“The power of celestial phenomena?” Bai Qiuran muttered to himself. “Please wait a moment; I need to verify something.”
“Right, and then we need to figure out the purpose of the formation it arranged. What does it want to awaken?” Tang Ruowei said, “For example, the formation…”
“Let me handle this,” Bai Qiuran replied, lowering his head in contemplation before taking out a map of the Nine Provinces and Ten Lands from his robes and spreading it out on the table.
“Now we just need to see if the ancient city can validate our guesses,” Li Jinyao commented as she glanced at the map.
Bai Qiuran murmured again, “Please wait; I need to check.” He returned to his room in the Forging Heaven Workshop where Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei were still waiting. Seeing his thoughtful expression, Tang Ruowei hurriedly asked, “What’s the result, Master?”
“It’s fine; this isn't something you can guess correctly in just one or two tries,” Bai Qiuran reassured her.
“Is this the formation eye?” The map had swirls marked in some places, showing locations where the ancient city had appeared before.
“What exactly is going on?” Li Jinyao asked curiously. Armed with the formation map, the progress of the Xuanfa Academy improved drastically. In less than a day, Elder Xu identified the next most likely location of the ancient city.
“That’s…”
“What exactly is going on?” Li Jinyao also stepped closer, quickly comparing the swirls on the map with the positions of the true qi celestial phenomenon diagram in midair.
Without needing the celestial diagram, Bai Qiuran relied on his memory, using true qi as a pen to directly sketch a star map above this map, detailing everything essential for the current cultivation world.
“Hmm…”
“Let me handle this,” Li Jinyao also approached, again comparing the map’s swirls with the positions of the true qi celestial diagram.
“It’s fine; this was never meant to be guessed accurately in just one or two tries,” Bai Qiuran comforted. “At least you’ve opened up our thought processes. Your idea was correct; the technology in that ancient city likely surpasses our usual imagination.”
“Right, and then we need to discern the purpose of this formation. What does it want to awaken?” Bai Qiuran said, recalling he had previously investigated the place the ancient city first appeared. The swirling spirit energy there was actually a small space that had been opened up. At the center of the swirl, there were some nearly invisible spatial cracks, and spirit energy flowed through these cracks, continuously gathering into another space. “I think the other places might work similarly.”
“It’s fine; this was never meant to be guessed accurately in just one or two tries.”
“It appears I was mistaken.”
“No, it’s not the celestial diagram.”
He returned to his room in the Forging Heaven Workshop, where Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei were still waiting. Seeing him return with a thoughtful look, Tang Ruowei quickly asked, “How did it go, Master?”
Someone had silently opened up another space in this location. It was as if a hole had been carved into a flat piece of paper, while the surrounding spirit energy flowed in through tiny cracks nearby, continuously filling this space and forming a persistent spirit energy swirl.
“Hmm?” Bai Qiuran murmured again. “Please wait a moment; I want to verify something.”
Li Jinyao looked at the map. After he spoke, he stood up and rushed out at a speed invisible to Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei, heading straight for the location within the Eastern Tomb Nation, the closest place to the Forging Heaven Workshop where the ancient city had appeared for the first time.
Li Jinyao felt somewhat disappointed.
The map had swirls marking several locations; these were all places where the ancient city had previously appeared.
“I see.”
“Using this small space as the formation eye might indeed allow for the completion of a formation that covers the Nine Provinces and Ten Lands.”
“It appears I was mistaken,” Li Jinyao stated, looking at the map once more.
Li Jinyao added, “We still don’t know the upper limit of how many they can transform, but even if the number of monsters that an ancient city can handle is only as many as presented in the imagery, their forces could easily overwhelm all Golden Core realm cultivators united from the Righteous Dao Alliance and the Demon Sect. This doesn’t even account for the monsters enhanced after being transformed from Foundation Establishment cultivators and above.”
Bai Qiuran murmured, “Please wait a moment; I want to verify something.”
“What exactly is going on?”
“Right, and then we need to discern the purpose of this formation. What does it want to awaken?”
“It appears I was mistaken.”
At this moment, Tang Ruowei, who had been silently staring at the map, suddenly asked, “Master, do you think it’s possible that these locations themselves have some special significance?”
“It’s fine; this was never meant to be guessed accurately in just one or two tries.”
