Chapter 11

No matter whether Tang Jie was willing or not, he was destined to learn the art of formations.

Therefore, in the days that followed, apart from cultivating the Zang Xiang Scripture, Tang Jie spent his time learning formation techniques from Xu Muyang. Fortunately, he was currently only in the Pulse Washing stage, so he didn’t need to practice, leaving him with plenty of free time.

"The way of formations is to use techniques to align with the will of heaven. Therefore, to master the way of formations, one must understand the heart of heaven..."

Today’s lesson, Xu Muyang was explaining the natural evolution of formations to Tang Jie.

According to Xu Muyang, everything in the world is a manifestation of the will of heaven, and every blade of grass and tree has its significance. For this reason, Xu Muyang’s formation techniques placed greater emphasis on natural evolution, advocating spontaneity and adapting to circumstances.

In other words, the same formation could be set up differently in different environments, and its effects and power would also vary.

For example, the small maze formation used earlier would have different setup methods and effects if used in a different place.

Of course, it wasn’t that it had to be done this way, but setting up a formation in this form was the most natural and powerful.

For formations, naturalness was the best disguise.

Unlike cultivators, formations directly harnessed the natural essence, making them extremely powerful. Cultivators would not easily step into them, so a formation that couldn’t conceal its existence was not a good formation. Xu Muyang was particularly skilled in this aspect. The formations he set up were almost undetectable before activation. The golden-armored celestial being had not sensed the existence of the Eight Gates Locking Heaven Formation before, and if not for his extraordinary strength, he would have been trapped and killed long ago.

In addition, he was skilled at observing the environment and finding usable elements.

"Seeing mountains is not seeing mountains, seeing water is not seeing water. Every existence in this world, if used properly, can become an array eye, an array pattern, or an array gate. People are ignorant, often using natural materials as a base, which goes against the true meaning of the way of formations." Xu Muyang sighed as he spoke.

"Brother Xu, do you mean that others set up formations using various spiritual materials, like building a house with stones as the foundation and wood as the beams, while you set up a formation by digging a hole in a tree, right?" Tang Jie asked.

"You make it sound like my house is inferior to others." Xu Muyang snorted: "Using a tree as a house is naturally not as good as building one from materials, but what if you use the world as a house? Using mountains and rivers as the bones and veins, what do you think of the grand structure thus built?"

"That’s something others can’t compare to, but is there such a formation?"

"There is!" Xu Muyang answered firmly: "If I had any doubts before, I can now tell you with certainty that there absolutely is!"

"Is it the great formation created by the ancient great power, the Jili Warlord?" Tang Jie suddenly said.

Xu Muyang was taken aback, looking at Tang Jie: "You know?"

"Yes, I not only know this." Tang Jie nodded: "I also know... the golden-armored celestial being who chased you that day was from the Celestial Palace, right?"

Xu Muyang trembled: "How do you know all this?"

"It’s not surprising." Tang Jie replied calmly: "The four major cultivation families of Konggu Mingxu, according to Brother Xu, are well-known in Moqiu. If it were an ordinary sect, who would dare to chase you? Apart from the Celestial Palace, who else would dare to chase you to the ends of the earth?"

During this time following Xu Muyang, Tang Jie had become increasingly familiar with the situation in Xiqia World.

Xiqia World had six countries and fifty-nine states, seven seas and ninety-eight islands, with Wenxin and Moqiu being two of the six major countries.

According to the rules of the Immortal Sects, each sect governed a country, and each country revered a sect. The Moon Washing Sect was the major sect behind Wenxin, while the Celestial Palace was the major sect behind Moqiu.

These six major sects held a supreme status, even the rulers of the countries would bow and kneel before them.

Other sects were minor sects, all dependent on the six major sects for survival.

Although the Xu family was one of the four major Immortal Sects, it was still far inferior to the Celestial Palace. If the Celestial Palace wanted to kill Xu Muyang, who would dare to stop them?

For this reason, Tang Jie easily guessed who was chasing Xu Muyang.

"So, you also know what’s going on?" Xu Muyang asked.

Tang Jie smiled: "Yes, the ancient great power, the Jili Warlord, the Zang Xiang Scripture used for reincarnation, the great formation, these things together can form a story. It’s probably about exploring a secret realm, robbing treasures, and killing people, nothing unusual. Moreover, the cultivation world is dangerous, as Brother Xu has repeatedly emphasized."

Xu Muyang opened his mouth but couldn’t speak for a long time, finally laughing loudly: "Good, good boy, I shouldn’t have expected to hide anything from you. Yes, that invitation was from the Celestial Palace, who discovered the Jili Warlord’s return to the void and asked me to go and break the formation and explore the secret. I was naive, thinking that as a member of the Xu family, the Celestial Palace wouldn’t resort to the tactics of killing the dog after the rabbit is dead, but I didn’t expect them to be so ruthless. If I hadn’t realized something was wrong and escaped in time, I would have died at the hands of the Celestial Palace’s lackeys, not in the Nine Absolute Immortal Slaying Formation!"

