The Trial
Inside the Star Tower, Lin Ming and his companions walked through the tower and arrived at a circular platform.
In the center of the platform is an Altar -like object, upon which rests a deep blue Crystal Stone.
The dark blue Crystal Stone suddenly lit up as Lin Ming and his Crystal Stone approached, casting a dark blue light that condensed into a blurry human figure above the Altar.
The figure was extremely ethereal, like a wisp of smoke blown away by the wind, yet it still retained an extremely profound aura.
He was an old man dressed in a star-blue robe, with a gaunt face and eyes as deep as stars. On his forehead was an extremely complex silver Spiritual Runes, like a miniature starry sky etched between his brows.
Although his figure was extremely ethereal, the wisdom and composure emanating from his very bones were still clearly discernible, like a star that had fallen thousands of years ago still radiating its last light.
"To have reached this point means you have broken through my defenses." The illusory figure spoke slowly, its voice ethereal and distant, as if it had traveled through Space-Time from millennia past.
"I, the Master of the Star Residence, leave behind a wisp of my lingering spirit, awaiting a destined one. If you can pass the three-tiered array test I have set up, you will receive my inheritance and the Star Residence's token. If not, please leave."
His gaze swept through the illusory light, passing over Lin Ming and the other three, before finally settling on Lin Ming.
A faint glimmer flashed in those deep, star-like eyes, like a star twinkling slightly in the darkness.
"Young man, your mastery of Array Dao formations is quite impressive. I look forward to seeing your performance."
As soon as the words were spoken, the illusory figure slowly dissipated, transforming back into a dark blue light that disappeared into the Crystal Stone.
Immediately, three Spiritual Runes rings appeared on the ground of the Altar, arranged from the inside out, each ring emitting a different luster.
The first halo is silver-white, the second is pale gold, and the third is a deep star blue.
Three halos of light floated silently above the Altar, like portals waiting to be opened, leading to the three trials left behind by the Master of the Star Residence.
Lin Ming stood before the Altar, his gaze fixed on the three Spiritual Runes halos.
The outermost silver-white halo emitted a soft glow, like a full moon compressed to a few feet in diameter, with fine Spiritual Runes slowly flowing on its surface, like a pool of silver water ruffled by the wind.
Lin Ming turned his head to look at Zi Yan nodded slightly to him, her purple-gold eyes filled with a mixture of trust and expectation.
North King and Xia Jia also stepped back, making room for Lin Ming.
Lin Ming withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and stepped into the silvery-white halo.
The moment his figure touched the light circle, he was enveloped in a silvery-white light. His whole body was like a stone thrown into water, creating ripples on the light membrane before disappearing from the Altar.
Light shifted and space changed. When Lin Ming opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar space.
It was a boundless void, with no reference points around it, and all around was a pure silver-white light, as if one were inside a silver star.
The ground beneath his feet was a giant mirror, reflecting his image as if another version of himself stood beneath him, facing him from afar.
An extremely dense array fluctuation permeated the void, surging in from all directions like a tide, enveloping the entire space in a complex Formation Patterns.
Lin Ming surveyed the space, his expression calm. His gaze swept over the mirror-like ground and then over the surrounding silvery-white void, and he quickly noticed something amiss.
Deep within that void, seven beams of light slowly illuminated. These beams displayed different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, like a rainbow broken into seven independent bands.
Each ray of light emitted a unique array-like fluctuation, arranged in a certain pattern, like a composite array disassembled into seven parts.
"Sevenfold Array," Lin Ming murmured. His voice echoed in the void, carrying a sense of understanding.
The seven beams of light corresponded to seven arrays, each representing a test. He needed to break through each of the seven arrays to pass the first test.
Judging from the fluctuations in the light emitted, the grades of these seven formations increase sequentially from low to high, with the purple formation on the far right being the highest grade, approaching the Grandmaster level.
Without hesitation, he strode toward the nearest crimson light.
The light suddenly brightened as he approached, transforming into a burning flame that hovered in front of him.
The flame contained an array, its structure not complex, just the interweaving of dozens of Spiritual Runes, but the Formation Patterns contained within were extremely exquisite.
Lin Ming's gaze swept over the flame, and his Soul Power probed into it, analyzing the structure of the formation one by one.
A moment later, he raised his finger and gently touched a spot in the flame.
A beam of light shot from his fingertips, precisely embedding itself in a weak point of the formation.
The flames trembled violently, struggling like a wild beast being choked, before a crack appeared in the middle. The Spiritual Runes collapsed as if their skeletons had been removed, turning into a patch of crimson light that dissipated into the void.
The first formation is broken.
Lin Ming didn't stop and turned to walk towards the second orange light.
