Li Yang and his father didn't exchange any more words as they sat there and quietly waited for Mei Kongxu to finish her chat with Li Yang's mother. Li Tian didn't ask about where they were planning on going, didn't ask what sort of clues they might have found, nor did he say anything that could be taken as him trying to stop Li Yang from going. On one hand, it could be seen as a father respecting his son's decision, on another hand, it could be seen as a father simply not caring about this one particular progeny of his. But whichever one was the truth, Li Tian had no plans of saying anything about it.

He eventually brought out a jug and two cups, filling them with what seemed to be wine and sliding one across the table. But Li Yang only brought the cup to his face and gave it a sniff, his nose immediately wrinkling. He put down the cup again and brought out a different jug from his interspatial ring, popping the cork and taking a swig of the chilled and slightly bitter tea.

Li Tian glanced at the cup of wine that was quickly growing stale, his pupils wavering once before returning to normal. And so the two men sat there in silence, occasionally taking sips from their respective drinks. Li Yang only waited for a handful of minutes in silence before he swiped his new interspatial ring and took out one of the books about arrays that he had just been gifted, his eyes glued to the pages as he slowly sifted through the contents.

The books certainly looked very old, the pages already covered by a yellow tint. But there was a much simpler way to recognize them as very old, the fact that they were books rather than jade slips. Jade slips and other similar materials were simply better when it came to storing information, they took up less space and their contents could be gone through at a much quicker pace.

For something to be written down in a book meant that it was either fairly old, from a time before jade slips became common, or that the contents simply weren't important enough to put into a jade slip and preserve. These arrays and the theories that were delved into inside the books were clearly not something that the authors were willing to just let fade with time, so the books most definitely belonged to the first category.

Li Tian showed some well-hidden traces of gratification as he watched Li Yang quietly pore over the books, but he failed to properly show those emotions the few times Li Yang raised his eyes. As such, two hours passed without any words spoke, Mei Kongxu interrupting the silence by leaving the bedroom and joining the two.

Li Yang carefully closed the book he was currently reading and raised his head, Mei Kongxu nodding her head at him when she saw him glance at her. He cast his glance towards the closed bedroom door, but after looking at it for a few seconds he put away the book he was holding and stood up from the couch, his gaze once again landing on Li Tian.

"I'll listen to you this once, Third Elder. I don't want Mother to cry just because of a temporary parting, so I'll consider our farewells done for now. But you'd best take care of her while I'm gone, if her state has worsened any further by the time I return, then I will hold you personally accountable, even further than I already am. At that point, you cannot blame me if I choose to take more drastic action."

Respectful but threatening, cold and distant. They were not suitable words to be shared between a disciple and an elder, and much less between a father and his son. But Li Tian didn't say anything about it and simply met Li Yang's gaze with calm and resolute eyes, silently accepting his statement.

Li Yang turned away and followed after Mei Kongxu, who had already opened the door to the cabin and was in the process of leaving it. The two closed the door behind them and Li Yang brought out another one of the array books, delving into its contents while sticking close to Mei Kongxu. In a rare turn of events, Mei Kongxu was the one to break the silence, receiving a swift reply from Li Yang.

"I have already spoken with my parents so there is no need to return to my sect, I can leave at a moment's notice. Are we going to head out straight away or are you intending to wait for the morning?"

"I know your sleeping pattern, dear wifey. If I try to wait for the morning then you'll just sleep in and we'll end up in this pattern again, I'm damn near willing to bet that it'd repeat endlessly. So we'll leave immediately, I'll get a few scoldings for not saying goodbye when we return, but I'll just play the part of the bigger man and gracefully turn the other cheek."

He didn't raise his head from the book, but Mei Kongxu still saw the corners of his lips curve into that typical teasing smirk of his. She thought about saying something, but then she saw that his footsteps were sure and determined despite his head being buried in the book. She immediately grew fairly certain that he already had something in mind but decided to check just to make sure, and once again she received a swift smirk in response.

"You've already made a plan?"

"'Already' is a strong way of putting it. My sleeping beauty really takes the whole 'sleeping' part of the title to heart so I've got plenty of free time when I wait for her to wake up. It's only natural that I spend a minute or two of that time thinking about a halfway decent route we can use."

