Chapter 137: 1: Becoming an Elder

Seeing his serious expression, and how it didn’t seem like a joke, Elder Chen Jinlin spoke no more and went outside.

Arriving at the Book Collection Vault, they called out twice but found Elder Su Qiao was not there, so the two pushed the door open and walked into the room.

An unusual silence pervaded the surroundings; all the teachers had been summoned to the training ground as judges, leaving not a single person in sight, nor any students.

“Where is the formation?”

Activating the Eye of Insight, Zhang Xuan looked around but didn’t notice anything special, casting a puzzled gaze over.

“It has already stopped operating. Otherwise, without the Library Access Certificate, we wouldn’t have been able to enter at all!” Elder Chen Jinlin explained.

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

It seemed like the previous times he had come here, he indeed needed the Library Access Certificate. He had thought it was something to show Elder Su Qiao, but it turned out to be the credential for entering the formation.

Walking forward a few steps, Elder Chen Jinlin pointed towards a corner of the wall: “There, that’s the formation core and the formation flags. See if you can fix them!”

Source: novgo.co

Zhang Xuan looked and saw two formation flags leaning askew in a corner of the bookshelf, forged from some unknown material and displaying a dull grey color, devoid of any luster.

“Defects!”

Inside the Library of Heaven’s Path, there were no changes, nor any books forming. It wasn’t that the library wasn’t working anymore, but… this formation wasn’t operating at all.

A formation that wasn’t running was like a cultivator who hadn’t executed their skills; even if the library was formidable, it couldn’t detect defects. In other words, to fix it, one must first get the formation running.

Seeing his solemn expression, Elder Chen Jinlin asked, “Do you have a method?”

“Let me study it a bit…”

Approaching the formation flags, Zhang Xuan touched one with his finger, and a book appeared.

“Red Iron Formation Flag, the flag body crafted from Purple Silkworm Mulberry Cloth, the flagpole forged from a blend of Red Iron and Red Silver, created by the formation master Lian Liaosheng from Han Yuan Imperial Capital 80 years ago. Defect one: The flagpole’s tempering grade is relatively low; Defect two: The formation marks on the flag body are not standard…”

After glancing at it, Zhang Xuan was speechless.

Touching the other flag, he received similar information and thus looked to Elder Chen Jinlin in front of him: “Elder Chen, do you know what this formation is called?”

Knowing the materials and defects of the formation flags was of no use in repairing the formation.

“You don’t even… know the name?”

Elder Chen Jinlin’s face was covered in question marks.

The other party had confidently taken on the task, leading him to think that his understanding of formations was vast, perhaps even possessing a natural talent for them. But now he’s telling me… he doesn’t even know the formation’s name… Is this a joke?

Zhang Xuan shook his head: “I’ve just arrived, how could I know?”

In the Master Teacher Continent, formations were driven by spirit stones and spiritual energy, whereas in this world, they were powered by Origin qi. It’s like comparing oil-fueled cars with electric cars; though both are cars, they are fundamentally different.

Therefore, his previous understanding of formations was clearly inapplicable here.

“This…”

Hearing him say that, although Elder Chen Jinlin no longer held any hope, he explained politely, “The formation in the Book Collection Vault is called the ‘Purple Silkworm Sealing Qi Formation’. It’s constructed with Purple Silkworm Mulberry Cloth Formation Flags and has several effects, like defense and qi sealing…”

He gave a detailed introduction.

This formation was constructed by people sent from Heaven Mandate Hall back in the day, so now that it was damaged, unless they invited someone from Heaven Mandate Hall to come over, it was virtually impossible to succeed.

And if one were to truly request their assistance, the cost wouldn’t be small, so they had been dragging their feet on taking any action.

Zhang Xuan looked at the library, which had no signs of change, and could only endure the awkwardness: “Then… can you activate this formation? Even if it can’t function normally, just activating it briefly will do…”

“If I could activate it, I would’ve earned those 500 Merit Points myself,” Elder Chen Jinlin rolled his eyes.

Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

He had thought this would be the easiest way to earn Merit Points, but now, it seemed like a bit of a challenge…

Just as he was about to give up, an idea popped into his head.

“If ‘Heavens’ Imperfections’ and ‘Heavens’ Order’ cannot be used in this situation, what about ‘Natural Heavenly Dao’?”

