Chapter 236: The Formation

"Can't go? Is this road yours?" Shen Biru's face darkened.

Zhang Xuan also turned to look.

His true qi was pure, and his concealed strength was such that even Master Liu and the others couldn't detect it, so naturally these people couldn't see through him either.

Having reached the peak of the Tongxuan realm, with no grandmasters around, there was nothing to fear. If these people truly sought trouble, he wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson.

But before he could say anything, the young man waved his hand grandly.

"What are you doing? Put them down! Not everything can be solved with force!"

"Yes!" The众人 sheathed their weapons.

"You two, don't be alarmed. We mean no harm! To be honest, I am Yun Tao, the Seventh Prince of the Hanwu Kingdom. I am currently undergoing the assessment for a one-star beast tamer. Having passed the first round, I only need to tame a Bixue realm savage beast to qualify!"

Stepping forward, the young man revealed a faint smile.

"The reason they stopped you is that I am about to tame a [Golden Body Iron Coin Leopard]. This creature is extremely fast. We've been tracking it for over ten days and finally found its trail not far ahead. So we set up a trap here, waiting for it to fall into the net. We stopped you to avoid scaring it away and wasting our ten days of effort. Please forgive us! If I have offended you, once we catch this Iron Coin Leopard, I will personally apologize!"

"Then... we'll wait a while."

Seeing that the other party was polite, Shen Biru glanced at Zhang Xuan and, seeing no objection, nodded in agreement.

Zhang Xuan was easygoing when others were reasonable.

Since they had explained the reason and were sincere, it was fine.

Besides, after traveling continuously, they were tired, so resting a bit wouldn't hurt, and they could also inquire more about the Beast Hall.

"Thank you for understanding!"

Seeing them stop, Yun Tao nodded with satisfaction, gave orders for the others to continue setting the trap, and came over to Shen Biru.

"May I ask your names?"

"I am Shen Biru, and this is Zhang Xuan!" Teacher Shen nodded.

"So it's Miss Shen. A pleasure!" Yun Tao nodded, automatically ignoring Zhang Xuan.

It wasn't surprising he looked down on him. Zhang Xuan's clothes were from a street stall, and after cultivating the Golden Body of Heaven's Path, his skin was smooth, making him look like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth. At first glance, he seemed like a follower, utterly unremarkable.

"Miss, what business do you have at the Beast Hall? If all goes well, I will surely pass the beast tamer assessment and have some influence there!"

Yun Tao said with a faint smile, his words brimming with confidence.

"I appreciate the Seventh Prince's kindness, but we only need to rent a flying savage beast. It's not a trouble." Shen Biru shook her head.

As the ice goddess of Hongtian Academy, she was well accustomed to such deliberate flirtations and could easily brush them off.

"Meeting is fate. Miss Shen, don't be polite with me. Without a beast tamer's guidance, choosing a poor flying savage beast can be very dangerous. How about this: after I catch the Golden Body Iron Coin Leopard and return to the Beast Hall, I'll personally select one for you!"

Yun Tao said.

"No need!" Shen Biru waved her hand.

"Although the flying savage beasts at the Beast Hall are all tamed and generally trouble-free, the same type of beast can differ in endurance and responsiveness. If not chosen carefully, encountering attacks from other savage beasts in the air can easily lead to accidents. Miss Shen, don't stand on ceremony!"

Flicking his sleeve, Yun Tao appeared elegant and poised, his tone caring and his attitude sincere.

This girl before him was the most beautiful he had ever seen, in both temperament and appearance. Naturally, he wanted to showcase his excellence and win her heart.

"This..." Originally wanting to refuse, but thinking that Teacher Zhang needed to ride a flying savage beast, Shen Biru couldn't help nodding. "Then I might trouble you."

"No trouble at all. I've studied beast taming for twelve years and know almost every savage beast in the Beast Hall—their habits, endurance, age, reaction speed... I have them all at my fingertips. Rest assured, if I help you choose, there will be no problem. If not for our fateful meeting, even if someone paid a fortune, they might not get me to act personally..."

Seeing her agree, Yun Tao's eyes lit up, and he spoke even more earnestly: "Last time, a minister from your Tianxuan City came asking for my help, and I politely declined..."

Seeing this guy constantly showing off, trying to highlight his own abilities and talents, Zhang Xuan couldn't bear to listen anymore. He shook his head helplessly and looked toward the others.

The so-called trap they were setting wasn't a pit covered with dead leaves and straw.

Such primitive traps might work on ordinary beasts, but savage beasts already possessed intelligence. Doing so would not only fail to catch them but might even be seen as an insult to their intelligence, leading to a fight to the death.

Looking over, the Bixue realm experts accompanying Yun Tao each held dark gray flags and inserted them one by one into the ground according to calculated positions.

"Could it be... a formation?"

Seeing their actions, a name popped into his mind.

