Volume One: The Youth Enters the World Chapter Ninety-One: Summons

Back in his room, Fang Tian lay upon the bed. He was thinking that more than a month remained before the Hundred Isles Assembly would begin. In that time there was little to do, yet he could not simply idle away the days. He could not possibly sleep or wander aimlessly every day for an entire month.

As for cultivation, he could not afford to force another breakthrough so soon. He had to first steady his realm and let the spiritual power within his body settle properly. Fortunately, because he possessed a spirit body, he did not need to meditate after a breakthrough as others did; his body would continuously absorb spiritual power on its own and mend the foundation strained by his forced advance. It was precisely because he had thought of this that Fang Tian had dared to act as he did. For an ordinary person, if a breakthrough were not the natural fruit of accumulation but came instead from forcefully pouring in spiritual power to raise one’s level, the very root of cultivation would be irreparably damaged. Thereafter, further progress would only become more difficult, and one might never again break into a deeper realm in a lifetime.

Before this, while crossing the sea to Greenwood Isle, Fang Tian had also spent some time cultivating in the sword’s inner space. When he reached six hundred and fifty repetitions, he discovered that he had hit his limit; if he wished to go further, he would have to break through first. For the moment, that left him with two fewer things to do.

“For now, I can only ponder spirit formations,” Fang Tian thought. Since this was the only useful thing left for him to do, he had no choice but to take out the Heaven-and-Earth Contemplation Chart.

The chart was simple, bearing only a single mountain.

With one mountain representing the vastness of heaven and earth within the heart, Fang Tian grew curious about what manner of person the chart’s creator had been. From it he felt a mighty and overwhelming presence, a towering grandeur that seemed to pierce the clouds, as though one stood upon the spine of heaven and earth, looking down upon all things and gathering the world itself in one’s embrace. This stirred great shock in Fang Tian’s heart. He knew well that he had not felt this way when he had looked at it before. Could it be that his soul realm had improved? What mattered more was that he had not studied the chart many times at all; most of his time had been spent researching the diagrams of spirit formations. This was his first true attempt at contemplation through the chart.

He intended to begin from the peak of the mountain. He had not chosen to look from bottom to top because the chart’s momentum began from the summit; to comprehend its artistic conception and thus raise the realm of the soul, one had to grasp the rising force at the very source of the chart’s momentum.

Elder Tian had also told him that if one did not look from the point where the momentum began, the meditator would gain nothing from it, much less cultivate the soul.

He knew this clearly, which was why he did not start from the base of the mountain depicted in the chart. That would have been nothing but wasted effort, bringing no benefit at all.

He stared for a while, yet he had still not entered true contemplation; he had only reached the first stage, seeing with the eyes.

As time passed, he slowly closed his eyes. Thinking of the vast momentum of heaven and earth within the contemplation chart, he gradually entered the second stage: empty perception.

The image was already in his heart; he no longer needed to look with his physical eyes. At this moment his mind sank into the depths of his soul, while the chart’s overwhelming momentum continuously surged toward Fang Tian.

As though drawn by some unseen force, the contemplation chart floated in midair. Faint traces of the force of heaven and earth were drawn into it, then fed back into Fang Tian.

He could clearly sense those wisps of the force of heaven and earth transforming into a peculiar power, constantly nourishing his soul. Within his consciousness, his soul, which had once been no larger than a palm and resembled a ball of water, was now growing at a visible rate. Fang Tian found this sensation wondrous. His mind was tranquil; he felt gentle and comfortable, with a floating sensation as though he were walking high above the sky. It gave him the feeling that heaven and earth lay beneath his feet. Perhaps this was the very artistic conception the chart’s creator had wished to convey. Merely grasping a trace of it had given Fang Tian such a sensation; this contemplation chart was truly beyond description.

He did not know how much time had passed before he found himself unable to continue comprehending it. Thus he slowly opened his eyes.

He examined his soul with his mind and saw that the watery orb of soul had expanded to more than twice its former size. He was very satisfied with the result. With this, he would be able to create even more difficult spirit formations.

Previously, he had raised the number of times he could inscribe formation patterns to sixty-nine. Now that his soul realm had grown—though he had not yet broken through to the level of insight—he thought he should at least be able to inscribe formation patterns to the utmost of the form-seeking stage: ninety-nine lines.

The last time he had relied on the spirit pool to inscribe formation patterns, Fang Tian had not felt that he had reached the limit. This time, he decided to choose the highest-grade spirit formation he was currently capable of drawing.

At the form-seeking stage, the highest spirit formation a formation-pattern master could draw was only second-rank upper grade. His soul realm, after the contemplation just now, had already reached the peak of the form-seeking stage, requiring only a chance to break through to the next realm.

He took out the compendium of spirit formations and began leafing through the second-rank formations. He excluded the Thunder-Tethering Formation he had drawn before; the reason it had been able to display such great power that day was still because of the spirit pool. Right now, if he wished to draw a spirit formation without relying on external force, he could not choose one with especially strong offensive power.

After looking for quite some time, Fang Tian’s gaze settled on a formation called Hidden Mirage.

As the name implied, this formation was used to confuse a person’s senses in order to trap the enemy.

It would use the fog of heaven and earth to obscure the enemy’s vision, making it impossible for them to discern their surroundings. Then it would employ the force of heaven and earth to form illusory mirage images, causing the enemy to lose track of where they truly were. A person would become like one who had lost his way, able only to wander blindly within the formation. In the end, the one who set the formation could capture them without a sound, without ever coming to blows.

He put away the compendium of spirit formations. Every time he began studying formations, he would become wholly absorbed and unable to extricate himself. Moreover, anything he conceived in his mind made him eager to test it at once. He intended to try it directly.

After glancing at the sky outside, Fang Tian asked Elder Tian what time it was. Elder Tian told him that three days had already passed.

He had not expected this meditation to take Fang Tian three days, but the harvest had been considerable. At the very least, the time had not been wasted.

Just as Fang Tian rose and opened the door, he felt a hand tap him on the body. Looking closely, he saw that it was Mu Qiaoqiao.

Mu Qiaoqiao awkwardly drew her hand back.

Fang Tian immediately guessed that she had come to find him for a contest.

Yet to his surprise, Mu Qiaoqiao did not mention sparring at all. Instead, she said that there was an urgent summons from the sect and that everyone was to assemble at once. She had only come to inform him, since she had not seen Fang Tian come out for several days and assumed he knew nothing of what was happening outside. That was why she had come to knock and explain the situation.

After hearing her out, Fang Tian said, “Thank you for telling me, miss.”

Mu Qiaoqiao waved a small hand and said, “It’s nothing. We still have to spar again anyway. If not for this sudden matter, I had planned to find a place to compete with you today.”

Fang Tian smiled. “It seems our match will have to be postponed. Let’s go see what’s happening first.”

“Let’s go,” Mu Qiaoqiao said, motioning for him to come with her.

Fang Tian pointed at himself, looking at her in confusion.

Mu Qiaoqiao turned and saw that he still had not moved, still looking foolishly at himself with a finger raised. She gave a slight shrug and said, “What? Does walking with me make you uncomfortable?”

“Not at all. I’m just a little surprised,” Fang Tian said awkwardly, scratching his head.

“Fine. A grown man, yet so fidgety. It really makes me wonder whether you’ve ever had any contact with women,” Mu Qiaoqiao said with a light laugh at his embarrassed expression.

“As the miss says.”

Since it had been put that way, Fang Tian could only follow along and leave with Mu Qiaoqiao.