Setting up a planetary grand array was a simple matter for Joe Di. Yet he knew well that his arraycraft skills, while perhaps the best or among the best in the entire Genesis Universe, still fell short. Even at such a level, arranging a trapping and slaughter array capable of fending off countless powerhouses from Genesis City was still out of reach.
All arraycraft relies on the properties of space and the myriad elements—gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice, and so on. Even a temporal array cannot do without the rules of space.
Thus, every arraymaster begins with orientation, then draws upon the universe’s elemental properties, extending their understanding into space and time.
But what if he could construct a grand array entirely without relying on space or the properties of the elements?
Once this thought emerged in Joe Di’s mind, he could not suppress it. If his array was utterly unlike any ordinary formation, lacking even the faintest trace of traditional arraycraft, then even if others could eventually break it, it would not be a simple matter. In fact, cultivators unfamiliar with his array would have no way to begin unraveling it.
Others might have the same idea, but perhaps none could realize it. He was different—he was sure he could do it. His Law Array Banner was, in fact, already a nascent form of this technique. Back then, if not for the Law Array, he would never have seriously wounded Lyle Yew and seized the Heaven’s Dominion Altar.
It was only the limits of his arraycraft that held him back; otherwise, Lyle Yew would not have been merely wounded—he would have been killed outright.
It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind, leaving Joe Di exhilarated.
Without relying on space or the elements, he could harness the rules of Heaven and Earth. If he mastered the grand array of rules, he would need neither orientation nor space, nor any array banners, nor even techniques based on the properties of the elements. This array would consist only of rules—rules that might encompass all the laws of the universe, or perhaps be temporary rules he could sketch at will...
Imagine a cultivator trapped within a grand array of unfamiliar rules—what would happen then?
In truth, his previous use of the Law Array Banner to construct grand arrays was perfectly sound. The issue was that his Law Array still relied on conventional arraycraft methods, bearing traces of ordinary formation, because he had sketched out the Law Array Banner. If his Law Array could be constructed without any typical arraycraft techniques, he would have long since forged a path of arraycraft truly his own.
Each rule is built from countless laws; now, he was using the Law Array Banner to construct rules...
No, he shouldn’t be constructing array banners at all—he should be using rules directly to build the grand array.
But...
Joe Di furrowed his brow. After years of delving into arraycraft, traditional array methods had become ingrained in his bones. No matter how he tried to change, any array he set up would inevitably bear traces of tradition. And with arraycraft, even the faintest hint could be sensed by a powerhouse.
How could he break free from the influence of his existing arraycraft knowledge and construct an entirely new kind of grand array?
So Joe Di stood suspended above the ruined Blue Star, Dao resonance swirling around him, motionless as if he were a stone statue.
Months passed. When Quinn Moten and the others arrived at the outskirts of Blue Star, Joe Di was still standing motionless above the shattered planet.
Seeing Joe Di standing unmoving above Blue Star, the group halted as well.
“What is Big Brother Di doing?” Lora Shen asked in confusion.
“Don’t disturb Brother Di—he’s in the midst of enlightenment,” Quinn Moten said excitedly.
At the Third Step, achieving enlightenment was already incredibly difficult. Only something beyond your own Grand Way could trigger such a breakthrough. At the Third Step, what could possibly transcend your own Dao?
For Joe Di to attain enlightenment here meant he must have discovered a new Dao that surpassed his own. At such a moment, he absolutely could not be interrupted.
Once the five realized Joe Di was in enlightenment, they immediately began to serve as Protectors on the outskirts.
Several more months passed. Suddenly, Joe Di let out a long howl and slashed down through the void. Even the five watching could clearly sense that Joe Di had severed an old Dao resonance.
“From today onward, I, Joe Di, sever the old arraycraft and forge a vast new path of arraycraft!” Joe Di’s voice seemed to echo from the depths of the universe, each word radiating waves of Dao resonance.
The surrounding cosmic energy surged madly, instantly forming a new vortex of Dao resonance around Joe Di.
Joe Di’s cultivation soared at that moment, as strands of Dao resonance around him condensed into tangible form.
“Daoist Di has created a new Dao…” Grandmaster Gordon Bone murmured, stunned by the sound of Dao resonance around Joe Di, as solemn as great bells and drums.
Quinn Moten and the others stared at Joe Di in shock. How difficult was it to forge a new Dao in the Genesis Universe? Yet they had witnessed Joe Di do it with their own eyes—and in the most intricate of all Daos, arraycraft.
The sound of Dao resonance surged and roared, like waves crashing in a mighty tide.
When the roaring finally subsided, Joe Di’s clear voice rang out: “From this day forth, this planet shall be called the Mortal Realm. I will lay a new array outside the Mortal Realm.”
As Joe Di finished speaking, three giant characters—‘Mortal Realm’—woven from cosmic rules, hovered above the planet. In Joe Di’s eyes, no matter how powerful his Dao became, no matter how much he severed, he was still a person of flesh and blood, with emotions. Thus, the place he dwelled was the Mortal Realm.
“What Dao resonance!” Quinn Moten exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement. “Joe Di, don’t worry about the array—we’ll build a new city in the Mortal Realm.”
Joe Di’s heart surged with excitement. He had severed his old arraycraft and forged a new path of rules-based arraycraft. This new arraycraft no longer depended on traditional formation methods, but was wholly transformed into rules.
When his arraycraft reached true mastery, perhaps he would no longer be bound even to rules-based arrays, but could create as he pleased.
Yet even these gains were not the greatest. Not even his breakthrough to Prime Realm Perfection during the founding of his new arraycraft was the greatest.
Joe Di’s greatest gain was finding his own path of creation. His path of creation did not necessarily rely on Genesis resonance. On the road ahead, he would continue to sever his Dao of Artifacts, sever his Dao of Alchemy, and in the end, even sever his Dao of Rules.
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Whenever he shaped his Dao, fused realms, or even stepped into the Creation Realm, he had severed old Daos. But back then, he didn’t know why—only now did he understand: it was to break free of the old Dao that bound his progress.
One day, when every word, every gesture, even a single thought became Dao, that would be the day of true Dao attainment.
Today, in order to sever one Dao, he still needed a new Dao to rely on. For example, he had severed the arraycraft everyone learned and created rules-based arraycraft. When his cultivation and understanding reached the peak, he could sever arraycraft without relying on any other Dao—his casual acts would form unique cosmic arrays, and perhaps then he would stand atop the vast universe.
Joe Di constructed one new Heaven-Earth rule after another. These rules slowly condensed into clusters, which in turn grew into vast fields of rules...
It was like casting a fishing net—the domain of rules Joe Di created grew ever larger. In the beginning, his rules-based arraycraft was still immature, but after several months, the rules he constructed became increasingly powerful.
A year later, the first protective rules array outside the Mortal Realm was completed. Two years later, the trapping and slaughter rules array was established...
After that came the spirit-gathering array, defensive array, spatial-locking array, shielding array...
No one knew how many arrays surrounded the Mortal Realm. As for the outermost array, Joe Di didn’t bother to set it up himself; he simply asked Grandmaster Gordon Bone to lay a seventh-tier Starguard Array. This Starguard Array was just for show—the real arrays were all the various rules arrays Joe Di had constructed.
After three years, the first Saint City in the Mortal Realm was nearly complete under the efforts of Quinn Moten and the others. If there was one thing missing, it was that the Mortal Realm lacked Dao resonance, the planet was missing its bones and fortune.
As Joe Di prepared to refine the Heaven’s Dominion Altar, Lora Shen, Quinn Moten, and their group came to find him.