A Draw

Day and night alternated, the river of stars shifted, yet only the sun and moon remained eternal, rising in the east and setting in the west, unchanged since time immemorial.

A towering mountain reached straight into heaven and earth, standing firm like a celestial pillar.

At the mountaintop, wind and clouds gathered. Endless innate spiritual energy turned into thick mist and surged toward a low earthen mound.

Thump!

Thump! Thump!

One powerful heartbeat after another rang out beneath the silent night sky, like the tolling of great bells.

On the ground, dust bounced, trees trembled, and countless petals and green leaves scattered through the air.

Countless stones slid from the small earthen mound, which split open with bottomless cracks.

Thump!

The heartbeat suddenly grew heavier!

Within the pitch-black crack, a deep-blue eye snapped open!

The swaying flowers, grass, and trees around it abruptly froze. Even the wind and clouds paused at that instant.

Suddenly!

The Big Dipper and the Lunar Star in the heavens burst forth with boundless radiance, illuminating the entire summit of Kunlun Mountain.

Boom!

The earthen mound exploded!

A streak of blue light leaped into the sky!

Infinite light shone across heaven and earth, causing even the Lunar Star to dim.

Then a cold voice resounded between heaven and earth.

"Formation, arise!"

In an instant!

Countless patterns lit up across the mountaintop, spreading nine hundred zhang through heaven and earth!

The broken stones, flowers, grass, and trees on the ground instantly turned to dust.

In the small courtyard, the lifeless Duobao and the innocent Huanglong, caught in the crossfire, stared with numb eyes. Biting their pen tips, they looked at the questions in their hands and felt their heads swell.

What were the three hundred and sixty transformations of formations?

How should one properly handle conflicting attributes encountered during pill refinement?

How could one maximize the use of materials in artifact refinement?

What the hell was all this?

I slept whenever Martial Uncle lectured on the Dao. How was I supposed to know any of this?!

Duobao wailed inwardly, then secretly glanced at Huanglong beside him. He found him staring blankly ahead, his test paper completely empty.

Heavens, which damned bastard came up with this crooked method of setting questions for an assessment?!

"Junior Brother, what are you staring blankly for? Hurry up and write. There is only one hour left."

Guang Chengzi looked at the dazed Duobao and reminded him.

Duobao nodded woodenly. Looking at the test paper, his vision immediately went black.

Watching the hourglass beside him steadily drain away, the pressure in his heart grew immense.

Just as he was about to scribble down nonsense, a tremor suddenly came from the courtyard.

Duobao, Guang Chengzi, and Huanglong all looked over. Within the mirror, Bai Ze stood high in the air.

With a sharp shout from him, countless patterns lit up within a radius of nine hundred zhang.

For a moment, Duobao had no mind left for questions. In a flash, he appeared before the mirror that sealed the formation spirit.

Looking at Bai Ze in the mirror, brimming with vigor and surrounded by such imposing momentum, he smiled knowingly.

"This brat, breaking through is one thing, but did he have to make such a huge spectacle of it?!"

At that moment, Guang Chengzi and Huanglong also came to Duobao's side. Looking at Bai Ze, who controlled a nine-hundred-zhang formation, surprise flashed through their eyes.

But when they saw Duobao's delight, the surprise in their eyes was instantly replaced with gentleness.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother. Bai Ze has comprehended nine hundred zhang of the formation in three thousand years. The success you spoke of, comprehending the formation within five thousand years, is now within sight."

Duobao smiled and waved his hand. "Then I should congratulate you as well, Senior Brother. Judging by Bai Ze's current aura, he will certainly break through to the middle stage of True Form before entering the sect."

"This round counts as a draw."

Seeing Duobao's smug, eyebrow-waggling expression, Guang Chengzi naturally understood what he was thinking.

"You, honestly... fine. A wager is a wager. Since I lost, I'll give you this Acquired Spirit Treasure in advance."

