362: With the heart of an apprentice!

After Wang Ying, Young Master Lin, and his brother left, Second Madam, Third Madam, and Fourth Madam sent people to offer congratulations, and even the Family Head and Grand Elder sent their representatives.

The person sent by the Family Head was an old man.

Xu Sanyan looked at Spring Plum, who was trembling like a sieve, and then at the short old man in front of him, unable to understand why Spring Plum was so afraid of him.

“Seventh Grandfather, please have some tea.” Spring Plum respectfully poured tea for the old man.

The old man nodded, looked at Spring Plum, and pondered for a moment, “Hmm, your name is… Spring Plum, right?”

“It is indeed this servant.”

Although Spring Plum was also a member of the Wang family, she was extremely marginalized; there was no difference between them and servants.

After pouring the tea, Spring Plum obediently withdrew, leaving the space to the two of them.

A glint flashed in Xu Sanyan’s eyes; in his opinion, the old man’s cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

He knew this was impossible; if this old man only had Foundation Establishment cultivation, he wouldn’t have made Spring Plum so afraid, nor would he have such a high status.

So there was only one explanation: this old man possessed an extremely profound Breath Concealment Technique.

“Congratulations, Young Master Lin, on your significant cultivation advancement; achieving the He Dao Realm is just around the corner, which is also a joyous occasion for the Wang family.”

The old man’s face was full of smiles, and his tone was gentle; he did not act superior due to his age, treating Xu Sanyan as an equal during their conversation.

Xu Sanyan waved his hand, “Haha, it was merely luck, not worth mentioning.”

The old man continued, “Young Master and Young Miss’s wedding day is approaching; why not invite your esteemed elders from home to witness this momentous life event together?”

Heh…

Xu Sanyan sneered inwardly; so this was the Wang family’s true objective, to seize his weakness and make it difficult for him to escape their control.

Not to mention he had no parents, even if he did, it would be impossible to bring them here.

So Xu Sanyan lowered his gaze, a mournful expression appearing on his face, “Alas, to tell you the truth, Seventh Uncle, my father and mother passed away long ago, leaving me alone in this world; even if I wanted to invite them, I couldn’t.”

“So that’s how it is, truly a pity…”

The old man feigned contemplation, then asked curiously, “I heard that Young Master Lin’s younger brother came a few days ago; I wonder where he is now?”

Xu Sanyan was not surprised; he had not concealed it when he brought Lin Fan in, so it was normal for the Wang family to know.

“Oh, him? He has a restless nature; he’s probably off playing somewhere, I don’t even know where.”

“Heh heh, so that’s how it is.”

The old man said no more, exchanged a few pleasantries, then stood up to bid farewell.

After seeing him off, Xu Sanyan sat alone in the stone pavilion in the courtyard, closing his eyes in contemplation.

A few days ago, the Wang family’s Great Formation was utilized by Zuoqiu Zhen, causing quite a stir, but the Wang family did not react much, seemingly intending to suppress the matter.

Xu Sanyan guessed that it might be because the appearance of the Wang family’s Old Ancestor in the ancestral hall was not presentable, which was why the Wang family did not openly conduct widespread searches but only investigated in secret.

The old man’s inquiry about Lin Fan’s whereabouts just now might also be due to suspicion towards him; after all, such an incident occurred right after Lin Fan arrived in the Inner city, which was too coincidental and naturally led to speculation.

Moreover, after this incident concluded, Lin Fan disappeared again, further increasing suspicion.

“Sigh…”

Xu Sanyan shook his head, no longer dwelling on these thoughts, and with a thought, he opened his panel and began to upgrade the “Na Hun Cun Ming Great Formation Detailed Explanation.”

This Formation encompasses myriad aspects and is extremely broad; as long as he could thoroughly comprehend this Formation, it would not be an exaggeration to call himself a Great Master of Formations.

