Chapter 402: Four Formations
"Where is the person?" Jiang Yue asked when Xuan Ke came back alone.
At the question, Xuan Ke hesitated and then answered.
"They were looking for ancestor Yang. They should have gone to look for him elsewhere."
"Is that so?" Jiang Yue was disappointed.
However, he was still curious so he erupted with a thousand questions for Xuan Ke to answer.
"Was it a man or a woman? A human, demonic beast, or demonic plant? What is their age? What about their cultivation? Are they good-looking?"
"Slow down." Yu Nianzhen said and handed Jiang Yue a cup of tea.
"Why are you so excited? Do you know the person?" Xuan Ke asked.
"How would I know if you don’t give me their description?"
Hearing that, Xuan Ke almost rolled his eyes.
’What’s wrong with brother Jiang?’ He wondered.
However, he still answered because he was also a little curious about the person.
"The person is a human male cultivator and his cultivation seems to be at the nascent soul realm."
After saying that, Xuan Ke frowned.
When he came out of the Nine Treasures secret realm, his cultivation was at the peak of the early stage of the core formation realm.
After going through the thunder tribulation, he broke through to the mid-stage of the core formation realm.
In the year since, he didn’t practice much and his cultivation was still at the mid-stage of the core formation realm.
’I should work harder.’ He thought and stole a look at Jiang Yue, Yu Nianzhen, and Li Futian.
Both Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were at the peak of the core formation realm while Li Futian was at the late stage.
If nothing went wrong, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen would break through to the nascent soul realm in less than ten years.
Thinking of that, Xuan Ke was suddenly motivated.
"A nascent soul realm cultivator? Which one?" Jiang Yue questioned.
"I don’t know his name or title but he was there when brother Jiang was targeted by Gui Xiong."
When Jiang Yue heard that, his mind replayed every image from the previous incident.
"It couldn’t be abbot Si?" Jiang Yue asked, looking at Xuan Ke with a complicated expression on his face.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Xuan Ke questioned and then shook his head.
"If it were Abbot Si, I would recognise him right away."
"Of course." Jiang Yue said and heaved a sigh of relief.
[Murong Feng, Flowing Wind master.] Yu Nianzhen suddenly transmitted.
When Jiang Yue heard that, his eyes flew wide open and he looked at Yu Nianzhen in surprise.
[Could it be? Are you sure?] He asked.
[Nine points sure.] Yu Nianzhen nodded.
When Gui Xiong was causing trouble for Jiang Yue, there were a few nascent soul realm cultivators around them.
After thinking about it, Yu Nianzhen narrowed it down to the Flowing Wind master.
[This...] Jiang Yue didn’t know what to say.
From when they first met Xuan Ke in the Thousand Herbs Garden, the monk never hid his liking for women.
Considering that, Jiang Yue always thought that Xuan Ke’s partner would be a woman.
Unexpectedly, the destined person turned out to be an older man whose cultivation was one realm higher than Xuan Ke.
[I didn’t see this coming.] Jiang Yue sighed and continued.
[A little monk and a big bad man, I somehow want to watch this story.]
Hearing that, Yu Nianzhen couldn’t help but chuckle.
Although he wasn’t as curious as Jiang Yue, he was also curious.
"Brother Yu, why are you laughing?" Xuan Ke suddenly asked.
"Brother Xuan, are you too paranoid? Why do you feel we are laughing at you?" Jiang Yue questioned in an indignant voice.
When Xuan Ke was questioned, he couldn’t say anything.
After all, he didn’t have evidence that his sworn brothers were watching his jokes.
However, Xuan Ke was convinced that the random chuckles and laughs had something to do with him.
’Wait until I find evidence...’ He thought and snorted.
After talking for a while longer, Li Futian and Xuan Ke returned to their camps while Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen started their preparations.
Three days later, the two held hands and flew to the bottom of the empty lake.
At this time, there were fourteen cultivators in front of the formation.
Among the fourteen, there was Huangfu Yan, Gui Xiong, and their protectors.
