A Chaotic World

Chapter 121: Like Inscriptions, Like Formations

Although Formation Master Beimu stayed in a five storey bamboo house, she usually only remained within the first four storeys.

But right now, Lu Tianzi somehow found himself standing alone in the fifth storey of the house.

The entire storey consisted of only a single large chamber, with no furniture whatsoever contained within.

This was where he would undergo the test prepared by Formation Master Beimu.

In order to be recognised as a formation master, other than being able to set powerful formations, one similarly had to be proficient at dismantling them. And that was exactly what Formation Master Beimu had decided to test Lu Tianzi on.

Weng-!

Along with a low buzzing sound, the ground started to emit a dim green glow.

It was the signal for the start of the test!

Lu Tianzi's vision immediately blurred, blocked out by a thick white mist that had descended upon the entire chamber. In the blink of an eye, his effective vision range was now limited to merely half a metre.

He closed his eyes before sending out his perception in all directions.

Under normal circumstances, even though the chamber was relatively huge, it should still not have been a problem for his perception to reach out to every corner.

But as expected, there was a disturbance in his surroundings, and Lu Tianzi's perception range was kept to within a metre.

A disorientating formation? Or an illusory formation?

Lu Tianzi opened his eyes once more, and with that he once again activated his rudimentary version of the Limitless Mirror Eye.

And after going through that hellish refinement, his eyes were now in a much stronger state than before!

He did not believe that with his current understanding of formations, coupled with both his perception and newly refined eyes, he would not be able to find a way to dismantle this wretched formation!

---

Four hours later, Beimu Fei found herself sitting on a chair, facing Formation Master Beimu who was seated in a light meditative state.

If Lu Tianzi saw this, he would immediately be reminded that this was exactly what Beimu Fei did while waiting for him to awaken the night before.

As her master, Formation Master Beimu naturally understood her well enough to know that Beimu Fei had something to ask of her.

"Speak your mind," Formation Master Beimu remarked, her eyes still closed.

Beimu Fei hesitated for moment before finally speaking. "Master, why did you increase the difficulty of the test?"

"Are you worried about him?"

"Tch! Who is worried about him?" Beimu Fei denied without a second thought. "I am just curious, that's all. Is he really that talented in the art of formations?"

"Why don't you go up now and take a look yourself?"

"Go up now? I'll pass! What is there to see before he actually breaks out of the formation? I am not a sadist who revels in others' distresss!" Beimu Fei sulked.

"Just head on up," Formation Master Beimu let out a meaningful smile. "He has already passed the test a long time ago."

Beimu Fei froze.

Huh?

He had already passed the test?

Then what was he still doing up there?

Beimu Fei shot a doubtful glance at Formation Master Beimu before heading straight for the stairs.

It was just a few single flights of stairs, and it did not take long before Beimu Fei arrived at the fifth storey.

But when she arrived, she was greeted by none other than a huge cloud of white mist.

Eh?

The formation was still active?

Beimu Fei subconsciously felt a wave of disappointment sweep over her.

Nanlu Tianzi still had not dismantled the formation after all!

It was not that she was hoping for Lu Tianzi to pass the test. But her respected master had been so sure of the fact that he had passed, so Beimu Fei could not help but feel a little betrayed.

But just as Beimu Fei turned around and was about to leave, a voice called out to her.

"Oh, did Formation Master Beimu ask you to come?"

This was the voice of that Nanlu Tianzi!

Beimu Fei immediately spun back around in surprise.

Without hesitation, Beimu Fei swept her perception across the entire chamber.

That was when she finally realised that instead of being trapped within the formation, Lu Tianzi was standing outside of it just like herself!

It was only that he was on the other side of the formation, preventing her from seeing him previously.

"You are already out?" Beimu Fei blurted out without thinking. "Then why is the formation still active?"

This was a disorientating formation, one that was meant to trap others by confusing their senses.

Once locked within, unless a martial artist had such overwhelming strength to completely disregard its effects, it would be impossible to leave its boundaries despite its small actual area.

Attempting to walk in a straight line would only result in the martial artist walking around in circles without their realisation.

However, established formation masters would be able to see through the patterns of a disorientating formation, allowing them to simply walk through the formation without a problem.

But that was not the point of the test.

In order to pass the test, Lu Tianzi was required to not only escape the formation, but to completely dismantle it!

And once a formation had been dismantled, it was only logical that it would immediately lose its effects.

So why on earth was this white mist still shrouding the bigger part of the chamber?

"Oh," Lu Tianzi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he walked towards Beimu Fei. "I suddenly had an epiphany and decided to try and adjust the structure of the formation. So I activated the formation again in order to study it better. Was that too presumptuous of me?"

"Adjust the structure of the formation?" Beimu Fei widened her eyes in shock.

Just yesterday, this young man before her was still a complete novice in regards to the art of formations.

Yet now, he actually dared to try and adjust the structure of a formation that was placed by Formation Master Beimu?

What impudence!

