589 Solving the Array

Alex began solving the array in complete focus. He had a one hundred percent trust that Narman would inform him in case someone walked toward this place. 

Alex's movement was fast and precise. He scanned each symbol around the area while deciphering their link and function. These symbols astonished him because this was the first time he saw a rank 8 Array. He might be able to understand the concept of rank 8 Array because of his knowledge, but he didn't have practical experience in the area, just like how he needed to practice how to build an Array.

"This array… The entrance is already like this; what about the array inside? This concealment array contains a Space Element that prevents me from going inside. If I force myself in, I might be injured if not heavily." He muttered to himself while deciphering the array.

It took him a few minutes before he could figure out how the array worked. The array consisted of five different arrays. First would be the barrier array that could hold an attack of Martial Saint. It already showed how sturdy this gate was. The second array was an illusion array. If they were hit, the illusion array was there to produce an after effect relating to such an attack, like creating a small crater.

The third array was the concealment array. This array made the energy around this area as smooth as possible. In fact, this concealment array was the array that blocked his Spirit Eyes. The fourth array was a Space Element Defense Mechanism. Its purpose was to repel any Space Element fluctuation inside the array. As for the last array, it was a gathering array linked to the underground that kept this whole place active.

"I need to do some reconstruction of this array. On one hand, I can just create a hole for me to go in. However, the Spiritual Energy will leak from that hole, and once it leaks, it will be hard to plug the hole even with my skill and knowledge. On the other hand, it will take a long time to reconstruct it." Alex crossed his arms while trying to see if there was another way.

Luckily, no one interrupted him while he thought about this. After several minutes of thinking, Alex had another solution, which was a bit troublesome but allowed him to quickly solve the array.

"Maybe I should create another barrier that prevents Spiritual Energy from flowing outside. I will then enter the gap between the first and the second barrier… close the first barrier and open the second barrier. If I am done with this place, I will need to reconstruct it again to its original arrangement." Alex sighed, thinking about how it would take him a day to do it. 

"Young Master. One person is coming here. We need to hide for a few minutes." Narman suddenly appeared while he was in deep thought.

"We still have enough time before the Cultivation Place opens, so Young Master can take your time. It's better to be safe than sorry." Narman said while guiding him inside the woods. 

"Yeah. This takes a lot of time because I need to reconstruct a rank 8 array. I might not be able to build a rank 8 array, but reconstructing is still possible… albeit far slower. I hope you can bear with me." Alex nodded.

"Yes. I am Young Master's spirit, so your wish is my order." Narman nodded while watching the person walk away.

"Yeah. Thank you." Alex nodded while waiting together. It took them two minutes before the disciples left the place. 

Narman left his side again, and Alex began reconstructing the array. Just like how the previous person distracted him from making the array, a few other disciples also checked the area, hindering Alex from working on the array. 

After the third person, Alex decided to build an illusion array and concealment array first, so he could work in peace. Unfortunately, it took him a few more hours before he finally finished in the new array.

"Open." He channeled his Spiritual Energy inside the outer barrier that he made just now. It created a hole which was enough for a person to come in. The hole allowed Alex to enter into the inner area.

Alex waved his hand and sent out a wave of Spiritual Energy to activate the outer barrier again, closing the hole. He didn't quickly open the second barrier. Instead, he looked at it in amazement, thinking it was a kind of achievement to reconstruct a Rank 8 Array even though he had yet to create a single Rank 7 Array.

The smile appeared on his face, showing how proud he was. After a minute observing the barrier, he opened the barrier only to reveal a single teleportation array inside. It shocked him quite a bit. 

There should be a hole leading into the underground behind the barrier. However, the creator of this array should think differently. The tunnel was there as a passage to create an underground palace, but after finishing the construction, the creator decided to bury the passage and used this teleportation array as the bridge between the surface and the underground.

"Narman, I am going to enter the underground." 

"Then, I shall observe the four influences and the rogue cultivators as planned," Narman replied calmly. 

"Yeah. I leave them to you. Make sure no one knows our whereabouts, or you can even leak out false information among them." Alex nodded. 

"Understood."

After informing Narman what he should do, Alex walked inside the array and channeled his Spiritual Energy, activating the array. He also didn't forget to take out his weapons before using the array. A glowing pink light flashed for two seconds before the array teleported Alex underground.

"Kh!" Alex quickly observed his surroundings to see if he was inside a safe place or not. The room was dark, with no source of light that can be lit up around this area. However, the air seemed to be fine for breathing and fighting. Nonetheless, he activated the Spirit Eyes as a precaution.

