Death... and me

Back at the Formations Guild, Rean was finally hindered by the next formation. When Rean touched it, the barrier in front bent outwards. Still, there was a limit as to how far Rean's hand could go before he couldn't force it anymore. 

'This protection formation looks a bit elastic. I was lucky that the last formation used a hidden core approach, so breaking through it was simple. This one, however, has its core located inside the formation itself. They didn't even try to hide it. After all, it would have no meaning once you pass through it.'

Nonetheless, Rean's Light Element was still outstanding when it came to analyzing formations. After all, they're real paths that the runes can't hide since they need spiritual Energy. It's just that Rean would need to break it like everyone else after finding the flaws to exploit.

'Sister Orb, how many have reached this second formation already?'

[Only you so far. I doubt any of the old geezers outside thought that you would find the core of the previous formation that easily. As for your wife, I can tell that she will be out of that illusion formation any time now.]

Rean nodded as he kept looking at the runes lit up by his Light Element.

'Here's the first flaw. There is a path broken that's making the Spiritual Energy run around, decreasing the formation's efficiency.'

Rean then tried to force his Spiritual Energy there to cause chaos in the flow of the formation. Unfortunately, it was far from enough.

'It will take too long if I use this one alone. Let's look for more.'

Rean then found a second, a third, a fourth... There were quite a few different flaws. However, this was nothing out of the ordinary. It's hard to find perfect formations in the world due to how many runes they needed to operate. Of course, for this test alone, there were a few more flaws than usual since they couldn't let this exam go on forever.

Outside, everyone was impressed by Rean's speed in finding those flaws. They could only see his Light Element gathering around him, but it didn't look like it was doing anything to the runes. One would usually force the runes to appear so they could analyze them, but Rean didn't do anything like that.

"Droman, I know that your disciple has an extremely rare Light Element Affinity. Still, how the hell is he using it?"

"Right! It shouldn't be this fast at all. Is he not cheating?"

"I wouldn't say cheating since it would be suicide to do it in this Guild's exam. However, it is definitely a method we haven't seen before."

Droman laughed out loud.

"Hahaha! I told you before that you will have to ask Rean himself if you want to know the answer. However, you were right about one thing, Light Element is part of the reason. Don't say it's cheating. What's wrong with using one's own power to open a path for himself? Or could it be that you guys would like to have been born with Light Element Affinity?"

Immediately, everyone went quiet. They all knew the problem that out of the norm affinities had. Simply put, the lack of cultivation techniques. They would be stuck with pure Spiritual Energy absorption without any proper guide whatsoever. Obviously, they would all be several times slower than anyone else.

"B-But! If that's the case, how's your disciple in the Core Formation Realm already? Wasn't it supposed to be a burden to not have Cultivation Techniques for oneself?"

Droman nodded, not denying it at all.

"Correct. That's why I said Rean's talent is several times higher than mine. He and his brother created their own cultivation techniques. That's the result you are seeing in front of you right now."

Well, the twins could only give such an excuse since there was no other way to explain how they could cultivate that fast. Others could only believe it, too, since this world should not have Light and Dark cultivation techniques.

Rean didn't know what everyone was talking about, nor did he care. He only kept finding the flaws in the formation with the help of his Light Element. Rean continued like that for another twenty or so minutes.

'Alright, this should be enough.'

[Oh! Just so that you know, Qia has broken through the illusion formation. She was the 4th one to do it.]

Rean smiled and nodded.

'She is part of the Sasamil Imperial Family, after all. The education in formations she got is definitely top-notch, probably much better than Droman gave to me.'

Spiritual Energy then gathered around Rean before he forced it into all the flaws he found at the same time. He moved the Spiritual Energy in a different path through those flaws, which began to cause chaos in the formation itself. After doing that for another five or so minutes, a breach in the formation finally appeared.

Naturally, Rean entered it in a flash, leaving the formation behind. With the intervention gone, the formation began to go back to its normal flow, and the gap closed just a few seconds later.

"That kid already passed the protection formation."

"Not only did Droman create the Communication System, but he also found such a heaven-defying disciple."

"Don't be so sure. The next formation is the worst one."

"You're right. There is only the movement restriction formation."

Droman's expression didn't even change. With Rean's method of following Life Force in Spiritual Energy, he would be able to find the flaws sooner or later. However, even he didn't expect what Rean was going to do.

Around a hundred or so meters after the last formation, Rean was assaulted by a great wave of pressure coming from above.

'The Movement Restriction Formation!'

With every step forward, the pressure increased. 

'I will need to analyze it from here... nope! To hell with that.'

'Life Style, First Form, Enhancement!'

'Death Style, First Form, Stellar Piercer!'

Rean's body shot forward like a cannonball! However, he didn't use the Stellar Piercer to attack. Instead, he used it to pierce through the rest of the field! The pressure increased several times in less than a second as his bones cracked because of its power. However, just as Rean was about to reach his limit...

*Swish!*

The pressure disappeared! Rean had passed through the last formation by force!

"Haha! I passed!"

Immediately, the entire hall of spectators went silent.

'Is that valid?'