The Chief Elder and two others began to communicate with Divine Sense.
"Our Five Elements Sect has already fought the opening battles and lost two in a row, it's not suitable to continue fighting. Next up should be the Formation Mysterious Sect and the Proud Son of Heaven from the Shen Family to show their skills..."
The Chief Elder spoke with subtlety.
Sect Leader Chu and the Elder of the Shen Family were well aware of what he implied.
The Five Elements Sect was out of options.
Among the Qi Refinement Disciples, those two who fought earlier were already the best they could offer, yet they were effortlessly defeated by the Junior Formation Master.
Unless they allowed a Foundation Establishment First or Second Grade Disciple to step forward.
Otherwise, sending any more of the Five Elements Sect's inferior disciples would only result in further embarrassment.
But asking a Foundation Establishment disciple to fight would be completely bullying the weak, shameless. Such an act would be even more embarrassing to make public.
"Chief Elder, rest assured, I always do as I promise," Sect Leader Chu said with an air of ease.
"Next, let one of my Formation Mysterious Sect's disciples meet this Junior Formation Master."
The Formation Mysterious Sect was unlike the Five Elements Sect.
While the Five Elements Sect had been declining, the Formation Mysterious Sect was gradually flourishing.
Several geniuses in the sect possessed talents that were even superior to what I had in my youth.
Sect Leader Chu glanced at Mo Hua, who was sitting leisurely in the great hall, and slowly said:
"Young brother, let's compete with a First-grade Formation Method."
"A First-grade Formation Method?" Mo Hua was puzzled, "Didn't we already compete with that?"
"This time it's not about who draws better or faster; it's about who draws the more difficult one..."
Sect Leader Chu's eyes flashed with a sharp light. "I will send out a disciple from Formation Mysterious Sect. Each of you will draw a Formation. Whoever's Formation is more difficult, requires stronger Divine Sense, contains more Formation Patterns, will be the victor."
Mo Hua nodded, "Who will it be?"
Amidst the crowd, a Formation Mysterious Sect Disciple clad in a Five Elements Sect Taoist robe stepped forward.
Their previous conspiracy was to let the talented Formation geniuses pretend to be Five Elements Sect Disciples for the competition.
But now that Mr. Zhuang has exposed them and everyone present had sharp eyes, continuing the charade would only be self-deceptive and ridiculous.
This Disciple, full of talent, cupped his fists and said:
"I am Chu Xuan, a Direct Disciple of the Formation Mysterious Sect."
Mo Hua also cupped his tiny hands and said, "Mo Hua."
Then, feeling he missed a bit of grandeur without adding a title, he continued, "… a Direct Disciple of my master!"
He thought this statement was imposing enough.
Yet Chu Xuan found him somewhat childish and couldn't help shaking his head.
Afterward, the two started Drawing Formations.
Chu Xuan showed confidence in his strokes, as if inspired by the divine.
But Mo Hua was entangled in thoughts.
Competing on difficulty?
What level of difficulty should he choose for his Formation then?
Should it be the nine-patterned Reversed Spirit Formation, the eleven-patterned Thick Earth Formation, or the twelve-patterned Spiritual Pivot Formation?
If it's moderately difficult, he might not win.
If it's too difficult, though, it might be too ostentatious.
It's better to keep some of the real strength hidden…
Mo Hua discretely measured up Chu Xuan, calculating that he only needed to draw a slightly more difficult Formation to win. This Chu Xuan seemed quite polite, with proper speech and demeanor.
A little more difficult, win by a bit, leave him some face.
If it's significantly more difficult, it would show too much of a gap between them, which could be seen as impolite.
Mo Hua was thoughtful and considerate in his deliberation.
But how to know the difficulty of the Formation he could draw?
After some thought, Mo Hua's eyes brightened a bit.
He could calculate it.
After all, each was drawing their own, so sneaking a few glances wouldn't count as cheating.
Mo Hua took a look at Chu Xuan, slightly activated his Divine Sense, made a few calculations, and then he understood.
Although he didn't know which Formation Chu Xuan was drawing, he deduced from the trajectory of the Spiritual Power that it was likely above nine patterns and very close to ten patterns, but not quite there yet.
It had a hint of the flavor of an Ultimate Formation.
Mo Hua, who drew Ultimate Formations daily, was very sensitive to their essence.
This Disciple named Chu Xuan was drawing a Formation very close to an Ultimate Formation, but not exactly one.
However, it was still very impressive.
This was one of the most gifted First-grade Formation Masters Mo Hua had ever seen.
Such a Formation Master should be well encouraged, not too harshly criticized.
The young Mo Hua felt a sense of appreciation for talent and nodded slightly, beginning to draw his own Formation.
Atop the grand hall, the Chief Elder looked at Chu Xuan with some surprise.
"Is this... the Dry Wood Reviving Spring Formation?"
Sect Leader Chu nodded, "Indeed."
"The Dry Wood Reviving Spring Formation, is it not the hereditary ten-patterned Ultimate Formation of your Formation Mysterious Sect?" the Old Ancestor of Shen Family also frowned slightly.
Sect Leader Chu sighed, "The hereditary one is an Ultimate Formation, but this child Chu Xuan's drawing doesn't count as one."
He paused, then calmly explained:
"A ten-patterned Formation requires Foundation Establishment Divine Sense to learn."
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"But a Qi Refinement Disciple doesn't have Foundation Establishment Divine Sense and hence absolutely cannot learn it."
"Therefore, generation after generation of our Sect's Elders have been dedicatedly researching how to simplify this Ultimate Formation so that Qi Refinement Disciples can also learn it."
"After the painstaking efforts of four generations of Sect Leaders, my generation has finally seen some results."
Sect Leader Chu spoke modestly, but his face couldn't hide the pride, clearly very pleased with himself.
"Now, although this Formation's effectiveness has been reduced a bit, it is infinitely close to an Ultimate Formation."
"What's more important is that Qi Refinement Disciples can truly learn it."
"It's just that the Divine Sense required is extremely high, far surpassing the demands of the average ten-patterned Formation, and the difficulty is also exceedingly high..."
Sect Leader Chu stroked his beard in contemplation.
Though he spoke humbly, everyone could see he was boasting.
But there was nothing they could do about it, even though it was obvious.
The Old Ancestor of the Shen Family shook his head.
The Chief Elder was envious, jealous, and a little disheartened.