# Chapter 1532: Formation Saint Master
"Rumble."
From the underground sacred veins of Yuanxu Peak Holy Land, vast amounts of saint qi surged forth, weaving through the air and extending all the way to the sky. Wherever the saint qi passed, layers of formation inscription patterns were activated, emitting brilliant radiance.
Moments later, nine consecutive layers of white cloud energy enveloped Yuanxu Peak Holy Land, resembling a nine-story tower sitting upon the earth, appearing exceptionally majestic and imposing.
"Nine Cloud Tower Formation."
"Yuanxu Peak Holy Land actually has a Formation Saint Master who arranged an eighth-rank formation. Who is that Formation Saint Master? If I could receive their guidance, my attainments in formations would surely advance by leaps and bounds."
...
...
All the cultivators outside the holy land were discussing animatedly, finding it hard to believe.
It must be known that only a formation master capable of arranging eighth-rank formations could be called a "Formation Saint Master."
Every Formation Saint Master possessed an exalted status and position.
Not only would Saints and Saint Kings seek them out, but sometimes even transcendent powerhouses like Great Saints would have requests of Formation Saint Masters.
Yuanxu Peak Holy Land was merely one of over a dozen holy lands within the Crimson Dragon Sacred Domain, not particularly unique. However, having produced a "Zhang Ruochen" had already made it one of the more famous holy lands within the Shatuo Heaven Domain, causing many cultivators to rush forward to pledge allegiance.
Now, with another Formation Saint Master emerging, it would undoubtedly make Yuanxu Peak Holy Land even more renowned.
Zhang Ruochen stood beneath the cliff, looking up at the sky above, and said: "An eighth-rank formation... Xiao Hei, your attainments in formations truly exceed my expectations."
The Rakshasa Princess's senior sister, Ji Hua, was also a Formation Saint Master.
The Thousand Star Grand Formation that Ji Hua had arranged was also an eighth-rank formation. Its power was so formidable that it nearly caused the complete annihilation of the Saints from the Shatuo Seven Realms.
Thus, the offensive capability of a Formation Saint Master was also quite terrifying.
Could it be that Xiao Hei possessed strength comparable to Ji Hua's?
Xiao Hei displayed an extremely self-satisfied expression, saying: "This emperor's spiritual power has not yet fully recovered; otherwise, I could even arrange ninth-rank formations."
Zhang Ruochen knew better than to praise it, as it would immediately forget itself. So he asked: "Even among eighth-rank formations, there's a significant difference in power, isn't there?"
"Of course."
"The more inscription patterns a formation has, and the more complex those patterns are, the greater the power it unleashes."
"Moreover, even with the same eighth-rank formation, when arranged by formation masters of different spiritual power intensities, the power unleashed is worlds apart." Xiao Hei said.
"Where does the Nine Cloud Tower Formation rank among eighth-rank formations?" Zhang Ruochen wanted to understand more clearly.
"The Nine Cloud Tower Formation is naturally one of the most supreme defensive guardian formations among eighth-rank formations. Just the inscription patterns needed to arrange it could fill thousands of books and fill an entire library. An ordinary Formation Saint Master, without decades of research and countless verifications, simply couldn't arrange it."
Xiao Hei grew even more self-satisfied.
Zhang Ruochen had some understanding of formations and knew that arranging a high-rank formation was definitely more difficult than building a city.
"However..."
Xiao Hei hesitated for a moment, then honestly said: "However, the Nine Cloud Tower Formation that this emperor arranged still has many flaws."
"What do you mean?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Xiao Hei said: "Mainly because some profound formation inscription patterns require special materials to be inscribed."
"So, you didn't inscribe those profound inscription patterns into the Nine Cloud Tower Formation?" Zhang Ruochen said.
"Can't be helped. The materials to bear the inscription patterns are too difficult to find."
Xiao Hei naturally wouldn't tell Zhang Ruochen that there was an even more important reason—that with its current spiritual power intensity, it simply couldn't inscribe those profound inscription patterns.
