I am the snake demon!

As dawn breaks, the sky brightens.

Duan Baiyu, who had spent the night at Xu Shi'an's grave, composed himself and appeared calm, as if nothing had happened. He led Bai Xuan out of Yuzhen Temple and stood before a horse, chuckling, "Shi'an, Liangzhou is known for its fine horses. As the future Prince of Zhenbei, you should be familiar with the nature of horses. You haven't forgotten what I taught you, have you?"

"I haven't forgotten."

Seeing Duan Baiyu calm down, Bai Xuan couldn't help but feel a chill. He didn't know what Duan Baiyu had been thinking that night, but he knew that Duan Baiyu had completely immersed himself in the role.

For a moment, Bai Xuan didn't know whether to marvel at how terrifying the noblewoman of the Duan family of Wuwei was, or how terrifying it was to lose the mother she had killed, or perhaps both, and Duan Baiyu was both now.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Bai Xuan nimbly mounted his horse.

He also studied horsemanship at the Yuzhen Temple.

He had learned everything that Xu Shi'an, a proper young master of the royal family, had learned.

After all, Duan Baiyu's initial plan for Xu Shi'an was not to train him as a prince, and there was nothing he couldn't teach Bai Xuan.

"We didn't use a carriage on the way here to save time, so we need to trouble Your Highness to ride a horse. We'll change to a carriage when we reach the next prefecture," Li Daoyan said.

Generally speaking, women travel by horse-drawn carriage.

Especially since Duan Baiyu had just lost his son, riding in a carriage was the most appropriate thing for him.

"No need, Mr. Li. I, Duan, am not that weak. I have been on the battlefield before." After saying this, Duan Baiyu mounted her horse, her movements even more clean and efficient than Bai Xuan's.

Seeing this, Li Daoyan stopped trying to persuade him and, together with Xu Yuhua, mounted their horses and spurred them on, heading towards Xuanwu County, the capital of Liangzhou.

Five hundred light cavalry followed closely behind, speeding like lightning and turning into a white streak.

Bai Xuan rode a white horse, cutting through the wind, but a look of doubt appeared on his face.

This wasn't his first time riding a horse, but he was riding at a speed far exceeding his usual pace, at least twice as fast, and still increasing.

Through mental resonance, the primordial energy between heaven and earth continuously flowed into every person and even every horse present.

There is a rhythm in the soldiers' breathing.

Five hundred cavalrymen, however, at this moment resembled a ferocious beast.

It moves through the wind, and the airflow automatically avoids it.

Formation!

The two large characters flashed into Bai Xuan's mind like a bolt from the blue.

There are formation masters in the military formation.

Bai Xuan sensed it in his heart, gathered all the auras together, and finally found the core—Li Daoyan.

"Uncle, are you a formation master?"

Bai Xuan looked at Li Daoyan, his tone unconsciously carrying a hint of warmth.

In this world, there are peerless martial artists who can split rivers with a single finger and fly on swords, as well as great demons who are as large as small mountains and can fly and disappear into the earth.

But if we're talking about the most prestigious status, then without a doubt it's the formation master.

Borrowing the power of heaven and earth, and utilizing the strength of all living beings.

He came to this world to cultivate, initially knowing nothing about it, relying entirely on his own understanding, and never communicating with anyone.

After finally transforming into human form, I learned quite a few things.

In this world, the human race is the strongest, and the Great Zhou Dynasty occupies the most prosperous Central Plains.

The demon race was driven to remote and desolate places such as the Ten Thousand Mountains, the polar ice fields, and the vast ocean in the east.

At that time, having lived in this world for decades without ever interacting with anyone, Bai Xuan was eager to understand the truth of the world and to enjoy it.

As a result, because of his exceptionally handsome appearance, he caught the eye of a demon king's son, who wanted him to be his male concubine.

Bai Xuan risked his life to escape and preserve his innocence.

Afterwards, he endured hardship and devoted himself to cultivation, overcoming the tribulation. His first act was to seek revenge.

He charged into the demon city, single-handedly breaking through 30,000 demon soldiers and killing the entire demon king's family, leaving no one alive.

He was so impressed with himself that he almost thought, "I won't eat beef anymore."

Just before he could expand his power, the demon kingdom reacted, and another 30,000 demon troops attacked. There were 30,000 of them, but this time their strength was completely different.

