For some, the City of Lost Souls was a place of death and despair. But for Xiao Juezi and Feng Ling, it was definitely a land of opportunity. Where they appeared after being transferred was exactly in the barren area described in the ancient map, where they encountered no formations, prohibitions, or even a single demon.
Based on the map, within less than a day, they had found no less than five ancient sites, besides the treasures and elixirs, they even came across lost ancient martial arts. They had no idea how many treasures they had obtained along the way; their storage bags were full. This was already the sixth ancient site they had found.
"Even at the outskirts, we've found supreme treasures. I wonder what kind of treasures Huang Quan, that old immortal, has in his burial ground?" After collecting the supreme treasure, Xiao Juezi's eyes gleamed.
"I'm afraid there are divine artifacts," Feng Ling also trembled.
Compared to magical weapons, divine artifacts were a higher existence. In the outside world, everyone knew that there were divine artifacts and immortal artifacts above magical weapons. Immortal artifacts were almost legendary in their existence; in comparison, divine artifacts were more closely tied to reality. In the Eastern Domain, there were known to be four divine artifacts - the Sky-Touching Token of the Sky-Touching Sect, the Ninth-Rank Lotus of the Lotus Valley, the Heavenly Mirror of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, and the Divine Pond of the Transformation Gate.
Generally, the sect’s divine artifacts were held mainly by the sect's elders, and very few people had seen them. Ding Yan, as a disciple of the Lotus Valley, had never seen the sect's divine artifact.
"After collecting these things, we should quickly go to that place. I have a feeling that something unexpected will happen." After stowing away a supreme treasure, Xiao Juezi said.
"Good, delays may cause changes. After all, there are so many old monsters here…" Feng Ling also agreed.
When the City of Lost Souls appeared, the two of them clearly saw several powerful auras soaring into the sky and entering it. Those people were obviously powerful individuals who had crossed the Heavenly Tribulation. For the two, Heavenly Tribulation Immortals were figures to be admired. Even those immortals who had not yet crossed their tribulation would easily exterminate them as one would crush an ant.
After the two collected the treasures inside the cave and left, about half an incense stick's worth of time later, countless cracks suddenly appeared in the dark corner of the wall. The rubble fell, revealing a man-made hole.
Crack...
A decaying skeleton fell out, hitting the ground. The skull even rolled far away... After it stopped, the skull moved strangely on the ground. From within its deep eye sockets, a faint light flashed. Then, its pale bone claw trembled...
---
In the dim world, Ding Yan slowly opened his eyes.
He felt heavy-headed, as if he had been struck by a heavy object. Even his spiritual sea had been slightly shaken. Fortunately, his soul had not been wounded. After adjusting himself for a while, his vision gradually began to return.
"Where... is this?" Ding Yan shook his head, trying hard to recall what had happened before.
"That grass!"
After a while, Ding Yan's eyes lit up suddenly, and he remembered that he had fainted after encountering a small patch of grass in the dry forest.
"It seems like I've been trapped." Ding Yan's thoughts finally recovered.
He began to take stock of his surroundings, and after a while, a bitter expression appeared on his face.
"A master-level formation, I actually encountered one..."
The way of formations is profound and unfathomable.
Ordinary formations can only trap and disturb the minds of those captured. This kind of formation is called a basic formation, which is an introductory level formation.
A more advanced level involves using the power of heaven and earth to create phenomena such as wind, rain, thunder, and lightning within the formation, in order to achieve the goal of using external forces to kill. This kind of formation is known as an intermediate level formation.
Even more advanced is the ability to conjure illusions of mythical beasts within the formation, to trap and kill enemies. At this level, one is considered a master of advanced level formations.
As for the highest level of formations, it is the one before us now, which transcends conventional formations and becomes a space of its own, known as the grandmaster level formation. Once trapped within it, it is like entering another world, impregnable to ordinary people. According to Dingyan's understanding, only one person in the entire cultivation world has reached this level.
Putting his thoughts aside, Dingyan begins to search for a way out.
It is a dim space.
However, it is not devoid of anything. At least where Dingyan is now, there is a cushion and a square table. Both the table and the cushion are conjured by the formation's world and are not physical objects, as Dingyan realized upon waking up.
"Transforming the virtual into the real, solidifying into a square table. This kind of formation technique is truly profound and unfathomable," Dingyan muttered.
In his previous life, Dingyan had some involvement with formations, so although he wasn't proficient, he was no novice. Over the course of a thousand years, he had encountered many things, including formations and alchemy. After observing for some time, Dingyan finally confirms that with his current formation strength, it is absolutely impossible to escape this formation space.
"I don't believe that a formation can trap me to death," Dingyan decides to sit down and start calculating the trajectory of the formation.
He is a resolute person and his experience from his past life makes him unafraid of the loneliness of cultivation.
Moreover, being trapped may not necessarily be a bad thing.
Grandmaster-level formations are not something one can encounter anywhere.
After calming his mind, Dingyan begins to slowly calculate the profundities of the formation space. Fortunately, he had some exposure to formations in his previous life, so he has some direction even though his progress is slow.
Dingyan begins his calculations with the square table before him.
As he delves into the depths of his mind, the table in his eyes turns into clusters of the forces of heaven and earth bound by the formation. The surrounding world also becomes sets of rotating clumps of energy, with runes pulsating in some places invisible to the naked eye.
These runes are the foundation of the formation.
There are countless methods of setting up formations, the most commonly known being barrier formations, symbol formations, object formations, and the most profound, soul formations. When Dingyan crossed his tribulation in his previous life, the defensive formation he laid down belonged to a type of object formation. The formation flags that could be purchased at auction were also a type of object formation. In simple terms, object formation uses tangible objects to set up formations, and those who use this method are usually at the level of basic or intermediate formations.