Chapter Seventy-Seven: Sudden Comprehension of the Worldly Spirit Gathering and Transformation Array

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Observing the Ease of Going with the Flow—Enlightenment on the Array of Gathering and Transforming Heaven and Earth Essence

Li Hao watched their recovery, and after a rough estimate, he concluded it would take at least five or six hours for everyone to return to peak condition. Much time had already been lost today—by now, two hours past noon had already slipped away. If things went on like this, in another six hours, night would have fallen and all would be silent.

Anxious about the time, Li Hao racked his brains for a solution. Suddenly, a bold idea surfaced in his mind: “The power my Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang Purification Array draws in—can they really take it in?”

Determined to try, Li Hao faced a new problem: “How can I transfer the laws of heaven and earth I draw into their bodies?”

He thought to himself, “Xiao Jiu has followed Grandfather for many years—he must know a few methods.”

Humbly, Li Hao asked, “Brother Xiao Jiu, do you know a way to transfer your power into someone else’s body?”

Xiao Jiu replied, “Young Master, you just need to send your own power directly into the cultivator you wish to help.”

But Xiao Jiu had misunderstood—Li Hao wanted to transfer power from the outside world directly into another’s body.

What Li Hao wished to do was, as the saying goes, offer flowers in Buddha’s name.

“Brother Xiao Jiu, you misunderstood—I mean transferring the external power straight into another’s body.”

“You mean, using some special method to send the world’s power directly into someone else? Is that right?”

“Exactly!”

Xiao Jiu replied, “I’ve never heard of such a method. What I do know is that one can gather the laws of heaven and earth in a certain space, allowing cultivators inside to absorb and refine them at will. But creating such a space is beyond our abilities—it requires a master of the Heaven and Earth Realm.”

Li Hao answered, a little disheartened, “I see.”

Seeing Li Hao furrow his brows, Xiao Jiu thought hard about the problem. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and he said to Li Hao:

“Have you ever heard of the saying ‘go with the flow’?”

This unfamiliar phrase piqued Li Hao’s curiosity. He shook his head, “No, I haven’t. What does it mean? Please explain in detail.”

“Young Master, I’ll condense a memory sphere. Use your spirit to enter it, and you’ll understand.”

“Thank you, Brother Xiao Jiu.”

“No need for thanks, Young Master. Serving you is my lifelong honor.”

As soon as he finished, Xiao Jiu gathered a wisp of the laws of heaven and earth in Li Hao’s sea of consciousness, condensing a crystal-clear orb.

This memory sphere became a miniature, virtual world crafted by Xiao Jiu. Every scene inside was carefully constructed to convey Xiao Jiu’s meaning, and all the changes within were controlled by his will.

As Li Hao’s spirit entered the orb, the scenery unfolded before him like a small world. Standing in the void of Xiao Jiu’s memory sphere, Li Hao saw a wide river with boats of all sizes drifting along—some downstream, some struggling against the current. These were the simplest, most primitive vessels, used by ordinary people unversed in cultivation, mere tools of travel. Yet to Li Hao, they were novel wonders—he’d spent the past twelve years confined to the Valley of a Hundred Herbs, with the furthest foray being to Lishui City.

Rivers and streams he knew well enough, but boats and such vehicles he had only read about in books, never seen with his own eyes. The novelty lingered only a moment before he recollected his purpose—time waited for no one.

Within the memory sphere, the scene of boats passing up and down the river repeated endlessly. Li Hao observed this memory for about an hour. When the sphere began to shatter, he was drawn back to reality.

“How long was I inside, Brother Xiao Jiu?” Li Hao felt dazed by the lengthy vision.

“About a minute, Young Master.”

“A minute?” Li Hao was surprised.

“Yes, truly only a minute passed. The passage of time in the memory sphere is controlled by my will. You felt it was long because I sped up time inside by a hundred and twenty times.”

With this explanation, Li Hao suddenly understood. “So the rules of time in his memory sphere are just like those in the Diagram of the Five Holy Ones I entered before.”

Xiao Jiu then asked, “Young Master, while you watched the boats moving on the river, did you notice anything unusual?”

Li Hao thought for a moment. “Those boats drifting downstream seemed to move with little effort from those rowing, but those going upstream appeared to struggle.”

“Exactly. If we liken the laws of heaven and earth to that river, and ourselves to boats upon it?”

