Chapter 24: Using One's Body as a Formation

After completing his chore duties the next day, Liang Yan rushed back to his dormitory. He took out the scroll of the "Law of the Indeterminate Mind" and unfurled it in his hands. The first sentence of the general outline of the first volume read

*The mind is unconstrained; I am without self. The rotation is endless; the transformations are ceaseless.*

As Liang Yan read further, he felt that although this "Law of the Indeterminate Mind" was utterly eccentric, it exuded an air of unrestrained freedom in every line. Whether it concerned the circulation of spiritual power or secret techniques and spells, everything seemed to come as naturally as breathing, characterized by extreme spontaneity.

A strange sensation rose in Liang Yan's heart; he felt that this senior, "Xumu Sheng," was truly an extraordinary individual.

What he did not know was that Xumu Sheng had achieved the Golden Core stage by entering the Dao through the game of Go, and his life had been one of absolute rigor. The secret techniques he practiced emphasized analyzing an enemy's strengths and weaknesses and anticipating their moves; in combat, he was always cautious, planning every step before acting.

Regrettably, as his lifespan drew to a close in his later years, he found himself unable to advance his cultivation any further. Driven by disillusionment, his temperament underwent a radical change. Having spent his entire life calculating every move, he became willful and unrestrained in his old age, acting on whim to create this "Law of the Indeterminate Mind." It would not be an exaggeration to say he had seen through life and death and stepped out of his cage.

Liang Yan, of course, knew none of this. However, the more he read the "Law of the Indeterminate Mind," the more he felt it suited his temperament better than the "Hooligan Technique." By the end, he was dancing with excitement, involuntarily moving his body in rhythm with the mnemonic verses.

Had Li Dali passed by at that moment, he likely would have rushed to pull his Junior Brother Liang away; if this wasn't qi deviation or falling into demonhood, what else could it be?

After committing the entire contents of the scroll to memory, Liang Yan raised his hand and cast a fireball spell to destroy the bamboo slips. He had been on the path of immortality for some time and naturally understood the principle that "laws are not passed to a sixth ear." Since Xumu Sheng had claimed this technique was his own creation, it could not be passed to others without his permission; thus, Liang Yan simply burned the bamboo slips.

That night, Liang Yan returned to the Spirit Spring cave, sat cross-legged in meditation, and began practicing the "Law of the Indeterminate Mind."

Following the instructions in the bamboo slips, he silently circulated his internal spiritual power through one Great Cycle. Suddenly, he felt a pulse in his dantian, and a trace of spiritual sensation gradually emerged. Overjoyed, Liang Yan did not dare to relax for a moment, continuing to circulate his energy according to the mnemonic.

Just as he was steadily sinking the generated spiritual energy into his dantian, that speck of Confucian spiritual power suddenly vanished into thin air, like a mud cow entering the sea, leaving no trace behind.

Liang Yan's heart sank. Assuming something had gone wrong in his cultivation, he attempted another Great Cycle following the mnemonic. This time, he focused his mind and calmed his breath, yet that speck of Confucian spiritual power still vanished instantly, just as before.

"Strange!" Liang Yan was astonished. Refusing to give up, he tried several more times, but the result was always the same. Every time the energy reached the point of sinking into the dantian and returning to its source, that eerie phenomenon occurred.

However, this time he could clearly feel that the dissipation of spiritual power had nothing to do with his own aptitude; rather, it seemed to be suppressed by the spiritual power already existing within his body.

"Could it be that the two techniques are mutually restrictive?" Liang Yan considered a possibility.

In truth, his guess was quite accurate. While the world was filled with various sects and a diversity of schools, the four great traditions of humanity—Buddhism, Demonism, Taoism, and Confucianism—possessed techniques that were worlds apart, and their spiritual attributes were mutually restrictive. He had never heard of a great Buddhist or Taoist master being able to simultaneously practice Confucian techniques.

Previously, the old monk had brought him to the Star-Chess Pavilion because none of the nearby kingdoms possessed a great Buddhist sect, and he himself had a karmic connection with Lin Fei of the pavilion. Even so, the monk had instructed Liang Yan to select a Buddhist or Taoist secret technique from the Hall of Transmission. The monk had originally thought that since Lin Fei had introduced Liang Yan to the pavilion, he might become an outer disciple; who could have guessed he would end up as a mere chore disciple?

One could only say that nothing is absolute, and fate is fickle.

