The next morning.

Teacher Zhang brought an Array Diagram.

Gu Ming had recently finished studying high school-level Array knowledge, and at night, Teacher Zhang had also been teaching him from a university-level Array textbook.

He didn’t cover much, mostly just highly advanced, disjointed concepts. The main purpose was to broaden Gu Ming’s horizons on the subject of Arrays and sharpen his insight.

There was still some time before the competition, so Gu Ming had plenty of time to learn about Arrays.

However, after yesterday’s brainstorming session, Gu Ming’s need to learn about Arrays had become his top priority.

Teacher Zhang had brought an Array Diagram from the school library, one that required Contribution Points to borrow.

"This is a terrain-repairing Array used at the school. Its full name is the Kunyu Repeating Array, and it incorporates a great deal of the Transportation Array Dao."

As he took out the Array Diagram, Teacher Zhong crossed his arms and shook his head, not believing for a second that Gu Ming could make any headway with it.

This Array concerned the Array Dao of the earth deforming and recovering its original shape. It involved the heavens and earth, restoration, Life Power, and a wide variety of other Array Dao knowledge.

It was many times more complex than Old Deng’s Health Array. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"The Old Deng’s Health Array you created follows the principle of the Great Dao being simple. It’s truly excellent.

"But that doesn’t mean High-star Arrays are easy to learn.

"My personal advice is to observe its form and Dao-sense, then use your own Array Dao Understanding to construct a Low Configuration Transportation Array for yourself.

"Strip away the other Array Formation Techniques and retain only the core transportation function."

Teacher Zhong’s words were those of a seasoned veteran—very sound and reliable.

The key thing was, he believed in Gu Ming’s ability with Arrays enough to think he could build a Low-star Array on his own.

For an Array Master, going from complex to simple is extremely difficult. This is because they have mastered a wealth of knowledge about Arrays, and when creating one, they inadvertently use all sorts of techniques to manipulate the Heaven and Earth Great Dao.

However, an Array Novice is different from a Master.

Their knowledge of the Array Dao is relatively simple. When they construct an Array, it’s impossible for it to be too complex. At most, it might have a lot of redundancies and unnecessary energy loss, but at least such Arrays are simple and easy to learn.

In Teacher Zhong’s eyes, Gu Ming’s most dazzling qualities were his Talent and his inspiration.

He was still a high school student, so his knowledge base certainly couldn’t compare to a university student’s. His advantage was his brilliant inspiration.

Gu Ming listened and thought it made sense.

[Teacher Zhang brought the Kunyu Repeating Array Map from the school. This map has been passed down for fifty years, becoming a signature Array for many schools.]

[Because of this, the Array has been researched countless times by generations of teachers and students across the country, resulting in innumerable iterative versions.]

[The Array Map that Teacher Zhang took out is the seventh revised version of the Array. Compared to the latest version of the Kunyu Repeating Array, it is four full generations behind.]

["Just take a look at this Array. After all, at your age, don’t push yourself if you can’t learn it."]

[Teacher Zhang, being considerate of your age, casually hands over twenty years of his research notes on the Array.]

[Mr. Zhong, who can barely walk, also takes out his Array notebook to accommodate the learning ability of an ’old student’.]

[You consider it from every angle and decide you should take them to meet the Forbidden Area Dominator, Ma Tianba. Otherwise, you’ll feel uneasy accepting such a grand gift.]

Gu Ming glanced at the system. He wasn’t surprised that it would show him things that were further ahead in the future.

’But where are the notebooks?’

Gu Ming blinked, waiting for the two teachers to take out their notebooks.

However, neither of them showed any intention of doing so. They simply presented the Array Map for Gu Ming to look at.

Gu Ming could only look at the map for now. He knew the system sometimes revealed future events, and if the opportunity hadn’t arrived yet, all he could do was wait.

Speaking of the Array Map, a single glance made him feel dizzy. His consciousness seemed to plummet into the earth and get buried, leaving him unable to see a thing.

