As he was cultivating, Yun Fei suddenly remembered the matter about the mysterious pattern he had seen. He could still perfectly recall it. But just to be sure, he wanted to create a physical copy.

He took out a pen and paper from one of his space pouches. Yun Fei didn't know which of his victims had packed writing material but he was thankful towards their thoughtful action.

This action made Shui Ling pity him even more as she thought,

'Ah, he failed. Even after trying so long he still wasn't able to break through.

It's good that he isn't discouraged. He must be used to failure considering his cultivation talent. It probably took a lot of hardships for him to reach this level already.'

He drew a circle from hand and started working on the intricate patterns inside. Slowly, the circle was filled with lines. It looked a little mysterious.

Yun Fei picked up the paper and admired his work. He had always been somewhat talented with his hands so the lines had come out exactly as he had intended.

While he was checking over his diagram for any mistakes, Shui Ling's voice entered his ears.

"That's drawn pretty well. Are you trying to become a formation master?"

Yun Fei had already given up on trying to detect her movement. He just turned around without even being surprised and answered politely.

"Senior, It's not like that. This is just something I once saw somewhere. I suddenly remembered about it and thought I'd draw it out."

Shui Ling was a little surprised. It seemed that he might have some talent in formations.

"So it's like that. Let me see it for a moment. Maybe I know what it is."

Yun Fei also wanted to know what it was, so he handed the paper to Shui Ling.

She looked at it for some time and said,

"This looks like an inscription of intrepidity.

I don't know why it's more complicated than normal since I haven't studied formations to such a level but as a general rule of thumb, more complicated formations are stronger or have additional functions."

"After all, they are meant to direct heavenly energy. A random twisting of the formation will destroy it. So its mere existence guarantees a certain meaning."

Yun Fei was happy enough to receive a clue. He would research more about it when he had a chance.

Shui Ling took out a book from somewhere and said suddenly,

"I think you might have some talent in formations. You were actually able to remember this complicated inscription without knowing what it means and no practice."

This is an impressive feat for someone at your cultivation level. This book is something I had lying around. Something of this level isn't anything that can be beneficial to me.

Since it was just lying idle with me, it will be better for it to be in the hands of someone who could benefit from it. I'll give it to you, I hope you can put your talent to good use. It will serve well as your introduction to formations, till you are able to find a teacher."

Yun Fei thought that he might have felt some pity from the words he had heard but he brushed it off and accepted the book after thanking Shui Ling properly.

He wasn't in any position to refuse her favours, this just increased his conviction to repay the debts whenever he got the chance.

After giving the book to Yun Fei, Shui Ling once again disappeared from the room.

'Since he has some talent in formations, if he works hard he'll be able to acquire a greater amount of resources and proceed further on his path.'

She had given him the book since she felt for his hard life. Many times people weren't able to discover their talents till it was too late.

It was better to start these things early, so she had thought to offer motivation by providing him the book.

For the next three days, Yun Fei kept cultivating while also reading the book he had received from Shui Ling.

The book was very thick and its pages very thin. But it was durable. He didn't think they would tear even after using the book for years. It was titled, Divinity of Marks.

It started by giving a basic introduction to formations and telling about the different types and distinctions in formations.

One of the ways of classifying formations was through their method of creation. This was, natural formations and artificial formations.

Most of the artificial formations though were just created from modifying the natural formations to suit the human needs better.

There were rarely any formations that were created completely without taking any inspiration from nature, all of these were very complicated things that were out of the scope of the book.

While Yun Fei had busied himself with these studies, they finally reached Sungon City. The boat directly stopped over the city lord's majestic mansion and lowered down.

It landed in the courtyard of the mansion. Before it touched down though, the sight already gathered some people.

At the lead was a middle aged man wearing golden robes. The way he carried himself as well as his position made clear of his status. It was He Weiyuan.

Shui Ling exited the boat and Yun Fei followed behind her. As soon as the man in the lead saw her, he bowed and cupped his hands.

"Junior He Weiyuan greets senior."

Following the man, the rest of the people around them bowed too. Shui Ling nodded and the people surrounding them raised their heads.

Shui Ling turned her face towards the short man and said,

"This kid was swallowed by the monster that had fallen near the city while he was attempting some kind of test.

He was able to survive because of his strong fate. Since I was going in this direction, I thought I'd drop him here."

He Weiyuan and all the people near him were surprised, they knew how difficult of a feat it was to survive after being swallowed by that demonic snake. He replied,

"If he was able to survive in such a situation, he must truly have skills along with his strong luck.

There's still a section of the re-examination left, he can directly start from there. Afterall, he was swallowed when he was under our jurisdiction, that's the least the city can do."

