After I left the sect, the entire sect knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

"I...I have no experience with mechanical arts, but I have a feeling that I am very interested in them."

Wen Ningqing sighed after hearing this. "Ah, if only you had been learning from me since you were little. You have a talent for formations, so learning mechanical arts shouldn't be difficult for you either."

"Master, do you think it's too late for me to start learning now?"

"Just understand a little, no need to study it in depth. I still hope you focus on cultivation and array formation, learn other things if you can, and put them aside if you can't. You will also be studying alchemy later, so it won't be good to squeeze out time to study mechanical arts."

After Wen Ningqing finished speaking, she thought of her disciple's high talent for alchemy and sighed again. "Your master is not proficient in alchemy, and teaching you alchemy would only delay you. But don't worry, your master has already chosen a second master to teach you alchemy."

Lin Yan bowed deeply, offering her sincere gratitude.

She had already prepared herself to be a lone cultivator venturing into the Great Dao on her own, but she never expected to encounter such a wonderful master!

I never experienced the so-called master-disciple relationship on Wenxin Peak, but I did feel it with Venerable Duanyi.

After strengthening the bird, Wen Ningqing reattached its outer shell. She then cast a cleansing spell, instantly making both the bird and herself clean.

She led the person into the courtyard, sat on a futon in the courtyard, and offered them a cup of tea that she had brewed herself to calm the mind.

Unsure of her disciple's current level of mastery of formations, she decided to assess him through questioning and, incidentally, give him a lesson.

How much do you know about formations?

Upon hearing her master's question, she answered honestly. She said that she was currently relying entirely on self-study, having read introductory and advanced array manuals, but only having a superficial understanding of them.

Wen Ningqing was shocked: How could someone set up a formation within a formation by self-study?

With such talent, if she had been taught by her side from a young age, she would definitely be a household name as a master of formations by now!
"Let's start with the basics. No matter what kind of technique it is, a solid foundation is crucial. Only by grasping the underlying logic can we easily understand more advanced formations."

As Wen Ningqing spoke, she demonstrated the simplest defensive formation among the beginner formations.

She only needed to pick up a few small stones and place them on the table, and a small defensive array would condense, just the right size to cover the entire table.

"Tell your master how this defensive formation was formed."

Lin Yan recalled what was said in the introductory basic formations: the arrangement of formations requires a carrier and power, and the two are combined to form different types of formations.

It sounds simple, but there's a lot to it. How to combine them, how to frame them, and how to construct them are all skills.

Although it is the most basic defensive formation, it comes from the master's hands and exudes a powerful aura that makes people dare not approach.

To outsiders, the master had achieved such an effect simply by casually fiddling with pebbles, which made people envious of the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator who could form an array with the flick of a finger.

She had kept her eyes open the whole time, and although she still couldn't see clearly her master's movements as he set up the formation, which appeared to be just simple manipulation of the chess pieces, she understood the difference.

The master used his own spiritual power to weave this formation along a specific path...

Master's technique just now did resemble a spider weaving its hunting territory. Like weaving a web, it brings a place under its control, and any prey that passes by will be mercilessly caught and killed by the web.

Upon closer examination, it differs from a spider web. They share similarities, yet are distinct…

Lin Yan spoke her mind as she had thought, and received a nod of approval from her master.

Wen Ningqing then disassembled the basic formation she had set up, making it much clearer to everyone. Setting up a formation isn't simply a matter of randomly placing a few stones and connecting them with spiritual energy. Everyone's understanding of formations is different, and their methods of setting them up will vary, but all require the integration of power.

Once the formation is broken down, the complex diagram becomes much clearer.

The pattern woven underneath is complex, but the lines are all connected smoothly. There may seem to be intersecting nodes, but in reality there are no nodes at all, just like a one-stroke drawing.

The power flows smoothly along these lines without any obstruction, making the resulting formation very sturdy with almost no weaknesses that can be overcome. It can only be suppressed by absolute power.

Master is currently at the Nascent Soul stage, possessing absolute power suppression; he must be in the mid-to-late stages of the Deity Transformation realm.

In the Canghai Continent, cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage are extremely rare, let alone those at the mid-to-late Nascent Soul stage; there are probably fewer than a handful.

Many defensive formations set up by cultivators are easily destroyed, probably because they have too many nodes.

The key point is to find the weak points in the formation. If there are too many weak points in the formation, they can be easily seen and broken, making the formation naturally fragile.

"How does my disciple interpret the divination board?"

How should we understand this? It can serve as a carrier or as an auxiliary tool.

Basic formations are usually engraved in the array plate, so when cultivators use defensive formations, they do not need to use their own spiritual power to create them. They can simply move the array plate, select the formation they need, and then channel their spiritual power into it.

Essentially, the framework for the formation's movement has already been laid out; all the cultivator needs to do is inject spiritual power or insert spirit stones. This makes things much easier for many cultivators who don't study formations.

You can also inscribe your own understanding of the array into the array plate, so that you don't have to work hard to weave it the next time you use it, thus serving as a copy.

Lin Yan's understanding of the divination chart was limited to its medium and auxiliary tools. However, her master did not nod when he heard her answer.

Clearly, her understanding was not thorough!

The master took out his own notes on formations and handed them to her, saying, "Go back and take a look at them, along with the basics of formations. If you encounter anything you don't understand, write it down and ask me tomorrow."

She nodded, took the manual, and returned to her small courtyard.

After her apprentice left, Wen Ningqing continued to leisurely sip her tea. Not long after, Miaoyin arrived.

"You're so free, leaving me to go to the meeting alone," Miaoyin muttered as she sat down.

"You know, I don't want to see that disgusting person."

"I know, but I'll just have to bear with it. There's no chance to make a move for now."

Miaoyin said this to give people a heads-up, as there probably wouldn't be much of an opportunity to make a move anytime soon. Killing a Nascent Soul cultivator without making a scene would be far too difficult.

She was genuinely afraid that Ah Qing might lose control and secretly take action. If she succeeded, everything would be fine; if she failed, Ah Qing would be in danger!

"Don't worry, I'm past the age of being impulsive now. I know my limits and won't act rashly."

With Aqing's assurance, Miaoyin felt a little more at ease. She received so many shocking messages that day that she couldn't process them all at once!

She reached out and poured herself a cup of tea, then opened her communication device to check the latest trending posts as she drank. (End of Chapter)