Chapter 36: The Fundamentals of Formations

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Fundamentals of Formations

Ye Xuan stood up and stored the technique scrolls back in his bag of holding.

However, he took out the teleportation token and activated it immediately.

The teleportation token lit up, manifesting an array of runes above the circular altar that served as the entrance to the pagoda beneath the lake.

Ye Xuan hadn’t come here solely to ask Senior Wang for help.

He also wanted to deliver the Water Elemental Essence that the senior had requested.

Perhaps doing so would make Senior Wang more willing to guide him and help him understand formations and arrays.

He stepped forward and was immediately transported to the pagoda beneath the lake, where he witnessed the magnificent golden pagoda continuously emitting what seemed to be an endless supply of spiritual qi.

Upon arriving in the courtyard in front of the pagoda, he walked forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"This junior pays his respects to Senior Wang."

"Welcome, Ye Xuan," Senior Wang’s voice echoed from within the pagoda.

"I’ve come to deliver the Water Elemental Essence and ask Senior Wang for some guidance."

"Come in, Ye Xuan."

The golden pagoda’s doors opened, catching Ye Xuan’s attention.

He walked inside and climbed the stairs until he reached the seventh floor, the top of the pagoda.

Inside the chamber, he saw Senior Wang sitting cross-legged on his altar, cultivating.

However, upon sensing Ye Xuan’s arrival, the senior immediately paused his cultivation.

Ye Xuan patted his bag of holding and handed over several pouches containing Water Elemental Essence of different grades.

Senior Wang accepted the pouches and stored them in his own bag of holding before turning his attention back to Ye Xuan.

"Have you learned the formation I gave you?" Wang Shuyuan asked.

"I encountered some difficulties while trying to comprehend it. It felt as though something was missing, but I couldn’t figure out what it was."

"That’s why I came here, aside from delivering the Water Elemental Essence," Ye Xuan added.

"It seems you still don’t fully understand the art of formations and arrays, Ye Xuan."

"That’s all right. I understand. I’ll help you, since you’ve helped me so much."

Wang Shuyuan raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

With his power, the chamber instantly transformed into an immense, seemingly boundless dimension. Ink-wash paintings of mountains adorned the surroundings, while the floor beneath their feet became a tranquil water surface that rippled only when they stepped upon it.

"Fundamentally, the art of formations and arrays differs from combat techniques and other disciplines. Formations are created to combine power, defense, and spiritual abilities."

"Those who understand combat techniques don’t necessarily understand how formations and arrays work. However, if you master this art, you’ll be able to understand how combat and defensive techniques function more thoroughly and quickly."

Ye Xuan listened attentively as Wang Shuyuan explained the fundamental principles of formations and arrays.

Wang Shuyuan swept his hand through the air, manifesting a magical rune array above his head.

Ye Xuan and Qingyu both focused their attention on it.

"Tell me, Ye Xuan."

"What do you see in this array?" Wang Shuyuan asked.

Ye Xuan narrowed his eyes, trying to recall what he knew about rune characters and their patterns.

The markings on the rune array resembled the rune characters he had studied before.

"A rune array formed by combining rune characters and rune patterns."

"That’s correct," Wang Shuyuan replied, "But you’ve overlooked one important thing."

Wang Shuyuan swept his hand forward, conjuring a water dragon that emerged from it, startling Ye Xuan.

A moment later, he deactivated the array and modified its rune structure.

Ye Xuan watched as the changes took place. Some of the rune characters were replaced, and the patterns changed as well.

Wang Shuyuan then demonstrated the array’s power again, unleashing an entirely different attack.

The water dragon transformed into a fire phoenix.

This revelation opened Ye Xuan’s eyes. He realized that even small changes to a rune array’s structure could alter its form and nature.

"Have you noticed?" Wang Shuyuan asked.

"The array remained the same, and the number of characters didn’t change either. However, modifying a few characters caused the rune pattern to change."

"As a result, the power and nature of the original rune array changed according to the modifications."

Wang Shuyuan smiled and nodded in approval.

He then dismissed the rune array and manifested every rune character he knew as floating strokes in the air. They drifted slowly around them.

"There are a total of 317 rune characters commonly used in formations. Each character has its own meaning and connections to others."

The man then projected two rune characters with different meanings: one representing water and the other representing fire.

Since the two elements had different properties, additional rune characters were needed to combine them without causing the formation to fail.

Thus, a mist array could be created. If rune characters representing illusions or distortions were added, it would become a mystical mist array. If characters representing beasts were incorporated as well, it would become a Mystical Serpent Mist Array.

"The key to understanding a formation doesn’t lie in memorizing its patterns and runes. It’s about knowing how to use rune characters and patterns to bring the formation into existence."

"Your mistake lies in your approach. You tried to memorize the runes without understanding the meaning of each character or how those characters relate to particular patterns."

"If you continue practicing this way, you’ll only encounter failure after failure."

Ye Xuan listened to every explanation Wang Shuyuan gave him.

Although he still didn’t fully understand rune characters and their patterns, the senior’s explanations were easy enough for him to follow.

"I think I understand what I need to do now, Senior Wang."

Wang Shuyuan nodded.

He swept his hand through the air again, and several rune characters began to fade and disappear, leaving only a portion of them behind.

"Of the 317 characters, you must understand at least 243 basic rune characters before you can begin practicing formations and arrays."

"Get started, Ye Xuan," Wang Shuyuan instructed.

Ye Xuan followed Wang Shuyuan’s instructions.

He immediately sat cross-legged and meditated, forming the hand seals for his Basic Comprehension Technique.

With this ability, he could absorb the essence of each rune character’s meaning and study it through his dantian until he achieved a complete understanding.

Wang Shuyuan glanced at Qingyu, "You have a clever partner."

Qingyu could hear and understand what Wang Shuyuan had said.

[Of course! I have excellent taste when it comes to choosing someone!]

She raised her head proudly, clearly pleased with herself.

Wang Shuyuan turning his attention back to Ye Xuan.

However, the moment Ye Xuan activated his Basic Comprehension Technique, the rune characters floating around him suddenly trembled.

One character after another began to glow.

Wang Shuyuan’s smile froze, "What?"

He stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

"How is this possible?"