Cultivation encompasses a hundred arts.
Alchemy, Artifact Refining, talismans, and Formations are the four most orthodox paths, and the most recognized by Cultivators in the Cultivation world.
However, besides these four arts, there are other skills such as beast taming, insect taming, and planting.
Among the four arts, Senior Li was most skilled in Alchemy, followed by talisman crafting, though his talent for talisman crafting was limited, resulting in an average success rate.
In fact, his talent in Alchemy could only be described as average; his current success rate was due to an endless supply of Spiritual Plants, allowing him to refine the same type of Medicinal Pill repeatedly, gradually increasing his success rate.
As for talisman crafting, Senior Li had little interest in it, and after his initial attempts, he never touched it again.
If he were to try now, he would likely be at a novice level.
Qi Yunxiao excelled at Artifact Refining, and Xin Ruyin excelled at Formations; they complemented each other perfectly, a match made in heaven.
It was just a pity that their ending was not good.
Formations were profound. Senior Li felt completely lost when reading Xin Ruyin's Formation Dao scriptures, finding them obscure and abstruse, like reading a heavenly book.
If he wanted to reach a level where he could set up Formations himself in the future, it would be impossible to achieve anything comparable to his Alchemy skills without a large amount of time dedicated to research.
Therefore, in terms of Formations, Senior Li gave up after only half a day.
"Forget it, I'll talk about it after Core Formation, or even Nascent Soul."
At this moment, Xin Ruyin walked over and said to Senior Li, "Senior Li, aren't you looking for a Grand Formation? Come with me."
Upon arriving at the open space in front of the bamboo house, Xin Ruyin patted her Storage Pouch, and thirty-six Formation Flags flew out, suspended in the air. Eighteen of them were white, and eighteen were black.
"This Formation is called the Illusionary and Elusive Central Unmoving Grand Formation. It comes from one of my master's Formation Dao classics, and I have reconstructed it."
Xin Ruyin introduced, "It is no less inferior than the Inverted Five Elements Formation, and its complete version is sufficient to serve as a Sect's protective Formation."
"Then this is not the complete version?"
Xin Ruyin said with a hint of apology, "I apologize, Senior Li. Our capabilities are truly limited. Such a Grand Formation requires a vast amount of Materials and extremely high refining requirements, which cannot be achieved by low-level Cultivators."
Senior Li was embarrassed. "You really don't need to apologize. I'm actually very easily satisfied. What power and characteristics does this Grand Formation currently possess?"
Xin Ruyin replied, "It's similar to the Inverted Five Elements Formation in Senior Han's hands; it can threaten Early Core Formation Cultivators, but it cannot trap or kill them."
If it could, Qi Yunxiao probably wouldn't have died, Senior Li thought to himself.
"The Illusionary and Elusive Central Unmoving Grand Formation, as its name suggests, focuses on the eight characters 'Illusionary and Elusive Central Unmoving.' It is divided into two parts: 'Illusionary and Elusive' means that the Grand Formation's main function is an illusion Formation, also possessing killing Formation capabilities, and of course, the ability to trap people."
"The interplay of illusion and reality, creating a mix of the real and the false, greatly enhances the power of the killing Formation."
"As for 'Central Unmoving,' it means the Grand Formation requires a foundational object, which is the Formation eye. To permanently trap a Core Formation Cultivator, at the very least, a Magic Treasure or a Heaven And Earth Treasure of equivalent grade is needed as the Formation eye."
"Currently, this Grand Formation does not yet have a Formation eye, and Senior Li will need to add it himself later."
"This is the original Grand Formation and the method for refining the Grand Formation's eye."
As Xin Ruyin spoke, she handed Senior Li a scroll of notes. Senior Li accepted it calmly, smiling as he said, "Thank you, Miss Xin."
Senior Li put away the Formation Flags, thanked her again, and returned to his bamboo house to begin studying Artifact Refining classics.
Although Artifact Refining involved many steps, it was generally similar to Alchemy, both emphasizing raw Materials and flame temperature. Therefore, when reading these classics, Senior Li felt much more at ease.
However, without having undergone Artifact Refining experiments, he didn't know what his Artifact Refining talent was like.
He decided to attempt Artifact Refining only after successfully cultivating the Scarlet Sun True Flame, because the Scarlet Sun True Flame was not only a powerful Spell Divine Ability of the Blazing Zenith Sect, but also extremely helpful for Artifact Refining.
The Inferno Apex Meridian Art contained detailed records on this, and in addition, there were Supporting facilities the Blazing Zenith Thirty-Six Strikes, which were both forging techniques and powerful offensive Seal Divine Abilities.
