Inside the vortex of fog, fog surged like a tide and surged rapidly like a fierce spark stirring up a raging flame.

Nonetheless, at the edge of the vortex, they were blocked by an invisible barrier. This was a unique phenomenon that had never happened before. This barrier was the Defensive Formation that Ou Yangming had set up, and it could block the fog in the vortex outside.

Inside the formation, Ou Yangming and his companions stood side by side.

Ou Yangming's eyes were filled with an inexplicable meaning. He looked at He Jian and asked in a calm voice, "Senior He, how much spiritual Qi do you have left in your dantian?"

"70%." He Jian slightly shook his knees, and the sword case on his back also began to shake.

"70%..." Ou Yangming looked like he was deep in thought. His fingers gently stroked his chin as if he was thinking about something.

After a moment, he gritted his teeth and asked softly, "Senior He, I'll set up a Defensive Formation for you, as well as refine pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment for you. Do you have the confidence to overcome the tribulation and break through to become a Venerable One?" His voice was very soft, but it sounded like thunder in He Jian's ears.

He Jian did not answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "How many Heavenly Thunderbolts can the Defense Formation block?"

"2," Ou Yangming answered.

"What about the pieces of Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment? How much of the Thunderbolt Powers can they absorb?" He Jian's eyes were filled with an undetectable eagerness. In his mind, as long as it could absorb 20% of the Thunderbolt Powers, it would be the best. A Thunderbolt-resistant Suit—it was a Thunderbolt-resistant Suit. In the past, he would not even dare to think about it. As long as it could absorb 20% of the Heavenly Disaster's power, he would agree right away.

"It can absorb 75% of the Heavenly Disaster's power," Ou Yangming responded proudly without hesitation. When he refined the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit for the Multi-armed King Kong, it could only absorb about 70% of the power. Now that his smithing skills had improved, he was sure that it could absorb 75% of the power without any problems.

As his voice spread, the eyes of the others instantly lit up. Their eyes were filled with a hint of flattery. What did absorbing 75% of the Heavenly Disaster's power mean? As long as they could withstand 25% of the disaster's power, they would be able to become Venerable Ones. This was simply a great opportunity.

More importantly, the 3 of them were top-grade Spiritualists. Becoming a Venerable One was the lifelong desire of every top-grade Spiritualist.

Furthermore, the formation setup could block 2 Heavenly Thunderbolts. If one did not seize this kind of fortune, it would simply be a waste of heavenly treasures.

Jiang Yingrong widened her eyes and looked at Ou Yangming. She thought to herself, 'No wonder Brother Yu asked about this danger zone. It turns out that he already had a plan in mind. Is this his strategy?'

He Jian's eyes were bright, and his body was trembling. He asked worriedly, "Is it true?"

"It's true!" Ou Yangming nodded heavily.

"Very well. If I don't seize this opportunity, I deserve to be struck by lightning. If I can't survive the Heavenly Disaster with the help of the formation and the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit, I can only say that it's my fate, and I can't blame anyone." He Jian's eyes flashed. They were as sharp as knives and as swift as lightning. There was also a hint of unspeakable determination in his eyes.

"There's no rush. I'll first refine the formation boards and the Thunderbolt-resistant Suit. Senior He, you should also take the opportunity to recover your spiritual power and adjust your Qi momentum, as well as getting your body back to its optimal state." Ou Yangming waved his sleeve lightly, making the final decision.

How could He Jian refuse? He said "okay" 3 times in a row, then he sat cross-legged and entered a state of meditation.

Ou Yangming gently exhaled a breath of cold air. His gaze focused, and the Heavenly Phoenix FIre in his hand lit up, distorting the surrounding air. A wave of scorching heat spread out in all directions.

With a flip of his wrist, an uncarved round board appeared in his hand, emitting a faint light.

Ou Yangming's face was as calm as a lake. With a flash of thought, a wisp of white flame burst out from his palm. The small board seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, changing rapidly in the flame.

His fingers moved rhythmically like 5 carving knives.

At the same time, he visualized the runes of the Earthly Formation Boards in his spiritual world and slowly engraved them on the small board.

A dense and heavy aura spread out from the board. This aura seemed to be able to crush a mountain, making people feel as if they were on the edge of the abyss. Even a half a meter wide crack appeared on the ground. One could imagine how heavy this formation board was. Oh, no, that was wrong. What was heavy was not the formation board, but the Earthly Runes that were being carved on the formation board. It could be said that every stroke was incredibly heavy.

Ou Yangming's movements were effortless and smooth as one. It was as if he had practiced it thousands of times, and his face was relaxed. He was no longer the young fellow who had refined the Earthly Formation Boards in the Beast King Sect. After this period of training, he had been reborn.

He was now an Advanced Spiritualist, and his strength was not inferior to that of a Daoist disciple. Refining Earthly Formation Boards was too easy for him.

Ou Yangming's hands moved faster. His fingers were as if they were flying, leaving only afterimages. Countless runes were imprinted on the board.

Jiang Yingrong and Zang Jian looked at each other and saw the shock in each other's eyes. Even their throats were a bit dry.

