chapter 30 Mysterious Formation ===

After spending an hour in seclusion, Verdantius Liu arrived in the courtyard. The medicinal herbs from the Pill Treasure cockloft had already been delivered. The deadline of eight days was approaching. A beautifully crafted scabbard was placed on the stone table in the courtyard. Verdantius Liu picked up the scabbard, inserted the short knife into it, and pulled it out. A terrifying knife qi burst forth, and the pillar in the center of the courtyard suddenly collapsed. It broke in half at the waist, with a clean and neat cut. Having mastered all seven moves of the Blood siphon method, Verdantius Liu had not yet fully applied them in actual combat. While he had the experience, he lacked practical skills. The two were not the same concepts, like a house designer who could design a house with abundant knowledge but might not be skilled in bricklaying. That was the idea. The killing was a technical job; it wasn't just a matter of theory. It required actual combat to hone the blade technique, the integration of body and soul, achieving a perfect fit between the two. Freeing up an hour, he refined hundreds of Spirit Elixirs. With the breakthrough to the Innate Realm, the refinement became more skillful, and the success rate for each furnace was extremely high. Carrying the Spirit Elixirs, Verdantius Liu left the Xu family. Breaking through to the Innate Realm was just the beginning; there was still much more to do. It wasn't a visit to the Pill Treasure cockloft or the Weapon workshop, but the Song family's Formation Hall. The Song family was renowned for formations, with numerous formations available for cultivators' practice—killing formations, illusion formations, and more. They could simulate various scenarios, something the Beast Fighting Arena couldn't do. Each had its merits; it wasn't necessarily about who was better or worse. Hunting and killing demonic beasts might be too monotonous, suitable for ordinary martial artists, but not for Verdantius Liu. The Song family's Formation Hall was the only one, towering in the most northwest area of Canglan City. It had an enormous area and was divided into various formations. According to his memory, after an hour, continuous buildings appeared in front, built against the mountain. This was where the Song family's Formation Hall was located. A constant stream of people flowed towards it. Many martial artists liked to cultivate in the Formation Hall because of its variety of formations. They could choose from meteor formations for their cultivation pace, or killing formations for their love of slaughter, and so on. Following the crowd, Verdantius Liu arrived at the registration counter. Formations were divided into several types—Acquired Formations. Now in the Innate Realm, he couldn't choose Acquired Formations for cultivation. A group of people hurriedly walked in from outside the main gate, and Verdantius Liu saw a familiar figure among them—Ivydan Song. Entering a hall, the younger generation stayed outside to guard. Something seemed to have happened in the Formation Hall. "I heard that there seems to be a problem in the core of the Formation Hall. It might be due to long-term disrepair, causing many formations to be inoperable." In the midst of the crowd, discussions were abundant. It was unclear whether it was true or false. The flow of people ahead suddenly stopped, and a noisy voice came from the window. "Why? I waited for an hour, and you tell me all the formations are full. No, today I must enter the formations for cultivation." A rough voice echoed through the entire corner, and several young people from the Song family looked over. Ivydan Song rushed over with his fat body. The Song family guards started to maintain order. In recent days, the Song family's Formation Hall had been insufficient, and many formations had stopped operating. Martial artists who came to queue up spent a lot of time and were told that there were no available formations. They felt unbalanced. The scene was chaotic; several hundred people hadn't been able to enter, clamoring for the Song family to find a solution quickly. Many martial artists, stuck in their realms, needed to break through by oppressing them through formations. Ivydan Song's fat body ran over to apologize The Song family didn't expect such a thing to happen. Verdantius Liu was among the crowd, and the little fatty spotted him immediately. Squeezing his fat body, the little fatty walked up to Verdantius Liu. "Bro, why are you here?" The little fatty admired Verdantius Liu greatly. In the last Beast Fighting Arena, where he won three million gold coins together with Verdantius Liu in the final round, he even trembled while walking recently. The little fatty had little interest in cultivation but delved deeply into formations. "Bro, something happened in the Formation Hall. Let's talk over there. It's too crowded here." Dragging Verdantius Liu along, they went to a place without anyone else. Only the Song family members could enter here, and the noisy sounds around disappeared. "Bro, did you come to use the formation for cultivation too?" After they sat down, Ivydan Song hurriedly asked. Verdantius Liu nodded. Breaking through the Innate Realm required a real battle to stabilize the realm. "You still haven't told me what's wrong with the Formation Hall." Unable to use the formation for cultivation, Verdantius Liu needed to find another way. He wasn't particularly concerned, but the little fatty had a worried look on his face, suggesting that there might be something inconvenient to mention. "It's all some annoying matters. Let's not talk about it. I know of a formation that can still be used. I'll take you there now." Ivydan Song stood up, pulling Verdantius Liu along. Ten minutes later, they arrived outside a dilapidated building. "Are you sure this is the place?" This formation had not been activated for at least several decades. Dust piled up around, and Verdantius Liu wondered what the little fatty was up to. "Bro, what's your current realm?" Ivydan Song asked