Chapter 202: Back To School [PART 1]
The fifth-grade defensive formation was truly impressive in its capabilities. It could completely withstand the combined attacks of a thousand Golden Core experts for an entire month. Even more remarkably, it could hold against a hundred Nascent Soul experts for a full week, and could take up to a hundred full-power strikes from a peak Soul Formation expert.
Xiang Yu was genuinely amazed by these specs. The defensive power was almost absurd when compared to the previous one that was just a rank below. It seemed just like how the difference in power grew higher the higher one cultivated, the formations and other props were the same.
The attacking formation proved equally impressive. This offensive array could deliver up to a hundred full-power strikes equivalent to those of a peak Soul Formation expert. And just like the previous sixth-grade one, if enhanced through the use of soul crystals, it could deliver another hundred soul-based attacks at the Soul Formation level.
Still, although the formations were undeniably impressive in their capabilities, they also came with significant downsides that couldn’t be ignored. The most crucial problem was the astronomical cost of maintaining them. The spirit stones required to keep these formations running was simply staggering.
Taking all his current wealth into consideration, Xiang Yu calculated that if he wanted to keep the formations always active and running at full capacity, he would drain his entire treasury in about a week. The maintenance costs were that enormous.
He sighed deeply as he carefully set the completed formations aside for future use. He thought to himself that luckily, they had successfully negotiated those lucrative deals with the five major sects, and wealth would be flowing in soon enough. When they delivered the first batch of requested resources and received payment, he would be able to maintain the formations for much longer periods without bankrupting the sect.
For now, he would keep them safely stored though. Fortunately, Li Yao was currently present at the sect, so there wasn’t nearly as much immediate danger as there would be when she was away.
Xiang Yu stood up from his crafting position and stretched his stiff muscles. It was time to practice some medicine as well as recruit members for the other schools of secondary professions.
...
At the bottom of the mountain, a large crowd had already gathered after completing their daily work of dangerous missions, waiting for the Grand Elder to check on their injuries and conditions. There was also another distinct group assembled by Liu Qing. It consisted of disciples who wanted to try entering the secondary professions schools, as well as those who had previously passed the test to join the School of Cooking.
Looking at the two separate groups, Xiang Yu thought to himself that he really needed a proper place for these people since he was establishing a pavilion. Although his junior sister had suggested giving him his own peak, he didn’t feel like having to constantly travel between different peaks. He much preferred if everything was in one location. He made a mental note to commission a building for the Secondary Professions Pavilion.
He walked up to the professions group first, his eyes scanning the eager faces before him. "Is this everyone?" he asked Liu Qing.
"Some people are out on missions and others haven’t shown up yet," Liu Qing replied, gesturing toward the assembled disciples.
Xiang Yu nodded thoughtfully. "Good. We can work with this number. For those who haven’t shown up yet, they can try again during the next recruitment period," he announced to the group.
He then reached into his spatial ring and retrieved a peculiar gadget that caught everyone’s attention. The device looked quite sophisticated. He glanced at Liu Qing with a smile. "You said you wanted to join the School of Talismans, right? This is your test," he spoke.
The gadget was a cube made entirely of clear glass. Inside the transparent cube, there was a smaller glass ball suspended in the center, surrounded by numerous small nodes embedded along the walls. These nodes produced light beams, creating intricate patterns throughout the glass structure.
Xiang Yu pressed a button on the side of the gadget, and it immediately lit up with a certain pattern. This pattern was much less complex than the previous one but it was still quite complex.
"This is what we’ll be using to test candidates for both the School of Talismans and the School of Formations," he explained to the gathered disciples, holding up the device so everyone could see it clearly.
"Inject your qi into the ball inside," Xiang Yu instructed Liu Qing.
Liu Qing nodded and carefully injected a stream of spiritual energy into the suspended ball. The moment her qi made contact, the ball immediately lit up bright red and let out a buzzing sound.
"Try being more gentle with your qi control," he explained.
She exhaled slowly and took a moment to calm herself, centering her breathing before trying again. This time, when she injected her qi more carefully, the ball lit up with a soft blue glow instead.
Xiang Yu smiled approvingly at the improvement. "Good. Now try moving the ball," he instructed.
Her expression was neutral at first as she prepared for what seemed like a simple task. She thought to herself that moving something with qi should be relatively easy. Although she hadn’t yet reached the Core Formation stage, moving such a small object within a controlled region should be possible even for Qi Gathering let alone someone like her at the Foundation Establishment realm.
However, as she actually started attempting to move the ball, her confident expression quickly changed to one of confusion. She wondered what exactly was inside this testing device. She didn’t know how to properly explain the sensation, but it felt like trying to navigate through pure chaos. The ball was being pulled randomly in different directions by invisible forces, and she had to continuously maintain strict control over it to prevent it from flying off course.
Suddenly, the ball was tugged strongly in one direction with unexpected force, and despite her best efforts to maintain control, it made contact with one of the beams of light crisscrossing through the box. The moment it touched the light pattern, the ball immediately turned red and began buzzing loudly again.
"The pattern you see displayed there is the blueprint for a ninth-grade explosion talisman, the very first talisman I ever successfully created," Xiang Yu explained to the watching crowd. "You need to use your qi to guide the ball from one end of the pattern to the other, carefully navigating through the entire blueprint without dropping control of the ball, injecting too much qi at once, or allowing it to touch any of the blueprint lines."
Everyone in the gathered crowd paid close attention as he explained.
"Alright, you can start now," Xiang Yu spoke to Liu Qing, handing her the testing device.