Hesitating again, Xiao Hei coughed dryly twice and said: "Actually, for an eighth-rank formation to be able to trap and kill Saint Kings, the most important thing is to have a formation soul to govern the formation. The Nine Cloud Tower Formation that this emperor arranged... didn't find a suitable formation soul... hehe..."
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat speechless. He knew he had overestimated Xiao Hei again, and said: "The formation is incomplete and lacks a formation soul. So, how much of the Nine Cloud Tower Formation's power can this formation unleash?"
"About ten percent or so."
Xiao Hei's voice was somewhat low, clearly feeling quite guilty. Then he added: "Still, the Nine Cloud Tower Formation is after all one of the most supreme defensive guardian formations. Even if it can only unleash ten percent of its power, ordinary Saint Kings can't break through. At least a Five-Step Saint King's cultivation would be needed to breach the formation."
"Five-Step Saint King... that's sufficient!"
Zhang Ruochen nodded lightly, saying: "A Five-Step Saint King is already a super powerhouse among Saint Kings. Once they go all out, the commotion they create is enormous. Man Sword Great Saint would surely sense that aura immediately. With Man Sword Great Saint's cultivation, once they detect a powerful enemy intruding into the Crimson Dragon Sacred Domain, even from ten thousand li away, they could kill them."
As for enemies too powerful, Zhang Ruochen didn't need to worry. Moon God and Man Sword Great Saint would help him deal with them.
Zhang Ruochen only needed to be wary of enemies below the Three-Step Saint King level, because their auras were relatively weaker. Even if they launched an attack, it wouldn't be easy for a Great Saint to perceive it.
After all, Great Saints also needed to cultivate and had their own matters to attend to. They couldn't constantly focus their attention on Zhang Ruochen.
Besides, Moon God also intended to temper Zhang Ruochen, which was why she didn't keep him on Moon God Mountain. Zhang Ruochen's current achievements were precisely due to this kind of harsh tempering.
Zhang Ruochen flipped his palm and took out the Mercury Star Gourd.
As saint qi was infused into it, the Mercury Star Gourd grew larger and larger, eventually transforming into a gourd mountain, suspended in midair.
The lid opened, and a large amount of sacred spring flowed out from the gourd's mouth.
"Splash."
The fragrant sacred spring poured down like a continuous white waterfall.
Soon, beneath the Mercury Star Gourd, the white sacred spring gathered into a lake.
"This sacred spring was brought back from the Ancestral Spirit Realm. Help me refine all of it into Condensed True Sacred Dew. Additionally, soon a batch of Half-Saints from the Holy Bright Central Empire will arrive from Moon God Mountain. When they do, you must do your utmost to train them."
After giving these two instructions, Zhang Ruochen retrieved the Mercury Star Gourd, transformed into a streak of light, and rushed into a cultivation cave dwelling, beginning his seclusion cultivation.
The Qiankun Realm within Zhang Ruochen's body had been resealed by Moon God upon entering the Heavenly Court Realm. However, the cultivators at the Half-Saint realm within the Qiankun Realm had all been brought out in advance.
Half-Saint realm cultivators still had strong malleability.
To repay Zhang Ruochen's favor, Moon God had kept those Half-Saints on Moon God Mountain, allowing them to receive the baptism of moonlight power from Moon God Mountain alongside the Half-Saints of the Guanghan Realm, tempering their bodies and sacred souls.
At that time, the agreed time between Zhang Ruochen and Moon God was one month, so those Half-Saints would arrive at Yuanxu Peak Holy Land only after a month.
In the final analysis, the remnants of the Holy Bright Central Empire and the cultivators from the Qiankun Realm were Zhang Ruochen's direct subordinates, and also the force he valued most.
Entering the cultivation cave dwelling, Zhang Ruochen immediately took out the Fengbei Shield and placed it on the stone table. He extended a finger and pressed it against the Time-Space Crystal.
