Sage of Humanity

Several people were talking when the young man in white suddenly bowed his head to check his battlefield marking, receiving a message. After a moment, he lifted his head and looked at Gu Canyang with a peculiar expression, "Brother Gu, is Fellow Daoist Lu skilled in the Array Path?"

Gu Canyang thought for a moment and said, "It is said that he has inherited the legacy of a spirit runes master, and he can also activate some spirit runes. The Array Path is closely related to spirit runes… Why do you ask?"

The young man in white could not help but laugh bitterly, "Fellow Daoist Lu is at the edge of the Sect Protection Array. It seems like he's studying how to break the formation."

"Break the formation?" Both Gu Canyang and Jik Yan were taken aback.

It was naturally possible to decode formations, but the cultivation level at the Spirit Stream Realm was still too low to break through such sophisticated formations. Even if they could break a formation, it would only be the simpler ones. Like the Sect Protection Array, such a massive formation was definitely not something that could be broken by a single individual.

This was also the reason why the big sects' locations were hard to breach, as each sect's location was enveloped by its own protective array.

"Maybe he's just practicing the Array Path. Send a message down, not to worry about it." Gu Canyang did not think much about it. Since Lu Ye wanted to study how to break the formation, let him be, as there wouldn't be any loss anyway.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the Surreptitious Palace's protective array, Lu Ye was observing the operation of the formation.

To break a formation, one must first locate the flaw in the formation, then apply targeted methods against this flaw. No matter the kind of formation, none was flawless.

However, the more sophisticated a formation, the fewer its flaws. For example, the Sect Protection Array at the Spirit Stream battlefield was essentially set up with array bases bought from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault. The people who set up and maintained the array might not even be well-versed in it.

Take the Righteous Blood Sect, for example. Now, Hua Ci controlled the protective array. Hua Ci knew nothing about formation, but with the corresponding jade cluster, she could easily control the array.

The situation was the same here at the Surreptitious Palace.

The controllers of the formation were not proficient in the array, so how perfect could such a large array be? But it was enough to fend off attacks from Spirit Stream Realm cultivators.

When he was at the Righteous Blood Sect, Lu Ye learned the Path of Spirit Runes from Madam Yun through a process of breaking first and then establishing. Madam Yun would construct spirit runes, and he would decode them. If one regarded these spirit runes as a formation, then Lu Ye's act of decoding spirit runes was essentially breaking a formation.

Of course, real formations were much more complex than just one or two spirit runes, especially a protective array that could cover an entire location, which might involve dozens of different spirit runes.

Previously, he did not know much about the Array Path, so even when the Righteous Blood Sect later acquired its own protective array, Lu Ye had not studied it.

It was only after leaving the Righteous Blood Sect that Lu Ye began studying aspects of the Array Path through books, gradually enhancing his expertise. By the time he was in Xianyuan City, he was already capable of setting up some simple arrays by himself.

Now that his theoretical knowledge was almost adequate, Lu Ye wanted to put it into practice.

But upon actually engaging, he realized that things were more complicated than he had thought. The entire Sect Protection Array was integrated as a whole. With his current level of insight and experience, he could not spot any flaws.

Unable to even find a flaw in the formation, breaking it was out of the question.

So, moments later, Lu Ye slowly closed his eyes, and spirit force began to gather in them, forming an extremely intricate pattern.

Insight!

This was the eleventh spirit rune he had acquired from the Talent Tree. When he had stormed the veins of the Sky Supporting Sect, Lu Ye had used this spirit rune to detect a ghost cultivator's whereabouts.

Upon opening his eyes again, the whole world seemed transformed. Everything appeared less real, with colorful lights flowing in his field of vision, fluorescent lights fluttering, and ribbons flying, constantly twisting and changing. It was the flow of nature's spiritual energy.

The greatest use of the Insight Spirit Runes was to clearly see the flow of spiritual energy and the changes in spirit force.

Even before, Lu Ye had vaguely felt that the use of this spirit rune was not just for detecting the hidden movements of enemies. It might be extraordinarily effective in breaking formations.

His eyes, augmented by the Insight Spirit Runes, looked towards the protective array. He immediately noticed some differences. The spirit force on the array's screen flowed like water from one direction. Since the array's screen was spherical, half above the ground and half below, this process could cycle repeatedly. As long as the array had sufficient spirit force reserves, it could be maintained indefinitely.

In the Spirit Stream battlefield, nature's spiritual energy was rich, and each sect's location was augmented by a Heaven's Augury Pillar. The array could store massive amounts of spirit force during ordinary days, enhancing its powers and protective capability upon attack.

However, on normal days, the array would maintain only the minimum operation.

To the normal eye, the entire array screen looked like a transparent water screen, but to Lu Ye, enhanced by the Insight Spirit Runes, the array screen was composed of interlocking Yin-Yang Dual Origins embedded with various spirit runes. Each of these runes could perform its function, such as enhancing the protective capability of the array or accelerating the flow of spirit force.

