Chapter 656: Underground Chamber
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
If a formation didn"t show its form, could one tell whether it"s a Confinement Formation, Slaughter Formation, Illusory Formation, or Beguilement Formation?
It was just like fighting an unidentifiable spirit beast. If one couldn"t even see its form and identify its flaws, how did one intend to kill it?
"You must be kidding!"
Those who knew the slightest thing about formations wouldn"t utter such amateurish words!
"The Way of Formation is deep and profound, and it has a long heritage behind of it. It"s one of the top occupations throughout the entire continent, paling little in comparison to even master teacher. Such profound knowledge, and all you can say is to decipher it? You sure know how to speak rubbis.h.!.+"
Princess Fei-er harrumphed coldly. This was her chance to get back at the other party for the previous two humiliations. Her eyebrows shot up, and she spoke majestically. "This valley might not be too big, but it is more than a hundred mu (6 hectare). Furthermore, there are a few thousand different flora and fauna in here. As for the geography, it is located within a mountain range and is connected to a forest and a lake. Its east is faced with yang whereas its west is faced with yin.
"In other words, it"s a blessed land suited for setting up all kinds of formations. Just speaking of grade-6 formations, there are 14,372 types that could be set up here. Each of them also has innumerable different variations. Unless the formation is dragged into sight and a.n.a.lyzed, it"s impossible to tell which it is!
"If one doesn"t know the formation"s type, variation, area, and strength… Let me ask you, how could one decipher the formation?"
Flinging her sleeves, Princess Fei-er harrumphed coldly.
Xing Yuan and the others nodded in agreement.
While Yu Fei-er could be obstinate at times, and she was extremely emotionally-charged in her actions, she did possess incredible talent in formations. She was a famous formation master genius even within the Master Teacher Academy.
This was also the main reason why Luo Qiqi invited the other party along after receiving the mission.
Not expecting her good friend to put down her teacher, Luo Qiqi frowned.
"Enough, Fei-er… even if teacher doesn"t know much about formation, you can still explain the situation to him calmly. There"s no need to use such a tone with him…"
Her teacher might be a rare genius in pill forging—even a 6-star apothecary would pale before him—but in the field of formations… he did seem to be a little lacking.
However, this was to be expected. After all, it was impossible for one to be proficient in everything.
Unfazed by the other party"s rant, Zhang Xuan continued making his point.
"You"re just making things pointlessly complicated. Formations are created by placing formation flags in alignment with the environment. As long as we find the formation flags, it should be easy to stop the formation."
"Formations are indeed created by formation flags, but do you know how many combination of formation flags there are? Even if one were to know where the flags are located, one must remove it in a strict sequential order. Or else, it could possibly bring about a backlash from the formation, causing everyone here to die."
Hearing the nonsensical words that the other party was spouting, Yu Fei-er"s face reddened in anger.
What the heck was this!
If she knew how ignorant this fellow was in the Way of Formations, she would have challenged him to a duel on that back then.
"Cough cough. Teacher, formations cannot be broken that easily, not to mention, this kind of hidden formation. It is impossible to find the formation flag under such circ.u.mstances…"
Luo Qiqi"s face also reddened as she quickly explained the situation to the other party. However, before she could finish her words, the young man before her scratched his head and stomped on the ground.
Sou!
A formation flag popped up and fell into his hands. Holding onto it, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the group with a sheepish expression.
"This should be the formation flag, right? It doesn"t seem to be as troublesome as you all make it out to be."
"Ah?"
Everyone was stunned. In that instant, they looked as though they had seen a ghost.
It was just a moment ago that they thought the other party was just an ignorant oaf who was trying to show off. However, upon seeing this sight, their eyes were about to pop out from their sockets. This was especially so for Yu Fei-er.
Was this for real?
She had spent so much effort on trying to force out the formation that she was completely drained at this very moment. Yet, she could just barely see a slight hint of the formation. Yet, that fellow, with just a casual step… actually took out a formation flag!
What was with this huge disparity?
"This… does seem to be the formation flag…"
Luo Qiqi gulped down her saliva.
This formation flag looked ancient, and it had suffered significant wear and tear from the trial of time. With just a glance, anyone could tell that it had been buried underground for a very long time.
The chances were that it had originated from the formation that appeared earlier.
"Fei-er, look…" Luo Qiqi exclaimed.
Suppressing her shock, Princess Fei-er said, "Look at what? Even if he coincidentally found one formation flag, it would be futile if he can"t remove the remaining ones sequentially. If a grade-6 formation could be torn down that easily, 6-star formation masters wouldn"t have such a prestigious standing…"
So what if you found one formation flag by coincidence? Formations like this have at least a hundred formation flags scattered all around. You might have altered the structure of the formation by extracting one of them, but you are a long way off from destroying it!
In fact, a careless mistake might even cause the entire formation to explode.
The acc.u.mulation of spiritual energy of a formation that had been operated for several millenniums was frightening. If it were to explode, the consequences would be as dire as what happened in the Cleansing Lake. Even a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert could be blown to bits in an instant.
Formations weren"t a joke. If it could be dispelled so easily, why would 6-star formation masters waste so much effort learning the art?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she felt. Princess Fei-er was just about to lecture the other party when she felt someone pulling on her arm. s.h.i.+fting her gaze, she realized that it was her close friend, Luo Qiqi. Perplexed, she frowned. "What"s wrong?"
"Don"t say anything else, just look over there…"
Luo Qiqi"s face was pale in shock.
"Look over there?"
Princess Fei-er turned her gaze over, and the sight that stood before her left her face twitching uncontrollably. She nearly fainted on the spot.
