Chapter 58: Enlightenment and the Revival of Hope

Time slipped away quietly while Chen Mo was completely absorbed in his studies.

He did not leave that cave; it had become his sanctuary, his place of enlightenment. By day, he used pebbles to deduce theorems on the open ground of the cave, following the diagrams in the ancient text; by night, he lit an oil lamp, poring over theories that subverted his understanding under the dim, flickering light, drinking mountain spring water when thirsty and casually eating wild berries when hungry.

That nameless ancient book opened a door to a new world for him.

If the fragmented chapters of the Heaven’s Mystery Pavilion had taught him that 1+1=2, then this ancient book told him why 1+1=2, and introduced him to higher-level mathematical fields he had never even heard of, such as calculus and linear algebra.

It did not give him direct answers; instead, it provided him with an entirely new mindset and methodology.

"So that's how it is... So that's how it is! The energetic properties of runes are not static; they 'evolve' based on their position within the formation and the properties of adjacent runes! Previously, I only knew how to blindly memorize which runes could not be placed next to each other, never realizing there was such a profound theory of 'field effect' behind it!"

"Good heavens! The stability of a formation depends not only on structural symmetry, but even more on the 'dynamic balance of energy flow'! No wonder the formation disks I repaired in the past always broke down again shortly after; I had only repaired the 'form', while failing to calibrate the 'spirit'!"

"Multi-dimensional nodes... This idea is simply insane! Expanding the defensive formation's energy from a flat plane into a three-dimensional energy field... This... this is nothing short of a miracle!"

Inside the cave, Chen Mo's fascinated murmurs, mingled with shock and wild ecstasy, could often be heard.

Like a sponge that had been parched for countless years, he frantically absorbed the nectar of knowledge from the ancient book. Many problems that had plagued him and his ancestors for generations were suddenly and easily resolved.

For instance, the "Seven-Star Spirit-Gathering Array," which his grandfather had exhausted his heart's blood to barely repair, was redesigned by Chen Mo into an upgraded version in just three days using the ancient text's theory of "spiral force fields." He changed the seven flat focal points into a three-dimensional spiral structure, which theoretically increased the speed and purity of spiritual energy accumulation by more than five times!

This discovery moved him to tears. Kneeling on the ground, he bowed deeply three times toward the depths of the cave, toward the ancient book. He believed that the spirits of his ancestors in heaven had guided this supreme manual into his hands.

His mastery of formations began to advance by leaps and bounds at a terrifying speed.

A month later, he walked out of the cave.

He returned to the street corner in Tide City and set up his stall once again.

This time, however, the items on his stall were completely different.

They were no longer dilapidated formation disks waiting to be repaired, but brand-new ones crafted entirely by his own hands.

A palm-sized "Spirit-Gathering Array," once activated, caused the surrounding spiritual energy to converge at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a faint vortex of spiritual energy. Its effect was three tenths better than the expensive middle-grade spirit-gathering arrays sold in the large shops on the market!

A "Defensive Jade Pendant," thin as a cicada's wing, could raise a pale cyan light barrier that completely enveloped its user when spiritual power was infused. A passing cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation curiously tested it with an attack, only to find it steadily blocked, which left the cultivator utterly astonished.

There was also an exquisite "Constant-Temperature Formation Disk," which not only maintained a steady temperature but also automatically adjusted its power based on external temperature changes, maximizing the conservation of spirit stones.

As soon as these items were displayed, they immediately caused a sensation.

At first, people thought it was a scam. But when the first cultivator bought the "Spirit-Gathering Array" at a price far below market value with a try-anything mindset and discovered its astonishing effects, Chen Mo's stall completely exploded in popularity.

"Little brother! How much for this spirit-gathering array? Give me one!"

"Are there any more of those defensive pendants? I want two!"

For the first time, a long queue formed in front of Chen Mo's stall. Those cultivators who had once looked down upon him now gazed at him with a mixture of astonishment and flattery.

Chen Mo was not intoxicated by this sudden success. He remained the reticent youth he had always been, except that his gaze now held a confidence and poise he had never possessed before.

