True Understanding of Formation Dao

"Seventh Elder, that's not right!"

No sooner had the Seventh Elder finished than the Third Elder retorted, "The Eastern Continent is vast and unsuitable for cultivation. If our clan's juniors spend too long searching, it will certainly delay their training."

"Now that the Sixth Heaven and Earth Cataclysm is approaching, these juniors must enter the world to compete with disciples of the great ancient clans for resources."

"If their cultivation falls behind, how can they contend with the other ancient clan disciples in this coming cataclysm?"

"Building ties with the Ye Imperial Clan is important, but the upcoming cataclysm cannot be abandoned either!"

Well...

Hearing the Third Elder's words, the Seventh Elder found nothing to say. The great hall fell once more into silence.

Li Tianchen sat in the clan leader's seat, silently observing everything in the hall. His purpose in summoning these elders for discussion was to send the clan's juniors into the world to find this Innate Dao Body.

Seeing the moment was ripe, he spoke, "Elders, each of you has your own arguments. This Seat forgot to mention one matter."

"Fifteen years ago, This Seat requested the Judgment Divine Envoy to capture Li Changqing in the Canglan Domain."

"This Seat deduces that the remnants of the Criminal Branch are likely hidden by Li Changqing among the mortal world of the Canglan Domain."

Hearing Li Tianchen's words, the elders present brightened. The Canglan Domain was not small, but compared to the vast Eastern Continent, its scope was greatly reduced.

The difficulty of the search would drop manyfold, and the time spent by the clan's juniors would be significantly lessened, barely affecting their competition for opportunities in the coming cataclysm.

For the sake of allying with the Ye Imperial Clan, this risk was entirely worth taking.

"Clan Leader, rest assured. We will return at once and send the disciples of our branches into the Canglan Domain to find that remnant."

The many elders in the hall rose without hesitation and left to instruct their disciples to head for the Canglan Domain in search of the Innate Dao Body.

After earnestly instructing Qiuyue and finishing breakfast, Ye Jing went to the Hanlin Academy for his shift.

On the road, the yamen runners were still rudely forcing open commoners' doors and taking away all their chickens and ducks.

The streets of the Imperial Capital were filled with ragged, starving people collapsed on both sides.

It was hard to imagine this was a nation's capital, the wealthiest place in all of Dali.

Now, Dali was rotten from the top down. Minor officials and clerks ceaselessly squeezed the people, plunging the entire kingdom into chaos and misery.

If Hu Jie could overthrow Dali, perhaps he could give the common folk a way out.

Watching these scenes on the capital's streets, Ye Jing felt a flicker of hope that Hu Jie might succeed.

Pushing aside stray thoughts, Ye Jing entered the Hanlin Academy and began a new day's work.

Picking up a historical text from the desk, he started browsing.

The book recorded the life of a great Array Master, Chen Liu Xian.

Five thousand years ago, in the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom, a prodigy of the Path of Arrays was born: Chen Liu Xian.

Chen Liu Xian was born into a declining minor clan. At five, he began studying the Path of Arrays; by nine, his array cultivation was unmatched.

At just eighteen, he became the foremost Array Master in the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom.

But the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom thrived on Martial Arts, and the Path of Arrays had few Array Masters. Seeking a higher realm in the array dao, the eighteen-year-old Chen Liu Xian left his homeland alone to seek the way on overseas immortal mountains.

After only ten years abroad, his array dao reached great accomplishment, making him an undisputed Array Saint.

With his arrays perfected, Chen Liu Xian resolutely returned from overseas to the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom and founded the Formation Sect. At just twenty-eight, he became its founding patriarch.

Ten years later, a Demon Tide erupted from the Southern Ridge. Three thousand Great Demons led a million Demonic Creatures from the Southern Ridge into the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom, including Great Demons at the Demon Lord level.

The Chenliu Ancient Kingdom flourished in Martial Arts, with over a hundred at the Peak of Humanity and even two ancestors half a step into the God of Heaven and Earth realm. Its national power was immense, yet it could not withstand this rampaging Demon Tide.

Wherever the demon army passed, the people of Chenliu Ancient Kingdom became blood rations.

Within three days, the entire kingdom became a hell on earth. The population dropped by seventy percent, and for a thousand li, no human smoke remained.

Hearing that a million demons had thrown the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom into misery, Chen Liu Xian broke out of seclusion.

During those ten years in seclusion, he had tirelessly studied arrays, his cultivation growing daily until it reached unfathomable depths.

Seeing the bones strewn across the land and the thousand li of scorched earth, Chen Liu Xian finally erupted in fury. For the first time before the world, he unleashed the Great Heavenly Divine Formation that would stun the ages.

Using the Qujiang River as the formation's eye, Dutian Peak as its corner, and the Chenliu capital as its tail, Chen Liu Xian encompassed the entire millions-of-li territory of the Chenliu Ancient Kingdom within the formation.

He refined all million demons within the kingdom into blood essence. It was this heaven-defying formation that drained all of Chen Liu Xian's life force, causing him to die young at just thirty-eight.

Though Chen Liu Xian died early, the True Understanding of Formation Dao he left behind remains one of the greatest treasures of the array master's path.

[You have observed the life of Array Saint Chen Liu Xian with great focus, activating Heaven-Defying Comprehension.]

[Your Heaven-Defying Comprehension has allowed you to comprehend the True Understanding of Formation Dao.]

He had actually comprehended the True Understanding of Formation Dao! This was a fine thing!

Now was the Age of Dharma's End. For ordinary cultivators to take even a single step forward in Martial Arts required immense effort and sacrifice, the root cause being the thinness of heaven and earth's spiritual energy.

Qiuyue had already revealed supreme talent. Though her background might be complicated, Ye Jing had no intention of wasting her gifts.

However, Qiuyue's background and origins could very well be a hidden danger, and he himself was merely at the Grandmaster Realm.

Even though he had comprehended such an overpowering domain as the Time Domain, his combat strength was only that of a Great Grandmaster. He was no match for the renowned figures on the Dali Great Grandmaster Ranking.

The spiritual energy disturbance caused by Qiuyue's cultivation was also alarmingly intense. Any Grandmaster Realm cultivator passing by the Ye Manor could easily detect the anomaly in spiritual energy within its grounds.

But if he stopped Qiuyue from cultivating, Ye Jing felt a pang of reluctance. Such a rough gem, destined to roam the heavens and earth, how could she be trapped like him in this tiny Imperial Capital of Dali?

However, now that he had comprehended the True Understanding of Formation Dao, things were different.

The True Understanding of Formation Dao recorded thousands of formations, from grand celestial arrays to the humble Spirit Gathering Treasure Formation, all included within.

Now that he had grasped this True Understanding of Formation Dao, he could set up a Spirit Gathering Formation above the Ye Manor, drawing the spiritual energy of the void into the manor.

That way, Qiuyue would no longer have to worry about exposure. She could lie low in the Ye Manor and cultivate in peace.

With Qiuyue's cultivation talent, it would likely take only a few years for her to become a towering figure in the Martial Arts.