Chapter 121: Martial arts vs array formations

"I'm not entirely positive that the culprit is Lü Bai. However, I'm sure that this is either him or Meng Hanyi. If I could just see Lü Bai set up an array formation, I'm convinced that I could conclude definitively!"

Cao Yun was pondering over Sun Liao's words. "What do you know about them?"

"Meng Hanyi is only a second-year. He and I are in the same faction, the Enshrouding Temple Faction. Of course, it was easier to have access to him. He's a bit reserved so I can't say much about his personality. But from what I've seen, he's talented in array formations but not to the point of setting up the array formations I've seen. However, there are similarities. For now he's only a 7th-grade Mortal and nearly a 4-star Earth array formation master."

"Lü Bai, on the other hand, is a fourth-year with a cultivation of 9th-grade Mortal and he's already a 5-star Earth array formation master. Even though he's in the Hidden Orchids Faction, he briefly trained under the same teacher as Meng Hanyi. If he's the culprit, this could explain why there are similarities in both of their craft. But, for now, I've never been able to meet with him or even see one of his array formations, which makes him even more suspect.

"So, Brother Chen, do you think we should go to Chief Elder Baishen with only this? I really tried to meet with Lü Bai, but it's almost impossible. Even when he's in the Wubei Sect, he never stays long, and he mostly stays in his room. You should know that the Hidden Orchids Faction is rather secretive, so they don't let anyone in."

Indeed, everything Sun Liao exposed was suspicious. However, Cao Yun was wondering what the best course of action would be. This time, he didn't want to involve his friends in his conflict, and Sun Liao had already done so much. If he kept on digging, he could put himself in harm's way. Moreover, Cao Yun was convinced that he would never be able to dissuade him. On the other hand, Chief Elder Baishen was one of the few people he sincerely trusted. Apart from her, Xiao Xuefeng and Meng Jia, and on a lesser note, Chief Elder Suxian, were people he trusted as well, maybe Chief Instructor Peng too.

"Yes, we should go to Chief Elder Baishen. After all, the demonic cultivators have a Spirit Warrior with them. If we go after Lü Bai just to be attacked by this kind of enemy, we won't even know how we died. Are you sure that they don't suspect you're onto them?"

"Who do you think I am? There's no way they suspect a thing. All the questions I asked them were specifically targeted to make them believe they were genuine. Of course, I knew all the answers already, but that's not the point."

Cao Yun was not so sure about this. Lately, Sun Liao seemed to be reverting back to his usual arrogance. But this would be a discussion for another time.

The two boys decided to go to the martial art pavilion in order to see Chief Elder Baishen. But it turned out that she was absent due to some errors in her paperwork. Chief Elder Luoming had summoned her to deal with it. Thus, they left the building and talked a bit about what they were going to do.

"We should simply come back tomorrow. In the meantime, I think we should just act normally." Cao Yun suddenly had an idea. "You could come with me now to set up the Tidal Gathering Mist array formation. I already hired a few people to protect the spot. They should be there already. You know, since Luduo Bu's attack, I prefer to err on the side of caution."

Sun Liao thought about it for a moment. "Fine, I have nothing interesting to do today anyway. And maybe we could talk about the use of array formations in combat. Having a wide open space will be better than being cramped in a small room."

Sun Liao's training room really wasn't small, but it was true that it wasn't meant to train in martial arts either, let alone archery.

"Thank you, Brother Sun, great idea. I feel like I'm on the verge of understanding the fourth star."

Just as they were talking, a young girl appeared between the two guys.

"You're speaking about training your martial arts with array formations?" She was Long Huafang. "I'll come with you then!"

Sun Liao had never met her so he was surprised. "We're talking about serious business here! This is no place for a little brat to play around." As soon as he spoke, a fist sank into his abdomen.

"Oh? You don't think I'm serious? Is this serious enough or do you need to be convinced a bit more?"

