Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

Zhuge Yunhui truly imparted the key points of the "Return to Origin Formation" to Zhang Zhiwei and Zhou Sheng without reservation.

Zhang Zhiwei had obtained the Guiyuan Formation and achieved his goal. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Zhuge Yunhui looking at him expectantly, his eyes seeming to say, "Take me with you."

Clearly, she wanted to slip away with him and escape Zhou Sheng's clutches.

Zhang Zhiwei wasn't about to let him have his way. He stepped forward, patted Zhuge Yunhui's shoulder heavily, and said earnestly:

"Alright, you can continue your Qimen cultivation. I won't disturb you any longer."

"No! Brother Zhiwei! You..."

Zhuge Yunhui looked utterly hopeless, reaching out her hand to Zhang Zhiwei's departing figure like a heartbroken, abandoned wife.

However, before he could even utter a word of protest, a sinister voice came from behind him.

"Brother Yunhui, let's... continue."

Zhou Sheng cracked his wrists, producing a series of popping sounds, and wore a benevolent smile.

"Let me make this clear first: if Brother Yunhui's subsequent cultivation still fails to satisfy me... I do have some skill in martial arts."

Zhuge Yunhui: "…………"

Back in the square in front of the Celestial Master's Mansion, Zhang Huaiyi handed over a densely written list.

"Senior brother, the statistics are all done. Those who are willing to participate in this 'Return to Origin Training' are all listed here."

Zhang Zhiwei took the list, glanced at it, and couldn't help but chuckle. There were quite a few people on the list.

The list included not only senior Taoist priests like Zhang Yi and Zhang Shoucheng, but also junior Taoist priests who had only been practicing for a few years and had not yet mastered the Golden Light Mantra.

"Heh, both the old and young Deng from the manor are going." After saying that, Zhang Zhiwei thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, "I never thought that I would become a 'middle Deng' in the blink of an eye."

Then, he gathered his scattered thoughts and said to everyone, "A Guiyuan Formation can accommodate a maximum of fifteen people entering the inner realm at one time. We will set them up one by one. Now, let's start calling the roll. Those whose names I call, follow me."

Zhang Zhiwei selected fifteen peers, led by Zhang Huaiyi and Tian Jinzhong, who were relatively solid in cultivation and temperament, from the list as the first batch of trainees, and took them to a side hall that had been cleared out beforehand.

Originally, Zhang Zhiwei planned to have them conduct the exercise in the training ground at the entrance, but his master felt that so many people sitting at the entrance were blocking the way, so he asked him to find a larger hall to set up the exercise.

But in reality, Zhang Jingqing's intention was to avoid putting psychological pressure on those Taoist priests who didn't want to join the special training or go down the mountain to fight the Japanese pirates.

There are actually quite a few Taoist priests like this who are detached from worldly affairs, and both Zhang Jingqing and Zhang Zhiwei support their choices.

Inside the hall, Zhang Zhiwei activated the Qimen Dunjia formation and, following the method taught by Zhuge Yunhui, assigned each of the fifteen people their respective palace positions, instructing them to sit cross-legged in specific locations, circulate their Qi, and adjust their own state.

"Everyone to your positions, concentrate your minds and calm your breath, and practice the Qi!"

Then, Zhang Zhiwei arrived at the central palace and began to use his skills, rotating the four Qimen plates!

The arrangement of this formation is simple; the difficulty lies in ensuring that all the elements of Qimen Dunjia, such as the Three Wonders, Six Instruments, Eight Gates, Nine Stars, and Eight Gods, fall precisely into their original positions at the same moment.

Such a combination of time is rare and hard to come by in the natural world, so the Guiyuan Formation is only a theoretically feasible but extremely difficult secret technique to execute in the Wuhou School.

But for Zhang Zhiwei, this was not a problem at all.

He creates whatever opportune moment he needs!
As each palace in the formation took its place, the formation began to glow. The fifteen people inside felt a strong sense of weightlessness, as if their souls were being pulled out of their bodies.

Immediately afterwards, everything went black, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a strange place where everything was in a state of chaos and nothingness.

"Where...is this?"

"Where are our bodies?" Everyone looked down and found that their bodies were in a semi-transparent, illusory state.

