The next day, Wu Han woke early, something was on his mind.
He remembered the beast-hunting illusion array in the Luo Clan and had always been interested in it.
Of course, he was well versed in illusion magic, but it wasn't his forte. He considered illusions inefficient: why make someone think they're falling into an endless abyss when he could tear open subspace and literally throw them down forever?
"There are still a lot of people, it seems."
When he arrived, he saw many disciples grouping up and waiting their turn to fight the illusory beasts, almost twenty people today, which was still better than the hundreds lined up yesterday.
It's one of the few places where you can go all out against an opponent, which is why it's so popular in the sect. Some even use it to challenge enemies far stronger than they would normally dare to face.
Maybe that's one of the biggest reasons for the Luo Clan's strength: it gives disciples the chance to fight beyond their limits.
"Hm." Wu Han's eyes glimmered as he examined the entire array, analyzing how it operated.
Arrays are a very different art from anything he knows.
Magic circles exist, yes, but they mostly repeat a spell's function repeatedly, stacking effects on top of each other. That's why, back in his world, people-built dungeons with traps and mechanisms rather than relying on pure magic.
But arrays are a different beast. They require many things to go right to keep running, yet the details and variables you can set are almost limitless.
"I need to find some books on them."
Even with all his knowledge, he still couldn't figure out how this one was made. He understood how it worked and what it could do from the elemental links within it, but he couldn't promise that if he tried to tweak or recreate it, it wouldn't blow up in his face.
He knew how the universe worked.
He knew what the canvas was and what was the ink, and what it meant to wield the brush that colored existence on the void.
What he didn't know was how to actually paint.
His spells merely mimicked what already existed.
Every spell was cast with a known outcome.
An array, however, is where you set the variables and let the magic run its course.
"How long are you going to stand there?"
A sharp voice snapped him out of his trance. He turned and found a tall woman glaring at him — Hong Qing. He recognized her face instantly, along with her younger brother and a few of their friends, all standing together. Looked like they'd also come early for training.
"No need to be so rude, is there? Or are you still angry about what happened to your fiancé yesterday? Remember, he started it."
Wu Han stepped onto the array.
A jade slate on the ground lit with Qi, the control panel for disciples to choose the enemy they wanted to face.
Beast type, power, difficulty style.
Wu Han set them to: Random, 6th stage, Max difficulty.
He wasn't afraid. There was no real danger inside the array. All damage and pain came from illusion interacting with the mind. If his arm was "cut," his motor function would be disabled; if he "died," the illusion would end.
If only I knew how to make it keep going… that would make a fine trap.
"Going max difficulty at the same cultivation stage?"
Hong Qing's eyes widened in surprise. She knew he was a newcomer, a disciple of the Miracle Doctor, no less. She'd expect him to have more sense than to push beyond his limits. Everyone knew the rule: you only got one chance before having to start over at the back of the line.
Max difficulty was meant for group hunts to practice against very strong beasts.
Not something a disciple should solo. Only a handful of prodigies ever manage it.
Well, Wu Han wanted to consider himself a prodigy, if he said so himself.
He started recalling the techniques he wanted to practice as the beast's illusion began to form. His strongest arsenal came from Wu Zhen; even Wu Wei had practiced the same techniques, because that was all the Wu Clan had.
Storm-Slicing Sword got replaced with Sky Piercer, and for movement, Gale Stride.
The beast materialized. It was an Iron-Scaled Thunder Wolf.
The jade slate flashed. Lines of light rippled outward, weaving the arena into a basin of pale mist. A low growl rolled under the floor.
The fog parted. It stepped out, lean, rangy, shoulders built like a bull's, coat a dark iron sheen. Each paw left a kiss of sparks. Static crawled along its fur; the air smelled like a storm about to break.
"Bad luck, you drew one of the hardest," the short boy behind Hong Qing said.
Her friends laughed, but the sound dulled as the array sealed them out.
Wu Han called out his spear as his robe glittered with light. "First, let's test my martial arts."
The Iron-Scaled Thunder Wolf howled and charged. Its body blurred into a bolt of lightning, jaws opening to snap him in half. Wu Han reacted instantly, his spear rose with crushing force.