He didn't raise his head, but his pupils slid to the side to glance at Mei Kongxu, giving his entire smirk a rather crooked feel. But she didn't play along with his games and simply returned the glance with a quiet look that showed no emotion, Li Yang clicking his tongue in surrender after a little over a minute.

"Tch, you're no fun at times. My dear wifey would be much cuter if she learned to play along and crack a few jokes at times."

His cheeks puffed out slightly in a pouting gesture that didn't look nearly as cute on him as it would her. Mei Kongxu took in his behaviour for a handful of seconds before stretching out her hand, the law of decay circulating around her fingers.

"Want me to play another 'joke', like I did with your tongue last time?"

It was supposed to be a threat to make Li Yang hurry up and talk, but sadly for her, Li Yang was so messed up in the head that her actions had the opposite effect.

"There you go, I knew you had it in you!"

Her expression cramped and her fingers twitched in the face of Li Yang's now much wider smirk, his odd way of acting continued to catch her off-guard, continuously creating small gaps in her persona. But she could breathe a sigh of relief when Li Yang didn't pursue this particular topic any further and actually responded to her earlier question.

"There's a special spatial array, multiple actually, scattered throughout the sect to be used in emergencies. They lead to places where the sect isn't supposed to have been before. Well, all those places are actually wastelands or the like so it's not like the people who end up there can scrounge up any resources or hidden away aid from the sect. In essence, they're the last line of defence to ensure that the sect won't be completely erased, it'll at least have a few disciples that managed to hide away and survive. One of these arrays just so happens to lead to the Monkey habit...I mean Rage-Fur Forest. From there we can quickly reach Cyan Cloud city, then head to Dead-Branch Ruin, and from there we can easily reach Roaring Valley."

Cyan Cloud City and Dead-Branch Ruin were two places that the Pristine Tyrant had visited in the past, both had been scenes of carnage where the tyrant had soaked the earth with blood. Cyan Cloud city managed to rebuild, but the city that had now become Dead-Branch Ruin had simply fallen apart after the massacre. As for Roaring Valley, it was the valley that had once been turned into a wasteland by an unnatural lightning storm that left the area in a decrepit state for nearly five thousand years, it was another place tied to one of the specific keywords they had searched up.

Mei Kongxu mentally went over the map she had memorized and realized that his route was indeed quite appropriate. But to say that he spoke about it correctly would be a lie. His 'quickly' and 'easily' made it sound like a day-trip, but it would take about five months if they went at a normal pace, and that was not accounting for the time spent in each location. But as far as plans went, it was fairly decent one so she had nothing to say against it and followed him.

Li Yang kept his eyes glued to the book as they walked, his eyes seemingly swimming with words as ideas and theories seemed to flit through his mind. Mei Kongxu silently observed him from the side, it really was a bit rare to actually see Li Yang this silent and immersed in something, she found it rather to the serious and diligent aura he radiated when he trained.

The silence between the two of them was maintained for a little over three hours, the evening already shifting over into the dead of night when they finally reached an unassuming plain dotted with a few pear-trees. Li Yang finally raised his head from the book and put it away, walking over to a patch of grass and crouching down. He stabbed a small wound into his palm and used his blood to trace a few lines in the grass, a hidden array whirring to life.

He waved Mei Kongxu over and fully activated the array, space around them folding and warping for a few seconds as they were quietly sent away, only a single person keeping a quiet eye on their departure. When space finally stopped folding after a few seconds, the two found themselves standing in a dark forest where the trees bustled with leaves covered in luminescent red lines.

The glowing lines cast a somewhat eerie yet also rather enchanting light on their surroundings, making it so that even people who couldn't see in the dark would be able to somewhat see their surroundings. The array beneath their feet vanished the moment they arrived, returning to its hidden state so that it wouldn't be found by possible enemies.

Li Yang swept his gaze through the surroundings for a bit, but the forest was almost completely silent, it was still the dead of night after all. He swiped his interspatial ring and took out three fist-sized glass orbs, filling them with Qi so that the array inside them activated and made them shed a bright light on the surroundings.

He spread the three orbs throughout the area and then swept his interspatial ring, bringing out a small ice-cube that he would usually put in his tea to chill it. He took aim and then flicked the ice cube, sending it flying towards Mei Kongxu's neck, the ice cube swiftly sliding down her nape and down her back, eliciting a sound he hadn't expected at all.

