So Arthur was more than a father to the formation breaker. He was also a teacher.
The formation breaker can learn on its own, but teaching it directly and pointing out its flaws is always better and faster. Arthur did this until he had to get the tools that he will need for the exchange program.
The tools he was given were a flying ship and a soul-protective artifact. Both objects belonged to the sect, but he was given temporary control of them.
The flying ship is for transporting the 505 people going to the Purple Flower sect. It had enough room to hold one golden core elder, four peak foundation establishment elders, 100 other foundation establishment elders, 100 peak second mortal coil disciples, and finally 300 other second mortal coil disciples.
On the other hand, the soul-protective artifact is solely for him, the golden core elder, to use. Both the soul-protective artifacts are rank 5 artifacts.
The flying ship was rank 5 because the sect wanted to ensure the safety of the people leaving the sect and to show off. As for the soul-protective artifact, it was rank 5 because only an artifact with that rank can protect his soul.
The flying ship looked more impressive and imposing, but he didn't care much for it. What he liked very much was the soul-protective artifact, as it gave him the confidence to leave the safety of the sect without worrying about his soul being secretly tampered with.
The flying ship was big and powerful-looking, but the soul-protective artifact was a small mirror. The soul-protecting artifact could shrink to become even smaller.
Once the soul-protecting artifact shrank, it became a small shell that was capable of entering his flesh and implanting itself as an unassuming tattoo of a white shell on his skin.
It was unassuming, but he liked it very much. He even asked the array spirit if the sect could give him the soul-protecting artifact.
But the array spirit said that it was impossible for the sect to give him permanent ownership of the soul-protecting artifact.
The array spirit also said, "An artifact capable of protecting the soul is even rarer than an artifact that can be used to attack the soul."
Then it chuckled and said, "I doubt that other sects have something like this. So if you become a nascent soul, cultivators yourself, this soul-protecting artifact will still be difficult for you to acquire."
Arthur didn't mind the rejection. He didn't get frustrated and instead changed the subject to something else that he wanted.
He said to the array spirit, "Is it possible for me to get a copy of your intelligence core? If so, how much will it cost me?"
This time, the array spirit smiled and said, "All you need to do is become a patriarch of the sect. Once you become a patriarch, you will be able to get my base system."
Arthur shook his head and clarified, "I'm sure that your base system is impressive, but what I want is your current state of intelligence."
The array spirit nodded and said, "I see that you covet my intelligence. You are not at fault for doing so. After all, I am impressive."
"But getting a copy of my current state will require either the permission of all of the patriarchs of the sect. This is because I am a strategic weapon important to the stability of the sect."
Arthur rolled his eyes and said, "Someone feels full of themselves."
The array spirit said with pride, "I have the right to be. I have been in charge of the operation of the sect for more than five thousand years now. And my logic model was recently upgraded by Patriarch Sword Flash, so I dare say that I am the most intelligent AI system in this part of the world. Who else has the right to be full of themselves aside from me?"
Arthur snorted and said, "We will soon see about that."
Then he left in a huff.
The array spirit watched him leave and said to himself, "He'll be back."
Arthur would indeed be back, but it isn't because he believes he covets the intelligence of the array spirit. What he wants from it the most is the knowledge it possesses.
He is sure that the base AI system of the array spirit will be a better AI model compared to the one he used to forge the formation breaker. But he doesn't want this base system. What he wants is the knowledge of formations and their operations that it has learned over the years.
This array spirit was installed more than five thousand years ago as the core of the formations protecting the sect. Its main job is to monitor the operation of the formations and coordinate their activity.
There are many formations protecting the sect, such as the sensing arrays that sweep the territory of the sect and check for intruders, the barrier formation that seals the sect from the rest of the world, and the formations that hide the entrance of the inner sect.
The patriarchs are too busy and don't want to spend time watching these formations. They also wanted the formations to operate independently and be reliable. This was why they installed the array spirit.
The array spirit is a kind of AI. When it was first installed, its intelligence and learning capabilities were very limited because its purpose was limited. Its processing power was also very limited.
This didn't change until Patriarch Sword Flash upgraded the Sword Spirit and increased its range of responsibilities. Now the array spirit is also responsible for coordinating the various departments and halls of the sect.
Even so, the purpose of the array spirit is still limited. and the hardware available for its processing power is also limited. This restricts its potential and its learning speed.
After all, it was only made to operate formations, and the formations it had to operate were limited. This makes it incapable of matching the potential of something that was created to break formations of various kinds.