Seeking Immortality in a Bizarre World

"Let's give it a try!"

The Forbidden Array of Demon Sealing and several other formations designed to restrict Bizarre Demons were all set up. Jia Ren, fully armed, donned the Evil-Warding Full Body Armor.

The Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure in his right hand flew into the air, transforming into a colossal tower, nine zhang nine high. He set it horizontally before him and concealed himself behind it.

The Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure was once potent enough at the Golden Core Stage to suppress the Smiling Bizarre and the Mirror Bizarre. Now, it had grown to the power of the Late Nascent Soul Stage, its might incomparable to its former self.

He was confident he could easily deal with the two Bizarre Demons.

Come out!

The Smiling Bizarre was the first to escape from the Demon-Sealing Tower, its entire body aflame with Wicked Flame, its smile contorted with pain.

No sooner had it left the Demon-Sealing Tower than it desperately fled into the distance.

The Mirror Bizarre was also burning with Wicked Flame. Its mirror surface was blotchy and charred black.

As soon as it appeared, its mirror surface flickered erratically.

The first to be reflected in it was the Smiling Bizarre, which successfully materialized, its whole body engulfed in Wicked Flame.

The newly formed Smiling Bizarre swiftly locked onto its original, charging at it as if bearing deep-seated hatred.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain, and two identical Bizarre Demons are natural enemies.

The two Smiling Bizarre, both ablaze with Wicked Flame, continuously fought each other.

Unlike the Bizarre Mirror, the Mirror Bizarre did not have a cooldown for materialization, and its mirror surface kept shaking. The second object it materialized was the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure.

The new Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure was extremely similar to the real one. However, the aura it emitted was much weaker, only at the level of a Nascent Soul Early Stage.

It had been sealed for too long and had severely declined in strength.

Having just escaped the tiger's mouth, it entered the wolf's den, perpetually 'working' for the Demon-Sealing Tower.

No matter how strong the Mirror Bizarre's foundations were, its vitality was greatly damaged.

It did not last long before it was burned to ash by the Wicked Flame.

From the ashes, a new Mirror Bizarre was reborn.

Both Smiling Bizarre were simultaneously burned to death by the Wicked Flame, then reverted to their original state.

The materialized Bizarre Demons can resurrect?!

Jia Ren's eyes revealed both shock and delight, and he decisively sent the replicated Smiling Bizarre into the Demon-Sealing Tower.

The Mirror Bizarre continued to materialize. Its target was not the Smiling Bizarre, as the same Bizarre Demon could only be replicated once.

Open!

The Demon-Sealing Tower shook, and the Misleading Bizarre was also released.

The Mirror Bizarre's surface swiveled, and a Misleading Bizarre materialized as well. The two green-skinned children began a game of hide-and-seek, darting around erratically.

Capture!

The replicated Enigmatic Bizarre was also taken into the Demon-Sealing Tower, disappearing from sight.

Only the Mirror Bizarre remained, standing in place like a fool, repeatedly dying and resurrecting in a continuous loop.

This plan won't work!

Previously, the Smiling Bizarre and the Misleading Bizarre could resurrect. Unfortunately, once sent into the Demon-Sealing Tower, they lost the Mirror Bizarre's power source. After being burned once, they could no longer revive.

He tried several more times to confirm the materialization patterns of the Mirror Bizarre.

The objects materialized by the Mirror Bizarre were not permanent; they could last at most ten hours and could be re-materialized after two hours.

Capture!

The Demon-Sealing Tower shook, bathed in rosy light. The Mirror Bizarre, realizing something was amiss, caused another Demon-Sealing Tower under its control to shine with rosy light as well.

It was fixed in place, its spiritual radiance greatly diminished. The materialized Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure and Bizarre Mirror were affected, seeming somewhat ethereal.

The Mirror Bizarre was absorbed into the Demon-Sealing Tower, vanishing from sight.

The fake Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure, due to the isolating and suppressive power within the Demon-Sealing Tower, vanished into nothingness along with it.

The plan to replicate Bizarre Demons and have them do double duty has fallen through...

