Wenhai hadn't expected his junior to be so inquisitive. He was briefly taken aback, then smiled and said, "Junior Xun, is there something wrong? Did we make a mistake in how we arranged the spiritual steps?"
Even if it's wrong, what am I supposed to do? Call you out in front of everyone? Li Xun muttered inwardly, though his face only showed a hint of embarrassed shyness.
"It's not that. It's just, Senior Wenhai, isn't the spiritual-step restrictive formation supposed to work in tandem with the cloud platform formation? If our setup doesn't line up with what the immortal masters are doing, what do we do then?"
"You really do think things through, Junior Xun," Wenhai said with clear approval. Then he gave Li Xun a glance, gesturing subtly toward the cloud platforms.
"Look over there. None of the immortal masters have made a move yet. That's because they're waiting for us to finish arranging our side. Once we're done, they'll match their formation to ours. That way, there's no risk of anything being out of sync."
Li Xun suddenly understood. He followed up quickly with a casual compliment: "No wonder you'd set up a triple-layer Water Formation, Senior Brother. That's the only way to get that perfectly balanced offense and defense when the cloud platform formation activates, and even boost the power of the 'Wind Without Restrictions,'...."
Wenhai raised his eyebrows, and the look he gave Li Xun changed noticeably.
Sure, Li Xun's words were flattering, but he had also subtly revealed a deeper understanding of formation techniques. That single comment was enough to shift Wenhai's opinion of him.
Before Wenhai could respond, someone off to the side suddenly asked, "If we don't use 'Wind Without Restrictions' this time, what should we do instead?"
Li Xun and Wenhai turned their heads at the same time. As soon as they saw who it was, they quickly bowed in greeting.
The old Daoist Qingxu was someone Li Xun was already familiar with, though they hadn't seen much of each other since his return to the mountain. Ever since that incident on Zuwang Peak a few years back, however, Qingxu's attitude toward him had taken a surprising turn. Perhaps out of guilt, the man, usually known for being cold and stern, had been unusually kind to Li Xun ever since.
Now, the question Qingxu had asked clearly sounded like a test. Wenhai was just about to respond when Qingxu gave him a look, silently telling him to hold back. Wenhai was sharp enough to get the message right away; this was part of the "exam."
Still, wasn't this question a bit too difficult?
If Wenhai understood that much, there was no reason Li Xun wouldn't as well. But Li Xun didn't jump in carelessly. Instead, he gave a wide grin and said to Qingxu, "So if you don't want to use the 'Wind Without Restrictions,' do you mean you want this cloud chariot to be stronger defensively? Offensively? Or are you aiming to increase its speed?"
His tone and manner were almost like a merchant negotiating a deal. Qingxu couldn't help but smile at that, then said, "The situation in the North Pole is urgent. Naturally, what we need most is speed."
Li Xun's eyes lit up. "Understood, Master. It's just… I'm still not that familiar with this cloud chariot. Would you allow me to take a closer look first?"
Qingxu's long brows lifted slightly. "You have the time it takes for one stick of incense," he said calmly. "If your proposal makes sense, we'll go with your method."
Li Xun didn't seem to think this was anything too serious. He bowed again, then stepped onto his sword and flew into the cloud platform among the spiritual tiers.
Wenhai watched as Li Xun zipped back and forth across the steps, his thoughts already a tangled mess. He turned to the elder and said in surprise, "Master, Junior Xun is talented, no doubt about that; but he hasn't been cultivating for very long. This kind of thing…"
Qingxu shook his head. "That may be true under normal circumstances. But in this world, there are geniuses."
Wenhai was left speechless.
And as it turned out, Qingxu wasn't wrong. True genius does exist. And Li Xun was one of them. At least, when it came to restriction techniques, there was no doubt.
By the time the incense had burned down, everyone on the Cloud Tower Moon-Grasping Chariot—except for the sect master Qingming seated at the center—had already started moving.
None of the twelve elder Immortal Masters raised any objections to the plan proposed by a junior disciple. They meticulously followed every single requirement, which clearly shows just how convincing and solid the plan was.
Even Wenhai was convinced. That plan wasn't any of the sect's established formations; it was a brand-new creation Li Xun came up with all on his own in a short amount of time.
In the restriction patterns he sketched casually with his fingers, and in the flow of qi mechanisms he described offhandedly, Wenhai saw something more than just cleverness. He saw brilliance, flashes of creativity wrapped in a grand, meticulous design. To an expert's eyes, it was nothing short of a breathtaking masterpiece.
And if that still wasn't enough to convince everyone, then the actual integration of the formation certainly would be. Feeling tens of thousands of qi mechanisms locking in, shifting, intersecting, and interacting. So complex yet perfectly coordinated. Drawing in the primordial qi of heaven and earth from hundreds of lu around to be harnessed at will...
That kind of breathtaking display would silence any remaining doubt.
As for the young man who had made it all possible, he simply stood off to the side, smiling quietly, a faint blush still on his cheeks.
Wenhai, watching all of this, found himself shaking his head, then suddenly, unexpectedly, feeling a strange sense of pressure.
Every immortal master present was looking at the young man with approval and even admiration, including the sect master seated silently in the palanquin.
Everyone knew that if the sect master hadn't signed off on it, the ever-cautious and rigid Qingxu would never have allowed a mere junior disciple to take on such a key role.
After the adjustments, the Cloud Tower Moon-Grasping Chariot looked noticeably different. Aside from the central palanquin, everything had been restructured. The 33 cloud platforms and one 108 spiritual steps were now embedded into key energy nodes, forming the core network where tens of thousands of qi mechanisms converged.
At the very center of this entire structure sat Qingming's palanquin.
