Chapter 1116: Modifying the Technique

Those qualified to enter here and break through the Heart Demon Array outside were basically high-ranking members of the War Master Hall, all aiming for this Glazed Heart Refining Sutra... Asking if he was interested was just a casual remark, assuming the other would surely agree. The old man never dreamed... of a direct refusal!

Not interested. If you weren't interested, why did you break through the array and come here?

Are you messing with me?

"This is the highest ultimate art of the Heart Hall, a peerless secret manual... You really don't want to learn it?" The old man asked, somewhat hesitant.

"No," Zhang Xuan shook his head.

He had no heart demons now, and this technique, even when cultivated to perfection, could only reduce the number of heart demons. The more he learned, the worse it got. Unless he was crazy, only a fool would learn it!

"Then... why did you break through the array?" The old man was displeased.

"I thought there would be heart demons here to temper my mind and improve my mental cultivation. I came to hone myself, but... the heart demons were too weak, completely ineffective. I got excited for nothing. To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed!"

Zhang Xuan sighed, looking dejected.

If he had known it was such a low-level array, he wouldn't have entered. A waste of effort.

Still, it wasn't a total loss. He had subdued hundreds of heart demons and successfully learned another part of the Fiend's location, which would greatly help in the future.

"Too weak? Disappointed?"

The old man's face turned red, and he nearly fainted.

This Heart Demon Array was a fortuitous acquisition from his younger days. It could draw out the 'evil,' 'sorrow,' 'hurt,' 'fear,' and other negative emotions within a cultivator, exploiting them to make one unconsciously sink into depravity.

Those who could withstand it would greatly enhance their mental state; those who couldn't would have the array stop within a certain time without harming their foundation.

It sounded simple, but once heart demons appeared, resisting them was extremely difficult. The fact that fewer than five out of a hundred successive War Master Hall masters had passed showed the difficulty. Yet this young man directly called it too weak...

Looking at his expression, full of disdain...

Disdain your sister! Are you really here for the assessment?

"This Heart Demon Array may indeed be nothing in the eyes of true experts, but... your strength is only at Saint Realm First Layer, and it took you this long to break the array. It shouldn't have been that easy, right?"

The old man said with slight displeasure.

From entering the array until now, this fellow had spent at least ten minutes. Though it was quite fast, it was certainly not as effortless as he claimed.

What was he playing at?

"What? You think I'm lying?"

Seeing his expression, Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed. "This array of yours is an eyesore, utterly useless. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you now: although this array can draw out a person's heart demons, it requires reaching the center of the array to complete the process. This gives the cultivator a psychological hint that what follows is fake. With that subjective thought, the power naturally diminishes greatly. That's the first problem!"

"This..." The old man was stunned, unable to speak.

This was indeed a flaw of the array.

However, once heart demons were drawn out, a person would fall into chaos, and even with that subjective thought, it was hard to doubt.

Under normal circumstances, no one would notice, but this fellow pointed it out directly... Could it be that he wasn't boasting but genuinely thought the array was too poor?

"The heart demons generated by the array have too monotonous attack methods. They only seek flaws in techniques and cultivation to tempt. If the challenger has absolute confidence in their cultivation technique, the power will be greatly reduced. That's the second problem!"

Zhang Xuan continued.

"You..."

The old man stiffened again.

The Heart Demon Array was inherently difficult to set up, and flaws were normal. The good outweighed the bad. This fellow, surrounded by heart demons, still had time to find faults...

Was this real?

"This array has too strong a trace of formation, and the heart demons are too stereotyped. So ugly, they affect the viewing experience. Who would have the mood to haggle with them? They'd probably want to blow them up on the spot! They should transform into someone familiar; that would be more effective. That's the third problem!"

"...That's the fourth problem!"

"...That's the fifth problem!"

...

"...That's the tenth problem. For such a small array to have so many defects and loopholes, isn't it too poor?"

Zhang Xuan put his hands behind his back and curled his lip.

The array could draw out heart demons, making it hard to guard against, but its flaws were also great.

The biggest problem was poor immersion!

Appearing with a demonic face immediately made you know it was a heart demon!

The user experience was too poor, severely affecting the senses.

A truly formidable heart demon would transform into a regret or flaw in your heart, appearing in a way that made it impossible to distinguish... That was what was truly terrifying.

For example, if these heart demons weren't so ugly but took the form of Luo Ruoxi, he might have fallen into it and found it hard to extricate himself.

"This, this..."

The old man's face turned pale, and his already faint consciousness wavered even more, as if it might collapse at any moment.

As the array's setter, he naturally knew its defects and loopholes. The ten points the other had listed were all correct!

That is, the other had not only passed the array but also seen through its essence clearly.

No wonder it took over ten minutes... It seemed the other wasn't resisting heart demons but looking for the array's defects and problems.

To find so many in such a short time... his insight was too good!

"Is there... a solution?"

No longer daring to underestimate him, the old man asked cautiously.

"To completely solve it is very difficult, even I can't do it, but to slightly increase its power is possible... Just add an illusion array so that challengers fall into an illusion before they realize it, then trigger the heart demons. The power will increase considerably..."

After thinking, Zhang Xuan pointed in the air, and his true qi transformed into a pattern identical to the previous room.

With another point, hundreds of light spots appeared around the room.

The technique of a painting master projecting images in the void.

"Set up an illusion array at these light spots, merge the two arrays, and the power will be different..." Zhang Xuan explained.

His understanding of arrays had long reached the peak of Seven Star, even comparable to early Eight Star. Having experienced Qi Wu Palace, merging arrays, though complex, was not too difficult for him.

Moreover, he was only enhancing part of the Heart Demon Array's power, not too much.

"This..."

Able to set up the Heart Demon Array, this old man also had a profound understanding of arrays. After watching for a while, his body trembled, full of disbelief.

This array-setting method, though unconventional and unrestrained, precisely compensated for many loopholes in the Heart Demon Array, greatly increasing its power.

"I am enlightened..."

Bowing, the old man was sincerely convinced.

His previous doubts not only vanished but he was also filled with utmost admiration.

This young man, though not old, had a higher understanding of arrays than he did. Most importantly, his mental state was so strong that even the Heart Demon Array couldn't affect him. Truly, it was hard to imagine that such a brilliant genius had appeared in later generations.

"No need to be polite!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

He had only casually mentioned that the array wasn't great. Since the other admitted it, there was no need to press the point.

"This is the technique manual for the Glazed Heart Refining Sutra. Even if you're not interested, since you passed, according to the agreement, I must give it to you..." The old man pointed, and a technique manual appeared before them, shimmering with light.

Zhang Xuan glanced at it and committed it to memory, then frowned. "This technique has extremely high requirements for mental state!"

The heart-refining technique before him demanded a very high mental state; only those who reached a certain level could cultivate it. Otherwise, not only would they fail to cultivate, but they would also invite heart demons, ultimately leading to a severe drop in cultivation, or even mental derangement and madness.

Those with such a high mental state were rare in themselves. No wonder teaching the technique required an assessment.

To learn it, one had to be strong enough; otherwise, leaking it would not only fail to help but also harm others.

"Yes," the old man nodded.

"A technique requiring such a high mental state is hard to popularize. How about this: I'll help modify it so that ordinary people can also cultivate it smoothly. What do you think?"

After pondering, Zhang Xuan said.

For other techniques, even he would be helpless, but this one was different.

The so-called Glazed Heart Refining Art was essentially about cultivating the primordial spirit and soul to be as clear as glazed glass, transparent and pure, similar to the effect of a Spirit Channeler's gentle primordial spirit.

While pondering, he integrated this art with many techniques of the Spirit Channeler. Though it didn't form a Heavenly Dao technique, it broke the boundary that only experts could cultivate.

Thus, it compensated for this greatest flaw.

"Ordinary people can also cultivate?" The old man stiffened.

Back then, to obtain this technique, he had endured great hardships, all to enhance the combat power of the War Masters.

Unfortunately, the technique was too cumbersome, allowing only those with extremely high mental states to cultivate. He had always regretted this but had no solution.

If ordinary people could truly cultivate it, the overall strength of the War Master Hall would surely increase significantly.

The safety of humanity would also be greatly guaranteed.

"The greatest flaw of this technique is that during cultivation, various temptations arise. Those with weak resolve cannot resist, so the threshold must be raised. Actually, this point is easy to solve. I've already modified it after just one look."

Zhang Xuan nodded.

"Already modified? You modified it after just one look?"

The old man had thought that modifying it might take years, even decades or centuries. But from the moment he released the technique to now, less than half a minute had passed. The other had not only finished reading but also completed the modification... The old man trembled all over, his face full of disbelief.

To allow ordinary people to cultivate, he had also spent countless efforts in his lifetime, all in vain... This fellow had only glanced at it, and before others could even clearly see the technique's content, he had already modified it...

Even the former Master Kong might not have had such ability.

"Mm."

Smiling slightly, Zhang Xuan looked over, his expression kind: "What? If you want to see it, I can write a copy for you right now!"