"You have 20 minutes to replenish your Qi by sitting inside your Qi Gathering formation, and afterward, you'd have to replicate the formation you were stuck inside as precisely as you can."
Before speaking, Elder Zayd channeled his Qi into one of the formations already inscribed on the walls of the room. It isolated noise and made the other two participants unable to hear their conversation.
The test was supposed to have a surprising effect which would be lost if Ken's speed revealed the content to the other two. Zayd did not expect someone to finish the second part before the rest finished the first one; if the rest knew they'd have to use their Qi Gathering formation, they'd work harder on it, which Zayd did not want.
"How similar do I have to make it?" Ken asked curiously. He could replicate it to nearly 100% with his proficiency, but he believed nobody expected them to copy a whole formation to such a degree.
"33% should be enough, it only needs to replicate the effects of the original formation, no matter how weakly," the elder explained the requirements.
The couple, Scot and Fiona, looked curiously at the two talking, hoping to learn what they have to face later, but to their dismay, they could hear nothing and Zayd's back hid Ken's lips.
"It's fine, I will just work on the formation without resting, I didn't deplete that much Qi," Ken said, making the elder heave a sigh of relief. If Ken sat down in his Qi Gathering formation, hiding their conversation from the other two would be meaningless.
"Are you sure? You will fail if you run out of Qi in the middle of arranging the formation. Qi manipulation and managing is also part of the skills a formation master should have."
"I'm sure."
The test was made with the average Qi reserves of peak fourth-stage cultivators in mind, which was the normal standard for fourth-rank formation masters. However, Ken's core was monstrous, and his Qi reserves were more than double of a normal disciple of his sect. This gap only widened with every breakthrough he made.
He pondered on the problem for a few minutes before starting this time. The formation was very specific, probably created specifically for this test, and he did not know it before. Hence, he had to recall the formation and plan his work.
It did not take long; after five minutes, he began working on the formation confidently, his hands were swift and stable. He sat down on the floor crossed-legged, and he moved his Qi by waving his hands, leading each material to its designed place.
'He already began? He should plan it first, if he wastes resources, he might not have enough to redo the formation even if he understands his mistakes later,' Elder Zayd thought but did nothing to interfere. At this point, he almost forgot to watch the work of the other two.
With Ken breaking the sect's records in front of him, he had his priorities set right. He was watching history in the making, the youngest fourth-rank formation master at work.
The young boy pulled an orange gem and ground it to powder, using it to arrange the formation on the ground near his first creation. His formation took form step by step as he drew the runes on the floor and emptied the storage ring of materials.
"Elder Zayd, please have a look," Ken stood up and cupped his fist. The process was long, and it took him nearly an hour and a half, mainly because he did not want it to appear too fast.
"Excellent! The formation seems to be nearly 75% the same as the one I drew, let me see the effect!" Elder Zayd got up excitedly from his chair and appeared instantly next to the formation.
Aside from the minute he spared to explain to Scot and Fiona what they should do when they finished creating their Qi Gathering formations, he watched Ken's work the whole time.
"Thank you for your words, Elder Zayd. Please enlighten me on how I can improve," Ken said modestly.
Zayd stepped into the formation without any hesitation; it was a fourth-rank formation, and he was a fifth-rank master. He did not worry about getting trapped. Indeed, as soon as he stepped inside, he found himself in the hot desert with hot winds blowing on his body.
With a nod of satisfaction, he blocked a few nodes until a tear was opened in the formation and he walked outside to face Ken.
"You've done a great job. At least 75% of the effects were copied with similar strength. You only missed the smell of the desert, which might help people with sharper noses to understand they're stuck in an illusion, and the Qi consumption inside is lower than the original."
"I will pay attention to these details in the future," Ken said, improving his image in the elder's eyes with his humility.
"Here's the token, you've passed your test as a fourth-rank formation master. I've checked your Qi Gathering formation while you were working, and its effect was excellent. You may go now."
Ken cupped his fist one last time before leaving and heading to the reception. He found Luna at the counter, and after waiting for her to finish serving someone, he cut the line and handed her the token. Despite his rudeness, nobody complained when they saw the embroidery on his robes.
"Young Master Sue, congratulations on passing the test and becoming a fourth-rank alchemist. However, Mark over there was free and could help you out, you didn't have to come to me," she said with a forced smile when she saw him cut the line. Nevertheless, she never stopped working, and she registered his identity on the token even while she complained.
"I know, but I wanted you to regret doubting my words earlier in the morning," the young teen replied with a beautiful smile.
"I… I see," she staggered in her speech before continuing, "Would you like to apply for a teacher?"
"No," Ken leaned on the counter and whispered, letting her alone hear his words, "my performance probably garnered enough attention for the teachers to apply."
'He is captivating, but also so petty and arrogant,' Luna thought to herself as she watched his silhouette walking away until she had to focus back on the waiting customers.
'Oh, I forgot again! I didn't tell him his rights as a formation master!'
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A/N - vote for Ken's illustration is up on my Discord server, feel free to join and participate!
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