The sheer concentration of qi mechanisms at that point was astonishing. The surge of heaven-and-earth primordial qi it drew in had become so dense it was nearly tangible. The cloud-white palanquin now shimmered faintly with a bluish-green light, and even getting close to it felt like being hit by the crushing force of a raging sea.
"Feels a bit excessive…" Li Xun muttered to himself. After double-checking the alignment of the cloud platforms and spiritual steps, he finally turned his attention to the palanquin. When he saw the surging primordial qi brimming there, he broke into a nervous sweat. "If this thing weren't made of such special materials, the overflow of primordial qi probably would've torn it apart already."
Still, it had to be said: True Person Qingming truly lived up to his position as sect master. Sitting calmly in a vehicle that felt like the mouth of a volcano, he looked completely at ease. Li Xun couldn't help but feel respect.
Knowing there was a problem, Li Xun didn't dare take it lightly.
It was far too late to revise the entire formation. And this massive qi buildup couldn't simply be wasted. So he quickly set up a few temporary qi channels to redirect the flow, creating a self-contained sub-barrier around the core. With Qingming overseeing things from within, the formation's power should hold up just fine.
Just as Li Xun finished the final step, a voice came from within the palanquin. It was Qingming, speaking with unexpected gentleness. "If you used a 'Shaking Hand' technique for the fourteenth restrictive pattern, the effect might be even better."
Li Xun froze. He looked up, staring at the arrangement of restrictive patterns he knew like the back of his hand. And for a moment, he was completely entranced.
"'Shaking Hand'? Here?" he murmured. "Yes… with that added in, even the tiniest details of the pattern would shift. When the primordial qi flows through… it would compress slightly before releasing. That would give it an explosive burst; of course the power would increase. How did I not think of this?"
He spoke in a daze, his hand already reaching out, eager to test the method right then and there.
But the instant his fingers touched the formation, a sudden chill ran through his heart.
"No… that's not right. If I only use 'Shaking Hand' without balancing it with something else, the end of the restriction will become too unstable. How could that possibly hold? Wait.... was it adjusted somehow? No… with this kind of qi flow, how would the structure remain intact? That must mean… if this pattern uses 'Shaking Hand,' then the next one must be different. But different how?"
Different how?
This new idea was twisting his brain and giving him a headache.
Li Xun had always been confident in his skill with restrictive techniques. Ever since he successfully broke the formation set by the traitor of the Mystic Cycle Sect two years ago, his self-assurance had only grown. He believed that even if there were challenges he hadn't solved yet, his ability to deduce and break down any problem would always lead him to the answer eventually.
But now, a single offhand remark from Qingming had opened up a whole new world that left him alarmed and terrified.
Shaking Hand" was nothing more than a basic heavy-handed technique, typically used in close combat for attack and defense. It had almost nothing to do with the methods of creating restriction formations.
At least, that's what Li Xun had always thought. He had never once considered using it in connection with restrictive patterns. But now, the situation was different.
He was stepping into a realm he had never touched before.
To him, the purpose of restrictive patterns had always been to regulate and guide the flow of qi mechanisms, forming a smooth channel. The power of a formation came from how these channels interacted with one another.
But now, "Shaking Hand" was making the channels themselves shift in subtle and unexpected ways. When those changes rippled through the entire formation, the variations it could produce multiplied by more than a hundredfold.
The few hints Qingming had offered had pulled back the curtain just enough to give him a glimpse of this new world. What he saw was breathtaking, but the deeper mysteries remained hazy, out of focus, impossible to grasp.
That feeling, of standing at the edge and being unable to find a way in, was a kind of torment. Maybe the worst kind there is.
Just as Li Xun felt like he was about to lose his mind, his heart overwhelmed with frustration, Qingming spoke again.
"This is the 'Mystic Cycle Subtle Hand,' the unrivaled technique of the Mystic Cycle Sect. It's the reason their mastery of seals and formations has reigned supreme for tens of thousands of years."
He paused for a moment, then added, "The fact that you can recognize the brilliance of this technique; that's very good."
"Mystic Cycle Subtle Hand..." Li Xun repeated the name under his breath, his heart full of longing and admiration.
Any technique named after a sect itself is bound to be a one-of-a-kind divine technique within that sect. Just from that alone, one can imagine how extraordinary the 'Mystic Cycle Subtle Hand' must be.
His mind drifted to two years ago, to that day on Chicheng mountain, when he had casually handed over that little booklet filled with the training insights of a Mystic Cycle disciple. Thinking of all the possible powerful techniques that might have been written in those pages, his gut twisted like he'd just swallowed a fly.
Of course, Qingming had no idea what Li Xun was thinking. He simply went on.
"Mystic Cycle Subtle Hand isn't the only divine technique in the world. The Star Transformation Canon of the Star Sword Sect, the Silent Word Sutra of the Unspoken Sect. These are all masterpieces in the path of formations and sealcraft. But unfortunately, you belong to a different sect. Even with your talent, you'll never get to see them. That is truly a shame."
"The art of formation is endlessly profound," Li Xun said. "I wouldn't dare get arrogant, but I won't sell myself short either. I still have time ahead of me, and with the guidance of a wise teacher, there's no reason I can't one day grasp its deepest secrets."
Qingming didn't respond right away. He paused for a moment, then slowly said, "That's a good mindset to have. When your master was your age, he didn't have this kind of confidence."
It was only then that Li Xun remembered. Qingming wasn't just his master's master, he was his grandmaster. In the entire sect, Li Xun was the only one who could truly be called Qingming's direct descendant in the line of teachings.
No wonder those words had sounded so warm. Qingming had been speaking to him as a grandmaster would to his own disciple's disciple.
Li Xun couldn't quite explain how he felt in that moment. But he knew what he had to do.
He lowered his head, eyes already red.
Inside the carriage, Qingming let out a soft sigh and said nothing more.