"Hyah! What the hell?!"

Mei Kongxu immediately jumped up as she yelped, instinctively grasping at her back to catch the ice cube that was sending chills up her spine. Li Yang looked at her as she jumped around, unconsciously fonding his chin while nodding his head a few times.

"Oh, that was a cute one, I didn't know you could make a sound like that, nearly made my heart skip a beat."

Mei Kongxu's anger seemed to drown out her surprise after she heard Li Yang's low exclamation, her Qi bursting forth and crushing the ice cube. Her sharp gaze was immediately shot towards Li Yang, her body swiftly following as she charged directly at him. Li Yang made sure to dodge before she could reach him, using advantage of the surrounding trees to hop from branch to branch.

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"Woah Woah, easy there, easy! I just needed to cause a ruckus to draw out some of the monkeys, and how could I resist such an enticing opening?"

Mei Kongxu completely ignored Li Yang's excuses, but it was unknown whether it was due to embarrassment at the sound she had made or if it was due to anger. But with his law of speed and his trained flexibility, it was impossible for Mei Kongxu to catch Li Yang in this environment. As such, when the sounds of approaching hooting reached her ears, she halted her steps and glared fiercely at him, Li Yang simply smirking in a pleased manner as he responded to the words she squeezed out through grit teeth.

"There won't be a second time."

"Don't worry, I'll do my very best."

Mei Kongxu snorted slightly, clearly not believing his assurance in the slightest. She turned her gaze to the side, locking onto the incoming group of about 11 Demonic beasts, two-metre tall orangutans with arms covered in red veins that were similar to the lines on the leaves. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stepped back, silently indicating that Li Yang would have to deal with his own little mess.

Li Yang didn't mind her actions and simply grinned, he already knew about the various beasts that lived around this particular array so he knew that none of them was strong enough to be a true threat. He dropped down from the branch he was hanging from and spread out his arms, welcoming the pack of monkeys with an expression tinged with interest and amusement.

And just like he had calculated, none of the monkeys in the group could threaten him. The leader was a bit troublesome, but after Li Yang brought forth that illusory tail that increased his strength, that monkey too ended up going down. All 11 monkeys were brought down, but Li Yang hadn't killed a single one of them and just incapacitated them.

Mei Kongxu quietly watched as he lined up the monkeys one by one and swiped his interspatial ring, bringing out a cauldron and the book she saw him reading as she left the bedroom after talking with his mother. He opened the book to a specific page and started to toss items into the cauldron, which he had already lit a small fire beneath. He threw in nearly 20 different ingredients, the main one being a few litres of blood that seemed to have come from somewhat strong Demonic beasts.

The mixture was quickly brought up to a boil, Li Yang pouring in as much Qi as he could and mixing the mass until it became a single cohesive liquid that was a bit thinner than mud. She then saw him slip on a rather thick glove and dip a finger directly into the liquid, slowly starting to draw a few lines on the first monkey. Mei Kongxu immediately guessed what he was doing, but she couldn't see the reason behind it.

"You attracted the monkeys because you wanted to inscribe them with an array?"

There were generally only three types of arrays that were inscribed directly onto a body, sealing arrays, supportive arrays, and defensive arrays. But neither of those three types were really applicable in this situation, so she couldn't help but be slightly curious. Li Yang didn't raise his head or even turn to look at her, but she could see that he gave a very light shrug of his shoulders, clearly extremely absorbed in what he was doing.

"Not quite, I wanted to test out an array I thought of after reading about a few arrays in the books I got."

He technically answered her question, but in doing so he had only spawned another question in her mind. And this question was quite a bit bigger than the previous one, because it entailed something that he made sound much easier than it should be.

"An array you... thought of?"

Arrays were created through great trial and error, and those who made new arrays were usually people who had a veritable sea of experience. A new array wasn't something you just thought of after a bit of reading. But Li Yang didn't act as if he was doing anything big, raising the book he was holding and showing the pages to Mei Kongxu.

