106: Select the combined attack formation

The Yin Spirit Realm, compared to Dao Soldiers, would be the Divine Travel Dao Soldier.

If his own Master, the Third Elder, could really get him a Yin Spirit Realm Monster Corpse, Lu Chen could cultivate at least two Divine Travel Dao Soldiers, and one of them would be a special Red Dragon Dao Soldier, not just in name, but one that could truly transform into a Red Dragon.

For the next two days, Lu Chen heeded the advice and didn't rush to the Wan Fa Pavilion, but continued his closed-door cultivation.

Over the past two months, his Qi Refinement cultivation had seen explosive growth thanks to the 'tongming flower' given by his old friend Li Jinyi, directly advancing from late Spirit Transformation to mid Xuan Fa Realm. The key was, the 'tongming flower' wasn't even used up yet.

There was likely still a small petal left, which Lu Chen estimated would be enough for him to break through to late Xuan Fa Realm, or even reach Great Perfection.

While his Qi Refinement cultivation surged, his Body Refinement cultivation wasn't idle either. After receiving cultivation feedback from over a hundred Golden Armor Dao Soldiers and more than twenty Five Elements Dao Soldiers, he had successfully broken through his limitations. Currently, Lu Chen was a true Dao Infant Realm Body Refinement Cultivator, far ahead of his Qi Refinement cultivation.

Furthermore, in terms of True Intent comprehension, thanks to the alternating insights gained from merging with the Five Elements Dao Soldiers, Lu Chen's Earth Style True Intent had already entered the eighth layer, and the remaining Fire Style, Water Style, Wood Style, and Gold Style True Intents had all entered the seventh layer, making his Divine Soul terrifyingly solid.

Without exaggeration, even excluding the Dao Soldiers, with Lu Chen's current strength, he could definitely walk sideways among those in the Dao Infant Realm.

Furthermore, the current Lu Chen was no longer the Lu Chen who initially lacked combat experience. He frequently sparred with his Dao Soldiers and would have them surround and attack him using methods previously used to surround and kill various Dao Infant Realm and Xuan Fa Realm demonic beasts, often allowing him to last longer than the demonic beasts that were surrounded.

Of course, with the Dao Soldiers present, especially the more than one hundred and eighty Dao Soldiers currently within the Nurturing Soldier Immortal Coffin, Lu Chen had no need to personally act at all.

What was the strength of Doujian Peak?

Excluding the Third Elder, this Peak Lord whose strength was unfathomable, there were also eight other Elders and two direct Disciples. Even including Zhou Jiqing, who had just broken through to the Dao Infant Realm, there were still only eleven Dao Embryos in total.

The remaining Disciples ranged from the Spirit Transformation Realm to the Xuan Fa Realm.

In contrast, Lu Chen had twenty-four Five Elements Dao Soldiers equivalent to Dao Embryos, and a full one hundred and sixty-one Golden Armor Dao Soldiers equivalent to the Xuan Fa Realm.

If the Third Elder did not act, Lu Chen alone could probably push through the entire Doujian Peak.

Of course, to be safe, it would be best to have the Dao Soldiers cultivate combined battle formations.

On this day, the Third Elder stepped onto the main peak where the Sect Leader resided, and finally emerged with a sigh.

The Sect Leader was still cultivating diligently as always. But the Third Elder knew that this Sect Leader simply didn't want to move, and it was even difficult to get this Sect Leader to step out the door.

However, it didn't matter. It was just a mere Yin Spirit Realm demonic beast. If he couldn't persuade the Sect Leader, then he would kill it himself; it wouldn't be slow either way.

Also on this day, a 'stirring wind' suddenly blew through the Inner Sect of Dongming Sect. The Sword Fighting Peak Lord would take Lu Chen as a direct Disciple, and Doujian Peak was now bustling with activity, with most Disciples busy preparing for the Master-apprentice ceremony two days later.

During this time, it naturally drew exclamations and envy from the Disciples of various peaks, but the vast majority of Inner Sect Disciples were aware of Lu Chen's strength and had personally witnessed the power of Lu Chen's Dao Soldiers in the Ancient Demon Remnant Tomb.

Being taken as a direct Disciple by the Third Elder was not surprising at all.

On the contrary, *not* being taken as a direct Disciple would have been abnormal.

One could only say it was a natural progression, happening as a matter of course.

