Book Pavilion. General Info Room.

Bubai held the wooden ball with faintly glowing runes that spiraled around its lower hemisphere, a smile on his face as his enhanced eyes perceived the wisps of Qi being drawn towards specific symbols imprinted on the ball.

“Finally! The curved surface really raised the difficulty. Costed me a total of three formation balls before success.”

Even with all his extra practice, meticulous planning beforehand, and the assistance of his buffed Qi-visualizing eyes, Bubai still couldn't entirely avoid errors during the imprinting process.

Over the weeks, the subtle enhancements to his eyes had been ongoing, yet this didn't significantly decrease the difficulty. Crafting the formation still demanded so much of his time and resources.

“No wonder so many other members would rather engage in external tasks and even sell their own cultivation rather than do honest work. It’s just too difficult.”

Fortunately, he was a cheater, both in cultivation and with- ahem.

Soon, the glowing symbols on the wooden ball gradually dimmed, one by one.

"Curious, very curious indeed."

Bubai was uncertain about the specific symbol triggering the mechanism at play, but he knew this as an automatic function of the formation. In the absence of an output source, when the Qi in the formation circuit exceeded its full capacity, the formation would deactivate, gradually dissipating the excess Qi.

Similarly, the formation could be manually halted by introducing more Qi, enough to slightly surpass this function’s threshold. Typically, this required a span of a couple of seconds.

“Tsk. Tsk. Rather strange and inefficient, prone to interference from environmental factors, and it makes turning off the formation a hassle…”

Clearly, the so-called "battery" wasn't a genuine energy storage device, as the description purported to be. Instead, it functioned more like a cord, supplying Qi from the atmosphere once "plugged in" by the user.

True energy storage was done through different methods. In fact, the concept was much simpler than formations.

An energy storage can be manufactured using materials with the ability to isolate specific energy or natural wonders with inherent energy-storage capabilities.

Storage and retrieval could then be done by cultivators, formations, and even direct physical interaction with the storage object.

Of course, Bubai had only read about these treasures, never encountering them even once in the markets.

These resources were extremely rare, and likely hidden in the pockets of powerful cultivators and factions, awaiting use in crafting higher-level artifacts and the cores of advanced formations.

Yet, there was another resource, not as secretive but still technically functioning akin to natural Qi storage – the circulating currency of cultivators: spirit stones!

For formations and artifacts, spirit stones commonly served as the true battery and energy source. This wasn’t too surprising.

Of course, spirit stones required a specific array to drain and utilize their Qi – a formula not found in the basic professions room.

Perhaps this explained why only higher-level artifacts and formations could afford the luxury of using spirit stones. For low-level cultivators, spirit stones were just for cultivation, and their tools were powered by their own Qi.

Oops, he let his thoughts wander again.

This was not something he should worry about now. Bubai’s current goal is to master his second formation, and this one shouldn't be as challenging as the first.

Unless he encountered a completely new formula, Bubai was confident that his learning progress would only become easier. This was owing to the fact that he had already mastered certain existing symbols found in the newly acquired formulas.

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The more formulas one mastered, the smoother the process of learning new ones.

It was a matter of common sense, as many symbols were used interchangeably across different formulas. Even within the same formation, certain symbols were repeated to achieve specific objectives.

Of course, Bubai still didn’t really know the true meanings behind these symbols. The language of runes seemed to be part of the higher echelons of knowledge.

Makes sense. Otherwise, the sect wouldn’t charge a mere ten contribution points for viewership.

The low price likely served as the sect’s incentive for more disciples to explore these trades. However, once the basics were mastered...

Even mid-level knowledge came at a steeper price, viewable on a book-by-book basis, with each book carrying a clearly inflated contribution point cost.

As for high-end knowledge, aside from its exorbitant contribution point price, Bubai even heard there were other stringent requirements for procurement!

In essence, it was an unending journey of chasing knowledge and depositing hard-earned wages back into the sect's coffers. Most sects followed a similar model.

