Cultivating immortality in the seas, I created an immortal island of eternal life.

The mission ended uneventfully, without any major setbacks.

After returning from Ping Sha Hai, Gao Yao went to the fish market to report his work and then went to the warehouse to collect his monthly allowance as an outer disciple.

A few low-grade spirit stones and a few bottles of basic pills are better than nothing.

On the way back to Turtle Reef Island, the sea was as calm as a mirror, and the sound of oars breaking the surface of the water was monotonous and repetitive.

Gao Yao sat at the stern of the boat, watching the reflections on the ripples in the sea, his mind still racing with the intelligence he had brought back from the Hongyun Trading Company.

Di Yin, former sect leader, is at the peak of Foundation Establishment and is skilled in formations.

More than a hundred years ago, he abdicated and went into seclusion in the back mountains, no longer concerning himself with sect affairs.

He thought about this information repeatedly, but still couldn't come up with a way to change the current situation.

What good is knowing all this? Will it allow Di Yin to teach me?

No.

Can you get Wang Yao to let you go?

also can not.

To be honest, Gao Yao is currently stuck between two walls. In front of him is Di Yin's unyielding wall, and behind him is Wang Yao's wall that keeps pushing forward.

They can't move forward, and they can't go back.

He was stuck in the middle, neither up nor down.

Oh well, there's no use in rushing. We still have to go to the back mountain tomorrow.

......

Life went back to the way it always was.

Gao Yao got up before dawn, carrying books he had borrowed from the library, and ran to Di Yin's bamboo forest.

The old man remained the same, silent and still like a clay sculpture.

When Gao Yao entered the room, Di Yin did not open his eyes. When Gao Yao bowed, Di Yin did not respond. When Gao Yao sat down in the corner to read a book, Di Yin did not react at all.

He would occasionally wonder if the old man was really meditating or just sleeping, but such thoughts would only flash through his mind.

However, today is a little different.

Gao Yao pushed open the door to the side room and immediately saw something extra on the table.

It wasn't one of the books he borrowed from the library; it was a booklet he had never seen before.

The cover is yellowed and the corners are worn, as if it has been flipped through many times.

The Array

Gao Yao was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked back at the direction of the main house. Di Yin was still in the thatched hut, just as he had always been.

He turned back, staring at the booklet, his heart suddenly skipping a beat.

Walk over, pick it up, and open it.

The first part is the Spirit Gathering Array that Gao Yao has been longing for.

It wasn't one of those incomplete array diagrams from the library; it was a complete one, with clear instructions on how to guide spiritual energy and how to arrange the nodes.

To be honest, Gao Yao's first reaction wasn't happiness, but confusion.

This old man said he wouldn't teach, so why did he suddenly put the book here again? Is he testing me or has he changed his mind?

Gao Yao stood in front of the table, holding the booklet, pondering for a long time.

Never mind, since it's placed in front of him, he'll look at it, regardless of whether it's a test or not, he'll learn first.

Gao Yao sat down quietly, turned to the first page, and began to read.

It has annotations, making it a little easier to understand than the books in the library, but only a little.

Those formation terms and the steps of setting up the formation that needed to be adapted to local conditions were still a tangled mess in Gao Yao's eyes.

He recognized each word individually, but when put together, he couldn't quite understand what it meant. This reminded him of the advanced mathematics problems he couldn't understand in college in his previous life.

He didn't understand after the teacher explained it once, and he still didn't understand after the teacher explained it twice. So he memorized it by rote, memorized the solution steps, and could always get a few points by copying them during the exam.

Gao Yao lowered his head and gritted his teeth, reading line by line and memorizing sentence by sentence. He put aside what he didn't understand and repeatedly chewed on the parts he could understand until they were thoroughly digested and swallowed. He memorized what he couldn't swallow and then tackled it later.

The sunlight outside the window moved from east to west, and the shadows of bamboo leaves flickered on the pages of the book.

In the thatched hut next door, Di Yin opened his eyes and glanced in the direction of the side room.

A hint of helplessness flashed across his cloudy eyes.

As the sun set in the west, Gao Yao finally raised his head.

My neck is stiff and my eyes are blurry, but I feel a little more at ease.

He read through the entire book "Array Collection" once, especially the part on spirit gathering arrays, which he read several times. Although there were still many parts he didn't understand, at least he memorized the framework.

He closed the book, stood up, walked to the door, and bowed in the direction of Di Yin's hut as usual.

"Master, this disciple takes his leave."

No response.

Gao Yao straightened up, about to leave.

"Come in."

The voice came from the thatched hut, old and hoarse.

Gao Yao paused, turned and walked towards the thatched hut. The door was ajar, so he pushed it open and went inside.

Di Yin remained in the same posture, sitting cross-legged on the futon with his eyes closed.

Gao Yao stood at the door and bowed.

"master."

"What did you understand from the book you read today?" Di Yin asked calmly, without opening his eyes.

Gao Yao was taken aback. This was the first time in a long time that Di Yin had spoken to him on his own initiative, and it was a test.

"This disciple is dull-witted and has only memorized the steps for setting up the Spirit Gathering Array, but I do not fully understand the underlying principles," he answered truthfully.