Unknowingly, the young man who she"d thought was still standing beside her was already twenty meters away. While walking, he would bend down from time to time to pluck out a formation flag, just like a farmer pulling out onions from his field. As though to further exaggerate things, he was even whistling leisurely.
Hwee, hwee, hwoo…
"…"
Her eyes rolled up.
Princess Fei-er was on the verge of tears.
Do you really need to be so exaggerated?
That"s a formation that I failed to force out despite using the entirety of my strength, and yet there you are, plucking out its flags one after another casually…
When dealing with hidden formations, even the greatest formation masters would use the Formation Destroying Silver Needle to force it out first before a.n.a.lyzing its type based on the spiritual energy it exuded before deducing the location of its Life Gate…
Yet, this ignorant fellow simply jumped past all those steps and began plucking out the flags… Have we gone crazy?
Of course, if it was just plucking out formation flags, most people could do it. But… you don"t know the slightest thing about formations, and the flags were also hidden as well, so how could you do it so confidently and leisurely?
To even begin whistling on top of that… Are you that confident that there would be no backlash?
It was truly fortunate that she didn"t bet with him earlier, otherwise she would be deeper in debt at this very moment…
"It seems like… teacher does know the location of every single formation flag, as well as the sequence so as to prevent any backlash…"
Luo Qiqi felt her throat turning dry.
Based on her teacher"s words previously, she thought that he didn"t know anything about formations at all. Only now did she realize that she was gravely mistaken… the other party was in truth a master at formations!
Even Princess Fei-er, a 5-star formation master, was far from a match for him!
In fact… she didn"t think that even the formation masters who expertise in deciphering formation could do it the way he did!
I mean, look at that… precise footsteps, leisurely posture, bored gaze, and relaxed whistling…
The h.e.l.l! Tell us the truth, are you the one who set up this formation?
Otherwise, how could you be so familiar with it?
"This…"
"He actually… broke the formation just like that?"
Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, and Ye Qian also rubbed their eyes in disbelief as they glanced at one another in astonishment.
Hidden formations were one of the hardest types of formation to decipher. If one couldn"t force it out, it would be impossible to decipher it.
Yet, to be plucking out the formation flags while whistling so leisurely…
They had never seen such an unbelievable sight in their life before! Why did it feel as though they were dreaming?
"I"m done!"
Amidst everyone"s dumbstruck gazes, the young man flicked his wrist and put the pile of formation flags into his storage ring. After which, he clapped away the dust from his hands before turning to look at the group.
Even though the formation flags were already worn out, he could still set up a grade-6 formation with it. Not to mention, it was also an antique, so it would probably fetch a hefty price in an auction.
The group hurriedly scanned the surrounding, and they noticed a clear change in the previously empty valley.
A ma.s.sive gate—six meters tall—appeared right before their eyes. It was hard to tell what metal it was forged with, but it was full of aged marks that indicated more than a millennium of history behind it.
Beyond the gate was a flight of stairs that headed deep into the underground. From the spot they were standing at, it seemed to lead into an abyss.
"It"s indeed that underground chamber!"
Upon seeing the gate, everyone"s eyes lit up in excitement.
This proved that Luo Qiqi"s deduction was accurate!
While the evidence that Luo Qiqi provided was credible, and the odds were in their favor—if not, the academy wouldn"t have offered them this mission for academic credits after cross-checking the evidence—they still couldn"t hold back their agitation at having found a concrete lead on Grandmaster Wu Yangzi.
"Let"s enter!"
Xing Yuan"s eyes were gleaming with excitement.
"Wait a moment first. It"s hard to tell how long it"s been since the underground chamber was last opened, so there might be all kinds of poisonous fumes inside!"
Luo Qiqi stepped forward to stopped him. Flicking her wrist, she took out a jade bottle. "This is an antidote that I forged specially for this occasion. It can neutralize up to a thousand types of poisonous fumes found in underground chambers."
After which, she opened the jade bottle, and round pills rolled out.
Given the lack of ventilation within a typical underground chamber, rotting corpses, insects, and natural-produced gases were among many factors that could lead to poisonous fumes in it. Thus, Luo Qiqi specially prepared pills to deal with this. Otherwise, even a Cosmos Bridge realm expert might fall under the venomous onslaught.
"Un!"
Knowing that this was a matter involving their safety, everyone took a pill and swallowed it without protesting.
Zhang Xuan was no exception either. He took a pill and swallowed it too.
After swallowing the medicine, Luo Qiqi turned to Wu Zhen and said, "Wu Zhen, since you specialize in mechanisms, we"ll be depending on you later on!"
Among the group, Wu Zhen was a proficient celestial designer, and he possessed extensive knowledge over the various kinds of mechanisms and traps. Given that they were stepping into uncharted territory, there was no guarantee that there would be no defensive mechanisms to fend off intruders.
"Leave it to me!"
Flicking his wrist, Wu Zhen took out an artifact reminiscent of an umbrella.
It was a tool that celestial designers use specially for deciphering mechanisms, a "Thousand Utility Umbrella".
"Let"s go!"
Opening the Thousand Utility Umbrella, Wu Zhen led the way in.
Without any hesitation, the rest of the group followed along as well.
Seeing that they were prepared, Zhang Xuan also followed behind Luo Qiqi.
Hu!
Darkness immediately overwhelmed them as soon as they stepped through the gate, rendering them blind.
Xing Yuan stepped forward, flicked his wrist, and a few Night Illumination Pearls immediately rolled down the stairs, providing illumination for the group.
For the time being, the sound of pearls rolling down was still echoing ceaselessly throughout the chamber, indicating the deep depth of the underground chamber.
Scanning the surroundings and confirming that everyone was safe, Wu Zhen said "Let"s proceed then!" before leading the way forward.