Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

After planting the seeds and saplings, the sun had already set behind the mountains.

Lin Xiao returned to the Array Hall.

Seeing the two still engrossed in their studies, he walked over to the Kunpeng Array Disk and asked, "How's it going? Do you want to give it a try now?"

Upon hearing Lin Xiao's voice, the two of them looked up at him.

Mo Yuanjiao, feeling confident that he had memorized the simplest arrays from the earlier pages, nodded enthusiastically. "I want to try!"

Lin Xiao then walked over to the Kunpeng Array Disk, placed his hand on it, and infused it with spiritual energy. As a layer of spiritual energy film emerged on the disk, he gestured for Mo Yuanjiao to step forward.

Eager to give it a shot, Mo Yuanjiao immediately stood up, picked up the Taiyuan Engraving Knife from the side, and imitated Lin Xiao's earlier movements by channeling spiritual energy into the knife.

Focusing his attention on the array disk before him, he took a deep breath and began engraving the Minor Cooling Array onto the spiritual energy film.

Lin Xiao carefully observed each step of Mo Yuanjiao's engraving process while continuously supplying spiritual energy to the array disk.

Despite being Mo Yuanjiao's first attempt at engraving an array, his movements were slow and unsteady due to his cultivation level at Qi Refining Stage 1, causing his spiritual energy output to be unstable. The knife moved sluggishly and hesitantly across the spiritual energy film.

Lin Xiao was slightly surprised. He had expected Mo Yuanjiao's spiritual energy to falter during the engraving process, considering it was his first time, and the array was the simplest one in the Basic Array Engraving Compendium. However, although the flow of spiritual energy from the knife was unstable, it remained continuous, without any breaks.

Beads of sweat began to form on Mo Yuanjiao's forehead, but he became even more focused.

It seemed like his entire world had shrunk to the array he was engraving.

After a long while, just as his spiritual energy was about to run out, Mo Yuanjiao finally completed the engraving of the Minor Cooling Array!

At the moment of completion, his hand went weak, and he almost dropped the engraving knife.

Looking at the array he had just engraved, Mo Yuanjiao nervously glanced at Lin Xiao. "Senior Brother Sect Master, did I do it right?"

Lin Xiao examined the spiritual energy film with the slightly wobbly yet unbroken array pattern, which, when printed, would be functional. He smiled encouragingly and said, "You've done it! For your first attempt at engraving an array with your current Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivation, this is impressive. With more practice, I'm sure you'll be able to engrave arrays that can be used in practice."

Although the array's effectiveness might be limited, Mo Yuanjiao's talent for array engraving was undeniable.

With Sun Yigao recognized by Elder Liao for his strong alchemy potential and Mo Yuanjiao's clear aptitude for arrays, Lin Xiao felt that the task of nurturing skilled professionals might not be as challenging as he initially thought.

He then turned to Mo Que, who was still seated, and asked, "Mo Guard, would you like to try as well?"

Mo Yuanjiao's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "Old Que, give it a shot—it's really fun!"

He placed the engraving knife back on the table and made way for Mo Que.

Mo Que nodded and stepped up to the array disk, picking up the knife and focusing his mind before beginning his engraving attempt on the spiritual energy film.

However, unlike Mo Yuanjiao, Mo Que struggled significantly. His engraving of the Minor Cooling Array was interrupted by eight or nine breaks. Moreover, his spiritual energy was completely depleted by the time he finished.

As he looked at the jagged and disconnected array on the spiritual energy film, Mo Que knew without asking that he hadn't done well.

But Lin Xiao still offered some encouragement. "Mo Guard, you've done well. Your young master's talent is exceptional, but completing the array, even with breaks, is still an accomplishment."

Hearing this, Mo Que, who had been feeling a bit down, suddenly felt a sense of pride.

That's right.

His young master was the best!

How could he possibly compare? Achieving even a fraction of what his young master could do was already something to be proud of!

Seeing that the two had depleted nearly all of their spiritual energy, Lin Xiao suggested they sit down and meditate to recover.

"Once you've replenished your spiritual energy, we can practice some more."

Having just experienced their first attempt at array engraving, both Mo Yuanjiao and Mo Que were eager to continue. They quickly settled onto the nearby mats and began meditating to restore their spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao sat on the opposite side of the Kunpeng Array Disk, separated from the two by the disk itself.

He took out the Yin-Yang Life and Death Array and placed it in front of him.

Examining the array closely, Lin Xiao wondered if he could memorize it well enough to attempt engraving it.

If he could replicate this array, it would be incredible.

However, while the idea was promising, reality proved much more challenging.

As he focused on trying to memorize the array patterns, he realized that the intricacy of the design was far beyond his expectations. The array wasn't just complex on a single plane—it consisted of multiple layers!

Not just one or two layers, but dozens!

These dozens of layers of engraving were interwoven with extreme precision, making the complexity of the Yin-Yang Life and Death Array far beyond anything in the Basic Array Engraving Compendium.

To fully memorize this array, Lin Xiao would first need to separate and fully understand each layer, committing them to memory one by one.

The reason he wasn't simply copying the array directly was that engraving required complete focus and uninterrupted execution. Any hesitation or pause would break the flow of spiritual energy and result in failure.

Therefore, it was essential to thoroughly memorize the array before engraving it.

However, even with his current Qi Refining Stage 1 cultivation, Lin Xiao realized that fully memorizing the Yin-Yang Life and Death Array would be a daunting task.

Attempting to engrave it would be even more challenging.

He estimated that he would likely exhaust his mental energy before even getting halfway through.

Speaking of which, ever since advancing to Qi Refining Stage 1, Lin Xiao had gained the ability to extend his spiritual sense outward, though he had yet to attempt it.

After all, it was his first time cultivating as a proper practitioner, and he wasn't entirely familiar with everything yet.

Moreover, spiritual sense could not only extend outward but also be used to inspect one's own body internally.

Though this was something he could have done as early as Qi Refining Stage 7 or 8, he had been too busy at the time with preparations for entering the secret realm and advancing his cultivation. As a result, he had completely forgotten about it.