Daoist Competition-Chapter 959 - 219: Three Aspects of Formations (2)

Zhang Yan’s eyes flashed. With perceptive and clear thoughts, he understood the meaning behind the words as soon as he heard them.

Although the battle at Bijiao Prefecture was nearly a complete destruction, the Lu Family’s millennia of accumulation should still hide a considerable amount, which True Master Tao seemed to be aiming for. Zhang Yan smiled and said, "True Master, feel free to use it."

True Master Tao nodded, not being overly polite. With a flick of the Ruyi in his hand, a Clear Light Talisman flew out of the palace gate.

Lu Changsu had just witnessed Zhang Yan destroy the Great Array with a mere wave of his hand, feeling fortunate for his earlier decision.

Afterward, Zhang Yan proceeded directly to Xuanling Island without giving him any instructions, leaving him a bit anxious. Having sworn an oath, he dared not leave, only pacing back and forth outside the island.

Just then, a ray of light suddenly descended, enveloping him and involuntarily lifting him into the air, leading him towards the Ancestor Master Hall on Xuanling Island.

As his feet touched the ground, seeing both Zhang Yan and True Master Tao in the hall, he was startled, quickly kneeling on the ground, trembling, not daring to speak.

True Master Tao said in a leisurely voice, "Lu Changsu, I wish to subdue the remaining forces of Bijiao Prefecture. Are you willing to lead the way?"

Lu Changsu glanced at Zhang Yan, seeing no objection, and hurriedly said, "I am willing to lead the way."

True Master Tao said, "Take my token talisman and go find my third disciple, Wang Yingfang, who will inform you of what to do."

Lu Changsu agreed without hesitation.

Zhang Yan saw that there was nothing more related to him and felt inclined to return to study Daoist Books. He stood up and said, "If there’s nothing else, I, the humble Daoist, will take my leave first."

True Master Tao nodded and said, "At the back of Xuanling Island, there is a Xiu Garden, meticulously renovated during the sect’s establishment, and nourished with Spiritual Energy. It is an excellent place for cultivating the heart and self-reflection. If you don’t mind, fellow Daoist, you may go there for cultivation."

Zhang Yan bowed respectfully, thanked him, and True Master Tao instructed a Daoist boy to lead him to another palace.

Xiu Garden is a tranquil and elegant secondary courtyard, featuring flowing springs and flowers blooming all year round. After entering the manor with the Daoist boy, Zhang Yan saw a stretch of peach trees, fragrant and radiant, surrounded by spring waters, amid beautiful scenery. He felt quite satisfied, strolled around, dismissed the Daoist boy, and then casually walked inside.

Within less than a hundred steps, he saw a pavilion in the forest, with its black-tiled roof covered with pink petals, and not a speck of dust on its red lacquered railings. Inside, there was a stone table and three stone stools, carved into the shape of crouching stone frogs, exuding an elegant charm. He stepped into the pavilion, sat on a stone stool, took out the book "Array Essence," placed it on the table, and began to read.

The Way of Array Formation involves leveraging the three forces of heaven, earth, and man, commonly referred to by cultivators as the Heavenly Virtue Formation, Earth Virtue Formation, and Human Virtue Formation.

The Heavenly Virtue Formation is ethereal and elusive, said to be derived from the primeval chaos since the opening of heaven and earth, with the innate power to invert the universe and unify Yin and Yang. Hence, the book touches on it only briefly, and he did not read it carefully.

The book then talks about the Earth Virtue Formation.

This type of formation Zhang Yan has encountered the most, utilizing the landforms of mountains and rivers, the essence Qi of spirit veins, supplemented with Magic Artifacts for borrowing Qi and arranging intricate mechanisms, establishing prohibitions.

Attempting to break such formations from outside is akin to challenging this piece of heaven and earth; without the Great Power Experts, it is unattainable.

In the Mingcang Sect, the Forbidden Arrays of each family’s Cave Mansion are executed in this manner.

However, to cultivators, this is merely a dead array. Once leaving the Cave Mansion, it no longer protects oneself, thus rendering its use quite limited. For this reason, there is a kind of Active Array within the Earth Virtue Formation.

This method involves Great Dharma Power to refine famous mountains and rivers, integrating lakes and rivers into a small area.

However, such means require Great Divine Power and fortuitous circumstances, and even gathering numerous Cave Heaven True Masters may not produce it.

Zhang Yan heard that in the Bu Tian Pavilion, one of the Ten Great Profound Sects, there exists such an array diagram, allowing the sect leader to wander with a Spirit Cave, their movement unpredictable, often leaving no one aware of the location of their Mountain Gate.

Such an array diagram is rare to encounter and beyond the typical cultivator’s reach. Thus, within Active Arrays, there exists another Method that involves collecting the essence of heaven and earth, imitating landscapes to transform into an array diagram. Although it doesn’t compare to Bu Tian Pavilion’s diagrams, once refined, its power is nonetheless significant.

There are even cultivators devoted their entire lives to specializing in a single array formation, passing it down from master to disciple, continuously evolving and advancing, enhancing the power of the array diagram.

The book "Array Essence" lists several such diagrams, with detailed instructions for their refinement and the locations for collecting essence, all clearly explained.

However, Zhang Yan shook his head; he sought to study array formations primarily to avoid the Demon Tribulation. At present, he aimed to secure additional aid before the Sixteen Sects Sword Competition.

Refining an array diagram is not a matter of a day, as Luo Qingyu’s "Green Level Smoke Array Map" had undoubtedly cost a great deal of effort to craft. Currently, he had little interest in delving deeper, thus skipping over it for now.

Moving further down, the book describes the Human Virtue Formation, which drew a bit more of his focus.

The "Hidden Whale Sea Power Formation" and the "Positive and Negative Star Battle Array," arranged by Bijiao Prefecture’s over 300,000 demon soldiers, are examples of such formations.

In theory, the more skilled the array arranger, the stronger the array’s power.

If the array arranger also has high cultivation and an excellent array-setting Dharma Treasure, it could yield extraordinary effects.

Zhang Yan had initially taken an interest in this array formation, which is why he brought in over 200,000 demon soldiers, making it possible to arrange an array without much time consumption.

Regarding the absence of a True Artifact for suppression, it does not matter; the Human Virtue Formation emphasizes the word "human." He doesn’t seek earth-shattering power; it suffices if it adds an extra means in a fighting situation, even if all the demon soldiers are sacrificed. After all, they were obtained for free. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Having thought of this, his expression slightly changed, and he turned to a page with an array diagram, his eyes flickering with thoughts, as if an idea had just occurred to him.

...

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