He Weiyuan really thought that the kid could directly skip the first part of the examination. He had earned it after coming back from the jaws of a predator.

Also, after being told this by the person in front of him, it was not like he could refuse. He knew what it meant when the senior in front of him had decided to drop the kid right in the front of the city lord's mansion instead of the city gate or some place further from the city.

It meant that she clearly favoured the kid somewhat. Maybe it was because she had saved him or some other reason, it didn't matter much to him.

This was the first time he had seen this senior in person. He had only heard rumours about one of the most talented cultivators of nascent soul stage and that too when she was not affiliated with any forces and was a rogue cultivator.

She was looked very favourably upon by a lot of organisations who wanted her to join them. Of Course the association he was part of was also one of them.

He couldn't see her face, but the temperament and aura was exactly as he had heard. He wasn't going to miss any chance of getting acquainted with her and instantly invited her inside.

Shui Ling however refused his invitation politely, mentioning that she had some important work that couldn't be delayed. She nodded towards Yun Fei and then took off in her spirit boat.

After some greetings, Yun Fei was pulled into the city lord's office and made to explain everything that had happened from the start.

Starting from when he was swallowed till the part where he was able to exit because Shui Ling had coincidentally pierced the snake at the same point, he explained everything to the man he presumed to be the city lord.

He Weiyuan was impressed after hearing about Yun Fei's survival. He felt that the young man in front of him had some potential.

"As you might know, our selection examination has two parts. The first is for the normal guards and the other is for talented people to compete and then get into the core of the organisation.

It's not like a normal guard cannot rise to become a core member, it's just that it would be much more time consuming if you start from the position of a normal guard.

This year, just the climb till the mountain was supposed to be the threshold for normal guards to enter, because of the tragedy we had to redo the examination in another way.

The other competition is supposed to be held tomorrow. There are five vacancies for the position of a disciple and the top four will get them.

So if your age is below 18 years, I suggest you apply for the competition and test your mettle. Even if you aren't able to get into the top four, you can simply join as a guard and then use other methods to become a disciple."

Yun Fei's goal from the start was to enter this competition and get one of the top positions. He swiftly agreed to take part in it.

"In that case, there are still some formalities you have to complete before tomorrow." Saying this, the city lord called for a servant and asked him to guide Yun Fei to a room.

While Yun Fei was walking with the servant, he was thinking about some things. As the gears in his head turned, he became even more thankful to Shui Ling.

If she hadn't dropped him right in front of the city lord and described his situation he would probably have to give up the idea of joining the association right now.

Since, no matter how he would try to explain, nobody would believe his story of escaping from that monster's stomach.

Upon reaching a spacious room, Yun Fei was greeted by the sight of a prim and proper young man who wore simple yet luxurious robes.

His facial features were more gentle than fierce but his eyes carried sharpness that came from experience.

His body structure was average, he wasn't too tall or too short but it seemed impossible that he had any trouble commanding respect.

Yun Fei politely greeted him since he could see that he was his senior and introduced himself.

"So you were the one who was able to escape from the snake?"

Yun Fei prepared himself to recite his take for a third time but he relaxed after the man in front of him spoke.

"Since I still have some work left, I won't be able to listen to your story right now. You can tell it to me after you've entered the organisation."

With Yun Fei nodding he continued,

"For the competition of the youngsters, a bone age limit of 18 years has been set. To actually verify it, you'll have to stand on this spiritual artifact. That's all for the formalities before the contest."

Yun Fei quietly followed his instructions and stood on a raised platform.

The platform lit up without any input from the man and after 5 minutes the light dimmed. The handsome man just stood there without even moving so much as a finger.

"Oh, it seems you're 16 years old. I thought you'd be something like 20 haha."

Yun Fei nervously gave a fake chuckle to show respect for the senior in front of him. Even if the joke was bad, it wasn't really uncalled for. He himself accepted that he really looked somewhat older than 16.

With his fully developed body and mature face, if someone just guessed based on their appearances and ignored their temperaments, Yun Fei would surely be thought to be older than the person in front of him.

"Since all the formalities are done with, you can go and rest to prepare for tomorrow."

Yun Fei bowed his head and then followed the servant into the hallways. He was provided a room to stay in the mansion since the competition would be held tomorrow.

Inside his room, He sat down on a mat and closed his eyes as he thought about the competition the next day.

'I should have a very good chance of getting into the top five tomorrow. Maybe it would've been harder if I didn't have any proper experience but now it should be easier for me.

I still have the information that Devanshu had gathered for me. That should provide me an edge over the people who know nothing about me.'

As he thought all this, Yun Fei prepared himself to be in the best condition for tomorrow. His heart beat slowed as even his mind went into a slumber to recover from the mental exertion in the past few days.