The whole array was like a vast, complex, and closely knitted restriction!

Unlike ordinary restrictions crafted in Spiritual Artifacts, this restriction, powered by the flow of spirit force, formed the entire protective array.

Lu Ye had a revelation. No wonder Madam Yun had said that array cultivators could be considered a branch of spirit runes masters, because the array itself was made up of a series of spirit runes that formed the restriction.

Seeing the previous technique of embedding those spirit runes, Lu Ye even recognized some familiar traces.

The leaves on his Talent Tree did not just bear spirit runes, but also a multitude of special embedding techniques and skills, which could marginally be considered as spirit runes, because if constructed, they could exist stably; however, they differed from normal spirit runes in that they couldn't function independently.

They themselves were merely bridges used for the integration of different spirit runes.

Lu Ye continued to watch, failing to find any obvious flaws in the light screen before him. After a brief moment of contemplation, he stepped forward, carefully probing as he moved.

Only after walking the duration it takes to drink a cup of tea did he suddenly halt and look up to assess what lay ahead.

This spot differed subtly from other areas; if other locations within the big array could be considered seamless, then here, there were traces of integration.

These traces of integration were flaws and also the nodes of the big array.

If he was not mistaken, the spot he stood upon was likely the central point between two array bases.

The protective array of the Righteous Blood Sect was constructed from sixteen array bases, spaced far apart, and even though they could resonate to form an array, the connections between them were weaker than in other spots.

If the Sect's big array were likened to a jigsaw puzzle, it would consist of sixteen pieces, each representing an area covered by an activated array base. Even if the integration among the pieces was perfect, gaps would exist; these gaps were the nodes.

A normal person couldn't see them, and neither could Lu Ye, but with the aid of Insight Spirit Runes, it was different.

Having identified the node, Lu Ye felt relieved, knowing his earlier thoughts were correct—Insight Spirit Runes indeed had unique effects in breaking arrays.

Staring at the node ahead, Lu Ye slowly drew out the Boulder Mountain Saber. With his spirit force stirred, a flash of brilliance vanished from the blade in an instant. Empowered by Double-Sharpness, he used all his strength to thrust the saber straight forward.

The tip of the saber struck precisely on that node, causing the Boulder Mountain Saber to hum as the spirit force surged. The next instant, the protective array trembled violently, as the smoothly flowing light screen twisted harshly.

Lu Ye sheathed his saber, continuing his actions. The long saber in his hand transformed into a series of afterimages, constantly striking at the node of the big array.

Boom... Boom... Boom...

The big array kept warping.

The entire premises of the Surreptitious Palace were disturbed; all cultivators who sensed this scene were shocked, and some even shouted loudly, "Enemy attack!"

Though they couldn't see the enemy, the unmistakable sign of an attack on the big array was there.

Gus Canyang, the man in white, and Jik Yan were all startled, appearing immediately. The man in white took out the jade cluster that controlled the big array and promptly maximized its power.

Amidst chaos, news arrived soon after, not of an enemy attack, but that the visiting Lu Yiye was attacking their own protective array.

Watching the disciple reporting the situation, Gu Canyang's eyes twitched, "All this commotion was caused by him alone?"

"Yes, I just saw with my own eyes him attacking the big array with a Spiritual Artifact." The reporting cultivator had been quite close to Lu Ye, so he saw everything very clearly. Honestly, he too was startled; never had he thought that someone could elicit such a strong reaction from the protective array all by himself.

To think that Lu Yiye was only at Spirit Stream Level 8. If he were to cultivate to the 9th Heaven Level, wouldn't he be able to break the protective array with a single strike?

"Let's go and see," Gu Canyang had also realized this, leading the man in white and Jik Yan towards Lu Ye's location, followed by a large crowd of cultivators.

Upon arrival, they found Lu Ye sitting cross-legged, seemingly recovering his spirit force.

After the man in white had taken control of the big array and enhanced its power, Lu Ye ceased his actions. Knowing his actions would certainly attract the attention of the Surreptitious Palace, he had deliberately waited here for them.

What he hadn't expected was for so many people to show up.

"Brother Yiye, were you attacking the array just now?" Gu Canyang stepped forward and asked.

"I had some ideas I wanted to test out."

"Did you gain anything?" Gu Canyang raised an eyebrow. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire

"More ideas have emerged. I apologize for disturbing everyone."

"No worries at all," Gu Canyang waved his hand repeatedly, "Brother Yiye, feel free to test whatever you like. Rest assured, the Surreptitious Palace will fully cooperate!"

He was so eager not just because Lu Ye had previously saved many cultivators of the Surreptitious Palace, but also because if Lu Ye could break the big array single-handedly, the implications would be significant!

Everyone knew the benefits of taking over another's premises, but capturing premises isn't easy when a protective array stands in the way.