Chương 123: Formation is Programming

Cultivation world libraries are strange because they are organized with spiritual techniques that would make normal museum curators cry tears of joy, but then the actual organization system feels like it was put together by somebody high on enlightenment who decided normal logic was too boring for them. After spending an hour looking around and having an awkward moment where I accidentally set off a defensive formation on some restricted scroll, I managed to put together a decent pile of formation books.

Finding these books out in the open wasn't surprising since Elder Chen already implied that having the books for formations didn't mean you could actually do them, it's like memorizing a dictionary but still not knowing how to write a poem. But instead of studying, I was sitting there spacing out while dragging my finger along the wood grain on the table, because my mind was still stuck on the mess with Wu Lihua and Wu Kangming from yesterday.

"You are doing that thing again," Azure said.

"What thing am I doing?"

"That thing where you sit there staring at nothing while brooding about problems you can't fix now." I let out a snort.

"I'm not brooding about anything. I'm contemplatively planning." Yggy sent me this feeling through our soul bond that felt like a vine rolling its eyes at me and then it followed up with an impression that meant 'you need to think less and do more'. Sometimes I wondered if having such pragmatic companions was the universe's way of keeping me from getting too lost in my own head.

"You're both right," I sighed.

"I can't sit around getting distracted now. Wu Kangming can go have his protagonist training montage and Wu Lihua can keep playing her stupid manipulation games all she wants. I have real work to do." I still had a few days left before I had to attend my next formation lesson with Elder Chen Yong and join team training with Wei Lin and Lin Mei. I was curious about that golden fruit that was growing inside my inner world, but it was going to have to wait. My main focus now needed to be on runes or formations.

Since I already made progress on my runes when I was in the Two Suns world, it made sense to start focusing my attention on formations for a little while. Plus, runes were good for growing personal power, but formations were better if you wanted teamwork. And since the very first stage of the Outer Disciple Tournament was going to be a group event, it wouldn't hurt me to learn some skills that would make me more useful to a team.

I pulled my attention back to the big stack of formation manuals that was sitting in front of me.

"Formation Study for Beginners," I read the title on the first book.

"Well, I guess that's pretty straightforward."

"Master, they are not being dramatic with the names," Azure observed.

"I am a little disappointed. Where is the book titled 'Ten Thousand Ways to Make Things Go Boom' or maybe 'Formation Mastery or Death: A Gentle Introduction'?" I let out a chuckle while I flipped the book open.

"I have a pretty good feeling those ones are kept locked up for the Core Disciples." The first chapter was called "Understanding Formation Language: The Basic Components." Which was perfect, because if formations were actually a language you use to communicate with spiritual energy, then starting off by learning the alphabet seemed like a smart place to start. It started off by giving a recap of the stuff Elder Chen Yong taught me during my first lesson.

It explained how formation craft was called the language of reality, and like any normal language it had its own alphabet and grammar rules. The book was supposed to show the fundamental components that made up every single formation from simple wards all the way to world-binding arrays. It laid out these things called "Primary Strokes" which were the basic lines and curves that acted like building blocks for all the patterns.

Every single one had its own special spiritual resonance and job to do: Straight lines were for channeling qi directly like a pipe moves water around. Curves were for guiding qi in smooth flows so you could do gradual energy transitions. Spirals were meant to concentrate or disperse qi depending on which direction they were spinning. Angles were used to redirect qi sharply whenever you needed sudden changes in your energy flow. Dots were used as collection or distribution points for the qi.

"This is like what I told the elder before about formations being like musical notes," I said.

"Every stroke is like a different sound and when you put them all together you create these melodies made out of spiritual energy." Yggy shot me this image of itself growing upward in a spiral shape along with this feeling of asking a question.

"Yeah, it is like that!" I nodded.

"What grows in nature usually matches up with formation fundamentals because it is all about moving energy efficiently." The next part went over "Resonance Shapes" which were the geometric patterns that made up the core of most formations: Circles were used for containing things and cycling energy around. Triangles were meant for stability and distributing force. Squares were for grounding and storing energy up. Pentagons were used for transformation and making changes.

Hexagons were all about keeping harmony and balance.

"Well, this explains why Elder Chen's Protection Barrier used triangles to stay stable," I mused.

"They are acting as load-bearing structures for the energy distribution." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The next chapter dropped some information that I was wondering about. It turned out that real formation experts didn't need to use physical tools at all because they could weave formations straight out of spiritual qi to create and change arrays in the middle of a battle.

The book didn't go into much detail and said it was too advanced for beginners to try, but it was still great news for me to hear.

"Master," Azure cut in, "please tell me you are not thinking about experimenting with formations now."

"Of course I'm not," I answered him while flipping to the next page.

"Doing that would be reckless and probably end up being explosive."

"... but?"

"But I might try experimenting with them inside my inner world instead. Since we already know we can weave runes in there, then doing formations shouldn't be that much different. Plus manipulating my own qi is a lot easier than messing around with the red sun's energy anyway." I ignored Azure sighing in my head and opened up the next book which was called "Spiritual Geometry". This one went into excruciating detail, explaining how precise your measurements needed to be.

It said that if your angles were off by more than 0. 3 degrees, you would reach catastrophic formation failure. Because of that, all serious practitioners had to master using spiritual calipers and measurement tools, since a bunch of aspiring formation masters ended up dying because they had sloppy geometric alignment.

