Chapter 4786: The End of the Path of Formations
Lin Moyu fell into deep thought and muttered to himself, "It seems that the consumption of soul power is the first hurdle of this highest difficulty, but this alone cannot stump those supreme powerhouses. They can fully prepare materials to replenish soul power, which is not difficult for them.
"The real difficulty should lie in the pressure!"
"This highest difficulty is called 'Supreme', which means it stands above everything, with no person or object able to exist above it.
"Could it be that this thing does not originate from the Hongmeng Heaven and Earth, but from a level even higher than Hongmeng? Or is 'Supreme' merely a name?"
This could not yet be determined and had to be personally tested to know.
"Heaven and Earth Wings!"
He cast the technique, and the Heaven and Earth Wings unfurled with a swish as multicolored radiance shot out.
But then a tremendous pressure surged over, and the radiance shattered, unable to shoot forth at all.
The Heaven and Earth Wings, which once could cover billions of miles, now extended less than a meter. The radiance was completely suppressed and could not even leave his body.
Lin Moyu was greatly shocked. He sensed a formless pressure and the extreme thickness of the rules here.
"If this thing comes from the Hongmeng Heaven and Earth, then these kinds of rules are the rules of Hongmeng, and Hongmeng Heaven and Earth is stronger than imagined.
"If it is higher than Hongmeng Heaven and Earth, then it should come from the other side of the Forbidden Zone of Life.
"The Hongmeng Heaven and Earth has appeared, and perhaps there were supreme powerhouses within it who once set foot on the far side of the Forbidden Zone of Life.
"Any supreme who masters the Primordial Heaven Technique will be guided by Heaven and Earth. Once they see a treasure, and that treasure lies on the far side of the Forbidden Zone of Life, could it be that this is that very item?"
If someone had seen the guidance of Heaven and Earth, crossed the Forbidden Zone of Life, and obtained the guided treasure, it would not be impossible.
Lin Moyu carefully attuned himself to it and could only sense that its rules were incomparably thick, far surpassing those of a Nine Cycle universe, but he still could not see much more.
He understood that his own level was still lacking. This matter could not be rushed and could only proceed step by step.
"Never mind. For now, I will borrow these rules to temper my path of formations."
"If my formations can surpass this chessboard, then no matter which universe I enter, even if I enter the Hongmeng Heaven and Earth, I will be able to move unhindered.
"What is more, if one day I set foot in the Forbidden Zone of Life, I might even be able to rely on formations to resist it to some extent."
Lin Moyu's thoughts were bold, but not impossible.
This Chess of All Beings had allowed him to see the potential of the path of formations. Compared to other great Daos and the rules of Heaven and Earth, the unfathomable profundity of formations was where the truly inexhaustible mysteries lay.
Lin Moyu did not bother with his own forces and let them develop on their own, while he devoted all his effort to studying formation runes.
The highest difficulty Heaven and Earth chessboard advanced at extreme speed. Lin Moyu ignored everything else, so his forces and territories were quickly seized by the surrounding enemies, and before long he was eliminated from the board.
"Again!"
Without a pause of even a second, Lin Moyu reactivated the chessboard and entered the board once more.
He only used the chessboard to study runes and ignored everything else.
Time after time, Lin Moyu was eliminated again and again, and time after time, he re entered the board.
He treated the Heaven and Earth chessboard as a tool, a tool for studying formation runes.
If someone else tried this, it would certainly not work. Their soul power would never hold up and would be drained to nothing in no time.
Even with resources and pills to replenish soul power, they would still not last long.
Only Lin Moyu, with the little tree at his back and as much soul power as he wished, could afford not to worry about such things. It would not be an exaggeration to say he could squander it at will.
Lin Moyu forgot about time and did not know how many attempts he had made or how many times he had failed.
He absorbed experience from countless failures and constantly adjusted the runes.
Gradually, the violet light within the runes grew brighter and occupied an ever larger area, and the runes were transforming entirely into violet.
