Those who were qualified to breach the Formation of Inner Demons outside were the upper echelons of the Combat Master Hall, and their main goal was to obtain the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra. He had only casually asked the other party if he was interested, thinking that the other party would surely agree to it. Who could have thought that … the other party would reject him right away!
If you aren't interested, what are you doing challenging the formation here?
Are you messing with me?
"That is the strongest secret art of the Heart Division … Are you sure that you don't want to learn it?" the elder asked hesitantly.
"I don't want to." Zhang Xuan shook his head.
He didn't have any inner demons at the moment, and the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra only served to reduce the number of inner demons one had. The more one learned it, the weaker one would become.
"Then … why did you challenge the formation?" the elder asked in displeasure.
"I thought that there are inner demons here that can raise my Soul Depth, so I came here to temper myself. But … the inner demons are simply too weak. They are completely ineffective, and I was delighted for nothing. To be honest, I am feeling a little disappointed!"
Zhang Xuan sighed with a desolate look on his face.
If only he had known that it was such a low-grade formation, he would have never entered.
However, this trip was not in vain. He had tamed several hundred inner demons and learned the location of the other half of Vicious. This would be of great help to him in the future.
"Too weak? Disappointing? "
The elder's face reddened, and he nearly fainted on the spot.
This Great Formation of Inner Demons was something he had obtained by chance many years ago. It was capable of drawing out the negative emotions of 'evil', 'sorrow', 'pain', 'fear', and other negative emotions in a cultivator's body and making use of them to subconsciously sink into it.
Those who were able to withstand it would be able to raise their Soul Depth significantly, and those who were unable to do so would be able to stop the formation for a certain period of time.
It might sound simple, but once an inner demon appeared, it would be far too difficult to overcome. From the fact that the previous head of the Combat Master Hall had only managed to pass five out of the hundred, it could be seen how difficult it was. Yet, this young man before him actually said that it was too weak …
From the looks of it, he seemed to be looking at the other party with disdain …
Disdain your head! Are you really here to challenge the formation?
"This Formation of Inner Demons is indeed nothing in the eyes of true experts, but … your cultivation is only at Saint 1-dan, and it took you such a long time to break the formation. It shouldn't be that easy, right?"
The elder asked in displeasure.
It had been at least ten minutes since the other party entered the formation. While it was indeed fast, it was definitely not as easy as he had made it out to be.
What the hell were you trying to do?
"What? Do you think I'm lying? "
Seeing his expression, Zhang Xuan shook his head and sighed, "This formation of yours is unsightly and completely useless! If you don't believe me, I'll explain it to you right now. Even though this formation can draw out one's inner demons, it can only be completed by walking to the center of the formation. This is equivalent to giving the cultivator a psychological hint that the following experience … is all fake. With this kind of subjective thinking, the power of the formation will naturally be greatly reduced … This is the first problem! "
"This …" The old man was taken aback, unable to utter a single word.
This was indeed the flaw of the formation.
However, once the inner demons were drawn out, one would fall into chaos. Even if one had such a thought, it would be difficult to doubt it.
Under normal circumstances, no one would have paid any heed to it. Yet, the young man before him was actually able to point it out … Could it be that he wasn't boasting, but that he really thought that the formation was too weak?
"The attacks of the inner demons created by the formation are too simplistic. They will only seek out the flaws in one's cultivation technique to beguile them. If the challenger has absolute confidence in their cultivation technique, the prowess of the formation will be greatly reduced … This is the second problem!"
Zhang Xuan continued.
"You …"
The old man froze on the spot.
The Great Formation of Inner Demons was difficult to set up in the first place, so it was normal for flaws to appear. Yet, this fellow still had the time to look for flaws even when he was plagued by inner demons …
Are you for real?
"The traces of this grand formation are too thick, and the inner demons are too ugly. Who would be in the mood to waste time with them? They're so ugly that they affect one's perception. Most likely, they would want to destroy it on the spot! Perhaps, they should have made the inner demons assume the form of someone they are familiar with, and the effects would have been better … This is the third problem!
"… This is the fourth problem!
"… This is the fifth problem!
…
"… This is the tenth problem. For a formation that isn't too big to have so many flaws, isn't it a little too weak?"
Placing his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan's lips twitched.
Formations could draw out one's inner demons, making it difficult for one to guard against it. However, there were also huge flaws to it.
The greatest problem was that it was difficult to immerse oneself in the formation!
If one were to appear in the form of a demon, wouldn't one immediately know that one was an inner demon?
If one were to appear in the form of a demon, one's senses would be severely affected.
A truly formidable inner demon could manifest as a regret or flaw in one's heart, appearing in an indiscernible manner … That was what was truly fearsome.
For example, if these inner demons weren't so ugly and had taken on the appearance of Lozosy instead, he might have fallen prey to them as well.
"Th-this …"
The old man's face paled. His already feeble will began to sway even more intensely, as if it would collapse at any moment.
He was the one who set up the formation, so it went without saying that he was aware of the flaws and flaws in the formation. Yet, none of the ten flaws that the other party had pointed out were correct!
In other words, not only did the other party clear the formation, he even saw through the essence of the formation.
It was no wonder the other party took more than ten minutes … It seemed like the other party wasn't trying to deal with the inner demons but to find the flaws and flaws in the formation.
