Hearing the elderly voice’s words, the other two ancient wills also turned their gaze to those few light screens. If Lu Qing were here, he would be able to see that what was displayed inside were precisely Hei Ming, Mo Tushan, Yu Jian, and the others.
“It hasn’t even been that long, and someone has already entered the third stage. Looks like the cultivators who entered the secret realm this time really are stronger than the previous two batches,” the cool voice said with some surprise.
“Not just them. That eight-tribulation Nascent Soul in the divine-soul trial passage is also about to break through,” the elderly voice added.
At the same time, the light screen showing the situation in the divine-soul trial passage enlarged a little, revealing Tao Xianzi’s figure.
“So many good seedlings all at once… seems those sects and factions that obtained the tokens back then have sent in their outstanding heirs,” the cool voice guessed.
“How come it’s all eight-tribulation Nascent Souls breaking through? What about the two nine-tribulation Nascent Souls?” the bell-like voice asked.
“The two nine-tribulation Nascent Souls are doing fine as well. They’re in the mana stage and are close to breaking through,” the elderly voice said.
“Still not good enough.” The cool voice shook its head. “As nine-tribulation Nascent Souls, their breakthrough speed is actually slower than the eight-tribulation Nascent Souls’. These two clearly ground their way up with time—limited potential. Even if they pass in the end, at most they’ll become the master’s named disciples.”
“Getting even one named disciple would be decent. I’m just afraid they’ll start strong and finish weak, and in the end none of them will pass at all,” the bell-like voice said.
“Keep watching. At least it’s much better than last time. If it continues like this, even if this round doesn’t work out, the next one might produce a named disciple who can inherit part of the master’s legacy.”
The cool voice sighed.
As soon as those words fell, the other two wills fell silent for a moment.
They all felt ashamed. The master had left the Gui Xu Secret Realm behind for over three hundred thousand years, yet they still hadn’t managed to choose even a single qualified named disciple for him. They truly had failed the master’s instructions.
For a time, the Immortal Palace sank into quiet.
“Now I see. This Eighteen Mystic Heaven Formation is actually of the same lineage as the Nine-Turn Linked Formation from before, only the changes within are far more profound and complicated. The difficulty of breaking it is greatly increased.”
Elsewhere, Lu Qing had finally finished receiving and comprehending the inheritance insights of the grand formation trapping him.
At the same time, he had gained a complete understanding of this Eighteen Mystic Heaven Formation.
This Eighteen Mystic Heaven Formation was exquisitely profound, and it had strong connections to the Nine-Turn Linked Formation from the first stage—clearly from the same line.
That was only natural. If there were no connection—if it were a wholly new and incomparably profound grand formation—then with just one day’s time, among everyone present, aside from an outlier like Lu Qing, even a nine-tribulation Nascent Soul would likely find it hard to break.
In that case, this so-called formation trial would have no meaning at all.
After all, the Gui Xu Secret Realm restricted anyone above the Nascent Soul realm from entering.
If even a nine-tribulation Nascent Soul couldn’t clear the second stage, it would be far too unreasonable.
After realizing the two formations were connected, Lu Qing wasn’t in a hurry to break the formation.
By instinct, he sensed that since this formation passage was arranged this way, there had to be a reason.
So he didn’t open his eyes immediately. Instead, he maintained his state of Enlightenment and continued to study the mystery between the two formations, grasping the essential connection between them.
In that deep contemplation, time slowly passed.
By the time Lu Qing fully integrated the two formations, several hours had already gone by.
“As expected. These two formations share the same source—most likely derived from some formation concept.”
Lu Qing opened his eyes, comprehension flickering within them.
After studying for so long, he had finally grasped certain essentials.
He now understood that the Nine-Turn Linked Formation and the Eighteen Mystic Heaven Formation were likely derived from some underlying formation principle.
More precisely, they belonged to the same formation inheritance.
Unfortunately, although Lu Qing had understood some of the essence and had thoroughly mastered both formations, just two formations still weren’t enough for him to fully comprehend the entire inheritance behind them.
But Lu Qing felt that since the first two stages’ formations were from the same lineage, perhaps the later stages’ formations would be as well.
If so, he might obtain yet another powerful formation inheritance.
With that thought, Lu Qing’s gaze fell upon the light screen before him.
