A little competition?

Lu Tianzi blinked blankly.

Just what was Formation Master Beimu thinking of?

But before he could even answer, Beimu Fei had already called out in indignation. "Master!"

"Hush," Formation Master Beimu spoke without even turning around to look at her, her attention not leaving Lu Tianzi. "What do you think, Nanlu Tianzi?"

Lu Tianzi was not blind. Even if he was, he would still be able to tell from Beimu Fei's tone that she was absolutely opposed to this suggestion that Formation Master Beimu was coming up with.

Even though she had been hushed by Formation Master Beimu, she still had an extremely obvious frown on her face.

If Lu Tianzi agreed to Formation Master Beimu's suggestion, there was no doubt that he would incur the animosity of this Beimu Fei.

Why would he want to get himself into such trouble for no reason?

Lu Tianzi let out an awkward smile. "I don't thi-"

General Nanbai Zhaoyu suddenly interjected halfway through his reply. "Since Formation Master Beimu is in the mood, why don't you agree to it?"

Lu Tianzi was startled when he saw the resolute gaze in General Nanbai Zhaoyu's eyes. And at this moment, the latter's voice sounded out in Lu Tianzi's head.

"Nanlu Tianzi, do me a favour and agree to Formation Master Beimu's suggestion. Otherwise, who knows if her mood will be affected? It is fine if that is all. But if she changes her mind about the trade because of that, then I really would have wasted all my time and effort for nothing!"

General Nanbai Zhaoyu knew that Formation Master Beimu only suggested the competition on a whim.

However, one could never predict all the changes in life.

After all, pride was a very subjective emotion.

Even for something as trivial as this whimsical suggestion of hers, there was always a chance that being rejected by a junior could end up offending her, resulting in this being blown up into a huge matter!

As long as General Nanbai Zhaoyu could help it, he would definitely prefer to completely eliminate any chances of such things ever happening!

As for Lu Tianzi, General Nanbai Zhaoyu had tactfully phrased it as a favour instead of an instruction.

After all, he was only bringing the youngster around. He naturally had no right to make any decisions on the latter's behalf.

But if Lu Tianzi chose to cooperate with him, then General Nanbai Zhaoyu would naturally not treat the youngster with ingratitude!

Lu Tianzi was startled when he heard General Nanbai Zhaoyu's words.

According to him, there was a chance that if he declined, Formation Master Beimu might turn out unhappy, and even the trade with General Nanbai Zhaoyu risked being called off?

Just how petty was this Formation Master Beimu?

What a pain!

If he agreed, he would offend Beimu Fei.

But if he disagreed, he would risk offending General Nanbai Zhaoyu, and perhaps even Formation Master Beimu.

No matter what his decision was, he would still draw some animosity to himself!

Just how did he manage to land himself in such a position?

Luckily for Lu Tianzi, even though it was a pain, it was not a difficult choice to make.

In the first group was a Peak Essence Condensation realm junior, while in the second group were two Origin Core realm seniors.

Only an idiot would choose to side with the first group!

Lu Tianzi nodded towards Formation Master Beimu, "Junior is interested, but may I know what kind of competition will it be?"

When he asked that, the other two in the room similarly turned their attention towards Formation Master Beimu. They were just as curious as Lu Tianzi about what she had in mind.

Formation Master Beimu smiled before gesturing to the long table before them. "Exactly this."

"This as in.. the table top formation?" Lu Tianzi asked with a tinge of disbelief in his voice.

"How about competing to see who will be the first among you to find the core of the formation?" Formation Master Beimu said, confirming his doubts.

"Master!" Beimu Fei could not help but blurt out once more.

How could she compete against a complete layman?

If word ever got out that this happened, how would she be able to hold her head up in the future?

"Oh? Is this really much of a competition?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu spoke up this time, puzzled with the whole arrangement.

"If my intuition is wrong, then so be it. After all, it will just be a casual competition," Formation Master Beimu did not bother explaining.

Or perhaps it was already a good enough definition by saying that it was because of her intuition.

After all, as martial artists started to comprehend the world laws, their intuition would no longer be as baseless as that of mortals.

"Intuition, eh?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu nodded in understanding. "Good luck, Nanlu Tianzi."

Lu Tianzi could only respond with a forced smile.

"Come forward, both of you," Formation Master Beimu instructed.

Lu Tianzi sighed before stepping up as he was told, and Beimu Fei did the same.

"Just to be sure, Nanlu Tianzi, do you understand what the core of a formation is?" Formation Master Beimu asked.

"Yes, I have a general idea," Lu Tianzi nodded, only to see Beimu Fei roll her eyes in disgust.

Even though Lu Tianzi knew that he was likely to be inferior to the other party in the art of formations, seeing the blatant disregard from the other party was starting to piss him off as well.