He had thought it possible to achieve a sort of Bizarre Demon abundance, having one 'working' Bizarre Demon act as two, but alas, things didn't go as planned.

In the future, he would have to find single-entity, high-damage consumable treasures to maximize the Bizarre Mirror's effect.

Better to research the Mirror Apparition Array instead!

Next, he could focus his energy on the Mirror Apparition Array.

Compared to the relatively smooth research on the Bizarre Mirror, the Mirror Apparition Array was much more problematic.

Among the formations Jia Ren had mastered, few were directly applicable. The Bizarre Alliance's Flesh Oddity Formation he had encountered before, along with the formation patterns he had recorded, came in handy, providing a starting point. However, this didn't fully resolve the initial challenge, and a second problem also emerged.

For the Mirror Apparition Array to be effective, the primary requirement was its ability to trap the target. Otherwise, if an enemy could easily escape its influence, all efforts would be futile.

The Mirror Apparition Array was suited for trapping formations and Enchanting Illusion Formations, but his skill in setting up formations was average.

The formations he currently mastered could at best restrict Golden Core Cultivators; stronger Golden Core Cultivators could not be trapped for long.

A Mirror Apparition Array created this way could, at most, deal with Golden Core Stage Cultivators, lacking the power to handle Nascent Soul Cultivators.

High-Order Cultivators were not fools, nor were they wooden stakes. Upon encountering an unknown Bizarre Demon, their first instinct would be to flee, not to fight.

Nascent Soul Cultivators could easily break formations. Only a fool would fight Bizarre Demons; they would certainly choose to flee at the first opportunity.

The clones within the Mirror Apparition Array were unable to hold back a Nascent Soul Cultivator intent on escaping.

Thus, the Mirror Apparition Array lost its greatest value against Bizarre Demons.

A Mirror Apparition Array that can only handle Golden Core Cultivators?

It's somewhat of a letdown!

Why should I spend time and energy, making things difficult for myself, to research a type of Bizarre Formation that has never existed before?

Let's build a formation and test it first.

I'll incorporate the Bizarre Mirror into the formation to reduce the difficulty of creating the Mirror Apparition Array. Using this method as the core, I'll keep swapping out formations until a suitable one is found.

How will the Trinary Illusionary Moon Formation fare as the main formation?

Three Bizarre Mirrors would serve as the matrix eyes, dispersed among heaven, earth, and man, possessing enchanting and confining effects.

Additional Formation Flags and Array Plates were refined as support. To strengthen the connection, a small amount of Mirror Apparition Fruit was purposely added to create a link.

Shall we first test the effectiveness of the Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation?

After three months of hard work, the formation was gradually perfected. It was time to test the effectiveness of the Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation.

Three Array Plates embedded with Bizarre Mirrors flew out, and nine Formation Flags were inserted into nine respective positions.

Formation, activate!

The dull light on the Array Plates, Bizarre Mirrors, and Formation Flags receded, and the formation suddenly burst into brilliance.

Go!

A Flying Stiff, comparable in strength to the Late Golden Core Stage, fell into the Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation.

With the formation activated, three full moons rose in the sky. Then, three identical Flying Stiffs descended, abruptly trapping the original Flying Stiff.

They fought as if against mortal enemies, four perfectly identical figures battling together, with three ganging up on one.

The Flying Stiffs collided, producing the sound of metal striking metal. Black corpse fire surged, and the din of battle shook the heavens.

One Flying Stiff, facing three identical to itself, was immediately at a disadvantage and began to falter.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the three replicated Flying Stiffs disappeared, leaving only the original, now covered in wounds and nearly crippled.

The power is insufficient! The formation's duration is too short, only lasting the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. It can't guarantee the opponent's defeat; the formation's endurance must be increased.

The Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation can't guarantee restraint of the target; its power also needs to be enhanced.

The Bizarre Mirrors and the Trinary Illusionary Moon Formation combine to create the Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation. While they appear connected, they are, in reality, severely divided and incompatible. Anyone with even a little knowledge of formations could spot the flaws and easily break it.

Problem after problem arose.

