amidst the chaotic, overlapping, intertwined, and compressed Array Diagram Earth Veins.

Sometimes it moved sideways like a domineering crab, rushing through layers of Illusion Realms. At other times, it swam like an octopus, as if navigating the deep sea, dodging layers of Sword Forest and Rain. Or it would strum like fingers on harp strings, resembling a spider weaving silk. The Ten-clawed Octopus advanced rapidly along the Earth Veins and Daoist energy, climbing and stealthily maneuvering, avoiding hidden explosive Arrays. It crossed many restrictions and seals, constantly searching the deepest part of the Great Array for the Breaking Dao Divine Sword’s location.

Indeed, this is the unique Array-breaking technique of the Nether Spring Path!

A self-propelled, landmine-clearing, Array-exploring drone technique!

Hmm, but earlier, to protect myself, I watched from afar, so far from the Array Eye, it might take a while to reach. Let’s chat for a bit first.

Welcome to the Nether Spring Master’s small class on the path of Arrays and Array-breaking techniques!

Ahem, as everyone knows, in the Tai Chi Cultivation World, people can generally observe Qi and make calculations, scanning with Divine Sense. Therefore, Arrays, which shake the heaven and earth’s fate, alter the natural environment, and reverse the operation of Daoist energy, are almost impossible to hide.

Consequently, in daily confrontations and sword fights, it’s often about encounters where everyone makes quick decisions, competing on who is ruthless, sharp-eyed, and quick with the sword, relying on one’s skills.

If it comes to a situation of setting up an Array for fighting, it usually involves one side being fully prepared, scheming, and ambushing a strong enemy, forcing the target into a Heaven and Earth Net to take them down.

But the problem is, how many are foolish enough to fall right into your ambush? Or if there were ever people that naive and foolish, wouldn’t they have been wiped out by now?

So, as summed up, taking elaborate actions can easily alert the opponent. Unless a Taoist Monarch Level expert takes charge to confuse the Heavenly Mechanism, these kinds of Array killing traps rarely succeed. Disciple opportunities to hone their Array Dao through fatal trials are rare.

Thus, an Array Master’s experience and skills are certainly linked to personal talent and effort. However, the key still lies in the sect’s cultivation and support.

Indeed, it must rely on the sect’s training. After all, normal people hardly have time to seclude themselves and cultivate, let alone set up Arrays for practice. Even if you had the will, setting up an Array involves gathering resources, calculating Array Diagrams, arranging Feng Shui, and daily operations. Who has the time? You can’t have a cow or horse constantly at risk of sudden heart attacks, can you?

Considering that such preliminary preparations are time-consuming and laborious, requiring daily maintenance and being immobile, the path of the Array is essentially a specialized skill provided by the sect. It’s usually deployed in the Cave Heaven Blessed Land resource points and other sect restricted areas. An Array Master’s vision, knowledge, resources, skills, and experience are all honed relying on the entire sect’s support.

Of course, from the sect’s operational perspective, an Array Master is indispensable. Nobody wants their backyard to be a place where people come and go as they please, right? Especially during critical times of attacking mountains and temples, having a formidable Array Dao Grandmaster leading the Mountain Protection Array is a matter of life and death. Though being trapped within the sect’s Great Array and not daring to show your face is also a tale that doesn’t sound good when spread, being defeated at the Sword Pavilion by someone challenging Ninth Peak, breaking Arrays and sweeping away the Heavenly Book, losing everything, isn’t it more embarrassing?

That’s why sects also prioritize selecting Array Dao talents. For example, when Mystic Sect Disciples first enter the mountain, as Outer Disciples, they receive various tasks, like patrolling the mountains and gathering herbs. It’s not that there are truly that many demon beasts to eliminate or that many mushrooms to pick. It’s actually about indirectly nurturing the disciples’ geographical knowledge of the mountain and awareness of the sect’s Great Array during their daily patrols.

Understanding how the Mountain Gate Great Array is set up, where the Array Eye, Mountain Realm, seals, gaps, weaknesses, shortcuts, or hidden paths are located is not about completing a task by circling the mountain, killing a monster, and checking it off. If one thoughtfully considers these things, approaches them as topics to ponder and calculate, they can deduce the setup and key points of the sect’s Great Array.

In this way, even before the official entrance examination, it’s evident among the disciples who has comprehension, who has ability, and who is the dull fool who only reads and does exercises, and who is the big idiot running after monsters all day. The elders can naturally observe these through the sect tasks accumulated over time.

By that time, they can provide targeted education, sending the simpletons to hunt, the dullards to practice Alchemy, while those with insight and diligence proceed with further trials, participating in the sect’s daily operations and maintenance. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

For example, assigning them various Array maintenance tasks or directing them to sweep, dust, and do chores in the Inner Sect forbidden areas, often instructed to fetch items from the Treasury and Alchemy Workshop. These may seem like trivial errands, but they’re actually granting the keys to access the inner and outer Mountain Gates and contacts with the sect’s Treasury to these newcomers.