Here, it was incredibly quiet—so quiet!
Shui Miao quickly spread out his spiritual senses to detect his surroundings, but he sensed absolutely nothing.
He tried to channel his immortal energy to illuminate the area, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t summon even a trace of power.
The old man said nothing, and Shui Miao stood silently… waiting for a while, but the old man still remained silent.
Shui Miao felt deeply puzzled. He had claimed to be the avatar soul of Luo Tong and had brought him here—surely not just to stand there wordlessly?
“Senior?”
“Senior, are you testing my patience?”
“…”
Shui Miao called out a few times, but received no response whatsoever.
Helpless, he thought to himself, Well, since I’m already here, I might as well sit down and see who can wait longer.
He began to meditate, calming his mind and patiently waiting…
About half an hour later, Shui Miao started to grow restless and impatient.
He reached out to feel around him. As he did, he suddenly touched a gourd. He shook it, and heard something rattling inside—likely pills. The gourd radiated a pure immortal energy, and upon touching it, he sensed that it had not yet been claimed by anyone through blood-binding. Shui Miao didn’t take it, simply placing it back where he found it.
This must be a test!
Whenever a master takes a disciple, they always test the disciple’s character and temperament.
Shui Miao was eager to become Luo Tong’s disciple, so he calmed himself once more and resumed his long meditation.
But time passed, and nothing changed. Everything remained the same, silent to the point of being unbearable.
Shui Miao estimated that more than ten days must have passed!
What kind of situation was this?
Bringing him here, locking him up, and not saying a word—what was the point?
At first, he thought it might be Luo Tong’s avatar soul testing his temperament, but after more than ten days, the test was still ongoing? That clearly didn’t make sense!
Shui Miao felt he might have misunderstood something.
He forced himself to be patient and waited a few more days, but…
“Senior, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“Speak to me, please!”
“…”
Shui Miao felt powerless. No matter how much he said, it was all in vain.
He started to explore his surroundings again, but soon realized this was just a small cave. Earlier, he had at least found a gourd, but now he could only feel rocks.
“A formation!”
“Yes! This must be a formation!”
Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He thought—Luo Tong was a master of formations. There must be a reason he was trapped here. This place might seem like a simple cave, but it was probably a formation meant to test him, to see if he could figure out how to break it.
That must be it!
With this realization, Shui Miao began to study the formation carefully and thoroughly.
From Bufa, he had learned many basic principles of formations. Now, he devoted himself entirely to studying and learning.
Time passed unnoticed…
Who knew how long had passed, but Shui Miao remained immersed in his cultivation.
With a steady supply of immortal energy and nourishment from spirit stones, he could cultivate and improve his cultivation base without eating or drinking.
Suddenly, he became incredibly patient, constantly visualizing and refining the formations he had memorized.
When a person fully immerses themselves in something, time seems to fly by.
The Five Elements Formation and others became increasingly familiar to him, and he gradually mastered their intricacies.
Formations were indeed profound.
Shui Miao was deeply fascinated, his thoughts completely absorbed in them, growing more skilled and more obsessed.
A very, very long time passed!
Finally, Shui Miao emerged from his meditation.
“Haha! So the interplay of Yin and Yang is this profound! I was so careless before! Everything in this world originates from Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. Only by understanding them can one skillfully utilize them. Especially the Dao of Yin and Yang—it is a thousand, no, ten thousand times more profound than the Five Elements! True formations are reflections of this world itself. We are all just pieces on the board. Only by truly understanding the Dao of Yin and Yang can one master and wield it, always remaining invincible.”
Shui Miao whispered excitedly to himself.
“This appears to be an incredibly profound Yin-based illusion formation, but now I understand—by focusing my spirit intensely, I can locate the formation’s core emitting Yin energy, destroy it, and the formation will collapse on its own.”
With that, Shui Miao took a deep breath, picked up a stone from the ground, and knocked on the cave wall. Instantly, the cave transformed into a vast chamber. The surroundings were illuminated by several luminous pearls that emitted a soft, non-blinding glow. A distant stone table revealed an old man sitting cross-legged.
“Thank you, Senior, for helping me calm my mind and comprehend the subtleties of formations.”
Filled with gratitude, Shui Miao bowed deeply before the old man.
After bowing, he stood up and discovered that his beard had grown down to his chest, and his eyebrows had grown long enough to droop—making him look like a divine immortal hundreds of years old.
“Hehe, young man, you don’t need to thank me. This is all your own fortune,” a small, elderly figure materialized beside Shui Miao.
“If you couldn’t break through this Yin Formation, you would have been trapped there forever. I would never have come out to see you.”
“Senior…”
Before Shui Miao could continue thanking him, the old man raised his hand, interrupting, “No need for more words. Breaking the Yin Formation isn’t that impressive—there are many in the Three Realms who could do the same. I only appeared to tell you that you’re now inside one of my Supreme Treasures—the Time Tower. This tower can alter the laws of time. One year inside equals only a brief moment outside. So although you’ve been here for sixteen years, only half a day has passed in the outside world.”
“…”
Shui Miao was stunned. He hadn’t expected to have spent sixteen years here!
The old man paused, then continued, “I brought you here mainly to test you. If you pass my trials, I will accept you as my disciple and pass on all my skills. Fortunately, you’ve just passed the first formation test. Your talent is only average, but your comprehension is excellent. Now, I offer you two choices. First, I will give you a Supreme Weapon, and you must go kill those who stole my treasures—especially those dwarves, whom I hate the most. Kill them all, then return quietly to learn from me.”
“What’s the second option?” Shui Miao’s eyebrows furrowed as he quickly asked.
The old man turned and pointed at the elderly figure seated beside the stone table, “Use formations to bring me back to life, and I will teach you everything I know.”
“Can formations bring someone back to life?”
Shui Miao was deeply confused.
The old man shrugged, “I don’t know either. If I did, why would I need you?”
“…”
Shui Miao was momentarily speechless, stunned into silence.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage