Chương 93: Grand hall

'There are other people here? Did they also pass the trial?' Shu Yang watched them from the distant doorway he had entered through, a bit confused about the current situation.

'This isn't good. Why are there people here?' Shu Yang didn't feel like he was in the right state of mind for any social games. He just wanted to get out of this inheritance with Xiaorong and go find Tianyi.

"Kid! Come over here," A man who appeared to be in his forties called out. He had a thick black beard and was one of the few men Shu Yang had seen who cut their hair short. He was also the only Foundation expert present.

'Kid? I guess he might be well over a hundred. It's fine to call me a kid, then.' Shu Yang obviously wasn't going to reveal his true strength right away. He needed to understand the current situation first. So he put on a nervous smile and walked toward the group at the other end of the grand hall. There were six of them. A young, quite beautiful woman with red hair was sitting on the ground in front of the huge gates, with a lot of scattered papers around her.

Standing behind her was a young, handsome man who was looking back at Shu Yang with a small frown. Then there was a very old man with a peaceful, smiling face. He was standing next to a man who looked to be in his thirties. The younger man also smiled, looking like a younger version of the old man. Finally, there was a man clothed in black, his face covered, who was sitting some distance away from the others. He looked like he was meditating, minding his own business.

"How did you get past the formations?" The sixth person, the Foundation cultivator, asked with a stern face when Shu Yang got close.

"Er, well, I know a bit about them, and I suppose I got a bit lucky," Shu Yang answered, scratching the back of his head.

"It took you this long?" The Foundation man questioned.

"Well, it was a bit tricky, wasn't it?" Shu Yang answered.

"It certainly was," The old man with a kind smile broke in. His hands were clasped behind his back as he approached Shu Yang with a back slightly bent from old age. Shu Yang could tell he was strong, but not a Foundation cultivator. That was the case for everyone in the hall besides the man questioning him.

'Is my low strength suspicious?'

"Do you mind if I ask him a few questions, Senior Ding Quang?" The old man turned to ask the Foundation cultivator.

"Go ahead," The man, Ding Quang, answered in a bit more pleasant tone.

"Hello, young man, my name is Fan Shimo. What's yours?" The old man introduced himself and asked Shu Yang.

"Zhuo Zhangye," Shu Yang said, once again using his missing friend's name as an alias.

"Do you mind telling me your experience in the trial?" Fan Shimo asked. The other five had all turned to look at him, seemingly listening intently. Shu Yang thought about how to answer for a second. Lying might get complicated.

'Should I just refuse to answer? See the attitude of these people?' Shu Yang wavered between lying and telling the truth for a moment before deciding to play a little more hard to get. He wanted some answers, too, and with his advanced sword intent, he wasn't scared of this Ding Quang person.

"What did you all experience?" Shu Yang asked back, looking around at the people there, "How long have you been here? What's the deal with this huge door? Is it another formation?"

"We're the ones asking the questions, kid; just answer honestly," Ding Quang said, his frown deepening.

'So irritable?'

"It's fine. Of course, he would be curious. I can explain everything, young master Zhuo Zhangye," Fan Shimo hurried to interject.

"Is this guy stupid? No need to explain anything, Master Shimo. Answer or you're dead," The young man who had been standing behind the only woman there cut in. He swaggered over to Ding Quang's side as he spoke.

"I thought we all agreed…" Fan Shimo looked toward the arrogant young man with a helpless expression.

"He wasn't there when he agreed not to fight each other. Obviously, it doesn't count for him," The young man said. Shu Yang frowned slightly. He didn't actually want to get in a fight. Hiding his strength was an important trump card. But it seemed like no one would take him seriously if he were too weak.

'This isn't like me.' Shu Yang thought, sighing inwardly. He knew he might be able to get away with it by acting meek and asking for forgiveness, obediently answering their questions. But he didn't feel like it. Perhaps the months in the tunnel had made him irritable, but Shu Yang really couldn't suppress his rising annoyance.

'I didn't manage to get this far by relying on others. I can't let these people control me going forward.' Shu Yang drew his sword and, from dozens of feet away, cut off the young man's hair that had been tied up in some kind of ponytail.

"Fine, give it a try. I've had some insight into the sword lately that I want to test out," Shu Yang said.

"Sword intent?" The young man jumped back and turned to Ding Quang and asked, "Uncle, what level is it at? How come it felt so…" Ding Quang looked at Shu Yang with narrowed eyes, "4th-tier sword intent at just the 2nd stage of Qi Refining? That's a first."

