ATG: Formation Master c20

Cang Long looked at the formula before him.

‘It still has all of the things of the Ice Phoenix chant. Words and meanings are much less. Most likely because the Blue Pole Star girls don’t understand the grandeur of the Universe we live in.’

He stroked his chin as he realised that there was nothing about water laws in general.

‘That is most likely because Ice Phoenix is Ice Phoenix; it doesn't delve into Water at all.’ 

That is what is messing with these girls. The art, even now, weakened form or not, is still meant for someone who has Ice Phoenix Blood.

The middle man for ice normally should be the blood, something he does not have.

“Your art is a bloodline art. Your founder had blood of some sort of a god.” Cang Long sighed while saying that.

“That is a possibility. Our Founder, Bingyun, is very mysterious.” Gong Yuxian wasn’t surprised at all.

“I see. Regardless, the issue is that your formula is too advanced. It's like a book but with only the second half. You need the first half.” 

“...does it mean…” She wanted to ask if he could not.

“What I will add is the formula for water itself. You girls need to understand that what you need to learn is the process, not the end result of it.” He looked at them while explaining.

“Your Ancestor had a bloodline of some Ice God. But neither of you has that. So to fix it, you need to grasp how water turns into ice.”

As he said, he created a solid tablet with a formation wall before writing down his understanding of water and how it leads to ice.

Then he adjusted the Frozen Cloud formula just a tiny bit so that it could transition smoothly.

“Done.” He finished before handing it over.

The pair of them looked it over, not believing that it could have been fixed so quickly.

But when they read through the formula, they got spacey.

The most obvious reaction was for Gong Yuxian. She was in a complete trance.

Crack

Sounds of ice breaking began to spread through the room, as if someone were breaking the ice. It was loudest with the Palace Mistress as her cultivation began to surge.

She cultivated for many years, and her cultivation only reached Emperor Profound Three before she had her breakthrough days ago. One would say she wasted a lot of her time, but now… it made sense she was practising it wrong!

Her cultivation alongside Chu Yueli’s began to rapidly advance. All the ice and cold air they had stored in their bodies began to be refined and added to their bodies at a rapid pace.

In less than ten minutes, the Palace Mistress reached Emperor Profound Five, and Chu Yueli reached Sky Profound Nine.

Their aura has shifted a bit. While they were still cold fairies, there was more aloftness than colness. Their fundamental aura shifted after grasping Water’s Essence.

“Not bad at all.” 

“M-My Prince… this is incredible!” Gong Yuxian gushed at her new power. While she felt that her ice got weaker, as she needed to go through an extra hop, it made her feel more alive than ever.

“Glad to hear that it worked.” 

“Un!” Chu Yueli felt the same way as her Mistress.

“Your Highness. Now that things are settled, I am no longer needed here. Is it okay for me to return to Frozen Cloud?” The Palace Mistress is itching to spread this art through the fairies.

“Sure. Though Yueli stays with me.” He nodded before looking at Chu Yueli. The Palace Mistress nodded before saying something to her. She sent her message through the air before paying respects to the Prince.

She left the Main Villa and went to pick the disciples before leaving the Heavenly Sword Villa altogether.

That leaves Chu Yueli and Cang Long.

“Well, now that we have that out of the way, I suppose I return to work.” He said while stretching for a bit. He wasted a lot of his resources to combat that monkey.

His mindscape has no offensive formations to speak of. He needs to recreate and empower them. At the same time, he needs to return to Profound Palace and set up farming of the Emperor Heart Awakening Lotus.

There are a lot of things to do.

“What do you want me to assist you with?” She asked him. 

“Nothing at this moment.” He shook his head.

“I want you to follow me and watch. Eventually, I will require your help, either delivering messages or doing some minor assignment," The prince explained.

The Fairy slowly nodded. All she can do is accept it. Now that her Palace is in this with the Imperial Family, she has no right to complain that her new work is that of a messenger girl.

After dealing with the new art, Chu Yueli realised that she had a lot of free time. They waited for three days for his battalion to arrive. Once they arrived, the soldiers began to take over the Villa.

Some left the Villa before the occupation, but many stayed. Some were even happy that greater power took over.

~~~

Cang Long and Chu Yueli eventually went to see the two bedridden Villa Masters.

“What a sorry state you are in, Yuefeng.” Cang Long looked at the Villa Master, who was lying in bed. The smell of medicine was quite heavy in the room.

Not far from him was Ling Tianni, who was in a similar state.

“You can’t do this… My Prince. You can’t just take over Heavenly Sword Villa,” Ling Tianni, clueless to what was happening, exclaimed in anger.

All he knew was that the Blue Wind Imperial Family was taking over.

“I just did. Your Villa’s existence is to make sure you protect US, the Imperial Cang family, but you failed in your basic job. How are you allowed to exist after you failed in your job? I would rather defend myself than allow for failures such as you two to defend me.” Cang Long shook his head as he raised his hand, and two formations appeared above two beds.

“W-What are you going to do!?”

The pair was in a bad state, so they couldn’t even move to defend themselves, especially when Cang Long unleashed his cultivation base.

With an extra boost from his Dharma Body, the pair could not even move.

“Turn you two into obedient minions.” As he said that formations dropped into their bodies, they tried to struggle, but soon enough, their gazes turned blank.

Chu Yueli placed her hand on her mouth. What is this!?

“Mind formations are very real, Yueli. I hope that you realise that rebellion against me is not something you should consider, " he commented as he lowered his hand.

“W-Why would I even consider that?” She asked, confused.

“The most common way to deal with enemies and threats to your family is killing, as they say, remove the threat at the root so that nothing could be left behind.

But I call that a waste of resources. Why would I erase these two if they can serve to their last breath?” He explained with a small smile.

“I understand that. But won’t they resist these formations?” She asked, feeling cold. This art looks diabolical. How did he even come up with something as obscure as mind?

“You have no idea how this works. I will eventually teach you a way to use this as well.”

“...Why?” She asked, somewhat afraid to learn something like that!

Sigh

“To read your enemy’s mind, to create pawns. Imagine you are in a war, with another empire, and you have a bunch of soldiers that you took hostage, you alter their minds and then send them back. They turn hostile in their home nation.

Or you have people who threaten your Frozen Cloud, the assailant doesn’t want to speak, torture doesn’t help, so you use your mind arts to access their memories.”

He listed two possibilities that made her rethink. 

“Besides…” he looked away… before dropping a bombshell. 

“Dharma Body is a manifestation of your fantasies and dreams, part of mind arts.” He said with a small smirk, he doesn’t need to look; her change in aura gave it away.

Chu Yueli’s eyes widened as she could not believe that was the secret! 

“...I-I see…”

Cang Long walked over to Ling Yuefeng and placed his finger on his forehead.

The Fairy could tell something was happening, but she couldn’t see or understand. It was as if something was happening behind closed doors.

Once he was done, he saw that Ling Yuefeng had recovered. He didn’t look dead inside. In fact, he looked much, much better! Minus the body damage.

He then did the same to Ling Tianni. 

With them done, he dropped a recovery formation before leaving without saying a word.

Chu Yueli was confused for a second, but then she realised they most likely had their orders given directly to their mind.

Instead, he walked to his commanders and explained that Ling Duo is part of the army… which was crazy to Chu Yueli!

They are Thrones! Ling Tianni is even known as Sword Saint! The most powerful Cultivator until Cang Long’s ascention!

And now they are part of Cang Long’s personal army!

If anyone thought that someone could fight against the Blue Wind Imperial Family in the Empire, now she can guarantee that no one would even think about it!

“We are not done.” Cang Long said to his Fairy as he looked at the huge sword stuck in the ground.

“What else do you want to do?” She asked, not understanding where he was looking.

“This is a sealing formation. Something is sealed inside this sword.” He explained to her.

“Umm… I think something like this should not be touched.” The Fairy is certain that there is a reason that Heavenly Sword Villa is safeguarding this seal.

“And that is why I have to find out myself.” He chuckled as he approached, and his eyes began to glow blue. His Dharma Body manifested above him. The construct clapped his hands and began to create a Formation.

‘Strange, he is a bit weaker than I remember. Is it because of that fight?’ Chu Yueli noticed that the power radiating from the Blue giant was weaker. To her, it was noticeable, as she saw him at max power.

As he walked over, he dropped to the ground and began to meditate. The Giant started to move through motions. Blue clouds manifested above the area as pillars made from solid formations dropped to the ground.

Sealing the whole area away.

~~~

“Hmm?” An old man sensed something. He was attached to a huge sword, and chains held him in place.

“Is it time?” He mumbled as he tried to look around.

But then something shimmered into existence in front of him. It was a young man dressed in a blue regal uniform.

It was not the Mighty Heavenly Sword people, that’s for sure. They are always dressed in simple green robes.

“I was wondering who they sealed away; I never imagined it to be a person.” 

“Who are you, boy?” The old man dressed in rags asked as he was a bit curious. It has been years since he spoke to anyone.

“His Royal Highness Cang Long, the Eighth Prince of Blue Wind Empire, you are sealed in my lands without our knowledge, we might add.” He explained to the old man.

“Hah, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region not caring is nothing new to me. I expected as much.” The old man showed a mocking smile.

“True. They are an annoying bunch. Sadly, I only met one of them.” He smiled a bit. His smile was a mocking one.

“Tell me, boy, what do you want?” The old man asked, slowly losing interest in this conversation.

“To learn who you are and if I can profit from you.” He casually told the old man.

“Hahahaha, profit you say? This is the first time this old man has heard something like this!” The man in rags began to laugh. It was the first time that a brat wanted to use him!

“Indeed. I want to know if you are useful, if I should release you, or just keep you here.”

His words immediately got this old man to stop laughing.

He got a bit serious before speaking. “You do know if you release me, you will get in a lot of trouble, your Sacred Grounds won’t like that.”

Cang Long smiled, his smile was a bit strange.

“Indeed, it’s a good thing I am the best Formation Master in the whole Sky Profound Continent.”