The more intense the violet light, the stronger the runes became. The weaker the suppression from the rules, the greater the power of the formation talismans laid out with such runes.
As the runes grew stronger, Lin Moyu discovered that his own formation Dao was becoming ever more profound, and his understanding of formation techniques and formations was advancing at a shocking pace.
He surpassed Heaven and Earth and truly stepped beyond Heaven and Earth.
A realization arose: he could ignore the binding of Heaven and Earth's rules and set formations in any universe. The formations would carry their own rules, complete in themselves, independent of anything external and incomparably powerful.
As the Dao of formations became stronger, the number of runes he controlled was constantly decreasing.
After minor adjustments and mutual fusion, all kinds of runes were merging into one. The great Dao was returning to unity. The countless runes he once controlled had now shrunk to less than a hundred and were still decreasing.
The formations were the same. In the past he could arrange all kinds of formations at will large or small, strong or weak with differing functions and scales.
But now the number of formations had also decreased. Any single formation could have its size, scale, strength, and required function freely adjusted according to his will.
One could say that there were fewer runes and fewer formations, but not a single function was lost, and everything was simpler and more flexible than before.
Lin Moyu had already seen the final point of the path of formations: runes returning to one, formations returning to one, one thought giving birth to a rune, one rune forming a formation, and in the end rune and formation becoming one.
The rune is the formation, and the formation is the rune. Any formation or rune desired exists merely between one thought.
Now he was not far from the endpoint of the formation Dao. At the very least he had already seen it, and once it was seen, it could be reached.
It was like a distant mountain. As long as it was visible, no matter how far, it could be reached by walking.
The only fear was never seeing the endpoint at all, or even mistaking a false endpoint for the real one.
This was like Heavenly Calamity Great Venerable, who believed that his path of formations was already at the pinnacle of the Chaotic Ancient Wilds, with none able to surpass him and at most only stand at his level.
By the time he discovered that Lin Moyu had tampered with his formation without his notice, it was already too late.
He simply did not know that the so called limit of formations he spoke of meant nothing at all before Lin Moyu.
Lin Moyu was eliminated once more and the chessboard dispersed. He let out a long breath and asked in a low voice, "How long has it been?"
The Hongmeng Gem replied, "It has already been three hundred years."
Lin Moyu calculated the time. "Time truly flies. In the blink of an eye three hundred years have passed. There are just over four hundred years left before the arrival of the first great tribulation. It is a pity that the little tree still has not found it. Perhaps the opportunity simply has not come."
The Hongmeng Gem gave a light hum. "Judging from your aura, it seems the master has gained greatly."
Lin Moyu said, "The gains are indeed considerable. My formation Dao has made great progress, and there is not much distance left to the final point. I have also comprehended some interesting things."
The Hongmeng Gem asked curiously, "What things?"
Lin Moyu said, "If I can reach the endpoint of the formation Dao, then even if my cultivation realm is not enough, I can still step into the Forbidden Zone of Life.
"Just as there is more than one path to become a supreme, there is also more than one path to set foot in the Forbidden Zone of Life.
"With formations as a shield, one can block the power of annihilation.
"But that would only be enough to step into the Forbidden Zone of Life and would still be far from enough to complete what I have deduced. The formation Dao must be cultivated, and my cultivation realm cannot be allowed to lag behind. The Void of the Flesh must also be found.
"The Void of the Flesh is not easy to find. You only have a conjecture, and that conjecture still needs a Nine Cycle universe to test it. Whether it succeeds or not is unknown.
"And there is a bit too little time."
Only a little more than four hundred years remained. Even if a Nine Cycle universe were found, it would still take time to absorb and refine it into the Divine Language Heaven and Earth, which was indeed very tight.
Lin Moyu said, "No matter how tight the time, it must be tried. Let us hope the little tree gains something. I will continue to enter the chessboard and polish the formation Dao to the extreme, stepping onto the final point of formations."