He methodically introduced his creations and answered various questions without servility or arrogance. His pricing was fair, just slightly higher than the cost of the materials; what he earned was the wages of his skill as a "Formation Master."

Mother Zhang, who had once short-changed him by two copper coins, also squeezed into the crowd, smiling with obsequious flattery: "Little brother Chen Mo, oh my, you're a master craftsman now! Look, my dust-gathering array broke again, could you possibly..."

Chen Mo merely glanced at her coldly and said, "Sorry, I only make new formation disks now and no longer take repair jobs."

With that, he ignored her completely.

In a mere half-month, Chen Mo not only paid off all the debts his father had left behind, but also accumulated enough savings to purchase better materials for more complex formation research.

He was no longer the destitute outcast struggling to survive on a street corner with a few scattered ancestral skills. He had become a true, respected Formation Master.

His life had undergone earth-shaking changes. Yet, the fire deep within his heart burned even more fiercely.

Whenever deep in the quiet night, he would return home and continue studying that nameless ancient book. He knew that the successes at his stall were merely brought by the most superficial fraction of knowledge from the book. Behind that volume lay an even vaster, more profound world of formations, waiting for him to explore.

He began trying to design more complex formations.

For instance, a "Maze Array" capable of covering an entire courtyard. Utilizing the elementary theory of "space distortion" from the ancient book, anyone who stepped into the courtyard would walk in circles in the exact same spot, utterly unable to find the location of the thatched hut.

He also designed a small-scale "Lightning-Drawing Array," which could channel the power of lightning from the sky during rainy days and store it in a specially crafted magical artifact. This idea stemmed from an annotation in the ancient book concerning "energy conversion."

Every success made him feel even more awe toward the ancestors of the Heaven’s Mystery Pavilion, and solidified his conviction to restore the glory of his sect.

Into the despairing darkness, a beam of light had finally shone.

Though faint, this beam of light was enough to start a prairie fire of hope in his heart.

...

In the highest restaurant in Tide City, within a window-side private room,

Jiang Xiuyuan and Jiang Yiyi were sipping mortal tea while watching the young man surrounded by the crowd not far away.

"This child has finally set foot on the right path." A gratified smile played on the corners of Jiang Yiyi's lips.

"This is just the beginning." Jiang Xiuyuan put down his teacup, his gaze deep and distant. "What I gave him was a map and a key. But the road ahead is still one he must walk step by step on his own. He will encounter bottlenecks, setbacks, and perhaps even jealousy and danger because he harbors a 'great treasure.' All of these are trials he must experience on his path of growth."

"Then we..."

"It's time for us to go." Jiang Xiuyuan stood up. "Our mission is already complete. Staying here too long will only leave behind too many karmic ties. The affinity has been forged; whether it turns out for good or ill depends entirely on his own grasp."

Jiang Xiaobai raised his head from a plate of osmanthus cakes, his mouth stuffed full: "Dad, aren't we going to wait for Brother Chen Mo to thank us in person?"

Jiang Xiuyuan smiled and shook his head. "The best gratitude is not a word of 'thanks,' but his ability to truly carry forward the inheritance of the Heaven’s Mystery Pavilion. When that day comes, even separated by ten thousand miles, we will be able to feel it."

He took one last look at the young man in the crowd, whose figure remained slender yet whose spine was held straight and tall.

Then, taking Jiang Yiyi and Jiang Xiaobai with him, he quietly transformed into a gentle breeze inside the private room and vanished without a trace.

Chen Mo seemed to sense something; subconsciously, he raised his head and looked toward the direction of the restaurant.

All he saw was a window gently blown open by the wind and then slowly closed.

It was as if no one had ever been there at all.

Yet a wave of warmth inexplicably surged within his heart. He bowed deeply toward that direction.

He did not know why he did this, but his intuition told him that the most important stroke of fortune in his life was connected to that place.

Straightening up, his eyes were filled with an unprecedented firmness.

He knew that his path was still long.

Yet this time, he was no longer groping forward alone in the darkness.

In his heart, he held an "ancient book" that illuminated the road ahead.

On his shoulders, he carried the "past" of a withered ancestral trade.

Before his eyes, an "infinite future" of possibilities was unfurled.

Hope had been reignited.