One might think that 10 cubic meters sounds like a lot, but it is really not. When I woke and touched the Dimensional Storage Array with my consciousness — carefully this time — I found out first-hand how disappointingly small it really is.

The cubic, empty space my consciousness found itself in could barely fit five Wukongs, front-to-back. I know a Wukong is not a great unit of measurement, but it will have to suffice. Not that stuffing five Wukongs in here would be an efficient use of the space, either — lots of unused space.

It was two meters wide and tall, and two and a half meters deep.

I’ve never felt such a thing as cramped, but even just being inside this storage device is teaching me all sorts of new impressions.

This won’t do, in the long-term.

The reason is simple: In order for me to construct my newly-learned Formation, I would need materials that amount, by volume, to at least ten time this space. And that is not even entertaining the idea of how long it would take to collect these materials.

It seems improbable to me that any one individual would be able to accomplish this feat in one life time, but then again, I know, somehow, that a Golden Core cultivator could live multiples of hundreds of years.

Unfortunately, I do not have that much time.

The Soul Harvest Formation, in its full glory, would span a thousand meters in all directions from the center, and absorb all life within it. Then, it would also absorb and refine the soul.

But I don’t need a Formation that is so expansive. 100 meters would do. Perhaps even 50 would be enough.

This would make the resource list much shorter and far more manageable, but it still leaves significant problems that need to be overcome.

I don’t know where I could find Fire Copper or Black Jade or Spiritual Sword Remnants. And how would I even construct the Array? I don’t have the Blood Points to purchase [Flight] — even assuming that allows me mobility — and I cannot communicate to the monkeys to instruct them on how to create the formation of their own demise; this is my exit strategy after all.

Or, well, this would be my exit strategy if it was feasible.

I spiritually rifle through the neatly arranged items within my storage device and create a mental list of sorts.

[ Dimensional Storage: ]

1x remains

1x Heaven and Earth Qi Rotation [ Heaven - Manual ]

1x Auspicious Farming Method [ Heaven - Manual ]

9x Handfuls of Yin-Yang Grass [ Sky - Herb ]

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4x Qi Condensation Pills [ Mortal - Medicine ]

1x Foundation Pills [ Sky - Medicine ]

1x Cold Steel Sword [ Sky - Spiritual Treasure ]

I probe the pills with my consciousness, but nothing happens. I expected this, but still, I am disappointed that I cannot consume them.

I consider rifling through the Exchange once more in order to find some Talent or Trait that would allow me to consume items in my storage, but I put that aside for another time.

I also consider using [Critical Analysis] on the manuals, but considering that I lost consciousness last time I’ve used the talent, I put that aside for another time also.

What has my immediate — and if I may say so: excited — attention is the tremendous insight I gained into the Dao of Arrays.

[ Dao of Arrays: D (Progress: 89%) ]

I feel like I am at the cusp of gaining a new, deeper understanding that could help me unlock methods of making my exit strategy work without the need for so many materials. Not only this, but the ways of Qi Gathering Arrays would also — at least I hope — become available to me.

Even now, as the tremendous insight diffuses through my sentience and slowly, but surely, improves my understanding of this Dao, I feel its compelling promises and secrets offer glimpses into a new path.

Arrays. Formations. Algorithms. It is not strange to me that something of this nature would feel so compelling to me. I know that I was a problem-solver in my past life; that I’ve overcome great obstacles through efficient and beautiful processes.

Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but I think I can do so again.

Right now, I do not see a beautiful path forward; I see a twisting, entangled mess that could work out if everything goes as planned. How I see such a potential outcome is unfathomable to me, because I do not yet even have a certain method of executing my strategy.

I have several potential options at my disposal. With Blood Points, I can turn my [Avarice] and [Tyranny] traits into talents. That means that I could improve them through practice, and likely expand their functions.

With an expanded [Avarice], I could perhaps directly call out to a powerful creature to take possession of me — or perhaps another one of those cultivators. With [Tyranny] I could perhaps even give specific orders, or convey language in a way that even monkeys could understand.

At the moment, I decide to hold on to my points until the Dao of Arrays improves. I am also at the cusp of the next stage of Body Cultivation, and the closer I get to the bottleneck, the more I feel like it will not be as simple a matter as just eating another creature.

I am beginning to feel like I am in mortal peril. With the current state of my body the way it is, I am almost certain I will die. In some ways, I understand why I might think so: even right now, my cultivation method was surely, but slowly, killing me. This was not a pleasant or a harmless process, and if I had pain receptors, I would most likely feel it very intensely.

It seems natural to assume that the breakthrough would be no easier or gentler.

Even now, I am consciously holding back my cultivation from reaching the bottleneck; I even decided to skip my usual routine so I do not fall asleep due to fatigue.

I make the decision then and there, as even my conscious efforts are not enough to stop my blood from compressing.

The next time I get fed, I would break through to the next stage of my cultivation, and I would survive it, and then I would make sure that I would try my best to not end up in this situation again.

[ Early Vessel Refining progress: 99.91% ]

I am ready.

I feel excitement, once again, bubbling up inside of me. I have high hopes.

I am in a good mood.

I sense Wukong enter my perception radius, alongside three other monkeys, one of which is being dragged by the other two.

It is feeding time.

[ Early Vessel Refining progress: 99.92% ]