Chapter 627: Formation Debate Begins
Although everyone was led to their courtyards to rest, no one actually did so. The Formation Master's debate was just about to begin, and thus, the experts all wanted to practice one last time. They wanted to compress just one more seal or do anything in their power to improve their performance.
One should know that the elders placed an outstanding amount of interest in the result of the Formation Master's debate and the younger generation all wanted to prove their worth.
Although Formation Masters were strong and greatly appreciated in group fights, they were often weak in individual fights because they had to wait for their formations to be fully formed before they could explode forth with outstanding power.
The time while one was creating a formation was when the formation user would be the weakest. It required focus and attention, and it took a few seconds to arrange the seals. Because of this, they were easy targets during this time. If they did not have someone to hold off the enemy, then they were certain to die a tragic death.
This debate was the way for one to display their ability and prove their worth to the sect. When these formation users were compared against other experts of the same generation, everyone understood that they would perform worse than most in sparring matches, but in a real battle, it was different. Now, that they were fighting against others of the same vocation, they could truly show how skilled they were.
Hui Yue was no exception; he too spent the night practicing his formations while Huli observed him with curiosity. Pei Bai was also by his side, ready to answer any question that he might have so that he was prepared for the debate when it began.
The night seemed to pass slowly in this cool and quiet section of the sect that housed all the diligently cultivating experts. The lights in the different courtyards shone through the windows illuminating the somewhat dull gray night together with the snow from the outside.
As the day broke, there was no sun that rose in the sky, no change in the weather at all but for the fact that the shine of the snow seemed to be brighter than it was during the night. Everyone slowly awoke to the new day, the day where the whole younger generation would face off against each other in a debate.
"I'm not saying that you were wrong in assuming that the Celestial Sword Sect has taken this young man with them for the sake of showing off their other strengths, but even if that were the case, we cannot do anything about it! They are the Celestial Sword Sect! They are backed by Diyu; we really do not have any room to insult them!"
As the day broke, in a small room one could hear the old weasel talking in a hushed tone to the young genius of the sect.
"It is an insult," the young genius responded, not caring to lower his voice at all. "This is a sacred debate for Formation Masters! A place to prove one's ability in controlling formations, and he comes here expecting to be greeted with a similar respect as other Formation Masters just because he is famous for being one of the King’s of Hell?! I just can’t stand him insulting our vocation like that!"
"I know," the old weasel could tell a splitting headache was coming his way from trying to get this young man to behave. "Although I understand that it is an insult to all you formation apprentices who take formations seriously, we cannot say for sure that he is not skilled at formations himself yet. If he turns out to be a formation apprentice, you will have greatly embarrassed yourself, not to mention the other guests are looking at us with questionable eyes now. Our way of receiving guests shows a lot about our character. If we are hostile, it is likely that others will look down upon us for it!"
The elder did what he could to stress his point, yet no matter what he said, it was clear that the youth did not care. His expression was one of disdain. It was clear that changing his opinion would not be easy, and the elder had no choice other than to sigh deeply and give up.
"I hope you are correct," he mumbled to himself while shaking his head. "If that brat from the Celestial Sword Sect manages to become someone formidable with formations as well, then I fear that he is a true monster. Monsters like that should not belong to the Celestial Sword Sect."
Contemplating for some time, the elder shook his head, "If he truly is such a monster, perhaps one day he would wield the Celestial Sword. Who knows what chaos the Celestial Sword will bring the world this time?"
Shuddering, the old weasel said no more but shook his head before he left the room that belonged to the young genius. He was the host of this debate, and since morning had come, it was clear that he had to welcome everyone and start the debate.
Hui Yue continued to compress seals until it was finally so late that he had to leave. He quickly changed to a clean set of clothes and then got ready to leave the courtyard. Walking outside, he saw a small stream of experts all heading towards the hall where they were supposed to be holding the debate.
The Formation Master's debate was a big thing for all Formation Masters, and many had been invited. Many sects had sent more than one of their apprentices to watch the debate and try their hand at the fighting in the hope that they would gain some enlightenment.
Although the students could spar against each other from time to time and experiment with their newly practiced formations, it was one thing to practice with the same people time and time again, but quite another to truly challenge others skilled in the formation arts.
Hui Yue was in an even worse situation as he had only been able to spar with Pei Bai, an elder who was almost at the Grandmaster level. Even if he had said that he would only use some of his seals, he still had more knowledge, more practice, and many more formations to rely on. He had the ability to create almost ninety formations at the same time. Simultaneously forming just ten was as easy as breathing to this Grandmaster.
