For the past month, Tang Song had devoted almost all of his energy to refining the formation’s core. The formation disk in his hands was the very heart of the mountain-protecting formation, and it had to be refined together with Elder Zhao. Every control hub within it required Elder Zhao’s direct participation, some of them even completed by the elder alone under Tang Song’s guidance.
During the process, it wasn’t convenient to rely on earth fire in a fixed location, so he kept shuttling back and forth between Fangle Peak and Jinting Mountain, relying on the secret technique of his Golden Core stage cultivation: Dragon-scale Flame. By the late Golden Core stage, if a formation master couldn’t even command a fire technique, how could he dare to call himself a grandmaster?
But this technique was truly exhausting. It burned through his true qi at an alarming rate. After a month of this, Tang Song’s complexion was permanently flushed, the fire within him far too heavy.
By controlling the formation core, Elder Zhao could command all five sub-formations, twenty-eight minor formations, and over a hundred formation disks. Some of that control still had to be delegated, allowing several of the Zhao clan’s senior elders to operate parts of the formation’s functions. It was, in short, enormously complex.
Once the core was finished, Tang Song immediately summoned Liu Xiaolou and sent him running to Horse-Breeding Slope, Zhidun Ridge, Stone Valley, and Qionghan Pool to check and report on the progress at each of the ground-fire nodes, including the one at Half-mountain Terrace.
But Half-mountain Terrace wasn’t a major refining site, and Tang Song already had full control over its progress, so Liu Xiaolou mainly had to race around the other four places. After several days of this, he was nearly worn out.
“Jiang Feihe has finished the Qian Palace, Dui Palace, and Zhen Palace of the Northern Blackwater Formation, as well as the Bright Flame, Nether Flame, and Dark Resonance Flame of the Southern Li Fire Formation. He’s now working on the Ten-thousand Bamboo of the Eastern Greenwood Formation…”
“Fu Conglin has already refined the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird of the Western Four Spirits Formation, and the Ten-thousand Blossoms of the Eastern Greenwood Formation. He’s currently working on the Azure Dragon…”
“Diao Daoyi has completed the Gen Palace, Kun Palace, and Xun Palace of the Northern Blackwater Formation, the Black Tortoise of the Western Four Spirits Formation, and the Metal Geng, Wood Xu, and Water Gui of the Central Earth Formation. He’s now working on the Fire Xin…”
“Xing Wujiu has finished the Kan and Qian Palaces of the Northern Blackwater Formation, the Earth Jia of the Central Earth Formation, and the Ten-thousand Lotus of the Eastern Greenwood Formation. He’s currently working on the Life-fire Pill…”
Tang Song asked, “The seven formation disks that were sent back for verification, have they all been corrected?”
Liu Xiaolou nodded. “All corrected, and Master Jiang personally checked them again.”
Tang Song nodded. “Good… With those, plus the Li Palace you and Liu Daoran are refining at Half-mountain Terrace, the Northern Blackwater Nine Formations, the Western Four Spirits Four Formations, the Southern Li Fire Four Formations, the Eastern Greenwood Six Formations, and the Central Earth Five Formations will soon be complete! Excellent. Once they’re done, we can link them into the grand formation and begin trial deployment. Keep a close watch on every site. Within ten days it must all be finished. If any group delivers late, for each day of delay, every man loses one spirit stone.”
The punishment was no small matter. Formation masters could spend three or four exhausting months working on the grand formation, only to earn a reward of ten or twenty spirit stones.
Liu Xiaolou didn’t know how much the three Golden Core grandmasters—Tang, Jiang, and Long—were being paid, but someone as highly ranked as Diao Daoyi was receiving only thirty stones. For ordinary formation masters below Foundation Establishment, it was closer to fifteen. Losing one stone for every day of delay was a serious blow.
But Tang Song had no choice. The Zhao clan had given him only a hundred and twenty days. Whether they finished early or late, both rewards and penalties would be calculated against that fixed pool, so he had to enforce strict deadlines.
Liu Xiaolou immediately passed the order along. At every earth fire node, the workers pushed themselves to the limit, the sites blazing with activity.
After notifying Horse-Breeding Slope and the other locations, he hurried back to Half-mountain Terrace. The moment he arrived, he asked Liu Daoran, “Brother Daoran, how is it going? How are the Three Treasures True Cloud Talisman and the Dispersed True Essence Talisman disks coming along?”
Liu Daoran rubbed his stiff, numb cheeks with both hands. “The Three Treasures True Cloud Talisman is just finished.”
