Chapter 251

Chapter 251: Completed in One Go, Formation Seal Carving

“Old doctor, what should we do then?” Ma Gu asked.

The old doctor thought for a moment, and finally said: “Let’s turn around, return to Yunzhou, and choose another way.”

If it were just him and Lu Qing, the old doctor might choose to abandon the car.

After all, they, the master and the disciple, are not ordinary warriors. If they use their own abilities to travel, they can be much faster than the speed of the carriage.

But considering the existence of Xiaoyan and Wei Zian, this is not possible.

So they can only go back and find another way.

“Okay, I understand.”

Ma Gu nodded, preparing to lift the carriage and turn it around.

“Master, don’t rush back, let me try to see if there is any way.”

At this time, Lu Qing suddenly said.

“A Qing, do you have a way?” The old doctor looked over in surprise.

“I’ve only got a clue. Let’s find a place nearby and stay for a day to see if my method works.

If it does, whether we move forward or back and find another way, perhaps our speed will be greatly increased.”

Lu Qing didn’t say anything completely.

However, the old doctor knew his disciple’s temperament and knew that since he said so, he was clearly quite confident.

He didn’t hesitate and nodded. “Okay, in that case, let’s do as you say. We’ll stay here for a day.”

It was afternoon, and darkness was only an hour away.

They rested early today.

So Lu Qing and his men lifted the carriage out of the pit and walked back. After exiting that section of the mountain road, they found a relatively spacious spot nearby and set up camp.

Lu Qing had Ma Gu dismantle the carriage, then walked around it, examining it, and pondering.

“Ah Qing, what have you come up with?” the old doctor asked.

“Master, I’ve been thinking that if we could engrave a few simple formations on the carriage, perhaps we wouldn’t have to worry about uneven surfaces,” Lu Qing replied.

“Engrave formations?” The old doctor was genuinely surprised. “Ah Qing, can you do that?”

“Not sure yet, let me think about it,” Lu Qing said uncertainly.

As for the two teachers and students, Ma Gu and Wei Zi’an, they were already baffled.

Formations? Lu Qing knew about something so mysterious and esoteric?

Besides, wasn’t that something only found in those fairy tales?

Wei Zi’an, in particular, suddenly remembered what Lu Qing and the old doctor had discussed in the carriage: breathing techniques and air-breathing techniques.

Could that, too, be legendary fairy techniques?

Lu Qing ignored Ma Gu and the others’ expressions and continued to circle the carriage, observing carefully.

He hadn’t thought of engraving formations on the carriage for a reason other than Wei Zi’an’s words had enlightened him.

Witnessing with his own eyes the Liuyun Sect’s deployment of two large formations, both operational, had awakened him to the reality that,

with the changes in the world and the resurgence of spiritual energy, those previously unavailable cultivation techniques were gradually regaining some of their power.

Given this, he felt it was time to test some of his ideas.

After circling the carriage for a while, memorizing every detail of its structure, Lu Qing sat down cross-legged.

“Master, Master Ma, I need to do some calculations. I’m afraid we won’t have time to prepare dinner. Please bear with me.”

“No problem, you go about your business, I’ll take care of dinner,” Ma Gu said quickly.

His cooking, though crude, was still manageable.

These days, when Lu Qing was busy with other things, Ma Gu usually took care of the cooking.

Lu Qing nodded, then closed his eyes, his mind immersed in the acupoint between his eyebrows, entering a state of meditation.

Once in this state, Lu Qing’s mind was at peace, and he began to contemplate.

First, he pondered what kind of formation should be engraved on the carriage.

With two great immortal cultivation traditions, Lu Qing knew quite a few formations; indeed, he knew quite a few.

The Divine Talisman Sect was a good example. This lineage adhered to the philosophy of taking all things in the universe as their teachers, and their formations were tailored to the local conditions, free from rigid rules and free to adapt.

Specific formations remained few, and most were immensely powerful, relying on the power of heaven and earth to create them.

Lu Qing couldn’t yet create

one. But the inheritance he received from the Lihuo Cauldron was different.

The Lihuo Sect possessed profound and unique attainments in the ways of fire, and was also highly skilled in refining instruments and elixirs.

Formations were essential to refining instruments.

After all, no matter what kind of magical weapon or instrument, they needed to be engraved with a formation to possess power beyond the material itself.

