Chapter 405: Formations Master Challenge 2

After determining the details of the wager, Zhen Yuan and Sima Ling walked to the materials table.

At a glance, Zhen Yuan saw several sets of level seven formation flags and the materials needed for the heavenly inferno formation.

’They are barely enough.’ Zhen Yuan thought and subconsciously frowned.

However, he soon regained his composure and chose the materials with the most complete laws.

As it currently was, the heavenly inferno formation was an almost useless array.

However, it wasn’t always so.

In ancient times, the heavenly inferno formation was one of the most powerful and popular arrays.

After all, it didn’t require many materials to arrange and could operate for a long time because it relied on heaven and earth.

Unfortunately, as time passed, formation masters relied too much on the sun and forgot that the sun was originally a star.

Because of this, the formation degraded from one of the most powerful to an unreliable and weak version.

’Since I have this opportunity, I will show them what the real heavenly inferno formation is all about.’ Zhen Yuan thought, and a trace of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

Soon after, he set his materials on the work table and began working.

First, he cleaned the materials and carefully removed all the impurities.

When that was done, he began etching runes onto the materials.

However, since the challenge was about formations, Zhen Yuan only etched formation runes and didn’t include talisman and inscription runes.

This etching lasted for half a day.

After finishing, Zhen Yuan began arranging the formation.

One of the reasons that formation masters disliked the heavenly inferno formation was because its map was changeable.

Most formations had a static map.

However, the map and power of the heavenly inferno formation relied on the master’s understanding of the heavens.

Based on this understanding, the master would choose one or more stars to link to the formation.

In recent years, formation masters only chose the sun because it was the easiest to locate and link.

However, in ancient times, formation masters could choose as many as one hundred and eight stars, making the formation extremely powerful.

This time, Zhen Yuan was also aiming for one hundred and eight stars.

On one hand, he planned to beat the competition, and on the other, he wanted to see the true power of the heavenly inferno formation.

With that in mind, he sat cross-legged and allowed his consciousness to roam the heavens.

One hour later, he stood with a satisfied expression.

’I finally located one hundred and eight stars that are hotter than the sun.’ He thought and reached for his formation flags.

Soon after, he began placing the flags based on the location of the stars. At the same time, he placed an etched formation material next to each flag.

Two hours later, he finished placing the materials and stepped back to admire his work.

At a glance, the arrangement was a complete mess.

It had no discernible pattern, but Zhen Yuan perfectly understood its rhyme and reason.

After adjusting a few materials and flags, Zhen Yuan smiled and checked the hourglass.

Only a cup of tea remained within the allocated time.

However, Zhen Yuan was not disturbed even when he saw that Sima Ling had long arranged and activated his formation.

’It’s time to activate my formation.’ He thought, narrowed his eyes, and injected a river of qi into the activation node.

Soon after, a blue fire started from the formation materials and spread around, connecting into a blue fire circle before turning transparent.

’It worked.’ Zhen Yuan thought and subconsciously smiled.

Barely twenty breaths later, the sand in the hourglass ran out, and Yang Zitao stepped forward.

“Time is out.” He said, taking turns to look at the two.

“Fellow Daoist Zhen, you made it just in the nick of time. Congratulations.” Sima Ling said with his customary careless expression.

“Thank you. Daoist Sima also did well.” Zhen Yuan said, completely ignoring the teasing in Sima Ling’s voice.

Zhen Yuan didn’t care about the time.

After all, he used fire from one hundred and eight stars while Sima Ling only used fire from the sun.

Knowing that, Zhen Yuan didn’t feel inferior but instead felt he had outdone himself.

“Let’s begin the assessment.” Yang Zitao said, looking at the judges with a meaningful expression.

The judges for this assessment were all powerful elders.

After all, the wine shop’s formations were well known, and sect cultivators had long wanted to study them.

There were five judges.

The first was Fu Cheng, the peak elder of the fifth mountain and also Sima Ling’s master.

