Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 184 Fusion of Gu Formations
Fang Shu was overjoyed. He gripped the array flag tightly, got up, and paced back and forth in the cave.

With this magical artifact by his side, he might be able to act with impunity below the Foundation Establishment stage, giving him another major trump card.

"My darling, my darling!" he kept repeating.

But after a moment of joy, he calmed down and looked at the battle flag in his hand with a shifting gaze.

Although this item is remarkable, it is used by those who practice array formations.

After losing its banner, its grade increased, its formation ability greatly improved, and its suppressive power was enough to easily freeze the quicksand in this area.

But apart from that, it has no other direct means of killing.

Such a weapon, if in the hands of someone skilled in strategizing, would be a formidable killing machine. But in the hands of someone else, it would be a waste of its potential, and it could only be used as an auxiliary tool.

As for the idea of ​​running rampant below the Foundation Establishment stage, that's pure fantasy.

It should be known that the methods of immortals are varied and unpredictable. Even if they are just immortals who refine essence, they cannot be dealt with by a single suppressive force.

As his gaze shifted, Fang Shu thought to himself, "Unless... I am also a practitioner of the Dao of Arrays."

As soon as this thought arose, ideas began to pop into his mind.

Although he was skilled in refining Gu poisons, he was not unskilled in Feng Shui formations.

To be more precise, back when he was still seeking the Dao in Guling Town, he had already gained a rudimentary understanding of the Dao of Weapons and the Dao of Arrays while studying the Dao of Gu.

Afterwards, he went up the mountain to join the Immortal Sect and listened to the nine lessons of Immortal Learning for nine years. He gained a deep understanding of various subjects and accumulated a great deal of knowledge. During this time, he also acquired a room full of books from the Er family and learned several formations in his mind.

Although these formations are of insufficient quality and have not yet been deciphered, he only needs to go into seclusion to study them, and within a few months, he will be able to try setting them up.

In this way, he only needs to refine the array diagram later as a banner and hang it on this magic weapon, and the array will accompany him to kill the enemy. He can be considered a person of the Dao.

Suddenly, Fang Shufu had a flash of inspiration and remembered a bold idea he had had before:
"No, there's no need for such a complicated process!"

Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve, and black and white energy flew out from one of the sleeves.

Under his control, three pairs of Yin-Yang Gu worms revealed themselves, swirling and forming a rough nine-palace eight-trigram shape, enveloping him within three feet.

Fang Shu stared intently at his own Gu worms, thinking to himself:
"Can't this also be used to set up formations?"

Using insects to form formations is not unheard of, but it is extremely rare.

In an instant, Fang Shu's mind flowed freely, and many wonderful ideas, as well as the accumulation of the past nine years, all merged together at this moment.

In particular, in addition to the introduction of the magic weapon, the Hu family ancestor also left his many years of insights into array formations in this array flag artifact.

Now, hundreds of years have passed, and although many of these insights have been lost, confused, and scattered, and not even a complete array has been preserved, they still contain a lot of valuable array knowledge. Moreover, under the organization of the Daoist talismans, they are now all logically sound.

In an instant, Fang Shu wanted to go into seclusion for a while.

He wanted to incorporate this knowledge of formations into his own knowledge and, based on his own ideas, to study the method of "setting up formations with insects".

If this method is feasible, then his idea of ​​merging the Gu formations together might have great potential!

He was invigorated and full of confidence, and took a step to leave the place.

However, Fang Shu stopped halfway through his step and looked around with a wry smile.

Rather than returning to Guling Town or finding another place in the wild, isn't this cave surrounded by quicksand the perfect place for seclusion?
Fang Shu immediately changed his mind. He wandered around the cave, looking around and examining the place more carefully.

After a while, having confirmed that there was no danger or backup plan in the place, he sat down cross-legged and began to sort out and comprehend his thoughts.

He first held the quasi-Foundation Establishment level magic weapon in his hand, inhaling and exhaling true energy and injecting his divine sense into it, refining it into his own possession. Then he allowed the Yin-Yang Gu worms he had refined to cling to the magic weapon, allowing their energies to merge.

He studied the principles of formations while simultaneously refining the two items.

Soon, the two items in his hands reached a certain degree of connection in their energy.

But then another problem arose.

Setting up an array is similar to alchemy and drawing talismans. Alchemy requires an alchemy furnace, alchemical materials, and alchemical fire, while drawing talismans requires a talisman brush, talisman paper, and talisman ink. Similarly, setting up an array consists of three parts.

Specifically.

To set up an array, you need a "suppressing object" as the foundation, or skeleton; then you need array materials as the flesh and blood; and finally, you need a specific array diagram as the spirit.

These three are like a person's essence, energy, and spirit. It is not enough to simply be familiar with them; they need to be able to blend together as one.

More specifically, Fang Shu now possesses the necessary protective objects and flesh and blood, and he also has several simple formations in his mind. However, how to ensure that the Gu worms serving as "formation materials" strictly obey commands and maintain the formation at all times, and how to perform the formation without deviation under the blessing of the formation flags, is a major challenge.

Fang Shu silently absorbed the insights into array formations from the Hu family ancestors and browsed through the many books stored in his mind.

He soon discovered that those who practiced array formations faced this predicament mainly fell into two categories.

The first type involves fixing the materials for the formation in one place, like building a house or setting a trap, making it fixed and immovable.

This method allows for the gradual adjustment of Qi, enabling the use of not only Gu insects to form arrays, but also all things in heaven and earth as arrays. However, its drawback is that it is difficult to move; once moved, the Qi between the array materials becomes scattered, losing its formation and resembling scattered soldiers.

The second category is the crafting of so-called magical artifacts called "array diagrams," which involves fixing array materials and array diagrams onto an object.

When setting up a formation, you only need to display the "formation diagram" to form a formation and unleash its power.

This method is convenient and quick, but its power varies. It is limited by the array diagram itself, and every time an array is changed, a new array diagram must be made, which is very costly. In particular, the number of times an array diagram can be used is limited.

Some powerful array diagrams will deteriorate on their own if they are not used or properly maintained for a long time.

For example, the battle flags left behind by the ancestors of the Hu family in this place were originally battle formations.

Those who obtained it later only needed to carry the complete array flags to set up the array outside, with the array always at their side. However, with the passage of time, the well-forged array flags have all vanished.

However, Fang Shu did not want to adopt either of the above two methods, or to be precise, he wanted to achieve a balance between the two, taking the best of both worlds and making up for the shortcomings, so that the power could be amplified and the deployment would be convenient.

Otherwise, this matter would not be called the fusion of Gu formations, but simply the use of Gu insects to set up formations, which would be twice the effort for half the result, or limited to one place, or confined by objects, and would be meaningless, too inflexible, and would lose the mystery of the Gu insect path.

While deep in thought.

Fang Shu suddenly looked up and saw his eyelids twitch slightly, and then translucent threads immediately spread out from his body.

The silk thread first landed on the array flag in his hand, and then on the three pairs of Yin-Yang Gu worms.

This thing is the innate talent of his spiritual root—divine silk.

Although this thing is relatively fragile, it can transmit true energy, spread divine consciousness, and can be implanted into the body of Gu worms, connecting all directions.

As expected, under the connection of the divine silk, the Gu worms under Fang Shu's command immediately became more closely connected with the array flag in his hand.

After trying it out quietly a few times, a feeling of joy slowly arose in Fang Shu's heart:

"There's potential in the art of Gu formations."

(End of this chapter)