On the second day, the Great Elder opened the door and burned incense.

Above the divine shrine, smoke rose and curled.

The three figures in the ink painting, just like yesterday, sat upright on meditation mats, their hearts quiet and spirits concentrated, observing and contemplating the divine shrine.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi quickly entered meditation, continuing to observe and contemplate the array patterns.

The ink painting remained still, just like yesterday, observing and contemplating nothing at all.

The divine shrine was just a divine shrine.

Above the Dao field, array masters gathered, all were wood carvings and clay sculptures, without any vitality.

Above the array plate, smoke was hazy, also without a single stroke of an array pattern.

The ink painting sighed, lay on the ground, and looked at the little senior brother and little senior sister observing and contemplating the divine shrine.

Half an hour later, Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi opened their eyes, exchanged a glance, then turned their heads and looked at the ink painting.

The ink painting’s eyes brightened slightly, “How is it?”

Bai Zixi said, “It’s the same as yesterday. What I see is still the wood spirit array diagram. Even after learning it, what appears within the Dao field is still only the wood spirit array, not any other five elements array diagram.”

Bai Zisheng also nodded and said, “What I see is also only the fire spirit array, but I didn’t fully learn it yesterday. I’ve just thoroughly completed it today…”

The ink painting furrowed its brow.

The Five Elements Spirit Array contains the five sub-arrays of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Now there was the wood spirit array and the fire spirit array, where were the other several sub-arrays hidden?

The ink painting again surveyed the entire fourth floor of the Hidden Array Pavilion, its gaze falling on the meditation mats on the ground.

Five meditation mats… Five Elements Spirit Array…

Bai Zixi also noticed, and asked, “Is it related to the meditation mats?”

The ink painting nodded, thinking:

“That iron rooster… Great Elder, he admonished us before entering, saying we are not allowed to damage a single brick or piece of wood inside this room, and all furnishings are not allowed to be moved…”

“All furnishings, not allowed to be moved…”

“Could it be just these meditation mats?”

“These meditation mats are obviously a bit strange…”

The ink painting looked at the meditation mats again, its eyes gradually brightening, “Learning different array laws is because… you sit on different meditation mats…”

“Sitting on different meditation mats, what you observe and contemplate, is then a different Five Elements Spirit Array…”

“Five meditation mats, just right to correspond to five array laws!”

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi’s eyes also brightened, “Let’s try it and see!”

Bai Zixi then sat on the leftmost meditation mat, and Bai Zisheng then sat on the rightmost meditation mat.

The two continued to sink their hearts, their eyes looking at the divine shrine, observing and contemplating the array diagram.

An hour later, Bai Zisheng was still observing and contemplating.

Bai Zixi then finished observing and contemplating, exited meditation, and turned her head to the ink painting, saying:

“It is the gold spirit array.”

The ink painting instantly understood.

It seemed its guess was not wrong, the Five Elements Spirit Array corresponded to the five meditation mats. Sitting on different meditation mats allowed one to observe and contemplate different Five Elements Spirit Arrays.

However, the ink painting was still a bit surprised.

“Little senior sister, you finished learning the gold spirit array?”

In just one short hour of observation and contemplation, she had already learned it?

Bai Zixi nodded and said, “One array same flow, one through a hundred through.”

The ink painting suddenly realized.

This should be the supreme inheritance of array law that Master mentioned—Immortal Heaven Array Law Source Flow.

Borrowing the Immortal Heaven Array Flow allows one to comprehend some extremely profound array laws.

And the little senior sister’s flawless root bone, matching the supreme Immortal Heaven Array Flow, was like adding flowers to brocade, complementing each other.

So learning the Five Elements Spirit Array was very fast.

Bai Zixi again said to the ink painting, “You move aside a little.”

The ink painting was stunned.

Bai Zixi pointed to the meditation mat he was sitting on.

The ink painting then realized, one meditation mat, one array law. Now only the meditation mat he was sitting on had not been learned.

The ink painting then stood up and moved aside.

Bai Zixi walked to the ink painting’s front and sat down lightly and gracefully.

The little senior sister was sitting relatively close, and the ink painting could even smell a faint fragrance, a clear and rich elegant scent, lingering in his nose and winding around in his heart.

The ink painting’s small face was slightly red, and he was suddenly a bit at a loss.

Bai Zi Xi’s beautiful eyes looked at the ink painting in doubt, “What, are you not comfortable?”

