Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

"Passed."

Rosa nodded slightly and waved her hand.

The white light at the end of the beach suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire world. When the light dissipated, Chen Fan found himself no longer in the sea of ​​formations, but back in that starry space. He was still standing on the faintly glowing meteorite, and all around him was still the dazzling and profound Milky Way.

"The first stage of the formation tests your deductive reasoning skills and your foundation in the Great Dao." Rosa's voice echoed in the starry sky. "You have traversed the sea of ​​formations within twelve years and raised your mastery of formations to the peak of the seventh rank, far exceeding my expectations. According to the rules, you deserve a reward."

Chen Fan raised his head, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

reward.

The reward that Gu Molusa spoke of was no ordinary thing.

Rosa did not keep him waiting long.

The remnant soul of the ancient demon slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread. In his palm, an extremely small ball of light, radiating an endless ancient aura, was slowly gathering.

The ball of light was no bigger than a fingernail, and its entire body had a strange color that was somewhere between gold and transparent.

Inside the ball of light, countless extremely fine runes flowed slowly, each rune containing a certain Dao origin that existed since the beginning of time.

The moment the ball of light appeared, Chen Fan felt a sudden jolt in his mind.

"This is……"

Chen Fan's pupils contracted slightly.

"Fragments of the fundamental rules of the formation."

Luo Sha's voice carried a hint of arrogance, "This is something I snatched from a region in the Immortal Realm called the Rain Realm back then. That Immortal Realm established its Dao through array formations, and its Realm Lord was known as the Myriad Array Immortal Venerable. The protective array he set up was something that even I had to expend considerable effort to break through. This fragment of rules was extracted from the core of that protective array back then."

Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat.

Things stolen from the Celestial Realm.

Rule fragments.

A celestial-level treasure!

"This fragment contains a trace of the fundamental power of the array's rules," Rosa continued. "Although it's only a fragment, it's an incredibly rare opportunity for cultivators in the lower realms. If you comprehend and refine it, it will greatly benefit your understanding of array formations. It might even become the key to breaking through to a higher level of array formations in the future."

As soon as he finished speaking, Rosa snapped his fingers.

The fragment of the array's fundamental rules transformed into a stream of light and flew straight toward Chen Fan.

Chen Fan did not dodge, letting the fragment sink into his brow.

The moment the fragment entered his body, Chen Fan felt an overwhelming torrent of information surge into his sea of ​​consciousness like a flood bursting its banks.

That's not a cultivation technique, nor a magic trick, but something more fundamental and primitive.

It is the fundamental law that existed when the first array pattern was inscribed in the world at the very beginning of the array's creation.

Within Chen Fan's sea of ​​consciousness, countless array patterns seemed to come alive and evolve on their own.

The sixth-grade Dragon-Trapping Array, the Mysterious Ice Sealing Array, the Void-Escape Array, and all the ancient arrays he had comprehended in the Sea of ​​Arrays—all the arrays were disassembled and recombined at this moment, rearranged and combined from an angle he had never imagined.

In that instant, his mastery of formations broke through a bottleneck that he hadn't even known existed before.

It took Chen Fan an unknown amount of time to recover from the vast flood of information.

He slowly opened his eyes and found that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

"This is the origin of formations..."

Chen Fan muttered to himself, a hint of undisguised shock flashing in his eyes.

He had thought that he had reached the peak of the seventh rank in the past twelve years in his study of array formations. But after absorbing this fragment of rules, he realized that his previous understanding was merely a glimpse into the whole picture.

The true art of formations is far more vast and profound than he imagined.

"Thank you for your kind gift, senior."

Chen Fan took a deep breath and solemnly bowed to Luo Sha.

This time, he was sincere.

Regardless of what kind of being this ancient demon is, or what dangers are hidden behind his legacy, the value of this reward is indeed immeasurable.

"No need to thank me." Rosa waved his hand, his tone indifferent. "This is what you earned through your own abilities. If you fail, you die; if you succeed, you deserve it. This is the rule of my ancient demon clan."

Chen Fan paused for a moment, then asked, "I have another question. Senior just mentioned that this fragment of rules was stolen from the Rain Realm... Does the Rain Realm still exist?"

Upon hearing this, Rosa's lips curled into a meaningful smile.

What do you think?

Chen Fan did not ask any further questions.

The answer is already obvious.

"Alright, the reward has been given to you." Rosa's voice regained its previous authority. "The second stage, Comprehension, can be activated at any time. However, I must warn you... this stage is more difficult than the first. If you wish to rest first, I can wait for you."

Chen Fan pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

"No need. I wish to sit here and meditate for a while. After I have initially refined this fragment of rules, I will directly open the second level."

"what ever."

Rosa's figure gradually faded away, merging into the starry sky.

Chen Fan watched his figure disappear before slowly sitting down cross-legged.

He closed his eyes and focused his mind into his sea of ​​consciousness.

In the center of his consciousness, the fragment of the array's fundamental rules floated silently, emitting a soft and ancient light. Countless fine runes flowed around the fragment, like a miniature galaxy.

Chen Fan then probed it with his divine sense and began to comprehend it.

This comprehension was completely different from the deductions made in the Sea of ​​Formations.

The deduction within the sea of ​​formations involves peeling back the layers of the formation from the outside in, searching for the underlying patterns.

The enlightenment at this moment comes from the inside out.

It is important to understand that the fragments of rules are the origin of the Dao of Array Formations. What Chen Fan needs to do is to resonate with this origin and integrate it into his own Dao of Array Formations system.

This process is extremely slow.

The information contained within the fragments of rules was too vast for Chen Fan to absorb entirely with his current cultivation level. He could only choose the most basic and core parts and comprehend them bit by bit.

Fortunately, he had the ability to determine the meaning of words.

The concept of the Fixed Word Technique not only locks down space, but also allows Chen Fan's divine sense to reach an extremely precise level.

With the aid of the Fixed Word Technique, his comprehension of the rule fragments was much faster than that of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.

There is no distinction between day and night in the starry sky.

Chen Fan sat cross-legged on the meteorite, completely still like a stone sculpture. Only the occasional glint of golden light flashing between his brows revealed that he was undergoing some kind of profound transformation.

One day.

two days.

Three days.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Fan finally slowly opened his eyes.

A golden glint flashed in his dark eyes. The glint was fleeting, but it made his gaze incredibly profound in that instant, as if it contained the most fundamental and profound truths of the universe.

His mastery of formations has once again made a qualitative leap in these few days of comprehension.

Although there was no formal deployment to verify it, Chen Fan had a hunch.

If he were to face a Void Refinement Realm expert like the Fire Source True Body now, he would be fully confident in setting up a seventh-grade peak formation capable of trapping and killing the opponent.

He has even vaguely touched the threshold of the eighth-grade formation.

"This fragment of rules is indeed priceless."

Chen Fan muttered to himself as he stood up.

He stretched his stiff muscles and bones, feeling the abundant spiritual energy and array formation skills within his body, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

Twelve years of arduous study in the Sea of ​​Formations, coupled with the comprehension of this fragment of rules, have led to a comprehensive improvement in his formation skills.

"senior"

Chen Fan raised his head and looked into the depths of the starry sky.

"I am ready. Please begin the second stage, senior."