Decision

Zhang Wuji stood in front of the huge doors and took a deep breath in to calm himself. On the other side of the door were people who could kill him with a single breath of theirs.

He was in the middle of explaining how he beat the Tower to his friends when the token his master gave him lit up and he was ordered by Feng Xi to come to the main hall.

It was his first time coming to the core of the sect. With his master's token he met no obstruction. The moment he stepped in, he felt revitalized. He felt pleasant just breathing the air. All his anxiety about why he was being summoned to the most central part of the sect just vanished.

He didn't have to miss it for long though. Soon he got used to the air and with each step towards the main hall he got all of it back. He breathed out deeply as if exhaling all his worries and knocked on the door. The door opened and he walked in. Inside was a long table with tall chairs all around it. Sitting on the tallest chair was someone he was very familiar with. It was the Sect Master. He remembered him from when Han Dongfang was taken as his disciple.

The moment he laid his eyes on him his nervousness was back. Feeling that he was staring, he lowered his gaze. Right when he was panicking what to do next he heard a shout in his head "Idiot! What are you staring at the ground for! Pay your respects!"

Never was he so relieved to hear his master. "Disciple Zhang Wuji pays his respects to the Sect Master and all the Elders." He bowed deep.

"Stand. It pleases me to see talented disciples like yourself. I'm sure your master must not have told you the reason for calling you here." The Sect Master smiled and said.

The Sect Master had long white hair and mustache. He looked like a kind old man. Zhang Wuji relaxed and unconsciously nodded.

"No problem, I'll tell you. The sect-"

"Sect Master, if you don't mind I'd like to ask him some questions first." The muscular Elder asked.

The Sect Master nodded "Sure, go ahead."

"Little one, could you tell me how you beat the Battle Tower?"

"Yes Elder. I beat the first three levels using combat arts and the last two using formations."

"Would you say you can beat a ninth level body refinement realm cultivator without using formations?"

"An average one, yes. But if it's someone in the top ten of the outer disciples rankings, I will not stand a chance."

"I got little Shi to check. He beat a high stage when he was in mid. His combat prowess is not bad." At this time the bald Elder spoke.

"That was fast."

"Yeah, apparently he is somewhat famous in the outer sect. He used to be in Wang Bao's gang."

"Used to?"

"Yes. Apparently they got into a conflict because of a girl. Elder Zheng your grandson seems to be close with this kid."

Elder Zheng stroke his beard and hummed in acknowledgement.

"And this kid is also close with Xiaomei."

"That is a lot of friends he has." Elder Huo said in an insinuating tone.

"What do you mean." Feng Xi instantly snapped at him.

"Alright could we get back on topic? Disciple Zhang, I understand you mainly relied on confusing the examiner's senses to beat the fifth floor. I wonder how you beat the fourth." The muscular Elder seemed to be really interested in his fight.

"Elder, I.. in the thirty minutes preparation time given I made a formation that flooded the Battle Tower formation with so much information that the pointer that was on my location was lost in that flood of data thus effectively blinding the fighter. Then I built a killing formation to kill it." Zhang Wuji answered nervously. He was worried that they would consider it as cheating. He was only able to do that because his master had explained to him how the formation worked. That was the only reason his wish to beat the Tower was reignited.

"So that was why you were so curious about the Battle Tower. And here I thought you were interested in formations." Feng Xi said. Zhang Wuji smiled nervously and kept quiet.

"In the thirty minutes preparation time on the fifth floor, you have built a concealed mist flag array, the eight directions mist pattern formation, a defensive array which when broken would become the a flag array that would mix your qi with the mist from the eight directions mist pattern formation. Is that correct?" The muscular Elder continued.

"Yes, Elder." He was confused only for a moment before remembering that Wu Dianshi recorded the fight.

"What about the formation that you used to escape the examiner's qi threads?"

"Right sorry. I also built a mirror pattern formation which later I tweaked to become transparent to small amounts of qi to deal with the threads."

"So in thirty minutes you built a total of five formations."

"No four."

"Ok four of which one formation when broken becomes another."

"Yes. It was the last and central piece of the eight directions mist formation. When senior brother Wu broke the defense formation he completed and started the mist formation." Zhang Wuji couldn't hide is excitement and forgot about where he was. He was quite proud of this formation. It took him months to design and it worked beautifully.

