Translator: CinderTL
After the Wang Ying Brothers departed, messengers arrived in succession from the Second, Third, and Fourth Madams to offer their congratulations. Even the clan head and great elder sent representatives.
The clan head's envoy was an elderly man.
Xu Sanyan glanced at Chunmei, who was trembling like a leaf beside him, then at the diminutive old man before him. He couldn't understand why Chunmei was so terrified of him.
"Seventh Grandfather, please have some tea," Chunmei said, pouring tea for the old man with utmost respect.
The old man nodded, studying Chunmei thoughtfully. "Hmm, you're called... Chunmei, is it?"
"Yes, this servant is."
Although Chunmei was a member of the Wang Family, she occupied an extremely marginal position, her status indistinguishable from that of a servant.
After pouring the tea, Chunmei obediently withdrew, leaving the two men alone.
A glint flashed in Xu Sanyan's eyes. To his perception, the old man's cultivation level appeared to be only at the Foundation Establishment Realm.
He knew this couldn't be true. If the old man were merely at the Foundation Establishment Realm, he wouldn't inspire such fear in Chunmei, nor would he hold such a high position.
There was only one explanation: the old man possessed an exceptionally advanced technique for concealing his true cultivation level.
"Congratulations, Young Master Lin, on your significant advancement in cultivation. Achieving void harmony is now within reach, a joyous occasion for the Wang Family as well."
The old man spoke with a warm smile and a gentle tone, showing no condescension and treating Xu Sanyan as an equal in conversation.
Xu Sanyan waved his hand dismissively. "Heh, it was just luck. Nothing worth mentioning."
The old man continued, "With the young master and young lady's wedding approaching, why not invite your parents to witness this momentous occasion?"
Heh...
Xu Sanyan sneered inwardly. So this is the Wang Family's true motive—to seize my weakness and tighten their grip on me.
Even if he had parents, bringing them here would be impossible.
Xu Sanyan lowered his gaze, a sorrowful expression creeping across his face. "Ah, Seventh Uncle, to be honest, my father and mother passed away long ago, leaving me alone in this world. Even if I wanted to invite them, I couldn't."
"I see... What a pity..."
The old man feigned contemplation before shifting to a curious tone. "I heard Young Master Lin's younger brother arrived a few days ago. Where is he now?"
Xu Sanyan wasn't surprised. He hadn't concealed Lin Fan's arrival, so it was natural for the Wang Family to know.
"Ah, him? He's too restless to stay put. He's probably off playing somewhere by now."
"Heh, I see."
The old man said nothing more. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he rose to take his leave.
After seeing the old man off, Xu Sanyan sat alone in the stone pavilion in the courtyard, closing his eyes in deep thought.
A few days earlier, Zuoqiu Zhen had manipulated the Wang Family's Great Formation, creating a considerable commotion. Yet the Wang Family had reacted minimally, seemingly intent on suppressing the matter.
Xu Sanyan speculated that this might be because the Wang Clan Ancestor's appearance in the ancestral shrine was too unsightly to be revealed, explaining why the family hadn't launched a public search but instead conducted a discreet investigation.
The old man's inquiry about Lin Fan's whereabouts could also stem from suspicion. After all, Lin Fan had only just arrived in the inner city when this incident occurred—a coincidence too convenient to ignore.
Moreover, Lin Fan's subsequent disappearance only deepened suspicions.
"Sigh..."
Xu Sanyan shook his head, dismissing these thoughts. With a mental command, he opened the panel and began upgrading the Detailed Explanation of the Soul-Gathering and Brilliance-Preserving Grand Formation.
This formation was vast and comprehensive; mastering it would undoubtedly qualify him as a great master of formations.
Countless streams of formation knowledge flooded his mind, the sensation of this knowledge entering his consciousness proving utterly captivating.
Having upgraded the formation twice before, Xu Sanyan already possessed a solid understanding of formations, making this upgrade significantly easier.
Time flowed slowly. After an hour, Xu Sanyan shook his heavy head and gradually opened his eyes.
It wasn't that he couldn't endure it any longer; his Vitality had simply been exhausted.
He had depleted most of his Vitality during his breakthrough two days prior, and today he had completely drained it.
Glancing at the panel, he saw that the Detailed Explanation of the Soul-Gathering and Brilliance-Preserving Grand Formation had advanced from the Entry Stage to the Mid Stage, proving he had gained a considerable understanding of the formation.
Despite having advanced three times to finally reach the Mid Stage, Xu Sanyan felt no joy. He knew the Mid Stage was merely the beginning, and the path ahead would only grow more arduous.
To put it in simpler terms, progressing from the Uninitiated to the Entry Stage was like going from zero to ten, while advancing from the Entry Stage to the Mid Stage was like going from ten to one hundred.
As for progressing from the Mid Stage to the Peak Stage, it was like going from one hundred to infinity.
The Mid Stage was just the starting point. Xu Sanyan was keenly aware of his limitations; in the realm of formations, he was still merely an apprentice.
"A true great master always carries the heart of an apprentice."
Xu Sanyan couldn't recall where he had heard this saying, but he found it profoundly true.
The Dao had no end. As his cultivation level deepened, he understood the meaning of these words more clearly.
If you stood at the foot of a mountain, you could only see the towering peak before you. But once you climbed to the mountainside, you would glimpse layered peaks stretching into the distance. Only by reaching the summit could you truly grasp the vastness of the world.
He was now on the mountainside, striving with all his might to reach the summit.
Xu Sanyan stilled his mind, closed his eyes, and began to contemplate the formation.
After a long while,
Xu Sanyan's eyes snapped open, his breath coming in ragged gasps, shock etched across his face.
He had just touched upon the part Zuoqiu Zhen had mentioned earlier—the so-called "seizing the authority of the heavenly dao."
The mere contact had shaken him deeply. To activate this formation required a blood sacrifice!
And not just any blood sacrifice. If it were as simple as killing a few people, Xu Sanyan wouldn't have been so astonished. It was the formation's utterly unnatural nature that truly horrified him.
To seize the heavenly dao, one must first defile it!
Once defiled, the heavenly dao would naturally detach itself from this realm. Yet its authority would remain, allowing it to be refined and controlled.
Of course, with Xu Sanyan's current cultivation level, he couldn't grasp an entire heavenly dao. But even a fragment of it would suffice for his purposes.
Each heavenly dao possessed a unique essence. If Xu Sanyan were to seize control of even a portion, all other Cultivators who walked the same path would be forever barred from achieving immortality.
It's like a bowl of water: if Xu Sanyan drinks more, others get less.
If Xu Sanyan drains the entire bowl and smashes it, the others lose all hope, unless they kill him and somehow retrieve the water.
Though simple in theory, this is incredibly difficult in practice. Ordinary void harmony realm cultivators struggle even to borrow a trace of heavenly dao power, let alone refine it.
To gain initial control over the heavenly dao, one must at least reach the sage realm.
Yet the Soul-Gathering Brilliance-Preserving Grand Formation can help you refine the Great Dao!
But achieving this is no easy feat.
The formation's original text states: "This formation defies the heavens, opposing the heavenly dao itself. It requires defiling the heavenly dao with blood qi, using the cosmos as its formation base and soaring blood qi as its formation cores. Five cores correspond to the five cardinal directions, connected by earth veins forming the formation patterns."
"When the formation activates, all creation will be annihilated, and the heavenly dao will weep blood!"
(End of the Chapter)
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