"Sister Long, calm down. Brother Sun didn't mean to insult you. It's just that it won't be very interesting. You see, we'll mostly train our array formations, we won't have much fighting practice." Cao Yun tried to be a mediator as Sun Liao was folded in two attempting to breathe.

"You little..."

"What?! What did you say?" Seeing the fierce girl walking toward him, Sun Liao changed his address.

"Sister, Brother Chen is right! I just meant to say that you'll get bored."

"So what if I'm bored, I'll just beat you for entertainment!"

Sun Liao had kicked an iron plate. Cao Yun was worried about his arrogance coming back. Well, this would be a lesson in humility. Long Huafang was as domineering and arrogant as he used to be, maybe a bit more.

Sun Liao wasn't an idiot. He quickly saw the emblem of the Purple Northern Cloud Faction on her chest, and coupled with the name Long, he knew who she was. Sun Liao wasn't into fighting so he rarely went to see the challenges and as such he never saw her, but she was the new number one among the second-year.

Even though she looked very young, she was 16, not that much younger than them. Cao Yun himself had turned 17 a few weeks ago.

"Sister Long. I didn't mean any disrespect I swear. But we'll really be talking about array formations a lot."

"So what? You think I'm too stupid to understand any of it?!"

Defeated, Sun Liao let go and accepted her company. Long Huafang seemed really triumphant and kept on teasing Sun Liao on their way. They followed Cao Yun to the place where he used to set up his Seamless Qi Vortex array formation.

-

There were three outer disciples around the small basin. They were all fourth-years and 9th-grade Mortals. One of them was very close to being a Mortal Warrior, he would probably break through the following year. And they all needed a lot of resources to help them progress. This little gig from Cao Yun was perfect for them. As an alchemist, he had no shortage of merit points to pay them. They all had specific pills or items they wanted to buy at the Wubei Merit Market so they were eager to earn these points.

As the trio formed by Cao Yun, Sun Liao and Long Huafang walked in their direction, they first took defensive positions. Recognizing their employer, they calmed down. Even if they were in the Wubei Set, they were used to fighting in the wild and they knew about both Luduo Bu's attack and the existence of a Spirit Warrior demonic cultivator.

Of course, such a news was difficult to silence. The Wubei Sect had managed to prevent the rumor from leaving its walls, but all the outer disciples were in the know.

The three guards welcomed Cao Yun and went back to their work, leaving the trio be.

"So this is where you set up your array formation?" Sun Liao inspected the place very thoroughly while Long Huafang only sent a few glances here and there before losing interest. "That's a good spot indeed."

Now that he was seeing it in person, it was easier for him to determine the best way to set up the Tidal Gathering Mist array formation. He took out a few flags.

"Come on, Brother Chen, that's a great opportunity for you to improve your array formation skills. I'll guide you as little as possible. But I won't settle for less than a Perfect array formation."

"Brother Sun, it seems a bit excessive, no? I don't think I can achieve it so easily."

"What do you mean?! With me as a teacher, how can I accept something less than that?! It's my reputation that's on the line."

"Hmph! Your reputation?" Long Huafang was completely bored, so she decided to tease Sun Liao as she loved his reactions.

Sun Liao took a quick inspiration as he glared at the young girl. He had to control himself not to erupt, but he knew that nothing good would come out of it. In fact, he was confident in taking her on if he had prepared the right array formations, but in a fair fight, he had no chance whatsoever.

"Sister Long, you see that this is boring, so why not go back, huh? I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to play with Brother Chen."

"You think we play?! It's you who play around! Array formations are just a small occupation used by weak people! If you're strong enough, you don't need to. Even for cultivation, you can just get a tool like you to set it up!" Long Huafang hated when people didn't take fighting seriously.

"What did you say you muscle brain?! Fighting is all you care about! Do you think you could escape from a single array formation I'd imprison you in?!" That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Sun Liao could take a lot of insult, but he couldn't bear to hear his occupation ridiculed. His family was renown as great array formation masters. This was akin to insulting his ancestors.

