All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 591 - 192: What? Another Tribulation? (Extra Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 591: Chapter 192: What? Another Tribulation? (Extra Monthly Ticket)

"So it is, the basics of ancient natural observation and bionics are the foundation of formations." An Jing still had some fundamental understanding and quickly grasped the meaning implied by Huo Qing: "While artificial technology employs many advanced theorems developed from primordial principles, observation alone is insufficient for learning them."

"That’s a misunderstanding."

Huo Qing explained: "Natural formations are not advanced; they are simple and pure, easy to understand and deconstruct for analysis, allowing an Array Master to begin and subsequently comprehend the essence of formations. It enables one to advance from being merely a formation laborer to a true scholar of formations!"

"Not only that, my example is quite crude because every natural formation represents a foundational Array Plate with an extremely high fault tolerance, also revealing some phenomena generally unobservable by ordinary Array Masters."

Saying this, Huo Qing handed the Jade Slip to An Jing, who upon accessing the information, immediately saw numerous clouds of Spirit Qi revolving in an exceedingly complex manner centered around himself, forming a dynamic Spirit Gathering Array.

This Spirit Gathering Array, once operational, seemed as lively as a living being, creating an illusion in An Jing that this Spirit Qi itself possessed life.

Formation... is it truly so miraculous?

"I’ve gained so much this time."

An Jing returned the Jade Slip to Huo Qing, who watched it almost obsessively: "For instance, I never really understood why the Storage Spirit Formation Pattern is based on a three-dimensional structure of ’return’; my teacher would only say that the ’return’ structure is the most stable, capable of solidifying Spirit Qi to maintain consistency—is this wrong? It’s a huge mistake, but it doesn’t stop us from understanding and employing the structure."

"It was only after encountering this natural formation that I realized the usefulness of the ’return’ structure because it forms a Spiritual Energy Echo Wall, allowing for unbiased resonance of Spirit Qi, where vast amounts continuously oscillate, maintaining a stable transmission structure. Hence, the Spirit Qi in the Storage Formation is not static, but is constantly moving like river water or like continuously reflected light in the mirror!"

"All that’s taught in the books is wrong, or rather, they are just the most basic superficial appearances."

Huo Qing calmed down a bit, cautiously stored the Jade Slip in a well-hidden, preserved storage beneath his warehouse, then let out a sigh of relief: "Only with natural formations can these details be seen, otherwise, you would have to go to the [Spiritual Energy Cloud Mist Room]."

"But that requires a lot of pure Spirit Qi, burning a thousand Spirit Stones each activation, only large companies’ laboratories can afford this to observe the altering trajectories of Spirit Qi, thereby discovering more related Spirit Qi structures."

Huo Qing had researched this area thoroughly, and An Jing could generally understand it, though he still found it somewhat complex: "The way of formations is indeed profound; I have much to learn."

"Indeed."

Subdue Evil also agreed: "Although I understand many Sword Arrays, most are straightforward and forceful, and I am best at using Sword Arrays in battle—after all, I am but a sword. According to this line of thought, I can teach you to be an invincible formation laborer, but not necessarily an independent and self-reliant Array Master capable of developing entirely new formations."

"The technology of the Tianyuan Realm is quite remarkable; it’s a brand-new technological form developed after departing traditional Immortal Paths, and we must learn it."

"Yes."

An Jing nodded inwardly; his persistent fixation on resolving the chip-related issues was so that he could delve into the schools of Xuanye City to learn their technologies.

Huo Qing once attended a school that didn’t teach much of the true essence, but according to Nian Quan, those higher educational institutions did offer rare and genuine knowledge—although there were many conditions, and one needed to demonstrate exceptional excellence, An Jing never feared this.

Being a person from another world and a Heavenly Mandate, compete with him in excellence? At least a whole big realm higher would be required!

Huo Qing recorded the basic formation while An Jing began to manipulate his newly born Water and Fire Spirit Roots.

By now, An Jing had gathered the Five Elements Spirit Roots of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and just as he had once complained, his Spirit Roots followed the entirely generative cycle of ’Water generates wood,’ ’Wood generates fire,’ ’Fire generates earth,’ ’Earth generates metal,’ ’Metal generates water’—each cycle of circulating Spirit Qi allowed him to gain several times more Spirit Qi than ordinary people.

This was already very close to the Innate Taoist Body and the most supreme Heavenly Spiritual Root.

Boom.

An Jing raised his hand, and in the palm of his left hand, there lay a viscous and vivid mass, akin to grease yet resembling magma, the Blood Flame.

