Formations

Sorry for the late release. I messed up the auto-release!

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One by one, the young disciples of the Willow Tree Pavilion lowered their weapons and followed behind Xiao Xueling as she left.

Zhang Baichi and the disciples of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect did nothing to stop them, either.

Letting them leave was the easiest way to solve this situation. After all, the Sect Master of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect, Jian Wubai, had asked all of them to assist the Willow Tree Pavilion when necessary.

The threat posed by the Gu Clan, that had replaced the Broad Wisdom Sect during this trial in the Mystic Realm, had already been dealt with.

Being attacked by Demonbeasts here in the Mystic Realm was something that everyone had to account for; Even Sect Master Jian Wubai could not hold them accountable if anything went awry then.

Soon, only the ten disciples of the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect remained in the underground chamber. It was quite obvious that everyone still longed to gain the opportunity within the Mystic Realm, but the disciples were much more level-headed now that there were no outsiders.

Zhang Baichi, Lu Zheng, and Yu Hao were the most qualified to enter among them. The three of them were the leaders among their group, as well as the three strongest people. No matter what risks came with the opportunity, those three were the most likely to be able to brace those risks.

Lu Zheng looked at Zhang Baichi and shook his head. "Was it really necessary to escalate the situation like that?"

Zhang Baichi shrugged and patted Lu Zheng on the shoulder. "What can I say, they were trying to steal such a great opportunity from my good, good friend."

"Still, you went a bit too far. You don't just represent yourself, but all of the sect. You're the Sect Master disciples, while Xiao Xueling is their Pavilion Masters daughter. This could've evolved into war.", Lu Zheng said with exasperation.

Zhang Baichi showed a carefree smile. "That's why I like to have smart people like you around. You quickly dissolved the situation with just a few words."

Lu Zheng huffed. "I was also just taking a gamble. Moreover, I don't want to always clean up behind you or that muscle brain Yu Hao."

"Hey, don't pull me into this. I've done nothing wrong.", Yu Hao laughed.

"Neither did I. All I did was tell them the truth.", Zhang Baichi said with an innocent expression.

Lu Zheng sighed again, while Yu Hao sneered. "Lu Zheng still has a point; You didn't need to be an arrogant prick about it, even if you're right."

Zhang Baichi turned to him. "It's arrogance when unfounded, but confidence when true. Besides, I'm not a prick- I simply have the aloof demeanour of an expert."

"Right, whatever, Mr. Body Forging Realm Expert.", Yu Hao raised his hands in defeat. Zhang Baichi was certainly shameless enough. "How should we do this now?"

The other disciples followed his eyes to the altar, then looked at Zhang Baichi. The latter glanced around, then spoke up: "Lu Zheng, Yu Hao and I will take this opportunity. Any objections?"

Silence filled the area. Some people sighed, but this result was easily foreseeable. Yun Ye looked indignant, but also sighed after being stared at by Yu Hao. It seems he was also not fated to be fortunate today.

"Good.", Zhang Baichi said after a few moments. He motioned for Yu Hao to came to the altar. "We'll try with your blood, as planned. A drop or two should easily be enough."

After saying that much, he stepped back and let Yu Hao stand alone in front of the altar. The latter puled his sword out of its sheath and cut his hand, allowing blood to drip into the indentation in the altar.

Only seconds later, the altar started to rumble, while the blood was absorbed into the stone. Then the altar gradually started to light up. The symbols representing the ancient language of True Dragons started to emit a faint, crimson light, then gradually turned translucent, and ultimately a bright white colour.

The same symbols appeared on the leftmost of the three doors at the other side of the underground chamber.

Yu Hao and the disciples were enthralled by the wondrous happening, while Zhang Baichi looked at everything with a critical stare; He was cautious of what was going on, since no one really understood it.

Lu Zheng looked back and forth between Yu Hao and the glowing symbols, then turned to Zhang Baichi and whispered. "Just what happened to Yu Hao? I've known him for a while; He's an ordinary fellow."

