Watching the Mountain

Chapter 411: Chapter 216: Combined Attack Array

”We’re ready,” the seven replied, their spirits high.

Xu Ran nodded slightly. ”Then let’s begin.”

Soon, he brought the seven of them before Ye Qingyue. After giving them a few instructions, the two sides began their battle.

The seven disciples—Qing Mei, Zhu Ma, Lan Juhua, and the others—were at the Purple Mansion Middle Stage of cultivation, while Ye Qingyue suppressed her own cultivation to the Core Formation Early Stage.

The battle between them was incredibly intense, not at all a one-sided affair.

Xu Ran, watching from the side, nodded repeatedly, quite satisfied with the battle before him.

Most of the people he knew were capable of fighting above their Realm when they were at a Low Realm. There were even peerless prodigies like Zhang Zhentian, who could defeat a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator like Shen Wuchen while only at the Golden Core Stage.

In reality, however, this was not common in the Cultivation Realm. Not everyone was a peerless genius like Zhang Zhentian.

What was most common in the Cultivation Realm was the absolute domination of Low Realm Cultivators by those of a High Realm.

In terms of strength, even a Core Formation Early Stage cultivator from the Flying Immortal Stream could easily defeat more than ten Purple Mansion Cultivators.

Disciples like Qing Mei, Zhu Ma, Lan Juhua, and the others had ordinary talent and were only at the Purple Mansion Middle Stage of cultivation. It should have been impossible for them to contend with Ye Qingyue, even with her cultivation suppressed to the Core Formation Early Stage.

The reason they could fight such an intense battle against Ye Qingyue was all thanks to the Array that Xu Ran had tailor-made for them.

Li Daoyi had previously expressed his worries to Xu Ran that as Dao Concealment accelerated, cultivation was becoming more and more difficult. Many of the older generation of Disciples were gradually aging, while the Sect had only recently recruited a small number of new disciples.

If things continued this way, by around the 600th year of the Hidden Dao Era, when the world fully entered Dao Concealment, most of the disciples still alive today would have grown old and passed away.

After all, the lifespan of a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator was only six hundred years. For those from the Flying Immortal Stream, it was even shorter—only about five hundred. If the current Disciples failed to break through to the Core Formation Stage, most of them would not live to see the 600th year of the Hidden Dao Era.

A more pressing problem was that ninety-nine percent of the living disciples would be unable to break through to the Core Formation Stage.

In other words, by the time the world fully entered Dao Concealment, the members of the Sect would have been almost completely replaced.

That alone might have been manageable, but Li Daoyi was even more worried that the newly recruited disciples would definitely have slower cultivation speeds than the older ones.

This would mean that after the current generation of Disciples grew old, the newly joined disciples would not have matured yet, leaving a power vacuum that couldn’t be quickly filled.

This was especially true for the gap in High Realm combat power.

If an external force were to attack the Sect at that time, its situation would be dire.

Faced with the concerns Li Daoyi raised, Xu Ran couldn’t immediately think of a good solution. After all, a person’s power has its limits. No matter how formidable he was, he couldn’t just solve a problem caused by a shift in the entire world.

However, just as he was wrestling with this problem, the seven disciples—Qing Mei, Zhu Ma, Lan Juhua, and the others—happened to find him and ask for his guidance.

Faced with seven pairs of eyes staring at him eagerly, Xu Ran was in a bit of a bind, unsure of what he should teach them.

He had already taught them the two best skills he possessed: his self-created four-part Swordsmanship and the Hidden Mountain Spell.

Then, he recalled the problem Li Daoyi had mentioned.

’If we can’t raise our High Realm combat power, can we use numbers to make up for it?’

This was something he could actually do.

His talent for arrays was average. But after studying the Array Dao for so long, and with the Sparrow Transformation Array Map that Little Xiyue had prepared for him as a backup in his sea of consciousness, his Array realm had reached that of a Tier Three Array Master in the new system, corresponding to Purple Mansion Stage cultivation.

With his own realm as a Tier Three Array Master, supplemented by the Sparrow Transformation Array Map, it was still possible for him to create a powerful Combined Attack Array specifically for Qing Mei, Zhu Ma, Lan Juhua, and the others.

He told the seven of them his idea and asked if they were willing to cultivate a Combined Attack Array.

Upon hearing this, the seven agreed without hesitation, their faces lighting up with joy.

Thanks to Elder Xu’s favoritism, the seven of them had always lived together. They were close and shared a deep rapport. Cultivating a Combined Attack Array suited them perfectly and would allow them to grow even closer.

Seeing them agree, Xu Ran spent a month creating the Array.

He created the Array in the Sixtieth Year of the Hidden Dao Era.

Ten years had passed since then. The Combined Attack Array had been updated through dozens of versions over time, and its power had grown stronger and stronger.

Xu Ran named this Array the Profound Pure Seven Heavens Array. The goal was for seven Golden Core Stage Cultivators to be able to contend with, and even defeat, a single Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator—preferably a traditional Nascent Soul Stage cultivator.

But...

Xu Ran looked at the seven disciples locked in a fierce struggle with Ye Qingyue and shook his head. ’It seems this goal is still a long and arduous road.’

’As expected, all my talent points went into being a Spirit Plant Master. My creativity as an Array Master is much worse.’

’If Little Xiyue were here, she probably could have created an Array that meets the goal in a single day.’

Xu Ran let out a long breath. Whenever he encountered something related to arrays, he couldn’t help but think of Little Xiyue.

’After all, Little Xiyue was my most pride-worthy Array Dao Vermilion Bird.’

Just as Xu Ran was lost in his memories, recalling every little detail about Little Xiyue, the battle in the field reached its conclusion.