Wild cultivation begins with wielding the Taiyin talisman.

This book is thin, less than fifty pages, with rough paper and rudimentary printing; some of the text is so blurred it's illegible. But the content is surprisingly substantial.

"The essence of formations is to simulate the operation of the primordial energy of heaven and earth with human power."

This was the very first sentence, which Ning Che read three times.

This definition is broad, but in practice it is extremely simple.

It's simply a matter of choosing suitable materials as nodes, then using array patterns as lines to connect the nodes and form loops. Finally, by utilizing the energy of the elemental stones, or by directly guiding the flow of primordial energy from heaven and earth within them, endless wonders can be created.

Unlike practicing magic, the difficulty of array formations lies not in casting them, but in designing them.

Whether the properties of the node materials match, whether the distance between them is precise, the order of mana infusion, and whether the direction of the loop conflicts with the flow of the primordial energy of heaven and earth—the slightest mistake can lead to failure or even explosion.

The author repeatedly warns that this is a real explosion, and one must be extremely cautious before activating the formation and repeatedly verify that the formation is truly in place.

Ning Che read very quickly, his page-turning movements were fluid and graceful.

This formation gave him a very strange feeling; understanding it was as easy as understanding that the sun rises every day.

Strangely enough, when he studied magic texts, although he learned quickly, he never had this feeling that it should be this way.

The logic of the array formation shares similarities with certain things he encountered in his previous life: nodes, loops, inputs, outputs, signal transmission and feedback. Although the underlying mechanisms are completely different, the underlying thought processes are almost identical.

He read most of the book in one go, finding it endlessly fascinating; it was as if it had opened a new door to his world.

But a moment later, he frowned again.

Setting up the formation requires elemental stones!

He now fully understood why there wasn't a single array master in Fat Lake City.

Not to mention the treasures needed for the array eyes or array patterns, which can be reused, but the elemental stones, as energy sources, are truly one less to be used.

Moreover, this is something he himself doesn't even have enough of, yet he wants to use it for this formation. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?

poor.

Really poor.

It's not the kind of poverty that ascetics accept as they are content with, but the kind of poverty where they truly can't afford anything and are strapped for cash.

He continued flipping through the pages and found a line in the chapter about alternative materials: "Some natural minerals, if immersed in an environment rich in the elemental energy of heaven and earth for a long enough time, can also be used as elemental stones."

This kind of thing is called a formation stone. It cannot be used to assist in cultivation; it can only be used in formations. Of course, its effect is generally much worse than that of a spirit stone, but at least it can make the formation work.

Do these kinds of stones exist in the rat swamp?

If it's because the primordial energy of heaven and earth is abundant that it can be used, can other materials be used as substitutes?

Ning Che fell into deep thought.

Just then, Zhong Hongyao's voice came from downstairs, as she told a few people about the situation in Caixia Village.

The sound wasn't loud, and it was hard to hear clearly. But he could imagine Lin Ye slamming his fist on the table again, because he did hear a muffled thud. Then Chen Mu lowered his voice and said something, probably trying to persuade him. Zhao He didn't say a word.

Ning Che turned over and stared at the ceiling.

The mountain guardian who came to collect the herb began six years ago, and Li Laogen was also transferred to the Rat Swamp six years ago. Is this a coincidence?

He doesn't believe in coincidences.

If it's not a coincidence, then it means someone started planning this six years ago.

He first threw the disobedient people into the rat swamp, and then enriched the miasma in Caixia Village, turning the area into a quagmire that swallowed up batch after batch of exiled mountain guards.

Zhao Er said many people had died at this outpost. Were they killed by monsters, by miasma, or by a carefully orchestrated, slow murder?

He would soon find out that since Mu Qingming still needed him, he couldn't possibly leave him here for years to fend for himself.

Moreover, it might actually be a good thing if Mu Qingming doesn't interfere with him for a few years. Even in this environment, given his cultivation speed, he will definitely experience a qualitative leap in a few years.

At that time, it's not impossible that they would be able to deal with those seventh-grade cultivators, or even contend with Mu Qingming.

That's wishful thinking.

Ning Che slightly curled the corners of his mouth, pulled himself out of his thoughts, and got up to go downstairs.

The book contained several simple formations, similar to example problems, and he needed to test whether he had truly learned them.

The main room was filled with a bitter medicinal smell.

Zhong Hongyao squatted in the corner, a rough earthenware medicine pot in front of her. She was skillfully using a silver knife to shave off the purplish part of the roots of the herb Bai Jie Cao. The shaved purple root bark piled up in the bowl, like a small pile of purple snow.

"How long can those medicinal herbs last after they've been processed?"

Zhong Hongyao didn't even look up: "With five people, if we use it sparingly, each person can probably use it five or six times."

Ning Che nodded, placed the "Basic Array Guide" on the table, turned to a page, and pointed to the array diagram drawn on it: "This protective array requires six nodes. I can't afford the elemental stones, so I plan to go to the Rat Swamp to see if there are any array stones to use instead."

Zhong Hongyao glanced at the array diagram, then looked at Ning Che suspiciously: "You've only been looking at it all morning—"

"Half a morning."

"You think you can learn how to set up a formation in half a morning?"

"I think we can give it a try." Ning Che put away the book. He was really confident now, feeling that he had completely figured out the mysteries of the formation.

Zhong Hongyao looked at him for a while, then lowered her head and continued cutting grass roots, muttering something under her breath.

Ning Che didn't hear him clearly. "What did you say?"

"I said," Zhong Hongyao used her silver knife to pick up a piece of the peeled root bark and toss it into the bowl. "Don't worry about the array stones, I have a way."

Ning Che remained noncommittal. He tucked the book under his arm and turned to leave the outpost.

He guessed that the stones in the Rat Swamp, which had been tainted by demonic energy and miasma for many years, might already be considered array stones. So he walked along the edge of the Rat Swamp, picking up a stone from time to time to examine it with his aura-gazing technique.

However, these stones appear black in the field of vision of the Qi Observation Technique, which means there is no Qi, or rather, no flow of the primordial energy of heaven and earth.

It's not that simple.

He looked around and randomly picked up a few things to check, but naturally, none of them were usable.

Suddenly, he saw the corpses of the two rat demons he had killed earlier.

Using the Qi Observation Technique, sure enough, a large rat appeared in the field of vision, its appearance a mixture of light and shadow, resembling an ink painting.

Demons use the method of physical transformation to begin their cultivation path, and their bodies are no longer those of mortals. They can be seen using the aura-observation technique when they are alive, and they can still be seen even now that they are dead.

So, can demon corpses be used as array stones?

Ning Che's eyes narrowed, and without further hesitation, he turned and returned to the outpost.

The outpost was open, and Chen Mu was squatting on the threshold inside, reading a book with a smile on his face.

Zhao He sat in the room, his sword lying across his lap, slowly sharpening the blade with a whetstone.

Zhong Hongyao appeared to have finished processing the Hundred-Cure Herb and was adding clusters of small yellow flowers into the mortar. Ning Che didn't know what they were.

Lin Ye practiced his boxing in the open space outside the door. Without any magical power, it was just pure boxing form. Each move was powerful and forceful, and the air seemed to whistle as his fists passed through it.

His back was soaked with sweat, his coarse cloth clothes clinging to his shoulder blades, outlining the contours of his bulging muscles. But he didn't stop, punching again and again, as if he were hitting something unseen.

Ning Che's gaze swept over him, then returned and stopped.

Then he stepped towards him: "Come with me into the swamp and hunt down the rat demons."