In his sea of consciousness, Mo Hua's figure appeared identical to his physical body, able to move freely. However, it was not composed of flesh and blood, nor spiritual power, but merely a shadow of his spiritual consciousness.
Mo Hua's spiritual shadow held his breath and concentrated, using his finger as a brush to draw the lines of the Minghuo Array on the ancient stele.
Light blue lines followed his finger's movements, gradually forming intricate patterns on the dark black stele.
After finishing the second array line, as he continued, Mo Hua gradually felt an unprecedented fatigue and even pain.
It felt as if his sea of consciousness was a breached dam, with his spiritual consciousness flowing out like a flood.
The more his spiritual consciousness flowed out, the closer his sea of consciousness got to drying up, resembling a riverbed left dry, cracking under an unknown pressure and causing stinging pain, with his scalp tingling faintly.
Mo Hua found his thoughts becoming sluggish, and the third array line was drawn increasingly slowly.
Suddenly, a sharp, needle-like pain erupted in his sea of consciousness. Mo Hua lost focus for a moment, causing an error in the array pattern on the stele.
Mo Hua had to stop, clutching his head, waiting for the pain to subside.
After a full cup of tea's time, Mo Hua finally recovered. Reflecting for a moment, he realized:
"Drawing arrays requires an enormous amount of spiritual consciousness, far more than other cultivation techniques! Far more than I initially thought!"
"That's why the diagram specifically marked in red ink, warning those below the required stage to be cautious. If one's cultivation is insufficient and spiritual consciousness is weak, forcibly drawing arrays can excessively deplete spiritual consciousness, even leading to its exhaustion..."
Exhaustion of spiritual consciousness would cause intense pain to the cultivator, potentially damaging the sea of consciousness, causing cracks. If the cracking was severe enough, the sea of consciousness could shatter, resulting in the cultivator's death and the disappearance of their Dao.
This had been mentioned in array lessons, but Mo Hua hadn't paid much attention at the time. Now, recalling it made him feel a chill in his heart.
"The Minghuo Array requires the third level of Qi Refining, and I'm only at the second level. My spiritual consciousness is indeed slightly lacking…"
Mo Hua lay on the ground of his sea of consciousness, hands holding his head, pondering:
"Though I'm a bit short, it shouldn't be by much. My spiritual consciousness is already stronger than others, and I've studied arrays for so long. With more practice, I might just manage to draw it."
"If I can't draw it in one go, I'll try a second time, a third time... Each time my spiritual consciousness strengthens a bit, each time I can draw even one more line, eventually I'll complete the array…"
After thinking it through, Mo Hua got up and erased the unfinished array lines on the stele, and his spiritual consciousness was replenished again.
It felt as if he had never drawn the array, but each line and stroke remained etched in his mind.
Mo Hua couldn't help but feel grateful.
Without this ancient stele, nearing exhaustion of spiritual consciousness, he wouldn't know how long he'd have to rest before drawing again. By the time he learned the Minghuo Array, ten or fifteen days might have passed, and if he exceeded ten days, the deposited spirit stones would be forfeited.
Thinking of this pained Mo Hua, sharpening his focus, he began drawing the Minghuo Array a second time...
In the boundless white expanse of his sea of consciousness, time seemed to stand still.
Mo Hua drew for a while, paused, rested, and when he couldn't continue, he erased it all and started from the beginning.
Mo Hua lost count of how many times he had redrawn it, but finally, he managed to complete the intricate Minghuo Array formation.
Mo Hua let out a long sigh of relief, limbs collapsing as he felt like a spiritual consciousness drained salted fish.
After resting for another half cup of tea's time, Mo Hua finally mustered the energy to stand up and admire his first successfully drawn formation—the Minghuo Array.
On the pitch-black stele, a complete array of light blue lines emerged, meticulously beautiful with an air of mystery. In the contrast of light and shadow within the array, there seemed to be obscure rules and powers at play.
