Volume One: Youths Meeting in Humble Times Chapter 158: The Path of Faking Death 13

To the people of the Li family, all things in heaven and earth possess spirit. The Dao exists beyond the world, and thus cannot be regarded as a mere ordinary object capable of giving birth to a spirit; yet the Dao also resides within the world, permeating its every corner, and therefore, to a certain extent, it is also capable of engendering a true spirit.

However, for any Great Dao to give birth to a true spirit, the conditions are extraordinarily harsh, and the difficulty is no less than creating an entirely new Dao. Hence, once a Dao gives birth to a spirit, the only reason can be that the Dao itself is immensely powerful, or that the person wielding this Dao has already achieved unity with it.

In the case of the latter, that person would be capable of manipulating the Dao itself. Given the uniqueness and mysticism of one's own Dao, no one would willingly allow their Dao to generate a true spirit and share it, thereby giving others the possibility of gaining insight into their Dao.

Furthermore, in their view, Li Yu definitely lacked such strength. If he possessed such power, he would not have needed to rely on an array to trap them all within it.

Thus, the only remaining possibility was that Li Yu had mastered the Dao of the Dao-Approacher.

How formidable the Dao of the Dao-Approacher was, they had witnessed with their own eyes. Initially, they had still harbored doubts and great uncertainty regarding whether Li Yu had truly mastered it. But in this array formation, the people of the Li family had detected the spirit of the Dao, which served as a reassuring pill for them.

The Spirit-Control Dao of the Li family was fiercely powerful, but they—or rather, Li Zhonghong—believed that once the members of the clan beheld the Dao of the Dao-Approacher, they too would be tempted.

The sheer might of the Dao-Approacher's Dao was enough to make their customarily arrogant Li family cast aside all prejudices regarding various Daos, and instead accept, or even cultivate it.

The problem, however, was that to obtain Li Yu's Dao—or what they believed to be the Dao of the Dao-Approacher—one had to step into Li Yu's grand array.

Yet, since the grand array had already trapped the elders of the six major sects, could the people of the Li family truly hope to gain any advantage by entering it?

Seeing everyone hesitating before the array, Shen Tang asked with some apprehension, "Will they really go in?"

Fixing his gaze on the members of the Li family before him, Li Yu answered with conviction, "They will. They certainly will."

This contemplation seemed lengthy, but in reality, it lasted only a few dozen breaths. Li Zhonghong had to go in; he could find no other way to mitigate his punishment upon returning to the clan. Under the current circumstances, placing all his hopes on Li Yu was his only chance to carve out a thread of survival for himself.

Entering was a must, but how to enter was the question.

Li Zhonghong swept his gaze across the people of the five major clans and asked, "Is there anyone among you versed in array formations?"

Not a single person from any of the five clans uttered a sound. Ever since their arrival at Tianmen Town, they had all cultivated the Dao of the Five Elements.

Although Tianmen Town was a land devoid of the Dao, such a land merely meant that no Great Dao could be imprinted upon the void or claim dominion there.

Yet the foundational Dao governing the creation and evolution of all things—the Dao of the Five Elements—did exist in every aspect of Tianmen Town. Only through the Dao of the Five Elements could they cultivate within Tianmen Town and maintain a speed of progression comparable to the outside world.

None of the clansmen could cultivate the complete Dao of the Five Elements. This was because the Dao of the Five Elements in Tianmen Town possessed only form without spirit; being able to master just one aspect of the Dao of the Five Elements was the greatest blessing Tianmen Town could bestow upon them.

People from the five major clans would never waste time studying external arts like array formations. Deep in their hearts, they harbored an ambitious aspiration: since Tianmen Town was a land devoid of the Dao, yet possessed the foundational Dao of the Five Elements—and simply lacked anyone capable of uniting these five Daos into a true Dao of the Five Elements—did it not mean that if someone could cultivate all five Daos to their absolute peak and then fuse them into one, they could successfully imprint Tianmen Town, transforming it from a land devoid of the Dao into a land possessing the Dao?

Yet, an ambitious aspiration remained merely an aspiration. Over all these years, the people of the five major clans in Tianmen Town had exhausted their entire lives without success, instead wasting vast amounts of time and energy on this pursuit, leaving their descendants with narrow and limited learning.

Just as Li Zhonghong decided to proceed according to his own plan, a rogue cultivator stepped forward from the crowd.

The newcomer was named Guo Yunming, originally a disciple of the Hidden Name Sect, a grand sect renowned for array formations, but he had been expelled from his sect for unknown reasons and reduced to a rogue cultivator.

Years ago, he had spent every spiritual stone he had accumulated in the outside world merely to exchange for a chance to enter Tianmen Town. He had originally thought of coming to Tianmen Town to see if he might encounter some fortuitous encounter, but to his surprise, upon entering, he even caught wind of the news that the Heavenly Gate was about to open. Thus, he concealed himself in Tianmen Town, awaiting the right moment.

He had originally believed that he would finally encounter his destined fortuitous encounter, but things always unfolded unexpectedly: the Heavenly Gate was destroyed, and he gained nothing at all.

Now, he knew this was his last chance in Tianmen Town. Even without a fortuitous encounter, if he could cling to the coattails of the Li family, it would not be considered returning empty-handed.