On this day, Lu Chen quietly emerged from his seclusion and went to the Hall of Skill Transmission in the Outer Sect, visiting the Skill Transmission Elder Lü Hongguang, which greatly pleased this Elder, who praised Lu Chen endlessly.

Afterwards, Lu Chen had a long talk with Deacon Zhou Song, an acquaintance who had previously opened a back door for him, at the Internal Affairs Hall in the Outer Sect, finally leaving Deacon Zhou Song a 'small' token of gratitude.

Returning kindness for kindness, this deacon had helped him when he was weak. Now that Lu Chen's strength and status had both improved, he naturally couldn't pretend nothing had happened; he had to show his gratitude. This was Lu Chen's consistent principle of conduct.

In this world, no one owes you anything. If others treat you well, you must return it.

Finally, Lu Chen went to the Internal Affairs Hall in the Inner Sect. The Merit Points from the Ancient Demon Remnant Tomb hadn't been collected yet, so he naturally couldn't just leave them there.

Incidentally, the accumulated Qi Condensation Realm and Spirit Transformation Realm Monster Corpses also needed to be sold and exchanged for Merit Points.

The deacon at the Internal Affairs Hall was busy for quite a while because of this before finally settling Lu Chen's Merit Points.

The merit for killing a Dao Infant Realm Old Wolf Demon earned five hundred Merit Points, and the Ancient Demon Remnant Tomb mission reward was one hundred. These were minor amounts. The most important part was that Lu Chen exchanged too many Qi Condensation Realm and Spirit Transformation Realm Monster Corpses, directly exceeding a thousand. Accumulating little by little, he finally obtained a full eight thousand Merit Points.

This made the eyes of the many Disciples still in the Internal Affairs Hall turn red with envy.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to envy here. The other Disciples were risking their lives, and killing a demonic beast of the same Realm was already quite difficult. How could they compare to Lu Chen? He didn't even show his face; his numerous Dao Soldiers were already killing their way in and out of the monster mountain, earning a full harvest.

"Damn it, I've decided! From today onwards, I will cultivate the Puppet Technique. I, Ye, will also become a Master of the Puppet Technique like Senior Brother Lu!" A Disciple made up his mind.

In fact, this wasn't the first. In the past two months, almost all the Inner Sect Disciples from the various peaks had started a trend of cultivating the Puppet Technique, and even some Elders were studying and researching the Puppet Technique.

What was the use of just being envious?

Lu Chen could refine so many Puppets and cultivate astonishing Puppet Techniques, couldn't they cultivate and refine them too?

"The Puppet Technique is also difficult to cultivate. The key is, it costs too many spiritual stones! Everything requires spiritual stones, and it's unknown if you can even refine a useful Puppet in the end. To cultivate to the level of Senior Brother Lu, who knows how long it would take!" Some Disciples who had passed the initial feverish period said helplessly.

Senior Brother Lu's approach really wasn't something just anyone could learn; it simply wouldn't work.

Not staying long in the Internal Affairs Hall, Lu Chen smiled and responded to the numerous Inner Sect Disciples who greeted him, then headed straight for the Wan Fa Pavilion.

As for what the Third Elder had instructed, to go after the Master-apprentice ceremony, Lu Chen simply couldn't wait any longer.

What loss could he suffer by going to the Wan Fa Pavilion?

Wasn't what he wanted Merit Points?

Grandpa Lu was not short on Merit Points now. Including the remaining Merit Points from before, Lu Chen's Merit Points had already reached eighteen thousand seven hundred and fifty-six.

Moreover, if needed, Lu Chen could also take out nearly a thousand Tong Qiao Realm Monster Corpses to exchange.

In a word, he wasn't short on Merit Points.

He should first exchange for the combined battle formations he needed most.

Upon entering the Wan Fa Pavilion, Lu Chen went straight to the section for combined battle formations. He didn't care about their quality or rank; he took down all the combined battle formations from the Twofold Tactics Formation, the Three Talents Formation, up to the Nine Palaces Formation, and after exchanging for Wood Style Spells, he finally arrived before the Pavilion Guarding Elder.

The only slight regret was that Lu Chen had not found the most famous formations within the Sect: the 《Great Earthly Fiend Subduing Demon Formation》, the 《Great Heavenly Stem Imprisoning Immortal Formation》, and the 《Heavenly Stem Earthly Fiend Immortal Slaying Formation》.

