Chapter 1391: Hidden Faction! (1/2)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Senior Zhou's sense can't be wrong. Could there really be some third faction at work here? But what sort of person would be able to control such an immense formation, given how badly understanding of formations has declined?
Wang Chong's brow was deeply creased, a pensive look in his eyes.
Bzzz! A thought suddenly occurred to Wang Chong. He thought back to those corpses he had seen here that might have been from decades ago, perhaps even more than one hundred years, that had belonged to people who had entered this place, and then he thought about the many legends of the Origin Immortal Art. The ten great arts of the Central Plains had almost all appeared before; even the Myriad Spirit Sea Art cultivated by his master had been tracked down.
Only the number one Origin Immortal Art had never appeared, not even during the apocalyptic era and the collapse of the Central Plains. This would have been fine if the Origin Immortal Art had been lost to history, but it was clear from the remains in this formation that this 'Origin Immortal Mountain' would open up at set intervals.
He had not thought too much about this previously, but the Formation Elder's words had made him realize how strange it all was. At that moment, Wang Chong suddenly had an idea.
The Formation Elder had no idea what Wang Chong was thinking. As he had sensed Wang Chong's incredible talent, he was naturally doing his utmost to teach Wang Chong all he knew, wanting nothing more than to stuff all he had learned into Wang Chong's brain. And with the lecturing of this sort of master and Wang Chong's own comprehension abilities, Wang Chong rapidly ascended in his grasp of formations.
As Wang Chong continued to learn about formations with the Formation Elder, few people knew that elsewhere, a pair of eyes was silently watching everything. As they watched one martial artist after another enter the formation and be ground to powder by the millstone of the formation, they remained cold and emotionless.
”Humans will die for riches as birds die for food! They only have themselves to blame!”
As this person continued to watch the formation shift, they coldly said, ”How many people are left in the formation?”
A voice soon came out from the quiet surroundings, reverent and respectful. ”There are still five hundred and seventy-six people inside the formation. Around one hundred and fifty have been killed.”
”What?! So few people have died?”
The first person placed their hands behind their back and fiercely turned around, their brows deeply furrowed.
”More people came than last time, and they are also much more cautious. That newly-established Righteous Alliance left more than three hundred people outside, and within the formation, there are three mighty experts of the age: the Myriad Ghost Ancestor, the Black Yin Ancestor, and Song Yuanyi.
”These three people have gathered many martial artists around them. With them here, our formation is much less lethal than we projected, and the formation itself has even been somewhat affected.”
The subordinate bowed and paused a few moments before continuing.
”In addition, there's also the Demonic Emperor in the formation, who passed by here before. This is a great demon of the martial arts world who is rumored to kill without blinking. He has always been paranoid and willful, solitary and unsociable, but this time, he seems to have brought a formation expert with him. The Demonic Emperor received his guidance and actually decided to stay in the Rest Gate. We are unable to use many of our techniques against him.”
”Hmph, what formation expert? In this declining era where knowledge of the ancient formations has been lost, these are just clowns. Or do you think that there's someone who can contend against the ancient formation left by the Immortal Lord?” the leader coldly said.
”Your subordinate understands!”
The subordinate hastily lowered their head and did not dare to say any more.
”They can't be allowed to pass so safely within the formation. Since they desire the Immortal Lord's treasure, they have to be ready to all be killed here. Pass on my order! Activate the formation energy in the core! Whether it's Song Yuanyi, the Black Yin Ancestor, or that Demonic Emperor, I want them all killed!”
”Yes!”
……
At the Rest Gate position toward the southwest, Wang Chong's knowledge of formations was advancing by leaps and bounds, causing even the Formation Elder to sigh in praise. He was finding himself liking Wang Chong more and more. At first, he had only been teaching Wang Chong in the passing, as the urgent task was still to break out of this formation, but as time went on, he had completely forgotten about leaving and had secretly begun to treat this like a secret meeting where he was instructing his disciple.
”Let me ask you, how many times will the View Gate change every fifteen minutes?”
”Two hundred and fifty-six!” Wang Chong replied without even thinking.
”And the Stop Gate?”
”Five hundred and twelve!” Wang Chong immediately replied, a thoughtful look on his face.
”Then let me ask you, if a person ends up in the Alarm Gate, how long will it take until the formation's power pushes them to the Pain Gate? And to the Death Gate?!” the Formation Elder asked, his expression extremely grave.
”There will be a shift every hour. If he doesn't respond appropriately, it will take around twelve shifts, twelve hours, for him to be pushed to the Pain Gate, but it will only take four hours to be pushed from the Pain Gate to the Death Gate, where he will have to take the full power of the formation and basically be doomed!” Wang Chong sternly said, his mind running faster and faster. Within Wang Chong's mind, countless dots had coalesced into a vast formation, each dot constantly colliding and orbiting.
”Then let me ask you, if a person falls into the Pain Gate, which formation gates and how many steps will they need to take to get back to the View Gate, and how many steps will it take to get to the Rest Gate and away from danger?” the Formation Elder grimly said, his questions coming faster and with greater difficulty.
This time, Wang Chong finally fell silent as his mind rapidly calculated. Upon seeing this, the Formation Elder stroked his beard and chuckled. Wang Chong's comprehension abilities were far too high, so much so that he was almost embarrassing his teacher.
I have to give him a little taste of difficulty so that he doesn't think that formations are too easy and become reckless!
As the Formation Elder watched Wang Chong strenuously think, he inwardly gloated.