Chapter 2307: Chapter 2311: Using the Body as a Formation
"Alright, no need to be shy."
Su Qingluan chuckled lightly and waved her hand, shaking the jade slip she held: "Take it. I’m seeking your cooperation to research and set up that Ancient Great Formation within the body. If you aren’t familiar with using one’s body as a formation, you probably won’t be able to assist me."
"Using the body as a formation?"
Jiang Chen was startled, gazing at Su Qingluan in surprise.
Seeing Su Qingluan gesture again, he expressed gratitude and reached out to take the jade slip.
"From your demeanor, you must have obtained a legacy in ancient formation techniques, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so cautious."
Seeing Jiang Chen accepting the jade slip, Su Qingluan chuckled as she spoke.
Jiang Chen was slightly taken aback, then nodded gently.
"There’s no need to be overly cautious; while ancient formation technique legacies are rare, they’re not nonexistent. When you reach the main academy, I can take you to a place for legacy observation. There’s also an ancient formation technique legacy there, though I couldn’t enter it back then. With your help, perhaps we might be able to explore it now."
Su Qingluan chuckled lightly.
Jiang Chen smiled slightly, acknowledging that he was a bit overly wary.
However, he did not tell Su Qingluan that the legacy he received wasn’t any formation diagram or specialized formation cultivation methods but the essence of formation techniques.
In the dream memory, regarding the legacy of formation techniques, there were no formation diagrams, only the most fundamental techniques of setting up formations. Yet, these techniques encompassed the roots of all formation stances.
This was why Jiang Chen could quickly unravel the Valley Mystery Array at Changlin Academy and rapidly reconstruct all the great formations within the academy.
The essence of formation techniques, much like the cultivation technique "The Tome of Dao," simply taught Jiang Chen how to set up and break formations, without delving into specific formation configurations.
Indeed, the essence remains unchanged despite variations, and once one thoroughly understands the fundamental methods of formation techniques, breaking or setting up formations becomes more fluent.
Naturally, Jiang Chen still hasn’t fully mastered all the basics of formation techniques; the path of formations is vast and profound, not to be underestimated compared to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth!
The formation diagrams he possessed were merely the ones he had seen—the Nine Revolutions Qiankun Qingming Formation and the formations within Changlin Academy. With the understanding of formation basics, any formations he’s observed or studied can be replicated.
Certainly, having formation diagrams would make the task easier.
"Alright, I’ve discussed almost everything. Thank you all very much!"
Ouyang Song spoke softly, clasping his hands in respect to Jian Cangqiong and others, as for Hu Yiqiu, the gap between them had already disappeared; no need for excessive formalities.
Jian Cangqiong and the others smiled slightly and waved their hands lightly.
"There’s still some time before the academy entrance assessments. During this period, borrowing Southern Maniac Mountain, I intend to break through my realm under your watchful eye, old drunkard, to vex you properly!"
Ouyang Song turned to look at Hu Yiqiu, speaking playfully.
"Hmph! Be careful not to get struck by heavenly tribulation!"
Hu Yiqiu snorted coldly.
Everyone was taken aback, then smiled wryly.
If such words were uttered by someone else, it would likely attract Ouyang Song’s displeasure. Cursing someone to fail their tribulation is a rather provocative action, but everyone now understood the deep friendship between Hu Yiqiu and Ouyang Song, knowing it was merely friendly banter.
Ouyang Song turned to Su Qingluan and others: "Elder Su, Elder Lu, if I can’t finish in time, I’ll leave the assessments among junior academies in the surrounding eight regions to you two. This old drunkard here will accompany you to supervise the assessments. If anything arises that you can’t resolve, just direct him as needed."
As he spoke, Ouyang Song glanced at Hu Yiqiu: "He participated in the recruitment assessments previously; besides the changed rules this year, he knows all other regulations."
Su Qingluan and the others nodded gently, but they didn’t take Ouyang Song’s jesting words about Hu Yiqiu seriously.
"This time, it’s not just me heading to the main academy; Elder Sang and Elder Wu are coming along too."
Hu Yiqiu spoke softly.
"Oh?"
Ouyang Song looked at Sang Zhenye and his wife in surprise, smiling: "Seems like a significant shift in the seats of inner court elders is about to happen."
"What are you dreaming about? Sang Elder and his spouse aren’t staying at the main academy permanently; they just need to borrow the spiritual fire there. We can discuss specifics when we return to Southern Maniac Mountain."
Hu Yiqiu glared at Ouyang Song, speaking crossly.
The group engaged in conversation a bit more before dispersing.
Once back at Southern Maniac Mountain, Jiang Chen began cultivating the contents of the jade slip under Su Qingluan’s guidance.
"Using the body as a formation!?"
When Jiang Chen’s divine sense explored the jade slip, he exclaimed in surprise, understanding why Su Qingluan’s body had those subtle formation waves.
Using the body as a formation, as the name suggests, is setting a formation using the cultivator’s own body. It’s a very rare and extremely challenging method.
To cultivate using the body as a formation, one must first open several apertures in their body; at least enough to construct formation eyes and build a great formation.
Yet, for others, what’s the most bothersome step was entirely unnecessary for Jiang Chen; his body’s apertures had already been opened by the Dragon Qi of the Ancestral Dragon.
Upon learning that Jiang Chen did not need to open apertures, Su Qingluan didn’t think much of it. She knew Jiang Chen was practicing the combat skill "Five Elements Sealing Demon Sword," requiring one to open apertures and condense spiritual power.
Under Su Qingluan’s guidance, Jiang Chen began attempting to use the spiritual power within his apertures to configure spiritual seals, as formation eyes.
While under Su Qingluan’s tutelage, Jiang Chen further understood the current development and evolution of formation techniques in the cultivation world. It differed somewhat from the explanations in his dream memories.
In his dream memories, spirit stones were indispensable for setting up formations, using them to connect the power of heaven and earth. However, since certain formations required numerous spirit stones and it was somewhat time consuming to set up formations with them, formation experts within the cultivation community researched quicker methods substituting spirit stones.
The most convenient method among these was using the body as a formation, condensing formation eyes within oneself, with the body as the foundation, forming a formation at a mere thought, though mastering this method was very difficult as most array masters couldn’t grasp it.
The other alternative was to condense spiritual seals, similar to how Jiang Chen formed seals in apertures, though generally this involved setting them externally, replacing spirit stones to set up formations.
This method, compared to using spirit stones, indeed held convenience during setup, yet required learning the technique to condense spiritual seals first, along with practicing control over them, whereby the greater the mastery over seals, the more potent the formation.
Nevertheless, this method also bore some drawbacks, notably the challenge of leveraging heavenly momentum and lacking the permanence of spirit stone-based formations, rendering them single-use expendables.
