Chapter 15: First-Class Formation Master

After much pondering, Liu Junhuai finally set aside his worries. What was destined to come would inevitably arrive; the most pressing matter now was to rapidly strengthen his abilities. Rebirth had occurred to him as if in a dream—another few inconceivable marvels were only to be expected. Thinking this, Liu Junhuai could only smile wryly to himself.

He put away the Bicolored Blood-Replenishing Herb and took out the Golden Essence Stone. The Golden Essence Stone had to be absorbed while in its expanded state. Fortunately, the temperature difference between the cave and the valley outside was minimal, so the stone began to expand as soon as it was excavated. The piece of Golden Essence Stone cradled in his hand was almost completely consumed the moment he activated the Ninefold Heart Technique. Instantly, the true essence within his body surged to its limits.

He felt several of his meridians explode with a thunderous crash, his whole body suddenly becoming lighter and more agile. At the same time, he sensed a boundless, newly-born true essence welling up from his dantian, and everything became incomparably clear.

“Seventh Level of Qi Cultivation! The Golden Essence Stone truly deserves its reputation as a divine treasure of heaven and earth; its energy is indeed formidable!” Liu Junhuai exclaimed with excitement.

Having finally advanced to the late stage of Qi Cultivation, Liu Junhuai opened his Heavenly Eye. Immediately, he sensed that both his perception and divine sense had expanded to a radius of thirty miles, and there were signs that the two were beginning to merge. He knew that once fused into the Heavenly Sense, his abilities would become even more covert and versatile. Most importantly, the Heavenly Sense would gain offensive capabilities; as long as his sea of consciousness was rich in true essence, his attacks could be both subtle and incisive, producing startling effects.

Of course, now that he had reached the late stage of Qi Cultivation, his strength, capacity, and quality were several times greater than in the middle stage. He understood that this unintentional elevation in realm was mainly due to the spiritual treasures of heaven and earth. To ascend the grand path of cultivation, he would still need to continue gathering and accumulating such treasures. Acquiring these wonders required not only fortune but also wealth, resources, and manpower. Only with sufficient strength could he collect the necessary spiritual materials, and thus his desire to become stronger grew even more urgent.

He absorbed another piece of Golden Essence Stone, thoroughly consolidating his realm. He felt his meridians widen further, and his dantian’s capacity more than doubled.

The Heavenly Eye’s power remained in constant operation, golden threads ceaselessly forming while the golden sphere grew denser. His Heavenly Sense now reached out with ever-greater clarity and ease.

Leaving the cave, Liu Junhuai continued down the stone steps. Before his true essence was depleted, he returned to the cave once more. This time, he lasted twice as long as before. Through repeated tempering and recovery, his realm improved slightly. His training time was up. In these recent cave sessions, he had not used the Golden Essence Stone, relying solely on absorbing spiritual energy to solidify his foundation. The Golden Essence Stone was best reserved for breaking through bottlenecks; only a solid foundation would lead to profound strength.

After being transported out by the formation, Liu Junhuai decided to explore the second and third floors of the Myriad Phenomena Tower. Since he had refined the tower, he had yet to familiarize himself with these levels.

The third floor left Liu Junhuai somewhat amused and helpless. Of the five rooms, only the Body Tempering Chamber and the Formation Chamber were accessible; the other three were locked behind insufficient clearance. He had no intention of entering the Formation Chamber, being wholly ignorant of formations. As for the Body Tempering Chamber, having mastered the Body-Quenching Technique, he saw no immediate need to enter. With his cultivation base now higher, further progress in body tempering would come more swiftly.

Instead, it was the Library on the second floor that thoroughly captivated him. The sheer breadth of knowledge there was astonishing, covering an array of subjects. For nearly two days, he lost himself in the sea of books.

Over these two days, Liu Junhuai absorbed much about the properties and uses of spiritual treasures, began foundational studies in pill refinement, gained a deeper understanding of the land’s geography and power structures, and developed a keen interest in medicine.

Yet the sheer volume of new and unknown information was overwhelming. Gritting his teeth, Liu Junhuai suppressed his inner greed, but he was filled with confidence and courage about his future path.

His only disappointment was the library’s lack of cultivation techniques and mental methods.

Upon reflection, however, he felt more at ease. After all, the Ninefold Heart Technique and Heavenly Eye were already extraordinary; even the Blade-Evasion Technique he’d acquired at the pool was a profound art. These techniques had broadened his horizons, and with the Myriad Phenomena Tower in his possession—a treasure even greater—perhaps it was not that cultivation methods were absent, but that they were too precious to be kept in the library. Most likely, the fifth-floor Treasure Vault contained such secrets, but unfortunately, one needed to reach the Core Formation stage to enter.

It had been half a year since he left that cave deep within the Crane-Crowned Ridge Mountains. Uncle Huan had surely failed to find him; it was time to return. Still, Liu Junhuai was preoccupied with thoughts of the Corrosive Fire Lotus and the Celestial Lotus Heartfire in the magma pool. Though he had a formation disk, his lack of understanding about formations prompted him to study in the third-floor Formation Chamber.

Entering the Formation Chamber, he saw that the walls were lined with over a dozen jade plaques. Unlike those in the Training Chamber, only the first plaque was unsealed. Focusing his Heavenly Sense on it, he discovered it contained the foundational principles of the Primal Formation and its derivative diagrams.

From his studies in the library, Liu Junhuai had learned that there were nine foundational formations: Primal, Yin-Yang, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, and Nine Palaces. All formations derived from combinations and evolutions of these nine, with the Primal, Yin-Yang, and Three Talents being the most fundamental, embodying the evolution of the Dao and the principles of heaven and earth.

The simplest use of a formation was to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within a set area for purposes such as offense, defense, or sealing. Gathering spiritual energy required the Primal Formation, or more precisely, the Spirit-Gathering Formation derived from it.

This jade plaque detailed the structure and principles of the Spirit-Gathering Formation and the Fire Element Formation.

The Spirit-Gathering Formation could be set at various levels based on the formation master’s cultivation and the grade of spirit stones or crystals used. The script and incantations for arranging the formation were not overly complicated, yet Liu Junhuai spent several hours mastering them thoroughly.

He placed six low-grade spirit stones in position, traced several runes with his finger while reciting a few incantations, and a flash of white light signaled the appearance of a basic Spirit-Gathering Formation before him. Instantly, Liu Junhuai sensed the surrounding spiritual energy coalescing into the array.

He then practiced with medium- and high-grade spirit stones and was delighted by the results—he had become a formation master.

The Fire Element Formation was similar to the Spirit-Gathering Formation but required a Fire Spirit Stone as its core. Liu Junhuai had many Golden Essence Stones, and after experimentation, the outcome was unexpectedly excellent.

Still absorbed in the newfound insights of a formation master, Liu Junhuai suddenly noticed one of the jade plaques on the wall vibrating incessantly. He reached out, took it down, and probed it with his Heavenly Sense.

The plaque revealed that as a formation master advanced, he could refine arrays into permanent formation disks, which could then be activated with a source of power. There were nine ranks of formation master, followed by promotion to Formation Grandmaster. Grandmasters comprised three levels and could further advance to Formation Sage. Upon reaching Grandmaster, a formation master could refine formations into talismanic arrays, which needed no power source and were single-use items, their strength varying with the master’s cultivation.

There were fifteen jade plaques in the Formation Chamber, each representing a level. Once one was fully comprehended, the next would automatically unlock.

The plaque concluded with diagrams and incantations for second-level formations.