Chapter 27: Enlightment
Things developed exactly as Lu Yang had expected; in the end, Zhao Xuhe still sold the Nine Transformations Dragon Transformation Art to him at a low price of 1500 contribution points.
That's how people are when they're in debt.
After obtaining the Nine Transformations Dragon Transformation Art, Lu Yang immediately returned to his Immortal Cave, memorized every word of the Cultivation Technique's content, and then put it away again.
"It's a pity I can't Cultivate now."
His body transformed into a blood shadow, his cultivation neither increased nor decreased, always remaining at the Qi Refining Late Stage, and he couldn't even dispel his cultivation, so he could only wait for his next life.
Even so, Lu Yang was not in a hurry to commit suicide.
After all, time was precious, and even with the hundred lifetimes book, he wouldn't easily waste it. Even if he couldn't Cultivate, he still had other areas where he could continue to improve.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang took out Immortal Qingcheng's Formation Treasure Secret Explanation from his Storage Pouch again.
That's right, he wanted to learn Formation!
The four arts of cultivation—Formation, artifact refining, alchemy, and talismans—as long as one possessed a single skill, they would immediately become an Advanced talent in the Immortal Realm, able to thrive anywhere.
For example, Immortal Qingchen, Lu Yang felt that she was truly a talent; not only could she use Formation, but she could also refine Formation into Magic Treasure. It was a pity that her judgment in men was poor, as she fell for heartless scumbags in both lives, leading to her dying with hatred in both lifetimes.
Opening the Formation Treasure Secret Explanation, the very first page made Lu Yang sigh with emotion.
"The so-called Formation Treasure is taking Formation as treasure, and treasure as Formation , the two complement each other. The techniques within are the result of my painstaking research."
"To learn this Dao, talent and effort are indispensable."
After the opening preface, the second page was filled with dense patterns, each with an annotation explaining its meaning.
"The Dao of Formation is based on Formation patterns. By outlining Formation patterns and depicting the heavens and earth, one can borrow the wonders of heaven and earth. However, the numbers of heaven and earth exhaust all the mysteries of the world, making them difficult to comprehend, let alone transform into Formation patterns. This requires extraordinary Comprehension Ability. Only by mastering Formation patterns can one have the ability to learn Formation."
"Very good, now you have a certain understanding of the basic principles of Formation."
"Next, turn to the third page, and let's look at a simple example below, applying the knowledge we just learned into practice."
On the third page, an extremely complex and intricate pattern appeared in Lu Yang's eyes.
Is this a Formation diagram?
Lu Yang stroked his chin. The so-called deciphering a Formation diagram was essentially identifying the composition of the Formation patterns within the Formation, thereby deducing the Formation's function.
Formation patterns are the foundation of all Formations.
Whether a Formation can be effective mainly depends on whether the combination of Formation patterns is reasonable, whether there are any conflicts, and whether it can form a complete operational link.
"Interesting."
Lu Yang smiled confidently, feeling that this didn't seem particularly difficult: "With my talent and effort, I am determined to conquer a mere simple Formation diagram!"
...
One month later.
Lu Yang sat blankly on the meditation cushion, surrounded by a large pile of manuscripts, all filled with his calculations. He was utterly dejected.
In his hand were interwoven Formation patterns.
After an unknown period, a flash of spiritual light suddenly lit up on Lu Yang's fingertips.
"It worked!?"
Lu Yang instantly stood up, his face filled with wild joy, carefully examining the Formation patterns he had assembled. He silently calculated for a moment with his fingers, then showed a puzzled expression:
"That's not right, how did it work?"
"How does this thing operate?"
It was clearly the result of his painstaking work for a month, yet he himself didn't understand why it worked. This feeling simply drove Lu Yang crazy.
After a month of arduous Cultivate, he now had a deeper understanding of Formation.
In short, Formation is very similar to programming.
The so-called comprehending the Formation path is to extract usable parts from the 'shit code' written by the heavens, the old man in the sky, and form one's own code.
However, with Formation, if you don't know it, you just don't know it.
It's like panning for gold in a pile of shit; those without talent will only end up like Lu Yang now, not finding any gold, but instead panning out a pile of shit.
"Regardless, I still managed to find something."
