Immortal Martial Saint, something's wrong with my entry.

Bang!

Clang.

The fiery armor formed by the Crimson Fire Armor blocked all of Li Youan's serpent fangs and spears.

Li Youan did not continue his attack, because the purpose of the sparring had been achieved.

"What are you doing...?"

Dongfang Jinghong was somewhat surprised to see Li Youan standing in front of him.

"Was that a formation?"

After a moment's thought, Dongfang Jinghong understood the method by which Li Youan had just disappeared.

"Yeah, I went to the Array Hall to learn array formations yesterday."

Seeing Li Youan's happy expression and the application of her skills in the battle just now, Dongfang Jinghong seemed to be deep in thought.

"It seems you've made up your mind and aren't going to try anything else?"

Li Youan picked up the spear and held it in his hand, then fixed the two snake fangs back to the spear tip.

"I've tried them all, but the formation is the most suitable for me. By the way, there's another thing I'd like you to help me with today."

At this moment, Bai Ze had already dragged the box over. Upon opening the box, Dongfang Jinghong first saw the dead ants at the very top.

"Your box is so flimsy, even ants could crawl inside."

Li Youan casually patted the ants away.

"It's nothing, it was just a random box, we won't need it again."

As Li Youan spoke, he took out the tiger skin from the box.

"This is the tiger skin from a tiger demon I hunted before; it's very well preserved. I had expected the bone whip to be very useful, but it has completely exceeded my expectations."

"I just hope that Dongfang's family is so wealthy and powerful that he won't look down on this little thing."

Dongfang Jinghong took the tiger skin, unfolded it, looked at it, and then touched it.

"You killed a tiger demon cub, didn't you? The material it was made of was quite good."

In the past, I mostly received jewelry and other girly gifts, but this is the first time I've received a tiger-skin Dongfang Jinghong.

"Alright, let's go back. This isn't the place to chat."

Zhou Yi's words drew their attention.

"There was quite a commotion just now, and some people are already heading this way. If you don't want to be famous anymore, let's go back now."

After Zhou Yi finished speaking, she turned around and walked towards the front-line base before the two could react.

Li Youan and his companion looked around and, finding nothing missing, hurriedly followed.

A few moments later, several people arrived at the small valley and looked at the traces of the battle within.

"Tsk tsk, I wonder if this is a friendly spar or a robbery."

"Being so close to the front-line base, the chances of sparring are much higher."

"Looks like this frontline base is about to get lively."

"Stop laughing here, someone's coming, let's go."

-----------------

Back in the quiet room in the backyard of the Oriental Treasure Pavilion, Li Youan and Dongfang Jinghong sat on either side of the tea table, while Xiao Lan continued to pour tea.

"You've decided already, formation master?"

Upon hearing Dongfang Jinghong's question, Li Youan offered an explanation.

"Yes, given my financial resources and personal circumstances, a formation master is the most suitable candidate."

Dongfang Jinghong nodded. Everyone has their own path, and they're not stupid, so there's no need to say more.

"It seems your talent in formations is even more astonishing, as you've applied it in the battle today."

Li Youan didn't blame herself too much; family members know their own situation.

"I just used this by surprise, it's the first time I've used it in front of you."

"Let's not talk about that anymore. How many spirit stones are there in total?"

Dongfang Jinghong had originally planned to collect 30,000 spirit stones from Li Youan, but after their recent sparring, he changed his mind.

"I won't accept your spirit stones, but during my time at the outpost, until I return to the front-line base, you need to protect my safety."

Li Youan doubted that he had heard clearly.

"what?"

"No, me? Protecting your safety, am I worth that price?"

"Based on our sparring just now, I feel you're worth the price."

Only then did Li Youan realize that something was amiss.

"How did you know I was going to the outpost, and how were you so sure we'd be at the same outpost?"

Seeing Dongfang Jinghong's smiling face, Li Youan patted his forehead, realizing he had forgotten about the young lady's identity.

"If Dongfang has no objections, of course I can. Anyway, I won't lose out."

"Ha, I didn't expect I'd be collecting protection money too."

After chatting with Dongfang Jinghong for a few more minutes, Li Youan got up to say goodbye and went to the Array Hall to find the old array master.

Dongfang Jinghong watched Li Youan's retreating figure, then turned to look at Xiaolan.

"Don't you think he's an interesting person?"

"Most people want to spend more time with me when they see me, but he always seems to be in a hurry to leave."

"I want to see if he really doesn't care, or if he's just pretending."

Xiao Lan looked at her young mistress with a smile on her face.