"Yeah, one of the books contained information about a Lower-grade Level 5 array, or a Celestial Array if you want to call it that instead. I believe it was called the World-Imploding Array. It focuses on increasing the gravity in a certain area to such an extent that it can supposedly make entire planets implode, almost to the point that they become black holes."

Mei Kongxu looked at the pages, and the words were written in the common language so there was no way she wouldn't be able to read them. But reading them and understanding them were two different things, she practically had no idea what she was reading or hearing.

"Lower-grade? Level 5? Celestial Array?"

Li Yang didn't look at her, but just listening to her tone made him slightly certain that he would be seeing question marks pop up above her heads if he turned around. Normally he would probably take this chance to tease her, and she fully expected that, but for once he actually didn't do that and actually responded in a slightly serious tone.

"You don't know? You should start reading a bit more, can't go around neglecting your knowledge."

Mei Kongxu wasn't sure if she should roll her eyes or if she should be blushing in embarrassment. She had indeed not been reading too much in her sect, and the things she read about weren't tied to arrays in the slightest, they were almost exclusively about cultivation. Li Yang could practically feel Mei Kongxu's slightly swimming eyes bore into his back, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly and dissipating a bit of the serious aura he was radiating.

"Yeah yeah, looking at me like that is only going to excite me. To put it simply, a Celestial Array is an array that can output power on par with a cultivator at the Celestial Immortal realm. But not everyone knows about the various cultivation realms, so the arrays are often also divided into levels, makes it easier for the less educated people to approximate their strength. The Celestial Immortal realm is the fifth great cultivation realm so arrays on that level become Level 5 arrays. And the Lower-grade part refers to what sub-realm of the Celestial Immortal realm the array is equal to. So this World-Imploding array can in theory output the same power as a cultivator at the early-stage of the Celestial Immortal realm."

Even if you told a cultivator at the Human Rune realm that an array contained the power of a Celestial Immortal, how many of them would actually understand what that entailed? So to make it simpler for those people to know what they were getting into, and why they shouldn't mess with certain areas protected by stronger arrays, the level system was spread out. If they tested a Level 1 array and felt its might, it would be much easier to grasp that an array four levels above that was a world they had no hope of touching or resisting.

Mei Kongxu felt like she gained a bit more understanding thanks to Li Yang's explanation, but it also left her with more questions. If he said he was drawing a new array he had just thought of, why did he start talking about a Lower-grade Level 5 array all of a sudden. Her question was transmitted through her gaze, Li Yang shrugging his shoulder and removing his hand from the first monkey's body.

"Well, I'm far from being able to draw up an array that strong, just trying to draw the simplest line would drain all my energy and probably just kill me should I get it right. But I'm not planning on drawing that array to begin with, so it should be fine."

The fist-sized array inscribed on the monkey's chest unleashed an eerie crimson glow, the Qi in the area moving slightly as it was drawn in. And then the monkey let out a loud screech, its chest caving in as its ribs were shattered and its organs liquefied. Li Yang clicked his tongue and moved on to the second monkey, dipping his finger back into the liquid and drawing the same array on the second monkey.

But by paying close attention, Mei Kongxu managed to see that this new array was a slight bit different from the previous one. Li Yang opened his mouth before she could ask her question, continuing on with the answer he started on previously.

"I'm altering it. I'm using the basis of the unfamiliar World-Imploding array and supplementing it with parts of the Wind Dancer array. If I can get the balance of the rune sub-categories correct then I should, in essence, get an array that will constantly increase the force of gravity on whoever is inscribed with the array."

The Wind Dancer array was one of the three arrays that Li Yang had perfected before getting his hands on the new array books, the other was the Blood-Transferring Array he used to gain a new bloodline and the third was a defensive Gale Shield Array. The Wind Dancer array was supportive in nature and it drew in the Qi of the surrounding area to clad the user's body with wind, enhancing their speed and flexibility in combat.

His explanation certainly cleared things up for Mei Kongxu, it was theoretically easy to understand, take parts from one array and use them to alter the functions of a second array. But even to Mei Kongxu, who knew preciously little about arrays, it couldn't help but sound somewhat unrealistic, but Li Yang simply shrugged his shoulders casually.

"Is it really that simple? And what would you even do with an array like that, are you planning on inscribing it on your enemies in the middle of combat?"