He stepped forward and said, "I might have a way."

Everyone cast their gazes upon Guo Yunming. Li Zhonghong appraised him for a moment before asking, "What method do you have? Let's hear it."

Unflustered, Guo Yunming summoned his courage and said, "I was originally a disciple of the Hidden Name Sect. Due to certain reasons, I was expelled from the sect, but my cultivation remains, and the Dao of arrays is not forgotten."

With these words, he laid bare his background completely, hoping to dispel any lingering doubts they might hold. After all, if they wished to investigate later, they could do so at any time; speaking up proactively now would instead leave them with a favorable impression.

Yet, would things really turn out that way?

Li Yu observed all this, a cold smile forming inwardly. "To parley with a tiger for its skin—how can there be any profit? Do you think that relying on a shred of petty skill qualifies you to cooperate with them? How utterly naive. In their eyes, you are merely a dish, one that must be consumed under the present circumstances."

The Nether Beast residing in Li Yu's sea of consciousness could empathize with every subtle shift within him. It clearly sensed that the current Li Yu was once again different from when it had first seen him.

If the first time it laid eyes on Li Yu, it had been awed by his eyes of ruthlessness, then the present Li Yu gave it the distinct feeling of a superior being's disdain and contempt for an inferior one. It had no idea how Li Yu, who had always lived at the very bottom, could possess such an aura of high nobility.

If it were merely the arrogance of a petty man tasting sudden success, Li Yu's demeanor did not resemble that; rather, it was the innate contempt of a higher life form toward a lower one.

Having witnessed Li Yu's past, the Nether Beast grew even more curious about this child.

Upon hearing this, Li Zhonghong did not display much emotion. Instead, he laughed heartily and said, "If the Hidden Name Sect does not want you, our Li family can take you into our fold—provided you can help us break this array."

Upon hearing this, Guo Yunming surged with inexplicable excitement. A promise from the Li family was precisely what he desired. However, he kept his expression neutral, knowing his own strength was still insufficient to break the array.

While Li Xi'an was probing the array, Guo Yunming was also using his own mastery of array formations to analyze it. The result was truly humbling for someone hailing from a grand sect of array formations—he was deeply ashamed!

The complexity of the array laid down by Li Yu might look like a mere spectacle to an outsider, but to him, the more he watched, the more alarmed he became.

Aside from the interlocking and mutually dependent lesser arrays that had already been discerned, the most crucial part was that the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death of this array were located in the exact same spot.

This completely contradicted the arrays he had been taught. In the past, his master had instructed him that the Dao of arrays was derived from the interplay of Yin and Yang, emphasizing mutual reinforcement and complementation. It was utterly impossible for the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death to occupy the same location. If such a situation occurred, it could only be a dead array, because no one would willingly walk through the Gate of Death in pursuit of the Gate of Life.

What he did not know, however, was that because he had been expelled too early, he had never actually learned the most profound teachings of the Hidden Name Sect. Had he mastered the highest teachings of the sect's array formations, he would have known that the so-called mutual complementation of Yin and Yang was merely the first realm of array Dao. Beyond that lay far more profound realms, one of which was known as "Yin concealed within Yang, and Yang hidden within Yin."

Clearly, Li Yu's proficiency in array formations had unconsciously reached this level.

During his three years in the Li family, although he was barred from practicing the Li family's Spirit-Control Arts, he had read every single book he could lay his hands on, among which were treatises on array formations.

Later, upon following the Dao-Approacher, he read even more extensive texts supplied by him, coupled with the Dao-Approacher's occasional intentional or unintentional guidance. Though Li Yu had never practiced any orthodox cultivation method, he had unknowingly crossed the threshold into various external arts.

Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will naturally reveal itself. The effort he had poured in finally manifested its tangible effects at this very moment.

Guo Yunming dared not claim he could definitely break the array, but he had discovered a breach within Li Yu's formation. He thought to himself that perhaps Li Yu had left behind this flaw unintentionally due to insufficient mastery or inadequate cultivation when setting up the array.

Naturally, he would not report this honestly. Only by exaggerating the difficulty of breaking the array to towering proportions could he highlight the sheer mental effort he had invested and how seriously he was treating the task.

Confucianism had a saying: "Do not administer government outside your own sphere of duty." In his view, however, one had to manage the task precisely to secure one's position. If he failed to inflate the difficulty of the endeavor, how could they possibly recognize the painstaking effort he had poured into it?

Yet he forgot that this saying only applied when two parties were of equal or comparable status.

Once a distinct disparity in status and standing arose between the two sides, all scheming and posturing would only accelerate the desire to eliminate him once the deed was done.

Guo Yunming told him, "This array is exceedingly difficult. Not only does it consist of numerous lesser arrays linked together in a continuous chain, but it also incorporates his own Dao, making it infinitely shifting and unpredictable. Every lesser array harbors a hidden threat of slaughter, and these threats mutually constrain one another. The most difficult part is that the Gate of Life and the Gate of Death share the same location. To break the Gate of Life, one must also shatter the Gate of Death; yet once the Gate of Death is destroyed, all who entered the array will be left with no way to escape."