mysteriously, glancing around to ensure no one was nearby, and then lowered his voice. "The Ninth stage of the acquired realm!" Hiding his true realm, Verdantius Liu didn't want people to know about his breakthrough to the Innate Realm. "That's fine then. This formation was arranged by our Song family ancestors. It's a peculiar one; it can adjust its level based on your realm. But it hasn't been activated for many years." Ivydan Song answered truthfully. The formation was arranged by the Song family's ancestors, but for some unknown reason, it had been idle for decades. "Why has it been idle for so long?" Verdantius Liu asked. If people were complaining about the lack of formations outside, why wasn't this one activated? "Because... because there have been deaths inside. Later, it was closed, claiming that the formation was out of control." Ivydan Song regretted it a bit. He shouldn't have brought Verdantius Liu here. It seemed he was too infatuated with Verdantius Liu. "Interesting." Originally, Verdantius Liu didn't have high expectations. The Song family's formation was suitable for cultivation but lacked killing power. He could only roam on the edge of life and death to find an opportunity for a breakthrough. Given his abilities, setting up a killing formation was too simple. Setting up formations required a large number of materials and favorable conditions. The Song family had been cultivating for hundreds of years to establish the Formation Hall. Verdantius Liu couldn't wait that long; the resources in Canglan City were too depleted. Pushing open the wooden door, Verdantius Liu walked in. A gust of dust greeted him. He swept his hand, and the dust scattered by itself. The room was large, around five hundred square meters. It was definitely a huge formation. "Bro, don't go in..." Ivydan Song hurriedly stopped him, but it was too late. Verdantius Liu stepped into the formation. "Bro, you're my real brother. This formation is really weird. Let's get out." Ivydan Song was scared. After entering, the lights in the room lit up by themselves. The walls around were made of rare inkstone, extremely hard. They walked to the southeast corner. This was where the formation's core was located. As long as you placed spiritual stones in the groove, you could activate the formation. Other formations were controlled by Song family members, but this formation had no one attending to it. It relied on Verdantius Liu to activate it. All the remaining five spiritual stones on him were placed in the grooves. The whole room made a cracking sound, and the door suddenly closed. The surroundings changed suddenly, and the two found themselves standing on a plain. "Boom!" The earth trembled, and Ivydan Song was scared, sitting on the ground, thinking it was an earthquake. "This formation is pretty good. It suits my cultivation. Follow closely behind me!" Verdantius Liu said, his feet touched the ground, and his body turned into a meteor, quickly approaching the source of the sound. "Bro, wait for me!" Climbing up from the ground, Ivydan Song quickly followed Verdantius Liu. Once inside the formation, they could only wait for the spiritual stones to be depleted, or for someone outside to close the formation. They couldn't get out. This was not an ordinary formation; it would kill people. "Wolves, a thousand of them!" A wicked smile played on the lips of Verdantius Liu, his realm suppressed at the Ninth Stage of the acquired realm. The appearing azure wolves were also at the First Order Ninth Stage, with similar realms. "I'll be damned!" Startled, Ivydan Song nearly peed his pants. At the Seventh Stage of the Acquired realm, relying heavily on numerous elixirs, facing so many First-Order Ninth Stage demonic beasts, his chubby physique was hardly enough to fill the gaps between the wolves' teeth. "Turning the virtual into reality, this requires a method only available to those in the Pulp-washing realm. Could it be that the founder of the Song family was a Pulp washing realm expert?" A mischievous expression appeared on Verdantius Liu's face. He grabbed Ivydan Song just as a wolf soared over him. Drawing his short knife, a canopy of blood rained down as the wolf fell. Finally understanding that people could die inside the formation, with a formation achieved to the level of making illusions reality, caused the creatures inside to be realistic even though they were fake. Those who entered and died in it experienced true death. This wasn't an ordinary Breaking Kill Formation; it integrated the subtleties of various formations. The founder of the Song family was indeed a talented individual. A thousand wolves gathered around them, their eyeballs emitting a greenish glow, sending shivers down their spines. "Brother, I don't want to die yet!" Trembling, Ivydan Song was surrounded by a group of wolves. Anyone in this situation would find it hard to remain calm. Over the years, he had mastered some formations, but the scene in front of him was beyond his understanding. Most of the Song family's formations were quite simple, just simulating scenarios with two or three opponents. "You won't die. This formation is long overdue for repairs. Many areas have significant loopholes, making it difficult for those who enter to find an exit. That's why people end up dying inside." Verdantius Liu found it strange. Many parts of this formation had been modified, probably by people sent by the Song family to fix it. However, all their attempts had failed. "Brother, you understand formations!" Having researched formations for decades, the Song family hadn't found the flaw in the formation. Verdantius Liu, who had entered just minutes ago, found the problem, leaving Ivydan Song amazed. Without time to answer Ivydan Song, wolves lunged at them. With incredible speed, they opened their mouths, emitting a foul stench. The scenery, the creatures – everything was identical to the real world. "Break!" The short knife traced a brilliant arc. Before the wolves could get close, the knife wind hit them. Bodies fell, stimulating more wolves to emit deep, howling sounds.