Volume One: The Young Man Enters the World Chapter Seven: The Array Inscriptionist

After Fang Tian settled the matters in the village, he prepared to leave. Looking at the place where he had grown up, his heart was filled with reluctance, but there was no other way—he had to go, for the sliver of sunlight in his heart.

To the south of the village lay a mountain valley, usually used by the villagers to go out and procure supplies. Because the town was so far away, most of the time they only left once every half year, making Qingchuan an obscure and little-known place.

Fang Tian walked out of the valley and turned back to gaze at the land of his childhood, a myriad of feelings welling within him. He drew his longsword and swung it several times; the massive boulders on both sides of the pass tumbled down, sealing the entrance and exit to the place.

He no longer wished for this place to be disturbed. Having done this, he headed south. He remembered his father once mentioning that a hundred miles to the south lay a small town called Redleaf Town. He decided to go there first. Never having set foot in the outside world, now alone, he intended to discover it step by step.

At night, after several days of travel, Fang Tian sat beneath a large tree to cultivate. At that moment, the voice of Old Tian sounded in his mind.

With a thought, the divine sword tattoo on his arm emerged, and he entered the space within the sword. Fang Tian’s figure vanished, leaving only an ordinary longsword beneath the great tree outside.

Inside the sword realm, Old Tian said to him, “Xiao Tian, I see you’ve been cultivating ceaselessly these past days, but it seems you’ve hit a bottleneck.”

“Although time flows more slowly in this space than outside, giving you more time to cultivate than other practitioners, the time of your life passes just the same. There’s no need to stay here endlessly. What you need is tempering—only by breaking through your own state of mind can you advance your realm.”

“Old Tian, I understand what you mean. These past days, I too have realized that no matter what I do, I can’t break through the second level of Spirit Gathering. Even though I’ve refined my body four hundred times, I still can’t advance.” Fang Tian knew that his own impatience had left him disoriented, still unable to let go of what had happened.

Taking a deep breath, Fang Tian ceased his inner turmoil. He realized that if he continued like this, he wouldn’t become stronger—he’d simply lose his mind.

Seeing Fang Tian regain his composure, Old Tian continued, “Since your spiritual power’s realm cannot be broken through for now, on your way to Redleaf Town, you might try becoming a Pattern Master. This, too, is a path to strength besides the cultivation of spiritual power.”

Fang Tian was surprised; Old Tian was once again teaching him something new, so he hurriedly asked, “Tell me, what is a Pattern Master?”

Old Tian explained, “There is a group of people born with powerful souls. They discovered that they could use the power of the soul to stir the Forces of Heaven and Earth. These forces are intangible and elusive, difficult to grasp, but such people can easily employ them.”

“As their understanding grew, they found that these forces could be drawn into formations. They transformed the Forces of Heaven and Earth into patterns, using spiritual arrays as a source of power to activate them. The mightiest formations, when entered, could trap one within the Forces of Heaven and Earth—if the formation could not be broken, the intruder would ultimately perish.”

“The power of a spiritual array is determined by the strength of the Forces of Heaven and Earth it draws forth. The stronger the soul of the array’s creator, the greater the forces they can harness, and the more patterns they can add to the array.”

“In the past ten thousand years, people on the continent have begun cultivating patterns, using spiritual arrays as a foundation and enhancing their power with patterns.”

“The soul, besides being innately strong, can also be cultivated. The method is through meditation—during meditation, the soul can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and grow continuously.”

“The rank of a Pattern Master is determined by the number of patterns they can add to a spiritual array: those who can inscribe one to one hundred patterns are Apprentices; one hundred to one thousand are Masters; one thousand to ten thousand are Grandmasters; ten thousand to one hundred thousand are Exalted Grandmasters; those who can surpass one hundred thousand are revered as Pattern Saints.”

“Spiritual arrays, as the foundation, are also ranked by the number of patterns they can bear, from the first to the ninth grade. There are more things you’ll come to understand in time.”

Old Tian added, “Xiao Tian, you were born with a full soul—perfect for becoming a Pattern Master. This will give you another means to protect yourself.”

“There are Pattern Masters who, even with modest cultivation, can hold their own against those of higher realms by using spiritual arrays and patterns.”

With a sweep of his robe, a book and a diagram appeared in Fang Tian’s hands: the book was ‘An Introduction to Spiritual Arrays and Patterns,’ and the diagram was the ‘Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart.’

