Formation Completed

"You mean to say that those two were sent by Zou Yu?"

"That's right."

On their return journey, Liu Zihao recounted the ambush to Yang Lingrui.

Hearing the details, Yang Lingrui immediately deduced that this matter was almost certainly the work of Zou Yu.

Liu Zihao furrowed his brow, a deep sense of disappointment clouding his eyes.

"He would actually go so far as to harm me... After all, he and I shared over eight years of fellowship in the Formation Pavilion. Though we occasionally competed, we also cooperated on numerous occasions... This... sigh..."

He had never imagined that Zou Yu's hatred for him ran so deep that the man would resort to hiring killers to maim him.

When his master was taken away to Chongtian and everyone else grew cold and distant, he had learned the bitter truth that all under Heaven bustle for profit.

But Zou Yu's actions today gave him a direct, bloody taste of just how cruel this world could truly be.

"Mr. Liu, there is no need to be disheartened. While the world has people like Zou Yu, it also has people like you and me."

Yang Lingrui comforted him, saying, "Our family's ancestor once told me to never lose ferocity, yet keep a kind heart."

"When meeting the weak and small, we must never bully them, but always harbor compassion. When meeting the treacherous and cunning, we must never be soft-hearted, but instead employ thunderous means!"

Liu Zihao listened intently, softly repeating the words to himself. Gradually, the gloom hanging over his brow dissipated.

"The ancestor is truly a heroic figure. I, Liu, have learned much today."

Five days later, the two returned to the Yang family.

As soon as he stepped onto the mountain, Liu Zihao threw himself entirely into the preparatory work for the upcoming array layout.

Back when Yang Guanfeng was still at home, Liu Zihao had already drafted a long-term plan for the Yang family's future formations.

Normally, he would only need to tweak and refine that original design based on the family's current needs.

Instead, he chose to completely tear up the original plan and start anew.

His perspective was entirely different now.

This was the first major undertaking he would perform after formally joining the Yang family.

Constructing a formation for his own family meant he had to strive for perfection in every single detail. Merely completing it was not enough; he wanted it to be flawless.

Just drawing the formation diagrams alone took a full three months.

During this time, Liu Zihao never once stepped out of his courtyard gates, dedicating his entire heart and soul to the diagrams.

Three months later, he presented his painstaking masterpiece to Yang Lingqing.

Although Yang Lingqing did not practice the path of formations, she could comprehend basic diagrams.

Yet, looking at the sheets Liu Zihao handed her, she could not even tell which side was up or down at first glance-it was simply too complex!

"Allow me to clarify things for the Family Head."

Liu Zihao produced a wooden ruler and pointed at the diagram. "This is a five-formation linked diagram."

"I have fused four distinct functions-isolation, alert, defense, and attack-into a single formation called the Heaven-Earth Four-Forms Formation. It will be anchored within the Songshan Restricted Grounds as the primary array. Using this main formation as a fulcrum, it can drive four subordinate formations below the mountain."

"The four arrays share the same position and form, overlapping and intersecting. Aside from their baseline functions, they can combine to produce five entirely new atmospheric effects."

"Praying for rain and summoning wind can generate a chilling rain;"

"Clearing the sky and avoiding snow can bring forth a warming sun;"

"Praying for rain and clearing the sky can create a gentle, nurturing moisture;"

"Summoning wind and clearing the sky can produce a dry warmth;"

"Finally, when all four formations are activated simultaneously, they transform into the Hundred-Forms Returning-Origin Formation, which can nourish the physical bodies and souls of every person, beast, and plant within its bounds."

Hearing this, Yang Lingqing's eyes filled with profound shock.

"Sir, this diagram is truly a divine masterpiece! It is my great honor to witness it!"

Not only was she stunned, but even Chen Yang, who was observing from the shadows, gained a glimmer of insight from Liu Zihao's work.

"Impressive! Drawing analogies across different fields really does have its merits!"

Chen Yang praised inwardly. "By comparison, this man's mastery over formations far outstrips my own shallow understanding of talismans."