The ink painting shook his head, found an excuse, and said properly:

“I haven’t learned array law, so I’m a little embarrassed…”

Bai Zixi was silent for a moment, then hesitated for a long time, before finally making up her mind, slowly reaching out, patting the ink painting’s shoulder, and adopting a little senior sister’s demeanor:

“It doesn’t matter, I will help you learn!”

The ink painting’s heart warmed, and he said with a bright smile, “Thank you, senior sister.”

Bai Zixi looked at the ink painting’s clear smiling face, a strange emotion surged from the bottom of her heart. She couldn’t help but make her divine color slightly serious, and she calmly said with force:

“I want to learn array law, you don’t disturb me.”

“En en.”

The ink painting continuously nodded, then sat cross-legged behind Bai Zixi, properly standing guard for the little senior sister.

Bai Zixi knew that the ink painting was looking at her, and her heart was a little restless.

In a trance, she felt the ink painting’s gaze, like winter sunlight, shining on her body, clear, warm, making people comfortable, and also making long-cold people a little uneasy.

She closed her eyes, and after a long while, she calmed down her mood, then opened her eyes, her gaze like water, and quietly observed and contemplated the divine shrine, comprehending the last sub-array within the Five Elements Spirit Array, the water spirit array.

The ink painting just sat silently, looking at the concentrated little senior sister, and did not feel bored either.

The divine shrine was quiet, time quietly passed…

Two hours later, the incense burned out again.

Within the divine shrine, the Dao field was also silent.

The Great Elder again opened the door, looked at the three of them, and said faintly:

“Time is up.”

The three people, Ink painting, then left the Hidden Array Pavilion again, returned to the guest room, lay on the table, huddled together to discuss and summarize:

“I learned the soil spirit array!”

“I learned the gold spirit array, and a big half of the water spirit array. I remembered the array diagram, but the array law insight is still somewhat understood only partially…”

The ink painting nodded.

Soil spirit array, gold spirit array, water spirit array…

Adding the wood spirit array and fire spirit array learned before.

The Five Elements Spirit Array was basically complete.

“But… is it that simple?”

The ink painting furrowed his brow.

A first-rank thirteen-pattern absolute array, it couldn’t be learned so easily right…

“Or, let’s try its effect?” Bai Zisheng suggested.

The ink painting thought for a while, and nodded.

Array law emphasizes learning to use.

If the drawn array law has actual effect, it explains that they have indeed comprehended the true array law.

If the array law is useless or fails, it explains that they have not yet truly learned the Five Elements Spirit Array.

The Five Elements Spirit Array can strengthen the Five Elements attributes, amplify the Five Elements spirit power, and be used to enhance Five Elements class spirit tools, spirit machines, Dao laws, and magic power.

Bai Zixi took out a spirit sword embryo.

This was a blank spirit sword, just forged not long ago. There was no array law on it, and it was something she usually practiced refining tools and playing with.

Bai Zixi drew a gold spirit array on the sword embryo, then used spirit power to activate the array law, and then displayed sword law.

A golden sword light condensed from the sword tip, cutting towards the ground.

The sword light reached the ground, the ground array law was damaged, bricks and stones shattered, and a sword mark was cracked out, with bright golden spirit power remaining on the mark.

“How is it?” the ink painting asked.

Bai Zixi shook her head, “It’s enhanced a little, but extremely slight.”

The ink painting was a little disappointed.

“Let’s try others again,” Bai Zixi said.

The ink painting nodded.

Then, in addition to the gold spirit array, the wood spirit array, fire spirit array, water spirit array, and soil spirit array were all tried by the three of them.

Those who were skilled in related Five Elements magic used magic to try.

But there were also those who were not.

For example, the wood spirit array and soil spirit array.

Although Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi had good spirit roots, their attribute limitations prevented them from using related magic. In this situation, the ink painting immediately learned the two Five Elements magic techniques, “Flowing Sand Technique” and “Wood Poison Technique”.

He had a small Five Elements spirit root, so he could learn all Five Elements magic.

Only because he learned them on the spot, he was not skilled in their use, and their power was also small, not useful in actual combat. But they were enough to measure array law.

The three of them all tried, and in the end, they were all somewhat greatly disappointed.

The Five Elements Spirit Array seemed to take effect, but the effect was almost negligible.

The ink painting sighed slightly.

Although disappointed, this was also within expectations.

Why is an absolute array an absolute array? Besides having many array patterns and requiring high divine sense, it also involves some spirit power essence changes, or special array law inheritance.

Penetrating a certain class of rules is necessary to comprehend an absolute array.

