Chapter 120 Art of Formations

Lu Tianzi sat in bed, driving the Essence energy within his inner world as he tried to assimilate the medical efficacy of the recovery pill.

By now, he was already feeling much better than before.

But at this very moment, his thoughts were distracted, and his entire body felt uncomfortable. No matter how hard he tried, he just could not bring himself to focus his attention on the recovery process.

And there was only one reason for that.

Lu Tianzi reluctantly opened his eyes to look at the person who was seated on a chair right beside his bed. It was a young lady who was dressed in long daoist robes, with her long hair pinned up in a bun.

"Finally done?" Beimu Fei asked when she noticed Lu Tianzi opening his eyes.

She had her arms crossed, leaning back into the chair and adopted an authorative posture while facing Lu Tianzi.

Hearing her question, Lu Tianzi felt the corner of his lips twitch wildly in response.

Was she asking that on purpose?

With her sitting right there, silently staring at him, how could Lu Tianzi even concentrate on his recovery?

Even if he had not fully recovered, he had no choice but to stop!

Lu Tianzi let out a deep sigh. "What is it?"

"You… are you really a complete beginner when it comes to the art of formations?" Beimu Fei asked.

Lu Tianzi felt as though his veins were about to pop out in irritation.

Even though he had not studied the art of formations in depth, he had still learnt a little about it back in Ivory Rock Martial Academy.

On top of that, he had also personally set up a few formations before.

With the way that Beimu Fei was speaking, it was as though she was completely disregarding his skills in that aspect.

He had thought that she was arrogant before this, but now that impression was only further solidified!

"I appreciate Formation Master Beimu's offer to allow me to stay for the night, but you are just a junior just like me. I have no need to answer your questions!" Lu Tianzi snapped.

He had had enough of her nonsense.

If she really wanted to argue, then he would just take her up on her offer!

Surprisingly, even after hearing his words, Beimu Fei did not flare up in response.

Instead, she simply furrowed her eyebrows, carefully scrutinising him from top to bottom.

Beimu Fei was not exactly ugly. In fact, she would definitely be considered as attractive in the looks department.

Normally, being paid such close attention by a young lady like her would have been a good feeling. However, the gaze that she had right now was as though she was looking at an experimental object, with zero traces of affection.

"W-What do you want?" Lu Tianzi felt his hair stand on ends.

Beimu Fei did not answer immediately, her thoughts drifting off to what happened just a while back.

After sending off General Nanbai Zhaoyu, Beimu Fei had returned to see Formation Master Beimu standing beside the long table, fiddling with a bamboo token in her hands.

At that moment, Beimu Fei had casually grumbled about how that Nanlu Tianzi had made a mess of the table top formation.

However, Formation Master did not say a word in response.

When Beimu Fei was finally just about done complaining, Formation Master Beimu suddenly spoke three words.

You have lost.

These were three simple words.

Yet these three simple words were enough to cut directly into the heart of Beimu Fei, causing her to freeze in her steps.

Lost?

Her? She lost?

Lost in terms of what? Who had she lost to?

Of course, those were just thoughts of denial.

When Beimu Fei saw the bamboo token in Formation Master Beimu's hands, she had known clearer than anyone else that this must be regarding the little competition she had with Nanlu Tianzi.

In other words, Nanlu Tianzi had managed to find the core of the formation before she did!

When?

Was it when he broke the table top formation?

So even though he lacked even the basic knowledge to know that breaking a table top formation would result in a huge backlash, Nanlu Tianzi was still able to find the core of the table top formation?

What kind of ridiculous concept was that?

An inscription master?

Was that the reason why?

Beimu Fei recalled the advice that Formation Master Beimu had given to Nanlu Tianzi earlier, asking him to imagine that a formation was just a larger inscription.

However, was that really sufficient to explain this?

No, there was no way that would be enough.

Otherwise, every inscription master would have been capable of becoming a formation master as well!

Did he employ a secret technique in order to quickly identify the core of the formation?

