Northwest Region, Bellion City.
"Incredible, Mister Bellion. This new formation of yours truly is capable of stopping the barren area from spreading. What an extraordinary achievement!" Kiyara, the lady with the long, thick braid, praised enthusiastically.
The barren area had grown to three times its original size since Bellion began working on his new idea two weeks ago, but now it was finally halted, contained within a stable boundary.
However, Bellion beside her could barely keep his eyes open. He had not slept in what felt like ages while crafting the formation. Dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes.
For others, only two weeks had passed, but to him, it was much longer. He had experienced the passage of several additional months mentally.
Kiyara noticed his exhaustion and stepped in front of him. "Mister Bellion, you look horrible. You should rest now. Leave the rest to me."
Bellion could no longer process what she was saying. Even her figure appeared blurry and distant.
Over a decade ago, something called the Myriad Formation Manual had appeared within his sea of consciousness.
It was a mysterious, large tome that recorded a vast number of sequences, arrangements, and combinations of inscription symbols, forming smaller structures called arrays. The combination of these arrays then created larger structures known as formations.
After studying it, although tens of thousands of arrays and formations were recorded within, Bellion felt it did not yet live up to the word 'Myriad' in its name.
Later, after his formation skill reached a certain threshold, he became aware that the tome had unlocked a new function.
It was then he guessed what was truly happening. The tome was likely a supreme treasure that each owner had to fill themselves with. All the arrays and formations recorded so far were contributions from previous owners. Now it was his turn to fill its pages until, one day, it could truly be called the Myriad Formation Manual.
Or perhaps he would die before completing it, and the tome would pass to another to continue the work.
When he accessed the tome, he would be brought into a place called the Formation Simulation Room. There, he could interact freely with any inscription symbol, experimenting with countless combinations and effects.
He could add or delete any number of symbols, adjust their size, save and load any structure he designed, test them with different energy supplies and inputs, and even introduce random variables to examine the stability of formations. In other words, he had total control over everything.
This was an absolutely supreme treasure, the kind every formation expert in the world would wish to possess. Being able to experiment freely with any combination of inscription symbols was nothing short of a divine gift.
Many formation experts struggled to visualize complex structures in their minds. They then had to manually inscribe everything in reality, another immensely difficult task, just to test whether a design would work. The trial-and-error process was excruciatingly time-consuming.
With the Formation Simulation Room, however, Bellion could save an overwhelming amount of time. He could focus entirely on understanding the logic and underlying principles behind each formation.
This was how he had risen so quickly through the ranks and come to be recognized as a prodigy by so many.
Whenever his mind was inside the room, time moved very slowly in the outside world, so he never had to worry about missing moments in reality. This was another incredible advantage.
However, he could not enter the Formation Simulation Room continuously whenever he wished. If he spent the equivalent of ten days inside, once he emerged, he could not access the room again for the same length of time. He would have to wait ten full days before entering once more.
For this particular formation, the one meant to contain the barren area caused by the portal's energy absorption, he had spent four months inside the simulation room perfecting every detail. He then needed two full weeks to physically construct it in the real world.
This time had been the longest he had ever spent inside the room in one stretch, because he could not afford to stop. If he paused before figuring everything out, he would have to wait until he could access the room again. By then, the portal would have claimed even more of the city.
So he kept going, pushing himself far beyond his limits. Now, he was utterly and completely mentally exhausted.
Now that he was done, he could not stay awake any longer. Bellion went unconscious and fell forward.
Kiyara had expected this might happen, so she caught his body just in time. Bellion's head landed softly against her ample chest, the comfortable sensation making him instinctively nestle closer, as if settling into a pillow.
She stared down at Bellion's face with an amused expression. "Mister Bellion, if you keep molesting me like this, you will have to take responsibility in the future. Also, how can you fall asleep out in the open like this? What if someone takes advantage of you? There are many perverted women, you know? You are so defenseless."
She then helped Bellion to his private house, a place only she and he were permitted to enter.
After laying him comfortably on the bed, she sat down beside him.
"Hmm... What to do? Soon people will come and cause trouble. They say the other factions will attack us to take the portal for themselves. I am scared... Mister Bellion, how come you are not afraid of them in the slightest?" Kiyara muttered quietly to herself.
Slowly, she stripped down to her undergarments, then climbed onto the bed and lay down next to Bellion.
"He passed out from mental fatigue, so he will sleep for a few days at least. I will spend one day sleeping with him, then. Hopefully he will not wake up early, or it will be embarrassing," she whispered as she hugged his arm and closed her eyes.
Kiyara soon slept soundly as well. She was also quite tired from helping Bellion all this time.
---
"Hahaha! We are here. So, is this what Bellion is capable of creating now? Why do I feel like this grand formation is even better than the one protecting Bara City?" Leyvi and his group stood just outside Bellion City.
During their journey, Leyvi had encountered a few small groups living outside the tree's shade. These were people who had refused to join any major faction and had somehow managed to avoid capture all this time.
Fortunately, no hostile encounters took place. The outsiders even seemed wary and took wide detours to avoid meeting his group directly. It was probably Bodo's hulking figure that intimidated them. After all, he did look incredibly powerful.
From the edge of the shade all the way to Bellion City, his group did not encounter anyone at all. Given the current situation, most members of Bellion's faction had likely retreated into the city, choosing not to venture out.
So Leyvi's journey had been very smooth. Or perhaps it was simply the calm before the storm.
With his spiritual sense stretched out, he could detect a number of small groups lurking on the far side of the city, likely observing the developments inside on behalf of their factions.
They also noticed his group's arrival but simply ignored them, probably unwilling to cause any trouble right now.
"This formation is indeed far better than the one in Bara City. I have operated our city's formation myself, so I can tell the difference. Look at the energy waves. They are incredibly smooth and uniform. I can't detect any flaw," Anda offered her assessment.
"Do you know this Bellion fellow? This prince is impressed as well. This is definitely formation work at the level of a Nascent Soul Realm expert. This prince is thinking of recruiting him," Dastan said, his tone thoughtful.
"Yeah, we met him once. His sect had just been destroyed at the time. He was one of the few survivors. I remember he wanted to carry on his sect's legacy, so I don't know if he would join you or not," Leyvi replied.
"Daa hahaha! Don't worry. If he joins this prince, this prince will help him restore his sect's legacy!" Dastan declared confidently. "So, how do we get in?"
Rose, Lily, and Liyan, now back in their disguises, looked at Leyvi with curiosity.
Lily especially wondered what he would do. Surely he would not try to dismantle such a grand formation, would he?
"Of course we try asking politely first. We are not barbarians."
Leyvi focused his spiritual sense inward, trying to locate Bellion first. Perhaps he could simply call out to him and ask for entry directly.
Following the signs and activity within the city, he quickly found Bellion's residence.
But when he tried to send his spiritual sense inside, it was blocked.
Huh? My spiritual sense is being blocked? Did Bellion's formation do this? Leyvi wondered.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Bellion woke up suddenly. His personal house formation had alerted him that a powerful spiritual sense was trying to infiltrate.
Eh? Bellion's eyes widened. Something soft was hugging him.
A girl was in bed with him!