The Quest for Immortality - Chapter 356 (Patreon)

Chapter 356: The Demon-Slaying Array Hub

Before the official commencement, the array's location needed to be chosen.

Chief Supervisor Zhou and Elder Yu specifically sought out Mo Hua for his opinion.

Since the array was designed and constructed by Mo Hua, it was natural for him to determine the location as well.

After careful consideration, Mo Hua decided to place the array at Heishan Stronghold.

The Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array is a trap and kill array, not a defensive array meant to protect a sect. Therefore, it couldn't be placed in Tongxian City and had to be far from it.

If the array were activated near the city, the violent spiritual energy might affect Tongxian City.

The most suitable location was in the deep mountains.

Killing Feng Xi directly in the mountains, preventing it from entering the city, was the best choice.

Among the deep mountains, Heishan Stronghold was the ideal spot.

Heishan Stronghold, nestled between two mountains, was easy to defend and difficult to attack. In other words, its enclosed environment was suitable for trapping and killing.

The Qian family ancestor chose to build Heishan Stronghold here precisely because the location was ideal for setting up arrays.

Although Heishan Stronghold was destroyed, some of its array foundations still existed, which would save a lot of effort when building the new array.

Although Chief Supervisor Zhou and Elder Yu were somewhat surprised, they nodded in agreement.

Mo Hua then told Commander Yang, "Uncle Yang, we need to find a way to restrain Feng Xi and buy some time."

The array's construction would take at least two months. If there were any delays and the array wasn't completed before Feng Xi started to feed, it would be a major problem.

Therefore, it was essential to prevent Feng Xi from refining blood energy as much as possible to buy more time.

Commander Yang nodded, "Don't worry. I've used my family's connections to write to the Dao Soldiers Bureau and requested two more units of Dao soldiers. We'll find ways to harass Feng Xi and slow down its blood energy refining."

Everyone then divided their responsibilities. Chief Supervisor Zhou handled the distribution of spirit stones and materials, Elder Yu managed the manpower, and Mo Hua took full charge of the array.

The construction of the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array officially began.

Mo Hua designed the array's overall blueprint based on the array hub, referencing other arrays and incorporating suggestions from Master Ban, the craftsman.

First, the remnants of Heishan Stronghold's buildings were cleared, and the array's foundation and framework were reconstructed, a task overseen by the craftsmen.

Meanwhile, the artifact crafting shops in the southern city worked day and night, with their refining furnaces continuously producing array plates, locks, gates, and other components needed for the array.

Alchemists prepared various pills to dissipate heat, detoxify, repel miasma, and restore physical and spiritual energy for the craftsmen.

The Fushan Tower and the An family's dining hall provided meals for everyone.

Demon hunters, led by Yu Chengyi and Mo Shan, opened a path from Tongxian City through the inner and outer mountains to the old site of Heishan Stronghold.

The mountain path wound along the mountain terrain, wide and flat, facilitating the transportation of numerous materials needed for the array.

Demon hunters also cleared the beasts along the path to prevent them from attacking the cultivators.

A few days later, some independent cultivators from Qingxuan City came to help, and cultivators from nearby immortal cities, upon hearing that Tongxian City was building an array to fight a great demon, also gathered to contribute.

The number of cultivators involved in the construction grew, and the scale of the project became increasingly grand.

Mo Hua stood on a mountaintop at Heishan Stronghold.

Looking down, he saw a winding mountain road starting from the foot of Heishan Stronghold, extending along the terrain of Dahei Mountain all the way to Tongxian City.

The road was crowded with cultivators transporting materials and supplies in an orderly manner.

At his feet, the ruins of Heishan Stronghold had been cleared, the foundations rebuilt, and the frameworks of some basic array components were already in place.

Master Ban and numerous craftsmen were busy among them, and the array's initial form was beginning to take shape.

In the distance, Tongxian City was bustling with activity; artifact crafting shops were in full swing, alchemy shops were at their peak, and Fushan Tower was filled with cooking smoke.

The prepared meal boxes, pills, and spiritual tools were either handed to individual cultivators or transported along the winding mountain road into the deep mountains.

Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of cultivators worked together to build the massive Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array.

The scene left Mo Hua inexplicably moved.

"This is the array..."

A single array wasn't strong enough, so multiple arrays were combined through a core array hub to form a large array.

A single cultivator wasn't strong enough, so numerous cultivators united for a common goal.

Human strength is limited, but when enough people come together, their power is boundless.

In a trance, Mo Hua had a sudden realization.

He could draw the array, kill Feng Xi, and save the city's cultivators.

But in reality, it wasn't just him saving others; everyone was saving each other.