"4th tier!?" Not just the arrogant young man, but the others in the room all exclaimed at Ding Quang's information. Even the black-clothed man a bit further away glanced over, looking at Shu Yang curiously.

'4th tier? What does that mean?'

'How come they all seem to know about it? What use were those books I bought if they don't tell me something like this?'

"Is that how you got through the formations? You cut your way through?" Fan Shimo asked with bright eyes.

"Yeah," Shu Yang nodded. He didn't mind answering the old man.

"Does it really take 4-tier sword intent to get through some low-grade formations?" Ding Quang asked, looking toward Fan Shimo.

"Perhaps the formations took his sword intent into account. Did you improve your sword intent recently? Was the 3-tier not enough?" Fan Shimo asked. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

'How come I'm being questioned again?' Shu Yang didn't really hold it against the old man. He gave Shu Yang the impression of a scholar hearing about a subject he was interested in.

"You guys answer first. What's going on here?" Shu Yang asked.

"Arrogant," The arrogant young man snorted.

"Please excuse young master Ding Yilang; it's been quite a stressful few months for us all. Why don't we take a walk, and I'll explain everything?" Fan Shimo suggested. Shu Yang wasn't actually looking for a fight. He just didn't want these people to have all the control. It might be reckless to reveal his strength, but if he didn't, he would leave his fate in the hands of strangers. He didn't like that. Shu Yang nodded at the old man's suggestion, and the two of them walked away a bit.

The grand hall they were in was almost a mile long, so there was plenty of space.

"Ask away, and this old man will try to clear up any confusion," Fan Shimo said, stroking his beard and looking up to Shu Yang with a smile.

"Thank you, senior," Shu Yang said politely.

"Haha," Fan Shimo chuckled, "I might have a higher cultivation than you, but with your sword intent, I wouldn't dare call myself a senior."

"Right. Well, to start, what is this place? How long have you been here?" Shu Yang asked.

"We don't know much more than you, but this place gives off the feeling of a final test, doesn't it?" Fan Shimo asked.

"A bit," Shu Yang said.

"Well, the first to arrive was Ding Quang. he should have gotten here very quickly, within a month at least," Fan Shimo continued.

"He's a formation master?" Shu Yang asked.

"He says he has dabbled a bit," Fan Shimo answered, "But no. The reason he got here so quickly is thanks to the Bloodline Ability of the Ding family. You haven't heard of it?" Shu Yang shook his head.

"They can increase their strength greatly for a short period of time," Fan Shimo said, "It's one of the most impressive bloodlines in all of Yuanchi Immortal Land. People who have truly mastered it, like Ding Quang, can even control the duration. A few minutes with a bit more strength, down to a second with an incredible increase in power. He made it all the way here through sheer brute force."

'Huh. And I thought my Bloodline Ability was overpowered in this place.'

"Is that Ding Yilang the same?" Shu Yang asked.

"No. He has the same Bloodline Ability, of course, but he isn't a Foundation cultivator and hasn't learned to control it yet. Ding Quang went to get him after he made it here," Fan Shimo answered.

"Went to get him? You can do that?" Shu Yang asked.

"Yes," Fan Shimo answered, and pointed to the small doorway Shu Yang had entered through, "There are ten entrances to this hall, but there are thousands of people participating in the trial. You might not have noticed it, but after you cleared the final formation, you passed by hundreds of hidden entrances, all leading to another trialtaker. I helped guide Ding Quang to his nephew after I got here, and it was easy for us to help him out."

'That…seems like cheating, doesn't it?'

'But then there might be a way for me to find Xiaorong.' He had been waiting for a paw to touch his cheek, but hadn't felt anything, so he guessed Xiaorong was still stuck somewhere.

"I don't know why that is allowed, but nothing happened to us when we did," Fan Shimo continued.

"I also went to get my grandson afterward. I must admit that his knowledge of formations still isn't quite up to par."

"And the other two?" Shu Yang asked.

"They got here on their own," Fan Shimo answered, "Song Hongchi, the girl, has been studying formations in her family since a young age and is now a disciple of a formation master in the Green River Sect. Hanzhu, the man clothed in black, hasn't really opened up about his way of getting through yet. It might be a Bloodline Ability that he is reluctant to share; some families like to keep them secret. He hasn't glanced at this formation yet, so I assume he didn't get here by mastering formations."

"Is it the Song and Ding families of Shenchu Immortal City?" Shu Yang couldn't help but ask.

"That's right," Fan Shimo nodded.

'Maybe they know something useful, then.' The Song and Ding families were two of the five families in charge of Shenchu Immortal City, along with the Qing family. If anyone outside the Qing family knew about the people they kidnapped, it would be those families.