In addition to him, there were Dongfang Li, Zhang Long, Wang Qing, and Chen Fei, all peak elders of various mountains.

“Elders, where do you want to start?” Yang Zitao asked.

“Disciple Sima was the first to finish, so we will start with him.” Dongfang Li said, and the others immediately agreed.

Soon after, everyone, including Zhen Yuan, walked to the other side of the stage and stood beside Sima Ling’s formation.

“It’s indeed a heavenly inferno formation.” Chen Fei said with an approving expression.

Although she was not a member of the Sima family, she had once learned from one of the clan’s elders and knew the heavenly inferno formation.

With one look, she could tell Sima Ling’s formation was properly arranged and most powerful when the sun was at its peak.

“Not bad.” Zhang Long nodded.

“It’s a low-grade heavenly inferno formation, but it’s beautifully arranged.” Wang Qing said, and Fu Cheng nodded before speaking.

“Bring the iron.” He said, and an elder walked towards them.

After arriving, the elder waved his hand, and a twenty-five cubic metre block of iron appeared on the ground.

However, Zhen Yuan knew that the block was not ordinary iron but glass iron.

Glass iron was one of the most fire-resistant materials in the cultivation world.

Because of this, it was the best choice to test the formation’s firepower and effectiveness.

A moment later, Sima Ling opened the formation and the block of glass iron was thrown inside.

At the same time, Yang Zitao turned over the hourglass and began timing the test.

The glass iron began melting after a quarter of an hour, but didn’t completely melt until half an hour later.

However, both the elder elders and Sima Ling were satisfied with the outcome.

“Good. Very good.” Fu Cheng nodded with an approving expression.

“You have not shamed the Sima family.” Chen Fei said, also satisfied with the formation.

“It’s good considering you had one day and limited materials.” Wang Qing also praised.

Hearing this, Sima Ling smiled and turned to Zhen Yuan.

“What does fellow Daoist Zhen think?” He asked, and Zhen Yuan couldn’t help but feel a little taken aback.

He really didn’t want to comment on the formation.

After all, compared to his own, Sima Ling’s formation was one hundred degrees inferior.

’It’s what Xiaoxu calls a dimensionality reduction attack.’ He thought and sighed, but, in the end, he still had to say something.

“Daoist Sima did well.” He said, and several of the judges couldn’t help but feel disgusted.

After all, it was a sign of weakness for a cultivator to not acknowledge their opponent’s excellence.

However, the judges only frowned but didn’t say anything.

“There is one point for grade and four points for effectiveness. Assigning them will have to wait until after we assess disciple Zhen’s formation.” Fu Cheng said and led the way to Zhen Yuan’s formation.

The elders began examining the formation as soon as they arrived.

However, it only took three breaths for a shocked gasp to echo in the square.

“Top grade heavenly inferno formation.” Chen Fei exclaimed and suddenly understood why Zhen Yuan wasn’t too impressed with Sima Ling’s formation.

“It’s really a top-grade heavenly inferno formation.” Zhang Long was also shocked.

“This…” Fu Cheng muttered and sighed.

At the same time, he secretly looked at his disciple and saw that Sima Ling was still smiling, but his eyes were a little stormy.

’Little disciple, it’s not your fault. You did well, but you have encountered a monster. You can’t win this challenge.’ He thought and announced the result.

“Disciple Zhen wins the grade point.” He said, and the other elders didn’t argue.

Soon after, a glass iron block was thrown into the formation, but it had barely landed before it began melting.

Within a moment, the glass iron block melted to nothing, and everyone couldn’t help but be surprised.

“How is this possible? Is this something that a level seven formation can achieve?” Dongfang Li asked the question that was in everyone’s mind.

“There is no mistake. This array is a level seven heavenly inferno formation.” Wang Qing stated, causing everyone to feel uneasy.

After all, they were also formation masters and could confidently say that they couldn’t arrange such a formation.

’This kid is terrifying.’ Wang Qing thought, her eyes narrowed into slits.

However, Sima Ling was the most shocked.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep