I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1152 - Chapter 1152 Chapter 446 Breaking the Formation

Chapter 1152: Chapter 446: Breaking the Formation Chapter 1152: Chapter 446: Breaking the Formation Yulin Pavilion, Shaolin Academy

“All things in Heaven and Earth, if not nurtured by the Three Elements and led by the Nine Qi, cannot be born. Therefore, the Three Elements are the nobility of Heaven and Earth, and Nine Qi is the root of all things. Hence, it is known that the Three Elements existed before Heaven and Earth were opened, before the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Man) were complete.”

“The Three Elements are, first, the Chaotic Primordial Jade Void Qi; second, the Returning Ruins Unpretentious Purple Void Qi; third, the Mysterious Silent Communicating Netherworld Clear Void Qi.”

“Once the Three Elements were established, the Five Elements were all present, and their essence comprised three: the Yin, the Yang, and the Harmony. The Yin includes Lesser Yin and Greater Yin (Old Yin); the Yang includes Lesser Yang and Greater Yang (Old Yang), with the central Harmony merging the virtues of the Five Elements.”

“All methods, without exception, make use of the Essential Qi. Therefore, both the Two Principles and the Three Elements operate within the Essential Qi. With the Essence of the Dao in Essential Qi, spread it over simple ink, draw the essence of objects, to dispel falseness and evil. Uphold truth, summon and portray the crowd of spirits, control life and death, safeguard the fate of epochs, pacify the five directions, this is called ‘Formation’!”

“The portrayal of formations in six methods, first is resembling forms, the sun and moon; second is commanding, the directions; third is form and voice, rivers and wind and rain; fourth is conveying ideas, soul and spirit; fifth is concentration, essence and spirit; sixth is borrowing power, commands and control.”

The obscure and challenging Daoist teachings were the daily lessons of the disciples of Yulin Pavilion.

In fact, most of the time, spreading the Dao was for the teacher to consolidate their own knowledge, and expounding the Dao from the pulpit was merely to benefit the disciples and their descendants. As for how much the disciples truly grasped, it depended on their personal fortune.

Because the one spreading the Dao would not resolve doubts, and the seekers of the Dao could not ask questions, they could only rigorously memorize the content in the limited time, waiting for a day of sudden comprehension.

However, most of the time, the content memorized would be forgotten over time. Even if one had an exceptional talent for recording it on paper, the loss of the profound feelings experienced during the teachings would make the words difficult to understand.

This was called the retreat of the heart and spirit, a sad process that most cultivators would undergo. This was beyond human control, the fleeting spiritual light, no matter how desperately one tried to hold on to it, would ultimately fade away.

The greater the gap in cultivation and understanding between the one spreading the Dao and the listener, the more challenging the content. Therefore, most of the time, hearing the Dao was not necessarily better from a higher cultivator. Often, a specialized alignment was needed to achieve enlightenment.

Just like the disciples of Yulin Pavilion were all trained in both Spirit and Formations, although Master Shaolin’s teachings were tough to understand, they were barely able to perceive it.

But if a sword cultivator from the Xu Clan were to listen, it would be complete gibberish, like a heavenly scripture.

“There are eight books of formations, first is the Divine Book, encompassing Heaven, Earth, Man, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth; second is the Divine Book, of clouds, mists, and thunder; third is the Earth Book, of the four commanding True Spirits; fourth is the Inner Book, of the spirits of turtles, dragons, fish, birds; fifth is the Outer Book, of the essence of scale, shell, feather; sixth is…”

Lu Shaolin, who was spreading the Dao, suddenly opened his eyes, awakening from the profound state of Dao teaching, and frowned towards the direction of Chaochang.

After a short pause, he recovered and continued to spread the Dao until he finished talking about the eight Formation Books. He then stood up and left, leaving behind a room full of disciples hastily writing.

The reason for the pause was that the Five Spirits Grand Array he had set up in Chaochang was broken. Yet, it was not destroyed by brute force or because the Formation Stakes were uprooted.

Rather, the other party had precisely located the positions of the five Formation Eye Stakes, undeterred even by the dozens of false stakes he had laid down.

Although this Grand Array was not the highest masterpiece of Lu Shaolin, the ease with which it was undone meant that the person who acted must be a Grandmaster of Array mastery.

This piqued his interest, and he even stopped the Dao teaching that he was going to continue and called for Lu Liangliang.

“In the Formation Eye Stakes, there is a hidden formation. Please invite the Grandmaster who broke the formation to Yulin Pavilion. If the person is not willing, do not force them. You can just hand over this small formation,” Lu Shaolin said, handing a scroll to Lu Liangliang, instructing, “This person is a rare Array master; remember not to offend or confront them.”

“Liang Liang took note,” she said.

After respectfully receiving the scroll, Lu Liangliang turned and left the Shaolin Academy, rising into the air towards Chaochang.

…

White Tiger Avenue

After taking out the last Formation Stake from the distant skywell, Sister Xiu’er took a deep breath and asked softly, “Is this enough?”

“This should do it,” came the reply.

“But this is a Divine Array laid by Master Shaolin himself!”

“Arrays are inert, people are not. If Master Shaolin were here, naturally it couldn’t be broken, but with him gone, what’s there that can’t be broken?”

“Still…”

“What ‘still’? If you need a sense of ritual, should I name a few more locations for you to extract a few more stakes?”

“No need…” Xiu’er looked up at the increasingly intricate array of lights in the grand formation and lamented, “To think that this grand array set by Master Shaolin could actually be broken by you?”

The grand array had been established by Lu Shaolin in collaboration with many array masters from the Yulin Pavilion. To Xiu’er, the array grandmasters capable of hiding the opening and closing of the Spirit World Passage with the Cold Moon Spirit Concealment Array seemed almost beyond her imagination. That such an existence’s grand array would be so effortlessly broken by the person before her eyes, despite having revered his martial prowess since learning of his identity, still gave Xiu’er a surreal thrill.

However, Tang Luo seemed unimpressed by Xiu’er’s excitement, remaining calm as he just looked up at the array wall before blandly saying, “It’s merely breaking a dead array. Now that the Formation Stakes are pulled out and there’s no longer a Spiritual Power boundary, it all depends on how many spirit crystals the Xiang Family has prepared to use up. But in my opinion, at most within an hour, this array will surely collapse on its own.”

Hearing that the array would only disperse after another hour, Xiu’er paled.

After all, she knew too little about array paths. She had always assumed that removing the five Formation Stakes would mean the array was broken, not expecting it to take so much time.

Seeing Xiu’er’s expression, Tang Luo knew what worried her and said lightly, “We’ll split up now. You sneak into the Xiang Residence through the passage and tell your brother to prepare the warriors for retreat. As long as they make it into the Spirit World Passage, they can wait for the array to dissipate slowly.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to the Luo Mansion. After all, it’s the head of the twelve great merchants, and I’m afraid something might go wrong.”

Biting her lower lip, Xiu’er softly cautioned, “Then… be careful.”

“No worries,” Tang Luo reassured, raising the Colored Glaze Bead in his hand, “I still have this fellow here unused, no need to worry.”

With a wave of his hand, Tang Luo headed straight towards Xuanwu Avenue. Since his departure from the Luo Mansion and the breaking of the grand array, it had been almost an hour. Although Du Sha, with the support of the Marshal Star Pavilion, had gained a great amount of resources and secret techniques to reinforce his strength, Tang Luo still worried about him being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

After all, among the twelve great merchants, both the Lord of the Luo Family and Master Ye were troublesome figures. Once news from the Luo Mansion spread, the armies prepared by these noble families would surely come to their aid. This was not a simple matter of one against thirteen, and he did indeed worry.