Since the other formation masters had already begun to study the formation, Jiang Yue didn’t disturb them.
He chose an open space, placed his enlightenment mat on the ground, sat cross-legged, and activated a level four defence formation disk.
[You can study in peace; I will protect you.] Yu Nianzhen said.
[I know but you also have to protect yourself.]
[Don’t worry.]
After a last look at his husband, Jiang Yue swallowed a clear heart pill and began to study the formation.
While Jiang Yue was studying the formation, Yu Nianzhen was not idle.
In addition to protecting Jiang Yue, he studied some sword classics he bought along the way to Frozen Lake City.
In this way, five years passed.
At the beginning of the sixth year, Jiang Yue suddenly opened his eyes.
In reaction, Yu Nianzhen also came to and immediately turned to his husband.
"Azhen..." Jiang Yue called, his eyes softening the moment he saw his lover.
"Are you okay?" Yu Nianzhen whispered.
"Let’s go back." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen nodded in agreement.
A moment later, the two flew out of the empty and rushed towards the camp of the Sea Cloud sect.
After they passed through the formation, they immediately went to find Yang Xu, Chen Qing, and Song Ming.
"Since you are here, did you make some progress?" Song Ming asked as soon as the two settled down.
Jiang Yue had studied the formation for five years and Yu Nianzhen had quietly accompanied him.
In the five years, most of the other formation masters had tested their theories once or twice.
However, Jiang Yue had never done anything which made the members of the Sea Cloud sect a little anxious.
"I have a way." Jiang Yue didn’t hide or beat around the bush.
"When you say you have a way, do you mean you have an idea to break the formation?" Elder Song asked but Jiang Yue shook his head.
"Initially, I wanted to break the formation. However, after five years of study, I realised that it’s impossible to break it."
"Apprentice, are you saying that you can’t break the formation?" Chen Qing questioned.
"Master, I have finally deduced the structure of the formation." Jiang Yue said and then continued.
"There are four formations that divide the sealed battlefield into four layers."
"The outermost layer, the one we can see is a mid-stage sixth-level formation. The second and third layers are peak-stage level six and mid-stage level seven. I can’t tell the grade of the last formation."
"This..." Chen Qing exclaimed and frowned.
"How is that possible?" Song Ming also frowned.
"The only reason I can recognise the sixth level and seventh level formations is because of some ancient formation notes I previously read."
"Ayue, you said that you found a way?" Yang Xu asked and everyone turned to Jiang Yue.
"Although I can’t break the formation, I have found a way to let us enter the sealed battlefield. However, I can only guide us into the first layer and no further."
"Only the first layer?" Elder Song was a little discouraged.
After all, the outer layer of sects, secret realms, and other secret places was usually reserved for the most common cultivators or things.
"Elder Song, you don’t have to be discouraged." Jiang Yue said and sighed.
"After all, the outermost layer is protected by a level six formation. Even if we don’t find valuable things, what we find will be useful."
"My disciple is right. The Cangxing world has deteriorated and what was considered as common in the ancient times is a treasure to us." Chen Qing said, with self-mockery in her eyes.
"That is true." Elder Song agreed and then questioned.
"Disciple, are you sure you can take us in?"
"I am sure." Jiang Yue answered confidently.
"XiaoYue, is the first layer full of demonic qi?" Yu Nianzhen suddenly asked.
"From what I learned; the concentration of demonic qi increases from the first to the fourth layer."
"Initially, there was no demonic qi in the outermost layer. However, the formations have weakened a little and some demonic qi has leaked into the layer. Compared to the other layers, the outermost layer doesn’t have as much demonic qi. However, the little is enough to kill us within moments."
"It seems that we still have to rely on isolation talismans until we find demon-repelling flowers." Yu Nianzhen muttered and Yang Xu nodded.
"We have two choices." He said.
"Master?" Yu Nianzhen called.
"The first choice is to distribute talismans to everyone and let them enter the formation." Yang Xu started.
