Devil's Rise

I flipped to the first page depicting a runic symbol, it was the runic symbol for tyranny. I focused upon the runic symbol with my u003cSoul Eyesu003e. Memories flooded my mind of cruel mortal kings enacting their tyranny over the land. Empires rose and fell to the oppression of these heartless kings. Days pa.s.sed as I experienced all types of tyranny in various forms. When I finally woke up from the visualization trip, I was mentally exhausted.

These visualization runes were powerful formations that engraved an elder devil"s entire understanding of a path to d.a.m.nation. This aid was invaluable, there"s no telling how many merits you would have to trade to an Empire to get even one of these visualization runes.

If I could grasp an understanding of even one runic symbol depicted in the pages of this book, I would have no problem breaking into the nascent devil realm.

Devils only focused on one path to d.a.m.nation to break into the Viscount realm, since gaining an understanding of them was so difficult. Like Mira, who"s true form was that of a succubus. She had embraced the path of d.a.m.nation of s.e.xual l.u.s.t, studying it to reach the Viscount realm. I wondered how my true form would be after studying these runic symbols of d.a.m.nation.

After studying the rune of tyranny I felt all my Daos had made astounding progress, all moving closer to Viscount.

This book was priceless beyond measure. With these 108 runes of d.a.m.nation, I can easily guide the direction of my nascent devil soul. If this is the treatment servants get in the Labyrinth Sect I dare not think what an outer disciple had access to.

I now knew why so many devils that had entered "The Labyrinth" had founded empires. The knowledge found in "The Labyrinth" was on an entirely different level than my Xertzul Abyss. My understanding of the world had been flipped upside down. The inhabitants of the Xertzul Abyss were most likely ants to a monster like Zat.

My goal had changed, I no longer wanted to rule an emperor or even found an abyss. I wanted to reach the height of cultivation. I didn"t know where that height lay, but someday this young lord will reach it and rule over everything that befalls my u003cSoul Eyesu003e.

I decided to seclude myself until I broke into Viscount. That would make taking the Serpent Cedar tree easy. There were no longer any shackles holding me back. The shameless Satyr had given me warm coal in my endless winter.

I put down "108 Paths to d.a.m.nation" and examined "Shaking in Formations". The runic symbols were a type of formation used for visualization, if I understood formations better it would be easier for me to study these runic symbols. Although my u003cSoul Eyesu003e were a powerful aid in understanding Dao I still did not know much about formations.

The Formation Dao is a Major Dao, much more powerful than Minor Dao paths. Only those who have entered the fourth tier of cultivation should learn Major Daos. To understand formations, first you must understand the difference between a minor Dao and a major Dao. Minor Daos are small streams that lead to the rivers of major Daos.

Some major Daos are evolutions of Minor Daos, these Daos go from simple to more complex the more you learn about them. An example would be the Fire Dao. It has a minor Dao branch and a major Dao branch. Others such as the Formation Dao are too complex to be simplified into a minor Dao branch.

Learning a major Dao that has no proceeding minor Dao is very difficult, so it"s ill-advised for anyone below the peak of Tier-3 cultivation attempt to learn a major Dao. Now that you understand the difference between major and minor Daos you are ready to learn about the great Formation Dao that can literally shake the world!

Rudimentary formations are used by all crafting professions at the fourth tier. Formations are formed from the utilization of Dao lines. From my study, I"ve found Dao lines lie at the heart of every cultivation path practiced throughout the multiverse. I"ve theorized a true master of the Formation Dao could create a path of cultivation, unique life forms, and even form worlds.

Dao lines are the building blocks of Dao that make up the world. Formation Master"s study how to draw and form these Dao lines to create Dao runes, talismans, and formations. A formation master needs not understand a Dao to draw a talisman representing that Dao.

Learning the Formation Dao is like learning to speak a language. We form coherent sentences with Dao lines to utilize the power of Dao talismans, although we might not understand the true meaning behind the resulting Dao talisman.

Studying Dao lines can be useful in learning Dao. But Dao lines are the most basic language of the world. How could it be so simple? Even if you had a Dao talisman for a powerful Dao right in front of you, you might not be able to learn the Dao behind it or even learn to reproduce the talisman.

The best way to learn the Formation Dao is to practice drawing Dao talismans. A formation master is ranked by the number of Dao lines they can combine to create a Dao talisman in a set time frame. Formation masters are different from other professions because our skills are not explicitly tied to our cultivation.

Only our mastery of drawing Dao lines determines what we can produce. Formation masters make fearsome opponents because with enough time and effort they can form a formation that can execute even the most powerful of opponents. Everything comes at a cost, though.

Something must power formations, if you want to create a powerful formation you must have a resource that can empower that formation. Even a dragon would die if you tried to feed it dirt.

Formation Mastery is one of the most expensive professions to learn, as we require cultivation resources to practice our drawing of Dao lines. We can sell Dao talismans for a significant amount, but unlike alchemists where your clients will come in droves, most cultivators only need one Dao talisman to guard their life.

The resources used to nurture a Level 1 formation master could nurture 10 fourth-tier cultivators, and it only gets more frightening at higher levels. Crafting professions only dabble with the Formation Dao, grasping the basics of it to a.s.sist in their crafting.

Choosing to learn the Formation Dao is not for the faint of heart, as it burns money. We can sell single-use Dao talismans and set up defensive formations however unless you are stronger than the power asking for the defensive formation this is ill-advised. As the first person killed after a formation is completed would be the Formation Master who made it to ensure it had no backdoors.

The number of Dao lines are as numerous as the number of stars in the sky. Learning all of them would be impossible, so Formation Masters stick to a system to study to learn Dao lines. The system I teach to derive Dao lines is the system of the 8 Trigram talismans, representing ying-yang and the five elements.

They are respectively Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth. Since these Daos are fundamental parts of the universe, each of them contains innumerable Dao lines to master. These fascinating Daos can be used to draw a Dao talisman at every level of formation mastery, from simple to complex. By practicing them, you can increase your understanding of Dao lines.

I closed the book, the reality was learning these 8 trigram talismans was just as difficult as studying the 108 runes of d.a.m.nation. I was better off attempting to derive Dao lines from the 108 runes of d.a.m.nation than studying the 8 Trigram talismans. The book gave me a better understanding of Formation Masters though, so it was worth the read.

Only the wealthy could afford to practice this profession. Since I had greedily devoured resources from this lower world, I was in the ranks of the very few that could afford to practice it. But I would leave that for the time after I broke into Viscount.