Chapter 4801: Advancing Further
Lin Moyu suddenly saw the crux of it: the positions of the three were that of a formation.
What this formation was called he did not know, but its effect was clear; at the very least, it magnified the power of the three several times over.
The vast rules of heaven and earth supplied them with support, amplifying their strength and at the same time amplifying the function of the Hongmeng Spirit Tree root.
Not only did the three of them form a formation, they themselves were also within an even greater formation, and the three were merely one node of that grand array.
This great array spread throughout the entire heaven, using the rules of heaven and earth as lines to lay out the formation.
"I misjudged things earlier.
"Who would have thought that such a grand array was hidden within this heaven?"
"This great array…"
A trace of disdain could not help but surface on Lin Moyu's face.
The level of this grand array only barely surpassed that of Disaster Great Venerable.
It had broken past the realm of Great Venerables but was still beneath the heaven itself, and in terms of the principles of formations, it was only a hair stronger than Disaster Great Venerable in broad daylight.
It was only because the rules of the Hongmeng Heaven were so powerful that this grand array's might had become so strong.
However, the idea of merging a grand array into the rules and using the rules themselves to lay formations was not bad.
When tempering his formations within the Myriad Beings Chessboard, he could make use of this approach.
As Lin Moyu studied the flow of the rule array, his true body within the Myriad Beings Chessboard, which was at that moment tempering formations, immediately made some adjustments to his own runes.
Previously, he had only used the rules of heaven and earth as the foundation for his formations and had not fully merged the formations into the rules.
Now he could change that and make better use of the rules.
The runes fused into the rules of the Myriad Beings Chessboard, and one formation after another instantly took shape, merging with the rules as one.
Formations arose from runes, fused into the rules, and ultimately transcended the rules, becoming formations that stood above heaven and earth.
Lin Moyu's Dao of Formations was precisely such a path, beginning from the tiniest of origins and reaching all the way to the peak.
Even with extraordinary talent, he continued to seek improvement, believing that the stones of other mountains could polish his own jade and pressing forward with sharp resolve.
Although the formation he had seen in the Hongmeng Heaven was not as good as his own, it still contained aspects worthy of learning, and Lin Moyu did not stand on ceremony, taking it in directly.
The Dao of Formations that had been stuck for many years without a breakthrough gained a trace of new progress, as three runes began to fuse with one another and finally became two runes.
These two runes were one void and one real, one yin and one yang, closely related and mutually dependent.
Yet on a second look, they appeared to be at odds, clashing intensely, as though they would explode the instant they collided.
At a glance, the two runes looked extremely simple, like the truth that the grand Dao is ultimately simple.
But with another look, they seemed incomparably profound, containing ineffable truths.
To comprehend even a fraction of them would be to catch sight of the essence of the Dao.
As their master, Lin Moyu understood these two runes best.
They indeed encapsulated the ultimate principles of the Dao of Formations, and could even be used as a basis to understand other Daos.
If he could understand any other single rune to eighty percent through them, then his Dao of Formations could be considered to have reached great completion.
Within the level beneath heaven and earth, all manner of formations would then be at his fingertips.
Back then, Disaster Great Venerable had approximately reached this level.
If he could comprehend both of these runes to eighty percent, then his level in the Dao of Formations would reach a point surpassing heaven and earth.
As for Lin Moyu, who had already fully grasped the profundities of both runes, his Dao of Formations had long since transcended heaven and earth.
As for exactly what level it had reached, even Lin Moyu himself was not clear.
At present, he was only one step away from perfection in the Dao of Formations.
If he could fuse these two runes into one, merging them into a single whole, then that would be the ultimate pinnacle of the Dao of Formations.
But this step was extremely difficult, and Lin Moyu had the feeling that even if he exhausted all of his strength, he still might not be able to accomplish it.
That intuition struck with great force, and Lin Moyu understood that the time had not yet come and that this could not be rushed.
He stopped tempering his Dao of Formations and instead turned to comprehending the rules within the Myriad Beings Chessboard.
To comprehend the rules within the Myriad Beings Chessboard, he had to play the game, enter the board to comprehend the Dao, and then break out of the game.
Previously, when Lin Moyu had been honing his Dao of Formations, he had repeatedly lost and never once concerned himself with winning or losing, treating the Myriad Beings Chessboard purely as a tool.