Anything that wants to exert strength must comply with the laws of nature. The closer it aligns with nature, the more powerful it becomes, and formations are no exception.

The arrangement of formation flags requires integration with the terrain and even the surrounding structures. Now, since ‘Heavens’ Imperfections’ and ‘Heavens’ Order’ are ineffective, he decided to try ‘Natural Heavenly Dao’, which might yield some results.

With this thought, Zhang Xuan picked up a formation flag and casually moved its position. As his intent flowed, indeed, a book in the library released light and slowly settled into his palm.

He casually opened it.

The book indicated where this formation flag should be placed in order to harmonize better with the environment and more readily absorb Origin qi for use.

“It really can be done…”

His eyes shining, Zhang Xuan moved that formation flag to the position indicated in the book.

Following the same principle, he repositioned the other formation flags from various corners of the Book Collection Vault.

“Without understanding formations or possessing the formation’s Heavenly Mandate, how you arrange them is futile… Teacher Zhang, if it’s indeed impossible, we can try a different task…”

Seeing his seemingly aimless tinkering, Elder Chen Jinlin shook his head, ready to suggest another plan, when suddenly the formation flags buzzed and emitted a warm glow.

“Is this… activation?”

With eyes wide, Elder Chen Jinlin stood stunned.

Just casually moving the formation flags activated them… Really? If he had known the task was this simple, he would have taken it on himself…

Merit Points could be exchanged for resources, and even though he was Baiyan Academy’s Fifth Elder, he wasn’t exactly wealthy…

“Even with activation, it’s useless. The formation has been damaged, and to make it operate, you need to find the crux and inject it with Origin qi. But the crux changes with strength, time, seasons, and the alignment of stars. Without a deep understanding of formations, it’s impossible to find…”

After watching for a while and seeing the young man just standing there after activating the formation, not making a move, Elder Chen Jinlin couldn’t help but speak up. Before he finished, he saw the other party kick a bookshelf.

The bookshelf creaked and slid half a meter to the side, coming to a halt. Then, Elder Chen Jinlin saw the recently activated formation suddenly flash a dazzling light before vanishing.

The next moment, a tremendous repulsive force appeared on him, with a resounding boom echoing in his ears, while the surrounding Origin qi converged towards him as if to pulverize him into dust.

“Is this… complete operation of the formation?”

His pupils contracting, Elder Chen Jinlin realized this phenomenon of rejection and the boom was due to the formation starting and expelling strangers. Not wasting words, he hastily took out the Library Access Certificate from his pocket.

“`

The certificate appeared, the roaring sound dissipated, and the operating formation slowly came to a halt.

Gulping for air, Chen Jinlin looked again at the young man not far away, filled with disbelief.

Formation mastery, like other professions, requires recognition by the heavens’ mandate first before one can practice. This young man didn’t even know the name of the formation, obviously not having been to the Heaven Mandate Hall… Given that, how did he manage to repair and operate it?

“Did I succeed?” Zhang Xuan asked with a smile.

“Of course!” Chen Jinlin hurriedly nodded.

“How… how did you do it?” Unable to contain his curiosity, he asked.

“I’m quite sensitive to Origin qi. I felt that the placement of the formation flags was a bit chaotic, so I made some adjustments. I didn’t expect it would actually work…”

Zhang Xuan explained.

Natural Heavenly Dao seeks to return everything to its natural state, flowing smoothly as it should. While his explanation was strange, it was the best explanation.

Claiming that he had formation abilities, on the other hand, would have made people suspicious.

“It works like that?”

An astonished Chen Jinlin gaped, realizing the world of geniuses truly differed from that of ordinary people.

Just like top students, who, even by guessing blindly on questions they don’t know, have a much higher probability of being correct than underachievers.

“This task is exactly 500 Merit Points. I should be considered to have passed the elder’s assessment, right?” Zhang Xuan diverted the conversation from this topic.

“Of course!”

Chen Jinlin nodded. “Wait here for a moment, I’ll get your Elder Command token right now…”

After saying this, Elder Chen hurried out and soon returned, handing over a token to Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan took it.

Similar to the honorary elder token of the Chen Clan, it was the same size, but the front had the words “elder of the Baiyan Academy” inscribed.

“Thank you!”

Holding the token in his palm, Zhang Xuan let out a sigh of relief and headed towards the third floor of the Book Collection Vault. With the token, the formation no longer blocked his way, allowing him to smoothly enter and search for a cultivation technique suitable for the Jade Bone Realm.