Therefore, the Lihuo Sect’s legacy of formations was truly extensive,

documenting everything from the most basic introductory formations to the ultimate formations capable of forging spiritual instruments.

With Lu Qing’s current abilities, he couldn’t even dream of setting up high-level formations.

Even mid-level formations were beyond his reach.

So, he ultimately set his sights on the most basic formations in the inheritance.

After carefully selecting the formations, Lu Qing ultimately chose three elementary formations:

the Light Spirit Formation, the Breeze Formation, and the Solidification Formation.

The first two, as their names suggest, were designed to make the carriage lighter, while the final one, the Solidification Formation, was designed by Lu Qing to reinforce it.

As the carriage became lighter, its speed would increase accordingly, so it naturally needed to be stronger.

Otherwise, if it encountered any unexpected mishaps and overturned at high speed, it would be a disaster.

After selecting the formations, Lu Qing immediately activated his supernatural powers, entering a state of cultivation, and began to comprehend them.

In a state of near enlightenment, Lu Qing quickly mastered them thoroughly.

The carriage frame he had memorized emerged in his mind, and he began to calculate how to engrave the formations on it.

It wasn’t long before he had the most perfect engraving plan. After double-checking and confirming that there were no errors, he exited his state of cultivation and opened his eyes.

Outside, it was almost dark.

The master and his companions were gathered around a fire, eating.

“Ah Qing, are you awake? Come, come and eat.”

The old doctor was the first to notice Lu Qing had awakened.

“Thank you,”

Lu Qing said, walking over and accepting the toasted naan that Ma Gu offered him.

“How’s it going? Any clues?” the old doctor asked.

“We’ve basically figured it out. Tomorrow morning, we can start carving the formation.” Lu Qing nodded.

Hearing this, Ma Gu and Wei Zi’an, both master and disciple, were instantly filled with anticipation.

They hadn’t expected Lu Qing to actually understand the formation techniques described in the storybooks,

and they couldn’t wait to see it for themselves.

Even the old doctor was excited.

He was actually curious about how Lu Qing would actually carve the formation.

Although he had seen a true formation before in Liuyun Town, it was so profound that he was completely lost, unable to grasp its mysteries.

Seeing Lu Qing engrave the formation firsthand might allow him to comprehend a few key insights.

Excited, Ma Gu and the others barely slept that night.

Wei Zi’an was so lost in thought that he had a strange dream in which he became an immortal, capable of summoning wind and rain, soaring into the sky with a wave of his hand. It was truly miraculous.

So much so that when Lu Qing woke up early that morning, he was followed by two pairs of gazes, glued to his every move.

Especially during breakfast, Ma Gu and Wei Zi’an’s gazes were intense and captivating, leaving Lu Qing feeling helpless.

“Okay, wait until I finish this bowl of porridge, then I’ll start engraving the formation, okay?” Lu Qing sighed.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Eat first,” Ma Gu and his disciple said in unison.

Their gazes remained intense.

Lu Qing sighed again, shoveling away the porridge from his bowl in a few mouthfuls. Then, he stood up and headed for the carriage.

Ma Gu and Wei Zi’an followed closely behind, their curiosity making the old doctor laugh.

Arriving in front of the carriage, Lu Qing took out a carving knife and a bottle of vermilion ink.

The most basic formations didn’t require high-quality materials; all they needed was spiritual ink.

This bottle of vermilion ink was what Lu Qing had previously assembled.

Actually, the materials for the spiritual ink were something he had originally asked Wei Shanhai to gather. He

had originally intended to use it in the medicinal fields in the courtyard halfway up the mountain, but his master suddenly decided to travel to Zhongzhou, leaving the spiritual ink unused for the time being.

He wondered what had become of the thousand-year-old ginseng in the fields. Looking at

the bottle of spiritual ink, an idea suddenly occurred to Lu Qing.

He had originally intended to set up a small spiritual gathering formation in the medicinal fields halfway up the mountain to nourish them.

Unfortunately, the formation hadn’t been set up, and they weren’t home.

That thousand-year-old ginseng plant probably wouldn’t be willing to stay quietly in the medicinal field any longer.

Shaking his head gently, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts, Lu Qing opened the ink bottle and picked up the carving knife.