"Well, I guess that's comforting to know," I mumbled while I carefully took notes.

"There's nothing like the threat of instantly dying to motivate you to have precise penmanship."

"Master, at least you have steady hands from rune practice," Azure pointed out.

"Yeah, fortunately." I flipped over to the section talking about formation scripts, which explained how putting different strokes and shapes together created specific effects. It was fascinating seeing how making tiny changes to the arrangement could change what the formation was supposed to do. Clockwise spirals pulled energy inward. Counter-clockwise spirals pushed it outward. Nesting circles together created different layers of effects. Making lines intersect formed energy nodes.

Using parallel lines created channels for the qi to flow through.

"Oh, this is like programming," I suddenly realized.

"Every pattern acts like a function and putting them together makes more complex operations happen." The book kept going and explained how you could combine the basic components to make "Formation Words" which were standard patterns that did specific functions. The simplest words dealt with basic energy manipulation like: Gather, Disperse, Store, Release, or Transform. These were the foundation for the higher formation craft like how simple words make up complex sentences.

"So, that is why the Qi Gathering Circle uses those inward spirals," I nodded while everything finally started clicking into place for me.

"You are literally writing the word 'gather' in formation-speak." I ended up spending the next couple hours studying how the different patterns interacted with each other while I made careful notes and sketches. The more I learned about it all, the more I started understanding why formation masters were so incredibly rare to find because it wasn't about memorizing some shapes, it was about actually understanding an entirely new language of reality. The third book was about how to avoid blowing yourself up.

It was enlightening to read. Common Mistake #1: Inconsistent Line Weight When you are scribing your formations, you have to keep your pressure consistent because variations in how thick the lines are makes the qi flow unevenly, which leads to energy buildup and catastrophic failure. Novices make the mistake of pressing down too hard at the start of a stroke and too light at the end, which creates what experts called "boom points."

"Boom points," I repeated.

"Well at least they're keeping the terminology simple." Common Mistake #2: Rushed Connections The spots where the different components meet up are critical junctures for the qi to flow through. Trying to rush making those connections is like trying to join two pipes together without actually welding them properly, so the result usually ends up being a spectacular mess. It warned you to take your time and make clean intersections, or maybe consider writing out your last will and testament first.

"I'm starting to see why Elder Chen Yong drinks so much alcohol," I muttered, turning the page over. Common Mistake #3: Ignoring Resonance Harmony Because different components have their own spiritual frequencies, trying to combine incompatible patterns is like trying to play a symphony using instruments that are all tuned to different keys. Except instead of hurting your ears, it literally hurts every single thing sitting within a fifty-meter radius of you.

The book kept listing out a bunch more ways that aspiring formation masters could accidentally remove themselves from the cultivation world's gene pool, and it included helpful illustrations showing what you shouldn't do.

"Some of these diagrams are surprisingly detailed for things that supposedly obliterated every single person standing nearby," Azure noted in a dry voice.

"I'm guessing they're probably reconstructions based on looking at the scorch marks left behind," I replied while I carefully copied down all the safety guidelines.

"Although, I have to wonder about that one labeled 'The Tang Valley Incident' because how does a mistimed formation end up creating a new mountain range?" I finally got to the section that compared Level 1 and Level 2 formation practitioners, and the difference was fascinating to read. Level 1 practitioners only work with static formations, which are patterns that maintain a single unchanging effect once you activate them.

They are like a painting because they are beautiful and useful, but they are fixed in their form and function. Level 2 practitioners actually learn how to create dynamic formations that can respond directly to external stimuli. They are more like living artwork because they can adapt and react to whatever environment they are in. But being so reactive also means they are more complex and potentially unstable.

"So that is the next step up," I mused while thinking about the tournament coming up.

"Having static formations is useful, but being able to actually create formations that can react and adapt would be a massive advantage to have in the tournament."

"Perhaps we should try to master the basics first before we start attempting to make reactive formations," Azure suggested. I gave a nod and closed the books up.

"Yeah, let's start off with perfecting the stuff Elder Chen taught us before we try doing anything too ambitious." I returned the books back to their proper places, which caused another minor adventure with the library's stupid organizational system before I headed back over to my quarters. The sun was sitting high up in the sky now and the courtyards were filled with disciples practicing their different techniques.

I ended up noticing a few of them giving me curious looks because the word about my encounter with Wu Lihua and Wu Kangming apparently spread around already.

"Wonderful," I muttered.

"That's what we needed now, more attention."

"Well at least they aren't actively trying to challenge you to duels over it," Azure pointed out.

"Yet."

"Please don't jinx it." When I finally got back to my quarters, I settled down onto my meditation cushion and closed my eyes so I could sink into my inner world.

"So where should we set up our new formation practice area?" I asked as the familiar landscape appeared around me. Azure materialized next to me.

"The southeast quadrant has the most open space for it. And if something goes catastrophically wrong, there is less there to damage."

"I love the confidence you have in my abilities."

"I prefer to think of it as practical planning." I picked out a nice flat area over in the southeast quadrant that was away from anything important.

"Alright, well, now comes the interesting part," I muttered.

"Trying to recreate those formation patterns in here..."