When he said this, he was indignant, clearly very angry.

When the Celestial Palace sent people to find him and told him they had discovered the Jili Warlord’s return to the void, he was also greatly surprised.

The so-called return to the void means that after a person dies, they return to nature, their essence returning to its origin.

Since cultivators absorb spiritual energy throughout their lives, stealing much of the natural essence, once they die, the spiritual energy returns to its source, merging back into nature.

Therefore, the more powerful the immortal, the more abundant the spiritual energy they return, and the more powerful ones can even condense the spiritual energy into rain, turning barren land into a blessed land.

Thus, immortals have no tombs, their return to the void is a blessed land.

For this reason, disciples of major sects, if conditions permit, will try to return to their sect before dying and then return to the void. Over time, this will create a blessed land filled with spiritual energy for their sect.

The strength of major sects is partly reflected in this aspect.

The natural essence in a world has its limits; if one place increases, another decreases. Over time, the spiritual energy in different regions of the same world varies.

The bandit leader of the Four Seas Hall, Beisihai, criticized immortals for damaging the world to benefit themselves, which stems from this.

The world’s spiritual energy was originally abundant and ubiquitous, but most of it was taken by immortals, leaving ordinary people with no means to cultivate.

According to the Celestial Palace, they discovered a place with abundant spiritual energy in the Tiandu Mountains. Since there were no immortal sects nearby, they suspected that a great power had returned to the void there, and they began a long search. Eventually, they found a great formation in a certain part of the mountains, from which the spiritual energy was leaking. The leakage was recent, indicating that the true blessed land might be even more astonishing.

At the same time, they found an ancient bronze mirror.

"Is it the ancient bronze mirror you often play with?" Tang Jie exclaimed.

"Yes." Xu Muyang had already taken out the ancient bronze mirror.

The mirror had two sides, the yin side engraved with birds, beasts, flowers, birds, fish, insects, mountains, and rivers, vividly depicted, with intricate and strange array patterns around it. At first, Tang Jie didn’t notice anything, but as he slowly examined it, the surroundings seemed to sway, and everything around him seemed to change, as if he were immersed in a wondrous world, unable to extricate himself.

Fortunately, Xu Muyang promptly blocked the yin side, and Tang Jie’s mind returned.

On the yang side, there was a large "soldier" character, surrounded by many array patterns.

The "soldier" character was written with iron strokes and silver hooks, powerful and forceful, with boundless power hidden in each stroke, a killing aura that seemed to pierce through Tang Jie.

Tang Jie cried out, and Xu Muyang quickly put away the ancient bronze mirror: "Your cultivation is not enough. This item contains the divine will of the Warlord, though it has been eroded over ten thousand years, its sharpness is still beyond your ability to withstand."

Tang Jie was drenched in sweat, just a dead person’s item, carrying some of their will, was so powerful after ten thousand years, let alone if they were still alive, no wonder Xu Muyang held it in such high regard.

"So, this belongs to the Celestial Palace?"

"Yes." Xu Muyang answered: "After finding this ancient bronze mirror, after identification, the Celestial Palace determined that the 'soldier' character on it likely represented the ancient great power, the Jili Warlord. Unfortunately, although the Warlord was once mighty, little information about him has survived. They can only make inferences based on the era and the residual aura. The ancient bronze mirror was hidden in a cave sealed by a formation. The formation itself was very low-level and easy to break, but the method of maintaining it was highly sophisticated, lasting for generations without decay. The Celestial Palace speculated that this might have been left by the Jili Warlord for his reincarnation. Of course, whether it was the Warlord and how he left is only speculation. After all, the ancient times are too distant, and many truths have been lost in the long river of history, so everyone assumes it was left by the Warlord."

"It seems his reincarnation was not successful." Tang Jie said.

Xu Muyang smiled bitterly: "If he had succeeded, it wouldn’t be our business."

Reincarnation is a desperate choice for cultivators when their life is cut off, placing their hopes in the next life.

After reincarnation, all the memories of the previous life are lost, and it is extremely difficult to recover them unless there is a certain opportunity.

Some unlucky ones may go through several cycles of reincarnation without recovering their memories, and with each cycle, some of the previous life’s memories are lost. After many cycles, there is no longer any chance.

The Celestial Palace speculated that the Warlord had likely faced a great crisis and, in desperation, chose reincarnation. The Jili Mystic Soldier Mirror was left as a key to unlock the treasures he left behind.

But the Warlord either failed in his reincarnation or failed to recover his memories, and he never returned to retrieve the Mystic Soldier Mirror, which eventually fell into the hands of the Celestial Palace.

With the Mystic Soldier Mirror in hand, the great cultivation techniques and various magical treasures left by the Warlord are likely still there.

