The time I spent with Tie Yang’s group was all about learning to be a participant in the creation of grand formations. He didn’t teach me their underlying principles since that was beyond the scope of his mission. His goal wasn’t to teach me how and why grand formations worked. It was to teach me how to be a participant in their creation.
A grand formation was capable of covering an entire city. To accomplish this, instead of using a single formation stone, grand formations consisted of a series of formation nodes scattered throughout and around the area they were designed to affect.
As the group leader, Tie Yang was responsible for designing the overall structure of the formation and adjusting it to fit the unique geography of each city. After he developed a blueprint, he then assigned us outer disciples specific tasks without explaining all of the intricacies of the formation as a whole.
As a member of his team, I only needed to go to marked points in the city and create a formation node following the instructions I was given. Each node was composed of at least 10 different inscriptions. This meant that each individual node was usually more complex than most of the complete formations I had created in the past. Despite their complexity, these outer nodes were incapable of functioning on their own. They only worked when connected to a control node that was placed in the Lord’s compound in the center of the city.
At first, learning all of the new inscriptions and how to place them properly was a bit of a challenge. However, thanks to my boosted formation comprehension, I was able to function as an independent team member by the time we were setting up our third formation together.
With some ability to assist with grand formations, I had a method for completing the missions required for my advancement. Sadly, as I was working under the direction of an inner sect disciple, I didn’t receive full credit for missions.
Originally, I had been told I needed to complete five formation-related missions before I would be allowed to purchase a portion of karmic energy. Working under Tie Yang, I would need to complete at least twenty of these team missions for every stage of advancement. This delayed me, but my progression was only a matter of time. As long as I could complete missions, I would be able to advance.
As soon as he decided that I had a solid handle on the basic knowledge I needed to meet my requirements for advancing, Tie Yang moved on to the second condition of his mission. He needed to help me gain a solid enough grasp on general Rank 4 formation knowledge so that I could re-enter the inner sect as a Martial Lord.
To do this, I needed a high level of proficiency with at least one sub-class of Rank 4 formations. When I told him how I had specialized in disposable formations in the Academy, he was extremely dismissive.
According to him, disposable formations might provide me with an advantage in the Trials where there were limitations on what items I could take with me, but they were worthless for earning contribution points. People’s first option for such things would always be talismans, and if that were not possible, they would purchase pills. Disposable formations were generally considered a last resort, so there would rarely be any missions concerning them.
That being the case, he began teaching me a variety of what he considered the most important formations to master. These included the Rank 4 Qi Gathering Formation, a basic shielding formation, and a combination healing-rejuvenation formation. According to Yang, these were the most frequently requested formations for one’s personal use.
Crafting Rank 4 formations was somewhat strange. Like Rank 4 pills, a Lord’s spatial lock was an integral part of the process. Where Rank 1 to 3 formations used hard stones like granite and marble, the stones used for Rank 4 formations were closer to the consistency of chalk. For higher-level formations, the minerals were more like sand.
While carving the formations, I had to maintain a will-lock on the entire stone so that it wouldn’t crumble to pieces while I worked. If I faltered for even a moment, it was possible for all of my work to instantly turn to dust.
Once the entire formation was in place, I could then infuse the stone with earth qi, solidifying it in place. While these stones were incredibly brittle and couldn’t withstand any physical punishment, once empowered, their qi resistance was more than enough to survive excessive qi contained within a Rank 4 formation.
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During one of our sessions, I asked Tie Yang an important question that had started to bother me.
“How are formations graded? Pills are graded on their purity and efficacy. Is there any system like this in place for formations?”
It took him a great deal of thought to decide how to respond.
“A pill’s purity has a defined maximum limit that it can be measured against. It is possible to create a completely pure, or Perfect, pill. With efficacy, alchemists have established a standard value for each pill type, so a pill’s efficacy can be graded against this known value. Formations are significantly more complex. It is not so easy to appraise their quality.”
He took two large stone blocks out of his storage bag. They were squares with a length and width of one meter and were about ten centimeters thick. These were standard formation plates used for Rank 3 formations. One was partially covered in the initial inscriptions for a Qi Gathering Formation. The other was completely blank.
Tie Yang took the blank formation plate and started quickly inscribing it with the same design as the partially finished stone. Instead of spending the hours that it would normally require, he completed the entire formation in only twenty minutes.
When he was finished, he gestured at both plates.
“Look at these two examples. What are the differences between them?”
I didn’t have to look too closely to notice problems.
“The pattern of the one you just made has several errors in its design. Not all of the lines are placed exactly where they should be.”
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“Yes, there is a standard layout for the Rank 3 Qi Gathering Formation. One way to grade someone’s work is by looking at how closely they matched their inscriptions to this standard design.”
He didn’t continue and only looked at me, so I turned my attention back to the formations.
“With the formation you just created, the inner walls of the inscriptions are a bit rough. Also, with the half-finished formation, beyond just smoothing the walls, it looks like you spent time strengthening them.”
He nodded. “The quality of a formation is not only based on accuracy but also on the amount of care you spend when carving out the inscriptions. Smoothing the walls allows qi to flow easily, making a formation more powerful. By hardening the walls, you can either increase the amount of qi the formation can contain or simply increase its durability while keeping the power level constant.”
Again, he stopped talking and looked for me to point out more differences. After several minutes of study, I shook my head, unsure of what more to say. As I couldn’t provide any more insights, he continued his lecture.
“When you create a formation, you have to be conscious of the inclusions within a stone’s structure. You are no doubt familiar with this based on your work with explosive formations.”