Sigh. “No matter where, an honest worker can’t escape from being exploited.” Bubai lamented as he made his way towards the front desk with today's workload.

Front Desk.

“Fufu, three weeks? Not bad, young Bubai.” Granny Shu nodded approvingly, her squinted eyes carefully examining the formation ball in her hand.

Well. It was actually almost an entire month since he initially began. Bubai bowed with a humble face, “Compared to those geniuses, junior still has a lot to learn.”

“Fufufu, no need to compare yourself to others. Self improvement is the most important, young Bubai.” The old lady sported a satisfied smile as she handed the formation ball back to him.

Bubai received it respectfully with both hands, “Disciple Bubai thanks Shu Po Po for her words of wisdom.”

“Hum, go home and rest well, young Bubai.” Granny Shu leaned back in her rocking chair, a smile on her face.

...

When Bubai stepped out from the Book Pavilion, he tilted his head slightly, “Rest? Strange, I’ve been feeling rather well-rested even after staying overtime for the past week…”

But a glance up at the still looming darkness and Bubai probably guessed the reason for his strangeness, “It’s been almost two weeks. As expected, it’s not a normal sandstorm...”

For those not in the know, it was just a sandstorm that lasted longer, but the advantages of augmenting his knowledge in the classified section had finally kicked in.

This was the Sun’s Howling Rage – a sandstorm that was the prelude to the opening of a secret realm!

Bubai was unclear regarding the specific details of each secret realm, but he gained a general understanding after reading the "Mayhem of Secret Realms."

Secret realms were isolated, different spaces that varied in size, ranging from a mansion or cave to an entire small world!

Entrances to these secret realms were usually not fixed, often opening without a fixed schedule or location, some even opening just once before vanishing. The time of its stay also correlated with their size, spanning from a few days to several months.

In the book, there wasn’t any insight into predicting the onset of a secret realm.

However, the opening of a secret realm will usually cause disturbances in the world, often accompanied by heavenly phenomena. The magnitude of the celestial sign also corresponded to the size of the secret realm, with larger realms showcasing more pronounced omens.

Unsurprisingly, the greater the size of the secret realm, the greater the dangers.

"Mayhem of Secret Realms" recounted a centuries-old tale of a deadly secret realm in the Sunrise Desert, where almost all members from various participating sects were wiped out.

To compound the tragedy, the indigenous inhabitants of the secret realm actually launched a reverse invasion into the world, inflicting heavy casualties on the golden cores of the prominent sects, and even a nascent soul ancestor had fallen!

Although the invaders were eventually suppressed in the end, the book didn’t mention how nor by whom.

While such catastrophic events weren't common, the inherent risk in exploring secret realms always existed.

Naturally, the benefits coexisted with the danger. There were abundant resources to plunder and perhaps even inheritances awaiting their destined ones.

The book even mentioned the current suzerains of some major sects who participated in the secret realm centuries ago, their subsequent rise propelled by stepping on the corpses of others to acquire the secret inheritance!

A powerful secret realm could mean the emergence of a new Nascent Soul stage ancestor, a widely acknowledged consensus even without explicit mention in the book!

So, being fully aware of the risks that awaited them, cultivators would still flock to the secret realm every time.

Men die for wealth just as birds will die for food.

Of course, not every secret realm would garner the attention of the powerful. Most secret realms even imposed restrictions on the realm of participants, limiting them to the Qi-refinement or Foundation Establishment stages.

But, this desert sandstorm, christened as the Sun’s Howling Rage many centuries ago... was the harbinger of the deadly secret realm that emerged in the Sunrise desert centuries ago, one that even allowed the entry of Golden Core cultivators!

While it remained unknown if the current sandstorm heralded the same secret realm, regardless, it had a high likelihood of being a large one - sizable enough to capture the interest of all loose cultivators and even the major sects in the vicinity!

Inner disciples, core disciples, Golden Core cultivators, and even old Nascent Souls ancestors might step onto the stage!

The sandstorm might last a month at most, but after the storm ends...

“Oh, another storm is coming…”