This was precisely his Blood Fiend.

An Jing has always been less adept at controlling the Blood Fiend compared to the Gold Fiend. He could easily mold the Gold Fiend into various shapes, transforming them into swords or even giant cleavers to slice through ships and break through thousands of soldiers, but the Blood Fiend could only be used in conjunction with the Pupil Fire and was only suitable for occasional sneak attacks. In major battles, it only served as an accompaniment to the Gold Fiend.

This was due to the lack of the corresponding Spirit Root and cultivation techniques; thus, activating it relied purely on instinct.

But now, the situation had changed. An Jing felt that the Blood Flame in the palm of his hand could transform according to his will. In just a few breaths, the Blood Fiend morphed into streams of fire snakes and fire birds, swirling around An Jing as they flew.

For a moment, An Jing even saw a revelation: countless Fire Fiends transformed into clouds covering the sky, and numerous Divine Birds soared and spiraled, landing upon a giant red Parasol Wood.

[The phoenix sings on that high hill. The Parasol Wood grows in the morning sun]

An Jing’s Heart Fire and Divine Sense instantly transformed into a sky full of fire clouds. The fierce flames burned strongly, incinerating all that was decayed and declining. Everything that was dying of old age turned to ashes under the flames, then reborn from the ashes.

The Heart Fire of man, if not extinguished, signifies youth even in old age. If extinguished, signifies old age even in youth. The Nirvana Rebirth does not require ordinary divine fire, but an unceasing breath of spirit and an unextinguished Heart Flame!

With blazing Divine Sense, An Jing felt his somewhat weary spirit invigorated, and the phoenix transformed from Blood Fiend landed on the Fire Spirit Root derived from the Ancestral Dragon, causing its branches and leaves to sprout more phoenix patterns.

"Logically speaking, do phoenixes and Parasol Wood have anything to do with fire?"

Initially, An Jing couldn’t help but think of this idea, but Subdue Evil shook its head: "This is an expression of an image. Divine Wood, in reality, encompasses all attributes. Even Fusang, which seems most related to fire, could also be interpreted as ’driftwood from the East Sea’ or ’the foundation stone of Tang Valley,’ or even the ’resplendent Golden Sun.’ Cultivation—once you succeed, that’s the only thing that makes sense."

"That makes sense." An Jing never dwelt on these issues.

And another kind related to water, the Water Fiend, An Jing had not yet mastered, but he could possess it as long as he began his cultivation—and he vaguely also saw another Divine Wood, a vast Great River flowing from its roots, encompassing and carrying myriad things, the legendary Ruowood.

Water, it says, is black. The Black Emperor originated from the Ruoshui Wilderness, but indeed it could be considered the Divine Wood of Water Fiend.

Jianmu, Undying Wood, Fusang Wood, Parasol Wood, Ruowood.

These were the five types of Heaven and Earth Spirit Roots birthed from An Jing’s Divine Abnormality ’Heaven and Earth Root,’ and these five were all truly Origin Woods, fundamental to Tai Chu’s True Spirit [Huai Xu Divine Wood · Ancestral Dragon].

"Next, all that’s missing is ’Yin Yang’—but there’s no hurry. I have a premonition; it will likely be something for my Divine Storage Realm."

Taking a deep breath, An Jing understood his next goal: "The task now is to slowly nurture the Five Spirit Roots..."

And while An Jing was joyously planning his future cultivation, the clouds of spiritual energy that had lingered around him due to Unity of Heaven and Man had not yet dispersed.

Instead, they shone brilliantly, with little arcs of electricity occasionally flashing within them, causing Huo Qing to glance sideways at them from time to time, a bit puzzled: "An Jing, is this phenomena caused by an excess of spiritual energy?"

An Jing looked around, not quite sure: "Maybe, but is the effect that good?"

"No!"

At this moment, Subdue Evil suddenly became alert, realizing something. With a clang of sword clashing, anxiety surged: "This is bad, I’ve stayed in the world of Martial Arts for too long and forgot!"

"An Jing, you’re about to undergo a tribulation!"

"Huh?"

An Jing was also stunned: "A tribulation? Why? Why do I have to undergo a tribulation?"

"Isn’t it obvious? Which cultivator on the Immortal Path who achieves profound Divine Skills doesn’t need to undergo a tribulation?" Subdue Evil was filled with regret: "But truly in Martial Arts, there’s no such need, I forgot!"

"Anyway, An Jing, move quickly, head to the Wilderness, we cannot undergo the tribulation within the city!"