AI Model: gemini-2.0-flash

He had Jasmine move all the precious Formation Materials to a specially opened, hundreds-of-square-meter secret chamber in the basement of the Guild Headquarters.

After dismissing everyone, Zhuge Kongming closed the heavy steel door.

Only he remained in the secret chamber.

He took a deep breath, adjusting his Mental Energy to its optimal state.

Then he closed his eyes.

There were two paths before him.

The Dao of a Formation Master was divided into two schools.

One was the Legacy school.

As the name suggested, it involved learning and using mature Formation blueprints already designed by predecessors.

The greatest advantage of this school was its stability and high success rate.

After all, these were the products of countless Great Master Formation Masters' painstaking efforts and refinement.

Following the path laid out by predecessors was naturally secure.

Ninety-nine percent of Formation Masters in the Great # Nоvеlight # Xia Country followed this path.

With advantages, there were naturally disadvantages.

Formation Masters of the Legacy school often lacked innovation and had a low ceiling.

The weak points and Solution of many classic Formations were no longer secrets within the Formation Master community.

Once they encountered a Formation Master of the same Rank, they could easily be targeted and put on the defensive.

The other path was the Pioneering school.

Pioneering Formation Masters were never constrained by predecessors' blueprints.

They let their imaginations run wild, explored on their own, and created all sorts of new Formations, unheard of and with bizarre effects.

The ceiling for this school was extremely high.

The most powerful ones could even create Rank Eight Divine Formations with their own strength.

But in contrast, it came with extremely high difficulty and failure rates.

Those who chose this path would ultimately produce only two types of people.

One was a peerless Genius, one in ten thousand.

The other was a madman who could never succeed in his entire life.

Zhou Huai opened his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips.

“If I, with my SS-Rank Talent, still follow the Legacy school, it would be too demeaning.”

“What’s more...”

He looked at his hands.

“Even if I can't do it, isn't there the Smart Core AI?”

Zhou Huai controlled Zhuge Kongming and walked to the center of the secret chamber.

He didn't rush to pick up the precious talisman papers and ink sticks.

Instead, he took out the most ordinary steel carving knife from his toolbox.

The moment he held the carving knife, a strange epiphany surged into his heart.

Innumerable complex Formation patterns and profound rune structures automatically deduced and combined in his mind.

Those originally obscure and difficult-to-understand Formation knowledge now became as simple as breathing.

He walked to a blank stone wall, his wrist moving slightly.

The carving knife descended.

“Shasha...”

A crisp and subtle friction sound echoed in the silent secret chamber.

The tip of the knife glided over the hard stone wall, like flowing clouds and water, without any stagnation.

Zhou Huai's gaze was extremely focused.

His breathing was steady and long, as if it had merged with the rhythm of the carving knife.

Time lost its meaning at this moment.

In his world, there was only the stone wall in front of him and the carving knife constantly dancing in his hand.

This was a process that required more patience and concentration than forging.

Any slightest mistake, even a deviation of 0.1 in force, would lead to the collapse of the entire Formation structure, rendering all previous efforts futile.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, trickling down his cheeks.

But he didn't care.

Five hours later.

When the last stroke was completed.

Zhou Huai gently exhaled a turbid breath, putting down the knife and standing still.

He raised his hand, and a wisp of Mana slowly emerged from his palm, injecting into the stone wall.

Buzz—!

On the entire stone wall, hundreds of complex runes suddenly lit up!

They linked to each other, shining in harmony, finally converging into a complete Formation.

A light blue energy barrier appeared out of thin air in front of the stone wall, emitting a soft glow.

It was done.

A most basic Rank One Defensive Formation.

The generated barrier was sufficient to withstand a full-power strike from a monster below Rank Ten.

Don't underestimate it as just an ordinary Rank One Formation.

For most Elementary Formation Masters, it would take at least several weeks or even months to independently complete a Rank One Formation.

This was still with existing blueprints.

Someone like Zhou Huai, who tried the Pioneering school for the first time and succeeded on the first attempt.

If word got out, it would be enough to shake the entire Formation Master Guild of the Great Xia Country.

Just then.

【Ding!】

A cold System notification sound echoed in Zhou Huai's mind.

【Challenge Quest Triggered!】

【Quest Name: Path of the Grandmaster】

【Quest Objective: Successfully design and create a Rank Six Formation within three months.】

【Quest Reward: Profession Orb Draw Opportunity X1!】

The smile on Zhou Huai's face instantly froze.

Three months?

Rank Six Formation?

He couldn't help but feel a headache.

The difficulty of this challenge quest seemed a bit beyond his current Rank.

Currently, the world has clear standards for evaluating the Ranks of Formation Masters.

Those who can create Rank One Formations are Elementary Formation Masters.

Those who can design Rank Two and Three Formations can be called Intermediate Formation Masters.

Those who can control Rank Four and Five Formations are Advanced Formation Masters.

And Rank Six and Seven Formations can only be undertaken by true Grandmaster Formation Masters.

As for the legendary Rank Eight Divine Formations, only those revered as “Formation Venerables” can glimpse their mysteries.

Looking at the entire world, there are no more than five individuals qualified to be called “Formation Venerables.”

In the entire Great Xia Country, there is only one on the surface.

The Teleportation Formation Zhou Huai wanted to create belonged to a type of Spirit Formation.

The most basic cross-regional Teleportation Formations fell within the scope of Rank Four Formations, requiring the level of an Advanced Formation Master.

This was already a considerable challenge for Zhuge Kongming, who was currently only Rank One.

Let alone designing and creating a Rank Six Grandmaster-level Formation within three months.

One must know that many talented Formation Masters might not even touch the threshold of a Grandmaster in their entire lives.

Ten years at the shortest, fifty years at the longest.

These were the norms.

Yet the System only gave him three months.

“Forget it.”

Zhou Huai shook his head.

“There's motivation only with challenges.”

To improve a Formation Master's Rank now, the only way was to continuously carve Formations.

Each successful attempt would yield corresponding experience points.

The higher the Rank, the stronger the Mental Energy, and the success rate of carving Formations would naturally increase.

For the next few days, Zhou Huai activated Zhuge Kongming's Smart Core AI.

He had it stay in this underground secret chamber, carving Formations day and night.

Repeating endlessly, without cease.

The Formations on the walls were carved and scraped, then scraped and carved again.

The precious talisman papers and ink sticks were also consumed at an astonishing rate.

When Materials ran out, he would have Jasmine buy more.

After all, what he lacked least now was money.

As Ouyezi's name as a “Divine Craftsman” spread wider and wider in Donghai City, even radiating to several surrounding cities.

Countless professionals, waving checks, came admiringly, only asking the Great Master to custom-make a piece of equipment for them.

Currently, the Eternal Night Guild, just from Ouyezi's equipment sales income, had already accumulated tens of millions in liquid funds.

To be as rich as a country might still be an exaggeration.

But to be rich enough to dominate a region was absolutely more than enough.

Time passed day by day in this monotonous practice.

Three weeks later.

Inside the underground secret chamber.

“Buzz—!”

Accompanied by a violent energy fluctuation, a Formation dozens of times more complex than before slowly lit up on the ground.

A thicker, more solid energy barrier rose from the ground.

Rank Four Defensive Formation, 【Wall of Xuanwu】, was completed!

At this moment, Zhuge Kongming's Rank also successfully increased to LV10.

Zhou Huai's face finally showed an excited expression.

“Finally... I can start preparing to carve the Teleportation Formation!”