Li Hao pondered, “Then our own cultivated laws are like the attributes of the river. If our attributes match those of the world, our cultivation goes swiftly; if not, we struggle.”

“Precisely. Your intelligence is unmatched, Young Master. But now, your task is to channel the world’s laws through your own power into another’s body. For that, you must see yourself as the river, and the laws of heaven and earth as the boats you guide.”

For Li Hao, such analogies were always instantly clear. The principle was obvious; the challenge was how to transmit the surrounding laws of heaven and earth into the chosen recipient’s body.

Xiao Jiu, seeing Li Hao’s frustration, gently reminded him, “I’ve never heard of such a special method, but all formations are the work of ingenious cultivators. When you asked me earlier, this was the only thing I could think of. That’s why I suggested you observe it—to see if it might inspire you.”

“Yes, yes—your guidance has opened my eyes. I think I’ll have results soon.”

Li Hao’s current question was: “I can use the Yin-Yang Purification Array to draw the world’s laws into my own body. But while maintaining the array, how do I transfer my power into someone else’s body?”

He thought for a long time, but could not see how to operate both the Yin-Yang Purification Array and the Yin-Yang Decomposition Array at once.

The Decomposition Array was the inverse of the Purification Array. Both were derived from the primordial Chaos Yin-Yang Array, just in more compact forms, and operated on the same principle.

Seeing that Li Hao was still stuck, Xiao Jiu offered another suggestion. “Is it possible, as you did yesterday when repairing the boundary realm, to call upon your avatars for help?”

Li Hao’s eyes lit up. “That’s right—how could I have forgotten about my avatars?”

He turned to Xiao Jiu. “Do you think I could have an avatar operate the Yin-Yang Decomposition Array within my sea of consciousness, channeling the power I gather into the target I select?”

Xiao Jiu replied, “I wouldn’t dare say for certain—but why not try and see?”

Within his sea of consciousness, Li Hao had three avatars: the Heavenly Soul, the Earthly Soul, and the Soul of Destiny. At this moment, his Soul of Destiny was still present, though not separated—it was being used simply as his spiritual sense.

Li Hao mused, “Perhaps I don’t need to call them back. I’ll first use the Purification Array to draw the laws into my dantian, then use my spirit to operate the Decomposition Array in my sea of consciousness, directing my power into the souls of my companions, letting them allocate it as needed.”

This seemed a workable solution—but another problem arose.

“If my law attributes don’t match theirs, what then? Wait—my Formless Law Body can contain all attributes. Could my power thus transform into any attribute needed?”

He would not use his friends as test subjects. For now, he needed only to prove his conjecture.

“There’s no one better suited for this experiment than Xiao Jiu,” he thought.

At that moment, Xiao Jiu, in human form, stood before Li Hao, the perfect test subject, his star-bright eyes fixed on Xiao Jiu.

Noticing his master’s strange gaze, Xiao Jiu grew uneasy. “Why does he look at me like that—as if I’m a fish about to be roasted? Oh no, surely he doesn’t want to eat dragon meat?”

The longer Li Hao stared, the more Xiao Jiu’s imagination ran wild, until he broke out in a cold sweat.

Lost in thought, Li Hao continued to stare, pondering how to link his deductions together.

Several breaths passed with Li Hao simply smiling at him. Xiao Jiu’s nerves frayed further, fearing that Li Hao might start carving pieces of him for the fire. At last, unable to bear it, he interrupted:

“Young Master! Young Master!”

“Hm?” Li Hao, deep in thought, did not respond at first. Xiao Jiu raised his voice a little and managed to rouse him.

Once Li Hao focused, Xiao Jiu blurted out, “Young Master, my flesh is mutated—it can’t taste good. If you want to try dragon meat, I can catch a few young dragons and bring you some tender cuts to roast, all right?”

“Ah? Is dragon meat tasty?” Li Hao was half amused, half exasperated, and played along.

Xiao Jiu had seen great figures who enjoyed roasting rare and noble creatures, and was a little scared. “I doubt it’d taste good,” he replied.

Li Hao laughed. “Even if I wanted to eat dragon meat, I wouldn’t eat yours. Only those evil dragons deserving punishment. I just want you to help me with an experiment, to prove a theory of mine.”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jiu’s nine anxious dragon hearts finally settled. Realizing he’d misunderstood, he scratched his head in embarrassment and asked carefully, “What kind of experiment does Young Master have in mind?”