Chapter 1400: Peering into the Formation!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“That’s right! Although the chance of running into Song Yuanyi and the Righteous Alliance in the formation is rather small, it’s not completely impossible. But for Song Yuanyi and Luo Qiyin to appear at the Stop Gate at the same time can’t be written off as mere coincidence.”
The Demonic Emperor Old Man’s brow instantly creased even harder while the Formation Elder immediately became anxious and uneasy.
“This truly can’t be explained through coincidence, but kid, if it’s really as you say, everything is completely different. Moreover, based on what happened just now, we’ve probably become a thorn in their side. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have used both the Righteous Alliance and the Five Ancestor Alliance to deal with us.”
The Formation Elder was growing increasingly uneasy, and if one looked carefully, cold sweat was beading on his forehead.
“And if my judgment is correct, it’s probably because I saw through a part of their formation that they marked us as their target.”
The Demonic Emperor was not the only top-cla.s.s expert to have entered the Origin Immortal Formation. There was also Song Yuanyi and Luo Qiyin. Merely the presence of the Demonic Emperor alone should not have been enough to earn so much ‘concern’. It was clear to the Formation Elder that he was the one dragging everyone down.
This fact made the Formation Elder feel rather ashamed.
“Senior Zhou, it’s not that simple. Without you, both of us would be imprisoned in the formation until our deaths. Those people didn’t mind doing everything to bring Song Yuanyi and Luo Qiyin to us precisely because Senior was a threat to them. As long as Senior is here, they can’t threaten me, Master, or anyone else in the formation. Thus, Senior is not dragging us down. On the contrary, it’s because of Senior that we are still safe,” w.a.n.g Chong sternly said.
“Is that so?”
The Formation Elder’s mouth fell open. He had only been thinking about how he was burdening w.a.n.g Chong and the Demonic Emperor Old Man, never even thinking about the other effects of his contributions.
“That’s how it’s always been.”
w.a.n.g Chong smiled and nodded. He was not saying these words purely to comfort the Formation Elder. If not for this senior, he would have never been able to calculate the rules of the formation.
“The more these people try to deal with us, the more they prove that they harbor ill intentions. If things go poorly, the members of both the righteous and evil factions will die here. We can’t allow this to occur,” w.a.n.g Chong sternly said.
Those who had appeared here were all skilled experts of the martial arts world, a source of strength that w.a.n.g Chong could not disregard. There was a calamity in the future, a major crisis waiting for this world. These martial artists const.i.tuted an extremely precious source of resistance.
No matter what sort of grudges they had with each other, whether they were righteous or evil, they were people who could change the fate of the world and the human race.
“Senior can’t let these people just hide in the back and play around with everyone. Let’s work together to destroy this formation and give them a taste of our power!”
“Haha! Good! Kid, you’re right! Let’s work together and destroy this formation!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s words had stimulated a hint of pride in the Formation Elder. He had researched formations for several decades, and never had anyone played around with him like this.
The Formation Elder was proud and confident. No matter where these people came from, he could not permit them to just continue plotting from the safety of the shadows.
“Senior Zhou, based on past circ.u.mstances, they can essentially control a formation s.h.i.+ft every twelve hours, and this ability is enough to force us out of the Rest Gate. Given how much time has pa.s.sed, we have four hours more at most.”
w.a.n.g Chong’s eyes shone with the light of wisdom.
“There are two methods to break a formation. One is to leave through the Life Gate while the other is to destroy the core of the formation. Using either of these methods will allow us to leave the formation.”
“Correct! These are truly the only two methods.”
The Formation Elder looked at w.a.n.g Chong, stroking his beard as he gave an approving nod. Although w.a.n.g Chong had only studied with him for a short time, he possessed incredible comprehension abilities. These methods were truly the best two options for the three of them.
“Leaving through the Life Gate will save the three of us, but everyone else will remain trapped in the formation. This is also the easiest way to escape. The other way is to enter the core of the formation and destroy it at the source. This is more difficult, and there’s a very high chance that we end up in the Death Gate. The closer we get, the more dangerous it will be, and we will also have to directly confront the power of the formation!”
w.a.n.g Chong’s mind was rapidly whirring as he spoke. He paused for a moment, then continued.
“However, as long as that third party continues to control things from the shadows, we can put any thought of leaving from the Life Gate to rest. In the end, even if we do our best, we will probably die here. In comparison, while destroying the formation’s core is more difficult and dangerous, it’s the most direct method.”
The Formation Elder was quiet for a long time before finally speaking.
“Although I don’t want to admit it, this truly is the only solution available to us.”
He shot a worried glance at w.a.n.g Chong. He naturally understood how to destroy the formation, but the risk was far too great.
