"Great Elder, this is the basic confinement array, derived from the Eight Trigrams Array, passed down through generations in our Wuhou lineage," Zhuge Lan said.
"Impossible, if it were a confinement array, how could I not find its core?!"
The Great Elder naturally did not believe it. The array looked somewhat familiar, yet he could not locate the core that should have been there.
"I've added a bit of variation, so the core isn't fixed in one place. It shifts with every breath," Zhuge Lan had realized this during his travels in recent days.
When it came to array formations, he had indeed refined this confinement array once more after teaching Wang Qiran.
Only then did it take its current form.
The path of arrays emphasized unpredictability. The more variations a confinement array possessed, the more it could maximize its effect.
"Shifting core?" The Great Elder was visibly taken aback. This technique... could it be that Zhuge Lan had already embarked on the path of simplifying the complex and returning to the unadorned essence?
In terms of cultivation, the Great Elder, a venerable Divine Realm expert, was significantly superior to Zhuge Lan. However, he now found himself inclined to resolve this array solely through his understanding of formations.
If he were to forcefully break it with his cultivation, wouldn't that imply that his attainment in formations was inferior to Zhuge Lan's?
This was not the outcome he desired.
Yet, he remained unable to find a way to break through the array. Zhuge Lan's voice then rang out, "Great Elder, I'll have to trouble you with this from now on. I'll take my leave first and will return when the selection for the acting clan leader takes place."
Upon hearing this, the Great Elder no longer cared about his pride. Without a second word, he unleashed his profound spiritual energy, intending to forcefully break the array.
However...
Things did not go as planned.
Sensing the Great Elder's actions, Zhuge Lan smiled slightly and continued, "Great Elder, I know you have long since entered the Divine Realm. For ordinary arrays, you could break them completely in mere moments if you wished. But this array has been carefully adjusted. If one attempts to break it through normal means, the array itself won't change much. However, if someone tries to force their way through with brute strength, the array will transform."
As he spoke, two more arrays instantly appeared within the small confinement formation.
A phantom array, coupled with another confinement array.
"An array within an array!"
The Great Elder, possessing considerable skill, immediately recognized the array's transformation. From the outset, this formation was a combination of three basic arrays, though it appeared as just one. Only when he resorted to brute force would the other two arrays be activated by his spiritual energy, making it incredibly difficult for him to revert to normal deciphering, even if he wanted to.
Had Zhuge Lan's mastery of formations advanced to such a degree over the years?
Had he developed this himself?
Or was it taught to him by Mr. Zhuge?
The Great Elder's expression flickered with uncertainty.
Fortunately, there were no killing arrays within this formation. If a killing array were incorporated, he was certain that even a Divine Realm expert would be thrown into utter disarray.
The core principle of this linked array system was that the spiritual energy driving the formation was drawn from the person trapped within.
The more spiritual energy you expended in a forceful attempt to break it, the stronger the array would become.