But it didn't matter. After becoming a Disciple of the Third Elder, he could ask his Master about it later.

"You want all of these?" The Pavilion Guarding Elder looked up in surprise, gazing at Lu Chen.

Honestly speaking, he had been guarding this Wan Fa Pavilion for hundreds of years, but he had truly never seen anyone as extravagant as Lu Chen, exchanging for a large number of battle formations and Spells at once.

Not to mention the purpose of so many combined battle formations, just exchanging for all of them would require no small amount of Merit Points.

Furthermore, are you sure you're not planning to take these numerous combined battle formations and start your own Sect outside?

Otherwise, what would you need so many combined battle formations for?

These things aren't meant for solo cultivation. Even if cultivated, it's done by several Disciples, or even dozens of Disciples, cultivating together, each cultivating their own position within the formation and combined techniques, all different from each other.

And Lu Chen, you're just one person with two hands. Could it be you want to form a formation by yourself?

"Please trouble the Elder to count them. Disciple wants all of these," Lu Chen responded truthfully.

The Pavilion Guarding Elder was silent for a moment, then without saying more, after counting them, he spoke, "Twelve sets of combined battle formations, are you sure you want all of them?"

Lu Chen nodded heavily, extremely certain and firm.

"The cost is forty-eight thousand nine hundred Merit Points," the Pavilion Guarding Elder said with a half-smile.

Subsequently, the silence shifted to Lu Chen.

He picked too quickly and forgot to check the Merit Points cost.

Also, why could combined battle formations be so expensive?

"The value of combined battle formations lies in their ability to allow the weak to overcome the strong, giving weaker Cultivators a chance to defeat powerful Cultivators through numbers. This is one of the Sect's important inheritances," as if seeing through Lu Chen's thoughts, the Pavilion Guarding Elder spoke unhurriedly, "I've heard you are an exceptional talent in the path of Puppets. I can roughly guess some of your ideas."

Pausing, the Pavilion Guarding Elder selected one from the twelve sets of combined battle formations, "You might as well start with the simplest Twofold Tactics Formation. If you can thoroughly understand it, adding two by two, and repeating the process, you can also create a large Twofold Tactics Formation for twenty, or even two hundred people. However, the more people you add, the greater the flaws will be. You must remember this point."

'A small Twofold Tactics Formation won't be enough for my Dao Soldiers.'

Lu Chen nodded in agreement, indicating he had received the instruction, and at the same time took out a 'purple jade token' he had obtained when he entered the Inner Sect with an A+ evaluation.

This purple jade token with an A+ evaluation allowed him to choose any three inheritances from the Wan Fa Pavilion, be it Spells, cultivation methods, battle formations, etc.

"If there are no surprises, the Twenty-Four Constellation Greedy Wolf Battle Formation, the 《Twelve Earthly Branches Battle Formation》, and this Ten Capital Fierce Calculation Battle Formation should have the highest Merit Points cost. I'll just use this purple jade token to exchange for them!"

The Pavilion Guarding Elder's eyebrow twitched: This kid, a real nouveau riche!

Taking them meant he could truly afford them.

"These three great battle formations together are worth forty-one thousand Merit Points. You just need to add seven thousand nine hundred Merit Points," the Pavilion Guarding Elder silently removed the privilege on the purple jade token that allowed free exchange for three techniques in the Wan Fa Pavilion and returned it to Lu Chen. At the same time, he took the identity jade token from Lu Chen's hand and deducted seven thousand nine hundred and ten Merit Points.

The extra ten Merit Points were the price of the Wood Style Spells.

Finally, the Pavilion Guarding Elder took out the complete battle formation inheritances and gave them all to Lu Chen in one go.

Looking at Lu Chen's retreating figure, the Pavilion Guarding Elder remained in a daze for a long time. "Puppet Technique, plus combined battle formations... This kid is extraordinary!"

But he had never heard of any cultivating Senior who had cultivated the Puppet Technique to look like Lu Chen!

...

Twofold, Three Talents, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Eight Trigrams, Nine Palaces, Ten Capitals, and also the Twelve Earthly Branches, Twenty-Four Constellations.

Which one to start with?

Of course, he would start from the lowest and thoroughly understand all of them, even cultivating the three strongest combined formations of Dongming Sect: the 'Great Earthly Fiend Subduing Demon Formation', the 'Great Heavenly Stem Imprisoning Immortal Formation', and the 'Heavenly Stem Earthly Fiend Immortal Slaying Formation'.