Therefore, the Celestial Palace spared no effort to try to break the great formation. Just the initial probing cost countless lives and a hundred years of effort, and they still failed, which must have been frustrating.

At that time, Xu Muyang’s reputation as a formation genius was rising, and they had no choice but to seek his help, promising a generous reward.

Xu Muyang, well-versed in formation techniques, recognized the long-lost Nine Absolute Immortal Slaying Formation and, based on the information left on the Mystic Soldier Mirror, broke the first layer of the Immortal Slaying Formation, obtaining the Zang Xiang Scripture.

It was then that Xu Muyang discovered the Celestial Palace’s intention to kill him.

"But why did they want to kill you?" Tang Jie was very puzzled: "The Celestial Palace is a major sect, they shouldn’t be so stingy about a small reward, especially since the formation wasn’t fully broken..."

Xu Muyang snorted: "Of course, it wasn’t for the reward, but for secrecy. The place where the Jili Warlord returned to the void is rich in spiritual energy. Even if there’s nothing inside, the land itself is invaluable, equivalent to a natural spiritual vein, but it needs to be owned long-term to be useful. The problem is that although the Celestial Palace obtained the Mystic Soldier Mirror, the Tiandu Mountains are not in Moqiu but in the territories of Yaihai and Siji. If the Celestial Palace digs for treasures and occupies the land in these two countries, and the news leaks, the Yaihai Pavilion and the Thousand Emotions Sect will definitely come to snatch the benefits, leading to conflict. The Yaihai Pavilion and the Seven Absolute Sect are allies, and the Thousand Emotions Sect is closely tied to the Moon Washing Sect. The Celestial Palace, being at a disadvantage, would likely seek help from the Beast Refining Sect. If all six major sects get involved, the benefits would be greatly diluted. I am not a member of the Celestial Palace and am not bound by the Celestial Oath. A mere Heart Demon Oath is not enough to make them feel secure. As for the formation not being fully broken, they weren’t worried. They mainly didn’t know how to use the Mystic Soldier Mirror. After seeing me break the secret of the Mystic Soldier Mirror, my greatest use was gone. If they hadn’t wanted to save effort and use me to continue breaking the formation, they would have killed me then."

"I see." Tang Jie said: "So you immediately ran away, taking the Zang Xiang Scripture and the Mystic Soldier Mirror with you?"

"He was unrighteous, so I was unrighteous." Xu Muyang snorted: "They wanted to kill me, so I naturally took the treasures and left. I used the excuse of needing to break the second layer of the great formation to move away the others. Only He Chong, the most skilled in formations in the Celestial Palace, remained as my assistant and monitor, and he was also skilled in tracking. After I escaped, he pursued me relentlessly, like a膏药 (plaster), chasing me from Moqiu all the way to Cuimicro Mountain. If it weren’t for the Eight Gates Locking Heaven Formation I set up, I would have been killed on the spot."

At this point, Xu Muyang’s voice also lowered.

Although He Chong was driven away, he would eventually return, and this time, he wouldn’t be alone.

His peace here would not last long.

"But Brother Xu, didn’t you say that cultivators have the Heart Demon Tribulation, and those who violate their true intentions will be plagued by Heart Demons? How could they dare to do this?"

Xu Muyang replied: "Wishes can be big or small, and Heart Demons can be strong or weak. When cultivators start their cultivation, they usually make a grand vow, a great vow. This vow is their life goal and the basis of their true intentions. Most cultivators’ great vows generally fall into a few categories: seeking immortality, seeking eternal life; seeking dominance, seeking supremacy; seeking justice, seeking righteousness; seeking freedom, seeking ease... These are all great vows. To achieve a great vow, sacrificing smaller vows is very common. For example, although I took you to settle karmic debts, if you dared to obstruct my path, I would have killed you with a sword without violating my true intentions. Even if I felt a bit reluctant, a small Heart Demon is much easier to deal with than the supreme Heavenly Demon that comes from violating a great vow."

"I see, can a cultivator have only one great vow, or can they have many?" Tang Jie asked.

"Well..." Xu Muyang was taken aback by his question, thought for a moment, and answered: "I haven’t heard of any restrictions, but a great vow is the foundation of achieving the Heavenly Heart, yet it is also a hindrance to cultivation. Usually, no one would make too many great vows. As for you, if you want to achieve true cultivation, you also need to make a great vow and establish your heart foundation. This is why I asked you why you want to cultivate. Unfortunately, your answer at the time did not fall into any of the above categories. So now, I ask you again, what do you seek in cultivation?"

What do you seek?

This question stumped Tang Jie.

After thinking for a while, he raised his head and answered: "I cultivate not to seek fame and respect from the world, nor to seek eternal life. Life has its beginning and end, and living a brilliant life is enough. I hope that in the future, I can roam freely in the world, living a carefree life, so I only seek..."

Tang Jie paused, and finally answered with determination:

"Great freedom, great ease!"