Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

That shout made everyone stop what they were doing, and they all looked over with curiosity.

"What did you dig up?"

"Bring it up here quickly!"

Wang, the captain in charge of the Kun position, was a sturdy man. He carefully used the tip of his shovel to remove the last bit of soil and scooped something out of the pit.

This thing lacked the luster of a magical artifact and the fragrance of spiritual materials. It was only half a foot long, neither gold nor stone, grayish-white in color, and its surface was covered with honeycomb-like pores. It looked like a piece of animal bone, yet also had a somewhat metallic feel.

Team Leader Wang was holding it, somewhat at a loss.

There was no trace of magical energy emanating from this thing; it was like a piece of junk.

"this one?"

"After all that, all you dug up was a bone?"

A few low snickers came from the crowd, indicating their disappointment.

Mu Qingming also walked over, examining the piece of withered bone from a few steps away, his brows furrowing slightly. He couldn't discern its origin, and when he probed it with his divine sense, there was nothing inside.

Mu Qingming turned his gaze to Ning Che.

Ning Che's expression didn't change much; he just stared quietly at the piece of withered bone.

He couldn't see anything special, but he could hear it.

As the Six Ears Listening to the Moon operated, he heard some layered, illusory sounds, with strange tones, as if they were singing something.

Although puzzled, Ning Che still took the item and held it in his hand. He thought to himself that the Six Ears Listening to the Moon technique was indeed extraordinary; he never imagined that the spiritual seed would have such a wonderful use after it sprouted.

He ran his fingers over the honeycomb-like holes on the surface of the withered bones, his mind racing. Suddenly, he shouted to Mu Qingming, "Commander Mu, this is one of the key mechanisms of the formation. It can be used to locate the core. With it, breaking the formation should be much easier."

Mu Qingming's smile deepened, and he nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Commander Xing."

Ning Che tentatively called this bone the withered demon bone.

Holding the withered demon bone, he turned around, facing the deep pit again, his voice echoing throughout the area.

"Everyone, listen up! Phase two, begin!"

"At the Qian position, dig down one foot to separate the soil from the rocks."

"Dig horizontally in the Gen and Dui positions to clear the rune grooves. Use a brush or a handkerchief to wipe them, but don't damage them at all."

Although the requirements were still somewhat demanding, this time, no one questioned them anymore.

The loud noise just now had already subdued this group of unruly cultivators.

The way they looked at Ning Che now contained not only resentment, but also awe and fear.

Various sounds rang out again at the excavation site.

The sounds of shovels, brushes cleaning, and Hu Dayong's footsteps as he measured with a rope...

Everything seemed to be in good order.

Ning Che stood at the edge of the pit and closed his eyes. As Liu Er Ting Yue increased its power, the faint sound gradually became clearer.

Countless fragmented and chaotic syllables flooded his mind. The language was still indistinguishable, but the music-like content could still be analyzed and inferred in a simple way...

Time passed slowly, and it became completely dark. Someone used magic to provide light.

The soil and stones in the Qian position were separated and piled aside.

The array base runes in the Gen and Dui positions, after being carefully cleaned by more than a dozen cultivators with brushes, revealed their blurry outlines.

Everyone was waiting for Ning Che's next order.

Mu Qingming watched with great interest, wanting to know what kind of tricks this Commander Xing would pull next.

Finally, Ning Che opened his eyes.

His eyes showed no signs of fatigue, but rather a bright light.

"Hu Dayong, come here."

Hu Dayong scrambled over to his side.

Ning Che pointed to the deep pit and began issuing a series of strange commands.

"Fill the grooves of the third rune in the Dui position with the bluestone taken from the Qian position."

"The seventh rune in the Gen position is a ravine, into which rootless water is poured."

"In the Kun position, with the withered demon bone as the center, draw a reverse Li fire trigram using demon blood."

"..."

He rattled off more than a dozen instructions in one breath, each one strange and illogical. They were calculated based on formulas from those simplified training manuals on formations.

Not only was Hu Dayong dumbfounded, but even Mu Qingming, who was watching from a distance, had a serious look in his eyes.

What on earth is this kid doing?

"What are you standing there for? Write it down and pass on the order!" Ning Che snapped.

"Yes! Yes!" Hu Dayong snapped out of his daze, frantically taking notes, and then shouted as he relayed Ning Che's orders one by one.

Although the mountain guards had their doubts, they still began to do as Mu Qingming tacitly approved.

The scene instantly became even busier.

Some were moving stones, some were fetching water, and some were carefully drawing divination symbols with the blood of demonic beasts. "Commander, water without roots...where do we find it now?"

A team was bracing themselves to move forward, interrupting Ning Che's thoughts.

It was late at night, the sky was cloudless, and naturally there was no rain.

Ning Che glanced at him and said calmly, "At dawn, the frost on the rocks in the shady area of ​​the northern mountain will melt away. This substance is extremely yin, so its effect will be even better."

The team leader was taken aback, thought about it, and realized that it made sense. He quickly accepted the order and left.

Someone else reported that there was no spare blood from a certain type of demon beast.

"Then use the blood of three fire-attribute demon beasts, mix them in a ratio of three to two to one, simmer them over a low flame for half a quarter of an hour, and take the clear liquid from the top." Ning Che said without looking up, as if he were talking about a very simple family matter.

These alternative solutions all come from the supplementary parts of "A Brief Explanation of the Way of Formation," and are all equivalent substitution formulas recorded by the author when exhausting the variations.

At this moment, these formulas, spoken by Ning Che, became unpredictable and mysterious commands.

The way the mountain guardians looked at him had gradually changed from initial suspicion and resentment to awe.

This level of creation, rather than use of formations, is beyond their comprehension.

You have to understand that Feihu City doesn't even have a single array master, so where have they ever seen such a miraculous technique? They couldn't help but feel awe and respect, and as a result, they gradually trusted Ning Che's command even more.

Mu Qingming saw everything, yet remained calm and unhurried.

Just as everyone was busy, two figures quietly approached from the perimeter of the camp.

Shi Bingzhu and Shi Zhongyu.

"You little brat, you've gone too far." Shi Bingzhu walked up to Ning Che, lowered his voice, and frowned.

He had just returned from the north, and all he heard along the way were bizarre stories about how Ning Che debated with a group of scholars, how he seized command, and how he made a group of seventh-rank experts obediently dig in the dirt.

"Interesting." Shi Zhongyu's phoenix eyes gleamed with excitement. "What exactly do you want? You didn't call us here just to watch a show, did you?"

Ning Che did not answer immediately. He glanced at Mu Qingming, who was standing with his hands behind his back in the distance, as if in a meditative state, before slowly speaking: "This is not a treasure vault, it's a prison."

He lowered his voice further, so only the three of them could hear: "Wait a minute, I'll open this cell door. I don't know what's locked up inside, but it's definitely not a friendly bunch."

"I need you guys to help me hold onto two positions."

Ning-Che pointed to the "Qian" and "Kun" positions on both sides of the deep pit, "Once the formation is activated, those two places will be the areas with the most chaotic Yuan energy, and also the places where changes are most likely to occur."

No matter what happens, hold those positions and don't let anyone near. As long as these two locations are under my control, this formation belongs to me.

He emphasized the word "mine," and the two people in front of him were not fools; they naturally understood the implications.

Shi Bingzhu gave him a deep look and nodded emphatically: "Understood."

Shi Zhongyu gripped his broadsword tightly and affirmed, "Excellent, I like this arrangement."