…

While Zhang Xuan was collecting cultivation methods for the Jade Bone Realm, elsewhere, Lu Mingrong, Wu Yunzhou, and others had also arrived at the Elder Council, looking at Chen Jinlin who had just returned.

“I heard… Teacher Zhang is challenging the elder’s position. How did it go? Has his cultivation really reached the Viscera Realm?”

Unable to restrain his curiosity, Wu Yunzhou asked.

Four days ago at the City Lord Residence, he had personally examined Zhang Xuan who didn’t possess a trace of zhenqi in his body, and his Source Pool wasn’t even activated. A mere few days passed… and now you’re telling me he has reached the Six Layers of Viscera of the Source Pool and can challenge for the position of elder? For real?

“Yes, not only has he reached the Viscera Realm, but he is even at the… pinnacle of the Viscera Realm, possessing the strength of 60 horses!”

Chen Jinlin explained.

“That’s… true…”

“Cultivating so fast? How did he do it?”

As he confirmed, everyone was stunned, even Lu Mingrong found himself speechless.

The most talented individual they had seen before was Yu Longqing, the once-in-a-century genius. Even for him, it took a full five years to advance from the Accumulative Realm to the pinnacle of the Viscera Realm. A few days for Zhang Xuan…

“Merely having cultivation isn’t enough to become an elder, it requires Merit Points as well. Where is he? Don’t tell me he took on a task?”

After the shock, the crowd looked around but didn’t see Zhang Xuan; Ran Qingxu asked.

Chen Jinlin replied, “He did take on a task, but he has already completed it. He is now the seventeenth elder of our academy.”

“What task?” Su Qiao was taken aback.

From when he heard that Zhang Xuan planned to challenge for elder to when he arrived with the School Head and the others, it was no more than a quarter of an hour… He completed the task and earned 500 Merit Points in such a short time?

Chen Jinlin replied: “The task was to repair the formation of the Book Collection Vault…”

“The Book Collection Vault?”

Su Qiao felt as if his brain had exploded. Without wasting another word, he rushed to the Book Collection Vault. He soon returned, his eyes bulging as if they might pop out at any moment.

“So?” Lu Mingrong looked at him.

“Not only has the formation of the Book Collection Vault been successfully repaired, but… it seems that its power has increased by a lot compared to before! With my strength, I can’t even force my way through…”

Su Qiao swallowed hard.

The previous formation could prevent students without a certificate from entering, but it had a significant effect only against those under the Viscera Realm. With his strength, it was merely a warning and couldn’t actually repel him; whereas now, without a Library Access Certificate, it felt like he would be wiped out instantly!

“This…”

Lu Mingrong and the others exchanged looks of disbelief, swiftly rushing over to see for themselves. They returned one after another, the room filled with a silence where one could hear a pin drop.

Horse Taming, cultivating, mentoring students… each and every task was extraordinary, and now there was formation mastery. Just how many more surprises did Teacher Zhang have in store for them?

“School Head…”

Just then, a teacher rushed over hurriedly. It was Zhou Xu, who had gone to the School Head’s residence to beckon him during the Source Pool evaluation.

Lu Mingrong furrowed his brows: “Teacher Zhou Xu, why are you here instead of presiding over the competition at the training ground?”

Teacher Zhou Xu quickly bowed with hands clasped, explaining, “School Head, your student Mo Yanxue has drawn against Hong Yi in the lottery!”

After a brief recollection, Lu Mingrong said, “If I remember correctly, his talent is very weak, graded as a Grade-7 during the Source Pool evaluation. Although, thanks to Teacher Zhang, he ignited a Pinnacle Furnace, his fundamental weakness and lack of resources would mean he couldn’t have improved much in just three days!”

“And Mo Yanxue, backed by the Mo Family, as far as I know, acquired the Spirit pinnacle spirit herb ‘Golden Source Jade Liquid’ yesterday, which significantly increased his strength. The two aren’t on the same level at all. Even if he won, it wouldn’t be a very glorious victory, would it?”

Teacher Zhou Xu looked embarrassed: “He lost!”

“???”

Lu Mingrong was stunned.

(Volume 2 “Empyrean Kong shi, Long Time No See” opens! In this volume, Zhang Xuan will meet with Empyrean Kong shi and lead his disciples through adventures in the Source World.)