This time, he truly stepped into the game and began training and nurturing his troops.
The Dao of Formations he had comprehended earlier now came into great use.
The opening proceeded smoothly, but once the game entered the middle stage, the power of the formations dropped sharply and was suppressed by the rules.
Lin Moyu, as the commander, found it difficult to exert his strength and could only rely on his own chess troops to fight.
He retained only the authority to command, and his own power could no longer seep into the game.
The game was vast and the various forces were entangled in a complex web.
To Lin Moyu's surprise, countless forces and armies within had formed alliances, growing from weak to strong, while his own forces teetered on the brink of disaster.
In the end, as the game neared its final stage, he was eliminated.
"It is truly difficult.
"One must conform to the rules, yet at the same time resist them.
"If my forces want to grow stronger, they require resources, and after the middle stage, they need to form alliances, or else my lone strength will never be able to stand against the others.
"But forming alliances with others runs counter to my Dao heart.
"The only hard truth is having the bigger fist.
"Forces that are merely roped together are never an ironclad whole.
"Yet if I go about it this way, how am I supposed to win?
"And if I do not win, I cannot comprehend the rules within."
"Resources and strength only with resources can one gain strength.
"If there are no resources, how does one improve strength?
"In the early stage, the Dao of Formations can handle things, so I must seize as much territory as possible and firmly establish a foothold in the beginning."
Once again, it was a new game.
Lin Moyu changed his approach and, in the early stage, used the Dao of Formations to slaughter on a grand scale, occupying a vast territory.
But once the game entered the middle stage, when he could no longer personally intervene, his forces collapsed again.
Because he had used too much force in the early stage, the remaining forces in the game felt threatened and quickly formed alliances to jointly attack him, eliminating Lin Moyu first.
Faced with a siege by many armies, there was nothing Lin Moyu could do, no matter how strong his command.
He tried several more times, and the result was always the same.
"To win in the Myriad Beings Chessboard, there are only two paths.
"One is to rely on alliances and strategy to win.
"The other is to keep growing stronger through battle and crush the enemy with pure strength."
"Alliances and political maneuvering run contrary to my Dao heart.
"If I choose that path, my Dao heart will likely suffer damage, so that is not the path I should take."
"The other is to win through overwhelming strength, and that is the path most suited to me.
"But how does one crush all others with strength?"
"In the Myriad Beings Chessboard, the initial number of troops for every faction is fixed.
"No matter how abundant the resources, there is not enough time for development.
"Even if one gains an early edge, it is only a slight edge, and by the time the game reaches the middle stage, that advantage is no longer obvious.
"Unless I can wipe out all other forces in the early stage and never allow the game to enter the middle stage.
"But the Myriad Beings Chessboard is too large; this method will not work."
"Unless…"
A thought flashed through Lin Moyu's mind, and he came up with an idea.
"Perhaps this method will work."
"In the early stage of the Myriad Beings Chessboard, I can refrain from personally intervening.
"I have always relied on the Dao of Formations, which has become a fixed way of thinking, but in fact there is another technique I can use."
"If I need troops, then I should use the Undying Spirit Soldiers and treat them as my own army."
Trillions of Undying Spirit Soldiers would join from the very beginning, fighting in concert with his Dao of Formations.
He acted as soon as the thought arose, restarting the game.
Trillions of Undying Spirit Soldiers surged into the board, charging in all directions and slaughtering across the game.
Lin Moyu had never before summoned all of his trillions of Undying Spirit Soldiers at once.
This was the first time.
The mighty torrent of troops charged forth with such overwhelming momentum that the entire game board trembled.
The armies and forces on all sides were crushed by the Undying Spirit Soldiers and could not organize any effective resistance.
"It works!"
Joy rose in Lin Moyu's heart as he saw hope of victory.
…
Within the Hongmeng Heaven, after clearly seeing the formations, the speck of soul continued along the rules, soon seeing several more formations.
Each formation was composed of three beings surpassing the Great Venerable realm, using the roots of the Hongmeng Spirit Tree to form sky supporting pillars that upheld the heaven.
There were a total of nine such formations, with twenty seven beings surpassing the Great Venerable realm.
They formed formations in groups of three, and these formations in turn combined into a gigantic array that covered more than half of the heaven.
At the very center of the formations, he finally saw the core of the heaven!