Chapter 601: Formations
Returning to the mountain, Hui Yue noticed that although he was living with his second father, there was no one present in the immortal cave, at least no one that Hui Yue noticed.
Since this was the case, Hui Yue decided to promptly return to his room. He sat down on the floor and spread the things he had bought in front of him.
"What should I start with I wonder," Hui Yue mumbled to himself. "Should I improve my skills in alchemy, or should I get the basics of formations down? I could try to get a better understanding of inscriptions... I guess I really am not too sure about the differences between mortal and immortal inscriptions."
Looking through the two books he had just bought, Hui Yue's interest piqued. He always liked new things to study.
"Well since it’s new to me, I’d better start with the completely foreign concept of formations. I might even be able to make a formation similar to the Formation of Life one day and save the red realm from decaying."
Hui Yue mused to himself as he looked at the small leaflet in his hand. He started reading and was deeply immersed in the subject with great interest.
After reading for a long time, Hui Yue finally put down the book. His eyes shone with understanding, and his mouth formed a small smile.
'You are quite lucky,' Lan Feng commented. 'It seems one can only create formations if they have soulforce. No wonder the Formation Palace was so deserted, and those Formation Masters looked at you with such a peculiar gaze. They must have thought you were stupid for not knowing.'
"Well, truth be told, I did not know about it," Hui Yue laughed casually. Although he had not known about formations needing soul force, it did not matter to him now, as he was an expert that could control soulforce.
'So do you plan on creating formations? As far as I understood, from the booklet, it is possible to use formations in many different ways. They can be used for attacking as well as for personal protection. One can even lay them down in advance or create them during fights, yet it’s quite dangerous to do so.'
"I know, but more than anything formations are quite astonishing. To begin making formations, I have to compress my soulforce into seals. The more seals, the more powerful the formation will be."
'But compressing soulforce into seals is supposed to be quite a difficult task,' Lan Feng continued with a slight frown, but Hui Yue just shrugged his shoulders.
"It might not be the easiest thing, but I have faith that I can do it. If I manage to become a Formation Master or even a Grandmaster, then I will be able to increase my fighting strength by quite a bit. Going through a bit of trouble for the sake of becoming a Formation Master is worth it."
Lan Feng nodded his head, 'it is indeed worth it. Now from what I understood you need at least ten seals for the simplest formation. Are you going to try and create them now?'
"I might as well," Hui Yue said with a decisive nod of his head. "I am quite interested in formations, might as well try and see if I can become a novice at formations in one go. I also want to avoid the rest of the sect for a short time. Although I was frustrated, I did show some of my bloodline power just now by suppressing so many experts at once it is only inevitable that they will talk about it for quite some time; I would rather not be bothered by even more gazes than usual right now."
'If you say so,' Lan Feng said. To him it did not matter if they were busy comprehending the dao, absorbing Ancestral Worldpower, understanding formations, or anything else. He could always enter a state of meditation and seek the dao.
Lan Feng had absorbed some Ancestral Worldpower, but not much. He had no body, and although the soul energy and Ancestral Worldpower somewhat assisted him in strengthening his soul, it was not as beneficial for him as comprehending the different daos.
The dao not only increased his strength, but it also increased Hui Yue's strength. Together the two of them were simply too terrifying. Lan Feng alone was frightening because he focused fully on the minor daos of fire and was slowly gaining comprehension of the whole major dao of fire.
He had also merged the minor fire daos he knew together and increased their strength dramatically.
Although Lan Feng had only comprehended two daos by now and was currently working on the third, this speed was incredibly fast considering he had not had the same lucky encounters as Hui Yue, and that the Pill of Clarity did not work for him.
Sighing, Lan Feng shook his head. He had lived in Hui Yue's body for fifty years, and although he longed for his own, this one was already many times stronger than he had been at his peak.
Lan Feng never mentioned his desire to find a new body. He stayed quiet and kept training diligently. He didn’t need to say anything, he and Hui Yue shared their soul which had merged. It was impossible for them not to know what the other was feeling, and Lan Feng could feel Hui Yue's urge to help him. He could feel that this human was actually bothered by the fact that Lan Feng had been trapped for so long.
This thought alone was enough to warm Lan Feng’s heart, and he felt gratitude from the depths of his soul for his best friend. He never even once regretted the sacrifice he had made to merge with Hui Yue.