Back when Chen Yang was in the late stages of Qi Gathering, he could not even touch the threshold of producing a Perfection-level talisman.

Yet this Liu Zihao, despite only being at the sixth layer of Qi Gathering, could already draft a Perfection-level formation diagram. It was truly admirable.

"The Yang family's past hardships and bloodshed have finally brought about a turn of fortune. First, three paths to Condensed Origin, and now a rare talent like this. Excellent, truly excellent!"

With the diagrams completed, they moved on to the physical layout phase.

Although Liu Zihao could grasp the profound principles of a Perfection-level formation, his low cultivation remained a bottleneck. He still required the assistance of the Yang family's cultivators to anchor the arrays.

Gao Hui, upon learning of the project, also made a special trip to help.

Deploying a Perfection-level formation demanded a massive amount of spiritual materials, many of which were rare items that could scarcely be bought in the outside world.

However, the Yang family currently held forty thousand Wangchao merits. Once the Wangchao Treasury opened its doors, even the most elusive items could be procured.

In the end, they expended seventeen thousand points of Wangchao merit to purchase all the necessary components.

After another six months of collective effort, everyone finally finished setting up the five formations.

By then, it was the height of summer. The moment the four subordinate arrays took shape, they brought down the very first chilling rain, utterly dispelling the oppressive summer heat.

Following the rain, the lands across both the northern and southern banks looked completely renewed. The common folk under the family's jurisdiction knelt and kowtowed, deeply moved by their lord's immense benevolence, loudly chanting wishes for the immortal master's longevity.

Chen Yang lay back within the ancestral hall, watching the boundless Power of Prayer from across the sky converge directly into his body.

Winter departed and summer returned; a year slipped by in the blink of an eye.

That year, the southeastern region of Zhuhu suffered a severe drought unseen in decades.

In many territories under Wangyue's jurisdiction, the common folk endured bitter hardships, toiling for a year only to reap nothing, forced to rely on their meager savings to barely survive.

Yet, the people living under the Yang family's banner remained protected by the formations. They enjoyed abundant rainfall and a mild, temperate climate. Their crop yield per acre did not drop at all; instead, it increased significantly.

The northern bank remained entirely unaffected by the drought, while the southern bank successfully weathered the harshest three months by relying on the overlapping secondary effects of the arrays.

With the four formations regulating the climate, the land beneath Songshan truly resembled a paradise separate from the mortal world. When the mortals under Wangyue's broader rule heard of this, there was none who did not yearn to move there.

Consequently, when spring arrived the following year, a massive wave of migration swept toward Songshan.

In just three short months, two large new villages were established on the southern bank, pushing the southern bank's population past the twenty thousand mark.

Most of these migrants had originally been attached to other independent mortal families or minor sects.

Mortals were the foundational lifelines for any faction's growth. Witnessing such a massive drainage of people, no local power was happy about it.

Yet, all they could do was distribute wealth for disaster relief or, more crudely, resort to martial force to intimidate and control their subjects, forbidding them from migrating outward.

After all, since those nineteen families had been sent off to the Desert Sea, there were very few factions remaining in the Wangyue region-below the great clans and dominant sects-who possessed the courage to challenge the Songshan Yang Family.

"Family Head, Mayor Pan Baolu of Qinghe Town and Patriarch Huang Yan of the Fengling Huang Family are waiting at the foot of the mountain, requesting an audience."

Outside the main courtyard of the Restricted Grounds, Zhao Qi reported respectfully.

After years of steady accumulation, he had finally broken through, stepping into the second layer of the Qi Gathering realm.

Ever since those nineteen families had been "voluntarily" relocated to the Desert Sea, the Yang family had effectively become the premier power in southern Wangyue beneath the topmost tier of great clans and sects.

Particularly after the great drought descended, the gap in sheer capability between the Yang family and other local factions became increasingly glaring.

As a result, every few days, representatives from various families and sects would come to pay their respects at the mountain.

Some sought to foster goodwill with the Yang family, while others hoped to invite Liu Zihao to leave the mountain and establish formations for their own clans.

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