The Reverse Spirit Array needs to be derived and calculated.

The Thick Earth Array needs to perceive the essence of earth Dao.

The Spirit Hub Array needs to penetrate the structure of the spirit power hub, turn spirit into silk, and thereby meticulously control spirit power.

So, what is needed for the Five Elements Spirit Array?

How to penetrate the spirit power essence of the Five Elements Spirit Array, and thereby truly master this path of absolute array?

All three of them were somewhat doubtful and did not understand.

It was the Hour of Zi.

The ink painting lay on the bed, his divine sense immersed in the sea of consciousness.

The Dao stele floated in front of the ink painting.

The ink painting practiced the Five Elements Spirit Array on the Dao stele again and again.

The ink painting’s divine sense was thirteen patterns.

The Five Elements Spirit Array was also at the thirteen-pattern threshold.

In addition, although the Five Elements Spirit Array was a Five Elements absolute array, it was rooted in the Five Elements. The ink painting had drawn the Five Elements Great Array and had a profound understanding of Five Elements array law, so learning it was not considered difficult.

After practicing ten more times, the ink painting could draw out the Five Elements Spirit Array.

But he could only draw it out.

He could just simply draw out the array patterns, dredge the array hub, and construct the array eye.

He only drew out the form, but did not comprehend the charm.

And it could not be considered truly mastered.

The Five Elements Spirit Array must still have deeper mysteries.

“Where is this mystery hidden?”

The ink painting hugged his hands and propped up his head, lying on the virtual white ground of the sea of consciousness, and began to think about the people and matters of the Five Elements Sect from beginning to end…

The Great Elder who adhered to the inheritance, the indifferent and uncaring Sect Master Liao, a bunch of elders who had no sense of existence and could not be distinguished from each other, and the disciples whose array learning was in decline…

Establishing the sect with array law, building it greatly…

A second-rank Five Elements mountain protection great array…

As he thought about it, the ink painting’s thoughts diverged a bit.

He always felt that there was something unharmonious about the Five Elements Sect.

But where exactly this disharmony was, he still couldn’t see through…

The ink painting shook his head and concentrated his attention on the Five Elements Spirit Array.

The Five Elements Spirit Array was the most important matter.

According to Master, learning the Five Elements Spirit Array was the foundation for building one’s body, and then one could go build the foundation.

The Five Elements Spirit Array was hidden inside the Hidden Array Pavilion.

Inside the Hidden Array Pavilion, there was a divine shrine.

In front of the divine shrine, there were five meditation mats.

The Great Elder’s purpose was not to let himself, his senior brother, senior sister, or even Master’s lineage, learn the Five Elements Spirit Array.

He did not want the Five Elements Spirit Array to be spread outside.

Thinking in reverse…

This divine shrine indeed contained the inheritance of the Five Elements Spirit Array.

If the Great Elder had not stopped them, it would have been truly possible for people to learn it.

The ink painting again thought about it from the perspective of the Five Elements Sect’s founding ancestor:

Suppose he was the founding ancestor of the Five Elements Sect…

The first important matter would not be to worry about the inheritance being learned by others, but to find a way to let his own disciples truly comprehend the inheritance of the Five Elements Sect.

If he did not learn it himself, the sect would sooner or later be finished.

As long as he learned it well, even if others learned only scales and half-claws, it would not be harmful.

So…

That divine shrine should be the handwriting of the Five Elements Sect’s old ancestor.

The inheritance of the Five Elements Sect was sealed within the divine shrine.

Later generations of disciples of the Five Elements Sect, by observing and contemplating the divine shrine, could comprehend the Five Elements Spirit Array.

If so, then this inheritance not only included the array patterns of the Five Elements Spirit Array, but also included the inherent true mystery of the Five Elements Spirit Array.

This mystery was perhaps a kind of Dao essence, perhaps a class of divine sense methods, or perhaps a comprehension of certain array law rules.

The array diagram of the Five Elements Spirit Array was just the form.

This mystery was the essence of the inheritance.

And this mystery was necessarily within the divine shrine.

Otherwise, no one in the Five Elements Sect could learn the Five Elements Spirit Array anymore!

—Although now, no one in the Five Elements Sect can learn it anymore…

The ink painting thought for a while again and nodded.

It must be like this!

It wasn’t that he was arrogant.

Regarding the learning and comprehension of first-rank absolute arrays, it is estimated that not many people had more rich experience than him, and not many first-rank array masters had stronger divine sense than him.

Now he couldn’t learn it at all.