A normal formation would only have one layer. For example, he could throw out a few stones to create a formation. More formidable formations could be divided into three layers, and the more powerful ancient formations could have five, six, even seven layers. Seven layers was the limit for most formations, but the Origin Immortal Formation actually had nine layers.
This formation was unique, and its complexity and power already exceeded those of any other formation the Formation Elder knew about. This could truly be considered the world’s number one formation. Destroying it was far easier said than done.
Although the Formation Elder had proudly proclaimed that he would work together with w.a.n.g Chong to destroy the formation, deep inside, he didn’t have much confidence. Formations were constantly changing, and there were far too many variables involved.
A person trying to break the formation not only needed to see how the formation was s.h.i.+fting in the present, but also how it would s.h.i.+ft one second later, the second after that, an hour later, and perhaps for even longer.
And each of the nine layers of this formation would s.h.i.+ft in a different way. The calculations needed to predict the s.h.i.+fts of all nine layers was in the millions, perhaps even larger. The Formation Elder asked himself and knew that not even he could do such a thing in such a short amount of time.
“Senior Zhou, the two of us will work together. You will be responsible for calculating the s.h.i.+fts of the Nine Palaces while I will calculate what I’m best at, the s.h.i.+fts in the eight gates of Life, Pain, Rest, Stop, View, Death, Alarm, and Open.”
w.a.n.g Chong spoke so firmly that his words seemed to thump against the ground.
“This… Kid, let me warn you that calculating a formation is no laughing matter. There are millions of calculations to be done,” the Formation Elder uneasily said.
“Heh, only millions of calculations is no problem!”
w.a.n.g Chong smiled and made a soothing gesture.
“!!!”
The words the Formation Elder planned to say came to a halt at his lips, and he stared in a daze at w.a.n.g Chong. w.a.n.g Chong smiled back, his expression calm and composed. The Formation Elder found it hard to retort against such a display.
“This… you… fine! Let’s do as you say!”
In the end, the Formation Elder swallowed back down all his questions.
w.a.n.g Chong did not pay much attention to what the Formation Elder might be thinking. He stood straight and scanned the gray landscape around them. He closed his eyes, and then a moment later, vast Psychic Energy spilled out and began to spread through the formation.
By now, w.a.n.g Chong had realized that this Origin Immortal Formation could disrupt and hinder all kinds of senses, but in comparison to sensing using more physical kinds of energy, w.a.n.g Chong’s Psychic Energy was affected the least.
Through his Psychic Energy, w.a.n.g Chong began to sense the structure of the formation and imprint it on his mind.
Even in the world of Psychic Energy, the formation was drab and gray, with little ability to see any fine details. And after traveling several thousand meters, Psychic Energy could not travel any farther. In other words, w.a.n.g Chong was incapable of seeing the entirety of the formation.
w.a.n.g Chong looked at the fragment of the formation imprinted on his mind and muttered, “This should be enough!”
At the beginning, w.a.n.g Chong truly would have been at a loss for what to do with just this, but after going from the Rest Gate to the View Gate, the View Gate to the Stop Gate, and then back to the Rest Gate, w.a.n.g Chong had both practiced his knowledge of formations and also deepened his understanding of the Origin Immortal Formation. He had even managed to comprehend many of the rules by which the formation operated.
Although Psychic Energy could only make out a fragment of the formation, w.a.n.g Chong could use his understanding of the formation’s rules to conjecture the rest. Rumble! After around five minutes, w.a.n.g Chong’s mind began to groan and shake. That fragmented Origin Immortal Formation within w.a.n.g Chong’s mind began to run.
Boom! A formation gate appeared, and then a second, a third… From the first formation gates, more and more began to manifest out of thin air and attach themselves to the fragmented formation in w.a.n.g Chong’s mind. In just a few short moments, the formation began to ‘grow’, at first to the left and right, and then outward and inward.
During this entire process, w.a.n.g Chong was rapidly calculating. With each successful calculation, he added another small formation gate to the Origin Immortal Formation in his mind.
As time slowly pa.s.sed, the Origin Immortal Formation projection in his mind became more and more complete.
As w.a.n.g Chong was puzzling out the entirety of the Origin Immortal Formation, the Formation Elder was involved in his own complex calculations. Unlike w.a.n.g Chong, the Formation Elder was seated cross-legged on the ground, his left hand forming gestures, his right hand drawing out concentric circles, and his mouth constantly muttering.
The Qian Palace, Kan Palace, Gen Palace, Zhen Palace, Middle Palace, Xun Palace, Li Palace, Kun Palace, and Dui Palace—these were the Nine Palaces, and their positions were normally fixed.
But in this immense Origin Immortal Formation, the positions of the Nine Palaces were constantly s.h.i.+fting, and only those with extremely high attainments in the art of formations would be able to calculate how they changed. These Nine Palaces were the north-south-west-east of a compa.s.s, but these directions were no longer static.