Chapter 320: First Encounter with Formation

a deafening boom and a burst of flames, the wood demon let out agonizing shrieks. A massive crater was blasted into its back, leaving only a tiny fraction still connected. This blow nearly split the...Li Xia Tian stayed at the old bald man's courtyard for several days. Several days of effort was nothing to a cultivator who had established his base, but if it weren't for Chen Lao's injuries not being fully recovered, Li Xia Tian would have stayed for a few more days. However, it didn't matter, as the Chen family wouldn't leave Wangyue City for the time being. After all, the situation was becoming increasingly tense recently, and outside Wangyue City was very chaotic. Their enemies were quite powerful, so going out rashly would be quite risky.

Through Elder Chen's explanation, Lu Xia Tian had a general understanding of formations. After returning to his courtyard, besides giving the little fire crow some fire-type beast spirit pills, Lu Xia Tian focused all his attention on the Complete Book of Five Elements Formations. According to Elder Chen, the way of formations was vast and profound, and it would be difficult to grasp its entirety even if one spent a lifetime studying it. However, at its core, it was about harnessing various powers, using them strategically, leveraging the power of the Five Elements, as well as wind, thunder, ice, and other forces. With the help of the array master's techniques, these natural forces of the cultivation world could be transformed for personal use, used for attack, defense, or trapping enemies.

Those highly skilled array masters could even mobilize the power of heaven and earth's five elements with their astounding methods, possessing unpredictable divine powers. In ancient times, large arrays could even slay cultivators at the nascent soul stage like ordinary mortals. Take, for example, the city-protecting grand array of望月城. Even dozens of Jindan cultivators working together in a short period couldn't break through it. The power an array can achieve even far surpasses that of an individual's strength.

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Lu Xia Tian didn't completely agree with this either. No matter how powerful a formation is, except for a very small number of formations that are naturally formed, all others are ultimately created by humans and cannot be broken because of insufficient strength. However, it is undeniable that formations are indeed an excellent way to overcome the strong with the weak. Elder Chen's son previously faced the siege of six people under the short and fat man, and relying on an imperfect seven-star formation was able to hold back his enemies who were several times his own, even gaining the upper hand, which shows the power of formations.

And the true Seven Star Formation, is a magical artifact that even the opponent's Dan Yuan could not break through. Even a Foundation Establishment Level 1 cultivator could easily kill a formidable Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator. That incomplete Seven Star Formation was refined by Elder Chen after he replaced the true Seven Star Formation with a soul-nourishing pill and a foundation-building pill, in order to protect himself, it took a lot of effort. Precisely because of this, Lu Xiaocen valued this family's attainments in formation techniques very much, and as it turned out, his choice was right.

According to Mr. Chen, since everyone has limited energy, most formation masters after initially understanding the principles of how the five elements' power is used, will choose to focus on one system of formations for in-depth study. Even among those with a natural talent for formations who understand them more deeply, they would also choose two or three at most. It's better not to bite off more than you can chew.

After initially exploring formations, Lu Xiaocen realized that Elder Chen wasn't bluffing him. The power and scale of the same formation would vary depending on the array master wielding it. This was because each array master had a different understanding of formations. Studying powerful formations required repeated mental calculations and deductions. This kind of deduction was the most taxing on one's divine sense.

After learning about the high requirements for array masters, Lu Xia Tian also had some thoughts of retreating. Chen Lao's worry wasn't unfounded. Studying arrays did indeed take up a lot of time, much more complex than he originally imagined. However, in order to have more paths to form the golden core later, Lu Xia Tian could only grit his teeth and persevere for now. Fortunately, with the consumption of divine consciousness being high, and with Soul Nurturing Pills, he didn't need to rest as often as other array masters after overexerting his divine consciousness, or rather, the time he needed to rest was much shorter. Moreover, using his sub-soul to deduce arrays wouldn't interfere with his daily affairs. Perhaps when he cultivated his third, even fourth primordial spirit using the Mystical Splitting Art, he could even devote more energy to it. After all, only one primordial spirit was needed for daily cultivation, while the others could be freed up.

Thinking about this, Lu Xia Tian couldn't help but get excited. If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that in decades or even centuries, his mastery of formations would gradually increase

Although the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, Lu Xiaoteng opened "The Compendium of Five Elements Formations" and started from the first-level earth formation. Formations come in many types, but Lu Xiaoteng particularly emphasized learning the Five Elements Formations. Thus, Elder Chen directly gave him this formation book.

With no other concerns and with the convenience of having Chen Lao within Moonlight City to answer any questions he had about formations, Lu Xia Tian temporarily abandoned his plans to return to Lingxiao Palace. Every day, besides cultivating and consolidating his cultivation base, he would dedicate a portion of his time to studying the gray stone. The rest of his time was spent in alchemy, learning alongside Chen Lao.

The days are incredibly fulfilling. One day, Lu Xia Tian sat as usual in the courtyard when a sound transmission talisman flew over. "Daoist Lu, there will be a large auction in Wangyue City tomorrow. Are you interested in participating If so, I will have someone send an invitation."

The sound transmission note was sent by Wang DeFeng. He had sent several in the past few days, but ever since the incident with the scholar surnamed Fan a while ago, Lu XiaoTian had been cautious and hadn't replied to Wang DeFeng yet. An event that Wang DeFeng called "large-scale auction" must have at least attracted cultivators of the Foundation Establishment period. Maybe there was something he wanted too. Although Wang DeFeng and he mostly dealt with each other out of interest, he had also helped him obtain some pills. Finding another collaborator wouldn't necessarily be more suitable than Wang DeFeng. This warning he received was enough this time.

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After a brief moment of contemplation, she sent Wang Defeng a message through sound transmission.

An hour later, at the Bi Xiao Inn in the city of Wangyue, inside a secluded small building, Lu Xia Tian sat there. After letting the maidservant responsible for serving spiritual tea leave, he remained alone, sipping tea by himself. In the past, he had either been cultivating or surviving in dangerous places, rarely having such a peaceful moment.

In a short while, a familiar figure strode in from the entrance. Upon seeing Lu Xiaitian, he breathed a sigh of relief, “Fellow Daoist Lu, I acted rashly last time, please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Lu, and let bygones be bygones.”

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"Let's not dwell on that. To be honest, I've been out of touch for several years, so it's understandable that Wang Daoyou is anxious. Just remember to avoid this happening again in the future. The alchemists behind me don't want to be bothered by mundane affairs," Lu Xia Tian said.

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“That's how it is. It's true that you, Lu Daoyou, have been away for too long. When the golden fruit appeared back then, I was rash and took over someone else's business directly. Unexpectedly, I lost contact with you here, causing me to lose a sum of spirit stones for others, not to mention damaging my reputation. If it weren't for this, this time I would never have been so reckless.” Wang Defeng said with a wry smile.

"This matter is actually related to me."threats. It's impossible to completely disregard the safety of the celestial realm and deploy all its immortal troops without reservation.While the celestial armies of Xianyu are present in the Heaven...