Let alone the later generations of disciples of the Five Elements Sect.

So, there must still be something hidden within the divine shrine…

Third day.

As always, the Great Elder burned incense, worshipped, and then closed the door.

Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi took turns sitting on the meditation mats, observing and contemplating the divine shrine Dao field.

Both were to consolidate the array patterns learned before, check for omissions and fill in gaps, and also to see if there were any details they had missed.

The ink painting, as always, neither sat in meditation nor observed and contemplated.

Because he couldn’t observe and contemplate anything at all.

The divine shrine seemed to not want him to see anything.

The ink painting was doing other things.

He was surveying the layout, array laws, and the specific construction and use of the divine shrine on the entire fourth floor of the Hidden Array Pavilion.

While surveying, the ink painting thought:

Suppose he was the founding ancestor of the Five Elements Sect, how would he arrange the array laws, how would he build the divine shrine, how would he design the form of inheritance, so that his own disciples could learn the orthodox inheritance of the Five Elements Sect?

And how could he stop disciples from other teacher gates who did not have good intentions—like himself, from coming to steal the inheritance?

First was array law.

Defense class, sound isolation class, and divine sense hindering class array laws were inevitably indispensable.

The ink painting looked around.

There were some extremely obscure, profound, and powerful array law breaths around. These should be the means laid down by the Five Elements Sect’s old ancestor that year.

The ink painting had little experience, but he blindly guessed that these array laws were at least of the third rank or above.

Third-rank array laws were simply not something the ink painting could see and understand.

The ink painting could only ignore them first.

Next, was the divine shrine.

The ink painting stared at the divine shrine for a long time again, connecting yesterday’s deduction, and then gradually understood some problems:

The Five Elements Sect built this divine shrine, and what it enshrined was not necessarily ancestors.

A family shrine enshrines ancestors, respecting bloodline.

A sect respects teacher inheritance, so what it enshrines should be inheritance.

So within this divine shrine, although there were ancestors’ names and wood carvings of array masters.

But its core was the Dao field.

The implication of the Dao field was to pass on the Dao.

Its purpose was to let all disciples of the Five Elements Sect gaze at the divine shrine, as if they were personally attending the Dao field, hearing the ancestor lecture on the Dao, listening to the true solution of array law, and comprehending the mystery of the great Dao.

But how to listen?

The ink painting glanced at the little senior brother and little senior sister again.

They were just sitting upright on the meditation mats, looking at the divine shrine, observing and contemplating the array diagrams that appeared within the Dao field.

Meditation mat…

The ink painting went to research the meditation mat for a while again.

This meditation mat was just an ordinary meditation mat.

Although the material was special and the ink painting couldn’t understand it, there was no array law inside, and divine sense scan also showed no abnormalities. This also meant that the meditation mat itself was not the key.

“But during observation and contemplation, it is indeed necessary to sit on the meditation mat…”

The ink painting recalled the Great Elder’s sentence again:

“All furnishings, not allowed to be moved…”

The ink painting’s heart shivered.

Not allowed to be moved meant that the position of the meditation mat could not be changed. In other words, the most crucial place of the meditation mat was in its position…

Master said that all things in the world have a surface and an inside, a virtual and a real.

The meditation mat is the surface phase, the position is the essence.

The real meditation mat is virtual;

The virtual position is real.

It is not that sitting on the meditation mat allows one to observe and contemplate the divine shrine and comprehend the absolute array.

But sitting in the position of the meditation mat allows one to see the essence of the divine shrine.

Five Elements positions…

These five positions were used to learn the array patterns of the Five Elements Spirit Array.

Then were there other positions?

By sitting in these positions and observing and contemplating the divine shrine, one could see the true mystery of the divine shrine and comprehend the true Dao essence of the Five Elements Spirit Array, which was hidden within the array patterns?

The ink painting’s spirit surged, and he began to take out paper and pen, marking out all the positions and patterns on the fourth floor of the Hidden Array Pavilion.

This included the divine shrine, and the five meditation mats corresponding to gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The ink painting looked at the structure, and his gaze condensed.

The meditation mats corresponded to the Five Elements.

Each meditation mat corresponded to one sub-array of the Five Elements Spirit Array.

There seemed to be a special array law relationship between this Five Elements Spirit Array and the divine shrine.

And this relationship contained array reason, which seemed to be something that could be derived and calculated through divine sense…

I had some things to do today, which delayed me for most of the day, so the update is late again, I’m sorry.

I want to write more when I have time, I can’t be a salted fish anymore.

(End of this chapter)