"Even disregarding family background, no one can resist Miss's charm."

"Looks like you've been with me for too long, so you've started teasing me."

The tea room was filled with beauty and fragrance for a moment.

-----------------

Upon arriving at the formation hall again, Li Youan confirmed with the receptionist that the old man was in the classroom. He declined the waiter's offer to lead the way and walked towards the classroom alone.

Pushing open the door, Li Youan was somewhat dazed, seeing that everything was no different from yesterday.

"Teacher, I'm here again."

After bowing at the door, Li Youan went into the room and sat in the same spot as yesterday.

Seeing that the old man was still resting with his eyes closed, Li Youan did not disturb him. Instead, he took out the two books that the old man had given him yesterday and carefully looked through them.

After an unknown amount of time, the old man opened his eyes, looked at Li Youan who was intently reading a book, and nodded slightly. To become a true array master, one must at least have this kind of patience.

"How are you reading those two books?"

Upon hearing the old man's voice, Li Youan slowly closed the book.

"Yes, teacher. I have read it and memorized it."

The old man stroked his beard and slowly spoke.

"Let me see how well you've mastered it now."

"Yes."

Li Youan nodded, her hands rapidly forming various hand seals.

"Concealment Formation".

Li Youan disappeared instantly, but before the old man could speak, a pair of hands appeared out of thin air and continued to form new hand seals.

"Hmm? This is a spirit-trapping array."

As the last magic seal was generated, Li Youan waved his hands, and the entire formation flew towards a small bird by the window.

The little bird was suddenly frozen in place, its eyes darting around, revealing a hint of panic.

But Li Youan's hands did not stop; they continued to perform new hand seals.

The little insect in the bird's beak twitched twice and then stopped moving.

"Not bad, not bad. You've mastered three formations so skillfully from yesterday until now."

The old master smiled and stroked his beard with both hands.

"I am Wei Zifei, a Grand Array Master. Would you be willing to become my disciple?"

"Grand Array Master!"

Hearing the old man's words, Li Youan was shocked. Yesterday, when he was reading "Introduction to Formation", he learned about the classification of formation masters into different levels.

A Grand Array Master who can set up Earth-rank arrays is comparable to a Spirit Sea Realm expert. When a Spirit Sea Realm expert enters a Grand Array, it is very difficult for them to escape unscathed from a carefully set up array.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Li Yuan hurriedly bowed in gratitude.

"Thank you, teacher, from student Li Youan."

Looking at Li Youan kneeling before him, Wei Zifei was very happy.

"Judging from your performance yesterday, I originally intended to take you as a nominal disciple first, and then formally accept you as a disciple after you have made progress in the future."

Seeing that Li Youan wanted to speak, Wei Zifei waved his hand and continued.

"Last night, that kid Ouyang Song came to see me to handle some things. We happened to talk about you. It turns out you've gotten yourself into so much trouble."

Li Youan scratched his head, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Master, did Hall Master Ouyang tell you that I might join the Enforcement Hall later?"

"Oh, right, and my assessment also involved the Taira clan."

Wei Zifei's expression turned serious.

"Your master is just a formation master who lives in seclusion at the front-line base. It doesn't matter which faction you want to join."

"If you can't even handle a small fry like the Taira clan, don't call yourself my disciple in the future."

Li Youan thought the teacher was going to say something, but she didn't expect him to be such a sentimental person.

"what?"

"What? What's so great about it?"

"You're progressing too slowly right now, and you're getting into formations too late. In the next few days before you go to the outpost, follow me and build a solid foundation."

As Wei Zifei spoke, he tossed a ring to Li Youan.

"Hey, this is a gift for you, just wear it on your finger."

Li Youan took the ring and put it on the index finger of her left hand. As soon as she put it on, she felt a small thorn on the inside of the ring, and her index finger stung slightly, as if she had been pricked.

But soon Li Youan could no longer feel the thorn, and suddenly realized that he seemed to have established some kind of connection with the ring.

"This is……"

A look of shock appeared on Li Youan's face.

"You country bumpkin, you've never seen the world before. Don't embarrass your master when you go out."

Wei Zifei curled his lip.

Li An scratched the back of his head, realizing his master was just teasing him, and smiled sheepishly, "I've never seen this before."

"To become an excellent array master, one's soul must be relatively strong. You can feel a connection between yourself and the ring."

"Then you can separate a wisp of your soul and sense what's inside the ring. Take out those small flags and the compass."

Following his master's instructions, Li Youan channeled a wisp of his soul into the ring, where he discovered a mountain of spirit stones, twenty-two small flags, and twenty-two compasses.