Old Tian told him that these two items were the foundation for becoming a Pattern Master. His previous master had been an Exalted Grandmaster, able to inscribe ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine patterns—just one step away from becoming a Pattern Saint.

Later, while seeking treasure in a forbidden land, that master perished, leaving the methods for cultivating patterns within the sword. Afterward, Old Tian’s last master also ventured into the forbidden land and returned alive.

By now, Fang Tian was accustomed to Old Tian conjuring things with a wave of his sleeve.

The sword realm was like a treasury, containing all kinds of techniques, martial skills, spiritual arrays, pattern contemplation diagrams, and even the medicinal pools he used for body refinement—each brought forth by Old Tian with a casual gesture.

Fang Tian couldn’t help but feel that with Old Tian around, he lacked for nothing.

He shook his head, casting aside these distracting thoughts, and began to study ‘An Introduction to Spiritual Arrays and Patterns’ and the ‘Heaven and Earth Contemplation Chart’ in earnest. The former explained the structure of spiritual arrays and the inscription of patterns; the latter was the Grandmaster’s own insight into the Forces of Heaven and Earth, carved into a chart with his soul, from which others could comprehend the meaning of those forces.

A Pattern Master’s contemplation diagram was the essence of their life’s perception; it was evident how precious the chart in Fang Tian’s hands was.

He leafed through the book and the chart bit by bit, time slipping quietly by.

When he had finished, Fang Tian had memorized both completely.

For a Pattern Master, cultivation requires guidance only in the early stages; beyond that, one must rely on personal enlightenment, for the Forces of Heaven and Earth are vast and boundless—only by comprehending them oneself can they be harnessed.

By contrast, a spiritual array only requires the use of different attributes of spiritual power to draw an array diagram and activate it. Though it possesses the power of heaven and earth, it lacks the soul of heaven and earth. Of course, spiritual arrays are important as well—they are the foundation upon which a Pattern Master demonstrates his prowess.

Outside, beneath the tree, the longsword vanished and Fang Tian reappeared. After learning about Pattern Masters, he had studied for a time and now intended to try it himself.

In the sword realm, whenever he was confused about Pattern Mastery, he would ask Old Tian for guidance.

Having once served a Grandmaster of Patterns, Old Tian was knowledgeable in this field and answered all Fang Tian’s questions. Even so, Fang Tian developed his own unique insights into the creation of spiritual arrays and the inscription of patterns.

Hearing his ideas, Old Tian repeatedly praised him as a genius among Pattern Masters, saying that one day he would certainly become a Pattern Saint.

Fang Tian was secretly pleased by the praise, but he knew this was not the time for pride—becoming a Pattern Master was not so easily done.

Simply harnessing the Forces of Heaven and Earth was enough to stymie most people. He had to try it for himself to know if he could truly become one.

Beneath the tree, Fang Tian began to draw a spiritual array. The sky above was hung with a bright moon, blanketing the land in silvery frost, and the night was especially silent, as if all things had fallen into slumber.

Fang Tian picked up a fallen branch and, channeling his spiritual power, drew stroke by stroke. Soon, the spiritual array was formed—a first-grade Falling Rain Array.

When the array was complete, it radiated a dazzling green light. The formation, initially just three inches across, instantly expanded to more than twenty feet. Fang Tian closed his eyes to sense the Forces of Heaven and Earth, his soul power spreading out in search.

Before long, he opened his eyes—he had found it, the Forces of Heaven and Earth!

They wove through the air like threads of silver. Fang Tian used his soul to seize one, guiding it into the formation and inscribing it as a pattern.

With the first, the second and third soon followed. Fang Tian continued drawing more and more of the Forces of Heaven and Earth.

When he reached the twenty-ninth pattern, he found he could go no further. If he forced it, the result would only be the destruction of the formation.

Now, the Falling Rain Array, strengthened by the patterns, covered a mile in every direction. Within its bounds, rain poured ceaselessly from the sky.

The spectacle astonished Fang Tian. He hadn’t noticed while inscribing the patterns, but now, watching the formation operate, he couldn’t help but marvel at the power of a Pattern Master. Since he possessed such talent, he resolved to cultivate these abilities to the utmost—drawing himself ever closer to becoming the strongest.

After a quarter of an hour, the formation dissipated as its spiritual power ran out, and the surroundings returned to normal. With only an hour left until dawn, Fang Tian rested with his eyes closed for a while, then rose, shook out his clothes, and prepared to continue on his journey—

—to the nearby town of Redleaf.