The cold winds in the underground palace stirred up mists, causing a damp and cold aura to reverberate.

Ou Yangming glanced at the 2 spirit beasts behind him and saw how worried they were. He chuckled and instructed them, “Back off a little while I break the formations first.”

Big Yellow and Multi-armed King Kong exchanged glances. They retreated at the same time and gathered their spiritual Qis while they waited quietly.

Ou Yangming rolled up his sleeves and strode quickly into the formation. Black vapor filled the formation, then countless multicolored venomous snakes emerged from them and stuck out their tongues. Nonetheless, the young fellow continued forward neither hurried nor slow as though he did not see them at all. The second he stepped on the venomous snakes, they curled up and shrieked then dispersed as black mists.

He looked like he had expected this as he mumbled, “Illusory is real, but realness isn’t illusion. The venomous snakes are illusions from the mists, which is why I can break this formation!” Right after that, the mists inside the first big formation surged while magnanimous spiritual powers dawned on the young fellow. He seemed to have turned into a cyclone that absorbed the purest spiritual Qis. Consequently, muffled sounds that sounded like claps of thunder were heard coming from the inside of his body.

Big Yellow and Multi-armed King Kong were elated. They looked at each other then shifted their gaze back to the young fellow.

Ou Yangming did not advance in a rush. Instead, he carefully observed the lines and runes on the formation. He remarked after a brief moment, “The Illusion Formation that I previously set up has good killing techniques but can be easily avoided, so I’m taking this opportunity to improve it.”

Other formation masters would probably reprimand Ou Yangming for being ungrateful. They would think, ‘You could kill a top-grade ferocious beast with your formation, and yet you set that its killing techniques can be easily dodged. How should people like us, who are still deriving the arrangements of rune nodes, live?’

After an unknown period, Ou Yangming breathed out cold air and opened his eyes.

At this moment, his eyes looked like there was a constantly spiraling starry sky inside, where a single look might cause one to be completely immersed.

He was delighted, and he chuckled before he noted, “The first formation talks about a formation’s foundations. It looks mediocre, but great truths are usually simple. Blocks that can reach the stars also start from flat ground and have stable foundations so that a rune can be transformed into 10,000 runes. This is how a formation can be controlled freely and comes from the heart.” Before this, he could set up formations but never understood the truth through the principles. Now that he comprehended the rune nodes inside the first formation, he made up for the lack in his foundation.

Without any hesitation, Ou Yangming stepped into the second formation.

Yellow sand filled the air while a storm blotted out the sky. The universe was dark.

A hurricane was inverted as it stirred up a sandstorm into the sky.

The hurricane was as sharp as a blade, and it cut Ou Yangming’s skin such that he felt pain. In fact, closely packed bloodstains could also be seen on the more seriously hurt spots on his body.

Ou Yangming raised his hand to wipe the blood off his face, then he licked it with his tongue and slowly tasted it.

He was confused as he wondered, ‘The blood taste is strong. Is this real?

After pondering for a brief moment, he stood still in the sandstorm like a meditating old monk. The storm was intense, but his legs did not move at all as if they were deeply rooted into the ground.

The sandstorm blew for 3 days before it finally stopped. The sun was shining high in the sky, hence the desert was unbearably hot. Ou Yangming stood like a withered tree in the desert, and he neither desired anything nor showed life fluctuations.

A year, 2 years, 3 years…

The clothes on him had been worn away and were covered in yellow sand. He had experienced sandstorms for unknown times, and his eyes were also closed.

Outside the second formation, Big Yellow grabbed some soil with its paws and formed a ball with it as it spoke, “King Kong, Lil’ Ming has zoned out for 3 hours. Look how he lifted his leg but hasn’t even taken the step—what’s going on?” From its perspective, Ou Yangming had lifted his leg and looked like a golden rooster standing on one leg. Below his leg was a rune node that was shining brightly.

Multi-armed King Kong’s hair stood up. Its momentum was insistent as it answered, “How could I guess Master’s thoughts…”

Big Yellow sighed as well.

Inside the formation, the sun rose and set, and the world had transformed significantly. Ou Yangming’s body was buried by yellow sand, making him look like a cold corpse.

All of a sudden, grey clouds condensed in the sky and moved lower. A fleeting black light was vaguely seen while raindrops pattered on the desert and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

‘Wake up!’ Ou Yangming shouted internally.

In a flash, blocks of yellow sand fell from his body. Lights were also emitted from his eyes.

“The second formation was incorporated with a restriction that strengthened its offensive power.” Ou Yangming chuckled. The trick of merging a formation and a restriction seemed to have helped him open a door to a new world.

Before his voice was gone, he waved his sleeve and grabbed the air with his hand. He managed to catch a raindrop, which later turned into water mist and dispersed.

He shook his head and thought, ‘Using rainwater as a restriction—I really wonder who left this trick behind and it’s truly unimaginable.’ Concurrently, a red-clothed lady appeared in his mind again. ‘Was it her?’ He mumbled to himself.

Ou Yangming finally put down his right light. There was instantly a breakthrough, where heaven fell and the earth cracked.

All of the mists inside the second formation reversed and the rune nodes shattered. Ou Yangming could sense that his cultivation base in formations was improving at an unbelievable speed. It was simply unimaginable, and he felt impassioned as he thought, ‘In terms of cultivation base in formations only, I’m probably the best among the peers in the entire Spiritual Realm!’