Not only are these monsters stronger, but more importantly, their power resonates. From a power perspective, a group of ants, when put together, actually pose a real threat to an elephant like him.

Moreover, the convergence of military formations would suppress his power.

Bai Xuan immediately realized it was a formation and promptly fled.

This incident solidified Bai Xuan's determination to become an immortal.

He cannot fight the entire world on his own; he cannot even annihilate all 30,000 demon troops.

Later, after entering the Jade True Temple, Bai Xuan began to fully understand the formation.

It was discovered that humans were the originators of formations, while the demon race learned them from humans.

Its power is far inferior to that of the human race.

He wanted to learn, but this thing is monopolized.

The real core power lies in the hands of those top-tier forces.

The key is to condense the array seals and set up the array in the void, with no way out from the outside world.

Yuzhen Temple only has the basics; it doesn't even cover the basics.

And now Li Daoyan is actually a formation master!

That's great!

Putting aside the matter of Xu Yuhua, being able to learn formations is also an opportunity for Bai Xuan.

"I have gained some understanding of the art of formations," Li Daoyan replied.

"Uncle, you are too kind. The formation master is a noble person. You must be a learned man to become the number one strategist in Xiliang. Could you teach me?" Bai Xuan asked, leaning closer.

Humans are undoubtedly the strongest race in this world.

The existence of the term "demon race" in this world is proof of this.

Eagles, tigers, leopards, sheep, snakes, insects, rats, ants, crabs, and lobsters.

A group of creatures that are completely unrelated, and even have a food chain relationship, formed a race simply because they are not human.

The key lies in the formation.

Humans are good at wisdom, and beasts are good at strength.

Formations, on the other hand, rely primarily on strategy.

In this respect, humans completely crush monsters.

Bai Xuan's rapid progress in cultivation was partly due to his human soul and high intelligence.

Li Daoyan watched Bai Xuan ride his horse with such agility, and felt a slight sense of approval. He chuckled and said, "Young Master will inherit the throne and rule the Northwest. Learning formations is naturally necessary. However, the way of formations is profound and cannot be learned in a short time. Have you learned the basics of formations, the Ten Great Ancient Formations?"

"Ten ancient formations?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Xuan raised an eyebrow and showed a hint of surprise, saying, "I didn't have a dedicated instructor at Yuzhen Temple. I only read some basic array books, including the Yin-Yang Array, the Three Powers Array, the Four Symbols Array, the Five Elements Array, the Six Harmonies Array, the Seven Luminaries Array, the Eight Trigrams Array, the Nine Palaces Array, and the Ten Directions Array—these are the nine basic arrays."

He wasn't idle at Yuzhen Temple either. He went from being a complete novice in formations to becoming a seasoned enthusiast with considerable knowledge of formations.

"The Two Elements, the Three Powers, the Four Symbols, the Five Elements, the Six Harmonies, the Seven Luminaries, the Eight Trigrams, the Nine Palaces, and the Ten Directions—these are the foundation of countless battle formations. All battle formations in the world originate from these, but their actual application differs, especially military formations. Battle formations in the world are diverse, but when broken down, they can be categorized into two types: the first type uses natural elements such as dragon veins, the sun and moon, mountains, and feng shui as mediums; the second type uses people as formations, employing the blood and qi of soldiers to draw upon the power of heaven and earth."

"Among them, the natural formation is relatively simple. After all, natural things are inanimate, and all people are the only masters who can control everything. But the military formation is different. People are alive, so it is more difficult to command and deploy the formation."

"The same formation can have different variations, such as the New Ten Army Formation. Young Master has never learned it. When we return to the Prince's Palace, I will teach you everything I know," Li Daoyan said.

"Thank you for your trouble, Uncle." Upon hearing this, Bai Xuan's face lit up with joy, and he became even more excited about the trip to the Prince of Zhenbei's residence.

Once he arrived at the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion and completed his ascension to the throne, he handed over all the power of the mansion to Xu Yuhua, making her appear as a mascot on the surface, while secretly studying formations.

I've heard that skilled array masters carry several array artifacts with them and imprint array seals on them, so they can set up arrays anytime, anywhere!

His cultivation level has reached a bottleneck, but that doesn't mean his combat strength cannot be improved.

Among all methods of enhancing combat power, formations are undoubtedly the most effective.

Don't you see, the Tongtian Sect Leader possessed the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords and set up the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, daring to fight four opponents alone?