Or was he just acting?

She would have asked Formation Master Beimu, but for some reason the latter seemed to be reluctant to discuss the matters regarding Nanlu Tianzi with her for now, perhaps because she was still trying to figure it out as well.

Because of that, Beimu Fei found herself in Nanlu Tianzi's room, patiently waiting for him to open his eyes.

She needed to personally ask him in order to find out how he managed to do it!

Otherwise, her burning curiosity would kill her from the inside!

But now it seemed like the other party had quite a bad impression towards her, and was obviously unwilling to reveal his cards to her.

Beimu Fei could let out a helpless sigh.

She had truly acted too arrogantly earlier. It seemed like she would have to carefully mend the relationship between them before asking him again for his secret.

After all, it could possibly be a method that would allow her to advance far more easily as a formation master in the future!

She clearly understood that sometimes it was worth swallowing a bit of pride in exchange for a brighter future.

At this moment, a gentle voice came from the door.

"Are you feeling better?" Formation Master Beimu asked as she walked in.

"Master," Beimu Fei immediately stood up in respect.

"Thanks to Formation Master Beimu, I am mostly recovered by now," Lu Tianzi stood up hurriedly as well.

"I am glad to hear that," Formation Master Beimu smiled. She swiped her spatial ring, and a stack of flags appeared in her hands. "These are the top grade formation flags that I have promised. Take it."

Lu Tianzi's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing her words.

This means for that little competition earlier… he really won!

That bamboo token he picked up was really the core of the formation!

Even though this trip had seemed like a complete waste of time, he was at least able to complete one of his objectives.

On top of that, if even someone of Formation Master Beimu's level felt that these were top grade formation flags, then they surely must be of quite a good standard!

"Thank you, Formation Master Beimu!" Lu Tianzi excitedly received the formation flags.

A quick sweep with his perception revealed that there were a total of one hundred and eight formation flags.

With these, it would be more than enough to build a simple concealing formation!

On the other hand, Beimu Fei could only look on in envy by the side.

Others might not know, but she was the clearest that these top grade formation flags were personally made by Formation Master Beimu herself, with the ability to passively improve the effectiveness of the resultant formation.

Even if people had the money to buy formation flags of a similar quality, they would be hard pressed to find any of them out in the market!

"Nanlu Tianzi," Formation Master Beimu's voice turned solemn. "What do you think about studying to become a formation master?"

"Eh?" Lu Tianzi had only just stored away the formation flags when he was caught by surprise by the sudden question, causing him to react instinctively. "I-I mean, study to become a formation master? Me?"

"If I am not wrong, you have a way to sense the density or flow of energy up to a micro level, don't you?" Formation Master asked.

Lu Tianzi could not help but be surprised, and nodded slightly in response.

"Relax, everyone has their own secrets, so I will not probe further regarding this. But you should know that this ability of yours will provide you with a huge advantage if you wish to become a formation master." Formation Master Beimu swept across her spatial ring once more, producing a jade slip which she promptly passed over to Lu Tianzi. "You don't have to answer me now. This jade slip contains some information on the art of formations. If you are interested in it, try to study it tonight to the best of your ability. Otherwise, you can also choose to just leave it."

"The art of formations…" Lu Tianzi blankly repeated after Formation Master Beimu as he received the jade slip.

"Tomorrow at the break of dawn, you can take a little test of mine if you wish to," Formation Master Beimu turned to leave the room. "Should you pass the test, I will be willing to accept you as a student of mine, grooming you to be a successful formation master."

After saying her piece, Formation Master Beimu left the room, leaving the two youngsters alone once again.

There was a brief moment of silence before Beimu Fei let out a sigh and headed for the door as well.

Her master had already made her decision, so there was no reason for her to stay behind. Otherwise if she ended up distracting Nanlu Tianzi, she might even be blamed for it!

But when she reached the door, Beimu Fei could not help but turn around and take a final look at Nanlu Tianzi.