Only after some chaotic period of time did his consciousness recover and return to reality.

’What did I even learn?’

Gu Ming couldn’t help but ask himself.

But he racked his brain and couldn’t recall anything he had just learned. All he knew was that he had been buried.

The two teachers could also see Gu Ming’s state; he clearly hadn’t learned anything.

This Array was simply too advanced. Gu Ming was only a One-star Beastmaster. Even if his Spiritual Power was close to that of a Two-star Beastmaster, he couldn’t even glimpse a corner of this Array’s true form. He hadn’t even reached the threshold.

"Forget it. You can look at this map another time. I’ll see if I can find a lower-level Array Map," Teacher Zhang said, taking a step back.

"No, let’s stick with this one. Let me look at it some more and try to find some inspiration," Gu Ming said stubbornly.

He waited a few seconds. Seeing that Teacher Zhang had agreed and handed the Array Map over, he realized he wasn’t getting the notebooks and had to hint directly, "Teachers, do you have any Array notes?"

Teacher Zhang gave Gu Ming a look. "I have some, but I’ve studied this Array Map, and my notes won’t be any use to you."

Teacher Zhong also shook his head. "I’m afraid I can’t help. I’m a Grass Element Beastmaster, so I have no use for this kind of thing."

Gu Ming didn’t care. As long as the notes existed, he would find a way to borrow them.

’In the system’s eyes, they might just transform into something else.’

’If the notebooks transform and don’t change back, I’ll just have to pretend they went missing.’

"I’d like to borrow them to take a look, is that okay?"

"I suppose you can." Teacher Zhang relented. Although the Array notes were the fruit of his hard labor, Gu Ming was the apple of his eye. Comparing the two, Gu Ming was obviously more important, so lending them was no big deal.

"Don’t you lose them, they’re very important." Seeing Teacher Zhang was willing to lend his, Teacher Zhong didn’t want to lose face and immediately changed his tune, claiming he had a notebook too.

"Take good care of it. I still need to write in it later."

Gu Ming felt a little guilty and prayed silently, ’Please don’t let the notebooks transform. Just turn the knowledge I gain from reading them into future knowledge.’

Before long, the two teachers brought their notebooks to Gu Ming.

Teacher Zhang’s notebook arrived first. Gu Ming took it and forced Cyan Treasure to look at it with him.

Cyan Treasure didn’t understand it, but Gu Ming instructed it to memorize it first, so it brute-forced the information into its memory.

[You and Cyan Treasure have read Teacher Zhang’s Array notebook, forcing your way through it.]

[Kunyu Reformation Array Understanding +1]

[Array Dao Understanding +1]

The experience that popped up this time was slightly different.

Previously, it had been Cultivation Technique Experience or Skill Experience, or maybe an Attribute +1.

’This time it’s Understanding +1. Could it be...?’

Gu Ming buried his head in his studies.

「Three days later.」

The dazed Cyan Treasure could now skillfully transport Blood Qi, Spiritual Qi, and Mana simultaneously. As a side effect, the Origin Power also began to stir slightly, following the flow of the various energies within its body.

Although the Foundation Establishment Platform also played a role, it was nowhere near the level of being able to manipulate the soul.

However, Ma Tianba felt that it wasn’t absolutely necessary to manipulate the soul. If they continued to delve deeper into the Earth Shifting Technique and find a way for it to transport Origin Power, there was definitely a path forward.

After a period of intense and exciting training, the friendly inter-school competition began. Gu Ming temporarily set aside his training schedule and came to the school to participate in the long-awaited combat tournament.

This wasn’t a formal competition, just a small, friendly tournament between two schools where students could casually pick a match or two. The fights were meant to end once a victor was clear, to avoid excessive exhaustion.

However, the school was offering prize money and rewards like Cultivation Resources for this competition. Any student who ranked in the top one hundred would receive a prize.