Although Liang Yan suspected the two techniques were mutually restrictive, he did not know this was an iron law between the four great traditions. He merely thought the attributes of these two specific techniques were incompatible. He spent his energy in deep thought, trying to find a way to resolve the conflict, as this was his only remaining chance to advance on the immortal path.

Just as he was about to give up, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. "Right! How could I have forgotten?"

The following afternoon, in front of the Apricot Grove Pavilion, Wang Yuan was napping at a table by the door. Suddenly, a youth approached briskly from the small path. The youth rushed into the Library without even greeting Wang Yuan. Wang Yuan's ears twitched, and he woke from his slumber, glancing at the youth's retreating back.

"So it's him!" Wang Yuan shook his head and went back to sleeping soundly at the table.

The newcomer was indeed Liang Yan. Upon entering the Library, he walked quickly to a wooden shelf at the very back. This shelf was different from the others; while the rest were seven-tiered vermilion structures, this one was only three tiers high, old-fashioned, and appeared somewhat chipped. It mostly held miscellaneous treatises on formations or biographies of formation masters, with no books suitable for systematic study.

Liang Yan reached out and pulled a book with a grey cover from the shelf. The book was extremely thin, perhaps only twenty or thirty pages long, titled *The Dual Fish Twin Formation*. He flipped the pages open and stood there, reading with intense concentration.

The entire book *The Dual Fish Twin Formation* discussed only this single formation, and the handwriting was sloppy. Many parts were written vaguely and unclearly, as if even the author had not fully grasped the principles of the formation.

Most crucially, aside from the apparent ability to harmonize Yin and Yang for symbiotic coexistence, the "Dual Fish Twin Formation" seemed to have no other function.

Although Liang Yan had seen it before, he had never taken it to heart. Now, with his mind focused, he realized that these formation patterns and tools were not actually meant for setting up a grand formation, but were more akin to the meridians and acupoints of the human body.

The more he read, the more plausible it seemed. Many of the inexplicable operations in the book actually seemed to be instructions on how to circulate qi and gather spiritual energy.

"Could it truly be possible to use the body as a formation?" Liang Yan murmured to himself.

However, there were still many ambiguities in the book, suggesting the author himself had many unresolved questions. Nevertheless, it provided Liang Yan with a significant stepping stone; he only needed to stand upon it and build a few smaller steps to reach the threshold.

The more Liang Yan thought, the more excited he became. He immediately sat on the floor and began calculating and deducing on the spot.

In the days that followed, Liang Yan worked without sleep or rest, sitting on the floor of the Library, writing and drawing alone. He even skipped his morning chore duties.

Although Wang Yuan was full of dissatisfaction, he could not discern the exact nature of Liang Yan's relationship with Zhuo Bufan, so he did not dare to act rashly.

On this day, an outer disciple in green Confucian robes arrived at the Library. Although most formation disciples spent their time on techniques in the Hall of Transmission, people occasionally came to the Library to borrow books. This outer disciple, Li Feng, had come to research a specific formation.

He greeted Wang Yuan and stepped into the Library. After passing several wooden shelves, he suddenly noticed a youth sitting on the floor. Dressed in grey hemp clothes, the youth had his back to him, one hand scribbling on the ground.

Just as Li Feng was about to dismiss him, the youth suddenly shouted, "It's done! Haha! It's done!"

The youth leaped high from the ground and turned around. Only then did Li Feng see his face clearly. His eyes were sunken, his hair was disheveled, his lips were parched, and a fine stubble had grown on his chin. Despite his haggard appearance, his eyes shone with joy. He was hopping and dancing with excitement, looking quite bizarre.

"Is this man a madman?" As Li Feng thought this, the youth charged toward him with incredible speed. Before he could react, the youth had grabbed him in a tight embrace, shouting, "It's done! I've done it! Hahaha!"

Li Feng was furious. He was a man who valued cleanliness, and now he was being held tightly by this unknown madman. With a flick of his hand, he summoned a white jade disc, which spiraled into the air and struck the youth directly in the side of the abdomen.

Although the sect strictly forbade killing or seriously injuring fellow disciples in private, Li Feng still used fifty percent of his spiritual power. In his mind, this youth would be bedridden for at least a year before his anger could be appeased.

To his surprise, after taking the hit from the jade disc, the youth merely let out an "Ouch!" He scrambled around on the floor for a moment, then patted his backside and stood up. As if nothing had happened, he cupped his hands in a respectful bow and said to him, "Senior Brother, my apologies! I was carried away by my excitement and lost my manners. Please do not take offense!"

Li Feng narrowed his eyes, gave him a long, deep look, and then, without a word, turned and walked out of the Library, leaving.