Lan Feng was deep in thought while Hui Yue was sitting with his eyes closed. His soul force was floating around his body and was constantly expanding and compressing itself.
It would expand to fill the entire room and then compress to a small ball in Hui Yue's palm. This small ball became more and more distinguished, and soon it became a small round token which resembled an ancient Chinese coin.
The seals looked different from person to person, but Hui Yue had chosen this appearance because he felt that he could control it well. Slowly, the very first coin-shaped seal started floating around him.
The seal would dissipate into thin air before once more becoming a seal. All the soulforce would vanish completely before returning and taking the shape of the coin seal.
After having shaped the coin, Hui Yue could control it as easily as his right arm. He could call it forth as simply as thinking about it, and it would vanish as soon as he wanted it to.
After a short while, Hui Yue started compressing his second seal, and then the third all the way to the tenth seal.
The process of compressing one’s soulforce into seals was a long and arduous task. Constantly maintaining minute control over one’s soulforce to such a degree was tiring. While he was forming the seals, he would become completely exhausted and need to take a break to rest his mind.
Three days passed while Hui Yue was compressing seals. During this time rumors about him and his clash with the young girl spread like wildfire through the sect.
Some said that he had bullied the girl. The rumor said that she had tried speaking with him out of goodwill but that she had ended up being bullied instead.
Another rumor, which was much more akin to reality, said that he had been challenged while training and that he had fought back with a fierceness unlike any seen before.
Some rumors also started floating about him having visited the formation, inscription, and Alchemist Palaces, and that he even bought items in two of them. Could it be that he excelled in all three fields, or was he simply stupid and trying to learn all three professions?
No one seemed to know, but everyone was curious about the truth. During these days the one thing all the rumors agreed upon was that Hui Yue was not as simple as he seemed and that he had a frightening aura which could pressure every single member of the Celestial Sword Sect. He had not become the Second Judge of Hell on luck!
While all these rumors were flowing around the sect, Hui Yue was focused on creating ten seals. When he needed rest, he would absorb Ancestral Worldpower, but as he constantly worked with his soulforce, Hui Yue finally started feeling just how powerful an energy it was.
His soulforce had been constantly nourished within Diyu from all the soul energy that was present everywhere, and he had absorbed so much that his soulforce was now was at least ten times stronger than when he had entered Diyu.
His soulforce was strong enough to take physical shape now, and it was a great asset in fights. But he was not yet to using it in such a manner. Hopefully, he would get more accustomed to it now that he was attempting to become a Formations Master.
During the three days that he was focused on compressing seals, no one came to trouble him. His second father was completely silent, and no one else was within the mountain, so Hui Yue could do what he wished in peace.
This was a Sect of Immortals. Three days was practically no time at all and for immortals a year went by as quickly to them as a day did for mortals.
Because of this, Hui Yue did not mind spending three days creating the first ten seals.
As he succeeded, Hui Yue wondered for a moment what to do. Should he attempt to set up his first formation, or should he practice something else? Setting up formations required space. If he tried to set up formations here, within the mountain, and it rebounded, it was likely that the mansion would not be able to withstand such an impact. Considering that this was not his own home, he was really improper to damage it.
"I guess I should read the book again," Hui Yue mumbled as he once more flipped through the pages. He memorized everything he read, but this was just an introduction booklet. It described the occupation of Formation Master alongside how to create seals. It did not have any formations within it. Hui Yue would have to enter the Formation Palace to get his hands on the scrolls which could teach him how to set up a formation.
When he became a Formation Grandmaster, it would be possible for him to create his own formations, but until then, he had to rely on the already created formations. As of now, he could only slightly modify them.
To make a formation one needed to place the seals in a specific order and channel their Ancestral Worldpower into these seals. Then they would be able to activate the formation and call forth the power of the formation.
Hui Yue sighed slightly as he felt his hands itching for a chance to create a formation for the first time, and although he was not very keen on leaving the mountain, he still ended up doing so.
As soon as he entered the Formation Palace, he found that the clerks behind the desks were the same as before and they looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"We don't give refunds!" they said aggressively, but Hui Yue just laughed. "I am not here to return the booklet," he promised, and his calm words surprised the clerks. They did not know about Hui Yue having soulforce, and thus they did not know he could actually make formations. Having soulforce was incredibly rare even within a major sect like theirs.
"Then what brings you here?" They asked surprised, and Hui Yue just shrugged his shoulders. "I need to purchase some formations for beginners," he said calmly.