Chen Fei glanced around and found no traces of formations or restrictions. It seemed that this great hall only had a ninth-order formation surrounding it, with no defenses inside.
That was only natural. After all, if someone could break through the perimeter and enter the hall, any further restrictions inside would probably be futile.
Of course, some cultivators added self-destructive properties to their formations to keep their dwellings from being disturbed. Once the formation broke, everything within would be destroyed as well.
But where there were methods for laying formations, there were naturally secret arts for unraveling them. Even if a formation truly possessed a self-destructive property, the person unraveling it would have other ways to keep that property from activating.
Someone like Chen Fei, who entered without even breaking the formation, was even less likely to trigger its self-destruction. Without a cultivator directing it, a formation was like a dead object, less responsive even than an artifact spirit.
Chen Fei turned his gaze back to the desk. It was the only thing left in the entire hall, and there were no brushes, ink, paper, or inkstones on it. There was no jade box, nor any inheritance stones such as jade slips.
Confusion appeared in Chen Fei's eyes. Earlier, he had used the Heavenly Derivation Technique to divine top-grade spirit crystals and ninth-order cultivation arts, then vaguely sensed this location.
Yet there was nothing inside the hall. Did that mean only top-grade spirit crystals remained here?
And they were not even readily available top-grade spirit crystals. Chen Fei would probably have to find a way to dig out the crystals powering the ninth-order formation before he could call the job finished.
The heavenly secrets had become so muddled that even a vague sense of direction had grown this perfunctory.
Chen