Chapter 640: Just Under Its Nose?

**Chapter 635: Right Under Its Nose?**

Unable to see it, it naturally had no way to act. This was likely the Heavenly Palace's intention. Hiding the array core was the best way to protect it.

He Lingchuan mused, "If you could see it, could you act against it?"

"It only lit up twice. The first time was the longest, lasting approximately two incense sticks' worth of time. The second time, it just flickered a few times."

He Lingchuan exclaimed, "Only two incense sticks the first time? Are you sure?"

"Yes, but that was enough for me to determine its position at the time." Zu Ju, after all, was the mountain marsh of Mount Xu, and nothing that happened in its territory or airspace escaped its observation. "At that time, it was east of Tianji Peak, about one hundred and fifty zhang above the ground."

"The second time was the shortest, but I could tell it was also at this height; there was no change." Zu Ju chuckled hoarsely. "It likely moves around at this same level."

"Only twice isn't enough to explain anything," He Lingchuan said, then fell into deep thought.

Zu Ju's words differed from the actual situation.

The first unusual flash of the Heavenly Net Star occurred when the hidden illusion of Thousand Star City Ruins appeared.

The illusion of Thousand Star City under the Moonlight lasted for two hours before disappearing at dawn. Consequently, the Heavenly Net Star remained brightly lit until the first hint of dawn in the east, which He Lingchuan and Fu Shanyue had witnessed firsthand.

However, Zu Ju claimed that the array core of the Spirit Gathering Grand Array, which corresponded to the Heavenly Net Star, only manifested for two incense sticks' worth of time, or two quarters of an hour.

Why so short?

Of course, He Lingchuan would not bring up this fact to discuss with Zu Ju. Likely, only the Heavenly Palace and he knew the full truth of that day.

"This array core is far from the ground; how does the Heavenly Palace maintain it?"

Usage causes wear and tear, and what wears down must be maintained, otherwise it will break. From this perspective, even the most miraculous arrays, buildings, furniture, and all other durable goods are no different.

Moreover, for something as important as the Spirit Gathering Grand Array, would it be reasonable not to inspect and maintain it several times a year?

Zu Ju fell silent again.

He Lingchuan understood that this meant it didn't know.

The Heavenly Palace took every precaution precisely to guard against this "insider thief." How could it allow Zu Ju to know the core secrets of the Spirit Gathering Grand Array?

"Over all these years, you haven't managed to extract any useful intelligence from the Ke family, have you?"

"The Ke family are merely dogs kept by the Heavenly Palace. How many secrets of the Heavenly Gods could they possibly know?" Zu Ju was disgusted whenever this topic came up. The Heavenly Gods had designated the Ke family to worship it, and only Ke family members could openly interact with it, yet the Ke family remained consistently outside the core secrets of both the Heavenly Palace and the Imperial Palace.

This was, of course, a deliberate arrangement by the higher-ups, ensuring that all its efforts would be futile.

Thinking of this, Zu Ju seethed with rage.

However, He Lingchuan was not underground and was unaware of the terrifying sight of the churning magma. He merely asked, "Over the past decade, have you maintained contact with any other outsiders?"

"Why do you ask?"

"So you have?" This subterranean fire monster was cunning and unwilling to be controlled. Since it couldn't get information from the Ke family, it might have found another way, perhaps cultivating other informants.

Since He Lingchuan could connect with it, who's to say others couldn't? With so many strange and wondrous powers in the world, the Heavenly Palace couldn't possibly guard against everything.

"I also need more intelligence," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "Why don't you act as the middleman?"

Zu Ju chuckled softly, noncommittally.

This young man had just started dealing with him today and already wanted to share other people's intelligence? How could there be such a good deal?

"I'll share a piece of intelligence first, as a show of sincerity." He Lingchuan was always generous when it called for it. "More than a decade ago, just before the Spirit Gathering Grand Array was completed, the final step was to install the array core. At that time, the Ke family offered a large number of sacrifices, allowing you to eat your fill and fall into a deep sleep, correct?"

This was Zu Ju's most unpleasant past experience. It grunted a deep "Hmm."

"But you woke up too early and flew into a rage, nearly causing the entire array to collapse."

Zu Ju rasped, "Just one step away! What a pity!"

If it had managed to mess up the array back then, would it have had to endure this oppressive frustration for the past decade or so?

"However, your outburst still severely affected the final installation work; they didn't even have time to debug it." The entire Spirit Void City had a profound understanding of how terrifying this magma monster's temper could be. "After work was finished, the supervising official discovered a problem."

He Lingchuan spoke deliberately: "Every autumn and winter season is when the Heavenly Net Star is supposed to be continuously bright. For safety, the array core should remain hidden in the void. With the Heavenly Palace's capabilities, they could have calibrated it to this extent. However, due to your interference, this function never activated."

"But the Spirit Gathering Grand Array was already operational, turning this into a fundamental error that couldn't be repaired. Unless the array core was rebuilt, they would have to resort to other compensatory measures."

Anyone familiar with the Spirit Gathering Grand Array knew that with Zu Ju present, the array had no chance of being shut down.

Could it really stand by and watch the Heavenly Palace rebuild the array core, restart the grand array, and suppress it once more?

Zu Ju immediately became interested: "What do you mean? Explain clearly!"

