Chapter 656: The Underground Palace

The formation doesn't reveal its form—do you know if it's a trapping, killing, confusing, or illusory one?

This is like fighting a spirit beast without even knowing what it is or its weaknesses, yet you say you want to slay it... what a joke!

Anyone with even a little knowledge of formations wouldn't speak like that, would they?

“The art of formations is vast and profound, with a long history. It's no less than the profession of master teachers, ranking among the top professions in the entire continent! Such an esoteric discipline—you speak of breaking it as if it were nothing, so casually!”

Princess Fei'er continued with a snort, as if finally having a chance to vent the frustration of losing two bets in a row. She stood up, raised her eyebrows, and looked around with an air of authority: “Though this valley isn't large, it spans over a hundred mu. The various trees, flowers, and grasses stand tall and short, numbering no less than millions. In terms of terrain, it connects to lofty ridges in the distance, borders mountains and marshes nearby, faces the sun on the left, and is shaded on the right.”

“It's a formation treasure ground of ‘yang scorching yin, heaven gathering qi,’ suitable for arranging various formations. The number of sixth-level formations that can be set up here is a full fourteen thousand three hundred and seventy-two, each with countless variations. Without seeing the formation activated and carefully deducing it, there's no way to know which one it is!”

“Not knowing the formation, not knowing its variations, not knowing its range, not knowing its strength... I just want to ask you: how do you break it?”

With a flick of her hand, Princess Fei'er snorted coldly.

Xing Yuan and the others nodded repeatedly.

This Yu Fei'er, though willful and prone to emotional outbursts, was indeed no simpleton in formations. Even in the entire Master Teacher Academy, she was quite famous.

Otherwise, when Luo Qiqi received the mission, she wouldn't have invited her along.

“Alright, Fei'er... Teacher, if he's not proficient in formations, you can explain it nicely. What's with this tone...”

Unexpectedly, her teacher had only said one sentence, and her best friend had come back with so many clearly face-slapping remarks. Luo Qiqi frowned slightly.

Her teacher was indeed unmatched in alchemy—even a six-star alchemist might find it hard to catch up—but in the art of formations... he was somewhat lacking.

Still, that was normal; no one could be strong at everything.

“Is it really as complicated as you say? Aren't formations formed by combining formation flags with the natural environment? Find the formation flags, break them open—wouldn't that be simple?”

Too lazy to bother with her reprimand, Zhang Xuan said.

“Formations are composed of formation flags, but do you know how many combinations of flags there are? Even if you know where the flags are, to break them, you need to remove them one by one in a specific order. A single mistake could trigger the formation's backlash, killing everyone on the spot!”

Hearing him speak more and more ignorantly, Yu Fei'er's face flushed red with anger.

What nonsense was this!

If she had known he knew nothing about formations, she would have challenged him to a formation duel back then, instead of losing twice in a row.

“Ahem, Teacher, formations aren't that easy to break, especially this kind of hidden formation. The formation flags can't even be found...”

Luo Qiqi's face also reddened as she quickly said. Before she could finish, she saw the young man in front of her scratch his head and stomp on the ground.

Swoosh!

A formation flag popped out from underground, landing in his palm. He looked over with an embarrassed expression.

“Is the formation flag you mentioned... this one? I don't think it's as troublesome as you all make it out to be!”

“Huh?”

Everyone was stunned, their expressions as if they had seen a ghost.

Yu Fei'er, who had just thought his words were frivolous and that he knew nothing, was so wide-eyed her eyes seemed about to pop out of their sockets; she was going crazy.

Was it real or not?

She had worked up a sweat, utterly exhausted, nearly collapsing on the spot, and hadn't even seen a trace of the formation—yet this guy, with a casual stomp of his foot... had pulled out the formation flag!

Did it have to be this exaggerated?

“This... it seems so...”

Luo Qiqi swallowed her saliva.

The formation flag before them looked ancient and was severely corroded, clearly having been buried underground for a long time.

It should indeed be from the formation that had been flickering in and out of sight earlier.

“Fei'er, look...”

She couldn't help turning her head to look over.

“Look at what? Even if he happened to find one formation flag, if he doesn't find the others in order, it's useless. If formations could be destroyed this easily, six-star formation masters wouldn't be worth much...”

Suppressing the shock in her heart, Princess Fei'er gritted her teeth.

So what if you happened to find one formation flag? A powerful formation has at least a hundred flags scattered in various places. Finding one, though it changes the formation's structure, still can't completely destroy it!

Doing so might instead, due to carelessness, cause the formation to detonate entirely.

A grand formation, maintained for thousands of years, accumulates terrifying spiritual energy. Once detonated, it could likely be like the earlier Purification Pool, where even the Eighth Layer of Mortal Transformation couldn't withstand it, and would be blown to pieces on the spot.

Formations are no joke. If they could be broken so easily, wouldn't five-star and six-star formation masters have studied in vain?

The more she thought, the angrier she got. Princess Fei'er was about to continue when she felt her arm being tugged. Looking up, it was her best friend Luo Qiqi. She couldn't help frowning. “What's wrong?”

