Formation First was called thus because he was first in the world when it came to formations, an existence far beyond the likes of Formation Thirteenth who Lu Yun had met such a long time ago. His formation was unconventional and extremely strong, almost seeming to modify the laws of local space to form its own world.

“This is the prototype of a formation orb. if he continues to build this formation with the same method, then it’ll become a new formation orb sooner or later,” Lu Yun murmured to himself while observing the grand formation in front of him. “It’s already coalesced a formation spirit and is the signature formation for Sovereign Formation First… if I break it, his efforts of a lifetime will go down the drain.”

The formation in front of him was as if a great maze, its environment constantly shifting and reforming. He spotted seven hundred formations at a glance, but one thousand and eighty feng shui layouts as well! That meant that in its complete form, this great formation would comprise one thousand and eighty minor formations.

“While this formation is impeccable from the perspective of formations, there’s three spots in which the feng shui conflict with each other and mar the setup. It’s a little too tough to alter the formation, but the feng shui layouts… I’ll be able to erase the three flaws if I just change the local terrain.”

Lu Yun took a step forward with an immortal crystal in hand, etching some formation runes into the air. Formations without foundation—his runes remained embedded in the air as well.

Hummm.

The formation trembled slightly as a soft hum rang out, wiping out the three minor imperfections that he’d spotted. Abruptly whirring into full operations, the formation suddenly became real and transformed into a giant maze.

“My Ingenium Formation!” came Formation First’s delighted exclamation from the foot of Mount Xuanhuang. “It’s broken through the final bottleneck and entered that legendary realm… reality from illusions!”

“Congratulations, senior, greatest of felicitations. Your mastery of formations has reached that of the primordial monster spirit ancestor, and you are able to turn something real from its origins as a mirage,” Lu Yun called out, having exited the formation at some unknown point so that he could offer his congratulations to the formation sovereign.

“Not at all, not at all!” Formation First quickly returned the bow. “Fellow daoist’s mastery of formations has attained the realm of great perfection, I didn’t identify its flaws even with five thousand years of study. Today, you’ve not only found them, but repaired them as well. I am unworthy!

“This first round concludes with my loss!”

The Ingenium Formation was his signature creation, and the formation sovereign had long realized that it was just shy of perfection. However, he hadn’t been able to identify just where the defects were even after five thousand years of scrutiny.

Who would’ve thought that Lu Yun would identify the crux of the problem after a casual stroll through it and easily resolve the problems? Now that the Ingenium Formation was complete, it had returned to its origins and would one day become an existence like Myriad Returns City. No, it would be its own—Ingenium City!

“Thank you for your instruction!” Lu Yun didn’t put on a show of overdone humility after his first victory. Instead, he looked to the other three, ignoring the stunned crowd around them.

First when it came to formations in the world of immortals, Sovereign Formation First, had conceded his match! He’d been defeated in broad daylight by a minor junior with less than six years of cultivation experience under his belt!

Lu Yun had once been a genius in the eyes of the world, a genius with unlimited potential and ability. But now… that stunning genius had come into his own and was the foremost authority in formations!

Somehow, at some point, and for some reason, he’d eclipsed the previous formation sovereign!

……

“Lu Yun, you may have reached the point of being able to teach Formation First a thing or two after six years, but I don’t believe you can do the same when it comes to refining treasures!” Zhurong Die took the stage.

Twin flames burned in his eyes as he looked eagerly at the youth. Since the governor of Dusk Province had dared accept their challenge, there must be a reason for his confidence and boldness. Who knew how long it’d been since Zhurong Die had met someone who could truly match him tit-for-tat when it came to refinement? He was so excited that he was almost shaking.

Wham!!

Space in front of him shook; a fiery inferno accompanied the appearance of a forge of earth and sky. His forge represented the utmost of his craft and was almost a real forge. Massive waves of heat rolled out of the enormous construction and assaulted the surroundings.

“Ai!” Lu Yun sighed softly as he looked at the forge. “Senior Zhurong, you’ve lost.”

“Eh?” Zhurong Die and everyone assembled blinked in incomprehension. Nothing had taken place yet!

“That’s not how you use the forge of earth and sky.” Lu Yun waved a hand to summon a tendril of Emerald Mistfire in front of him. And then…

The power of the land descended upon the tiny flame, crushing it mercilessly and melding it into the void, where it then set the entire sky aflame. At the same time, Lu Yun gave voice to a long whistle.

“With earth and sky as forge, yin and yang as fuel, and nature as labor…”

Rumble!!

Zhurong Die’s forge shattered right in front of him. This part of the world itself seemed to have become a large forge, and the immortals on the scene were the bronze within, ready for refinement.

“You… refined Mount Xuanhuang with a forge like this…” Zhurong Die looked blankly at Lu Yun before suddenly whipping his head around to consider the majestic and sacred mountain.

“I did.” Lu Yun nodded. “Forge of earth and sky, the earth and sky as the forge… Same words, just in a different order, but the breadth of a single hair can lead one astray. The sky and earth are an enormous forge to begin with, one can just use them as is. Why go to the extraneous step of condensing another forge out of it?”

The great dao intersected with each other between heaven and earth, inexhaustible, boundless, and infinite. The peak realm for formation masters was to draw formations forth from nothingness, while the same heights for master refiners was to utilize the world as their forge!

The great dao of the world was the great dao of all, so nature could create whatever life sought from it.

“I see... I see!” Zhurong Die felt like lightning had struck him, and that a dusty, long-sealed door was slowly opening in front of him. He could tell that his skills were about to advance into a new realm!

Lu Yun looked at the other two. “Talismans are the trajectory of the great dao and the weave of the world. If a talisman is drawn with the lay of the land, it will be able to call upon the world itself.”

He drew a Principal Nineheavens Talisman in the void, whereupon it changed from being able to restrain akasha ghosts to shimmering with the grand strength of nature. Yet more glyphs sparkled around it, coming together as talismans that then assembled themselves into talisman formations. When complete, the formations convened as brand new glyphs that further formed new talismans.

Coming full circle, inexhaustible, boundless, and infinite.

“I have received quite a lesson!” Sovereign Venerated Talisman took in a deep breath and bowed to Lu Yun, showing the respect that he might show a teacher.

“Pill dao, the path of living beings! Condensing the essence of nature and discarding the dross, we overlook the fact that there is essence in dross. Every blade of grass, every tree, every grain of sand, and every rock can be made into a pill.” Lu Yun grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground.

Rumble—

Blue Lucent Voidfire danced in the air before delivering a fragrant pill into his hand. It was an ordinary first-rank immortal pill, but one that Lu Yun had refined from dirt.

The ultimate peak of pill dao was to reform medicinal properties in the sense of deconstructing various herbs and medicines, then reconstructing them to obtain the effect that one needed. However, Lu Yun had just created a pill from pure dirt!

He’d distilled essence from ordinary dirt without any special properties to it whatsoever and turned it into an immortal pill! This kind of mind-bogglingly result was something that foremost pill master Qi Hai of the Primordial Era wouldn’t have been able to achieve!

“I… submit!” Gu Xun smiled wryly. He finally realized in this moment just how frightening this youth of six years tenure was. No wonder the previous celestial emperors had chosen him.