After a thorough search, he picked out formations that could be formed with the least number of array symbols. Then he cut it down again to formations with the most symbols in common. From there he created a list of the twenty symbols required and found every formation he could that used only those symbols. Then he added and removed a few formations from his list based on their effectiveness. Specifically, there was a fifth rank formation that he made an exception for. The other formations he’d been working with were much lower rank, but they were supportive in nature. Obscuring mist, illusions, hiding, and strength enhancing. They were all still very useful even at lower ranks. He wanted to include a truly defensive and shielding array so he needed something with more power.

The Million Scale Shell Formation was not very energy efficient, and its strength was far from unbeatable. It created many smaller shields and overlapped their edges like scales. When one shattered, another could be created to fill the gap. It was also a very generalist defensive array. Most would choose to use many defensive arrays with each of them tuned against a different type of attack. The Million Scale Shell Formation was usually only used for weaker groups that could only afford to install a single array. They would only use it for emergencies so the weaker strength and inefficient cost to run it was not as important as having a strong defense against every type of attack. It seemed almost perfectly suited to his purpose so Sage modified the list of formations to build around it. A half-dozen other formations were dropped from the list so that he could include this one. With many Hoplites to support it, they could rotate fresh troops into the formation to repair the damage the shield sustains.

Unfortunately, the Hoplites didn’t take to weaving the Array Symbols very well. Most of these armor symbols were far more complicated than the ones used on the stones and weapons. The Hoplites could carve crude versions of them, but their works just didn’t cut it for the armor. The symbol was meant to take in energy from the soldier wearing it and guide it into a perfect array symbol. Not only did the symbol require extreme precision, it also needed supporting shapes and lines weaved into the rest of the armor to guide the energy flow from the soldier.

Almost as a fluke, Sage’s assistants stumbled upon the answer. Fang Gang, or converted into english Steel House. The man had quite an extraordinary name, both from an english and native’s perspective. The prospective apprentice refiners were all attempting to try their hand at tailoring, to see who had the greatest knack for it. Instead of working on a small scrap like the others, Fang Gang took a sheet sized piece of cloth and started sewing a massive array symbol upon it. It was of course a basic concept for refining, but Sage hadn’t seen anyone try to apply it with clothing refining. There was only so much surface area on clothing so they always had strict constraints on how large their array symbols could be in order to still fit a full formation into a garment. The true masters of course made them even smaller and added full formations to the trim or the lining of a collar.

Sage rewarded Fang Gang with the first official apprentice position, and gave the rest of them something to shoot for. With that inspiration, the Hoplites were able to create the majority of the armor. The whole back of each suit was now taken up by a single enormous array symbol. The prospective apprentices and the hired tailors were responsible for fine tuning the symbol’s shape and the lines running through the rest of the armor. It was more like they were doing custom fittings on pre-made clothing instead of having to build them from scratch.

When the factory buildings were complete, Sage helped them get set up and smoothed out some of the initial issues. After one of each of their new products had been created flawlessly without any of his assistance or advice he finally felt confident enough to take a step back and let things run without him. During these months of research and preparation, Sage had only been spending a few hours every morning training. He had just been too busy and only had enough time to keep his strength from decreasing. Now, he could finally have the chance to improve his strength again.

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Or so he thought.

A few days later, when he came out of the Universe Ring for a daily update, the town was in a state of emergency. Horde Home, the name that King, Whitestaff and Black Saber had decided for the place when they were drinking, had been attacked. There had been other attempts previously, but they were easily noticed and thwarted. The attackers somehow knew what sort of sensory array they were using. They used some sort of unknown method to take control of a group of Hoplites. They took a group of apprentices and hired refiners captive. They attempted to interrogate them, looking for the highest ranked craftsmen. Since each person was only responsible for one or two symbols, none of them were truly able to refine any of the items on their own. Since they were short on time, the controlled Hoplites stole some of the finished equipment and left town again. They couldn’t take too many people with them, so fortunately the damage they inflicted to the Jade Horde was light.

That said, the Jade Horde was not happy. Someone had broken into their territory and kidnapped their people. There was no telling what happened to those people either. They had captured a half dozen of the workers for interrogation, but only took three along with them when they left. They killed the other three, or so they thought. One of them survived, and that was the reason they knew so much about what happened. This foreign group had not only stolen their goods, they’d kidnapped and killed their people. Black Saber already had half of the Vulture Geckos out searching for the culprits and the rest of the base was on high alert with double the usual guard detail.

Sage closed his eyes and activated Hindsight. He went to the scene of the crime and looked backwards through time till it reached the time of the incident. He watched the interrogation with a frown, unable to do anything for them now. They stabbed some of them and put the others into some sort of storage treasure and left the building. Sage called over King and Black Saber, following the trail with a large group. A few days later, they found the dead bodies of the Hoplites that had been controlled to carry out the attack. They also found the three others who had been taken captive by them not too far away. The three looked like they had been viciously tortured, but the Hoplites just had blood coming out of their seven orifices. Eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

Using Hindsight was taxing so he could only maintain the technique for a few hours at a time without using pills or other supplements. Since they had been moving in the same direction for some time, he turned it on and off every hour or so to keep them on track. They stumbled upon the bodies without even realizing it, so Sage restored his energy and then looked back to see what had happened here.

The Hoplites stopped in this small ravine and brought the prisoners out. Each of the Hoplites already had a bit of blood dripping from their ears and nostrils. The prisoners were even more terrified at this point and could only repeat their same answers from before. They could only point out Ling Sheng as the designer. They had all been taught some array symbols, but in the factory they were only responsible for their small step, they couldn’t reproduce the weapons on their own. After a few hours of torture, they killed the prisoners and then the Hoplites joined them. The bleeding had continued to intensify through the torture and interrogation until finally they just fell down and stopped moving.

Sage didn’t stop watching. He waited, and was rewarded. About an hour after the Hoplites died, a shadowy figure showed up. It moved over to the Hoplites and scooped up the storage treasure that held the hostages and the stolen equipment. Then the figure left quickly. By this point the Hoplites with him had already collected the bodies of their fallen allies and cleaned up the area. They mounted up once again and took to the air, following the trail of the shadowy figure.

This person didn’t move as straightforwardly as the controlled Hoplites. He kept changing his heading and stopping to erase his tracks. Unfortunately, he never followed any set pattern and so Sage had to double back a few times when the man changed directions while Sage wasn’t using Hindsight. Eventually, they followed him into the Flying Wind province and to a large compound outside Ten Copper City. The place was heavily guarded and fortified with arrays. Surprisingly, there was also a large disturbance going on out front. A woman was leading a number of powerful looking mercenaries and a huge mob of civilians and rogue cultivators.

“Yi Yang Group! Your time has come to an end. Send your Boss out to answer to the people for the wrongs you’ve caused!”

The group behind her all yelled out loud along with her demand. Sage felt like they were just missing some pitchforks and torches. He had Black Saber leave the Hoplites and their Vulture Geckos outside town. Only Black Saber, King, and Sage himself moved to get a closer look. Moving to a different position, Sage was able to get a good look at the woman’s face and he felt like dropping his jaw.

Isn’t that Zhu Jiao?