It seemed that the Blazing Zenith Sect, in addition to being known for its True Fire Divine Ability, also had exceptional Artifact Refining methods at the time, with only the Heavenly Star Sect being able to surpass them in Artifact Refining.
After a few days of study, having learned some principles of Artifact Refining and forging, Senior Li began to Cultivate the Scarlet Sun True Flame.
Previously, Senior Li had never had a long enough period to learn these Spell Divine Abilities. Now, Xin Ruyin's repair of the Ancient Teleportation Array would take more than a month.
This period was enough for Senior Li to initially Cultivate the Scarlet Sun True Flame.
After all, he had considered this back on Spirit Beast Mountain and had refined many auxiliary Medicinal Pills in advance.
The Scarlet Sun Pill could accelerate the Cultivation of the Scarlet Sun True Flame, but its drawback was its extreme explosiveness; the body might not be able to withstand the high temperature and its internal organs could be incinerated. Therefore, it was paired with Ice Heart Liquid.
As the name suggests, Ice Heart Liquid made the body cool and clear, allowing it to endure the True Flame's burning.
With the help of a large number of auxiliary Medicinal Pills, Senior Li cultivated this True Flame Divine Ability to Minor Achievement in just over half a month.
He notified Xin Ruyin and then left the Grand Formation, using his Qi Concealment Art to disguise his cultivation as the twelfth layer of Qi Condensation.
If a Foundation Establishment Cultivator were to carefully examine him with their Divine Sense, they might notice Senior Li's disguise, but they wouldn't know his exact Realm unless the Divine Sense gap was truly significant.
For example, Cultivators at the Middle Stage Foundation Establishment or above.
To test the power of the Scarlet Sun True Flame, Senior Li decided to go fishing again on this outing.
He was different from Han Li. Han Li, in order to deal with the level four top-tier Golden-backed Demonic Mantis, had several handy top-tier Magical Artifacts damaged. Coupled with obtaining some precious Artifact Refining Materials, he planned to purchase and customize items at the Heavenly Star Sect market.
Senior Li, on the other hand, had no shortage of various top-tier Magical Artifacts, both exquisite and ordinary. He also had many other miscellaneous Magical Artifacts below High Grade, and low-grade Materials, Medicinal Pills, and talismans were accumulating.
Considering they might be useful in the future, he had not dealt with them for the time being, leaving them piled up in a corner of his Storage Pouch.
The sun was high, and the weather was fair.
Senior Li stood at the very front of the top-tier flying Magic Treasure, the Qingfeng Boat, gazing into the distance. The Lihuo Sword circled him slowly, as agile as a small red fish.
He displayed his Magical Artifacts and cultivation without reservation, making no attempt to conceal them, flying brazenly and ostentatiously through the skies of Yuanwu Country.
In recent days, the Seven Sects of Yue Country had been utterly defeated and had withdrawn one after another.
The entire Yue Country had become a territory occupied by the Demonic Path. Within the country, the Demon Path Six Sects relentlessly hunted down the remaining Seven Sects Disciples and various Loose Cultivators, and set up alerts at the borders.
One reason was to prevent outsiders from entering freely, and the other was to prevent the remaining members of the Seven Sects from escaping.
At this time, Yue Country could be described as a bloody storm, and it would not be an exaggeration.
Many Cultivators fled to Yuanwu Country, taking out some of their cherished possessions to exchange for things they urgently needed.
Cultivation markets throughout Yuanwu Country were bustling, especially large Sect markets like Heavenly Star Sect's, where the lively situation was a rare sight in a hundred years.
Senior Li's blatant display of wealth naturally attracted the attention of others.
However, most Cultivators were cautious and did not attempt robbery. Yet, wealth moves hearts, and there were always some who could never overcome this hurdle.
If they couldn't overcome it, they could only become bones beneath someone else's feet.
Two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in a row fell for the trap, becoming excellent Materials for Senior Li to test the Scarlet Sun True Flame Divine Ability.
The Scarlet Sun True Flame was divided into an inner flame and an outer flame. The inner flame was scarlet red, and the outer flame was orange-red, as scorching as a blazing sun, with an astonishingly high temperature, giving one the feeling it could melt space.
Once the Scarlet Sun True Flame was activated, it surged forth with fierce power. Magical Artifacts below High Grade would rapidly melt upon contact, and if the flame landed on a Cultivator, it would be difficult to extinguish without a cultivation of Middle Stage or above.
This was merely the Minor Achievement Scarlet Sun True Flame. If it reached Major Achievement, it could definitely threaten Late Foundation Establishment stage, or even Great Perfection Cultivators, and High Grade Magical Artifacts would not last long in its flames.