As for the mad youth, it was undoubtedly Liang Yan. Having spent ten days without sleep or food to comprehend the "Dual Fish Twin Formation," he had actually succeeded in completing the formation.

While a cultivator could survive ten days without food, water, or sleep without dying of hunger or exhaustion, he was only at the Qi Refining stage and had not yet achieved fasting. With his stomach growling, he decided to find something to appease his hunger.

After eating his fill and taking a pleasant nap, he did not wake up until the following night.

After washing up, he went straight to the Spirit Spring cave. While absorbing the spiritual energy of the spring, he used his own body as the formation site, arranging the "Dual Fish Twin Formation" within himself.

A moment later, his internal meridians gradually split into two paths: the pure upper path became Heaven, and the turbid lower path became Earth. Simultaneously, a small black-and-white bead flew out from his dantian—it was the Heavenly Secret Bead.

As soon as the Heavenly Secret Bead appeared, it rushed toward the upper Heavenly Meridian, coming to a slow halt at a position corresponding to the dantian.

The spiritual power in his body flowed through the Earthly Meridian, passed through the dantian, and turned into a surging clear stream that rushed into the Heavenly Meridian, eventually merging into the Heavenly Secret Bead. Then, the bead rotated slowly, transforming the energy into a turbid torrent that descended into the Earthly Meridian.

Liang Yan's own dantian served as the eye of the "Dual Fish Twin Formation," while the Heavenly Secret Bead acted as the formation tool.

The two worked in harmony, with the pure and turbid energies alternating. The two meridians of Heaven and Earth achieved a state of Yin-Yang harmony, cycling endlessly in a continuous, inexhaustible loop.

With the formation complete, Liang Yan silently recited the mnemonic of the "Law of the Indeterminate Mind." He felt a speck of blue spiritual power emerge from his dantian, circulate through one Great Cycle, and slowly merge into the "Dual Fish Twin Formation."

The blue and gold spiritual energies coexisted harmoniously within it, flowing slowly. Suddenly, the blue became the pure Heaven and the gold the turbid Earth; then, suddenly, the gold became the pure Heaven and the blue the turbid Earth.

It was like two fish swimming, their heads and tails interlocking, indistinguishable from one another, rotating slowly.

"It's done!" Liang Yan opened his eyes, which were filled with infinite joy. This "Dual Fish Twin Formation" was eternal and inexhaustible. If this could not help him break through the bottleneck of the third level of Qi Refining, then he truly did not know what else in the world could help him defy fate!

Suppressing his joy, Liang Yan suddenly remembered the inscriptions on the two stone pillars in front of the sect when he first followed Lin Fei to the Star-Chess Pavilion

*"Heaven serves as the chessboard, the stars as the pieces; who dares to play?"*

*"Earth serves as the pipa, the rain as the strings; who can play!"*

Though these lines were arrogant, their profound meaning seemed to perfectly align with the "Dual Fish Twin Formation." Although he wasn't certain, Liang Yan had formed a secret hypothesis regarding the creator of this formation. However, he could not fathom why the creator had not studied it more deeply or practiced it himself.

In fact, his guess was correct. The "Dual Fish Twin Formation" was created by the renowned founding master, True Person Yi Xing. He had entered the Dao through formations, and his mastery of the art was considered unparalleled in the world. In his later years, he had a sudden inspiration to create this formation, calculating that it could merge with another of the four great traditions.

However, his own cultivation was already extremely high. To practice this formation, he would have had to destroy his own Golden Core and start over from the Qi Refining stage. Furthermore, it required a supreme treasure that captured the essence of Heaven and Earth to serve as the formation tool.

Though he had pioneered this path, he could never actually attempt it; in the end, it remained merely a theory on paper.

Moreover, he anticipated that finding a person in the world who possessed transcendent formation skills, held a treasure of such magnitude, and was only at the Qi Refining stage would be a task nearly as difficult as reaching for the moon in the nine heavens. Even he deemed it impossible, and thus had to abandon the idea halfway.

Nevertheless, his creativity was audacious, and he was unwilling to let it vanish into the river of history. Thus, he left behind a book and two lines of couplets on the stone pillars at the sect's entrance, hinting: *"Heaven and Earth are the dual fish; who dares to use them?"*

And so, one master of formations with heaven-defying cultivation, and another gifted youth just entering the Qi Refining stage, completed the handoff of this legacy across thousands of years—all while the Star-Chess Pavilion bustled with life, with not a single soul aware of the truth.

(End of Chapter)