So this was the power of formations!
Mo Hua felt as if there was nothing more beautiful in the world than these lines imbued with rules. Even just looking at them, he couldn't help but immerse himself in their intricacies...
As Mo Hua continued to gaze, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
While the lines were light blue when he drew them, they now seemed to be fading gradually, their color dimming to a pale gray.
It was as if... the stele was telling Mo Hua that he had made a mistake...
Mo Hua froze.
"I made a mistake?"
"No way..."
Mo Hua felt a bit disheartened but rallied his spirits, carefully inspecting each stroke. Eventually, he discovered that indeed, he had made multiple mistakes—some lines had extra strokes, some angles were incorrect, and the merging of two fire patterns was wrong...
Because of these errors, his spiritual consciousness hadn't been as depleted, allowing him to complete the Minghuo Array.
Mo Hua scratched his head, diligently noting down the mistakes. He then erased the array formation, preparing to redraw it once more.
...
This cycle repeated many times, leaving Mo Hua feeling dizzy and his sea of consciousness in agony, even a bit numb. As he stared at the array on the stele, it all seemed like a blur.
At some point, in a daze, Mo Hua completed the final stroke.
The stele seemed to tremble slightly, and the light blue array lines emitted a gentle white light. Within the light, faint flames flickered, illuminating like lamps in the darkness of night.
The Minghuo Array!
Mo Hua couldn't contain his excitement; all the exhaustion of the night vanished in an instant.
For the first time in his life, Mo Hua truly felt the power of a cultivator—understanding, creating, embodying the rules of the heavens and earth through formations, mastering their energies.
Though only a tiny step, a bit of power, it was the first drop of water contributing to the great river of the Dao!
Mo Hua was proud. Although the Minghuo Array was only used for illumination and was one of the most common and inexpensive formations in cultivation, at least it illuminated the first steps of Mo Hua's cultivation path.
Mo Hua, still wanting to practice several more times tonight, knew his weak spiritual consciousness was like a candle in the wind—it wouldn't withstand much more.
If he continued, his sea of consciousness might dry up completely, and he might go insane.
Even though spiritual consciousness could recover, the process of drawing formations constantly depleted it, which was far from comfortable.
This was Mo Hua's first formal completion of a formation, but certainly not his last.
He planned to practice the Minghuo Array several times every night. After becoming completely proficient in a few days, he would use the materials from the Array Pavilion to draw formations, then exchange them with the steward for spirit stones. Hopefully, this could lessen his parents' burden.
"Let's stop here tonight..."
The Minghuo Array on the stele shimmered brightly. Mo Hua admired it once more, nodding approvingly but somewhat reluctantly wiped away the formation.
In that moment of erasure, his spiritual consciousness ebbed and flowed like the tides, waxing and waning, like the moon waxing and waning after a new moon. The once-depleted spiritual consciousness instantly surged back, filling Mo Hua's sea of consciousness!
Standing before the stele, Mo Hua felt his spiritual consciousness replenished. At this moment, it felt just like when he first entered his sea of consciousness several hours ago.
The sensation of going from full to empty, and then from empty to full, no matter how many times experienced, still felt exceptionally profound.
And this experience was deeper than any before.
Mo Hua looked at the stele, its surface deep black, seeming like nothingness yet containing everything, appearing to possess nothing but able to manifest everything.
Transforming spiritual consciousness into formations, and formations back into spiritual consciousness—existence and non-existence mutually generated and transformed.
A phrase from ancient texts involuntarily surfaced in Mo Hua's mind:
"Having something can be beneficial, but its usefulness lies in what it lacks!"
Author Note: The phrase "有之以为利,无之以为用" is a famous concept from Daoist philosophy, specifically from the Dao De Jing by Laozi. This means that while having a material object can bring benefits, its true usefulness often comes from the emptiness or space it provides. For example, a cup is useful not because of its material, but because of the empty space inside it that can hold liquid.
(End of the Chapter)