“Don't rush to speak yet. Look over there first...”

Luo Qiqi's face flushed.

“Over there?”

With a delicate frown, Princess Fei'er couldn't help turning her head. At the sight, the corner of her mouth twitched, and she nearly fainted on the spot.

She saw that the young man who had been standing not far away was now more than twenty meters off, bending over to pull a formation flag from the ground. He pulled them as he walked, like a farmer pulling garlic, and even whistled cheerfully.

Whew, whew, whew whew...

“...”

Her eyes rolled back.

Princess Fei'er nearly cried.

Was it really necessary to be so dramatic?

This is a hidden formation that I couldn't even make visible despite using all my strength, and you just walk a step, pull out a flag, walk a step, pull out a flag...

When others deal with hidden formations, they first use formation-breaking silver needles to make it visible, then determine what kind of formation it is based on its shape and power, find the life gate, and apply various methods to break it...

But this guy, without even knowing what the formation is, starts pulling out flags... Are you crazy?

Of course, just pulling out the formation flags is something many can do, but... if you don't know the formation, how can you pull them out so confidently, so calmly?

Especially whistling... Are you that confident, not afraid of backlash?

Good thing I didn't bet with him on breaking the formation earlier, otherwise I'd be even worse off now...

"It seems... Teacher knows the position of every formation flag, and also knows how to pull them out without causing backlash..."

Luo Qiqi's throat went dry.

Earlier, hearing those words, she thought this teacher only excelled in alchemy and knew nothing about formations. Now she realized it wasn't that he didn't know... he knew too well!

Even Princess Fei'er, a five-star formation master, was far inferior!

Even... the best formation breakers in the academy couldn't do this!

Look at that... precise positioning, leisurely steps, helpless eyes, flamboyant whistle...

Holy crap! Could this formation have been set by you yourself?

Otherwise, how could you be so familiar with it?

"This..."

"He just... broke the formation?"

Xing Yuan, Wu Zhen, and Ye Qian also widened their eyes, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Hidden formations are among the hardest to break. They not only obscure people's vision but, more importantly, prevent themselves from being revealed, making it impossible to know how to break them.

Whistling while pulling formation flags out of the ground...

This method of breaking formations had never been heard of before. It felt like a dream.

"All done!"

As everyone stood dumbfounded, the young man shook his hand, storing a pile of formation flags into his storage ring, then patted the dust off his palms and glanced over calmly.

Although these flags were corroded, they were still items capable of setting up a sixth-level formation, and they were antiques, quite valuable. He'd keep them for now.

Seeing all the flags removed, the group quickly looked around and indeed saw that the previously empty valley had changed.

A massive portal appeared before them, over two zhang tall, made of unknown material, covered in ancient mottling, clearly at least a thousand years old.

Behind the portal was a stone staircase descending downward, stretching endlessly out of sight.

"So it is an underground palace!"

Seeing the entrance revealed after the concealment formation was broken, everyone's eyes lit up.

It seemed the information Luo Qiqi had obtained was accurate.

No wonder—if the information hadn't been verified and a judgment made, the academy wouldn't have formed a task and granted credits upon completion.

"Let's go in!"

Xing Yuan's eyes gleamed.

"Not so fast. This underground palace may not have been opened for years, and there could be all kinds of miasma inside."

Luo Qiqi stepped forward, turned her wrist, and produced a jade bottle: "This is an antidote pill I specially refined, capable of neutralizing thousands of kinds of miasma bred in underground palaces."

With that, she opened the jade bottle, and round pills rolled out.

In an underground palace that remains unopened for years, rotting corpses, insects, and stagnant air—many factors can produce toxic gases. To enter, one must prepare corresponding medicines in advance; otherwise, even a Qiaotian realm expert might not withstand them.

"Mm."

Knowing the danger, everyone took a pill and swallowed it.

Zhang Xuan did not seek special treatment; he also took one and placed it in his mouth.

"Wu Zhen, you are well-versed in various mechanisms. We'll rely on you later."

Seeing everyone had taken the medicine, Luo Qiqi looked at Wu Zhen, who was not far away.

Among them, Wu Zhen had the profession of Artificer, thoroughly familiar with all kinds of mechanisms and traps. The underground palace was fraught with dangers, and no one could guarantee there were no mechanisms.

"Rest assured."

Turning his wrist, Wu Zhen produced something resembling an umbrella.

It was the [Thousand Mechanism Umbrella], specially used by Artificers to disarm mechanisms.

"Let's go down!"

Opening the Thousand Mechanism Umbrella, Wu Zhen was the first to walk toward the entrance.

Without hesitation, the others followed behind in single file.

Seeing that everyone had their own preparations, Zhang Xuan said nothing and followed behind Luo Qiqi as they moved forward.

Whoosh!

Upon entering the gate, they were immediately met with pitch darkness, as if blind.

Xing Yuan stepped forward, flicked his wrist, and several night pearls rolled down the stairs, illuminating the area below brightly.

The stairs below stretched on, with no end in sight.

"Continue."

After looking around to confirm safety, Wu Zhen gave a low call and led the way down the stairs.