Li Fan had a premonition that if an ordinary late Qi Condensation stage cultivator were to forcibly read the contents of the Mountains and Rivers Hundred Meridians Array Chart, the surging torrent of information within would undoubtedly burst their mind.
Even though Li Fan's mental strength was somewhat greater than that of ordinary cultivators, his fate likely would not be much better.
He immediately withdrew his spiritual sense and solemnly put the slip away in his storage ring.
"How has your study of arrays been coming along?" Gong Boyu asked in passing.
Li Fan pondered for a moment. "This junior has studied for two years and made some modest gains. But as to what level I have actually attained, this junior does not know."
Gong Boyu said, "That is easily settled!"
He then produced a small, pitch-black orb and tossed it over. "Just send a strand of your spiritual sense inside."
Li Fan examined the black sphere, whose surface seemed to have starlight flowing across it, and did as instructed.
In an instant, Li Fan felt as if he were inside a pitch-black tunnel.
His thoughts hurtled at high speed through the tunnel like a rollercoaster ride.
One question and answer on the array dao after another came rushing at him, and in that split second, Li Fan involuntarily responded.
If he knew the answer and answered correctly, the speed at which his thoughts hurtled accelerated even further.
If he did not know or answered incorrectly, the speed slowed down.
This sensation of thought speed being magnified a hundredfold was somewhat similar to the Spirit Enlightenment state inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, yet it was vastly more miraculous.
After some time passed like this, Li Fan felt his thoughts slowing down more and more, until finally they came to a complete halt.
He was expelled from the black orb.
Gong Boyu retrieved the black orb and looked at the nearly imperceptible speck of light upon it, gazing at Li Fan in disbelief. "You truly have studied for two years?"
Li Fan's expression remained unchanged. "Indeed."
After a moment of silence, Gong Boyu offered kindly consolation: "The Dao of Arrays depends heavily on innate talent. It is entirely normal for your progress to be a bit slow. Think nothing of it."
Li Fan deeply agreed and gave a slight nod.
Who would have guessed that Gong Boyu's words would infuriate another cultivator present?
"What utter nonsense! The Dao of Arrays boils down to a single word: diligence! Your talent in array dao might be high, Gong Boyu, but do you dare claim your understanding of arrays surpasses mine?"
Li Fan looked over to see that the speaker had snow-white hair, yet his eyes held a subtle, piercing gleam that made others dare not look directly at him.
"Brother Zhiliang, there is no need to be so irritable. I was merely comforting a junior, speaking casually. Why take it so seriously? Across Wanxian Island, who does not know that you, Zhang Zhiliang, are number one in arrays?" Gong Boyu said, somewhat helpless.
"The Dao of Arrays requires utmost diligence and utmost truth—how can one speak of it so carelessly!" Zhang Zhiliang snorted coldly, clearly having no patience for Gong Boyu's rhetoric.
He turned his head and looked sternly at Li Fan. "Boy, you must not lose heart. You should know that back when I had only studied arrays for two years, my test results on the spirit testing orb were even worse than yours!
"For five hundred years, I have spent nearly all my time researching arrays, learning and progressing bit by bit. Only then did I attain today's understanding of the array dao. Diligence redeems mediocrity—and in the Dao of Arrays, this is all the more true.
"Though the arrays under heaven are said to possess infinite variations, the commonly used set patterns are limited in number, entirely within human capability to master.
"If you study painstakingly, never slacking off and never giving up, who is to say that after several centuries you will not become a grandmaster of arrays yourself?"
Hearing this, Li Fan's expression turned solemn. "Thank you for the guidance, Senior. This junior will surely keep it in mind."
Having finished his speech, Zhang Zhiliang gradually calmed down as well.
He scrutinized Li Fan for a moment before speaking slowly again: "Though diligence redeems mediocrity, having a master lead you through the door is equally vital.
"When I taught myself arrays back then, I deeply understood how difficult it was to grope in the dark alone."
Zhang Zhiliang pondered for a moment. "I see that your temperament is calm and composed, neither arrogant nor rash—quite similar to how I was in those days.
"I have also benefited immensely from He Zhenghao's scroll of the Mountains and Rivers Hundred Meridians Array Chart. By bringing the remnant scroll here, you have done me a kindness as well.
"..."
He asked slowly, "I wonder, would you be willing to follow by my side and study arrays?"
Hearing this from the side, Gong Boyu promptly nudged him. "Quick, thank Master Zhang!"
Li Fan was exceedingly surprised and delighted as well, hurriedly bowing in greeting.
Zhang Zhiliang accepted Li Fan's bow calmly and continued, "Let us lay out the harsh terms first: I do not wish to take on disciples, so there will be no master-disciple status between us.
"The unique arrays I have created will naturally not be taught to you, either.
"My only responsibility will be to truly guide you into the Dao of Arrays. As for my insights and realizations, I will not hold them back.
"I am busy with all manner of trivial matters, so I can only take time out to instruct you whenever I am free.
"In my daily affairs, I am meticulous, and I demand the same strict standards from others. If I find you slacking or being lazy, I will cast you out without mercy."
...
Zhang Zhiliang stated a series of conditions that sounded harsh, but were entirely reasonable.
Finally, he asked once more, "Knowing this, are you still willing to follow by my side and study arrays?"
Suppressing the pleasant surprise in his heart, Li Fan composed himself.
Bowing once more toward Zhang Zhiliang, he said slowly, "This junior is willing."
Seeing Li Fan's demeanor, Zhang Zhiliang stroked his beard with satisfaction.
"Good. Diligence waits for no auspicious day.
"Your study of arrays begins this very day!"
With that, Zhang Zhiliang grabbed Li Fan, and with a flicker of his figure, vanished from the council chamber.
Gong Boyu and the other array masters looked at one another, all showing wry smiles.
...
Li Fan followed Zhang Zhiliang, arriving in an expanse of starry space in a split second.
All around was pitch black, against a backdrop of countless twinkling stars.
"Do you know what an array is?" Zhang Zhiliang asked.
Li Fan was about to answer, but after thinking it over, he ultimately shook his head. "This disciple does not know."
"An array is a standardized law,"
Zhang Zhiliang said, word by word.
"Combustion, freezing, lightning...
"These are all natural phenomena existing between heaven and earth, and what supports their occurrence and operation are the myriad laws of heaven and earth.
"Laws are eternal and unchanging. Well, exceptional circumstances aside...
"In their cultivation, cultivators often must observe and comprehend the laws of heaven and earth.
"And an array is the process of applying laws in a standardized, mechanized, and systematized manner."
...
In Zhang Zhiliang's exposition, the gate to the Dao of Arrays slowly swung open before Li Fan.
Li Fan immersed himself deeply within it, oblivious to the passage of time.
In the blink of an eye, the twentieth year of Anchoring arrived.
Congyun Sea.
Zhang Haobo stood suspended in midair, gazing up at the sky.
"Is your dying strike about to arrive?"
In his memories of his previous life, a terrifying wind calamity would occur before long.
Its might would be so ferocious that it would cause the heavens and earth to change color.
More than two hundred islands, including Dayu Island, would be razed to the ground, and countless mortals would find their watery graves in the sea.
Compared to this terrifying wind calamity, the storm he was currently manipulating was pitifully weak.
However...
He, Zhang Haobo—the reborn one, the Child of Destiny, the blessed of the Congyun Sea—
was about to undertake the feat of a snake swallowing an elephant, and then...
Herd the wind!
Soar above myriad immortals!
Chapter 135