Chapter 774: Comprehension (II)

Time slowly passed as more than a month went by. Lin Zheyu finally completed the two-thousand-meter section of first-tier formations and stepped into the region of second-tier formations. The restriction runes that made up first-tier formations were all extremely basic.

Lin Zheyu spent two months studying and breaking every first-tier formation. If he had merely been a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator, taking two months to reach the second-tier formation region would have counted as average talent. Still, Lin Zheyu was a martial artist of the Shackles realm, equivalent in cultivation level to a Golden Core realm cultivator. Despite possessing a realm comparable to Golden Core, he still needed two full months to comprehend first-tier formations equivalent to the Qi Refining realm before finally making it through the first-tier formation region.

Such speed and aptitude could only be described as abysmal, but that was merely the opinion of the ordinary cultivators gathered beneath the Forbidden Mountain. Those paying closer attention had noticed something rather intriguing. Logically, the farther one climbed, the more difficult the formations became, so a cultivator's climbing speed should decrease dramatically. Yet Lin Zheyu's pace had not slowed at all. If anything, it was gradually becoming faster!

Standing at the two-thousand-meter mark of the Path to Heaven, Lin Zheyu observed the second-tier formations and pondered inwardly. As expected, the restriction runes involved in second-tier formations are much more complex. However, only a small portion of the core runes have increased in complexity. The rest are still composed of the same basic restriction runes used in first-tier formations.

He had seen, analyzed, and comprehended the mysteries contained within even more powerful formations before. Back then, however, Lin Zheyu had approached them from a different angle. He mainly studied which powers of the laws of heaven and earth were leveraged by the restriction runes within a formation, and how those forces worked together to produce such formidable power.

What Lin Zheyu had mainly grasped were the underlying principles, which he then integrated into his divine patterns. As a result, his understanding of restriction runes themselves was not particularly deep.

To truly master restriction runes and the Formation Dao, he needed to work from the simple to the complex, studying and mastering them step by step. The same restriction rune could serve different purposes in different formations. To fully grasp the uses and mysteries of a particular restriction rune, one needed to understand the various types of formations it could be used to construct.

In other words, restriction runes do not exist in isolation. Once a restriction rune becomes sufficiently complex, its power can even rival that of a powerful formation. So what about my divine patterns...? In the Formation Dao, restriction runes serve as the fundamental runes. Still, the fundamental runes that make up my divine patterns are rather convoluted and have yet to form a proper system...

And that's not all. The fundamental runes that make up my divine patterns also cannot be continuously strengthened and improved like restriction runes, all the way until they become powerful enough to rival formidable formations... Lin Zheyu murmured inwardly as he contemplated the flaws in his divine patterns.

Only through a deep study of a system akin to his divine patterns could he comprehend what a powerful and perfected rune system should entail. This understanding was essential for guiding the future development of his divine patterns. Currently, Lin Zheyu was starting to glimpse the outline of a solution. However, he still needed to keep exploring to determine the exact course of action.

Unfortunately, there are only three months. That's far too little time. Of course, even with less than a month remaining, reaching three thousand meters shouldn't be much of a problem. I wonder whether I'll be qualified to join the Directorate of Celestial Observation's formation division as a martial cultivator, Lin Zheyu murmured inwardly.

He was quite reluctant to leave the Path to Heaven. If he could remain here for an extended period, then within a dozen or so years, Lin Zheyu was confident that he could raise his attainment in the Formation Dao to the fourth tier purely through self-study.

As for the fifth tier, formations at that level were already comparable in power to the Deity Transformation realm. Lin Zheyu still lacked a clear understanding of just how complex fifth-tier formations were, so he had little confidence that he could master them in a short period of time.

"Let's begin..." Lin Zheyu said softly.

With a thought, his spiritual Heavenly Eye opened once more as he began another round of training, comprehending, unraveling, and breaking formations.