He gazed at the carriage, concentrating and calming his mind until his heart was completely calm.

Then, a surge of spiritual power surged through him, and the carving knife in his hand suddenly moved. He gently dipped the ink bottle into the spiritual ink and began carving on the carriage’s body.

With yesterday’s observations and his spiritual deductions, Lu Qing had already memorized all the carriage’s structures.

Therefore, he could carve the formations with remarkable speed.

Ma Gu and Wei Zi’an’s eyes widened the moment Lu Qing began to move.

Lu Qing’s hand, gripping the carving knife, drew strange arcs, carving mysterious runes onto the carriage.

Even more remarkable was that with each rune, a light would illuminate above it before slowly fading into the body of the carriage.

The two had never seen such a bizarre sight before. As they watched, not only their eyes but also their mouths slowly widened.

Only the old doctor had a solemn expression, and within the acupoint between his eyebrows, spiritual power gently surged as he comprehended the meaning revealed by Lu Qing’s engraving of the formation.

Lu Qing’s engraving lasted for over an hour.

When he finished engraving the last formation rune and connected the last stroke to the first rune, the entire carriage suddenly glowed with light. Mysterious red silk runes appeared in the air and finally sank into the body of the carriage.

When the light completely faded, the carriage returned to its original appearance. Aside from the addition of some patterns on the body, there seemed to be no other changes.

But Ma Gu and the others could sense that the carriage had a distinctly more strange aura than before, becoming much more mysterious.

“Brother Lu Qing, is it finished now?” Ma Gu asked.

“Yes, I’ve engraved three formations on the carriage. If nothing unexpected happens, they should get us to Zhongzhou sooner.”

Lu Qing nodded.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to engrave more formations, but he couldn’t.

Although the carriage had been built at great expense by the Wei family, using many precious materials,

they were still just ordinary materials and couldn’t withstand the excessive power of the formation.

Furthermore, he was running low on spiritual ink and needed to save some for emergencies.

Feeling the subtle power of the formation wafting through the carriage, Lu Qing felt quite satisfied.

Although he had practiced before, this was actually his first time truly engraving a formation.

He hadn’t expected to complete it so perfectly.

The Divine Talisman Sect’s legacy was truly powerful.

Lu Qing marveled.

Indeed, this time, he had been able to engrave three formations flawlessly, without a single mistake.

It wasn’t just luck or good character,

but rather the divine soul talisman he possessed.

Engraving a formation involves more than simply writing the runes.

During the seal carving process, one must use the spirit soul as a guide, and the spirit ink as a guide, so that each rune forms a connection, and ultimately connects the beginning and the end, so that they can be connected to form a formation, inducing the mysterious power of heaven and earth, and transforming it into the power of the formation.

And when carving the formation, Lu Qing felt it.

Through the spirit soul talisman, he had a mysterious control over the formation runes he carved. It was as if the spirit soul

talisman was the master, allowing him to

easily pick up the runes and arrange them at will. “The spirit soul talisman is worthy of being the foundation of rune practice. The control and blessing effect of runes and talismans is even stronger than I imagined.

I still don’t know enough about it.” Lu Qing felt a sense of enlightenment.

But he couldn’t be blamed for that. After all,

the inheritance of the Divine Talisman Sect that he had obtained was merely a casual gift from the mysterious being who had created the Jade Transformation Cavern.

It wasn’t the entire inheritance of the Divine Talisman Sect.

Besides the cultivation method of runes, there wasn’t much information about anything else. It

was far less rich and complete than the inheritance left on the Lihuo Cauldron.

Therefore, as for the Divine Soul Talisman, apart from the cultivation method, its specific power still needed Lu Qing to slowly comprehend and explore on his own.

“Not bad, it’s not bad this way.”

Lu Qing didn’t feel any regret, but rather accepted it with pleasure.

The path of cultivation sometimes needed a little surprise to be more enjoyable.

“Brother Lu Qing, now that the formation has been engraved, why don’t we try it out now?”

Ma Gu looked at Lu Qing expectantly and said.

Lu Qing pondered for a moment, then nodded, “Alright, although the formation has been successfully engraved, we still need to test it to see its specific effects.”

“Then I’m going to harness the carriage now!”

Upon hearing this, Ma Gu immediately ran to get the horse.

(End of this chapter)