'Edmund probably brought me here only now in order to put me under stress. If I don't have time to think about the illogical things in this agreement, coupled with the fact that the consequences are the enmity of powers greater than my current understanding, his plan will bear fruit.'
Ken saw through the old man's scheme as he began working on the formation. By learning the patterns of the formation in the door he could notice something.
Formation masters each had their unique approach. Runes were not unlike a language, where one could convey the same message using different words and structures.
It was impossible for two formation masters to create an identical formation without any variances, much like two people could never tell the same story using the exact same words.
Hence, each formation master honed a 'writing style', or more correctly, an inscription style. Those familiar with a master's works could easily discern their handiwork, even when encountering unfamiliar formations, simply by recognizing the unmistakable marks of their inscription style.
'This inscription is not written in the same inscription style as Galen. I'm sure of it!'
Ken mumbled to himself as he carefully scrutinized the formation that kept the door locked. He learned Galen's style by learning from his library, as all the knowledge inside stemmed from the elder.
'I can't tell if it's Edmund's inscription style as I have never seen any of his formations other than the eighth-rank ones, which I can't analyze well enough with my current knowledge.'
All the formations in the secret realm were done by Galen other than the eighth-rank ones. The eighth-rank formations were outsourced to Edmund, who was ultimately imprisoned inside to stop him from revealing the secrets of the inheritance grounds to others.
'If he is really under the effect of the Slavery Collar, how can he plot his own escape? I can't believe none of the seven supreme elders thought of giving him a command that stops him from doing that.'
Ken pondered as he worked. He was undoing the formation slower than he potentially could; he wanted to enter inside after completely analyzing his situation and coming up with a full plan.
The young formation master already understood his situation and used the rest of the time he could get by stalling to think over the problem.
'I have only one possible explanation. The collar's mark breaks when the master dies, so it might be the same way if the master ascends. I can't test it, but it's the best shot I got. Of course, he might only want to be freed; that'd be for the best if that was true.'
If all Edmund wanted was to be free, Ken didn't care whether the elder gets his wish fulfilled or not. The only problem Ken had with the situation was his lack of control over how things would play out once the elder is released from his cage.
'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Although I haven't eliminated everything due to my ignorance about the powers of cultivators of the Supremacy Phase.'
The first three stages were called the Foundation Phase, the middle three stages were known as the Nurturing Phase, and the last three were the Supremacy Phase.
The last phase was called that way for the dominance those three stages had over the world; no sect without a seventh-stage cultivator would be taken seriously anywhere.
In fact, the known top twenty sects had something in common, they all boasted at least one ninth-stage elder and the ranking was set by the number of Supremacy Phase cultivators they each had.
'All right, I think I know what to do. Let's get over with it.'
Ken decided when he woke up from his reveries on the world's power structure and kept working. He already set the pace of his work, so he couldn't suddenly accelerate or the elder would get suspicious. Thus, he was forced to maintain his speed in untangling the formation until the procedure was done.
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'My Qi is completely drained, I must sleep now or else I won't be able to execute my plans even if my theory is proven right.'
Ken disregarded Edmund's words to hurry up and went to sleep. Using his improved recipe of the Qi Absorption Pill, he believed five hours would be enough to be well-rested.
"Rise and shine, it has been five hours since you fell asleep," Edmund's voice woke up the sleeping teen.
'Now for the final part of my plan,' Ken began executing his plan as he groggily got up.
"Who knows when I will have another chance to eat."
Ken told the elder as he brought out the cauldron and began to cook his food in the Golden Sun Cauldron, degrading a top-tier eight-grade cauldron into a mere cooking pot. It'd be all right if he cooked phoenix meat or something impressive, but the food was only made of fifth-grade ingredients, leaving Edmund dumbfounded.
Uncaring for the elder's opinion, Ken resumed cooking the herbs and fruits using a few of his original Alchemy techniques.
If an alchemist were watching, they might have observed that Ken's cooking style was more akin to a concoction than a culinary process. And if the alchemist knew a thing or two about cooking, they would have informed Ken that he was destroying the flavor of the ingredients.
After all, alchemists would extract the essence of the materials used and toss aside the rest, but the flavors were mainly in the undesired 'rest'.
'Good, it doesn't seem like he noticed anything wrong with my cooking,' Ken thought as he threw inside a few herbs.
Among them were the Purple Harmony Orchid whose scent made the user calm and relaxed, the Harmonia Moss which had an agitating effect on its consumer, and the Spirit-Pulse Palm which could invigorate the diner's soul.
There were other fruits and herbs in the mix, but they all had one thing in common; they all had Qi that could touch upon one's soul and affect it.
Ken was creating a new Alchemy approach that injected medicinal effects into food.
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