"Please, please." Cao Yun tried to mediate once more, but it was useless.

"Bring it on! Set any array formation and see how I crush it! If you're not satisfied then, I'll also crush you! Let's see how you retort with your head under my foot!"

"You little brat! Bring it on alright! If you can't get out of my array formation in a hour, this is your loss!"

"And what do you want to bet?"

The word 'bet' almost woke up Sun Liao, but it was too late for this. He remembered how his master had beaten him up after his bet with Cao Yun. From this day onwards, he had sworn never to make the same mistake again. However, if he was to back down now, it would be much more humiliating. So he found a way to make a bet he could accept to lose.

"I don't want much. If you lose, I want you to admit that array formation is a noble occupation."

"Tsk. Not bold I see! Well, if I win, I want you to bow down and call me father!"

Sun Liao had sincerely tried to calm things down. And it was incredibly hard for him. But Long Huafang only wanted to escalate things.

"Fine. Then, if I win, you'll have to kowtow and call me grandfather!"

"It's on!"

On the side, Cao Yun didn't know how things had come to this. Those two really were meant for each other...

"Brother Sun, why don't you just help me set up my Tidal Gathering Mist array formation, alright? And Sister Long, why don't you just wait for me to be finished, I'll train with you, okay?"

"No!" They both turned toward him with fiery eyes.

"Brother Chen, here are my suggestions. Just set up the array formation. And don't you dare fail!" Sun Liao was completely different from his usual calm persona. He turned back to Long Huafang. "Give me twenty minutes to set up my trap, then we'll see who wins!"

"You need twenty minutes?! In a fight, I'd have killed you a thousand times by then. Pathetic. But I won't let you say that I didn't give you enough time to prepare. I'll give you half an hour, don't go complaining after that!"

It was a terrible headache for Cao Yun but what was done was done. Even the guards around the basin were a bit perplexed. The two rivals were screaming so loud that everyone had heard them.

They both went up so as to not disturb Cao Yun's work in the basin. And Sun Liao took out his compass. He wanted to prove the usefulness of his array formations, so he wasn't going to pull any punches at all. Right now he couldn't set up any 1-star Human array formation so he had to settle for 5-star Earth ones. The one he had in mind was the Isolated Gate of Torment. It was maybe a bit too much, but she had asked for it.

This array formation was special. All array formations had at least one gate, the Gate of Life, and one palace, the Main Palace. The palaces were important areas to stabilize the array formation and to enable its effects. On the other hand, the gates were points where either the energies gathered or were totally absent. They could have various effects on the array formation. Some allowed people to enter or exit an array formation without triggering it.

The Isolated Gate of Torment array formation, as its name suggested, had only one gate, but it was the Gate of Death. In fact, this gate coincided with the Gate of Life. This meant that it was extremely difficult to leave this array formation as the Gate of Life was also the worst location to be in. The only way to beat this array formation was either to be strong enough or to count on the palaces. As Long Huafang had no knowledge of array formations, the second option was out of the equation. And as long as she wasn't a Mortal Warrior, Sun Liao was sure she couldn't break it with brute force.

At the same time, Cao Yun was focused on setting up his Tidal Gathering Mist array formation. Sun Liao's indications were near perfect. He began by circulating his mind cultivation. After a bit more than a month, Cao Yun was very close to achieving True Success in the Hun character. Thanks to it, his mind was now clearer and it helped him a great deal. However, it had the effect of questioning him on his purposes in life. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. However, not having the answer was making Cao Yun doubt. That was why he decided to focus entirely in his training, to silence all these questions on his future and the meaning of his life.

Using his mind cultivation to stimulate his 'Shen Visualization', Cao Yun used several of the Eight Directions principles to determine the best position for the flags. He did several tests in his mind. Setting up a 5-star Earth array formation, even with great indications was clearly not an easy feat.

As he was fully immersed in his craft, Cao Yun suddenly heard fighting above him.