However, just as he was about to begin breaking the formation, a burst of radiance suddenly erupted in the space.
Lu Qing turned to look, and then saw a figure enveloped by a pillar of light. The formation barriers around him had all vanished.
He had already broken every formation barrier and cleared the stage.
It was a youth with a rune imprint at his brow. Judging by his aura, he had reached peak seven-tribulation Nascent Soul.
He was also one of the highest-cultivation experts in this second stage.
“Only a few hours, and he cleared it smoothly. That one’s attainment in formations is truly formidable,” Lu Qing said, a little surprised.
Looks like there were indeed powerful formation masters in this stage—no wonder they chose this trial passage.
“It’s him! Yuanfazong’s direct-line true inheritance, Su Xingtu!”
“As expected of a renowned formation master—he cleared it so quickly!”
“Yuanfazong is really about to produce a true dragon this time!”
The other experts were even more shocked.
Especially the other seven-tribulation experts—their eyes trembled.
Because although they had also broken some formation barriers, compared to Su Xingtu, they were still far too slow.
Wearing a star-patterned robe, Su Xingtu stood proudly within the radiance.
The shocked stares of the surrounding experts did not move him in the slightest.
In his cultivation life, he had experienced far too many scenes like this.
As one of the most dazzling disciples in Yuanfazong’s history, since the day he began cultivating, he had been stared at in astonishment countless times.
So even the gazes of experts on the same level could no longer stir him.
From beginning to end, Su Xingtu had only one goal: pass the formation passage’s trial, enter the Immortal Palace, and seize that legendary supreme opportunity.
Amid a sea of shocked looks, as the radiance faded, Su Xingtu’s figure vanished from the second stage and entered the next checkpoint.
“Hm? A seven-tribulation Nascent Soul has also broken through to the third stage?”
At the same time Su Xingtu cleared the stage, the elderly voice within the Immortal Palace sensed it immediately.
“A seven-tribulation Nascent Soul cleared it?”
The other two ancient wills were shocked again.
After all, the nine-tribulation and eight-tribulation Nascent Souls they were mainly watching still hadn’t all entered the third stage.
Yet now a seven-tribulation Nascent Soul had succeeded in clearing the stage and stepping into the third stage?
“It’s a little fellow from the Formation passage.”
With a movement of intent, the elderly voice brought a light screen from farther back to the front, revealing Su Xingtu’s figure.
“He really is a seven-tribulation Nascent Soul. Formation passage… wasn’t the four-tribulation Nascent Soul cultivator earlier also on the Formation passage? How is he doing?”
The cool voice looked toward Lu Qing’s light screen, then froze again.
Because it saw that nothing had changed around Lu Qing—he hadn’t broken even a single formation barrier.
The elderly voice spoke at that moment: “After entering the second stage, that cultivator has been comprehending the inheritance all along. He still hasn’t begun breaking the formation barriers.”
“Several hours already, and he still hasn’t broken even one formation barrier. As expected, we can’t put any hope in him. His realm is too low—he won’t pass the second stage,” the bell-like voice said, disappointed.
To be honest, it had originally had a sliver of expectation for Lu Qing, wondering if he might cause some commotion in the second stage.
After all, his speed in clearing the first stage had been astonishing.
“Realm is the foundation. Even if he can pass the second stage, there’s no way he can pass the third. On the other hand, this little fellow at the seven-tribulation realm might give us a surprise,” the cool voice concluded directly.
At the same time, it shifted its attention toward Su Xingtu’s side.
A seven-tribulation Nascent Soul cultivator clearing the master’s Eighteen Mystic Heaven Formation within a few hours meant the little fellow’s talent in Formation Arts was indeed excellent.
Even if he couldn’t pass every trial in the end, perhaps he could reach a few more stages.
If he could, at the seven-tribulation realm, break through to the seventh stage, then he would barely meet the master’s standard for a named disciple.
Thinking that, the cool voice couldn’t help but show a trace of anticipation.
“Yuanfazong… Su Xingtu… born with formation patterns inside his body, a formation Dao Body, a natural-born formation master?”
In the space of the second stage, Lu Qing looked at the strip of information in his vision that was slowly dissipating, feeling astonished.
