By the time he left the Array Hall that day—
He had not formed a full structure.
He had not created anything usable.
But he had learned something important.
Arrays were not about brute force.
Not about how much qi you had.
They were about control under limitation.
And for the first time—
Lu Haotian felt challenged.
"…Good."
He turned and walked back to his courtyard.
Tomorrow—
He would try again.
Night fell quietly over the Lu Family.
The courtyard was still.
Calm.
Lu Haotian sat inside his room.
In front of him—
Several low-grade spirit stones lay arranged on the ground.
He had not gone to the Array Hall that day.
Instead—
He stayed back.
Practicing.
Alone.
Nodes.
Lines.
Failure.
Again.
By now—
He could form three nodes reliably.
Sometimes four.
But forming them—
Was not enough.
He looked at the jade slip again.
This time—
He wasn't reading basics.
He was reading something else.
Tier 1 Array: Qi Concealment Formation
A simple formation.
Used to suppress aura leakage.
Hide fluctuations.
Reduce presence.
Perfect.
Not powerful.
Not complex.
But useful.
Lu Haotian closed his eyes briefly.
Then opened them again.
"…Let's try."
He picked up a spirit stone.
Held it.
And began.
First node—
Formed.
Stable.
Second—
Slightly unstable.
But held.
Third—
Flickered violently—
Then stabilized.
Fourth—
Collapsed.
He stopped.
Adjusted.
Again.
This time—
Four nodes formed.
Barely.
His control was stretched thin.
Even using spirit stones—
It wasn't easy.
He followed the structure from the jade slip.
Carefully.
Connected the first two nodes.
Then the next.
The lines formed—
But trembled constantly.
Qi drained rapidly from the spirit stone.
Faster than expected.
"…So much?"
He frowned slightly.
But didn't stop.
He placed a second spirit stone beside him.
Drew from both.
The structure stabilized slightly.
Then—
He formed the core.
The moment the core connected—
The entire formation trembled violently.
For a second—
It almost collapsed.
Lu Haotian's focus sharpened instantly.
He adjusted the flow.
Reduced input.
Stabilized output.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
The trembling stopped.
Silence.
The formation held.
A faint ripple spread across the room.
Subtle.
Barely noticeable.
But it was there.
Lu Haotian exhaled slowly.
"…It worked."
He didn't relax.
Not yet.
He observed it.
Carefully.
The formation consumed qi continuously.
Not violently—
But steadily.
Within minutes—
One of the spirit stones cracked.
He replaced it immediately.
"…So this is the cost."
Not difficult to maintain.
But expensive.
Lu Haotian leaned back slightly.
Looking at the faint, invisible structure surrounding his room.
Now—
His aura was suppressed.
Hidden.
Contained.
Even if someone passed by—
They wouldn't easily sense fluctuations.
A small smile appeared on his face.
"This… is useful."
Very useful.
He closed his eyes.
Letting the formation continue running.
For the first time—
He felt a layer of control beyond cultivation.
Not strength.
Not power.
But secrecy.
And for Lu Haotian—
That was just as valuable.