"Even you, Senior Sister, are not a match for that guy?" Lin Chen frowned and asked as he listened to Zi Ling mention that powerful presence from the Heaven Hall.
"Yes, I can't beat him either. Before Senior Brother entered the Inner Sect, that guy used to be taught a lesson by the Senior Brother. But ever since Senior Brother joined the Inner Sect, no one has been able to suppress him. That's why the Yellow Hall has declined to its current state. But you don't need to worry too much, Junior Brother. That guy is currently in seclusion and won't be causing you any trouble for the time being," Zi Ling sincerely said to Lin Chen.
Hearing Zi Ling's words, Lin Chen couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He really appreciated Zi Ling, no wonder no one has joined the Yellow Hall all these years — it turns out there's such an unfriendly person towards the Yellow Hall.
Lin Chen instantly felt a sense of tension. After all, since joining the Yellow Hall, in the Four Great Halls, the Yellow Hall is the least among them, but disciples from the other three halls are all extremely fearful of Zi Ling, this violent figure. So, with Zi Ling protecting them, Lin Chen and the others feel very secure. However, now, there's someone whom even Zi Ling can't defeat, which immediately brings a sense of crisis.
Lin Chen was still okay; even if he couldn't defeat that powerful presence, he also had ways to protect himself. But once that powerful person comes out of seclusion, if they find trouble with Yu Weilian and others, how would they protect themselves? Thinking of this, Lin Chen realized he needed to quickly enhance his strength. Additionally, he should seize the time to illuminate the Seventh Star Map in the Second Layer Space. In this way, he could speed up his training in that unfamiliar world to reinforce his physique.
Therefore, Zi Ling led Lin Chen and Yu Weilian and others back to the Yellow Hall. As for Zhang Yuan, they completely ignored him and let him wail endlessly since it was his own fault.
...
When Lin Chen and others returned to the Yellow Hall, Zhuang Xiaoqin also returned to her place in the Spirit Formation Hall. The residence where she and her Junior Sister lived was very spacious, and her Master resided in a tall building in the deepest part.
Returning to her place, Zhuang Xiaoqin found her Master pacing back and forth, muttering to himself while looking at the Spiritual Formation books.
"In the Cloud Dragon Kingdom, there is actually someone with such advanced spiritual formation expertise, and they've even visited the Yunlong Heavenly Palace, yet I didn't perceive anything, not even receiving a single piece of news, which is indeed strange. Who could it possibly be?" Wang Tong was deep in thought, pondering the person who altered his formation in the Flame Valley, as mentioned by Duan Yuanfeng.
In terms of spiritual formation expertise, Wang Tong considered himself unrivaled throughout the entire Cloud Dragon Kingdom. However, the Formation Master who perfected the Flame Valley turned out to have superior expertise than him. This left him completely puzzled.
"Master, what happened?" Zhuang Xiaoqin couldn't help but ask as she saw her Master's strange behavior. After all, her Master had never shown such behavior before.
"Disciple, today when I went to Flame Valley to see Old Man Duan, I discovered the Gathering Fire Spirit Flame Array I set for Old Man Duan had actually been modified." Wang Tong told Zhuang Xiaoqin about the encounter he had that day.
"Someone dared to alter the formation set by Master? That's truly bold. The Gathering Fire Spirit Flame Array isn't something that can be changed on a whim. If there's any mishap, it might trigger a riot of the Earth Spirit Fire in the Flame Valley, which could lead to a catastrophe," Zhuang Xiaoqin exclaimed in surprise upon hearing her Master's words.
However, since Wang Tong was here now, it seemed the problem had been resolved. Nevertheless, Zhuang Xiaoqin was curious about who dared to modify her Master's formation.
Upon hearing Zhuang Xiaoqin's words, Wang Tong waved his hand. "Disciple, you don't know. Although the Gathering Fire Spirit Flame Array was altered, it wasn't changed for the worse. On the contrary, the person who changed the formation perfectly fixed the flaws in my array arrangement." Wang Tong said, still deeply shocked and amazed.
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Xiaoqin was even more astonished. She was well acquainted with her Master's Gathering Fire Spirit Flame Array. When setting up that formation, Wang Tong had visited the Flame Valley with her to survey, and together they pondered for a long time before coming up with the most perfect formation method. However, even with her Master's spiritual formation expertise, the formation he set up was not able to absolutely control the Earth Spirit Fire, and it would riot periodically, requiring her Master to make adjustments occasionally. Yet now, hearing Wang Tong's words, it seemed the person who altered her Master's formation had completely remedied the issue of the Earth Spirit Fire riot.
Afterward, Wang Tong explained to Zhuang Xiaoqin the profound mysteries behind Lin Chen's alterations. Zhuang Xiaoqin listened but was bewildered, as such a level of spiritual formation mysteries was beyond her understanding. So Wang Tong patiently explained it to her.
"Remarkable! There is someone with such profound spiritual formation expertise within the Cloud Dragon Kingdom. If Master says so, wouldn't this person be..." Zhuang Xiaoqin said, shaken, looking at her Master, not completing her sentence.
"There's no need to think I'm offended. This person's spiritual formation expertise is certainly above mine. However, that old thing Duan wouldn't say a word about the whereabouts of that Spiritual Formation Master. If I could receive guidance from that Spiritual Formation Master, my spiritual formation realm would definitely advance further. I've been stuck at a bottleneck for centuries," Wang Tong said furiously.
Hearing her Master's words, an image of Lin Chen suddenly surfaced in Zhuang Xiaoqin's mind. She even wondered if the Spiritual Formation Master who modified her Master's Gathering Fire Spirit Flame Array might be Lin Chen. As soon as this thought emerged, it startled Zhuang Xiaoqin, causing her to quickly shake her head and dismiss it. After all, Lin Chen did possess profound spiritual formation mysteries, but how could someone so young be the person who perfected her Master's formation? If so, Lin Chen's spiritual formation expertise would be above her Master's level, which seems impossible.
Nonetheless, after Wang Tong mentioned this matter, Zhuang Xiaoqin's intuition told her that it might be related to Lin Chen in some way.
"Master, today during my class, I also encountered a disciple with exceptional spiritual formation talent. He..." Zhuang Xiaoqin informed her Master about Lin Chen during the Spirit Formation Hall's class today. Upon hearing Zhuang Xiaoqin's narration, Wang Tong's expression instantly changed drastically.