Chapter 60: Array Compass

To Xiaodong, his biggest problem had already been unloaded, and it felt as if his body had truly turned light.

However, to Mo Chen, it was the complete opposite.

Earlier, Little Junior Brother mentioned that Ning Yu’s compass had pointed towards him, and that Ning Yu seemed to have sensed his existence.

Not seeing him physically did not mean much. To those divine fellows of Heavenly Secrets Mountain, even if it was just the slightest hint of scent, it would be tightly held onto with their dog-like noses.

Mo Chen saw that Little Junior Brother had already begun to show a smile, but he somehow could not relax at all.

If Ning Yu’s compass had truly sensed Xiaodong’s existence…

Could there possibly be other people who were capable of using other methods to sense him? Just what was going on with Little Junior Brother’s circumstances? Could he be harmed by others when he was in a dream?

To Mo Chen, this was the most important thing to find out.

If Little Junior Brother could be harmed because of this matter, no matter how heaven-defying or useful this ability could be, Mo Chen would definitely find a way to destroy this ability and release Xiaodong from it.

At this moment, the martial siblings Xiaodong and Mo Chen were not the only ones who were having a headache.

Speaking of which, Ning Yu had indeed climbed the stone tower in the afternoon. The reason was very simple. That place was high up, and he could see the mountain range and the entirety of the compound clearly.

Ning Yu had long been interested in Returnflow Mountain’s spiritual pulse and array. He had visited twice before, but because he was unfortunately preoccupied with other affairs, he couldn’t stay for too long. This time was different. There weren’t many matters to deal with in the sect, and even if he stayed on Returnflow Mountain for a year or two it wouldn’t matter.

It had to be known that the array of Returnflow Mountain was something that not even his Grand Master had been able to figure out and understand. It was a marvel that he still thought about even at his deathbed! Though everything and everyone on Heavenly Secrets Mountain now were related to divination, the Ancestral Creator of the sect was an expert that specialized in arrays. Unfortunately, many years passed, and the Heavenly Secrets Mountain experienced two heavy hits that had almost cost them the destruction of the sect. Many scrolls of the sect’s martial and secret arts disappeared. Heavenly Secrets Mountain no longer had something like a great mountain-protecting array. The former array could not stand the test of time, and the current array they had in place was merely a slightly patched-up version done by Grand Master and others. To tell the truth, it had its usefulness, but compared to the original array established by the Ancestral Creator, it was simply… incomparable.

Returnflow Mountain was different. The earthen pulse here was especially strange. It clearly was an incredible spiritual pulse, but because of the terrain, the spiritual pulse was cut off and locked away.

The great mountain-protecting array on this mountain was even more incomprehensible. Once, Spiritual Master Hu stayed on Returnflow Mountain for a long time. He drew draft after draft of the array diagram, and had even shamelessly asked Spiritual Master Li Fulin about the rules behind the array core’s movements. However, even until now, Spiritual Master Hu felt like he had yet to touch even the edge of understanding the array.

Since Spiritual Master Hu was like this, needless to say, Ning Yu was the same. With just the few books of incomplete guides on arrays and ancient scrolls, Ning Yu could only barely understand what an array was. He wouldn’t be this frustrated if he did not know a single thing, yet, the knowledge that he possessed was already enough to let him see just how large and mystical the world was inside that door.

Like his Grand Master and Master, Ning Yu yearned for knowledge and was similarly filled with passion.

Even if he could not understand this his entire life, he wouldn’t regret it either.

With the compass in hand, without a fixed destination, he walked all around the place. He wanted to test the movement of the mountain’s spiritual pulse. At first things were still fine, when suddenly, the compass went haywire. To give an example, it was just like a calm water surface which had suddenly met with a whirlpool, silently wanting to swallow the boat floating on the water.

Just what did compass lock onto at that instant?

Was that the array core?

No, the array core’s position definitely wasn’t here. If the core was there, the compass wouldn’t need to be so close to sense it. Not to mention the array core would not change its position again after just a short amount of time. It wouldn’t appear here at a single moment, and then disappear in the next.

Ning Yu felt…

That it should be a living creature.

Though he did not see anything, the compass had locked onto a particular direction. When he raised his head, Ning Yu truly sensed that something was there. Not only did the compass sense it, even he felt that there was an anomaly.

It was an indescribable sensation.

He could sense it, and he even felt that within that empty space, there was a pair of eyes watching him.

It only lasted for a single, short moment, and the compass no longer sensed anything else immediately after. Even that feeling of being watched disappeared.

After that, he went up and down the stone tower, and even circled it a few times. However, the compass no longer made any strange movements.

If it was anyone else, they would probably not take this to heart at all. After all, compasses were things that were very sensitive. Sometimes, even a bird flying past would scramble them. A stone or a tree might possibly do the same.

However, Ning Yu could not treat that sensation earlier as occasional.

Returnflow Mountain was truly irregular.

After coming down from the stone tower, he followed the walls and circled around the entire Returnflow Mountain Sect compound. Yet the compass did not have any reaction at all. When the sun set, it still came up with nothing.

Could it be related to time? Should he head over to the same place again tomorrow at the same time?

Ning Yu rushed back to his room, took out pieces of paper, and began to draw the array diagram. When Jiang Fan came over, he had already drawn on a bunch of paper, filling up the entire table.

“Senior Brother Ning, what are you doing?”

Jiang Fan thought that he was writing words, but when he took a look, the papers were either filled with scribbly lines or things like runic diagrams. He couldn’t understand them at all.

Ning Yu put down his brush. He was too focused on drawing earlier, and only now did he realize that his arms had already gone numb.

“I was afraid of forgetting something, so I recorded it.”

He could understand the things he drew perfectly, while people outside of his field would truly not have the slightest clue what they were.

Jiang Fan had already gotten used to his strange habits. In any case, ever since Spiritual Master Hu, the behaviors of Heavenly Secrets Mountain disciples could no longer be understood.

“Even if there’s something on, you shouldn’t skip dinner.” Jiang Fan said, “When the time came and we didn’t see you there, Eldest Senior Brother had me rush over here to take a look. Could you have possibly forgotten about food again?”

He really had forgotten about it. If Jiang Fan hadn’t brought it up, Ning Yu would have forgotten that there was still dinner.

“I’m sorry for holding everyone up. Then let us head over now.”

Jiang Fan chuckled as he lead the way. “Other people can be fine going without a single meal, but your body is frail, Senior Brother Ning. If Spiritual Master Hu were to find out that we made you skip a meal, he would definitely fly into a thunderous rage.”

Ning Yu laughed as well. “If you don’t say and I don’t tell, Master will definitely not know about it at all.” He then casually asked, “Has it been peaceful on the mountain recently? Nothing happened, right?”

“It’s been alright recently.” Jiang Fan said, “Before he left, Master instructed us to stay put and not head down the mountain. It has been peaceful these few months on the mountain, and nothing worthy of being mentioned has happened.”