Traveling through time to cultivate immortality: a life and death test

As their understanding of cultivation deepens, cultivators primarily cultivate the three aspects of "Jing" (essence), "Qi" (spirit), and "Shen" (spirit and spirit), corresponding to physical strength, mana, and spiritual awareness. Human cultivators cultivate Qi primarily through Qi training. As their mana level rises, their physical strength and spiritual awareness also gradually improve, though they remain somewhat weaker than those who have deliberately trained their physique and spiritual awareness. Again, cultivators, despite their intensive Qi training, often lack the necessary strength, leaving them with little time to cultivate their physique and spiritual awareness, thus making trade-offs. Furthermore, the techniques for cultivating the body and spirit are incredibly rare and cannot be acquired without the appropriate opportunity.

Since his cultivation, he had felt his perception growing stronger. Even a mortal reaching the Xiantian realm couldn't see everything within a radius of several kilometers with such clarity and distinctness. He hadn't understood why before, but now he knew it was due to his divine consciousness. The convenience and power afforded by a powerful divine consciousness were incredible, leaving no secrets behind, revealing everything before one's eyes. The laws of nature have always been a balancing act of yin and yang, of contradictions interdependent, with all things mutually reinforcing and counteracting each other. With something as powerful as divine consciousness, there was naturally a shield to defend against it: restrictions.

Liu Xing's first encounter with restrictions was when he visited the Wang family. He was amazed at the need for a waist badge to activate the protective array. He finally understood why Elder Hentian had chosen the cliffs of the tiankeng as his retreat: it was quiet and undisturbed. He didn't know how to set up a restricted array, so he could only find a place with a unique natural environment.

To prevent their secrets from being perceived by the powerful divine senses of others, cultivators habitually place restrictions on themselves to block their perception. For example, storage bag restrictions prevent anyone from sensing the contents; everyday clothing also has restrictions, preventing anyone from easily penetrating clothing. Otherwise, everyone would be walking around naked on the streets, which would be laughable. However, in the eyes of cultivators, mortals are indeed pure and invisible. The "Ten Directions Qi Condensation Art" practiced by Liu Xing is actually a kind of restriction, adding a hidden restriction to his true cultivation level, making it impossible for others to perceive.

In the world of cultivation, restrictions are ubiquitous. Cultivators' caves must be protected from interruptions during their practice. Important materials and locations are also protected from natural or human damage. Liu Xing touched his bamboo flute; it must have been imbued with extremely powerful restrictions, making it so difficult to discern.

With such widespread use of restrictions, it naturally became a key subject for Liu Xing to study. It was somewhat similar to mathematics in his previous life, requiring massive calculations and strong logical analysis skills, which were his strengths. He was naturally more perceptive than others in understanding, calculating, and analyzing time and space. Therefore, he read books on restrictions with great gusto, becoming completely absorbed in them.

Through study, he had already mastered the conventional techniques of placing and removing restrictions, such as isolation and detection, movement restriction, marking, and sabotage. The stronger one's spiritual awareness, the greater one's ability to set or break restrictions. Therefore, a restriction casually placed by a high-level cultivator would require a lower-level cultivator to painstakingly break. Conversely, a restriction painstakingly placed by a lower-level cultivator could be easily broken by a high-level cultivator with a single breath. Therefore, to improve one's ability to place and break restrictions, one must enhance one's spiritual awareness. Improving spiritual awareness requires specialized techniques, so it depends on individual aptitude.

Studying restrictions naturally leads to formations. Restrictions are one of the abilities of formations. Restrictions are barriers, and formations not only provide barriers but also attack. Therefore, a powerful formation combines powerful restrictions with a strong attack—a two-in-one. Formation masters, along with alchemists and weapon refiners, are considered the three most powerful skills in the world of immortal cultivation. They are respected by all three realms of humans, ghosts, and demons, and are well-connected to both the underworld and the underworld. Because their skills are difficult, the higher they advance, the harder it is to improve. Cultivators race against time to cultivate, rarely finding time to improve these abilities. However, these are all essential aids on the path to cultivation, so immortal sects and large families will focus on training a few alchemists, weapon refiners, and formation masters. As for independent cultivators, becoming one of the three great masters is nearly impossible, which is why they are so rare.

Some formations offer powerful offensive power, others offer strong defensive power, some have wide coverage, and some have special functions. The list varies, depending on the scenario. Unfortunately, the market only provides very basic explanations of the principles of these formations. While adequate for blocking mortals and small animals, they offer no real power against cultivators. Regarding more powerful formations, only their names and functions are described, with no explanation of their principles or deployment methods. He speculated that the principles behind these formations were likely passed down within a sect or family, confidential information that would not be easily disseminated.

However, the formation master came up with a method to engrave the formation on the formation plate and the formation equipment. The user only needs to arrange it according to the predetermined direction and place the spirit stone to activate the formation, exerting its defensive or offensive functions. Therefore, other cultivators only need to purchase the formation plate to use it, just like the combination locks in the previous life. After purchasing it, the user only needs to set a unique password, and no one can open the door. Outsiders can only enter by using the password or by force. The materials used to refine the formation plate depend on the power of the formation. The higher the level of the formation, the more precious the materials. The spirit stone used to activate the formation also depends on the power of the formation. For example, low-level spirit stones can be used to activate the cave, while the sect protection formation is generally activated with medium-grade spirit stones. Long-distance teleportation formations that span thousands of miles require high-grade spirit stones to activate.

Liu Xing was deeply interested in the art of formations, but he struggled with a lack of relevant study materials. He particularly admired the ten ancient formations, and would have to wait for a chance to learn how to deploy them before studying them. Having discovered the wonders of formations, he naturally sought out formation plates. Regular plates on the market were inexpensive, costing only 200 spirit stones, and he didn't appreciate their power. Instead, he shopped for the finest at major stores like Wanbaolou and Tongbaodian, spending thousands of spirit stones on over a dozen formations. There were formations like the "Cloud Mountain and Fog Sea Formation" for protecting his cave, the "Small Mystery Formation" for trapping enemies, the "Corpse Mountain and Blood Sea Formation" for illusion, and the "Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Heart Formation" for attacking. These formations were so powerful that even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't easily detect, break, or escape them. Liu Xing was delighted with his purchase, feeling it was worth the expense. He had already rehearsed how he would combine these formations with talismans and treasures to defeat a formidable foe.