All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 431 - 74 Inner City District Stronghold (1/3)

Chapter 431: Chapter 74 Inner City District Stronghold (1/3)

An Jing didn’t know that not only was he favored by Third Middle School, but also by the ’defeated followers’ of First Middle School.

But that didn’t matter; even if An Jing found out, he would just laugh—being unnoticed was the mark of a mediocrity. If one shows their uniqueness, they are bound to be looked after by various forces.

And this attention and concern could not affect An Jing now.

Because he and Huo Qing had moved into the large flat of Nian Quan, indulging daily in fancy ice cream, drinks, and feasts; enjoying the professional-grade Foundation Spirit Gathering Formation was incredibly exhilarating.

By now, An Jing in Xuanye City had established three strongholds.

The first was located at the edge of the safety zone in Chonggang Town’s warehouse—now sealed off, it would take at least a decade or two before it could gradually reopen.

The second was a recycling shed in the outskirts of Xuanye City, operated by Iron Hand. Since Iron Hand had left to report to the Guiyi Army’s secret base, it was now operated by Huo Qing and Rusty Feather’s big sister.

And the current third one was housed within the mansion in the Inner City District of Nian Quan.

Although there was surveillance from Third Middle School at Nian Quan’s mansion, it was primarily to ensure Nian Quan’s safety. Inside the house, if managed properly, confidentiality was actually better than the previous two locations; unexpected inspections and Demon Beast attacks were unheard of, making it the safest option.

Opening the window, An Jing looked outside.

The gloomy sky was completely lit by the bright neon lights of the Inner City District, turning into a colorful spectral wonderland, while the artificial light on the ground was peaceful and comfortable. The air quality was so good there were no floating particles visible, and one could see to the end of the community.

The buildings had ample space between them. The streets were new, clean, and spacious, with rows of neatly arranged landscape trees whose branches and leaves flowed with silver Spiritual Patterns, forming Great Formations that were visually refreshing.

The vehicles coming and going were not motorbikes or cars, but noiseless flying shuttles and personal Magic Artifact vehicles. Tengshuang White’s high-grade private flight motorcycle was among the loudest, but even so, the flight motorcycles in the Inner City District had silent Arrays.

The entire residential area was no different from a library, immersed in a serene and melodious atmosphere that encouraged a state of focused cultivation at all times.

The air was fresh, free of acidic rain. A translucent dome covered the entire residential district, while on a large lawn to the side, numerous children played and frolicked.

At a glance, An Jing experienced a moment of disorientation, as if he were not in the Tianyuan Realm, a world near wasteland after the cataclysm, but back on Earth in his previous life’s utopian society.

—Could this place, so different from the Lower City District and safety zone filled with unfinished buildings, gang fights, corrosive acidic water, and pollution, really be part of the same world?

An Jing couldn’t help but ponder this question, but he soon scoffed cynically and laughed, "Isn’t this just like Embracing the Void? In Shenjing, the nobles live in peace and joy, the rich young masters even find rice that is too fatty distasteful, all while ignoring that the people of Northern Border are nearly starving to death."

"Damn it, during the first few months struggling in the Frost Calamity with my mother, I dreamed of eating plain white rice!"

The reason it was only during the first few months was because later, An Jing could no longer even dream of what rice tasted like. At that time, being able to eat bark and bran was already good—white rice, that would be a luxury making someone else’s meal!

"The world is different, but people are the same, those ’superior folks’ who don’t attend to human concerns are also the same..."

Closing the window, An Jing’s resolve only strengthened, "The Imperial Court of Da Chen, the groups of Tianyuan, their swords decide their ’laws’... If I am to stand against them, I must also establish my own law with my own sword."

"I have a sword. I will surely have the power; I have no doubt about that—the only thing I need to consider now is my law."

How could one accumulate his own strength, and how could he prevent his own people from becoming like Da Chen and the others?

An Jing had ideas about the earlier question; he could entirely use the technological disparity between the two realms to develop his bases in both realms. The latter issue might need to be considered in the later stages, as his organizational structure was still small and refined, nowhere near the point where he had to be wary of such matters.

But as a leader, An Jing had to scrutinize these future possibilities.

Meanwhile, as An Jing pondered, the hall was quite noisy, filled with frequent exchanges of surprise and delight.

Listening carefully, it was the sound of Huo Qing and Nian Quan discussing formations.

"Ah, I had not realized the huge gap between my own and a professional grade Spirit Gathering Formation."

As a professional Array Master, Huo Qing had targeted Nian Quan’s Spirit Gathering Formation from the beginning. After receiving permission, he went to observe it closely as soon as he could, analyzing it obsessively.

The result of the analysis made Huo Qing sigh, "I thought that if the Spirit Gathering Formation An Jing gave me could be stacked up to Nine Layers, it would probably touch the realm of Foundation Establishment. Now, it seems there is still a long way to go."

Huo Qing’s lament was heard by Nian Quan, who curiously urged Huo Qing to demonstrate—and when Huo Qing laid out a Double-Layer Embedded Spirit Gathering Formation using simple Spiritual Material, it shocked Nian Quan, the top student from a specialized background.

"This formation... whether it’s the design concept or the construction technique, it’s all brand new!"

Although he wasn’t fully recovered enough to be moving around, Nian Quan leaned on his cane, staring in astonishment at the operation of the Double-Layer Formation constructed by Huo Qing, "My goodness, this is a formation within a formation, the feng shui within feng shui setups!"

"So it is based on the core concept of ’Yin within Yang and Yang within Yin?’ Although I’m not very knowledgeable about formations, Huo Qing, this formation design is very clever. Its strength isn’t its efficiency, but its ingenuity!"

"Simply put, its greatest utility is actually in making slight adjustments and modifications to huge strategic formations like town defense arrays and natural feng shui Array formations, acting akin to leverage in shifting thousands of pounds with little effort!"

"Incredible!"

Huo Qing’s talent in formations was indeed extraordinary. He hadn’t realized it at first, just because he had spent too much time in small places with limited perspectives. Now, enlightened by Nian Quan’s remarks, he experienced a sudden realization, "Ah, I understand now, the creator of the ’Great Abyss Scripture’ actually had no intention of teaching people how to draw large formations from start to finish."

"He assumed we learners were already proficient in formations and various common large formations, so what he taught was all advanced content..."

"No wonder, no wonder, I need to keep pushing myself!"

Huo Qing and Nian Quan, two cultivators from the Tianyuan Realm, were enthusiastically discussing such knowledge, making An Jing, who only knew about killing and cultivation, feel somewhat out of his element—he really didn’t understand formations, nor talismans and Artifact Refining; and while he might know a bit about pills and medicinal materials, he couldn’t get a word in on these topics!

"It seems Tianyuan Realm’s categorization of cultivation techniques into ’Pill Formation Talisman Weapons’ is indeed reasonable. Any of these five skills can be a cultivator’s safeguard, and if practiced extensively, can even facilitate a deeper understanding and advancement in the Great Dao."

Watching Nian Quan and Huo Qing, who had already started gleaming in their eyes as they communicated through a Spiritual Network using chips, An Jing felt somewhat redundant, "I indeed need to pick a cultivation technique—I can’t just know how to fight and kill; I must master a technique that assists in civilian construction and production to deeply understand the operation of the heavens and the earth."

"I will teach you Artifact Refining," Subdue Evil Sword Spirit said. "But I think the reason you feel redundant isn’t because you can’t join the conversation; it’s because you don’t have a local’s chip—these devices are really useful, and they’re used even more in the cities."

"If you plan to delve deeper into Tianyuan Realm affairs, a good chip is essential... It’s time to prepare to get one."