As for the remaining two rounds of the competition, once Lin Tian took the stage with his spiritual energy spear, his opponents immediately conceded defeat. By the end, Lin Tian effortlessly claimed the first place in the outer sect competition, without a shred of uncertainty.
"I never expected the first place in this outer sect competition to be claimed by the Weapon Peak," many of the elders of the Xuanwu Sect mused, caught by surprise. In previous years, the Weapon Peak had usually ranked at the bottom, or at best, second to last. But with Lin Tian's appearance, it seemed the Weapon Peak had finally gained some well-deserved recognition.
However, after Lin Tian received his reward, the members of the Weapon Peak eagerly awaited his return, but Lin Tian's figure never appeared.
"Yuejiao, is this really a good idea?" Lin Tian cautiously asked in Du Yuejiao's room. After the outer sect competition, Lin Tian had contacted her. Upon learning his intentions, Du Yuejiao had immediately brought him to the Formation Peak. To avoid being discovered, Lin Tian was now hidden within her room.
Despite Du Yuejiao's exceptional talents and high status among the outer disciples of the Formation Peak, her room was much larger than those of ordinary disciples. With Lin Tian now staying there, it felt somewhat cramped.
Of course, what truly concerned Lin Tian was Du Yuejiao's identity. If anyone were to discover that a man and woman were sharing a room, rumors might spread. While Lin Tian wasn't particularly bothered, he was careful due to the potential damage to Du Yuejiao's reputation.
"Don't worry," Du Yuejiao reassured him. "I am the best at formation studies within the Formation Peak, and I've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Unless it's an inner disciple at the Foundation Establishment level or an outer disciple whose formation skills rival mine, it's nearly impossible for anyone else to enter. Besides, you usually wear a human skin mask, so no one in the Formation Peak will recognize you. Even if they do, I'll just say you're my brother."
Hearing this, Lin Tian no longer hesitated. There was no need to keep protesting—he'd only appear overly sensitive if he did.
"By the way, here's the explanation of the formations you requested," Du Yuejiao said, handing him several scrolls. "Although I don't know why you suddenly want to study formations, since this is what you wish to do, I fully support it."
"These are the most basic formations," Du Yuejiao continued, "but they're not easy to practice. It took me three whole days to set up the Spirit Gathering Formation."
She glanced at Lin Tian, unable to help but express a slight hint of pride. While formations were generally simpler than crafting weapons or pills, mastering them was no easy feat. Even Du Yuejiao, with her exceptional talent, had taken three days to set up a Spirit Gathering Formation. This speed, even within the Formation Peak, was still considered remarkable.
However, just as Du Yuejiao spoke, Lin Tian's palm suddenly glowed, and a spiritual seal appeared. The seal then scattered, and in just a few breaths, a Spirit Gathering Formation was completed.
"By the way, what did you say earlier?" Lin Tian turned to Du Yuejiao with genuine curiosity. His mind had been entirely focused on setting up the formation, so he had completely blocked out her words. Realizing it now, he couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Du Yuejiao quickly waved her hand, internally sighing in relief. She was thankful that Lin Tian hadn't noticed what she had said. If he had, her reputation would have been completely ruined.
Watching Du Yuejiao leave in a hurry, Lin Tian felt a slight sense of confusion, but for now, his mind was entirely occupied with the formation. He glanced at Du Yuejiao but didn't inquire further.
Turning his attention back to the Spirit Gathering Formation, an idea flashed in Lin Tian's mind. If this formation could accelerate the gathering of spiritual energy around it, perhaps it could also hasten the absorption of spiritual energy in his refining device.
However, Lin Tian understood that setting up a formation required spiritual seals. The spiritual seal he had just crafted was about the size of his fist, but a small Spirit Gathering Formation required over ten seals to form. It seemed nearly impossible to etch such a formation onto his refining device.
Thus, to imprint a formation onto his device, he would need to shrink the size of the seals. With that thought, Lin Tian immediately began experimenting.
As his spiritual energy flowed, a spiritual seal began to form in the palm of his hand. But after a short while, Lin Tian realized just how difficult it would be to accomplish this task.
Though he had no trouble drawing a normal-sized spiritual seal with his current skill, creating one that was ten times smaller proved exceedingly difficult. It was akin to writing on a grain of rice with a brush: the brush must be incredibly fine to avoid smudging the entire surface.
Unfortunately, with his current level of cultivation and control over his spiritual energy, he was far from capable of achieving such precision.
"It looks like I'll have to study other formations first," Lin Tian muttered with a helpless shake of his head, turning his attention to the remaining scrolls.
Though Du Yuejiao had given him the most basic formation diagrams, Lin Tian noticed an incredibly subtle connection between each one as he examined them closely. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but he knew it was important.
Just then, Du Yuejiao returned in a hurry.
"Yuejiao, where is the Formation Peak's library? Could you take me there?" Lin Tian couldn't help but ask.
"We don't have a library in the Formation Peak," Du Yuejiao replied.
"No library?" Lin Tian was confused.
"That's right. In the Formation Peak, there is no library. The basic formation diagrams are distributed to all disciples after they enter, but if you wish to learn more advanced formations, you'll need to enter the Eight Formations Map."
"The Eight Formations Map?" Lin Tian asked, perplexed.
"Yes, the Eight Formations Map is the treasure of our Formation Peak. It contains records of various profound formations. However, only those who pass the test of the Eight Formations Map can learn more advanced formations."
"Since that's the case, take me to see it," Lin Tian urged eagerly.