Primordial God Of Time

After walking a few meters, Kranos arrived at a familiar building: the First-Year Alpha Arrays and Formations Hall. Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.

The moment he entered, his gaze swept across a group of about twenty seated students. He raised a brow in surprise. He hadn't expected this many people to be interested in arrays and formations. But on second thought, it made sense. Anyone who truly understood how deeply arrays and formations could impact a cultivator's life would naturally be drawn to their study.

Since everyone was already seated, Kranos quickly found an empty seat and sat down, guessing that the corresponding merit points would be paid after the lecture. After seating himself, his gaze shifted forward to the podium where a middle-aged woman, likely in her fifties, stood dressed in a dark blue Daoist robe.

Noticing Kranos enter, she repeated what she'd just finished saying. "Arrays, in essence, allow a cultivator of weaker strength to defeat someone stronger."

With a calm gesture, she brought out a scroll and, pointing it away from the students, carefully unfurled it. The next moment, Kranos was stunned. As soon as the scroll opened, a large fireball, roughly the size of a human head, erupted.

The female teacher explained, "This explosion is already at the Foundation Establishment Realm, but did you know? This scroll was actually created by someone at the Qi Condensation Realm. Imagine your opponent defeating you because of this when they obviously have weaker strength."

The students stared at her with wide eyes as she explained, and even Kranos paid rapt attention to her every movement. The next moment, she raised her hand slightly. Soon after, Kranos watched in astonishment as the room lit up with a pale green light.

"This is a formation. By inscribing mana lines into the environment, I've altered the mana density in this space. Try absorbing mana now," she said with a faint smile.

Immediately, Kranos and the others started cultivating. He was instantly shocked to discover that his absorption of mana had increased by at least threefold! "Is this the power of a formation?" He was pleasantly surprised.

"There are countless types of formations—bewildering formations to trap and confuse, attacking formations, defensive ones, and more," she continued. "Formations are also ranked, much like weapons: from basic to intermediate to advanced, and so on. What I just activated was an advanced spirit-gathering formation."

While she explained, she deactivated the formation in the room, causing the students to sigh in regret.

"Though arrays and formations are closely related, there's a key difference," she said, pacing slowly. "Arrays are often small and embedded in portable items. Formations, however, are typically inscribed onto larger surfaces."

"Also, formations need to be physically set up and take a lot of time, while arrays can be inscribed or activated instantly. Because of this, formations are more static, in the sense that they can only be set up in a particular place for long-term use, while arrays are more dynamic and are often used the moment they are set up." After giving them more explanations, the instructor paused slightly, giving the students time to digest the information.

Soon after, she continued, "I will teach you all how to set up arrays and formations over the next two classes, and by the end of the year, you should have learned how to set up a basic array and formation. Any questions before we proceed?" she asked, turning to glance at the students.

Kranos thought for a moment. He was extremely fascinated by the arrays and formations in the secret realm; they seemed no different from technology from his previous life. Because of this, he couldn't help but ask, "Instructor, what level are the arrays and formations in the shopping pavilion at?"

The moment Kranos spoke, multiple pairs of eyes landed on him, including those of the instructor. She smiled lightly and, after a moment, spoke, "The level of array and formation knowledge required to craft such masterpieces is unheard of. Don't aim too high; just settle for where your hands and feet can take you." With that, she turned around, no longer paying attention to Kranos.

She had once been like him, hoping to master such a level of arrays and formations, but even after hundreds of years of study, she realized it was practically impossible. The principal had only found the secret realm when exploring an ancient ruin, so she guessed that the arrays must be something from the Divine Realm. Her eyes showed a look of longing, but she quickly regained her composure and asked once again, "Any reasonable questions?" This time, however, her tone shifted slightly. The students were silent, so she took it as the absence of any questions.

Kranos, on the other hand, wasn't deterred by her words. He felt she was right; he shouldn't aim too high. He would take things one step at a time, but before anyone realized it, he would definitely reach such a level, even crafting the whole world as his formation! He immediately shook his head at the thought; that was too grand a goal to achieve. He turned his attention to the instructor, seeing that she had started demonstrating how to inscribe array and formation patterns. This version is sourced from MV3L3MPYR.

She pointed at the air, her palm glowing with red mana, and began drawing a circular pattern. Glowing trails of light followed the motion.

"This is the basic flame array, a simple, one-rune attack array. If drawn correctly, it will release a single burst of flame at the Qi Condensation Realm." She dissolved the array and continued, "The strength of the attack may vary depending on the flow of energy, the balance of energy in the array, and how perfectly drawn the lines are."

Kranos listened with full attention. He could see that the faint glowing energy she gathered on her palm was mana. At the mention of mana, Kranos' mind began to run wild with all sorts of thoughts on how he could apply his time ability to it.