Inside the cramped, dusty cellar, Li Chen sat with his back against the cold stone. The space was barely three meters square, smelling of old parchment and damp earth. He had managed to drag a few things inside before using broken planks to mostly cover the entrance: a waterskin, a bag of dried rations, and a few of the more intact [Array Conductor Shards].
His body screamed with every movement, but the architect inside was electrified. He closed his eyes, ignoring the pain, and focused on the System.
"System, open the design interface. Create a new project file. Title: 'Makeshift Concealment Array'."
[Project File Created. Welcome to the Celestial Architect System's Design Workshop.]
His mindscape transformed. He was no longer in a dark cellar, but a vast, empty space marked with a grid of faint blue light, like a divine drafting room. Before him floated the three glowing foundation nodes of the broken [Silent Tranquility Formation] he had identified outside. They were his starting point, his anchor.
The original formation was a complex, multi-layered masterpiece. Li Chen's inherited memories understood its purpose, but the intricate web of energy pathways was incomplete, a half-remembered dream. His architect's mind, however, saw something else: a damaged power grid with a few functioning transformers.
"System, display the residual energy flow between the three nodes," he commanded.
Faint trickles of light flowed between the points in his mental workshop. They were weak and unstable.
"Now, overlay the principles of a basic [Warning Tripwire Formation]."
A new, simpler diagram appeared. It was one of the first things a disciple of the Celestial Formation Sect learned. A simple line of energy that, when disturbed, would send a pulse back to the caster. It was a beginner's exercise.
But Li Chen wasn't just following the exercise. He began to manipulate the design in his mind, his thoughts moving with a speed and precision his broken body could never match.
The original formation was for preservation, pushing energy out subtly. A warning array needs to sense energy coming in. The principles are opposed. But… what if I don't oppose it? What if I harmonize it?
Instead of creating a new circuit, he started redirecting the faint, existing energy flow of the broken preservation array. He used his knowledge of physics, treating the spiritual energy like electricity. He didn't need to generate power; he just needed to redirect it. He created a bottleneck, a choke point. Any external spiritual energy—like the aura of an approaching beast—would disrupt the delicate balance of the flow.
It's not a tripwire that breaks, he realized, his excitement growing. It's a resonance cascade. A disruption in the flow will cause a feedback loop that pulses back to the core node, where I'll place a Spirit Jade fragment as a simple alarm.
"System, run a simulation. Use the salvaged [Ironwood Splinters] as makeshift conductors and the [Array Conductor Shards] to bridge the primary nodes. Calculate for efficiency and material stress."
[Simulating… Design demonstrates a 73% increase in sensitivity over a standard Warning Tripwire Formation using the same materials. Energy consumption is minimal, drawing from residual environmental Qi. Stress on materials is within tolerance. Blueprint is viable.]
A completed diagram, simple yet elegant, solidified in his mind. It was a fusion of ancient spiritual arts and modern engineering principles. It was a pathetic little thing, a crude shelter built from scraps, but it was his.
[New Blueprint Created: [Resonance Cascade Warning Array - Mk. 1]. Do you wish to save?]
"Save it," Li Chen breathed, a fierce, possessive pride swelling in his chest.
[Blueprint Saved. The path of the Architect begins with a single stone. Or in this case, a shard of broken copper.]
For the first time, a hint of dry humor colored the System's voice. Li Chen almost laughed, a sound that came out as a pained bark.
He opened his eyes, the vision of the mental workshop fading. The dark, cramped cellar returned. But it no longer felt like a tomb. It felt like a workshop. It was the foundation. The first, tiny, defiant act of rebuilding.
He looked at the scraps of metal and wood he had gathered. It was time to get to work. It was time to show this world of brute force what a heretic with a blueprint could do.