After all, Lu Chen didn't just have one or two Dao Soldiers; even the current one hundred and eighty-five were only temporary.

In the following time, Lu Chen paid no attention to outside matters, fully immersing himself in comprehending the battle formations.

Two days passed quickly. The Third Elder rushed back to Doujian Peak late on the second night, radiating a fierce aura.

The next day, Doujian Peak was unprecedentedly lively. The Peak Lords, Elders, and direct Disciples of the Peak Lords from all peaks arrived. Even the extremely rare Sect Leader came to Doujian Peak and sat alongside the Third Elder in the main seat.

The Master-apprentice ceremony went smoothly. No clowns jumped out to make Lu Chen lose face or give others a chance to show off in front of him.

It was the same for Zhou Jiqing, who was also promoted to a direct Disciple on the same day.

The words spoken by the Peak Lords, Elders, and direct Disciples of the various peaks were all praises, and they presented congratulatory gifts.

Like the Grand Elder's pleasantries: "Junior Nephew Lu is a young Heavenly Pride; his future achievements are limitless! However, from your Master, some things can be learned, and some things cannot!"

And like the Fifth Elder: "Junior Nephew Lu is an unprecedented Genius in the path of Puppet Techniques. In the future, you must remember not to stray onto 'crooked paths,' such as learning 'cheating and deceiving' from your Master. That is most undesirable!"

The three words 'most undesirable' were spoken with particular emphasis, and directed at the Third Elder with a glare.

But the Third Elder remained calm and composed, a smile on his lips, not even sparing the Fifth Elder a glance.

Embarrassed into anger, that's how it is!

After the Master-apprentice ceremony, it was naturally time for the banquet. Lu Chen had a pleasant conversation with the direct Disciples from the various peaks. There were even direct Disciples of the Danxia Peak Lord and the Zhubing Peak Lord humbly asking Lu Chen for advice on the Puppet Technique, which instantly left Lu Chen speechless.

Puppet Technique?

He knew nothing about the Puppet Technique! He could only change the subject.

Inside the main hall, the Grand Elder, the Third Elder, and six other Inner Sect Elders who were also Peak Lords were present, and even the Sect Leader was there.

"Old Three, this child Lu Chen, you truly never had any doubts?" The Grand Elder was the first to speak. "Whether it's cultivation talent, temperament, or methods, Lu Chen is someone I have only seen once in my life. That mysterious and unfathomable Puppet Technique is even more unheard of. If you say Lu Chen is not a Heavenly Pride born with a natural Spirit Treasure, I absolutely wouldn't believe it."

The Third Elder smiled helplessly. "This child Lu Chen is... *cough*, meticulous in his thoughts and good at concealing his sharpness. If he doesn't say it, who can know if he truly has a natural Spirit Treasure?

Furthermore, a natural Spirit Treasure is favored by heaven and earth, obtained through Luck, and outsiders cannot see it; even taking over the body is useless. Anyone born with a natural Spirit Treasure is equivalent to being protected by heaven and earth. My Disciple Lu Chen must also know this, but he still chose to hide his abilities, perhaps not wanting to stand out too much!"

The Second Elder said thoughtfully, "Junior Nephew Lu has his own path to walk, and we don't need to interfere forcefully. However, that kid Lu seems to be very interested in Monster Corpses, likely related to his strange Puppets. If the Sect intends to focus on cultivating him, it could provide resource allocation in this area."

The Fifth Elder said, "The Qing Ming Great Cleansing is approaching, and those other two Sects in the Southern Chu Kingdom are likely to become restless again. It's a good opportunity to let Junior Nephew Lu make a trip. Those two Sects have produced several Heavenly Prides born with natural Spirit Treasures, and perhaps they're about to lose sight of who is truly the heaven of this South Chu!

"At that time, we can just find some excuses and give Junior Nephew Lu the Monster Corpses he needs as rewards."

Although they were all Sect Elders and high-ranking officials, resource allocation also required reasons. Of course, ordinary Disciples could not obtain this type of allocated resource; it was basically predetermined, and other Disciples were destined to only participate in vain.

And Lu Chen was the one predetermined by the Sect. But this wasn't a connection obtained through backdoors; it was his absolute strength and talent that caught the Sect's attention.