The three examinees took some distance from each other and waited for the exam to begin.
"All right, the test will have a few stages. The fourth-rank formations allow much more flexibility and different effects compared to the previous ranks, so we will try to test a few of them. First, you have to start with the most basic formation; a fourth-rank Qi Gathering formation. The whole test will have a time limit of 5 hours, so pay attention to your time and do your best. Good luck, you may begin."
Elder Zayd instructed them and threw three storage rings.
"Everything you need for the exam is here. If you run out of materials, it will be considered your own fault and you will fail. Even if you can create the required formations within the time frame, a true master does not squander resources," Zayd explained as they checked the materials inside.
Ken first looked at the other two, seeing them pondering over their course of action. The requirement was not only to draw the formation but to do it with minimum usage of resources and quickly. It made sense to first plan it out before acting.
"Good luck," they wished to one another before their faces turned serious as they sunk into deep contemplation.
To his surprise, they weren't the only ones drawing formations. Elder Zayd also began arranging another formation in his side of the room. Ken tried to discern what formation he was creating, but it was too soon to tell.
'He uses Orange Topaz gem which can affect both the mind and the soul, so it should be either something that affects the mood or something that fools the mind,' Ken thought to himself as he decided quickly on how to draw his formation.
He took out the necessary materials and began drawing the big runes on the floor, occasionally mixing herbs or powder into the lines of the formation to achieve the desirable effects.
'Maybe he is drawing the formation for the next part of the exam, so I should not finish my work before him,' Ken thought to himself as he matched his speed to the elder. They both finished 50 minutes later, Ken being only a single minute behind.
"You already finished? Good job, you've done it as quickly as an experienced fourth-rank formation master would," Zayd complimented Ken when he saw the young boy approach him.
Fiona and Scot glanced toward him in wonder before concentrating back on their task. They were only halfway through, and seeing someone finish so early made them nervous.
"What should I do next?" Ken asked the elder.
"Enter the formations I just finished drawing. As for what they do, you will find out inside. You need to break out of the formation without destroying it in order to continue to the next and final part of the exam. While you can be brutes and destroy things, sometimes you need to be gentler and more sophisticated than that."
Elder Zayd announced and gestured toward the formation, hinting at Ken to walk inside. Following the instruction, Ken glanced at the formation for a short moment and entered. He already knew what effects to expect inside.
As soon as he waltzed into the formation, the scenery around him changed. Instead of seeing the class, he was trapped in an illusion that showed him a vast desert in all directions. The fourth-rank formation could affect all senses, making him even feel the sand intruding into his clothes in the hot wind.
To test the formation, he let out a small amount of Qi and felt it dissipate quickly as if something was bugging the Qi control, just like the bloody mist in the Bloodthirst Sect secret realm, but on a much lower scale.
'So the problem is double. First, it's the obvious problem of being trapped inside an illusion and having to break out, while the second problem is that the Qi expense is going to be high under these conditions,' Ken mused as he scanned the formation, searching for its weak spots.
'How long am I expected to wait in here before it's normal for a fourth-rank formation master to break out?' Ken pondered. He lacked common sense in some topics because of his high intelligence and memory, making it harder for him to estimate the time normal humans would need to comprehend something.
'Since there are three parts and five hours, it's safe to say that I don't need more than three hours for the last part. Furthermore, the other two were only halfway, which means they'd need around an hour and a half to finish their Qi Gathering formation.'
After considering these two points, Ken estimated that they were expected to leave the formation within an hour or two.
'I will wait here for 30 minutes then,' he decided and sat down, letting the formation suck his Qi slowly and deplete it as he channeled out some Qi to pretend to be probing the formation.
30 minutes soon passed and he got up, spreading his Runic Qi in all directions. He found the first layer of nodes within a minute, and it took him only a few pulses of Runic Qi to temporarily deactivate them. His Qi blocked these nodes instead of destroying them, ceasing their connections with the rest of the formation.
The second layer of the formation was revealed once he did that, and the same action was repeated once he was done identifying the weak points. Once he was done, a tear opened in front of him, and he casually strolled through it, appearing outside the formation.
"Out in 40 minutes, you really are a prodigy of our sect," Zayd was impressed by Ken's achievement. His method was quite bizarre as well, the child just sat there and probed for 30 minutes before taking everything down at once as if he was enlightened.
"Thank you, Elder Zayd. What should I do next?"
"Right, now it's time for you to see how good your formation was. You have 20 minutes to replenish your Qi by sitting inside your Qi Gathering formation, and afterwards, you'd have to replicate the formation you were stuck inside as precisely as you can."
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A/N:
Hey guys, I wanted to tell you that I'll take a week-long break from publishing new chapters in the first week of September to focus on my last exams. I failed some and must retake them, partially because I spent a lot of time writing :(
Thanks for your support, and please wait for me to return. Don't leave!
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