To be able to find so many flaws in such a short period of time … Wasn't his eye of discernment a little too incredible?
"Is there … a way to resolve it?"
Not daring to underestimate the other party, the old man asked carefully.
"It'll be difficult to resolve it completely. Even I might not be able to do it, but it's still possible to raise the prowess of the formation by a little. As long as I add an Illusory Formation to it, I'll be able to induce inner demons before the examinees even notice anything amiss …"
After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger in the air, and his zhenqi swiftly formed a diagram identical to the one in the room previously.
With another tap, several hundred spots of light immediately appeared around the room.
This was the Illusory Formation of a painter.
"If I were to set up an Illusory Formation around these spots of light, the prowess of the two formations would be vastly different …" Zhang Xuan explained.
His comprehension of formations had already reached seven-star pinnacle, perhaps even on par with eight-star primary stage. On top of that, he had experienced the Qiu Wu Palace as well. As complicated as it was, it wasn't too difficult for him.
Not to mention, he was only raising the prowess of the Formation of Inner Demons by a fraction.
"This …"
As someone who was able to set up the Formation of Inner Demons, the old man's comprehension of formations was extremely profound as well. After taking a closer look, his body jolted in disbelief.
Even though the formation before him was creative and unconventional, it happened to be able to make up for the many flaws in the Formation of Inner Demons, thus enhancing its prowess significantly.
"I've learned a lot."
The old man bowed deeply in admiration.
Not only did the doubts he had previously vanish, he was even filled with admiration for the young man.
Despite his young age, the young man's comprehension of formations was far beyond his. More importantly, the young man's Soul Depth was so strong that not even the Formation of Inner Demons was able to affect him. He really couldn't have imagined that such a formidable genius would appear in the later generations.
"There's no need to stand on ceremony."
Zhang Xuan waved his hand casually.
He had only said that the formation was nothing much, and since the other party had admitted to it, there was no need for him to be so unreasonable.
"This is the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra. Even if you aren't interested in it, since you have cleared the trial, I'll still give it to you according to our agreement …" The old man flicked his finger, and a brilliant light flickered before him.
Taking a look, Zhang Xuan imprinted it into the Library of Heaven's Path. A moment later, a deep frown appeared on his forehead. "This cultivation technique has an extremely high requirement on one's Soul Depth!"
The Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra had an extremely high requirement on one's Soul Depth. Only those who had reached a certain level of mastery could cultivate it. Otherwise, not only would one fail to master it, one might even attract inner demons, causing one's cultivation to plummet. In fact, one might even end up going insane.
In the first place, there were very few people who possessed such a high Soul Depth. It was no wonder why there was a requirement for one to pass down a cultivation technique.
One had to possess sufficient strength in order to learn it. Otherwise, if word got out, not only would one not be able to advance one's cultivation, one might even end up harming others.
"Yes!" The old man nodded.
"It'll be difficult to popularize a cultivation technique with such a high requirement on one's Soul Depth. How about this? I'll modify it for you so that even ordinary people can cultivate it. What do you think?"
Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment.
If it had been any other cultivation technique, even he would have been helpless before it. However, the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra was different.
In essence, the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra was a technique that cultivated one's Primordial Spirit and soul to become as transparent as glass. It was similar to the nourishing of one's Primordial Spirit by spirit awakeners.
While Zhang Xuan was deep in thought, he had fused the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra with the other cultivation techniques of spirit awakeners. While it did not form a Heaven's Path Divine Art, it did break through the bottleneck that only experts were able to cultivate it.
In a sense, this could be considered as the greatest flaw of the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra.
"Even ordinary people can cultivate it?" The old man froze.
Back then, in order to obtain this Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra, he had gone through a lot of trouble just to raise the fighting prowess of combat masters.
However, it was a pity that the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra was simply too complicated, such that it could only be cultivated by those with a high Soul Depth.
If even ordinary people could cultivate it, the overall strength of the Combat Master Hall would surely be raised significantly.
At the same time, the safety of mankind would also be greatly ensured.
"The greatest flaw of this Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra is that it will encounter all kinds of temptations during the cultivation process. If one's mental fortitude is lacking, it will be impossible for one to resist them. As a result, the barrier to entry has to be raised. Actually, this isn't too difficult to resolve.
Zhang Xuan nodded.
"You've finished modifying it? You only took a glance at it, and you already finished modifying it? "
He had thought that the other party would require several years, decades, or even centuries to modify the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra, but who could have thought that in less than half a minute, not only did the other party finish reading it, he even finished modifying it … The old man's body trembled in disbelief.
In order to allow ordinary people to cultivate the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra, he had put in a lot of effort in his previous life, but to no avail. Yet, with just a glance, the young man before him had already finished modifying the Vitreous Heart Tempering Sutra.
Even Kong shi might not have been capable of such a feat back then.
"Un."
With a smile, Zhang Xuan turned to look at the old man with an amiable look on his face. "Why? If you would like to take a look, I can write a copy for you right now! "
PS: I recommend a book by my friend Zhang Changfeng, Behind-The-Scenes. Synopsis: His name is Lu Xiyan, a renowned Infernal Judge. With a Book of Life and Death and a Soul Hooking Pen, he was able to destroy the soul of traitor Number 76, and even Tuiyuan had to keep an eye open when he was taking a nap.
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