"If you know the theory behind it, then yes, it's surprisingly simple. And no, I'm planning on inscribing it on myself. It will bring with it a constant pressure on my bones and muscles, depending on the strength of the gravity it could reach a point where every step brings with it enough force to make my bones creak. It's an excellent way to train my body."

To describe it as simple would be the same as saying that swimming through lava was a pleasant bath, it simply wasn't true in 99% of all cases. But Li Yang was that 1%, it wasn't a joke when Li Tian had called Li Yang talented in the field of arrays. But even with Li Tian calling him that, the truth was that Li Yang had never really displayed his full talent while in the sect, he simply hadn't gotten the opportunity up until this point.

But now he was starting to show more of the splendour that had been buried in the past, and the first thing he did with that splendour was to devise something that could be considered borderline suicidal. And that wasn't a fact that Mei Kongxu let slip by her, especially when she heard what the array would do if completed.

"...You're a bit masochistic, huh?"

She had heard the sounds of him training his body before, the dull thuds of stones smashing into his flesh. But this was on a completely different level, it would be a constant force acting on him and causing even the slightest movements to inflict a certain amount of torment. But Li Yang simply smirked, finishing the array he was inscribing.

"I wouldn't say that, sounds a bit like slander."

The array whirred to life and released a faint glow, but that light died down only a short second after it started up. Li Yang tried to start up the array again, but the same scene repeated itself, there was a line or rune somewhere in the mix that made it unable to activate properly.

He wiped out the array and tried again, making his way through the liquid he had brewed as he drew up array after array. Each array was slightly different, some activating while others didn't. The few arrays that activated either killed the monkey it was inscribed on, inflicted great injuries because it was too strong, or it wasn't strong enough for Li Yang's liking.

The first cauldron was quickly emptied, a batch containing nearly nine litres of liquid getting used up by the experiments. But Li Yang wasn't deterred and quickly brewed up a new batch, resuming his tests as the light of the sun slowly became visible in the distance. And just as he was reaching the bottom of the third cauldron, just as Mei Kongxu was starting to show serious signs of tiredness, the corners of his mouth curved up in a pleased arc.

"That's what I'm talking about! Took a few more tries than I planned for, but we luckily had our wedding at an opportune time so we've got our fair share of resources."

He was on the 10th monkey at this point and had already inscribed 27 different arrays just on this one monkey alone, but he finally found a satisfactory balance. He could hear the bones of the monkey creaking under the effect of the array, its entire body trembling as its muscles did everything they could to resist the gravity.

He moved on to the last monkey and inscribed the same array on it, but the end result was the same so he grew even more confident. He didn't hesitate further and removed the top part of his robe, revealing his bare chest and immediately starting the inscribing process. Mei Kongxu's eyelids were starting to droop, but her eyes opened somewhat rapidly when she saw that he was actually inscribing the array on himself.

"Wait, you actually weren't kidding? You're really going to inscribe a newly thought up and barely tested array on yourself? Maybe calling you a bit insane is a better fit than masochistic."

He had only gotten two successes, and while he had gone through probably somewhere around 200 tests to reach these two successes, she still felt that he was acting extremely hastily. But Li Yang simply smirked and continued to draw the array, and he even nodded his head and agreed with her judgement.

"Maybe, but if you're planning on reaching the peak of all creation just to laugh at it then I think one of the prerequisites is being a bit insane. Heck, I'm pretty sure being at least a smidgen insane is a necessity for everyone aiming for the peak, otherwise they'd just be content dredging along in the mud."

He had already drawn up various versions of this array so many times that he could do it while blind, the completed array quickly forming on his chest. The liquid used to draw it up quickly dried, turning rigid and tough so that it couldn't be easily removed by others.

And then Li Yang started it up without any fanfare, his knees immediately bending slightly as the gravity he experienced increased by a few degrees. The creaking coming from his bones was even louder than the creaking coming from the monkey's, he didn't have the tough body of a Demonic beast after all.

But even so, he smirked so crookedly that it was almost a lopsided grin, he really wanted to pat himself on the back for coming up with such a good idea. But for now, he would have to be content with just smirking smugly at Mei Kongxu, it was about time they moved towards Cyan Cloud city so that Mei Kongxu didn't end up falling asleep here in the forest.