Zhang Xiaohua had gained some experience in embedding miniature formations into jade pendants on the deserted island. He had comprehended it even more thoroughly aboard the ship returning to the mainland. After returning to Songning Town, he had tried it once, successfully embedding a basic calming and breath-concentrating formation into an old jade pendant. With the intention of making amends, he gave it to Ji Xiaohua's mother.
However, when Zhang Xiaohua had embedded that formation into the jade pendant in Songning Town, although it had only been the most basic calming formation, Primordial Qi was scarce nowadays. Using hand seals to draw upon the qi had left him stretched thin. He had had to ponder over how to use the primordial stones together with the true qi within his body before barely managing to complete the pendant. At the time, his true qi had been greatly depleted, and exhaustion had turned his face pale.
Now, though, what Zhang Xiaohua wanted to embed in the jade pendant was a more advanced defensive formation. He had repeatedly studied this formation on the road back to Pingyang City, but whenever he formed the hand seals, he always felt a sense of obstruction. Once he reached a certain point, he could no longer continue, much less drive it into a jade pendant.
Yet today, as Zhang Xiaohua formed the hand seals, they flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water. It was as though all the former sluggishness had vanished. His heart stirred, but this was not the time to dwell on it. He hurriedly changed the seals in his hands without pause, completing the intricate transformations of the formation. Then he gave a clear shout: "Go!"
He pressed together the index and middle fingers of his left hand, channeling true qi through