At this time Feng Xi coughed and Zhang Wuji was brought back to reality. He instantly apologized for his behavior.

"How did you built it all in thirty minutes?"

"How..?"

"Yes. The defensive array and the eight directions mist formation combined would take a body refinement realm formation master more than two hours to make. How did you manage to build two more?"

"I practiced the drawing part on a piece of paper for many days. By the day of the fight, my hand could draw it all by itself without me thinking."

"On paper?"

"Yes. I couldn't possibly practice with ink. That single fight's worth of resources is enough to feed a whole village for long. Elder."

"Hm. What was the mirror formation for?"

"My initial plan was for the examiner to follow me. But senior brother Wu decided to break my eight direction formations mist generators. Had he followed, the mirror formation would've helped confuse him till the mist completely filled the area. After which I could've leisurely made the killing formation and defeated him.

"Senior brother going after the mist generators made me build the qi disruption formation and another formation to mix my qi with the mist generated from the concealed flag array which was very tough. In the mist I couldn't even remember where the flags were placed. I only had one marker pointing towards the center. I spent a lot of time searching for the first flag." Towards the end he realized that he was complaining and lowered his head.

"Hahaha, brother Feng, you got yourself a good disciple this time. Alright if the questions are over, I'd like to get to the topic." The Sect Master laughed heartily and addressed the Elders.

"Sect Master I have one question." Elder Zheng spoke at this time.

"Go ahead Elder Zheng."

"Disciple Wuji, the disruption formation that you spoke of, is it the one that released the sound and the smell?"

"Yes Elder Zheng."

"Was it the roar of a Scarlet Winged Tiger that you mimicked?"

"Yes Elder. I was an alchemy apprentice for a while. I learned about it then." 'An alchemy Elder indeed.'

"Hm. As far as I know not a single part of the beast is used in formations. So the Battle Tower would also have no data on it. How did you get the material to make the formation?"

"Elder the material is available in the Pill House. I purchased it and made a formation that is capable of mimicking the sound. Then I graphed the whole sound using formations in the Collage. Then I used.." 'Single tone sine wave? Fourier transform? The fuck should I tell him!'

"What?"

"A combinations of single tones to achieve the same effect."

"Hm? Feng Xi, you simplified Wang Wen's sound generator formation?"

"No. Wuji who taught you this formation?"

"No one master. I came up with it."

"Not this. Wang Wen's formation."

"I,I've never heard of it."

"Hahaha good, good. Now go back and continue your studies. Your job here is done." After a brief silence Feng Xi laughed and sent Zhang Wuji away. Confused he bowed one last time and left the room.

"Brother Feng how can you send him away like this?" Elder Huo questioned.

"He's my disciple. I can do whatever I want." After snapping at him Feng Xi turned to the Sect Master "Sect Master, you've seen for yourself. This one's a formation genius. Sending him to the secret realm would be a waste."

"I agre-"

"But, as a disciple of the sect he should contribute when the sect needs him. And it is also a matter of prestige. We must send him and show those Iron Rhino savages what we are made of."

'What is he up to now?' Elder Huo cautiously looked at Feng Xi.

"But we must also ensure the safety of such a disciple. So I propose that we do the Inheritance Ritual of Life before we sent him off to fight for the sect."

"Absolutely not! What rights does he have? How long has he been a disciple for? What are his contributions? Feng Xi don't be stupidly wishful."

"He is my disciple. I think that is more than enough rights. As for the contributions, he will be risking his life for the sect in the secret realm. And it doesn't matter how long one is a part of the sect. In that case should we do the ritual on a bag of old bones like just cause you have been sitting on your ass here for hundreds of years? You are the one being stupid here."

"FENG XI I-"

"Stop it the two of you. Feng Xi you have contributed a lot to the sect. But asking us to sacrifice our lifespans for a mere in-name disciple of less than a year is too much."

"I got a message that Zhu Yu would be coming. I could ask him to bring some souvenirs."

The room got silent for a bit before the Sect Master spoke "Alright. Set an auspicious date. We'll do as you say. Who is going to participate in the ritual?"

....