"Don't worry about it. It's a huge opportunity that I decided to give to him, since his natural talent for cultivation was so low.", Zhang Baichi said, sharing a few more details with Lu Zheng.

The latter looked at him in surprise. "An opportunity?"

Zhang Baichi nodded, that looked at Lu Zheng with a serious expression. "I treat the people close to me quite well."

Just these words made his stance clear; He considered Yu Hao as a close friend, but not Lu Zheng. While he did not hold a grudge against the Lu family, and would not make a move against Lu Hao, who had tried to poison him, words alone were not enough to make him treat Lu Zheng as a friend.

"I see… Then I guess I'll have to prove myself, huh?", Lu Zheng smiled in a carefree manner. He understood that Zhang Baichi was giving him a chance; Why else would he share his thoughts so openly?

"Time will tell.", Zhang Baichi said in a low voice, then spoke up for everyone to hear. "Lu Zheng, you take the first door. Yu Hao, try to open the second and third. Then all three of us will leave."

Lu Zheng nodded and showed his acknowledgement and opened the leftmost door. There was nothing behind the door but a small room with an intricately drawn pattern on the ground, seemingly made from the same symbols as the True Dragon's script.

"There's a formation here!", Lu Zheng exclaimed in surprise.

His words shocked the remaining disciples, including Yu Hao, greatly. In contrast, Zhang Baichi didn't seem surprised. 'Teleportation? So, it is basically an elevator, huh…'

It was incredibly rare to see real formations, as only great scholars that understood all about Feng Shui, as well as many more mysterious laws and mysteries about the world were able to lay out formations through the use of natural treasures.

Formations were not something that Body Forging Realm cultivators like them would usually come in contact with; Even the Elders and Sect Master of the Fleeting Cloud Sect did not qualify to ask Formation Masters to make a move.

Within the whole Grand Mo Kingdom, only the Royal Mo Family had a single formation laid out within the Imperial Palace. It had cost the Royal Mo Family vast amounts of precious treasures, just to have an ordinary Formation Master lay down this one formation.

Yet, it seemed like both the underground altar, as well as the doors behind, were linked with formations, and there were even more formations behind each of these doors!

While everyone was still in shock, Zhang Baichi's calm voice echoed in the silent chamber. "Yu Hao, continue."

Pulled out of his trance, Yu Hao quicky refocused on the altar in front of him and let another few drops of his blood fall into the second indentation in the middle.

The symbols on the altar lit up again, and soon the mysterious light and symbols unlocked another door. Without needing Zhang Baichi do say something, Lu Zheng opened the second door as well, once again finding another formation, startling all of the disciples.

Zhang Baichi nodded his head slowly. "It appears that each of the three doors holds a formation. If I had to guess, I would say these have the ability to teleport whoever activated it to another place."

"You know about formations?", Yu Hao was startled, but Zhang Baichi shook his head. "Of course not, but think about this logically: Gu Liang said, the altar allowed them to 'ascend' to the Dragon God. So, it should either be a flying formation, or a teleportation formation, right?"

"That… does make sense, yes.", Yu Hao absentmindedly nodded, still numbed by the shock of discovering so many intricate formations in one place.

At Zhang Baichi's command, he once again did the same thing for the third indentation, and the last door opened up, revealing a third, identical formation.

Zhang Baichi, Yu Hao, and Lu Zheng position themselves in front of each formation, each with their weapon in hand. Zhang Baichi glanced at the two people to his left and right. "Be ready to fight. We don't know what awaits at the other end of these formations."

The three of them stepped into their formations at the same time.

The mysterious luster surrounding each formation blazingly lit up when they stepped into the middle of the formations, and a blinding light filled the small chambers behind the doors.

The disciples in the main chambers couldn't help but close their eyes briefly, and with a single flash, Zhang Baichi, Yu Hao, and Lu Zheng had all vanished.

Meanwhile, the mysterious formations behind the doors looked completely lusterless, as if they had lost all energy.