Just as everyone was filled with doubt and uncertainty, Zhang Zhiwei's figure quietly appeared in front of them.

"This is the inner world, which is also everyone's spiritual world. Everyone's spiritual world is the same, but due to certain protective mechanisms of the soul, we cannot connect with each other. However, the Guiyuan Array can temporarily connect our spirits together," Zhang Zhiwei explained to them.

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a sense of novelty and shock.

Zhang Huaiyi looked around curiously, feeling both amazed and awestruck by the void.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, and he remembered some legends about the inner world.

The interior is an extremely peculiar place; theoretically, anyone who can afford the cost can deduce any information they want within it.

Thinking of this, a thought popped into his mind: since his senior brother had connected their inner visions together, did that mean that the cost had also been shared?
Some costs are too high for one person to bear, but two people can. And now, there are fifteen people here, and even the senior brother himself is personally overseeing things!

In this way, wouldn't this interior space be more powerful and stable than ever before? If one were to conduct simulations here, wouldn't one be able to obtain any information one desires?!
Once the thought took hold, it grew wildly like weeds, and Zhang Huaiyi could no longer suppress it.

A question that had troubled him for a long time, a question he dared not even think about in reality, suddenly came to mind.

He took a deep breath, silently asking himself a question that had been buried deep within his heart:

"Surpass Senior Brother! What's the method to surpass Zhang Zhiwei?!"

This question was like a taboo; as soon as he asked it, the originally calm interior space trembled violently!

"Boom!!!"

A loud bang came from overhead, and everyone couldn't help but look up.

Without warning, a massive fireball, as hot as the sun, appeared in the endless void above everyone's heads.

The fireball emanated an indescribable aura of terror, hovering silently above everyone's heads.

Then, it began to collapse down on everyone little by little!

Under the influence of this enormous fireball, the entire interior space began to crumble inch by inch!

The moment everyone in the interior space saw the fireball, they felt a fear that penetrated to the very depths of their souls.

Then, to their horror, they discovered that their bodies seemed to be frozen, and they could not move an inch!

Moreover, the fireball emitted an irresistible suction force, like a giant vortex, slowly drawing them in.

"What...what the hell is that?! Why is this thing here?"

"What's going on? I...I can't move...I can't move!"

"I heard that the inner realm is full of illusions, this must be an illusion!" "Could it be that our senior brother's test for us has begun?"

"But if it's a hallucination, it's too real. I even have the illusion that we're going to die at any moment."

Everyone was filled with fear and trepidation, and Zhang Huaiyi, as the instigator of this incident, was the first to bear the brunt of it. He could even feel the flames flying out of the fireball.

The flames, like chains, bound his soul, trying to pull him in.

In that instant, he was overwhelmed by immense panic and regret. He inexplicably recalled the scene of his family being destroyed, his house being set on fire, and burning fiercely.

"This is not an illusion, this is not an illusion. If I get sucked in, I will die, I will definitely die!" He couldn't help but scream in alarm.

Zhang Huaiyi never expected that simply asking himself, "How can I surpass my senior brother?" would lead to such terrifying consequences.

Many sorcerers have had the experience of asking inappropriate questions during introspection, so they learn methods to prevent this beforehand.

But Zhang Huaiyi was not a professional sorcerer and had no idea how to stop the process.

He could only watch helplessly as the enormous fireball drew closer and closer to him, and he was engulfed by flames and slowly flew toward the fireball!
"Senior brother... Senior brother, save me!"

In despair, Zhang Huaiyi let out a cry from the depths of his soul.

Not only him, but also the other fellow disciples who were innocently affected were all calling out Zhang Zhiwei's name at this moment.

They didn't even know what had happened; all they knew was that as soon as they came in, a deadly sun fell from the sky!

As the one who controlled the formation, Zhang Zhiwei naturally knew that all of this was Zhang Huaiyi's doing.

"This brat... could he be deducing something like the 'Eight Extraordinary Techniques'?" Zhang Zhiwei muttered to himself, but his face showed no sign of panic.

However, he did not act immediately. Instead, he watched with great interest as Zhang Huaiyi writhed and cried out for help, "Senior brother, save me!" before he finally made his move.

Zhang Zhiwei's body began to radiate brilliant golden light. His figure rapidly grew larger in the inner vision, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a towering golden giant, like a god reaching the heavens.

