The Growth of a Titan in the Cultivation World

"Fuck!"

Having been caught off guard by Mar-Dule's sudden hard slap, Yoon-Jae let slip a curse before he turned to glare at him while clutching his throbbing back. He was unlike Sol or this fucker with a strong physique. Well, just look at him, he was one of the oldest people here, but he was the shortest.

Sure, his physical body was more robust than normal Alchemy Disciples, but the so-called 'normal physiques' for Alchemy Disciples were them suffering from a sprained wrist if they left something too heavy. In other words, they were worth less than dirt in a melee fight.

"Ah, sorry about that."

Mar-Dule awkwardly apologized; he was just too excited. That was seen as he turned to everyone and yelled once more.

"The Eight Trigrams Decryption Array! Aren't there eight of us? What if we used that to disable the Formation Arrays?!"

Sol perked up, and Yoon-Jae did as well.

"Will that work?"

Cheong-Su asked.

"Besides it working, don't we have to have the Technique in our possession first?"

Heon-Tae asked doubtfully, but Ji-Hoon, Sol, and Yoon-Jae suddenly looked at each other.

"It would be in those storage rings, right?"

Yoon-Jae asked, and Sol and Ji-Hoon nodded.

But Heon-Tae added once more.

"Okay, let's say we get lucky and it really happens to be in one of those storage rings. Exactly how long would it take us to go through them, and is this method any better than the first? Wouldn't we just be starting back at square one?"

"We don't have to start from the Outer Courtyard, that's what makes the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array so revolutionary when the Jeagal Clan first created it. If we can get the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array, we could all learn it and disable these Core Formation Arrays right here."

Mar-Dule said, pointing at the black-tiled ground.

"Okay, great! But didn't those people who died fail to decrypt the Teleportation Array to get here because they were missing one of the eight Formations?"

"They didn't fail, Su Moon's Heavenly Canopy Grand Formation was just too powerful to allow them to activate the teleportation array."

Little Abdu added.

"But are you sure this would work? Most of us don't know much about Runes and Formations. If one of us were to make a mistake, the Formation Arrays here would-"

"If I supplement the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array with my Heavenly Samsara Formation, then we'll have a high chance of succeeding."

Sol said with a confident smile, interrupting Ji-Hoon. Even though he might not be able to cover the three courtyards with his Heavenly Samsara Formation and disable the Main Palace's Formations like what Su Moon intended to pass the trial, using it to clear a path from this point was simple.

With that, Ji-Hoon and Heon-Tae couldn't find fault in this plan.

"Found it!"

Yoon-Jae suddenly said. He then flipped over his hand, and everyone turned to see a decrepit-looking book appear in his palm.

"Turns out it was mixed in with those manuals from the Wudang Sect's Immortal Treasure."

Sol and Ji-Hoon's mouths form the shape of an 'O.' They should have suspected that was the case.

Since that mysterious person from the Wudang Sect had forced the seven elders to teach him the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array, he would have the manual in his storage ring. This manual should also include the missing eighth Formation!

No doubt these powerful people had spent a great deal of time deducing this missing Formation. But now their efforts had become theirs.

The eight youths all sat down and went through the manual together. Each of them was learning one of the eight Formations to form the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array. But at times, when one of them paused to voice a question about their own Formation, the others would drop what they were doing to help.

It was beneficial to be familiar not only with their own Formation but also with everyone else's, as this increased their chances of success.

With them cooperating like this, it didn't take more than an hour for the eight of them to grasp the basics of the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array.

"Ready?"

Sol asked as he looked around at everyone.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Mar-Dule jumped up and puffed out his chest.

The others got up and gathered behind Sol.

"Once we start disabling one Array, we can't stop for anything, understand?"

Everyone nodded with expressions of determination on their faces, but with a bit of nervousness mixed in as well.

Sol formed a hand seal to release his Heavenly Samsara Formation.

Everyone watched as the golden Heavenly Samsara Formation approached the black-tiled ground, but suddenly paused just inches away from it.

Sol released a rigid breath.

"What are you so nervous about? Like I said, brat, as long as I'm here, nothing is going to happen to any of you."

Sol smiled and nodded.

"Okay, let's do this!"

With a hand motion, his Heavenly Samsara Formation entered the Core Formation Array zone.

Immediately, the Formations it touched appeared and lit up. Everyone held their breaths.

However, even after a few breaths of time, they didn't show signs of going berserk.

They all sighed.

Sol's Heavenly Samsara Formation was able to enter this zone, but if he or anyone else entered, the Arrays would immediately erupt with power.

Wang~ Wang~ Wang~

Sol's Heavenly Samsara Formation swept over the Lightning Array that was now destroyed and zoned in on revealing the next Array on the path.

A black Formation Array consisting of three Formations materialized out of the void. This was a weaker Spatial Distortion Array, but this was only compared to the stronger ones here.

After the Spatial Distortion Array appeared, everyone began forming hand seals. They created runes that Sol helped them link and overlap to create the eight Formations, using his Heavenly Samsara Formation.

These eight red Formations formed below their feet before rising into the air to hover over their heads. They then slowly began to rotate while releasing red strings that floated towards the Spatial Distortion Array.

Upon entering the Spatial Distortion Array, the red strings started threading through it.

The deciphering process had begun.

Everyone was focused on doing their part, but somewhere in the back of their minds, they were preparing to make a run for it the moment shit hit the fan.

However, as time passed, the red strings had fully embedded themselves inside the Spatial Distortion Array. Below their feet, Formations appeared, but unlike last time, they weren't a prelude to that disaster like before.

When they appeared, red strings could be seen inside them.

This Spatial Distortion Array and all the Arrays that were connected to it were slowly being analyzed and deconstructed.

Starting from the Formations below their feet, which were crumbling, this went straight back to the Spatial Distortion Array before its structure collapsed.

After, the red strings retreated into the Formations above everyone's heads.

"Damn."

Yoon-Jae cursed as he dispelled his Formation and fell onto his butt.

Ji-Hoon and the others all fell to the ground exhausted as well. However, Sol and Mar-Dule were relatively fine.

For Yoon-Jae and the others, they had never learned much about Runes and Formation creation in-depth, only the basics. So, operating a Formation like the Eight Trigrams Decryption Array took a lot out of them, even with Sol's help; most of the pressure fell on their shoulders.

But most of their mental fatigue came from the pressure of not messing up. If one of them had made a mistake during that process, a scenario like what happened before could repeat itself.

"We can rest before doing the others. If we continue like this, we should be able to finish before the month is up."

With that, Heon-Tae, Cheong-Su, Ji-Hoon, and Yoon-Jae all fell on their backs, tired.

Cheong-San looked at his older brother and made fun of him. He was better off since his Divine Sense helped him create and control his Formation. He was the person Sol least helped to construct his Formation. But hopefully, as they continue to disable the Core Formation Arrays and get used to it, they will get faster.

Ji-Hoon suddenly sat up and said.

"Come on, let's start the next one. We can't waste time. Who knows if Second Brother will be able to delay the Teleportation Array opening for another month and a half? Our deadline is at least a month away, we should keep that in mind as we go forward."

Heon-Tae groaned before he got up as well.

Yoon-Jae was peacefully lying down with his hands folded on his chest when Heon-Tae turned to him and pulled him up.

Yoon-Jae grumbled but still allowed himself to be pulled up.

Like this, the eight youths started to disable the Core Formation Arrays and rest in between. It would take them about three weeks to fully cross the three hundred meters distance to reach the entrance of Immortal Dai Shen's Palace. So that would leave them with just over a week to pass the other trials.

Surely the other trials wouldn't be this hard… right?