This was especially true for Zang Jian. The relationship between the Seven Stars Sect and Reborn in Paradise was extraordinary.

He had also seen the Daoist disciple of Reborn in Paradise carve formation boards. Nevertheless, whether it was in terms of proficiency or timing, they were far from Ou Yangming. It was difficult to compare them.

In fact, Zang Jian even had the illusion that even a Venerable One was no match for Ou Yangming when it came to carving formation boards. Even so, this thought only appeared for an instant before it was forcefully banished by him. 'How old is he? No matter how monstrous he is, his energy is limited.'

"Merge!" Just as waves were surging in Zang Jian's mind, Ou Yangming gently exhaled.

The runes on the board seemed to have sensed something and were connected. The dots connected to form a thin line, and the thin lines were arranged and intertwined together. They were densely packed, and the feeling of heaviness was getting stronger. Ou Yangming's hand also became faster and in the blink of an eye, the Earthly Formation Board was completed.

Immediately after, Ou Yangming's carving of the formation boards seemed to be fast-forwarded like in a movie. It was so fast that one could not see his movements clearly. As long as it was over 20 breaths, a formation board could be carved out.

1, 2, 3...

After 4 hours, the 1,008 thick Earthly Formation Boards had been completed.

Stacked together, plenty of mysterious halos spread out, looking extraordinarily beautiful.

Jiang Yingrong gasped and commented in surprise, "Brother Yu, you... You're too... Too fast, aren't you?" This speed had exceeded the limits of her imagination. Her gaze had been fixed on Ou Yangming the whole time, and she had been counting silently in her heart. Moreover, she also discovered that when carving the formation boards, the young fellow had also diverted a part of his attention to He Jian. Otherwise, he would have been even faster.

'Oh god, he was carving formation boards and not doing some random thing!'

Ou Yangming stopped what he was doing and said with a chuckle, "Fortunately, I have some attainments in the path of formations."

As his voice echoed, Jiang Yingrong and Zang Jian rolled their eyes at the same time. They cursed internally, 'Some attainments? Your cultivation in formation is already heaven-defying, okay?"

Indeed, it was the truth. Ou Yangming's attainments in formations were notable. Formation boards were made up of thousands of runes. This was somewhat similar to the relationship between a lake and a water droplet. At this point, the young fellow's vision was enough to allow him to see through the essence of the runes with a glance. Naturally, he carved the formation boards very quickly.

After chatting for a while, Ou Yangming waited for his spiritual power to recover to its peak.

He then waved his sleeves and said in a deep voice, "It's almost time..."

Jiang Yingrong did not say anything. Her beautiful eyes looked around. This was the first time she was going to watch him refine pieces of equipment, but the worry in her heart had mostly dissipated. She believed that with the help of these 2 things, the Guardian Elder would surely be able to become a Venerable One. At that time, would the other race's Venerable One guarding outside the vortex be able to block his sword? She was certain that the Venerable Blood Dragon could not do it—he definitely could not.

Ou Yangming was not aware of Jiang Yingrong's complicated thoughts. Without any hesitation, he tapped his interspatial bag and took out all the materials needed to forge the Thunderbolt-resistant Equipment.

Blood Desire Ore, Golden Forest Base Basket, Tiankeng Wood...

These materials were not considered too rare but other than a blacksmith like Ou Yangming, no one would specially prepare them.

Besides, while the price of one kind of material was not high, the overall expenditure was high. Ou Yangming was able to take out so many in one go, which showed that he was quite well-to-do.

Jiang Yingrong and Zang Jian exchanged a look first, then held their breaths and stared straight at the Heavenly Phoenix Fire in Ou Yangming's hand.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss..."

The white Phoenix Fire burned fiercely, and it was sacred and noble. Ou Yangming gently tapped his finger, and the materials on the ground were guided into the fire by his spiritual power. In an instant, they began to melt slowly, flowing with brilliant colors.

1 type, 2 types, 3 types...

Dozens of materials quickly melted, fusing with each other, and a powerful aura spread out.

Ou Yangming's mental power had been enveloping the materials all this time. Without warning, a bright light flashed in his eyes, and he growled in a low voice, "Condense!"

As soon as his voice fell, the refining materials blended together like water and milk as if they were kneaded by a powerful force. They condensed into the shape of an armor, emitting a red light in the white flames.

Ou Yangming's right hand continuously pointed out in the air, and a faint path conception spread out in all directions. It was done in one breath. Every time his finger fell, it carried a different kind of beauty as if it merged with this world and became an inseparable part of this world.

Each time he pointed his finger out in the air, the runes on the armor would jump like tadpoles swimming in the water.

When Ou Yangming pointed his finger out, the white light on the armor was so bright that it lit up more than half of the space in the formation.

The light was gentle and did not seem dazzling, but even the surrounding space shook along with it. A faint circle of ripples reverberated in the formation.

Following that, the runes on the armor spread out like a spider's web. They drew perfect arcs on the armor and interweaved into a web, covering the tiniest parts of the armor and turning it into a gorgeous red flower. It looked exquisite, like a perfect piece of art.