His expression was majestic, and his eyes gleamed with golden flames, like two suns.

He looked up at the sky, then slowly raised his hand and casually slapped the huge fireball that resembled the sun!

"Boom" a loud noise.

That terrifying fireball was sent flying by him with the ease of a golden basketball!

It traced a long arc, flew out of the boundary of the interior space, and finally turned into a distant star, never to be seen again.

"Huh...huh...huh..."

The terrifying pressure disappeared, and everyone breathed a long sigh of relief. They were all covered in sweat and slumped in the void of the inner world, their faces filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.

While Zhang Huaiyi was relieved, a huge wave of emotions surged within him! He stared blankly at the slowly shrinking golden giant, his mind completely blank.

That...that terrifying fireball was actually...actually swatted away by my senior brother with a single slap?!

Just how terrifying is my senior brother? More terrifying than that fireball?!

Zhang Huaiyi was certain that the fireball was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen in his life!

Even so, he was still slapped away by his senior brother. At that moment, his understanding was once again overturned by Zhang Zhiwei's slap.

The other fellow disciples didn't have as many thoughts as Zhang Huaiyi. They were still in shock and looked at Zhang Zhiwei with puzzled expressions.

"Senior Brother Zhiwei! What...what exactly happened just now?"

Zhang Zhiwei returned to his original size, his gaze falling on the guilty-looking Zhang Huaiyi. His big mouth wouldn't let anyone try to cover it up:

"Big Ears, don't cause any more trouble in this inner realm. I can handle the commotion you've made this time. But if you cause something bigger that even I can't handle, then the lives of all of us dozen or so fellow disciples will really be in danger here."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhang Huaiyi.

"Huaiyi! Was this your doing?!" Tian Jinzhong was the first to shout.

"What did you just do? How could it have led to such serious consequences?"

Zhang Huaiyi felt a chill run down his spine under everyone's gaze, and stammered, "I... I was just driven by curiosity, and I asked... asked some things I shouldn't have asked."

"What shouldn't you have asked? What did you ask?" Everyone became even more curious.

Zhang Huaiyi pondered for a moment, his eyes darting around, but he still didn't dare to say that he had asked "how to surpass his senior brother".

His eyes darted around, and he forced a smile as he said, "I...I asked how to become an immortal, but I never expected...it would turn out like this."

"Hey! What do you think it is!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately began to criticize him in an annoyed manner.

"Have you lost your mind, kid? If the path to immortality could be found out so easily by asking around, wouldn't the world be full of living gods?"

"Exactly! Don't do this again! We came here to train and prepare to go down the mountain to fight the Japanese pirates, not to die here for no reason!"

Faced with everyone's criticism, Zhang Huaiyi repeatedly bowed and apologized to everyone, and the matter was finally put to rest.

Then, everyone looked at Zhang Zhiwei again and said in unison, "Senior Brother Zhiwei, let's begin!"

Zhang Zhiwei nodded, but did not start immediately. Instead, he called out in his mind, "Grand Preceptor," to get to work.

The thought had barely formed when a cloud of black mist appeared out of thin air, followed by a monkey with a green head, white face, pointed snout, and shrunken cheeks, dressed as the Monkey King.

As Zhang Zhiwei's inner demon, the "National Preceptor" underwent a significant change in his aura after his enlightenment. He seemed to transform from the Monkey King into the Victorious Fighting Buddha, completely suppressing the violent aura on his face and becoming peaceful. He didn't resemble an inner demon at all, but rather a wise and enlightened monk who had seen through the ways of the world.

"Big-faced thief, why did you call me out?"

After his epiphany, the "National Preceptor" seemed to have become much bolder. He used to only dare to complain in his heart, but now he dared to say it out loud.

Zhang Zhiwei explained his purpose and then warned it that if it handled the matter well, he would let it forget what it had just said; but if it didn't, he would make it know what it meant to be trapped in a dangerous situation.

The "Grand Preceptor" shrank back at Zhang Zhiwei's threat, but quickly patted its chest and assured Zhang Zhiwei, "Hehe, this is easy! Leave it to me! I guarantee I'll train them well and show them what real war is, what real cruelty is!" (End of Chapter)