The most crucial issue was still the forced combination of two different things; this was the biggest problem.

Unless this key issue was resolved, the Bizarre Formation would ultimately remain substandard.

What to do?

Jia Ren immediately thought of the Bizarre Alliance Cultivator's Flesh Oddity Formation. Previously, his knowledge had been superficial; he hadn't even scratched the surface of understanding formations and couldn't discern their intricacies.

On careful consideration... the Bizarre Alliance Cultivator must have encountered the same problem.

Their formation had vulnerabilities. As long as one had a bit of understanding of formations and wasn't immediately restricted by the 'Bizarre Formation', it wasn't hard to unravel.

The formation's strength could be enhanced by using something like Mislead Trickster Grass as its core. If the target constantly got lost within the formation, wouldn't that effectively restrain them?

Based on this, creating a unique Enigmatic Bizarre Formation wouldn't be difficult.

Jia Ren wanted to create a true Bizarre Formation, not a common one. Since the path of fusion was blocked, he had to go back to the beginning. He decided to use Bizarre Objects as the main material to create a true Bizarre Formation.

However, the limited duration of the Mirror Bizarre's manifested objects was still an issue.

And another new problem arose: how should the Bizarre Formation be powered?

Spiritual Energy?

Spiritual Energy is not the power source for Bizarre Objects. Furthermore, it cannot power formations that primarily rely on bizarre energies. This was the biggest issue.

What could solve the problem?

Bizarre Spirit Stones, which correspond to the power source of Bizarre Objects.

Jia Ren had never seen such a thing, let alone known where to begin searching.

It wasn't certain that one could find a Spirit Stone Vein of Bizarre Spirit Stones in the Cultivation World, much less mine such bizarre ores.

If one wished to find a Bizarre Spirit Stone mine, there was only one place...

Jia Ren had seen the Shadow Realm while aboard the Bizarre Boat.

That was a world full of Bizarre Demons, with various kinds of bizarre creatures visible everywhere—the most likely place to find Bizarre Spirit Stones.

How desperate would one have to be to venture into such a world of Bizarre Demons?

Was I in such a hurry to die?

Jia Ren would rather not craft a Bizarre Formation than take such a risk.

Could it be possible... to create Bizarre Spirit Stones myself?!

If it weren't for accidentally creating a Gathering of Tricks Array when he first learned the Spirit Gathering Array, he would never have entertained such an idea.

The Gathering of Tricks Array could gather Bizarre Qi, a special kind of bizarre aura. Under its influence, the Bizarre Objects in the Bizarre Garden thrived.

The Bizarre Qi attracted by the Gathering of Tricks Array was similar to the Spiritual Energy of cultivators.

If Bizarre Qi could be gathered to form a Bizarre Qi stone, wouldn't that solve the Bizarre Formation's energy problem?

With an unending supply of Bizarre Spiritual Power—could the duration of the Bizarre Mirror's manifested objects also be extended then?

Next came the most critical question...

How to gather Bizarre Qi to form Bizarre Spirit Stones?

This was something he had never dealt with before, and there was no reference point.

The method cultivators use to infuse Spiritual Energy to form Spirit Stones? Could I imitate that method, using gathered Bizarre Qi to create Bizarre Spirit Stones?

Wait, it doesn't necessarily have to be Spirit Stones.

Talismans and Talisman Stones could also be used.

I could create Gathering Oddity Talisman Stones to achieve the effect of Bizarre Spirit Stones.

Since he couldn't find a breakthrough with Spirit Stones, he decided to shift towards his strengths.

Gathering Oddity Talisman Stones were intended to provide bizarre power. As long as they could ensure a continuous supply of Bizarre Qi for the Gathering of Tricks Array, his needs would be met.

Why be constrained by form?!

Isn't that just needlessly shackling myself?

Jia Ren's enthusiasm soared as he began researching Gathering Oddity Talisman Stones.

Before that, however, the initially created Three Talents Illusory Moon Mirror Formation wouldn't go to waste; he had a new idea.

If this plan succeeded, he would possess a formidable offensive tool.