The third formation, the fourth formation, the fifth formation…

Ou Yangming broke the formations with a single step. It was worth noting that the formations’ paths became more profound as he advanced, thus he was delighted.

Big Yellow and King Kong were surprised yet overjoyed. The stone wall was closely shut and a light shone dimly, but there was somewhat forceful oppression, so they dared not get close too easily.

Who knew, Ou Yangming’s level of attainment in formations was so high that he broke 5 formations in a row. Now that only the last formation was left, they had a lot of confidence in him.

Ou Yangming looked at the multicolored formation in front of him and said softly, “This is the last formation!”

With that, he stepped inside the formation.

He instantly felt like the world was spinning. Mists drifted above the ground while the setting sun hung at the edge of the sky and released a dim light. Furthermore, a giant ancient tree towered with lush leaves and had blooming white flowers with a pleasant fragrance that spread in the air.

Below the ancient tree, a chessboard made of fine yellow wood floated steadily in the air. There were black and white chess pieces, which somewhat represented Yin and Yang.

At this moment, all of the rune nodes in the sixth formation lit up and shone brightly. Numerous small cyclones were also stirred out from the flat ground.

Once the lights settled, a red-clothed lady appeared in front of Ou Yangming. She was dressed in red, had skin that was fair and tender, long hair that was tied high on her head, as well as a heroic spirit. She was the person that previously appeared in the young fellow’s spiritual world.

The lady held a white chess piece while her red outfit resembled blood. She bowed at Ou Yangming and noted, “Young Master, given that you’re able to break 5 formations at such a young age, your cultivation base in formations is truly unimaginable. This formation isn’t about a formation but will test your heart. We’ll be playing chess against each other, and you’ll have 3 attempts. If you fail all 3 attempts, you’ll have to give up a century’s worth of life but will be able to leave this formation. As for the reward above the 9 stone steps, you won’t be able to get it.”

A thud was heard in Ou Yangming’s mind. He was deeply shocked.

Given that an illusory cultivator with thoughts and aura could be formed in this formation, the formation was more mystifying than Ou Yangming had imagined. He was prepared to meet the challenge because a century’s worth of life as his punishment would be considered serious.

Ou Yangming inhaled cold air twice before he managed to suppress his shock. Lusters were gathering in his eyes as he sat upright.

Seeing as he was prepared, the lady pursed her lips and smiled. Her delicate collarbones were revealed as she asked, “Young Master, do you like tea? Since it’s still early now, I can make you a cup of tea first.”

“Thanks for the trouble, miss!” Ou Yangming bowed at her.

“It’s not a problem at all. I haven’t seen such an interesting person in a long time.” When she looked at Ou Yangming, her eyes spun like deep vortexes as if she saw through his bones, flesh, and blood. Even the Heavenly Phoenix Fire and the Devouring Power could not hide from the lady, who was surprised and had a strange look on her face before she got up to boil some tea.

She was neither hurried nor slow, and she was meticulous with every step. Instead of boiling tea, she seemed like she was asking about the path.

The water that was used was rainwater that was directly collected from the sky while the tea leaves were the leaves of the ancient tree that could almost touch the vault of heaven.

With slim fingers, the young lady poured a cup of tea for Ou Yangming. As she waved her sleeve gently, the exquisite teacup landed in front of him.

The tea had a clear color. As soon as Ou Yangming drank it, it transformed into magnanimous spiritual Qi that entered his dantian. Every pore on his body was so relaxed that they were going to open up. Countless mists were released from those pores, and the young fellow’s aura somehow approached that of an Advanced Spiritualist without a limit.

Upon seeing this, the lady smiled without saying a word. She simply looked up into the distance, and nobody knew what she was thinking about.

After some time, Ou Yangming cupped his hands and expressed his gratitude, Thank you, miss!”

The red-clothed lady was dumbfounded. She sighed and responded, “I’m Xu Junqing. You can just call me Junqing, Young Master…”

After drinking the cup of tea for an unknown period, Ou Yangming put the teacup aside and started first with a black piece. He picked up the piece with 2 fingers and placed it on an insignificant spot. He was not a chess expert nor did he have great momentum, which made him seem very mediocre. However, once the black piece was placed, there was a war intent inside the formation.

Xu Junqing, who was sitting opposite him, did not hesitate at all. She placed a white piece at the center of the board, causing a 1,000-layered wave to be stirred up. It was of great momentum and carried a strong killing intent.

After 50 moves where the white and black pieces intersected with each other on the board, Ou Yangming was defeated.

Xu Junqing’s fingers were as slim as a green onion. She chuckled and reminded the young fellow, “Young Master, you’ve lost once. If you lose 2 more times, you’ll need to give up a century’s worth of life, so please work harder.”

For the second round, Ou Yangming was unusually valiant when he started as he was determined to defeat his opponent right from the start.

That said, Xu Junqing resolved the problems with ingenious moves. She always thought ahead and played fiercely by claiming all the spots that she could. Before long, Ou Yangming was utterly defeated again.

The young lady glanced at Ou Yangming’s teacup regretfully, but she quickly went back to normal after that.

Her red outfit fluttered in the wind, and her voice was gentle and pleasant to the ear. She sighed and stated, “Young Master, the opening patterns and playing manuals are important in chess, but they can also be accumulated. By deriving them through time or practicing through hard work, one will certainly succeed but the most important element isn’t playing manuals nor natural gifts, but one’s heart and mind. After all, life is like chess.”