The air fell silent for a moment.
Difu drew his gaze away from Yan Lei's nine-headed Xiangliu body and looked at Di Chunqiu again.
He slowly sat back down on the stone platform. When he spoke, his voice was gentler than before.
"Your clone's mastery of formations... is impressive. To drive Nine Songs single-handedly while still in the Chaos Realm takes a degree of control I might not have possessed at your level."
He paused, a complicated look flickering through his golden eyes.
"I rebuked you for dividing your attention because I didn't understand the nature of your clone. Now I see it was built for formations from the very beginning.
"If you devote it to the Formation Dao, its future is bright!"
But then Difu's tone shifted, and regret surfaced in his golden eyes.
"What a pity."
He sighed softly.
"You've already reached the Chaos Realm, and your progress in Destruction Origin is advancing by leaps and bounds. If you focus on comprehending this path and keep building on what you've learned, becoming a God-King through Destruction Origin is only a matter of time.
"If I made you set aside the Destruction Origin Great Dao to focus on formations now, I'd be holding you back.
"First, become a God-King through the Destruction Origin Great Dao. Once you cross that threshold, come find me. I'll teach you everything I've learned about formations, without holding anything back!"
Fang Yan gave a light laugh.
"Thank you for your kindness, Emperor Lord, but this clone of mine isn't a perfect clone."
Difu's brow twitched.
"Oh?"
Fang Yan's Di Chunqiu clone raised his right hand and tapped a finger against the void.
All nine pairs of Yan Lei's snake eyes lit up with a deep blue glow.
"This clone is named Yan Lei. He's