The formalities were completed a short while later, and Lu Tianhao immediately dove into a mini lecture on formations. "Cha Ming, what do you know of formations?"

Cha Ming hesitated before responding. "They are like talismans in that they incorporate runes and runic lines?"

Lu Tianhao nodded. "That is correct, but not completely correct." Lu Tianhao waved his hand, and twelve blue stones appeared on his desk. With a second wave, the stones organized themselves in a peculiar pattern. With a third wave, qi poured into the twelve stones. Simple runes that Cha Ming immediately recognized lit up, and roughly fifty lines appeared. They were immediately followed by a shifting ice shield. The room's temperature immediately plunged.

"When you were outside the city, I noticed that you used the Myriad Ice Shield Talisman," Lu Tianhao said. "This uses the same base but different methods. What differences have you noticed?"

Cha Ming, who had been observing it with his incandescent force the entire time, replied in an uncertain tone. "From what I can gather, the runes have been prepared into these stones. However, they are not finalized and require soul energy and qi to activate. The second difference is that the lines have not been predrawn; they are drawn with qi and regulated with soul force. A talisman is static, and a formation is dynamic. However, a talisman is built to expend itself on use. But from what I can see, this formation will continue indefinitely."

"That's right," the old man said. "Not only can I supply it energy, but it plunders energy from its surroundings. That is why larger formations are so effective—they use their large size to draw on a greater amount of energy. In fact, many formations use auxiliary energy-gathering formations that have no other effects than to support the original."

Cha Ming thought of the blood-gathering formation and the gold-gathering formation he had seen in Fairweather City. He nodded solemnly once he understood the implications. Any energy could be used.

"The disadvantages are also obvious," Lu Tianhao continued. "They take more time to prepare. Also, since it's a dynamic process, it can be interrupted and countered after activation. A talisman cannot." Lu Tianhao threw out five brown stones from his sleeve. They fell into position outside the shield, and five brown runes and ten brown lines simultaneously shot out. They shattered the blue shield and its lines, stopping the process entirely.

"What are some other advantages and disadvantages you can think of?" Lu Tianhao asked.

"It seems that the capital cost of setting up a formation is higher," Cha Ming answered. "But at the same time, the components can be reused. Another advantage is that you can supply external energy. I am extrapolating here, but I assume spirit stones and liquified elemental essence and the like can be used. But the energy consumption is far greater than the one-time effect of a talisman."

"All these claims are accurate," Lu Tianhao said. "Another advantage is that, after initial setup, the formation self-regulates because it is in harmony with heaven and earth. Therefore, less precise control is required over a greater quantity of energy. Formations are more tolerant of mistakes, leading to a higher success rate."

"How does one break formations?" Cha Ming asked.

"Through knowledge, power, and preparation," Lu Tianhao answered. "Let me ask you, how many runes do you know, and to what efficiency?"

"Ten thousand," Cha Ming replied. "To above ninety-five percent."

"What do you know of runic lines and logic?" Lu Tianhao asked.

"I know the basics of addition, subtraction, and grammar, but not perfectly," Cha Ming said. "If I were to give myself a score, it would be eighty-two out of a hundred."

"And what of sigils?" Lu Tianhao continued.

"A smattering," Cha Ming said. "I know the very minimal core of the five elements, thunder, and lightning, but my knowledge is far from complete."

"Great, great," Lu Tianhao said, eyes shining. "You've been to Fuxi's Library."

Cha Ming was shocked at the man's inference.

"No need to be surprised. I come from a transcendent plane and have been to many mortal planes. While I have never been to a library, I know that they are closely guarded resources by major sects. They send their heaven-chosen there every year in the hopes of perfecting their Dao foundations. Although I would appreciate knowing the location, I would never force you."

Cha Ming relaxed after this explanation.

The man then stood up and grabbed a thick book, laying it on the desk. "This book summarizes the creation of formation stones and formation flags. Before you come back, I want you to create twelve formation stones for each rune you know." He continued along the bookshelf and picked out twelve or so thick books. "Before you come back, you need to have memorized and successfully formed all first- through ninth-grade formations. We won't bother with any exams, as I have the authority to grant you a formation-master certification of the appropriate grade."