He pointed to a few spots on both stones where deep inclusions existed beneath the surface.
“What novices try to do is to take the standard layout for the formation they wish to create and position it within the stone such that it avoids these inclusions. More seasoned professionals will attempt to manipulate the stone to mend these areas so they can be used without worry. The most advanced artisans will adapt a formation’s design to accommodate such imperfections. This leads to the best formation specialists creating unique designs every time so that their work always best suits their materials.”
He showed me where he had tried to make such modifications in his formation design to better accommodate the stone he had been working with.
“That is why I am still practicing with Rank 3 formations. There are still countless ways I can improve my work. And with all these variables, it’s hard to appraise a formation and give it an easily understandable rating. I can look at two formations and know which one is smoother, but saying that it’s 92% smooth doesn’t make too much sense.”
I looked at the formations on the table. “But there has to be some way of comparing the quality of two different formations, right?”
“Yes. It just isn’t easy. With everything taken into account, the two most meaningful variables are the total qi throughput of the formation and the efficiency at which it uses that energy. Most standard formations have an expected maximum sustainable qi rating, and you can compare formations based on how well they meet or exceed that mark. As there is a clear limit of 100% efficiency, this can also be measured when comparing formations.”
He shook his head and sighed.
“It can be done, but this way of rating formations is difficult. Even Formation Emperors would find it hard to correctly evaluate such things. Therefore, we formation specialists usually have to simply rely on our reputations as our mark of quality. If you get a reputation for making solid, reliable formations, people will want to hire you.”
I wanted to be able to judge my progress in formations. It wasn’t enough for me to say that I was making a better formation than I had the previous year. I wanted a way to quantify that growth. If such a thing was too hard for regular formation specialists to do, I would have to look at purchasing an ability to do so from the System.
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Over the next several years, I met with Tie Yang once a week. He pointed out where I could improve, and when he was satisfied with what I produced, he provided me with new inscriptions to master. With his help, my skills with formations quickly grew, and I was able to complete ever more difficult formation-related missions.
When I had extra time away from lessons, I went to the Mission Hall and picked up my alchemy-related missions. Unlike normal, I didn’t get to choose which one I wanted to do. The receptionist just gave me a list of pills and a spatial bag with the required ingredients. After I finished an order, I just had to bring everything back to the receptionist.
These missions were odd. They weren’t for the normal pills that I would expect to be in high demand. Instead, they were somewhat rare pills, and the order of the missions had a clear, deliberate difficulty curve to them. This reminded me all too much of last time when the Ning Clan had me produce pills for them.
This once again made me want to travel back to the beginning and start over, but I continued to hesitate. It was clear that Emperor Li was involved in things, but he didn’t seem to be antagonistic toward me. The situation might still be salvageable.
So instead of freaking out, I simply did the missions I was assigned and collected my contribution points. This earned me more than enough points to pay for my advancements in the Lord realm, and over the course of five years, I climbed all the way to Peak Lord. Then, I began saving up the points needed to purchase the energy for breaking through to Martial King.
As my mission count was no longer a bottleneck, I researched several merchant companies that did business in Profound City. I found one that had a good reputation for not trying to enslave their suppliers and came to an agreement with them. After that, I was able to offload hundreds of Rank 4 pills and rapidly accrued the points I needed.
Beyond just paying for karmic energy, I also needed points for a special purchase that I had my eye on.
In Profound City, the sect ran a Treasure Pavilion where a number of valuable items could be purchased with contribution points. There were quality refined weapons, rare herbs, and eggs of powerful beasts. These treasures would draw the eye of countless cultivators both in the sect and outside of it.
I did purchase an assortment of seeds for some of the rarer herb varieties, but weapons and beast eggs didn’t hold much appeal to me. They had their uses, but the most important combat I expected to face in the near future was in the Trials. If I was still a member of an established group, if my classmates were still with me, I would be able to use items they crafted, but I wasn’t allowed to bring in anything I simply purchased. So, since I wouldn’t be able to use these weapons in the Trials, they held little appeal.
Instead, the part of the Treasure Pavilion that captured my attention was their small collection of spirit fire seeds.
I was somewhat shocked that they would sell such a thing, but the restrictions on them helped me understand. A cultivator was only allowed to purchase one seed, and it could not be taken out of sect territories, though this did include the three empires directly under the sect’s control. Additionally, when the owner died, the seed would revert to the property of the sect. If someone tried to lay claim to it, they would face the wrath of the Nine Rivers Sect.
These restrictions, the prohibitive cost, and the fact that they were only seeds of Yellow-Rank spirit fires which were not very useful to Ruler Tier crafters meant that they had remained on the shelf and available for me to purchase.
After careful consideration, I decided to buy the seed of the Flowing Metal Spirit Fire, a dual-element water and metal spirit fire. If I combined it with a triple-element wood-fire-earth cultivation technique, I could have easy access to energies from all five of the basic elements.
Of course, I didn’t absorb the seed immediately. I left it in its jade box and stowed it securely in my storage space for the future.
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With my goals for the Lord realm complete, I was ready to advance to Martial King. After purchasing the necessary karmic energy, I rented a cultivation cave on the Earth Peak and secluded myself. Thanks to the abundant qi available on the peak and a cave that possessed a Rank 5 formation, I was able to smoothly complete my breakthrough.
As I was examining my new cultivation level, the door of my cave opened unexpectedly, and an elderly man walked inside.
“So, you are the disciple I’ve heard so much about. It seems that it’s time we had a little chat.”