Using Pattern Recognition, Chen Wei analyzed weeks of Xu's movements. Three minutes per section, specific walking pattern, consistent timing. He mapped the entire route, identifying exactly where Xu would stand and when.
Then Chen Wei hid in those locations hours before midnight, waiting in meditative stillness.
When Xu passed through on his rounds, Chen Wei observed with total focus. The old scholar's fingers traced invisible patterns in the air, his lips moving in silent mantras. Spiritual energy flickered—so subtle that only someone specifically looking would notice.
Chen Wei recognized the formation type from his library research: Information Severance Arrays. They didn't destroy knowledge, just prevented specific insights from occurring naturally. A disciple might read a manual on qi circulation and a text on formation theory separately, but the formation ensured they'd never connect the ideas in the right way.
Over dozens of midnight observations, Chen Wei mapped seventeen separate arrays covering the entire library. Together, they suppressed at least forty different potential breakthrough paths.
How many geniuses, Chen Wei wondered coldly, failed to advance because Xu prevented them from making crucial connections?
But knowing about the formations wasn't enough. Chen Wei needed proof that would satisfy Sect Master Yun and, more importantly, reveal the Society's broader plans.