Surprisingly, he was teleported inside a 3x3 meters room without a single decoration other than the array. The Spirit Eyes didn't show any sign of being inside the room, so he let out a breath of relief before summoning out Anna and the others.

"Summon."

At the same time, Sherry and Kyle came out of his body without his order. The cute little fox girl took off her mask and released her transformation, showing her ears and tail. Apparently, she also saw the previous scene where Alex reconstructed the array. "Master, can you use rank 8 Array now?" 

"No. My cultivation base is still not enough right now. Although I can somehow reconstruct it, drawing it is a different thing." Alex shook his head. "After reaching the 8-Star Martial Emperor in this place, I will learn Alchemy and Array again for one to two months… maybe inside the Cursed Forest since the Black Devil Sect wouldn't know we are in that place," Alex said.

"Is that so? That's a shame, I guess." Sherry paused for a moment and said. "We still have things to do."

"Yeah. You are right." Alex nodded. Surprisingly, Kyle already used his Fire Element to light the room while they were talking. 

Alex could finally see a single door lead to another place and had a thorough search with his Spirit Eyes. 

The door itself didn't have any significance. It was a simple white door with some flowers as decorations. The energy was quite weak as it was only a low-level material, at least, strong enough to handle the passing time. Behind the door was a numerous sign of life.

"One thousand… two thousand…" Alex began counting their numbers and sighed, "There are around five thousand lives behind the door. "It seems there is a big place inside that can cultivate five thousand monsters inside. This is similar to Zwaka's place… which means this is going to be a hard fight, considering the monsters behind this door mostly at 3-Star to 8-Star Martial Emperors."

Alex's statement made various expressions on the spirits' faces. Anya was the first to talk, "I see. We can see this as a challenge that will hinder us from getting what lies beyond this place… or we can see this as an EXP farm for us. We need to know what kind of creature they are and space where we can fight."

Anna's words were completely right. However, Alex could understand why it was a challenge for them. With only a few of them, Alex wouldn't be able to win, especially after using the True Spirit Body a few days ago. No matter how abnormal his spirits were, it was impossible to surmount this numerical gap, considering all the monsters were stuck in one place.

"Indeed. They will swarm us like crazy. Unless we can lead them into a passage where only a few hundreds could come in, I can't see how we can win this." Anya shook her head.

"Don't worry. There is a passage that is close to your description. We can fight them in that place after we clear the monsters in that passage." Alex nodded. 

"There are one and a half weeks before the cultivation place opens. I think we can wait for a few days to use the True Spirit Body again, especially because of Leoz and Jeanne's absence. Although I don't want to admit it, that muscle brain is really one hell of a fighter." Anya bit her lips while looking at Alex.

"Yeah. We need to be more careful without Leoz, and Stina is also undergoing her transformation… We lack in numbers, so we can only wait until you and the others can use your True Spirit Body again." Alex nodded in agreement.

"But there is one more question that needs to be answered. How can we go to that passage?" Anna asked.

"Don't worry. The Space Element Array only blocked us from directly teleporting here, and the teleportation array inside the entrance can bypass that system. On the other hand, I don't see a strong Space Element in the air, so I can use my Spatial Gate if not Teleportation array to go there." Alex assured them with a calm voice. 

"Alright. How about the monsters? Their species, weakness, and strength. We need to know about it." Anya muttered to herself while crossing her arms. She glanced at Alex, wondering if he had the answer.

"I don't have the answer as well. I will describe their appearance first since they are from the same species. Their appearance looks like a lizard but can walk on two feet. They have a dense amount of energy in their hands and feet while almost nothing around their belly. They have brown colored energy which is symbolized as an Earth Element, but it is so weak, so we can safely assume they don't have a strength in the element." Alex explained carefully from his observation alone. "If only my Spirit Eyes can evolve once more, I can look at them more clearly."

"Don't worry. We can just see the rest when we fight them. Those descriptions are more than enough for us at the moment. Let's just say they are walking lizards with useless Earth Elements. We need to target their belly instead of their arms and feet." Anya concluded Alex's explanation.

"Yeah. Because of the scale of the tunnel, we can implement a shift. We can make three groups hold the enemies at bay. However, we don't have Stina with us, so I need Artur to help Kyle and Jean." Alex said.

"Understood." 

"And because only my group has four people, we will hold them longer than all of you."

"No. If you are going to implement a shift, I can support all of you continuously. Just build me a Gathering Array to let me recover myself and protect me, I will be fine." Anya cut in. 

"Are you serious? It's going to take a toll on you, right?"

"It should be fine. As long as we can finish the battle quickly, it's a small matter to me." Anya smiled.