"Very well," Formation Master Beimu nodded in satisfaction. "It will just be a simple competition. I will give you a maximum of three hours. Whoever finds the core of the formation first will be the winner. In the case that both of you fail to find it, it will be counted as a draw. Understood?"

The two youngsters nodded.

Formation Master Beimu pondered for a moment before continuing, "Even so, a competition without any prize is boring. How about this? The winner will receive one hundred top grade formation flags."

Top grade formation flags?

Lu Tianzi's eyes immediately lit up.

What a coincidence!

He had originally intended to get some formation flags while on this trip. It would be most convenient if he could solve that problem right now!

"Don't even think about it!" Beimu Fei's voice suddenly sounded out in his ears. "Do you really believe that you will be able to beat me? Not to mention the fact that you just a layman with zero knowledge whatsoever, I have already spent half a day looking at this table top formation as well. Just back out right now and at least you won't have to disgrace yourself!"

Lu Tianzi paused to take a good look at this Beimu Fei.

He had finally run out of patience.

"Are you done?" Lu Tianzi taunted in response. "Even with all your stated advantages, Formation Master Beimu still believes that I will be able to compete with you. Isn't that proof of your incapability? Yet you actually believe that it is something to be proud of? What a joke!"

Hearing his words, Beimu Fei's countenance darkened immediately.

Her eyes grew wide with rage, and there was even a faint tinge of killing intent when she looked at Lu Tianzi.

Even though Lu Tianzi had conveyed the message directly to Beimu Fei as well, this sudden change in Beimu Fei was more than enough to let the two seniors understand what was going on.

But once again, they chose to let it slide.

A little rivalry was healthy for the growth of a martial artist. As long as they did not come to blows, there was no need for the seniors to step in for now.

"Well then, let us start," Formation Master Beimu gave the table a gentle tap.

With that tap, she injected a bit of Essence energy into the table top formation, causing a bright green light to slowly light up the surface of the table.

As if reacting to the light, the dozens of bamboo tokens started to grow thin little vines from their sides, slowly reaching out towards the other tokens. When these vines came into contact with each other, they entwined together, forming up as though they were originally part of a whole.

Bit by bit, the many bamboo tokens and the thin vines connected together to depict a strange symbol on the table surface.

Upon the completion of the symbol, the green light illuminating the table surface only grew even more resplendent, signalling the complete activation of the formation.

Lu Tianzi took everything into his sights, marvelling at the intricacies of the formation.

Even though it was on a much smaller scale, it seemed that this table top formation was able to act just like how a normal formation would!

However, just how would he know where the hell was the core of the formation?

Lu Tianzi stole a peak at Beimu Fei, who was now concentrating extremely hard, her eyes darting back and forth across the table as she scrutinised the table top formation.

As long as he could help it, Lu Tianzi did not want to lose to this arrogant bitch!

But no matter how much he wanted it, with his current understanding of formations, it was simply impossible for him to win!

Wait..

Earlier, Formation Master Beimu suggested treating formations as larger versions of inscription arrays?

With no other choice, Lu Tianzi could only listen to Formation Master Beimu's suggestion and started trying to change the way he looked at things.

Now that he had seen a glimmer of hope, Lu Tianzi once again concentrated on the table top formation as he tried to make sense of it.

Without realising it, he had already blocked out everything else, dedicating his complete focus towards the table top formation before him.

In such a state, Lu Tianzi felt like every single detail on the table top was slowly being magnified in his eyes.

A magnification of two times..

A magnification of three times..

Ten times..

A hundred times..

Five hundred times..

A thousand times..!

It was not just the bamboo tokens or the tiny crevices on the table. He was even starting to be able to make out a faint intangible substance flowing through the entire formation.

It was a surreal image, something that Lu Tianzi had never been able to see before in his life.

This is.. energy?

Lu Tianzi had always been able to sense energy with his perception, but this was the first time that he had been able to actually see energy with his own two eyes!

It was completely different from materialised Essence energy that had been converted into material substance.

This was pure energy, compressed into a high enough density that he was even able to make out its flow.

Was the high density of energy due to the activated formation?

No, that was not what mattered..

If he was now able to see the flow of energy within the formation, that meant he could just look for where the density of energy was highest!

Surely that would be the core of the formation!

"Hmm?" Formation Master Beimu narrowed her eyes as she carefully watched Lu Tianzi.

"What is it?" General Nanbai Zhaoyu directly conveyed his voice to her.

The two youngsters were in a state of complete concentration right now. The least they could do while waiting was to not distract them by chatting openly.

"Does Nanlu Tianzi have a special eye bloodline?" Formation Master Beimu asked in return.

"An eye bloodline? Not that I know of," General Nanbai Zhaoyu admitted. "Then again, it is embarrassing to say this, but I really do not know all that much about the kid. My father will probably know more."

Formation Master Beimu nodded in understanding before turning back to observe Lu Tianzi. As she watched on, Formation Master Beimu could not help but to let out a faint smile.

"This kid is interesting!"