The array contained within that ray of light was several times more complex than the first one, with the number of Spiritual Runes increasing from dozens to hundreds, and the connections between them becoming more precise and robust.
But Lin Ming only needed to observe for a few more moments to find the flaw.
There were three nodes in that formation that were slightly weaker than the rest, like three slightly thinner piers in a bridge.
He struck the three nodes simultaneously with three beams of spiritual light, and the entire formation collapsed like a building whose foundation had been removed.
The third, the fourth, the fifth... Lin Ming deciphered the arrays one after another. Each array was twice as difficult as the previous one, but his speed increased, and his perception of the array structures became more and more acute.
His Soul Power was like an invisible net, enveloping those formations. The structure, nodes, and weaknesses of each formation were clearly visible to him.
He was like a traveler who had traversed a maze countless times; even as the maze grew more and more complex, his intuition for the path became increasingly accurate.
When he reached the sixth blue array, he paused for a moment for the first time.
The array was extremely ingeniously structured, with hundreds of Spiritual Runes arranged in near-perfect symmetry. Each node was firmly protected by the others, like an impenetrable fortress.
His Soul Power scanned the formation several times before he finally found an extremely well-hidden flaw.
The flaw was located at the very core of the formation, enveloped by layers upon layers of Spiritual Runes, like a bright pearl protected by heavy armor.
An ordinary Array Dao Grandmaster would probably not be able to find that flaw, but his World Power can penetrate all external barriers and reveal the core structure of the array to him.
He raised his finger, and a beam of light, like a precise dagger, pierced the core weakness.
The blue array suddenly trembled, and the entire array, like a giant beast whose heart had been pierced, began to collapse in all directions from its core. The intricate Spiritual Runes shattered, dissipated, and turned into nothingness one after another.
The seventh purple array. Lin Ming stood before that purple light, his expression finally becoming more serious.
This formation is close to the Grandmaster level, with more than a thousand Spiritual Runes, each containing a unique Formation Patterns.
The Spiritual Runes intertwined, coiled, and nested together, forming a near-perfect closed loop, like an impenetrable Formation Patterns fortress.
He could sense that the Formation Patterns contained within the formation were extremely profound, integrating several attributes from the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. These elements complemented each other in an extremely exquisite way, like a miniature Five-Elements World.
"Interesting." Lin Ming's lips curled up slightly.
He could see that this formation had a strange similarity to the Five-Elements World within his own body; the mutual generation relationship between those Spiritual Runes was like the cycle of the Four Elements Origin within his body.
He sensed an extremely familiar aura from that formation, a profound understanding and exquisite application of the Five Elements Formation Patterns.
He took a deep breath, Five Elements Spiritual Energy circulated at full power in his meridians, creating a subtle resonance with the Five Elements Formation Patterns contained in the purple array.
Instead of rushing to decipher it, he carefully sensed the operation of every Spiritual Runes, every node, and every Array Eyes of the formation.
His mind sank into the purple light, like a chess player carefully studying a masterpiece endgame, repeatedly deducing the intention and consequences of each move.
The Five Elements Spiritual Runes within this formation complement and reinforce each other, forming a near-perfect loop. However, no loop can be without flaws.
He searched repeatedly within that purple light for a long time before finally finding the flaw.
The flaw was extremely well hidden, located at a very subtle point in the cycle of the Five Elements' mutual generation.
That node is the transition point between the Fire Element and Metal elements, which should have been harmonized by the Earth Element. However, the person who set up the formation omitted the harmonization of the Earth Element here in order to make the cycle of the Five Elements tighter, and directly connected the Fire Element and Metal elements together.
While this approach can enhance the power of the formation in the short term, it also makes this point the weakest link in the entire formation, like a forcibly welded interface in a chain, seemingly solid but actually fragile.
Lin Ming raised his hands, his ten fingers forming an extremely slow hand seal in front of his chest.
Spiritual Energy flowed and condensed at his fingertips, transforming into a light blade about a foot long.
The light blade was like a sharp blade specifically designed to cut through array structures. He gently pushed the light blade forward, and it disappeared into the purple light like a nimble fish.
The light blade precisely cut into the weld point between fire and metal at the core of the formation, severing the forcibly connected node in two like a scalpel.
The moment the connection between the Fire Element and metal elements was severed, the Five Elements' cycle of the entire formation suddenly became unbalanced. The originally mutually reinforcing Spiritual Runes began to clash, collide, and strangle each other like wild horses that had been freed from their restraints.
A blinding burst of light erupted from the purple light, and the near-master-level formation collapsed in the internal conflict, with countless purple light spots flying in all directions like a grand fireworks display.