While the books were being laid out in front of him, Cha Ming was performing quick mental arithmetic.

"Relax, you'll find that time flies once you get started," Lu Tianhao said. "I also suggest that you continue studying talismans, as your experiences in creating formations will benefit you. Truth be told, ninth-grade formations are equivalent to least-grade talismans in terms of complexity."

***

Cha Ming took up residence at the Alabaster Group in order to use the formation practice room at his leisure. For identification purposes, he was supplied with an Alabaster medallion that displayed his rank—junior member.

Later, he found Luo Xuehua and Dongfang Hao in the communal courtyard. They congratulated Cha Ming on his admittance and decided to collaborate on further devil hunting missions. Apparently, they had a similar arrangement with Luo Tianhao. Despite the split in credit from collaborating, Cha Ming's ability to identify devils and see them even when invisible was invaluable, and his combat prowess was nothing to sneeze at.

The next day, Cha Ming procured 120,000 elemental stones. They were priced like mid-grade spirit stones and could be used to cultivate at greater efficiencies for specific elements. The stones were called Vital Emeralds, Fiery Rubies, Foundation Granite, Gold Essence, and Eternal Ice Rock for the five elements. The two other elements Cha Ming was proficient in, wind and lightning, used more expensive stones as focuses. Azure Wind Stones and Iridescent Lightning Stones were the gems of choice. Given the large quantities, Cha Ming acquired them at the commodity exchange. He didn't change his identity like last time, so the creation of a different account was necessary.

Finally, Cha Ming began an arduous one-month seclusion. The process of programing a rune into an elemental stone was extremely straightforward—he needed only to paint it like a talisman onto the stone and watch it sink inside. Still, at fifteen breaths per rune, painting twelve each of the ten thousand runes he required for the first through ninth-grade formations took roughly twenty-five days of his seclusion.

The rest of his time was spent practicing formations. He also continued tempering his soul and mental state, successfully completing several sets of his poetic talismans.

***

Katcha!

Cha Ming's awareness spiked as his soul broke through a part of its invisible shackles. Instead of a transparent white-colored soul, his soul began to show traces of a transparent green-jade-colored vestment. He knew intuitively that he had achieved half-step resplendent soul realm. His soul force was still incandescent in nature, but his spiritual awareness and control had increased by a factor of five.

He faintly became aware of a tether that connected him to someone in the distance. It was a black-and-white dot he immediately recognized as Huxian.

Huxian, can you hear me?

Only a faint reply returned. It resembled a message: affirmative.

I take it that your soul isn't strong enough to converse with me? Affirmative.

I'm sorry for getting angry at you the other day, Cha Ming said. I don't know if you know this, but I was a slave only a short time ago. It pains me to see anyone enslaved. It's just wrong, and I can't accept it, Huxian. No matter how much power it gets you, it's not worth it if you need to destroy someone's will. I hope you can understand that. Grief and sadness came back.

In any case, let's talk about this when we can have a proper discussion. Agreement.

Having finished this important discussion, Cha Ming expanded his incandescent force until he covered the entire city. Based on his prior experience, he assumed it had a range of twenty miles. There was no way to be sure, as the city walls isolated soul force. Transmission jades were required to communicate outside the city. After flexing his proverbial soul muscles, he retracted his incandescent force, dusted off his clothes, and headed toward Lu Tianhao's office.

He knocked softly, and the door opened invitingly. Lu Tianhao was at his desk, holding on to an ordinary doll. Cha Ming sat down respectfully and allowed him to finish what he was doing.

"Do you know why I have this doll?" Lu Tianhao asked.

Cha Ming shook his head.

"It was my daughter's. My daughter and my wife were killed by devils while I was out tempering myself. It's ironic that I never deigned to take care of their menacing presence before then. And by the time I started caring, it was too late. I had already lost everything." The older man sighed. "That's why I spend my life fighting against devils and doing all I can against them." He put the doll down gently, then focused on Cha Ming. "Have you accomplished everything?"