Duobao chuckled, but did not accept it. According to their wager, Bai Ze had to completely master this thousand-zhang formation within five thousand years for Duobao to win.

They had already waited three thousand years. What were another two thousand?

"No need, Senior Brother. It won't be too late to give it to me once Bai Ze has fully comprehended it."

Guang Chengzi shook his head and smiled. "Very well."

The three watched for a while. Only after Bai Ze descended from the sky and resumed his comprehension did they leave.

This time, however, none of them entered seclusion to cultivate. He had comprehended four hundred zhang of the formation in a mere thousand years; the remaining hundred zhang would not take long.

They might as well wait here and finish the assessment they had not completed.

Naturally, Guang Chengzi was the one who proposed this.

Duobao and Huanglong had been forced to accept.

After Guang Chengzi's round of friendly negotiation, Duobao and Huanglong covered their bruised eye sockets and said:

"You're the Eldest Senior Brother. You're right!"

Within the formation, Bai Ze walked through the nine-hundred-layered forbidden formation.

This was the first time in three thousand years of comprehending the formation that he had dared to walk about without worry.

Looking at the dazzling formation patterns glowing around him, Bai Ze's thoughts stirred.

The formation patterns immediately dimmed, then vanished from sight.

Over these thousand years, he had spent most of his time comprehending the formation and nurturing his Fleshly Body Inscription.

He had also tried to condense another Fleshly Body Inscription, but for some reason, he could never find the right method.

"Perhaps my accumulation is too shallow, which is why I cannot condense a new inscription. After all, it took me a full five thousand years of cultivation to complete this one inscription."

"Within that, I even spent a thousand years suppressing my cultivation before I finally succeeded by chance."

"Now that I have begun accumulating anew, only a thousand years have passed. It is still far too early."

Bai Ze thought to himself. He had succeeded purely through his own cultivation; if he could consume some heavenly materials and earthly treasures, perhaps he could shorten the process.

"However, I have not yet fully mastered the formation, and I still need to meet the Three Pure Ones. The matter of seeking heavenly materials and earthly treasures will have to be delayed for a while."

Fortunately, the day the Huangzhong Plum ripened was still far away, leaving him ample time.

There was enough time to prepare everything.

Bai Ze looked at the final hundred zhang of the formation. After careful consideration, he decided to master the spatial divine ability Duobao had given him before continuing to comprehend the formation.

After all, the final hundred zhang had already reached the core of the forbidden formation. If he encountered an attack from the formation spirit while comprehending it, or if the Three Pure Ones expelled him—

Wouldn't that mean wasting this boundless innate spiritual energy and this exceptionally safe place for nothing?

That would truly be a loss that outweighed the gain.

He immediately sat down cross-legged and began earnestly comprehending the spatial divine ability he had exchanged with Duobao.

This divine ability was one of Duobao's innate talents.

It could ignore innate and acquired formations alike, directly opening space within the void.

Once mastered, it could become a blessed grotto-heaven for storing all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. In battle, it could also conceal one within the void, allowing one to strike when an enemy was unprepared and kill them!

Passing through formations was merely its most superficial use.

It was precisely because of this divine ability, paired with Duobao's innate Treasure-Seeking Art, that the name of the Jie Sect's Eldest Senior Brother would shake the world in later ages.

Ever since entering the sect, Bai Ze had temporarily set this divine ability aside due to cultivation and formation comprehension. Now that he was about to master the forbidden formation, it was time to place this divine ability on the agenda.

Not to mention that this method was of paramount importance for obtaining the Huangzhong Plum in the future.

For himself, it was also a life-saving trump card that allowed both attack and retreat.

Although he did not believe the Three Pure Ones would care about such an insignificant ant as him.

Still, anything was possible!

If he could fully comprehend it before meeting the Three Pure Ones, then even if some unforeseen mishap occurred during that meeting—

He would have one more sliver of hope for survival!

Bai Ze gazed deeply into the void and began comprehending the divine ability.