That’s right—just a moment ago, in that brief span of time, he had activated his Spiritual Powers and investigated that Nascent Soul expert who cleared the stage.
And this investigation left him rather surprised.
Because the information strip showed that this expert, Su Xinghe, had an extraordinary background.
He actually possessed mysterious innate formation runes within his body from birth, and was naturally gifted in the path of formations.
He was the most dazzling true inheritance disciple among the younger Nascent Souls of Yuanfazong in this generation.
No wonder he could break the second stage’s formations so quickly.
“Sure enough, beneath the starry sky there are countless geniuses—none can be underestimated,” Lu Qing sighed inwardly.
A peerless genius born with mysterious innate formation runes—before today, he hadn’t just never seen such a person; he had never even heard of one.
After that brief reflection, Lu Qing turned his attention back to the formation barriers before him.
Su Xinghe’s performance surprised Lu Qing, but it didn’t give him any pressure.
After all, if he wanted to break the formation, he could have done it hours ago.
Moreover, his goal wasn’t speed, but to fully master every stage’s formations.
So whether he was fast or slow wasn’t what he pursued. As long as he could clear the stage, that was enough.
With that thought, Lu Qing began forming a sequence of Hand Seals.
The seals landed on multiple formation nodes within the light screen before him.
In the next instant, the entire light screen trembled lightly, then silently dissipated.
The whole process was smooth and effortless, with so little commotion that it didn’t even attract anyone’s attention.
After breaking the first layer of formation barrier, Lu Qing didn’t pause at all. He continued with another string of Hand Seals, landing them on the second barrier.
And so, while all the experts were still shaken by Su Xingtu’s clearance, Lu Qing had already broken ten layers in a row, dissolving more than half of the formation barriers around him.
The successive dissolving of barriers finally caught the attention of several experts near him.
When they looked over and saw that most of the formation barriers around Lu Qing had already vanished, they immediately froze.
Then, in the next moment, they watched Lu Qing casually send out another string of Hand Seals, landing on yet another barrier.
That barrier shuddered slightly, like a bubble being poked, and vanished completely.
The experts’ eyes widened at once.
When did that kid start breaking formations?
And why was his speed in breaking formations so terrifyingly fast?
Could it be that he had seen this formation before?
In an instant, countless questions surged through their minds.
They even suspected that Lu Qing had already studied the formations trapping them.
There was no help for it—Lu Qing’s speed was simply too fast.
That unthinking, effortless manner was exactly the look of someone who knew the formation like the back of his hand.
Unfortunately, no matter how shocked they were, no one could answer their questions.
They could only watch helplessly as Lu Qing broke the formation barriers before him one layer after another at a speed beyond their imagination.
In only dozens of breaths, he shattered the final seven formation barriers. A pillar of light abruptly appeared and enveloped him.
The appearance of the pillar of light immediately made the experts in the entire second-stage space cast their gazes over again.
They wanted to see which formation master had cleared the stage so quickly this time.
Then, when they saw that the one wrapped in the pillar of light was actually Lu Qing—
Everyone immediately revealed expressions of disbelief.
“How is that possible? It’s that five-tribulation Nascent Soul kid?!”
“Wasn’t he just now still unable to break even a single barrier? How did he suddenly clear the stage?”
“What on earth happened?”
A crowd of Nascent Soul experts stared at Lu Qing in utter shock.
After all, just moments earlier, quite a few of them had split off their attention to observe Lu Qing’s movements.
It was only Su Xingtu’s sudden clearance that had drawn their attention away.
But that had been only a brief moment.
They clearly remembered that before Su Xingtu cleared the stage, Lu Qing had shown no movement at all, and the formation barriers around him hadn’t lost even a single layer.
So how could it be that in the blink of an eye, he had already cleared the formation?
Only those Nascent Soul experts who entered the second stage after Lu Qing had eyes burning with excitement.
“Again… this five-tribulation Nascent Soul kid definitely has some method to clear stages quickly!”
Unfortunately, no matter how greedy their gazes were, surrounded by formations they didn’t dare make the slightest move.
They could only watch as Lu Qing’s figure vanished from the second stage.
“What?!”
At the very moment Lu Qing cleared the stage, the elderly voice within the Immortal Palace sensed it in the first instant.
Next Chapter >
Chapter 782
12 min read