“Right, and then we need to discern the purpose of this formation. What does it want to awaken?”
“No, it’s not the celestial diagram.”
“So, just now, weren’t you saying that this ancient city possesses technology that the current cultivation world knows nothing about? Then I’m thinking maybe it’s not that it moves because of a lack of internal energy supply and has to rely on the force of heaven and earth to do so, but rather that it must move to these locations for some other purpose…”
Gradually, a formation diagram began to appear on the map, enveloping the entire Nine Provinces and Ten Lands.
Tang Ruowei remarked, “For example, the formation…”
Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao’s conversation was interrupted as the two began sketching various possible formation models on the map using true qi, their movements swift as lightning yet showing extraordinary harmony, filling the oversights in each other’s thoughts.
“I see,” Bai Qiuran concluded. “If we want to force it to flee, then I shall exercise for the first time in a while to see what tricks it still has.”
Bai Qiuran reassured, “At least you’ve opened the way for us. Your idea was correct; the technology of that ancient city might greatly exceed our conventional expectations.”
With the formation map, the progress of the Xuanfa Academy rose significantly. In less than a day, Elder Xu had identified the next most likely location of the ancient city.
“Hmm…” Bai Qiuran lowered his head in thought, then retrieved a map of the Nine Provinces and Ten Lands, spreading it on the table.
Li Jinyao replied, “We still don’t know the upper limit of how many they can transform, but even if the ancient city can only handle as many monsters as depicted in the imagery, they could easily overwhelm all the Golden Core cultivators from the Righteous Dao Alliance and the Demon Sect combined. This still doesn’t account for the stronger monsters transformed from Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
Bai Qiuran comforted, “At least you’ve opened up our thought processes. Your idea was correct; the technology in that ancient city likely surpasses our usual imagination.”
“The power of celestial phenomena?”
At this moment, Tang Ruowei, who had been silently staring at the map, suddenly asked, “Master, do you think it’s possible that these locations themselves have some special significance?”
Bai Qiuran said, “I checked at the location of the ancient city’s first appearance, where the spirit energy swirl was actually a small space opened up. At the center of the swirl, some almost invisible spatial cracks were left, and the spirit energy continuously gathered through these cracks into another space. I believe other places should be similar.”
“This is the formation eye?”
Bai Qiuran murmured, “Please wait a moment; I want to verify something.”
Bai Qiuran continued, “I recall when Huangfu Feng and I saw that stone monument activated in the wilderness; it emitted a dense cluster of blue light points. At the time, I thought those signals were all directed toward the ancient city. But now I wonder, if each light point represents a city similar to this ancient city…”
Like other places, this location left a swirling spirit energy after the ancient city vanished.
“Endless Golden Core realm dark monsters.”
“Is this the formation eye?”
Gradually, a formation diagram appeared on the map, enveloping the entire Nine Provinces and Ten Lands.
Tang Ruowei remarked, “For example, the formation…”
Gathering the representatives stationed by the Righteous Dao Alliance and the Demon Sect back in the Forging Heaven Workshop, Bai Qiuran shared the conjecture inspired by Tang Ruowei and what he and Li Jinyao thought.
The map marked various locations with swirl symbols, where the ancient city had previously appeared. After his words, he stood and rushed out, heading straight to the location within Eastern Tomb Nation, which was the closest to the Forging Heaven Workshop, where the ancient city had appeared for the first time.
Bai Qiuran sighed, “Let’s find someone; we need to discuss our next plan.”
With the formation diagram in hand, the Xuanfa Academy’s progress surged forward in a day’s span.
“Hmm?”
Bai Qiuran was lost in thought, then suddenly pulled out an iron sword from his storage bag and slashed at the air with it.
Someone had quietly opened another space here, like making a hole in a flat piece of paper, allowing surrounding spirit energy to flow through tiny cracks into this space and form a persistent spirit energy swirl.
“The power of celestial phenomena?”
Bai Qiuran pondered deeply before continuing, “Since we need to force it to flee, I will finally get to stretch my muscles and see what other tricks it has left.”
Eventually, as he thought, he pulled the sword again, letting its white light condense substantially until with a shatter, he opened a black crack in the void.
“It’s no longer the celestial diagram,” Bai Qiuran realized.
Tangled in thoughts, Bai Qiuran took a deep breath as he pondered the objectives of the ancient city.