Chapter 70: Begin Crafting Arrays… Consecutive Failures

After calming his mind, Kranos opened the book titled “Fundamentals of Arrays and Formations.” He read about the author, Alphonse, who was said to have quickly risen to prominence after studying the art of arrays for a thousand years.

Although it might seem like a long time, the truly fascinating thing about him was that, immediately after his thousand-year seclusion, he made a teleportation array and vanished from the world. Many said he had created a bridge to the Divine World; some said he had gone to another new realm entirely, but the truth of what happened was still unknown.

Fascinated by this, Kranos had immediately purchased the book. Without hesitation, he plunged himself into reading. From the detailed description, Kranos understood that the writer, Alphonse, was no ordinary man.

After absorbing the information, Kranos felt his knowledge of formations deepen significantly. However, as he reached the last page of the book, just as he was about to close it, the last line of words caught his attention:

“An array can be engraved onto everything, and everything can be used as a formation.” It was written in a different script from the rest of the book. Kranos guessed it must have been Alphonse’s passing thought, but he couldn’t help but ponder it deeply.

He recalled what was said about Alphonse and immediately had a faint guess: that the moment the man had an epiphany regarding these words, he was able to use the immortal as a formation and head to the Divine World without following the normal path of cultivation.

He couldn’t help but ponder the words deeply. If an array can be engraved onto everything, doesn’t this mean arrays can be engraved onto one’s body? However, based on the functions of arrays, that would be of no use. In that case, how about coming up with a new set of arrays—ones that apply to time?

“I can use it as a supplementary rune to maybe rewind time to before the array was used and make the array able to attack twice or maybe more with a time loop!” At this moment, Kranos finally recalled another time-related ability from his past life: if he could use a time loop on an array, wouldn’t it last forever?

“Or I can carve it into formations and make them last longer as well!” Kranos’ thoughts ran wild rapidly as he pondered the first part of Alphonse’s writings.

His thoughts couldn’t help but move to the second writing as well: “Everything can be used as a formation.” In that case, why not use arrays to set up formations? “Instead of a bewildering formation, I can create a formation that loops constantly, causing my opponent to be stuck!”

Kranos’ eyes widened in surprise as he thought of this. He could also create a spirit-gathering formation and engrave an array that slows down time; that way, his cultivation of the orthodox path would be at least two times faster. With that, he stood up. After a stretch, he decided to rest for a bit before starting his array practice.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, more than eight hours had gone by. Kranos slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He recalled what he had planned for today, so without hesitation, a few array brushes, papers, and pens appeared in his hand. According to the information written in “Fundamentals of Arrays and Formations,” these pens, papers, and brushes were crafted with special materials that could help mana flow through them much more easily, aiding an array master in carving out an array line more efficiently.

Opening the book to a certain page, Kranos looked at the array he wanted to carve. It was a defensive array. He had wanted to carve an offensive array at first, but on second thought, he didn’t want to destroy his dorm; repairing it would cost a huge amount of merit points. Placing the paper on the table ahead of him, Kranos studied the defensive array in the book for a few minutes before slowly carving it out while infusing his mana into the pen.

Although he was nervous, his hand didn’t tremble. In one fluid motion, he completed the stroke and formed the core symbol. Just as he was about to continue to the next step, his hand faintly trembled, and before he could realize it, the array had crumbled. A frown immediately appeared on his face. “Hundred merit points wasted just like that?” For a moment, he wanted to immediately give up on arrays and formations due to their high consumption of resources, but he knew that it would be extremely beneficial to his future.

With that, he tossed the wasted array paper and took out another one. Following the same pattern as before, Kranos began carving the core; however, this time he didn’t even complete the process before it crumbled. “My heart wasn’t calm due to the initial wastage of a hundred points, which led me to make an error,” he immediately realized the reason for his failure. Pausing slightly, he calmed himself and took out another paper.

This time, he was extremely prudent, making sure to follow each step meticulously. However… Failure! He mistakenly intersected two mana circuits. “Hmph!” Kranos snorted inwardly, “I don’t believe I won’t succeed today.” His eyes became firm as he took out the next paper. Soon after, he began drawing the core symbol; the process went smoothly.

Without retrieving his hand, Kranos knew he had to be cautious with the next step… drawing the mana circuit. With a few strokes of his pen, the mana circuits were soon completed. Kranos was immediately overjoyed; however… Failure! Due to his excitement, his hand slipped slightly out of line. “Again!” he muttered inwardly and took out another piece of paper. He felt he was approaching success. This time, Kranos was already familiar with the process. With a few successive strokes of his pen, he was done with the core symbol.

After another set of pen strokes, he finished the mana circuits. Since this was his first time setting up an array, he decided not to apply any anchor or trigger. He was immediately at the last step, sealing the array… His hand moved meticulously, and soon he was done… The result was…

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