Chapter 124: Patching the Formation
Chen Beiwu had just stepped into the Formation Hall when a graceful female cultivator in green robes walked up to greet him.
“Senior Brother, may I ask what matter you have co to handle?” she asked with a smile.
“Applying to join the Formation Hall,” Chen Beiwu said.
Hearing this, the green-robed female cultivator froze slightly.
The Mirror Moon Sect was renowned in the Earth Proliferation Territory for its pill-refining arts. Most cultivators who joined the sect aid directly for the Alchemy Hall.
The Formation Hall, while not completely without visitors, rarely saw cultivators willing to join.
But what was going on today?
Already, five cultivators had co one after another to apply for entry into the Formation Hall.
Sensing the surprise in the female cultivator’s eyes, Chen Beiwu asked, “Is there a problem?”
“No, please follow .” Sun Ying led the way ahead.
Stepping into a side hall, Sun Ying halted, turned back toward Chen Beiwu, and said, “Please wait here for a mont. The Hall Master will be here shortly.”
Chen Beiwu nodded, casually found a seat, and let his gaze sweep across the two n and two won nearby. Soon, their conversation caught his attention.
“Hall Master Yun seldom manages hall affairs personally. Who would have thought she would serve as examiner today?” the palace-dressed woman said excitedly.
The veiled woman’s eyes held yearning. “It’s a pity that the Hall Master never accepts disciples. Otherwise, I would truly wish to seize this chance to enter her tutelage and learn formation knowledge.”
“That’s not entirely impossible. Brother Zhou, having already achieved Second-Tier Formation Master status at such a young age, might earn Hall Master Yun’s special regard,” the rough-looking man interjected.
“Yes, Brother Zhou’s talent in formations far surpasses ours. Perhaps he really has a chance,” the palace-dressed woman flattered.
The veiled woman pursed her lips and said nothing.
“Stop, stop! Any more and I’ll start floating away.” Zhou Quan waved his hand. His mouth spoke humility, yet pride was written all across his brows.
In his holand, he was a peerless genius in formation arts.
He began Qi Refining at three, studied formations at four, beca a formation apprentice at six, a First-Tier Formation Master at sixteen, advanced to First-Tier High-Grade at twenty-two, and by thirty-eight had reached Second-Tier Low-Grade—his status equal to a Foundation Establishnt cultivator.
Inwardly, he admitted that within the pill-rich Alchemy Hall, such formation talent might not be extraordinary.
But within the Formation Hall, which held little prominence in the sect, he was absolutely one of the brightest geniuses.
“Senior Brother, are you also here to apply to join the Formation Hall?” the veiled woman, Zi Ling, greeted Chen Beiwu.
The mont he had stepped into the side hall, she had sensed that his identity was not simple.
“Greetings, Senior Brother,” the other three also saluted him lightly.
“Yes, I am quite interested in formations.” Chen Beiwu nodded. After a brief exchange, he began asking about the Formation Hall’s benefits.
“Joining the Formation Hall grants one a guaranteed sect stipend. A First-Tier Formation Master may earn up to one hundred contribution points per year, and a Second-Tier Formation Master up to one thousand.
“In addition, the Formation Hall holds monthly lectures to resolve disciples’ doubts. The instructors are at least Second-Tier Middle-Grade Formation Masters.
“With enough luck, one might even receive personal guidance from Hall Master Yun or the Vice Hall Master—both grandmasters of formations.”
Listening to Zi Ling’s explanation, Chen Beiwu imdiately understood the sect’s intentions.
An annual fixed wage of at most one hundred contribution points was not much, but like a dangling carrot, it was just enough to cover the expenses of inscribing formation disks and the basic needs of daily life for a First-Tier Formation Master.
If such a Formation Master wished for extra cultivation resources or breakthrough pills to keep improving rather than dying of old age, they would have to toil like an old ox, diligently completing sect tasks day after day, to gather enough contribution points for a chance at Foundation Establishnt.
‘Fortunately, I have the Gate of Ten Directions,’ Chen Beiwu thought.
