Bamboo Mound

Upon hearing Ning Chang's question, Niu Hanshan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists a few times, saying:

"It's so frustrating. I had a really bad fight with those two bastards from the Huayu Sect today!"

"What, is it because of speed and hidden weapons?" Ning Changxin thought to himself, "Sure enough, it's not much different from my guess." Niu Hanshan was quite angry with them.

"Hmm, although I saw Brother Ning Chang win so easily yesterday, I didn't expect that today's battle would reveal how troublesome the Huayu Sect's battle tactics are!"

"I fought Ye Xingyun first, but I didn't expect that guy to run around the platform like that after he put on the talisman and kept throwing darts!"

I can't even touch him. His darts are tracking, and just dealing with those darts is enough to keep me busy.

In the end, he had no choice but to activate the formation, the one you used in your battle yesterday.

Only after the formation was complete did that bastard dare to approach me with his sword and fight.

If it weren't for that period of time, how could he possibly have beaten me in close combat!

I had already suppressed him in just a few moves as soon as we started fighting.

But when the light came, they were still no match and were defeated.

As he spoke, his angry gaze kept drifting towards the Huayu Sect's stands.

"Then there was that woman, who made me wait quite a while before floating down from the stands, and she immediately told me to admit defeat!"

"Damn it! I was just getting angry with that brat Ye, and this guy keeps telling me to wait, then immediately tries to make me admit defeat. Everyone the Huayu Sect recruits is crazy!"

Upon hearing this, Ning Chang's expression turned strange. He glanced towards the Huayu Sect's stands and, finding no one there, curled his lip in disapproval.

Niu Hanshan continued to complain about today's battle.

"I was furious, but there was nothing I could do. This bastard was the same; he would stick a few talismans on me and then try to dodge me. He wouldn't come any closer and just kept throwing needles at me, which were hard to dodge."

Finally, I was so angry that my head was spinning. I slammed my fist on the battle platform a few times to vent my anger, but I didn't expect to break several holes in the platform and release a bunch of spiritual energy.

Then she coughed up blood and lost her balance. Seeing an opportunity, I rushed over, grabbed her, and threw her onto the platform. I was probably too angry at the time and was only thinking about how to vent my anger.

Then I don't know how long I fell, and when I came to my senses and opened my eyes, I was already lying in the stands. My master had said I won; I was ranked third.

After saying all that in one breath, Niu Hanshan's anger had subsided considerably.

Hearing Niu Hanshan grab Bai Ke'er and slam her to the ground, Ning Chang pictured the scene in his mind and immediately felt a little better.

"Good thing you fell! It's hard to change someone who doesn't feel pain!"

If he hadn't been unwilling to interact with girls, he would have gotten at least two punches yesterday.

"But speaking of which, won't you be punished for hitting me like that?"

Niu Hanshan shook his head and said, "I don't know. I just woke up not long ago, and my master didn't say anything."

"Now that the competition is over, I came straight here."

Ning Chang nodded. "Brother Niu, is there something you want to ask us?"

"To be honest, Brother Ning Chang, I wanted to ask you how to deal with those formations. After all, yesterday when you were fighting, Ye Sunzi drew up a formation but it didn't work. It must be due to your methods, Brother Ning Chang, right?"

“That’s right, I took that formation.” Ning Chang nodded in affirmation of Niu Hanshan’s guess.

Niu Hanshan immediately became excited, "I hope Brother Ning Chang can give me some pointers!"

He is now very fortunate to have met Ning Chang, even though the two are not yet familiar with each other, he can already learn something from him.

Since Ning Chang had nothing else to do, he simply agreed, and besides, this wasn't a secret tactic for him.

"Based on my current understanding, there are four ways to break the formation, or rather, four ways to deal with it."

"It mainly depends on which one you feel is suitable for you. Of course, if you have the opportunity, you can also try multiple methods at the same time."

First, when you have to counter a formation, consider why the other party set it up. If the other party set it up to deal with you, then you should attack them at close range when they show any inclination to set up the formation, interrupting their spellcasting.

Of course, this applies to situations like arena battles, or when your strengths are evenly matched and your opponent is no match for you in close combat, and throughout the battle you not only need to attack, but also constantly be aware of the possibility of your opponent using movement to deploy their formation.

"Secondly, one needs to train their ability to perceive spiritual energy. When they see the other party drawing array patterns, they can attack or interfere with those patterns to prevent the array from taking shape."

You probably used this method when you fought Bai Ke'er today, but I don't know if she drew a formation or delivered attacks when you fought her.

But as you know, she suffered a backlash, or something else, which allowed you to get close, and that's why she was defeated so quickly.

Niu Hanshan nodded, thinking to himself that he understood. As for Ning Chang's claim of seeing the array patterns, he thought that Ning Chang had used it to make it easier for him to understand, since spiritual power could not be seen before it was transformed into an attack.

As he was trying to understand, his expression suddenly froze.

Ning Chang noticed that Niu Hanshan had paused his lecturing and was lost in thought, and he naturally noticed the change in Niu Hanshan's expression.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Niu Hanshan waved his hand, "It's nothing, it's just that Master called me over, probably to say that I went too far."

"Are you alright?"

"Probably. If it's really a punishment or something, it's the same if we go later. Let's hear you explain the remaining two methods first."

Ning Chang nodded. "Then I'll get straight to the point."

"Thirdly, to be precise, it is a variation of the second method, which also requires a very strong degree of control over spiritual power."

Ultimately, array patterns are merely a path drawn with spiritual energy; their essence is still spiritual energy.

If you have the ability, you can completely absorb the array patterns as spiritual energy, and even seize control of these spiritual energies when the opponent has finished drawing the array patterns. That's the method I used yesterday.

Furthermore, if one cannot control the drawn array, one can simply deprive the opponent of control over the array, and then destroy or absorb the array patterns.

After saying this, he paused, and seeing that Niu Hanshan was not deep in thought, he continued.

Fourthly, this is merely my speculation at this point.

"In other words, if the first three methods have not been used in time or have not been effective enough, you can try to redirect the formation's attacks toward the enemy. If the formation is offensive and the enemy is also in the formation, then..."

Otherwise, try disrupting the environment in which the array patterns reside, or the array patterns themselves, or even working on the array's spiritual energy.

"Okay, that's all. I hope you can remember it."

After saying that, Ning Chang waved his hand, telling Niu Hanshan to go find his master.

"Thank you for your guidance, Brother Ning Chang." Niu Hanshan said gratefully, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ning Chang, and then turned and ran away.

Watching his retreating figure, Ning Chang sighed softly.

Ultimately, the purpose of setting up an array is nothing more than cultivation, defense, and offense.

If we don't contend with others, how can we use methods to break formations?

After saying that, he shook his head and turned to walk back to his residence.