Chapter 196: Chapter 144: Lianxing’s Array Discussion

He would kill her, and that was that.

Seeing Lü Zhong’s resolute tone, which didn’t seem feigned, the Female Cultivator from the Jade Flower Sect had no choice but to concede and explain everything in detail.

It turned out she had learned Tan Yunde’s identity. Frustrated by her stagnant cultivation, she had set her sights on the Spirit Rice in the granary. After successfully seducing Tan Yunde, she began to steal the Spirit Rice with abandon.

"Hah. And why should I believe you?" Lü Zhong sneered.

’What she said didn’t sound false, but who could guarantee it was the truth?’

’Lies mixed with truth are the hardest to spot. Who knew how much of her story was genuine?’

"I-I’m willing to swear a deadly oath!" Seeing Lü Zhong’s silence, the Female Cultivator thought he’d agreed. She immediately swore that if even half a sentence of what she’d just said was false, she would be invaded by a Heart Demon, struck down by heavenly lightning, and suffer a miserable death.

Seeing Lü Zhong’s expression grow cold, she hurriedly added, "I’m willing to become your Dao... No, I’m willing to be your Furnace Cauldron! I only beg—!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Before she could finish speaking, her head flew from her shoulders.

Lü Zhong recalled his twin swords, his expression unchanging.

’If he wanted to amuse himself with women, he could do so anytime with his Foundation Establishment status. But he couldn’t keep such a hidden danger around. Who knew when she might turn on him?’

He expertly searched the corpse and found two Storage Bags.

He casually conjured a Fireball Bullet and burned the corpse to ash. Then, Lü Zhong looked toward the cave. When the Female Cultivator had emerged, she looked as if she had been in the middle of something. He worried there might be someone else inside.

’Strange. We fought out here for so long, yet there wasn’t a single sound from inside.’

After a moment’s thought, he used Scene Playback to investigate the situation inside.

When he learned the reason, Lü Zhong’s expression became odd.

’"Well, it seems he was drained dry."’

He entered the cave cautiously. There, on a round bed, lay the corpse of Tan Yunde. His eyes were still glazed over with a look of obsession. His skin was dry and wrinkled, and his entire body looked like a shriveled, blackened figure.

’No wonder that Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Jade Flower Sect was so weak,’ Lü Zhong thought. ’She broke through using plundering techniques.’

With this kind of plundering method, as long as one gathered enough Yin Yuan or Yang Yuan, their cultivation progress would be astonishingly fast—not at all slower than someone who constantly consumed Pills.

From a certain perspective, the male and female cultivators of Longyang Tower and the Red Tower could also be said to be cultivating "diligently."

However, strength gained this way lacked refinement. Furthermore, practitioners would inevitably become addicted to the pleasure, so their combat abilities were rarely honed. As a result, it was common for them to be outmatched by others.

After another search, he found three more Storage Bags. All of the stolen Spirit Rice was inside.

A smile touched Lü Zhong’s lips. ’Another huge haul of Spirit Stones,’ he thought with satisfaction. He walked out of the cave, glanced back, then conjured a Qingyang Fire Rain Technique, burning the area to scorched earth.

The reason for this was simple: to erase any lingering auras and prevent anyone from discovering that he had killed Tan Yunde and the Female Cultivator.

As for the missing Spirit Rice, he would simply use what he’d just recovered to cover the shortfall.

"Sigh. If I didn’t need to learn to make that Flying Talisman, all this Spirit Rice would have been mine," Lü Zhong thought with a pang of regret. Nevertheless, he carefully inspected the scene one last time. After confirming no auras remained, he activated Concealing Breath and Traces and departed.

...

He returned the Spirit Rice without a sound, acting as if nothing had ever happened.

Tan Yunde’s disappearance caused quite a stir, but as he was only from a side branch of his clan, it wasn’t deemed worthy of a large-scale investigation. When no useful clues turned up, the matter gradually died down.

Lü Zhong had obtained a significant amount of wealth from their two Storage Bags. It was mostly Magical Artifacts, Pills, and other miscellaneous items, which all together could be sold for nearly 10,000 Spirit Stones.

However, this was not his greatest gain.

Looking at the copy of *Lianxing’s Array Discussion* in his hands, Lü Zhong’s body trembled with excitement.

The book had been written by a True Monarch from a past generation of the Jade Flower Sect. It was a rare legacy of the Array Dao. Although it only explained Tier One and Tier Two Arrays, it threw open the gates to the Array Dao for him. He would no longer be a complete novice when it came to arrays.

After carefully reading just a few pages, he quickly grew dizzy and light-headed, forcing him to close the book.

Lying on the ground seeing stars, he gasped for breath. Lü Zhong gave a wry smile. "They all say the Array Dao is extremely difficult, even more so than Alchemy. I never believed it before, but now I’m a believer."

Only when one understood the true nature of Arrays could one realize just how difficult they were to learn.

He had previously underestimated its difficulty because his knowledge of the Array Dao was riddled with errors and omissions, giving him a limited and narrow perspective.

The Array Dao involved Prohibitions. According to the book, Prohibitions were simplified versions of the fundamental laws of the world.

However, compared to Runes and spells, a Prohibition was more like a small, self-contained unit that possessed a wondrous function all on its own.

For this reason, many cultivators master individual Prohibitions.

Examples included Sealing Prohibitions, Silence Prohibitions, and the like.

An Array is an incredibly complex whole, and Prohibitions are the individual units that compose it. An Array might contain countless Prohibitions, and different combinations of them create different effects.

By following the rules governing the interplay of Prohibitions—whether discovered by predecessors or oneself—and adapting them to the local Feng Shui and the Five Elements, one could set up a special zone with a specific function. These zones have different names depending on their function. They can be Killing Arrays, Trapping Arrays, Illusion Arrays, or even Composite Arrays.

Setting up an Array using only Prohibitions is exceedingly difficult. Thus, items like Array Flags, Array Beads, and Array Discs were created to lower the difficulty of Array Formation.

And to compensate for the power lost through this simplified method of Array Formation, Array Artifacts were later developed.

Array Artifacts can be Talismans, Magical Artifacts, Spiritual Artifacts, or even Magical Treasures. If they are placed within an Array in a way that aligns with its properties, the Array’s power can be enhanced even further.