The Southern Archipelagos was unlike any place Lin Sheng had seen before.
Unlike the Eastern Region, where mountains and immortal cities stretched endlessly across vast lands, the Southern Archipelagos was an oceanic world. Countless islands dotted the boundless sea like stars scattered across the night sky. Some were no larger than a fishing village, while others rivaled entire provinces in size. Between them lay endless stretches of deep blue water, mysterious whirlpools, ancient ruins hidden beneath the waves, celestial phenomena that appeared without warning, and forbidden zones where even Golden Core cultivators rarely dared to enter.
It was a place filled equally with opportunities and death.
Standing inside the quiet cultivation room of the airship, Lin Sheng studied the map stored within his chip before making up his mind.
His first priority wasn't seeking opportunities.
It was finding a stable island station where he could gather information, familiarize himself with the local cultivation world and quietly establish a foothold before venturing deeper into the archipelagos.
The sea was completely unfamiliar territory.
Rushing around blindly was no different from courting death.
Having made his decision, he pushed those thoughts aside and once again immersed himself in cultivation.
His sea of consciousness had changed tremendously after breaking through to the Spirit Platform Realm.
The newly formed Yellow Origin Sun floated high above the vast spiritual sea, radiating a warm golden light that continuously nourished every corner of his consciousness. Compared to the White Dwarf stage, everything felt broader, brighter and far more stable.
His comprehension had also reached an entirely new level.
Without hesitation, Lin Sheng entered the Emptiness State once more.
The world around him faded.
Only endless streams of runes remained before his eyes.
They intertwined, separated, merged and evolved endlessly.
For the past several weeks he had devoted nearly all of his spare time to studying the inheritance left behind by the Formation Spirit Elder. Thanks to his Spirit Platform breakthrough, the final obstacle that had prevented him from comprehending Rank Three formation knowledge had finally disappeared.
Hours passed unnoticed.
One complicated rune after another became clearer inside his mind until the final section of the inheritance was completely understood.
Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
"So this..."
"...is Rank Three."
He couldn't help smiling.
Previously, arrays had always been constructed through countless formation nodes connected together in a complicated sequence.
Rank Three was entirely different.
At this level, formation masters no longer relied solely on arrays.
Instead...
They relied on runic formations.
Every rune represented countless formation patterns compressed into a single symbol.
Rather than painstakingly arranging dozens or even hundreds of formation nodes, a single rune could accomplish the same purpose with far greater efficiency.
No wonder the threshold between Rank Two and Rank Three was so enormous.
The difficulty wasn't simply the increase in knowledge.
It was an entirely different way of thinking.
As long as one fully mastered formation runes, they would naturally become a genuine Rank Three Formation Master.
Lin Sheng replayed countless rune combinations inside his mind.
Attack runes...
Defensive runes...
Concealment runes...
Gathering runes...
Each one could combine with countless others to create entirely different formations.
The possibilities were almost endless.
Thinking this far, he couldn't help becoming curious about the next realm.
The inheritance naturally contained descriptions of Rank Four.
Compared to Rank Three...
Rank Four seemed almost unbelievable.
It wasn't merely a higher level of runic mastery.
It required something far more fundamental.
A Formation Grandmaster's divine sense had to become powerful enough to completely influence the surrounding space, much like the Domain possessed by Golden Core cultivators.
Only after meeting that requirement could they perform the pinnacle of formation arts...
Void Imprinting.
Instead of carving formations onto flags, jade slips or the ground...
They engraved them directly onto space itself.
Every rune floated within the void.
Every formation existed independently without relying on external objects.
A Rank Four Formation Grandmaster could raise defensive arrays, killing arrays, illusion arrays or sealing arrays almost instantly with nothing more than a thought.
No preparation.
No lengthy setup.
Just pure mastery over runes and space.
Lin Sheng finally understood why Formation Grandmasters were regarded with such fear throughout the cultivation world.
Below Rank Three, formation masters often suffered from one fatal weakness.
Combat was simply too fast.
Before a complete formation could be deployed, an opponent of equal cultivation might already have struck dozens of times.
Rank Three improved this situation considerably since runes dramatically shortened the deployment process.
But Rank Four was an entirely different existence.
With Void Imprinting, formations could appear around the caster almost instantaneously, allowing them to fight while continuously constructing new formations during battle.
In some ways...
Their methods resembled the Domain of a Golden Core cultivator.
One controlled the surrounding space through cultivation.
The other controlled it through formations.
Lin Sheng leaned back slightly.
"The road ahead..."
"...is getting more and more interesting."
He had only just stepped into the world of Rank Three formations.
Yet now he could already glimpse the terrifying heights that lay beyond.
-----------------
Outside the airship, one of the Purple Palace guards standing at the bow suddenly frowned. His divine sense swept across the clouds before his expression changed slightly.
"Captain."
The airship captain walked over. "What is it?"
The guard pointed toward the horizon.
A dense black mass was approaching at astonishing speed.
Only after it drew closer could everyone make out its appearance.
They were enormous peng-like yao beasts with wings spanning over ten meters each. There were hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands, flying together like a dark tide that swallowed the sky.
The passengers on the deck immediately became restless.
"A yao beast flock?"
"Why are there so many?"
"Are they attacking us?"
The captain merely glanced once before smiling calmly.
"There's no need to panic."
His voice spread throughout the airship.
"This route has been operating for hundreds of years. Situations like this have already been accounted for."
He tapped the control formation beneath his feet.
In the next instant, countless runes lit up across the entire airship. They spread from the hull toward the mast before connecting into a massive defensive barrier that enveloped the vessel completely.
The transparent barrier shimmered faintly, almost invisible beneath the sunlight.
Inside the airship, Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes from meditation.
His mental field swept outside for only a brief moment before he understood what was happening.
"So that's the protection they mentioned..."
He didn't bother leaving his room.
A commercial airship that regularly crossed dangerous regions would naturally possess methods capable of dealing with ordinary threats.
The flock continued charging forward.
They had likely mistaken the enormous airship for prey.
But the moment the leading yao beasts collided with the barrier—
Sizzle!
An eerie sound echoed through the sky.
The defensive barrier wasn't merely defensive.
A pale silver light surged across its surface.
The peng beasts that touched it instantly let out miserable cries as their feathers blackened and peeled away. Their flesh rapidly dissolved under the terrifying corrosive force hidden within the formation.
Within only a few breaths, dozens of corpses dropped from the sky.
The remaining yao beasts immediately sensed danger.
Their instincts overcame their aggression.
Sharp cries rang out as the flock abruptly scattered in every direction, disappearing into the clouds as quickly as they had arrived.
The sky soon became clear once more.
The barrier gradually faded, and the runes across the airship dimmed until they were no longer visible.
The captain folded his hands behind his back and smiled.
"Continue forward."
Without slowing in the slightest, the massive airship sailed steadily toward the distant Southern Archipelagos.