Countless Formation knowledge flooded his mind; this feeling of knowledge entering his brain on its own was addictive.

Because he had upgraded it twice before, he already had some understanding of Formations, so this upgrade felt much easier.

Time slowly passed, and half an hour later, Xu Sanyan shook his heavy head and slowly opened his eyes.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear it anymore, but that his “Qi” was exhausted.

During his Breakthrough two days ago, he had used up most of the “Qi” on his panel, and today it was completely depleted.

He glanced at the panel; the “Na Hun Cun Ming Great Formation Detailed Explanation” had been upgraded from beginner to intermediate, proving that he had a profound understanding of this Formation.

By now, he had already upgraded it three times, finally reaching the intermediate level, but Xu Sanyan felt no joy in his heart; he knew that intermediate was just the beginning, and it would become more difficult the further he went.

To put it more intuitively, from not-yet-started to beginner is like going from zero to ten, while from beginner to intermediate is like going from ten to one hundred.

As for from intermediate to Perfection, it is from one hundred to infinity.

Intermediate was just the beginning; Xu Sanyan clearly knew his own limitations; currently, in the Dao of Formations, he was merely an apprentice.

“A true Great Master always carries the heart of an apprentice.”

Xu Sanyan couldn’t recall where he had heard this saying, but he felt it made a lot of sense.

The Dao is boundless; as his cultivation grew deeper, he understood the meaning of this sentence even more.

If you stand at the foot of a mountain, you can only see the majestic peak before you; once you reach the mountainside, you can behold the rolling peaks; only when you ascend to the summit can you truly comprehend the vastness of the world.

He was currently on the mountainside, striving to climb to the peak.

Xu Sanyan collected his thoughts and closed his eyes, pondering the Formation.

A long while later,

Xu Sanyan suddenly opened his eyes, breathing rapidly, his eyes filled with astonishment.

He had just touched upon the part that Zuoqiu Zhen had mentioned earlier, the so-called “seizing of the Heavenly Dao’s authority.”

Upon first contact, it greatly startled him; to set up that Formation, it actually required a blood sacrifice!

And it wasn’t just any ordinary blood sacrifice; if merely killing a few people would suffice, Xu Sanyan wouldn’t have been so surprised. It was truly that the Formation’s description was too contrary to nature.

To seize the Heavenly Dao, one must first defile the Heavenly Dao!

When the Heavenly Dao is defiled, it will spontaneously separate from this realm, but its authority will still remain; at this point, it can be refined, and then one can control the Heavenly Dao.

Of course, with Xu Sanyan’s current cultivation, he was not yet capable of controlling an entire complete Heavenly Dao, but even controlling a small part of it would be sufficient for him.

Because every Heavenly Dao possesses a unique nature; if Xu Sanyan were to control it, then other Cultivators following the same path would no longer have any possibility of Immortal Ascension.

It’s like a bowl of water placed somewhere; if Xu Sanyan drinks more, others drink less.

If Xu Sanyan drinks the entire bowl of water and then smashes the bowl, then others completely lose hope, unless they kill him and somehow extract that bowl of water again.

Although it sounds simple, it is very difficult to do; ordinary He Dao Realm Cultivators, let alone refining the Heavenly Dao, would find it difficult even to borrow a trace of Heavenly Dao power.

To initially control the Heavenly Dao, one would need to be at least in the Sage Realm.

But the “Soul-Gathering Life-Preserving Grand Formation” can help you refine the Great Dao!

However, it is not that easy to achieve.

The original text of the Formation stated, “This Formation acts against the Heavens, it is the inverse of the Heavenly Dao. It requires defiling the Heavenly Dao with blood Qi. With Heaven and Earth as the Formation base, and towering blood Qi as the Formation eyes. There are five Formation eyes, corresponding to the five directions, and the earth veins serve as the Formation patterns, connecting the Formation eyes.”

“When the Formation activates, all things perish, and the Heavenly Dao weeps blood!”