Array masters were among the higher-ranked of the nine noble professions, on par with alchemists, and considered a popular profession.

Although the kingdom's library had records on formations, they were vague, only explaining their power, not how to set them up or activate them.

After all, Tianxuan Kingdom was a minor, insignificant place, without even an Array Master Guild, so the information available was limited.

Despite the sparse records, their movements matched the descriptions of formation setting, and Zhang Xuan recognized it at a glance.

Legend had it that once a formation was successfully set, it would create a special energy field. When triggered, it would immediately produce various special effects.

For example: a trapping formation could confine people, making them lose direction and unable to escape; an illusion formation could cause hallucinations, making one unaware of their location; a killing formation could directly annihilate people, with terrifying power.

This was Zhang Xuan's first time seeing someone set up a formation, and he was full of curiosity.

"With just these things, they can trap that Golden Body Iron Coin Leopard?"

After watching for a while and finding he couldn't understand anything, he shook his head helplessly.

Formations, like alchemy and calligraphy, were a profound discipline. Without specialized study, one couldn't even guess what these items were for.

"Teacher Zhang, what's wrong?"

As he watched, he heard Shen Biru's voice. Turning, he found that she too seemed unable to bear the other's narcissistic chatter and had come over.

"Oh, just watching what kind of trap they're setting." Zhang Xuan said.

"This seems like a formation. Our Tianxuan Kingdom has no Array Master Guild, so there are no related books. I don't know much about it." Shen Biru also recognized it.

"Yes, these little flags can form a formation with great power. Impressive indeed." Zhang Xuan remarked.

"Being one of the nine noble professions, none are simple. Legend says that formations set by official array masters can trap even half-step grandmasters, and they might even be killed. Their flag-insertion may look random, but it surely follows specific rules." Shen Biru nodded.

"Well, since I don't understand, I'll just watch casually." Zhang Xuan smiled.

Formations were profound; without years of study, it was hard to achieve results. Since he didn't understand, he'd just watch for novelty.

"Watch casually?" Yun Tao walked over, chin raised, eyes looking down sideways, and chuckled lightly. "Formations are grand and profound, full of mystery. Can you even understand them?"

"I'm a layman, never studied them, so indeed I don't understand much." Zhang Xuan didn't pretend, speaking sincerely. "From your tone, Seventh Prince, you seem quite knowledgeable about formations?"

"Naturally!"

Yun Tao curled his lips, revealing a proud expression. "To tell you the truth, I'm not only a beast tamer but also study formations in my spare time. I am a solid formation apprentice, with deep research into many formations."

"Formation apprentice?"

Exchanging a glance with Shen Biru, they were slightly surprised.

Qualifying as a beast tamer and also being a formation apprentice—two of the higher-ranked noble professions—this Yun Tao, though a bit pompous and fond of showing off, indeed had the capital to do so.

"Since you don't understand, let me explain!"

Seeing their surprise, Yun Tao was quite pleased. He smiled, chin raised, as if ready to lecture. "The formation they're setting now is called the [Green Wood Trapping Formation]. It uses the thirty-six heavenly stars as the base and the seventy-two earthly stars as the flags, imbued with green wood attributes, gathering the eight methods of spiritual energy... thus forming a special formation, full of power and might."

"Green Wood Trapping Formation? Just these little flags?"

"Exactly! The flags are just aids. In setting a formation, not only must the positions be correct without any error, but the most important part is activation. Once they finish setting up, I will activate it. If successful, when the Golden Body Iron Coin Leopard falls into it, though it won't be killed, it will find no way to escape, neither to heaven nor earth!"

As he spoke, the others had already placed the flags in specific positions.

Yun Tao smiled lightly, stepped forward, grabbed a golden flag, flicked it, and inserted it into the center of all the flags.

Hum!

With a soft hum, the formation seemed instantly activated. The previously visible flags hid among the green grass, becoming hard to spot.

If not for seeing it with his own eyes, one wouldn't believe a formation was hidden there.

"Impressive..."

Just as Zhang Xuan was about to say something, his mind shook, and a book appeared in the Library of Heaven's Path.

First puzzled, he then understood.

Yun Tao, as a formation apprentice, setting up and activating a formation was like an alchemist refining pills or a martial artist practicing techniques—it could trigger a change in the library.

With a thought, the book appeared before him, bearing four large characters: Green Wood Trapping Formation.

He casually opened it, and it recorded its flaws.

"Green Wood Trapping Formation, a wood-attribute formation, uses green wood as flags to set up, with the effects of sealing and trapping. Created three hundred years ago by two-star formation grandmaster Tao Yuan. Seventeen flaws, namely..."

"The current version is simplified, with seventy-two flaws, namely..."

After flipping through the book, Zhang Xuan was slightly stunned and looked with a strange expression at the Seventh Prince, who was beside him, looking smug and as if he were the best in the world.

"Are you sure... this formation can really trap the Golden Body Iron Coin Leopard?"