Deep in thought, Hui Yue, Huli, and Pei Bai followed behind the rest of the people who were moving towards the hall where the debate would take place.
Huli’s paw held Hui Yue’s hand and gently gave it a squeeze, clearly trying to make him feel better. "I'm fine, Huli," Hui Yue smiled at her. "Although I am confident with my skills, I have never actually fought anyone at my own level. All I have experienced is being trampled underneath Elder Bai's feet."
Hui Yue smiled at Huli only to see her smiling back at him with a gentle, caring smile filled with love. Suddenly, a shiver ran through the body of Hui Yue, and he felt the black figure within his core opened up to him.
It was still not a memory that Hui Yue could merge with. However, he felt that this fragment of his previous life was starting to accept him. Huli's love was without a doubt the reason that this proud and arrogant life was willing to lower itself to Hui Yue's level and allow for this weak God to use all his knowledge of the dao of space.
Hui Yue was aware that this memory had comprehended more than just the dao of space, but he also understood that those daos were not possible to be unlocked before he merged with his memory.
Still, feeling how the memory was slowly accepting him, Hui Yue was ecstatic. This was his strongest ace up his sleeve; the dao of space was truly magnificent.
Previously, he had been forced to bargain with his previous life. He was forced to try and convince him to help by using Huli's emotions as leverage. It made him feel bad although he knew that Huli did not mind.
"I should have practiced more formations that could merge with the dao of space. As far as I know, I only have one, and that is the Spacelock formation." Hui Yue mumbled to himself and paused slightly, wondering whether or not this Spacelock formation would be useful when he merged it with the dao of space, or if it would become useless considering it was but a mere ten seal formation.
"The formation is useful," Pei Bai said as he heard Hui Yue speaking. "Let’s say you make a forty seal formation but need to pause the opponent slightly, then you weave up the Spacelock formation at the same time as you do the other formation and you end up stalling the opponent for a moment just as the other formation launches. This will greatly increase the chance that you hit your opponent with your attack."
"In fact, the Spacelock formation is one of the most used formations throughout the universe. It is not able to do much, but because it is such a cheap formation to make, and because it is capable of stunning the enemy for a moment, it is one of the most used formations out there. If you can further enhance the stun effect by merging it with your dao of space, then it can become one of your most powerful attacks."
Pei Bai spoke in a low voice so that none of the people around them heard him, but Hui Yue understood how important this was and he started contemplating how to use it in real combat.
The walk from the courtyard to the hall was not long. Just as Hui Yue finished receiving guidance from Pei Bai, they arrived at the hall where the debate would be held.
As they entered the hall, Huli laid in Hui Yue’s arms looking around at everything that was happening nearby them.
The hall was already crowded with people from the various sects which had arrived. In the middle was a tall stage which had been raised from the floor to around one meter into the air, making it possible for everyone to see what was happening.
Around the stage were various inscriptions and formations that had been placed to ensure the energy from the dangerous battles inside the stage would not affect anything in the outside world.
When they arrived, everyone was talking with one another. Their words were filled with excitement as they discussed the probable results of this debate.
Everyone present thought that the genius of the Heavenly Dragon Gate would be number one in the debate. No one even questioned whether or not he would be defeated, but the discussion on who would take second place was something that the many people and sects could not agree on at all. Every sect believed that their sect would be second place. However, they were certain that the Celestial Sword Sect would not be ranked high.
Although they all respected the Celestial Sword Sect and Diyu, no one believed that this King of Hell would be able to also command formations.
Being looked down on was something that Hui Yue did not mind. He knew that if he could continue to have people underestimate him, then it would not be too hard to gain victory.
As he was thinking like this, the old man from the Heavenly Dragon Gate, the old weasel, stepped to the top of the stage and cleared his throat. "Welcome to this Formation Master's debate!"
His voice was clear and cut through all the conversations in the hall making everyone quiet down and listen to him.
"This is the debate for the younger generation; only the younger generation is allowed to partake. Do not kill or cripple your opponent. If you do, you will forever be seen as dead to our Formation Master’s Association. You will be thrown out and will never again join the formation master’s debate. You will never be able to benefit from the Formation Master’s Association."
"This is a debate, not a fighting ground; we are here to learn from one another and show our talents, not create grudges or lasting animosity."
"Now, if you have no questions, I declare this Formation Master's debate started!"