Cha Ming nodded. "I've infused twelve of each rune I know into elemental stones, and I've memorized every formation in these books."

"Very well," the man said. "Show me." The office suddenly disappeared. It was as though they were in a different dimension. "This is my domain," Lu Tianhao's voice said, echoing in the darkness. "I am in complete control here. You don't need to care about damaging things."

The man waved his hand, forming one of the most elementary first-grade formations with twelve brown stones. Twelve stones were usually the minimum requirement for a formation, and there were few exceptions. "Break it."

Cha Ming thought for ten breaths before thinking of the optimal counter formation. He laid it down and poured a minutia of energy required to activate it.

"Too slow!" Lu Tianhao yelled. He threw out yet another twelve brown stones in a different arrangement. "Break it!"

Cha Ming thought once more before taking out the optimal counter. "Too slow again!"

They continued the process for six hours, shifting between various formations. Every time, Cha Ming was berated for being too slow.

"Let's take a break," Lu Tianhao said. "We'll start again shortly, but this time I want you to use the first formation you think of that could possibly counter my formation, even if it's not optimal. In a battle of formations, breaths matter. Think about it: I wasn't reacting at all while you were breaking my formation. How many more formations could I lay down? Ten? Twenty? Any response that takes more than one breath is garbage unless you have a huge advantage."

A few minutes later, Cha Ming stood up once more to resume. Twelve blue stones flew out. They made a completely different formation than the ones he was familiar with. However, it looked like one of them. Without thinking, he threw out twelve brown stones and activated a formation. The blue formation broke in less than a second.

"Good. Next."

Twelve green stones flew out, forming another unknown formation. Cha Ming threw out his first guess. It didn't break the formation, but this time Cha Ming was prepared for such a result. He threw out his next best guess, which shattered the formation.

"Good response. Keep it up," Lu Tianhao yelled.

Whenever he threw a formation out, Cha Ming would break it in one or two attempts. Some would take three. As time passed, the number of attempts required shrank. Cha Ming gained an understanding of what generally worked and what didn't. Some formations were effective at breaking dozens of others, while some failed repeatedly or only broke one or two formations. He was quick to discard these as useless for breaking formations, and instead focused on the more effective ones.

Before long, one thousand formations became two hundred, and two hundred became fifty. Out of these fifty, he used thirty or so the most but used the remainder in a variety of special cases. It dawned on Cha Ming that breaking formations was not as difficult as laying them down, and that precision wasn't as important. Instead, power and general effectiveness were the key. The flexibility of specific runes was another key component. For example, out of the thirty-six formations, many of the runes were transferable. Out of the remaining fifty, all the runes were recycled. Cha Ming quickly became aware of the core-breaking runes.

"We'll stop here for the day," Lu Tianhao said.

The last minute of Cha Ming's first twenty-four hours of instruction had passed. Lu Tianhao waved his hand, and four thick books flew from the shelf and landed in front of Cha Ming.

"Learn as many of these least-grade formations as you can before returning," he instructed. Then he retrieved another book. "To form them, you'll need to either condense sigil focuses or infuse formations into formation flags, depending on your preference. As for the stones you just produced, you can just use them to cultivate or something. They are garbage now."

Cha Ming's face twitched, but Lu Tianhao ignored him. "It's your choice whether to condense sigils or produce flags. Sigils are more flexible but less effective. They rely on your comprehension to substitute for prepared formations. Flags, however, are more precise but far less flexible."

Another book landed in front of Cha Ming. "Since you will likely try to condense at least a few sigils, here are some elementary combat formations. This will fulfill my first promise to you about a movement technique. There are a few combat formations in this book that you can use to greatly increase your movement speed."

Cha Ming bowed respectfully before exiting Lu Tianhao's office. He didn't return to his residence right away but proceeded to a different part of the residence courtyard.

It was time to meet Mo Tianshen, the reason that Cha Ming had come to the Alabaster Group in the first place.