Wait a minute did Formation Master Beimu already know of this, and yet allowed him to continue doing so?

If so, then were his adjustments really able to improve the effectiveness of the formation?

Thinking up to this point, Beimu Fei's rising anger started to deflate.

"What adjustments did you make? Why does it still look the same?" Beimu Fei asked in curiosity.

Beimu Fei might be arrogant in nature. But when it came to the art of formations, she was nothing but a keen learner, hoping to absorb whatever knowledge was available!

Hearing that the other party was not offended, Lu Tianzi silently let out a sigh of relief. "Do you know about inscriptions?"

"Inscriptions?" Beimu Fei repeated.

Oh right, didn't General Nanbai mention that he was an inscription master?

She naturally knew about the existence of inscriptions, but why did he suddenly mention them?

"That's right! Inscriptions!" Lu Tianzi nodded excitedly, his interest obviously piqued once again. "Yesterday, Formation Master Beimu told me to imagine that a formation is a larger version of an inscription. I was unable to understand that at the time. But after a night of study, I think I finally get what she meant!

Just like inscriptions, formations are made of multiple energy nodes. For inscriptions, they would be the inscription runes. As for formations, they could be anything ranging from formation flags to mere stones. Of course, depending on what is being used as its energy nodes, it would greatly influence the effectiveness of the formation."

"Get to the point," Beimu Fei snapped impatiently. She naturally knew about this basic knowledge.

"Therefore, by relying on this common trait shared by the two, it is theoretically possible to include inscriptions within a formation, or formations within an inscription!" Lu Tianzi exclaimed in excitement. "This could allow the activation of inscriptions by fulfilling certain conditions within a formation, or vice versa!"

"What do you mean?" Beimu Fei immediately frowned.

Beimu Fei had previously gone through the same jade slip that had been passed to Lu Tianzi, and thus their knowledge about the art of formations came from the same heritage.

However, this concept was not something that was included within the jade slip, but something that Lu Tianzi had come up with himself.

He had spent a great deal of effort and brainpower contemplating over this for the past few hours, and was now trying to obtain some form of acknowledgement, especially from someone with a higher mastery in the art of formations.

However, what Lu Tianzi did not expect was that Beimu Fei had no idea what he was talking about!

After all, her knowledge in the art of formations might be solid, but she had almost zero understanding about the art of inscriptions.

Right now, she was even thinking that there might be something wrong with his brains!

But Lu Tianzi naturally did not know about her inner thoughts.

"If applied well, these adjustments could greatly increase the versatility of these formations and inscriptions, allowing their effectiveness to reach a level much higher than before!" Lu Tianzi continued.

Not knowing what to say, Beimu Fei slowly turned her gaze away from Lu Tianzi and back to the white mist before her. "So this is what you came up with? Why does it look exactly the same as before?"

"Well," Lu Tianzi sighed helplessly. "Drawing inscriptions runes require inscription materials, and I happen to be lacking in those at the moment"

Beimu Fei was speechless.

What kind of inscription master lacked inscription materials?

Was he bullshitting her?

"Whatever, come down when you are done. Don't make Master wait!" Beimu Fei turned to head back downstairs.

Her cold reaction dampened Lu Tianzi's piqued interest in dabbling with the formation, but having already been told, he had no choice but to follow.

They quickly came before Formation Master Beimu who still had her eyes closed in light meditation.

"Master, Nanlu Tianzi is here," Beimu Fei said.

Formation Master Beimu nodded before replying with her eyes still closed.

"You have passed the test, Nanlu Tianzi. As I promised, this entitles you to being a student of mine. As my student, I will pass on to you my knowledge on the art of formations. But in exchange, you will not leak this knowledge to outsiders without my permission, nor will you use it against the good of the Beimu Clan. Even with that, are you still willing to accept me as your teacher?"

Lu Tianzi listened to her words with a tinge of surprise.

The restrictions set on him it seemed that none of them benefited Formation Master Beimu?

But if so, why would she put in the effort to teach him about the art of formations?

Lu Tianzi was not nearly childish enough to think that Formation Master Beimu simply wanted to experience the joy of spreading her knowledge to the masses. Otherwise, she would not have set the restriction of not leaking her teachings out to outsiders without her permission.

There was no free lunch in this world.

Everything had its price.

Even so-called friendship was formed on the basis of mutual help and benefits.

Of course, some people might ask for much less in return, but there would always be something that they wanted.

This did not have to be something tangible. Even if they were unable to obtain any benefits from the very person they helped, it could still be something in the form of fame or admiration from others.

Oh, fame or admiration?

Was that it?

By accepting talented students, Formation Master Beimu would be able to further increase her own level of prestige when they moved on to perform well out in the world.

Lu Tianzi grinned.

That was an acceptable exchange. After all, he was not losing anything at all.

This was definitely a trade in which he had much more to gain! And with that, there was simply no reason for him to reject this offer.

Lu Tianzi clasped his fist towards Formation Master Beimu. "I am willing, Teacher!"