Lu Yang sighed and continued to study tirelessly. After another month, he finally deciphered the pattern in his hand.
"This is an illumination Formation!"
"Within the Formation's covered area, there is bright light, and most methods of concealing one's tracks will become ineffective. Other than that, it has no offensive or defensive power."
Lu Yang looked haggard, his eyes bloodshot, but his face was filled with excitement, and with a strong sense of accomplishment, he turned to the third page of the Formation Treasure Secret Explanation.
"Actually, it's normal not to be able to solve it."
"The main purpose of the third page's problem is to make you understand how difficult Formation is, and to approach comprehending Formation with a humble heart, not always being overly ambitious."
Lu Yang: "..."
"Beast! You beast!"
Lu Yang abruptly stood up and slammed the book in his hand to the ground. He was now 100% certain that this was definitely a Formation book written by a Primordial Sect Formation Master!
After a while, Lu Yang picked up the book again.
There was no other way; some things didn't care whether you liked them, understood them, or wanted to do them. For the sake of living, one still had to bite the bullet and continue.
However, after further study, Lu Yang found that his talent was not as poor as he had imagined.
As the book said, the intricate pattern on the third page was not meant for beginners to solve, which was why Lu Yang was stuck on it for two months.
But there were benefits too. Now that he switched to some simpler and easier-to-understand Formations, Lu Yang's learning speed visibly increased significantly. Occasionally, when he encountered a sticking point, he would study it for a few days and then overcome it, which also allowed Lu Yang, who had been quite disheartened before, to regain his confidence.
...
Time passed unnoticed in the Immortal Cave; years flew by.
In the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.
During this time, Lu Yang could be said to have been oblivious to the outside world, focusing solely on studying Formation books. He even stopped paying the rent for his Immortal Cave and moved directly to the outer sect.
After all, he couldn't Cultivate now, and without that hard requirement, he naturally became lazy and stopped working.
Over these twenty years, almost every few years, a Son of Destiny with incredible Luck, like Xiao Shiye in the past, would suddenly rise in the outer sect.
However, after that Son of Destiny obtained a great Opportunity known to everyone in the Primordial Sect, he would suddenly disappear.
Along with him, a large number of unfortunate individuals who, after discovering the Son of Destiny's Luck, harbored malicious intentions and wanted to cling to him to benefit from his Luck, would also disappear.
"It seems that Senior is fishing again..."
Every time Lu Yang heard similar news, he felt a surge of panic. After all, with Xiao Shiye as a precedent, he would only keep his distance from Sons of Destiny.
He couldn't afford to provoke them, so he could only avoid them.
As for Zhao Xuhe, twenty years later, he had already reached Qi Refining Great Perfection and became a famous true disciple of the Saint Sect. However, he failed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm a few years ago and passed away.
Lu Yang merely sighed at this and no longer cared.
What truly delighted Lu Yang was that after twenty years of diligent study, he had finally thoroughly mastered the knowledge in the Formation Treasure Secret Explanation.
Inside the Immortal Cave, Lu Yang's full attention was focused on the sword pellet in front of him. At this moment, he was even unable to maintain his human form, and his blood shadow was incredibly dim.
This was a sign that his Lifespan was nearing its end.
The side effects of Cultivating the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light in the past had finally caught up to him, causing his Lifespan to be exhausted at just forty years old, like a lamp running out of oil.
However, Lu Yang was completely unconcerned about this. He remained fully concentrated on inscribing the Formation. Even at the point of imminent death, he did not get up, nor did he attempt any remedial actions, because that would only interrupt his inspiration, and he did not want to waste precious inspiration.
"I understand! Wait, no, it's wrong."
"Oh, it's right! It's right... No, ah, it's still wrong. Oh, it's right, it's right!"
After a long time, finally, just as Lu Yang's blood shadow almost dissipated, at the very instant between life and death, Lu Yang suddenly opened his eyes wide—
"Hahahaha! I succeeded!"
Watching the Formation patterns he had painstakingly depicted piece together around the sword pellet and finally operate successfully, Lu Yang immediately burst into laughter, his laughter echoing through the Immortal Cave.
He lost his breath amidst the laughter.
"Hundred Lifetimes Book!"