"How much did you memorize?"

"Five or six out of ten."

"Recite it and let me hear it."

Gao Yao took a deep breath and poured out everything he had memorized that day, one by one.

From the selection of the array base, to the guidance of spiritual energy, to the arrangement of nodes, to the final verification of the array formation.

It was a bit bumpy, but mostly correct.

After listening, Di Yin remained silent for a while.

What's the use of rote memorization?

Gao Yao didn't respond.

"Do you know what the core of setting up a spirit-gathering array is?" Di Yin opened his eyes, his cloudy pupils staring at him.

"It's the arrangement of nodes for the flow of spiritual energy."

"Wrong." Di Yin interrupted him, his tone turning cold. "It's the sensing of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The nodes are just a means, not an end. If you don't even understand this, memorizing more steps is useless."

Gao Yao lowered his eyes and did not argue.

"And another thing," Di Yin continued, "the third step you just mentioned, the direction of guiding spiritual energy."

"Wrong. The spiritual energy of the Spirit Gathering Array does not flow from the base to the nodes, but rather converges from the nodes to the base. If the direction is reversed, the array becomes useless."

Gao Yao's heart skipped a beat; he hadn't noticed this before.

The book says that "spiritual power comes out from the base of the array and flows into each node," which he interprets as going from the base of the array to the nodes, but Di Yin's explanation seems to make more sense.

"This disciple has learned much."

"Learn something?" Di Yin scoffed. "You don't even understand where you went wrong, what kind of lesson are you going to teach me?"

Gao Yao didn't say anything more, just stood there with his hands hanging down.

Di Yin stared at him for a long time, then suddenly closed his eyes.

"Alright, you can go now."

Gao Yao bowed respectfully and left the thatched hut.

The door closed behind me, and the rustling of bamboo leaves wafted in again.

He stood at the doorway, looking at the bamboo forest bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, and felt more at ease than when he arrived.

Although I was scolded quite a bit, at least I learned something.

Di Yin explained the flow of spiritual energy in the Spirit Gathering Array, the key to the node arrangement, and the principles that he had memorized but had not fully understood in just a few words.

Moreover, since the other party is willing to give the book and test the student, it means that the relationship is easing.

Regardless of Di Yin's intentions, at least the door was opened a crack.

Gao Yao took a deep breath and walked down the stone steps.

Halfway up the mountain, Di Yin's voice suddenly came from behind.

"etc."

Gao stopped and turned around.

Di Yin stood at the door of the thatched hut, his expression obscured by a bamboo grove.

"There's something I need you to do."

"Master, please give your instructions."

"Go to the hidden room in the north corner of the third floor of the library and retrieve a battle flag."

Gao Yao was taken aback. Steward Chen had said that books on the third floor and above required contribution points to exchange, and he wasn't qualified yet: "This disciple's current authority only allows me to go up to the second floor..."

"That's your business," Di Yin said calmly. "I only care about the result."

Gao Yao's throat was dry, but he still nodded: "This disciple understands."

"Don't come to the back mountain until things are settled." After saying this, Di Yin turned around and walked back to the thatched hut, closing the door behind him.

Gao Yao stood on the stone steps, looking at the tightly closed door, and suddenly felt a little dazed.

What is this?

Is it a test or a trial, or something else?

Gao Yao didn't know, but he knew that if this matter couldn't be resolved, the door that had just been opened a crack between him and Di Yin would probably be closed completely.

Gao Yao bowed again, then turned and descended the mountain.

Dusk crept in from the other side of the sea, turning the entire sky a smoky purple.

The stone steps were covered in moss, making them a bit slippery to walk on.

He walked slowly, his mind still replaying Di Yin's words.

The library has three floors, a dark room, and array flags.

Why should he go get it? What is that battle flag? Why doesn't Di Yin go himself?

These problems kept popping up one after another, like a tangled mess that couldn't be sorted out.

Gao Yao walked to the foot of the mountain and looked back.

The bamboo grove had already disappeared into the twilight and could no longer be seen.

Only the wind was still blowing, rustling the bamboo leaves like countless people talking in hushed tones.

......

Di Yin stood at the door of the thatched hut, looking at the empty stone steps.

The wind blew from the sea, passing through the bamboo forest, causing the hem of his Taoist robe to sway gently.

The old man stood there for a long time.

To be honest, he didn't have a good impression of Gao Yao.

What future can a pawn that is handed to you have?

What that vixen Wang Yao has her eye on is nothing more than an obedient puppet, a lackey who can do things for her.

But these days, he has changed his mind a bit.

The young man sat in the side room, not looking up all day, trying to understand things he couldn't comprehend at all.

If you're scolded, don't argue back; if you're criticized, don't refute. Just stand there and listen, writing down every word.

Not a smart person, but not a useless one either.

At least, they're willing to put in the effort.

Whether it will succeed remains to be seen.

The battle flag in the library was left there by Di Yin many years ago.

It's not something valuable, but not many people know about it. If Gao Neng can retrieve it successfully, it means he can at least use it.

If we can't get it back...

Di Yin shook his head, turned around and walked back to the thatched hut.

That means he's a brainless good-for-nothing, not worth wasting your time on.

......