Without him, no one could draw the array, but without so many united cultivators, he wouldn't be able to complete the array either.

Fate was never changed by one person but by all cultivators working together to defy destiny.

In that instant, Mo Hua's sea of consciousness trembled slightly, his divine sense clear, and he felt a profound understanding of the array's concept.

The once unfamiliar array hub patterns seemed to be etched clearly in his sea of consciousness.

With a sudden realization, Mo Hua felt confident.

He truly believed he could build and master the entire Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array!

Master Luo, who was following Mo Hua, was marveling at the complexity of the array. Suddenly, he looked up and saw Mo Hua appearing to be in a state of enlightenment, exuding an unfathomable aura.

It seemed that Mo Hua had understood some profound truth, advancing in array mastery.

He even faintly exhibited the demeanor of an array grandmaster.

At that moment, Master Luo thought he was seeing things.

He rubbed his eyes and saw that the profound aura around Mo Hua had vanished, leaving him as the same simple cultivator.

Since it was noon, someone called out, "Lunch is ready," and Mo Hua used his Passing Water Step to happily run off to grab a chicken leg...

Master Luo stood there for a long time, then sighed with a complex expression, muttering to himself:

"Was I just seeing things..."

Ten days later, the foundation of the array's base framework was completed.

Thanks to the collective effort of all the cultivators, the speed was much faster than Mo Hua had anticipated.

Next, the formal array needed to be drawn.

The Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array used the array eye as the source, the array hub as the control, single arrays for layout, and array components as the foundation.

The array eye comprised multiple First Grade Spirit Gathering Arrays to refine spirit stones, absorb spiritual energy, and condense the array's spiritual power, thus providing the energy source for the entire array.

The core of the array was the array hub, which managed the control of spiritual power, including its opening and closing, starting and stopping, and its strength and suppression.

Only after drawing the array hub could the layout of the single arrays extending from the hub be arranged.

Similarly, within the entire array, the array hub was the hardest to draw and was also the core and most confidential part of the array, which had to be drawn by the chief array master personally.

In other words, only those who could draw the array hub qualified to be the chief array master, leading the array's completion.

Mo Hua chose a high peak for the array hub.

The high terrain provided a good view, was distant from the central trapping area, allowing a broad overview when controlling the array and preventing spiritual energy interference when trapping Feng Xi.

The array hub's component was a massive array plate forged from refined iron, extremely sturdy and difficult to damage.

Before Mo Hua started drawing, Master Luo led all the array masters to leave.

The array hub was the core and the array master's secret, naturally requiring confidentiality during its drawing.

Master Luo also thought that perhaps Mo Hua's teacher would draw the array hub, so he took everyone out to avoid revealing this.

Master Luo was considerate of Mo Hua's situation.

However, he didn't know that Mo Hua was indeed drawing the array hub himself.

The array hub was difficult to draw.

Even though Mo Hua had a thorough understanding, drawing the array hub was still challenging.

Using a refined iron array plate as the component consumed more divine sense during the drawing process.

Due to insufficient divine sense, Mo Hua failed twice, using spirit-dissolving liquid to erase the array patterns and redraw them.

He made mistakes in the complex patterns twice more and had to redraw them again.

...

Despite failing five or six times, Mo Hua didn't get discouraged.

Thanks to his earlier realization, the array hub's patterns were clearly etched in his mind.

He knew he could draw it, needing only more familiarity and some trial and error.

After five days and countless attempts, Mo Hua finally completed the array hub for the Five Elements Demon-Slaying Array.

Mo Hua infused his divine sense into the array hub, revealing every pattern and spiritual energy path, all matching the records on the array jade slip.

To ensure everything was correct, Mo Hua meticulously checked every detail several times before letting out a sigh of relief.

Success!

Looking at the profound and complex array hub before him, Mo Hua felt a surge of joy.

The array hub's structure was precise, built with meticulous strokes, exuding a sense of intricate and profound beauty

.

The only flaw was that it was Mo Hua's first time drawing an array hub on an array plate, resulting in many corrections, making it look less aesthetically pleasing.

Though not visually perfect, it was functional!

Mo Hua believed that practicality was most important for cultivators; functionality was paramount.

After finishing the array hub, Master Luo led the other array masters back in. The sight before them left everyone in awe.

This was the array hub...

The intricate patterns were intimidating, clearly beyond their ability to learn...

After recovering from his amazement, Master Luo studied the array hub for a long time.

He was astonished by the high level of array mastery this expert had achieved, being able to draw the array hub.

Yet, he also wondered why this "expert" seemed to have a child's scrawl-like drawing style, with so many corrections...

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