"I advise that you don't miss this rare opportunity. You have no idea how many people in the kingdom would kill to be in your shoes right now. Oh and one last thing, you better don't lose that jade slip."

"Eh?" Lu Tianzi looked up at Beimu Fei, only to see her turn around and step out of the door.

Now the only one left in the room, Lu Tianzi could not help but turn his attention back to the jade slip in his hands.

He might not know what the full implications of Formation Master Beimu's invitation were, but no matter what, there was no harm in learning more about the art of formations!

After all, he had some spare time on his hands while he waited for his body to fully absorb the medicinal efficacy of the recovery pill.

Whether he wanted to take the little test that Formation Master Beimu was talking about, that was something that he could decide on later!

With his mind made up, Lu Tianzi sank his perception into the jade slip.

The art of formations was a field of study similar to the art of inscriptions in terms of the level of complexity.

Considering how many jade slips worth of information he had to go through in order to establish his current understanding in the art of inscriptions, Lu Tianzi believed that this single jade slip in his hands would only serve to provide him some basic information.

He was dead wrong.

This jade slip in his hands was a compilation of the deepest insights of generations of formation masters, refined over and over again for thousands or even tens of thousands of years. Even Formation Master Beimu had personally finetuned some parts of the information, improving it to the best of her abilities.

To a formation master, there was no doubt that this jade slip could be considered as a priceless treasure!

However, Lu Tianzi had no way of knowing that.

Lu Tianzi simply felt that the concepts within the jade slip were explained thoroughly, making it extremely easy to understand.

From energy gathering formations to killing formations…

From the choosing of a suitable formation flag to the changes brought about by the surrounding terrain…

Every factor regarding formations was detailed clearly and concisely, allowing Lu Tianzi to not just remember the various points, but also easily grasp the concepts behind them.

It was only then that Lu Tianzi understood what Formation Master Beimu meant by treating the formation as a larger version of an inscription.

In a way, his knowledge of the art of inscriptions could really be applied in the art of formations, and vice versa as well.

However, had he not read through all this information so as to first gain a sufficient level of proficiency in the art of formations, it would have been downright impossible!

If not for his refined eyes saving the day, Lu Tianzi would definitely have lost the earlier competition with Beimu Fei.

This Formation Master Beimu really was asking for the stars!

If her expectations of Lu Tianzi were already so high when he was just a random junior, wouldn't her expectations of him grow even higher if he really became her student?

No, before that, there was an even more important problem.

"If I managed to become Formation Master Beimu's student, then what will become of my status as a member of the Nine Suns Sect?"

Lu Tianzi directly asked Formation Master Beimu at the break of dawn.

"Your status as a member of the Nine Suns Sect?" Formation Master Beimu seemed to be quite surprised.

"Tch," Beimu Fei clicked her tongue from the side. "Why would you even care about a lowly Nine Suns Sect if you manage to become Master's student?"

Lu Tianzi ignored her, staring resolutely at the Origin Core realm senior as he waited for her answer.

Seeing the determined look in his eyes, Formation Master Beimu only let out a gentle smile. "If you are able to pass the test and are willing to become my student, I naturally will not force you to quit your Nine Suns Sect. And I assure you, your Nine Suns Sect will likely not stop you from coming over to learn from me whenever you have the time either."

"With Formation Master Beimu's assurance, I feel better now," Lu Tianzi let out a sigh of relief.

Lu Tianzi understood that Formation Master Beimu was the most accomplished Formation Master in Scarlet Moon Kingdom. That said, becoming her student would definitely elevate his own status, and thus expose him to a lot more cultivation resources.

But still, he would rather not do so if he had to lose the support of the Nine Suns Sect in the process. After all, he still did not have the fullest understanding of Formation Master Beimu.

That would have been too big a risk.

But now that the other party was not requesting for him to leave the Nine Suns Sect, everything had fallen in place nicely.

Lu Tianzi took in a deep breath. "I am ready to take the test!"