Facing this choice, Su Hao’s first question was: What can I learn from Senior Uncle Master Feng Yan?
Firstly, knowledge of formations beyond books and different understandings of formations;
Secondly, the secrets and experiences of a Golden Core Realm cultivator;
Thirdly, gaining insights from Senior Uncle Master Feng Yan and some of his social connections.
Feng Yan is a Golden Core Realm cultivator with many experiences and insights that Feng Ling cannot provide.
For Su Hao, acquiring knowledge temporarily outweighs everything, and the crucial ‘relationships’ are pushed to the back.
After careful consideration, Su Hao straightforwardly said, “Senior Uncle Master Feng Yan, I’m willing to learn formations from you. However, you are my Senior Uncle Master, and suddenly taking you as my master would mess up all the seniority!”
Feng Yan, delighted that Su Hao is willing to learn formations from her, happily responded, “Seniority doesn’t matter! It’s all fine!”
At this point, Feng Ling immediately jumped in between the two, angrily stating, “Senior Uncle, absolutely not! The seniority within the sect cannot be messed up!”
Seeing the two about to fight, Su Hao suggested, “How about this? I’ll take Senior Uncle Master as my ‘sister’, and I, as her brother, will learn from her. That should work, right?”
Feng Yan’s eyes lit up, “Great idea! From now on, you’re my little brother! What’s your name?”
Su Hao replied, “Feng Wei!”
Feng Yan’s eyes crescent-shaped with a smile, “Okay, little brother!”
Feng Ling was even more confused, “I’m his master, you’re my senior uncle, and he’s your little brother…”
Su Hao helped Feng Ling straighten things out, “Master, you can think of it this way: you’ve taken your senior uncle’s little brother as your disciple!”
Fairy Feng Ling hesitated, “Well, that seems to work!”
Su Hao turned to Feng Yan, eager, “Sister, I’m facing some issues in learning formations now. Can you help me with them?”
Feng Yan replied, “Of course!”
Su Hao said, “Great, sister, let’s start now!”
Feng Ling: “…”
She felt somewhat redundant now, bringing Senior Uncle here to meet Feng Wei seemed like a wrong choice.
Having a convenient ‘sister’ made Su Hao’s learning of formations smoother, saving a lot of time he would have spent contemplating.
Su Hao thought to himself, “This is a win! Big gain!”
…
Time swiftly passed, and every day Su Hao would dedicate two hours to actively seek out Feng Yan for exchanging knowledge on formations.
“Feng Yan sister, formations are about ‘acting in accordance with the situation.’ Before setting up a formation, you need to understand the ‘situation’ of the terrain to unleash the power of the formation. So, my question is: with the varied terrains in the world, how can one ensure that they can quickly grasp the corresponding situation when they arrive anywhere, thus unleashing the power of the formation?”
Feng Yan covered his mouth and smiled, “Little brother, your question has stumped your sister! To fully unleash the power of a formation, there’s only one situation: the formation is ‘born from the situation.’ First, perceive the ‘situation,’ then act accordingly, design the corresponding formation. However, your question seems to be about fitting existing formations into various terrains? While this is possible, it’s challenging to fully unleash the potential of the formation. So, learning formations is about memorization and adaptation.”
Feng Yan then gestured to the surrounding mist, “The ‘Eight-Ring Mountain Protection Mist Formation’ you see now is designed based on this mountain range, without any ready-made formation to fit in!”
Su Hao furrowed his brows, “If that’s the case, the time cost of setting up a good formation would be too high!”
Feng Yan said, “The core of formations is preparation, ensuring victory in battle. If you don’t have a guaranteed victory, run as far as you can. In unexpected battles, rely on the artifacts in your hands!”
Su Hao remarked, “In that case, the limitations of formations are too great, making it impossible to be natural and spontaneous! Compared to cultivators who specialize in refining artifacts, it’s a clear disadvantage.”
Feng Yan naturally understood this, the reason why there are not many cultivators fond of studying formations, besides talent limitations, is the lower return on investment compared to artifact refining.
Fearing that Su Hao, this genius, might suddenly be disappointed with formations, he immediately reassured, “That’s not entirely true. The thought process of refining artifacts inherently involves the shadow of formations. One could say that artifacts are a condensed form of formations, and formations are the wisdom in using artifacts.”
“Cultivators, through cultivation, master ‘techniques,’ solidify them into ‘artifacts,’ combine multiple ‘artifacts’ to form ‘formations.’ The power that formations can unleash is beyond imagination. When used skillfully, a Foundation Building cultivator can even contend with a Nascent Soul cultivator.”
“So, whether formations can be effective depends mainly on how the formation master uses them and the scenarios they apply them in! For example, in large-scale battles between immortal sects, the role played by a formation master is not something a mere artifact can compare to.”
Su Hao, surprised, asked, “Do large-scale battles between immortal sects happen frequently?”
Feng Yan mysteriously smiled, “Of course, you’ll know in the future!”
Su Hao wasn’t very interested in the disputes between immortal sects. Instead, he asked, “Setting up formations also requires the use of artifacts, right? In other words, a qualified formation master is also an outstanding artifact refiner. According to sister’s explanation, ‘multiple artifacts combined to form formations,’ meaning if I can achieve the effects of artifacts with techniques, I can actually skip the step of using artifacts and directly set up formations with techniques. My next question is: are there any cases of techniques being used to set up large formations?”
Indeed, Su Hao’s goal was to substitute his own runes for the artifacts used in setting up formations, allowing him to use the power of formations anytime, anywhere.
After all, having to set up a large formation and refine artifacts in advance was too troublesome for Su Hao!
What’s the use of a ‘formation’ that can’t be done in one step?
Feng Yan was momentarily stumped by Su Hao, nodding his head and frowning, “There are such cases, but it’s something I read a long time ago, and I don’t remember it well. Wait for me to look for it…”
…
“Feng Yan sister, my next question is: is there a way to design the blueprints for the artifacts I need, then contract an artifact refiner to help refine them?”
Feng Yan said, “For single artifacts with no specific requirements, you can indeed have an artifact refiner help refine them. However, as for a complete set of formation-specific artifacts, those arrogant artifact refiners wouldn’t bother.”
Su Hao continued, “My next question is: the spiritual power contained in artifacts is limited. How to maintain a massive formation running day and night?”
Feng Yan explained, “This requires the use of spiritual power stones and spiritual energy stones…”
“My next question is: can an entire formation be refined into a formation plate, excluding environmental influences and becoming a self-contained system?”
Feng Yan replied, “It’s feasible, but it’s difficult to have significant power. It’s slightly stronger than a regular artifact, but it’s too bulky. However, there are several commonly used formation plates here…”
“My next question is: is there a structure in formations that can incorporate multiple large formation plates, making them operate simultaneously and play their roles?”
Feng Yan explained, “This requires another more complex formation plate configuration, specifically like this…”
…
Every day, only two hours, and after just three months, Feng Yan felt like he was being drained.
Now, the daily time dedicated to Su Hao was reduced from two hours to just half an hour, and Feng Yan felt increasingly overwhelmed.
After dealing with Su Hao, he immediately rushed into the study to look up information, his mind filled with thoughts of what strange questions his little brother would ask tomorrow. If he couldn’t answer, wouldn’t it be extremely embarrassing?
For the first time, he felt how lacking his knowledge of formations was. The self-satisfaction of being a master of formations had disappeared almost entirely during the three months of teaching Su Hao.
“If I don’t study hard now, the next time my little brother comes to me, this somewhat famous formation master in the Yunzhong Valley might end up just giving him a wry smile!”