If he relied solely on the sect’s fixed stipend, he would need at least eighty years to save enough contribution points to exchange for a Spirit Fusion Pill.
Luckily, his present goal was simple—rely to join the Formation Hall, and thus gain the right to take Formation Hall–exclusive tasks.
That way, he would avoid the embarrassnt of seeing suitable missions at the Task Hall but being unable to accept them.
“May I ask boldly, Senior Brother Chen, what tier of Formation Master are you?” Zhao Qingxue, the palace-dressed female cultivator, asked curiously.
“First-Tier Formation Master.”
After advancing to the Tenth Level of Qi Refining, Chen Beiwu’s divine sense had soared, allowing him to integrate most of the contents of the Six Spirits of Formations.
But limited by his cultivation and mana, his attainnts could not yet be considered Second-Tier.
Hearing this, Zhou Quan’s eyes lit up as he suggested, “I have so insights in formation research. If Senior Brother Chen is interested, we can spar and learn from each other when free.”
The sect’s hierarchy was strict: at the top were the true disciples, followed by sequence disciples, main-line disciples, inner-sect disciples, and outer-sect disciples.
Thus, even though Zhou Quan was a Foundation Establishnt cultivator and a Second-Tier Formation Master, upon entering the Mirror Moon Sect he was granted only inner-sect disciple status. Despite his cultivation being far above Chen Zi’ang’s, he still had to address Chen Beiwu as Senior Brother, or else it would be discourteous.
Just then, a woman in a silver wide-sleeved flowing gown, with a gauzy veil over her face and hair cascading to her waist, walked in, followed by the green-robed Sun Ying.
“Greetings to Hall Master Yun.” Everyone imdiately rose and bowed.
Yun Yishu gave a slight nod, her gaze pausing almost imperceptibly on Chen Beiwu.
In just a few months apart, this Junior Brother Chen had already stepped into the Tenth Level of Qi Refining—no wonder Senior Sister Zhu valued him.
What struck her as odd was that the fourth disciple recently taken under her master’s wing showed no interest in artifact-refining, but instead wished to join the Formation Hall.
“Let’s begin,” Yun Yishu said concisely.
At her words, Sun Ying promptly retrieved four sets of formation disks from her storage pouch, distributing them to the group while explaining:
“The first assessnt for joining the hall is formation restoration. The ti limit is one stick of incense. The shorter the ti and the more complete the restoration, the higher the score.”
Chen Beiwu received the disk and noticed that everyone had been given identical ones.
“Please check the disks and formation pens,” Sun Ying glanced around and said, “If there are no issues, the assessnt begins now.”
As her words fell, she lit the purple sandalwood incense on the jade table, marking the start.
‘The formation lines flow unpredictably, missing a full thirty percent. Its aura is weak, riddled with flaws, yet it still conceals a lurking murderous intent.’
A sweep of Chen Beiwu’s divine sense revealed that this disk carried a First-Tier High-Grade water-attribute unknown killing formation.
By the principles of Nine Nodes of Spirit Pivots, the Five Phases’ cycles of generation and restraint, the Three Rules of formation disks, and the Yin-Yang transformations, he only needed to locate two key Spirit Pivot nodes. From there, he could follow the trend and easily complete the restoration.
‘Kan Three, Dui Five; Qian Two, Kan Eight.’
Identifying the Spirit Pivots, Chen Beiwu put his pen to the disk, inscribing in one smooth motion, and finished the restoration of the broken formation.
Looking up, he saw Zhou Quan and the others still struggling to patch theirs.
Not giving it further thought, Chen Beiwu handed his disk to Sun Ying.
She looked startled and asked softly, “Senior Brother Chen, are you certain you’ve finished restoring it?”
At her words, the entire hall was shaken.
Zi Ling and the others raised their heads, faces full of disbelief.
Zhou Quan’s hand trembled, nearly ruining his disk.
“How could that be!”
Taking a deep breath, his gaze turned complicated as he looked at Chen Beiwu.
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