With a thought, the small flag and compass were neatly placed on the open ground in front of Li Youan.

"These are array flags and array plates, which can help you set up and stabilize the array. Here, take this book."

As he spoke, Wei Zifei pulled another book from his pocket and threw it at Li Youan.

Li Youan hurriedly caught the book his master threw at him.

"A Detailed Explanation of Formation Techniques?"

Li Youan held yesterday's "Detailed Explanation of Formations" in his left hand and "Detailed Explanation of the Way of Formations" which he had just received today in his right hand.

"The advanced version. You don't need to look at the old one anymore. You've already memorized it, so give it back to me."

As Wei Zifei spoke, he took back the two books he had given to Li Youan yesterday.

"Come, today I will teach you how to use array flags and array plates."

Originally, Li Youan wanted to return two books, but upon hearing Wei Zifei's words, he quickly composed himself and listened attentively.

"Basic formations are not graded; when setting them up, only hand gestures are needed for guidance. If you want to set up a Yellow-rank or Black-rank formation and you are not familiar with formations, you will need to rely on formation plates and formation flags."

"Even if you are very proficient, the array plates and array flags can help you better control the entire array. This will allow you to have more energy to do other things, such as this."

As Wei Zifei spoke, he waved his right hand. This time, instead of performing any hand seals, an array plate and several array flags in front of Li Youan flew into the air and combined in mid-air, thus creating an array.

The moment the formation was formed, Li Youan felt the energy around him become much denser.

"This is the Yellow-Rank Formation - Gathering Yuan Formation."

Wei Zifei tapped his fingers repeatedly, and another vortex flew up and joined the original formation.

With a sudden change, the entire room was shrouded in a mist.

"This is the Yellow-Rank Formation - Mist Formation."

Wei Zifei then changed his technique again, demonstrating several Yellow-Rank formations to Li Youan.

Li Youan was dumbfounded as he watched the formations form and then dissipate.

"Come on, listen to my explanation now, come with me."

Looking at Li Youan's expression, Wei Zifei was very satisfied with the effect of his performance.

Li Youan quickly regained her composure, listened to Wei Zifei's explanation, watched Wei Zifei's movements, and followed along little by little.

Since it was his first time encountering this, Li Youan was still a bit unfamiliar with it. However, thanks to his powerful soul, he quickly became proficient. Of course, the enhancements from the various attributes also played a significant role in this.

Seeing Li Youan's outstanding performance, Wei Zifei became increasingly satisfied, and his movements gradually quickened.

Every time Li Youan felt he could keep up skillfully, he would find that Wei Zifei's movements had become even faster.

As a result, Wei Zifei moved faster and faster, while Li Youan maintained a pace that was just enough to keep up.

Although Li Youan's soul could still keep up, his internal energy was no longer sufficient. If it weren't for the fact that Li Youan's total internal energy was ten times that of an ordinary person, he wouldn't have been able to hold on until now.

But having come this far, Li Youan did not want to give up. Gritting his teeth, he took out the Guiyuan Pill that Dongfang Jinghong had left him with his left hand during a gap in the formation, poured one out, threw it into his mouth, and continued to follow Wei Zifei's actions to set up a new formation.

Li Youan's actions were naturally observed by Wei Zifei, but seeing that it was just an ordinary Rejuvenation Pill to restore vitality, Wei Zifei did not stop him. Instead, he admired Li Youan's decisiveness.

Under Wei Zifei's guidance, this first lesson lasted for a full hour.

Ultimately, Li Youan couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed on the spot.

"Someone, take Junior Brother to a guest room to rest. After he lies down, feed him one Rejuvenation Pill and one Nourishing Spirit Pill. After he wakes up, let him eat some medicinal food to nourish his body and cultivate his soul."

"Let this little thing come along too."

Wei Zifei gestured to Bai Ze, who had been lying and playing by the window ever since Li Youan entered.

The attendant who led Li Youan yesterday bowed to Wei Zifei.

"Yes, Master."

With a wave of his hand, the waiter sent Li Youan floating beside him as they walked together toward a room on the side of the courtyard.

After giving Li Youan two pills, the attendant left the room.

At this moment, Bai Ze stood on the table next to Li Youan's bed and looked at Li Youan lying on the bed.

"Although each of you has taken a different path, this ruthlessness, especially the ruthlessness towards yourselves, is so consistent."

Bai Ze shook his head, then lay down on the table and closed his eyes to rest.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Youan slowly opened her eyes.

"Uh, what am I doing...?"