***

Halfway up the Forbidden Mountain, a beautiful woman dressed in purple stood atop a towering tree. Her cool gaze calmly swept over the cultivators climbing the Path to Heaven.

A streak of white flashed through the forest, and a handsome man dressed in white gracefully landed beside the woman.

"Junior Sister, have you found any promising prospects?" the man asked with a smile.

The man was named Wan Xiaofei, while the woman was Xu Yiru. Both were cultivators of the Directorate of Celestial Observation. They had joined the Directorate at a young age and taken powerful members of the Wei Family within the Directorate as their masters, rather than entering later as disciples from other sects. For that reason, the two addressed each other as Senior Brother and Junior Sister. As for cultivators who had joined the Directorate from other sects, they addressed them as fellows.

"I found a few, but most of them are true disciples from those sects," Xu Yiru said calmly.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Those sects treat true geniuses of the Formation Dao like precious treasures. They won't let them join the Directorate of Celestial Observation at all, afraid we'll lure them away. They never stop to think that they can't properly nurture true geniuses themselves. In the end, those talents only fade into mediocrity. They'd be better off letting them join the Directorate of Celestial Observation." Wan Xiaofei shook his head, finding the practices of those sects rather foolish.

He swept his gaze over the cultivators climbing the Path to Heaven. Quite a few had reached the ten-thousand-meter mark this year, but none of them were recruitment targets for the Directorate of Celestial Observation. After all, anyone capable of reaching ten thousand meters already possessed strength comparable to a mighty Deity Transformation realm expert. Wan Xiaofei focused mainly on the cultivators below the six-thousand-meter mark. Suddenly, a hint of interest flashed through his eyes.

"Oh? There's actually a martial artist taking part this year, and he's almost reached three thousand meters. Not bad, not bad. It looks like this martial artist intends to follow a path that incorporates the Formation Dao, though that path is far more difficult than the alternatives. Still, for a martial artist to reach three thousand meters is already extremely impressive," Wan Xiaofei commented with a smile.

Unfortunately, martial artists were all stubborn to the bone. Unless they were driven into a dead end, they were generally unwilling to switch to the Immortal Dao. Otherwise, if this person were willing to do so, his aptitude in the Formation Dao would probably just barely meet the Directorate of Celestial Observation's recruitment threshold.

Xu Yiru nodded in agreement. "Mm, his aptitude in the Formation Dao is indeed quite good."

"Exactly. It's just a pity that martial artists are all so stubborn. He probably won't be willing to switch to the Immortal Dao," Wan Xiaofei said with a shake of his head.

"No. Even if he's unwilling to switch to the Immortal Dao, I still intend to recruit him into the Directorate of Celestial Observation," Xu Yiru said calmly.

She was one of the main people in charge of this year's Path to Heaven trial at the Forbidden Mountain. By observing the cultivators' performance on the Path to Heaven, she would assign them ratings and determine whether they possessed sufficient aptitude to enter the Directorate of Celestial Observation.

"Huh?" Wan Xiaofei froze for a moment, surprise appearing on his face. "Junior Sister, you're not joking, are you? A martial artist's blood qi simply isn't suited to condensing restriction runes. Even true qi is only slightly better than blood qi. If he's unwilling to switch to the Immortal Dao, then when he encounters more complex restriction runes, he might not even be able to condense them at all."

The restriction runes that made up first-tier, second-tier, and even third-tier formations were still relatively simple. It was possible for martial artists to condense them using true qi formed from their essence, qi, and spirit. However, even if they managed to condense the restriction runes involved in third-tier formations, arranging them into a complete formation would still be extremely difficult. This was precisely why there were no martial artists among cultivators of the Formation Dao. Martial artists were simply inherently unsuited to cultivating the Formation Dao.

"Senior Brother, take a closer look, and you'll understand why." Xu Yiru did not explain further, merely telling Wan Xiaofei to observe.

Wan Xiaofei's interest was immediately piqued. "Oh? Then I really must take a closer look."