Rising Python!
The spear swept up just in time, smashing against the wolf's fangs and stopping the bite that would've taken his head clean off, but a thunderous paw followed, slamming toward him.
His robe flared; light rippled over the fabric, dispersing the force evenly across its surface.
That isn't going to work… He grimaced.
Against a real beast, his martial skills were obsolete.
Not only was his power lacking, but his speed was also too low to even consider dodging the follow-up cleanly.
He could only choose, either defend or evade. That was how weak he still was as a warrior.
Then the second method.
Wu Han stowed the spear back into his ring and conjured two magic circles over his hands.
Now that he was no longer part of the Wu Clan, there was no need to hide his sorcery.
"What is that?" Hong Qing breathed.
Inside, the wolf felt the energy shift.
It growled, circling with caution.
The array had already adjusted, recognizing him as more dangerous without a weapon. That alone made Wu Han admire its design and the hand that built it.
This beast's illusion… it's a copy of a soul!
Not only did it carry nearly the same power, but it also replicated thought and instinct as if alive, a level of necromancy equal to at least a rank-5 spell.
Rank 1 Magic: Frost Bolt!
An ice spike formed in his palm and shot toward the wolf. The beast, already prepared, dodged sideways at lightning speed and lunged at him.
But Wu Han had faced warriors faster than his spells many times before.
The ice dart that almost flew past exploded into a freezing mist.
The sudden drop in temperature flash-froze its flank.
Its muscles seized for a heartbeat, but that was long enough for Wu Han to unleash a barrage of ice spikes.
Frost Bolt. Frost Bolt.
Before the sparks could gather on its pelt, before the lightning could crown its spine, he fired repeatedly, ice spikes lancing into head, chest, and lungs, freezing its nose, pinning its breath, locking its joints.
The wolf, desperate, lowered its head and charged blindly.
Gale Stride.
The movement technique passed down through the Wu Clan sent his body gliding with a single step, like a leaf lifted and swept aside by the wind.
The wolf's fangs closed on empty air.
Frost Bolt. Frost Bolt. Frost Bolt.
One spell was enough.
The wolf froze solid mid-lunge, frost racing across its iron scales. Its breath hitched, then stopped, and the light in its eyes dimmed to nothing. The array tallied the result, and the illusionary beast shattered into drifting motes of light.
Looks like against someone on the same level, fighting as a mage is more than enough… or is it?
Wu Han thought, feeling disappointed, not just with the fight, but with the limits the array placed on the beast's soul.
From what he sensed, the illusion only carried about sixty percent of the original creature's soul force, and even its movements were heavily restricted.
If his calculation was right, the real Iron-Scaled Thunder Wolf must've been at least ninth stage when its soul was extracted. Downgrading it to the sixth made it little more than a crippled dog, to say the least.
As the array dimmed and released him, Hong Qing called out, "What did you do? Where did you learn that?"
Wu Han ignored her. He didn't care.
Instead, he chose a new stage for himself, breaking the rules without hesitation.
Iron-Scaled Thunder Wolf, 7th stage. Max difficulty.
The array quickly reform making all the disciples in the lines start shouting slur for him and wished him death, for breaking the rule.
His answer was simple. "If anyone's upset, fight me after I'm done practicing."
His smile twisted into something darker as his gaze swept over the crowd.
"I'm more than willing to take a few free test subjects."
The words sent a ripple through the onlookers, before the array flared again, sealing him inside.
Mist surged across the platform, swirling until the wolf's form reassembled.
This time, the sparks roared.
Lightning crackled over its hide as iron scales gleamed like forged armor, reflecting streaks of blue light.
Even standing still, its presence warped the air around it.
The hair on Wu Han's arms rose from the static charge.
"Now that's more like it."
Wu Han grinned. Just the thought of facing a stronger opponent thrilled him, and this was the perfect chance to test his new insights.
He summoned his spear, wind surging around it in spiraling waves.
The air trembled, howling as the weapon drank in the energy.
With a single thought, the spear vanished.
Sky Piercer!