"Swoosh—"
The space trembled slightly.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen had already entered the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal, sitting cross-legged at its center.
He took out a bottle of Condensed True Sacred Dew, swallowed it into his mouth, and began refining it.
In the Ancestral Spirit Realm, Zhang Ruochen hadn't lacked cultivation resources. He had a large amount of Condensed True Sacred Dew in his possession. What he lacked was time.
Now that he finally had time, Zhang Ruochen naturally wanted to first raise his cultivation to the peak of the Ultimate Saint realm.
Two months later.
Zhang Ruochen had refined fifty thousand drops of Condensed True Sacred Dew, nearly exhausting all the Condensed True Sacred Dew he had seized from other Saints. Only then did his cultivation reach the Ultimate Saint peak.
From the initial stage to the peak, Zhang Ruochen's strength had surged significantly. The sacred dao rules within his qi sea had been refined to the extreme.
Zhang Ruochen's mood was quite pleasant. He muttered to himself: "Having reached the Ultimate Saint peak, the three hundred and seventy-two sacred dao rules within my body can no longer be further refined. Only by comprehending new sacred dao rules can my cultivation continue to advance."
The three hundred and seventy-two sacred dao rules within his qi sea were each different. There were Sword Dao rules, Space rules, Time rules, Speed rules, Palm Dao rules... They represented Zhang Ruochen having integrated three hundred and seventy-two types of sacred dao rules into his sacred soul.
These three hundred and seventy-two sacred dao rules were Zhang Ruochen's sacred dao foundation, called "Rule Seeds."
Only by making the "Rule Seeds" take root could one be considered to have reached the Half-Saint King realm.
"I choose Time rules, Space rules, and Sword Dao rules as the roots of my Rule Seeds. I will cultivate these three major rules as my main path, while the other three hundred and sixty-nine sacred dao rules will all be branches and leaves." Zhang Ruochen made this decision.
Generally speaking, a sacred dao cultivator would only choose one type of sacred dao rule as the root of their Rule Seeds.
Zhang Ruochen choosing three simultaneously was undoubtedly a huge challenge.
There was no helping it. First of all, both the Way of Time and the Way of Space were Eternal Ways, so they naturally had to be the main paths of cultivation.
However, both the Way of Time and the Way of Space were extremely difficult to cultivate. If he only chose them as the "roots," Zhang Ruochen didn't know how much time he would have to spend before he could break through to the Half-Saint King realm.
Therefore, he had to choose Sword Dao rules as an auxiliary, to help him quickly advance his cultivation realm.
"Comprehending Time rules and Space rules is too difficult and requires a lot of time. I should first comprehend Sword Dao rules, to quickly raise my cultivation to the Half-Saint King realm, or even the One-Step Saint King realm."
"In the Heavenly Court Realm, only by becoming a Saint King can one be considered to have initially entered the forest of powerhouses."
The Sword Dao was one of the seventy-two supreme Sacred Daos, ethereal and elusive, yet truly existing between heaven and earth.
If cultivators relied solely on using their spiritual power to perceive and comprehend, the cultivation speed would certainly be quite slow.
The fastest way to comprehend the Sword Dao was definitely to refine and absorb the Rule Sacred Artifacts of sword cultivators, directly converting their Sword Dao rules into one's own rules.
However, Rule Sacred Artifacts were already difficult to find. Searching for the Rule Sacred Artifacts of sword cultivators would only be even more challenging.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. He thought of the Rule Emperor Artifact he had collected from the Ancestral Spirit Realm.
That Rule Emperor Artifact was left behind by Ancestor Wujin, representing the crystallization of Ancestor Wujin's entire lifetime of sacred dao cultivation. It was formed from who knows how many trillions of rules converging together, absolutely a peerless treasure.
Back then, Zhang Ruochen, along with A Le, Han Qiu, and others, had expended great effort to seize this Rule Emperor Artifact from the hands of the Blade Prison Realm and the Purple Mansion Realm.