Liu Xiaolou let out a breath of relief, taking the formation disk and carefully inspecting it. “So quick, Brother Daoran? That’s great. Then our Li Nine Palace Formation disk should be ready before long, right?”
Liu Daoran shook his head. “Not that fast. The Dispersed True Essence Talisman isn’t done yet.”
“Exactly. Ten days to refine the Dispersed True Essence Talisman; perfect timing, isn’t it? Master Tang ordered that it must be finished within ten days.”
Liu Daoran froze. “Within ten days?”
“One day late, and you lose a spirit stone,” replied Liu Xiaolou.
Liu Daoran cried out, “This is terrible!”
The outburst startled Liu Xiaolou. “What’s wrong?”
Liu Daoran suddenly began pacing frantically around the earth fire vent, as if searching for something, though he neither found anything nor seemed to know what he was looking for. He muttered in a panic, “It’s over, it’s over, heavens above!”
Liu Xiaolou grabbed him by the arm. “What on earth happened?”
With a face like mourning, Liu Daoran said, “The Cloudscape Talisman hasn’t been fused yet!”
Liu Xiaolou was dumbfounded. “All these days, what have you been doing? You’ve only finished one formation disk? Does it really take that long just to smelt the materials? You’re supposed to be an old hand at this, Brother Daoran!”
Liu Daoran beat his chest and stomped his feet. “I was refining the Cloudscape Talisman formation disk!”
Liu Xiaolou looked even more baffled. “But you just said the Cloudscape Talisman hasn’t been fused?”
Liu Daoran said miserably, “I did refine the Cloudscape Talisman, but it was the kind that can’t see the light of day. I just had a sudden idea and started tinkering, adding things and adjusting. The version that would actually pass inspection, I never made it… How many spirit stones will they dock me for this? All that work for nothing. How am I supposed to explain this to my wife when I get home?”
Liu Xiaolou let go of him and dropped to the ground with a thud. “It’s over. You’ve completely dragged me down with you this time.”
Liu Daoran was at a loss for words for a moment. "Brother," he finally said, "how many stones were you supposed to earn from this job?”
Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “No one said exactly. Master Tang never told me, but I figure it should be seven or eight at least… How long of a delay are we looking at?”
With his heart aching, Liu Daoran forced himself to say, “I... I'll make it up to you, but it’ll take me a year. Is that alright?”
Liu Xiaolou stared at him in shock, hardly able to believe it. How could he even think of compensating me?
A wave of emotion washed over him. He stood up. “Let’s just hurry. Every day earlier means one less stone deducted.”
“Yes, yes, of course!” Liu Daoran, deeply ashamed, hurried to agree. “I’ll refine the Cloudscape Talisman. Brother, you handle the Dispersed True Essence Talisman?”
Liu Xiaolou said, “Let’s start by refining the Dispersed True Essence Talisman together. I saw at Diao Daoyi’s place that two or even three people could work on one formation disk at the same time, which saves a lot of time.”
“Joint refining? How does that work?”
“Place the formation disk over the fire vent. You and I sit opposite each other. You fuse the plant-based materials, I fuse the beast-based ones. Since our true qi is different, they repel each other when they come into contact. That keeps the spiritual materials from mixing together too easily and keeps their properties distinct, which speeds everything up.”
“I see… like a carpenter using a ruler and compass to mark lines?”
“Exactly.”
“Good, good. Let’s start right now!”
By the fourth day, they had already saved at least a day and a half of time. The remaining portion would probably take only two more days to finish. Liu Xiaolou left the rest to Liu Daoran, while he pulled back to work on a new jade pendant, quickly etching the talisman marks.
Still, he had to spend part of each day at Tang Song’s side to receive instructions, which made the schedule even tighter. He was forced to work through the nights without rest. Once the Dispersed True Essence Talisman disk was finally complete, they joined forces again to refine the Cloudscape Talisman disk.
On the tenth day, Liu Xiaolou returned from reporting to Tang Song and found Liu Daoran still hard at work. “How many more days will it take?” he asked.
Liu Daoran let out a sigh. “Five…”
Liu Xiaolou sank down weakly, watching the sweat on Daoran’s forehead. He knew it wasn’t from the labor, but from guilt and nerves. After a long silence, he said, “Stop working on it.”
Liu Daoran set down his tools, looking dejected. “Then what are we supposed to do?”
Liu Xiaolou said, “We’ll hand in the one you already made.”
Liu Daoran’s heart skipped a beat. “The one that shouldn’t be seen by anyone…”
Liu Xiaolou replied, “We’ll hand it in first. If Master Tang isn’t satisfied when he inspects it later and sends it back, then we redo it. That won’t count as a delay, so no spirit stones will be deducted.”