"Simply put, the array core should have remained hidden in the void during autumn and winter. However, in reality, as soon as the Heavenly Net Star enters its continuous bright period, it's very likely to float above Mount Xu."

Zaifu Kua, in his dream, discussed the construction process of that year with his colleagues, his words full of technical terms and parameters. He Lingchuan had to exert great effort to extract this key point.

Zu Ju couldn't help but raise its voice: "What? You're saying the array core isn't in the void?"

"It's still in the void now," He Lingchuan corrected it.

"I know, I know. You're saying that once the Heavenly Net Star begins its continuous bright period, it will emerge from the void and float in the sky above Mount Xu, correct?" Right under its nose, for ten years, and it had never discovered it?!

"Yes, so your struggle back then did have an effect." It left behind an irreparable bug; otherwise, He Lingchuan would likely have no way to act this time. "I just don't know what method the Heavenly Palace used to make it invisible, so even birds can't collide with it."

"That's not a problem; the Heavenly Palace has plenty of methods." Zu Ju quickly calmed down, but its voice still carried excitement. "Heh, heh, I thought the Spirit Gathering Grand Array could operate long-term simply because there were no problems."

Simply put, it had too much faith in the Heavenly Gods' methods and never considered that the Spirit Gathering Grand Array itself could have issues.

"This kind of large-scale foundational array has a high fault tolerance. Generally speaking, it won't stop functioning just because of a few flaws." He Lingchuan gave an example: "Just as those supervising officials said, which large-scale construction project isn't riddled with flaws during its building phase? They make repairs and adjustments wherever possible, and most problems are resolved. Ultimately, they are all inspected, completed, and put into use."

To give a simple example: when buildings are under construction, you can easily find a multitude of alarming and unsightly defects. But after they're built, especially after passing inspection, how many buildings do you see collapsing just a couple of years later?

"Just like this error, didn't they find a way to cover it up? Even you didn't notice. Let's see if we can exploit this." Even though Zu Ju was a knowledgeable ancient great demon, it had no experience with the large-scale engineering projects that humans excelled at, so it was unfamiliar with their intricacies.

He Lingchuan stood up and poured himself a glass of warm water. "What's the reason the array core can float in the air?"

For that thing to be able to drift around above Mount Xu while maintaining a certain altitude, there must be a power source.

"What other reason could there be? Of course, it's the Suspension Stone."

"Huh?" He Lingchuan thought for a moment before remembering what a Suspension Stone was. "Are you saying its suspension is due to the same reason as the seven floating islands?"

The floating islands were able to remain suspended motionless in mid-air because their bases utilized Suspension Stones. When He Lingchuan first arrived in Spirit Void City, Bai Ziqi had told him that Suspension Stones were not native to this realm and had a different method of charging.

"Of course," Zu Ju grumbled. "You want it to fall? Don't dream about it. As long as Spirit Void City continuously replenishes it with levitation stones, it will float steadily. As long as the Sea of Grass opens regularly, the supply of levitation stones won't be an issue."

He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "As the most crucial array core of the Spirit Gathering Grand Array, the Heavenly Palace must have protected it very thoroughly."

"Does the intelligence you obtained not include its defensive structures?"

"Even if I did, it would be useless." He Lingchuan shook his head. "The supervising officials interacted with it over a decade ago. Who knows if the Heavenly Palace reinforced it later—my blind guess is they did."

"I can't act against it, and for you to try and take it down alone, it's impossible." Zu Ju rarely sighed. "Not to mention how many defensive divine abilities are set up there, the array core certainly also has vital energy protection."

The array core was the absolute most important part of the entire Spirit Gathering Grand Array, and the Heavenly Palace's care for it would undoubtedly be the most comprehensive.

How powerful was Beijia's vital energy? Even if Zu Ju launched an all-out attack, the effect of its divine abilities would be greatly weakened.

Originally, the existence of vital energy was precisely to counter powerful monsters like it.

"There will always be a way." Having obtained more intelligence, He Lingchuan's mood brightened considerably. "First, we need to confirm the array core's location. By the way, did you make a move during the first two unusual flashes of the Heavenly Net Star?"

"You saw it when we met this afternoon, didn't you?… I have a restriction on me that prevents me from attacking any buildings or arrays constructed by Spirit Void City within Mount Xu's range."

He Lingchuan recalled the prominent runic band on its body. As he had originally anticipated, as long as the Spirit Gathering Grand Array functioned normally, Zu Ju would be unable to target the array core.

"But I still threw a few of my avatars at it." Giving up without even trying wasn't its style.

"Did it work?" Although the array core was over a hundred zhang (more than five hundred meters) above the ground, volcanic eruptions could easily surpass that height. It would be no effort for Zu Ju to hurl lava at it.

"Uh, no, it was repelled." Zu Ju said grudgingly. "I used very little force, otherwise it would have been judged as an attack on the array, and that would have been bad."

He Lingchuan understood that violating the restriction would lead to suffering.

"But the avatars I threw up still managed to get a clear look at the array core." With the array core over a hundred zhang above the ground, Zu Ju had to send up avatars to observe it up close from multiple angles.

This creature truly was cunning. He Lingchuan's spirits lifted. "Any findings?"

All the information about the array core came from Zaifu Kua, and truthfully, it was somewhat outdated. Firsthand information would be the freshest and most valuable.

The operation to attack Mount Xu was too dangerous; he had to gather as much intelligence as possible.