"How is your knowledge about formations, if you don't mind me asking?" Fan Shimo asked.

"Basically non-existent," Shu Yang answered honestly.

"Well, you are young. There is still plenty of time to learn. This place is rather suitable for that endeavor. I expect that your sword intent could prove useful when we start breaking the formation. That is how you managed to pass the trials, correct?" Fan Shimo asked.

"Right," Shu Yang answered, glancing at the front of the hall, "So it's a formation? That huge door? You're all cooperating with each other to solve it?"

"That's the idea," Fan Shimo said with a nod.

"Is it very difficult? You must have been trying for a long time," Shu Yang said, a little worried. These people had both strength and expertise, yet had struggled for months even while working together.

"It is indeed very challenging; I've never seen anything like it before. Then again, True Person Jiami used a rather unique school of formation, rarely seen elsewhere. I find myself lacking when I try to understand it all. The Song girl is better; perhaps she has a more agile mind, but she is our best chance of solving this thing right now," Fan Shimo said, shaking his head slightly.

"True Person Jiami?" Shu Yang asked.

"The one who set up this inheritance, most likely," Fan Shimo said, "Most formation masters use natural formations, inspired by the ones that occur in nature, with no influence of humans. We examine the flow of spiritual qi, we make schematics, we borrow from nature, and try to replicate what it shows us.

"But hundreds of years ago, a certain very successful cultivator went about it another way. He was inspired by the patterns of talismans, and created a path of formations that was more…well, I don't actually know much about it, and I'm still learning myself. Anyway, the formations set up in the trial all resemble the kind of formations that True Person Jiami worked with. Since he was an Elder in the Silver Feather Sect, we believe this inheritance is most likely his."

"I see," Shu Yang said, nodding along but not quite understanding what was so different about these formations. But then again, he really hadn't come into close contact with any other formations.

"Why would he set up his inheritance here and not in his sect?"

"Who knows? Perhaps he didn't want a sect disciple to inherit it. But during the time he lived, which if I remember correctly was about 700 years ago, Yuanchi Immortal Land was under the rule of the Silver Feather Sect, so it's not a completely unreasonable location," Fan Shimo answered.

"Right," Shu Yang said, looking at the huge door blocking his path out and feeling a little helpless.

'Do I need to start learning formations? I don't have the time for that.'

'I guess I'll wait for a few days and see. When my Bloodline Ability recovers, I'll see if I can find a way forward.'

"Do we all share the inheritance, or what's the deal?" Shu Yang asked.

"On the surface, yes. But… well, it's hard to say what will actually happen. Right now, everyone is just thinking of making it out of here. Thinking too far ahead is useless. We don't really know why we gather at the same place, either. It doesn't make much sense if you ask me. Our previous trials were all adjusted to our individual cultivation. It was fair. But this one? Not even Ding Quang can break through it with his Bloodline Ability.

I pity the Song girl; even if she has all the talent in the world, it's impossible for her to break out of a high-grade 2nd-stage formation as a Qi Refiner."

'It's dependent on our strength? Then…' Shu Yang frowned slightly, 'I guess I really do count as a Foundation cultivator. No way those formations were adjusted for a 2nd-stage Qi Refiner.'

'I guess that makes sense. Someone who could set all this up wouldn't be fooled so easily.'

'But what's the deal with this final formation? How are we supposed to break it?'

"Have you made any progress so far?" Shu Yang asked.

"Of course. Plenty," Fan Shimo answered, "But the finish line is still out of sight, I'm afraid. We'll be here for a while, so we'll just have to try our best to get along."

"Right," Shu Yang said, glancing at Ding Yilang.

"That is, unless someone doesn't break it from outside," Fan Shimo added.

"What do you mean?" Shu Yang asked.

"What happened here definitely wouldn't be hidden for long," Fan Shimo said, "The inheritance of a Golden Core cultivator is an entirely different thing from the inheritance of a Foundation cultivator. I bet several Elders of the Green River Sect are already outside, waiting to capture the first person to make it out. Perhaps even the Silver Feather Sect has sent people over." Shu Yang froze.

'Golden Core cultivators? What have I gotten myself into?' Shu Yang cursed his terrible luck. He swore that if he ever made it out, this would be the last time he entered an inheritance. He was much better off staying home and raising children.

"So you see, petty squabbles amongst ourselves really aren't worth it," Fan Shimo said, patting Shu Yang's arm with a kind smile, "We have plenty of other things to worry about."