Chapter 147: The Art of Formations

"Search, find him for me! Have all disciples scour the grounds and bring me that bastard who dared to trespass in the Sky-Shattering Sect!"

After Wu Tian managed to escape, Pan Fubang attempted to pursue him. However, the moment he stepped out of the courtyard, all traces of Wu Tian had vanished, leaving him with no choice but to return empty-handed.

The incident immediately sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of the Sky-Shattering Sect. The Sect Master personally ordered several elders to apprehend the intruder who had dared to violate their territory. Yet, there was not a single sign of the trespasser, as if he had simply dissolved into thin air. It crossed no one's mind that the intruder was actually a member of the Sky-Shattering Sect, let alone that it could be Wu Tian.

Pan Fubang located the disciple whose identity Wu Tian had assumed and subjected him to a thorough interrogation, but he learned nothing. Left with no answers, Pan Fubang could only nurse his resentment and anger in secret.

Several other elders of the Sky-Shattering Sect personally visited the scene of Pan Fubang's battle to investigate and see if they could uncover any clues about the intruder.

"The fact that this person could impersonate Elder Pan's disciple with such flawless execution shows that he is an absolute master of the art of disguise. Furthermore, judging by the state of the battleground, his cultivation level is definitely above the fifth-tier Martial King realm!" a short-statured elder remarked as he glanced at Pan Fubang's demolished dwelling.

"And considering he managed to turn Pan's own attack back against him, he must be carrying high-grade equipment. Not only that, but with so many disciples conducting searches and finding nothing at all, it's evident that the culprit must be an insider of the Sky-Shattering Sect. Otherwise, he couldn't have vanished so completely without a trace. With his mastery of disguises, he could easily slip past everyone's sight by changing his appearance at will," Liu Qingxu said, nodding slightly as she voiced her analysis.

"This scoundrel is utterly arrogant! To dare break into our Sky-Shattering Sect—he completely disregards us! We should order every disciple in the sect to hunt him down!" Pan Fubang seethed with anger at the mere memory of being injured by his own rebounding technique.

"Elder Pan, this matter cannot be blown out of proportion. Not only must we refrain from searching for him openly, but you must also strictly muzzle the disciples under your command. If word of this gets out, it will become the laughingstock of the world. A dignified elder of the Sky-Shattering Sect actually injured by an intruder, and yet unable to find even a trace of him!" The short elder shook his head.

"Elder Zhou is entirely correct. This is a domestic disgrace and must not be publicized!" Liu Qingxu nodded in agreement.

The other elders nodded along as well.

Pan Fubang was left momentarily speechless. Indeed, if this news leaked, it would not only ruin his own reputation but also severely damage the prestige of the Sky-Shattering Sect. It was far better to keep it under wraps.

"Very well, then we shall seal off all information. However, my fellow elders, whoever infiltrated the sect with such malicious intent might very well be an agent of the Demonic Sect. We must take this seriously, or it will spell endless trouble in the future!" Pan Fubang said helplessly.

"That goes without saying."

Afterwards, the elders conducted one more thorough sweep of the area, but ultimately found nothing.

***

After making his escape, Wu Tian altered his disguise several times. Once he was certain he was completely safe, he reverted to his original appearance and strolled casually back into the Sky-Shattering Sect. As he passed the gates, he felt several powerful spiritual senses sweep over him—clear proof that the upper echelons had been stirred up by Pan Fubang's ordeal. However, having already restored his true face, Wu Tian drew zero suspicion.

It was only after he returned to the Small Bridge Courtyard that he finally relaxed. The Sky-Shattering Sect was no ordinary place; the slightest slip-up could expose his true identity.

Upon returning to his courtyard, Wu Tian headed straight to his room and bolted the door tightly shut.

"Heh, when that old bastard Pan Fubang ambushed me and blew me into his room, I managed to swipe something on the impulse. Let's see if it's worth anything." Locking the door behind him, Wu Tian eagerly pulled out the item he had lifted.

The object was the very same envelope Pan Fubang had tucked away into his drawer the moment Wu Tian had broken into his quarters.

When he opened the envelope, Wu Tian froze. What the hell—it was just a blank sheet of paper, entirely devoid of any writing.

"No way, just a blank piece of paper? What's the point of this?" Wu Tian flipped the envelope over and over before finally confirming it was nothing more than a plain sheet of paper, seemingly utterly worthless.

"Pan Fubang wouldn't bother looking at a blank piece of paper for no reason. There has to be a hidden mystery to this." Convinced that Pan Fubang wouldn't be bored enough to inspect blank parchment, Wu Tian began examining the paper for any concealed secrets.

At last, his perseverance paid off. When Wu Tian scanned the paper using the system, the interface provided the following prompt:

*Envelope: An envelope inscribed with a concealment array.*

No wonder it appeared to be nothing more than a blank sheet of paper! It turned out the envelope was inscribed with a concealment array. It seemed this letter undoubtedly held a deep secret, otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to cast a formation upon it.

"A formation, is it? Well, your truly happens to have the Formation Mastery auxiliary skill. Heaven truly favors me!"

On the Dragon Continent, formations were created by combining true qi and spiritual energy with other auxiliary materials such as spirit stones or demonic beast cores, arranged in specific patterns. There were many types of formations: offensive, defensive, or concealment formations like the one on this envelope.

Formation mastery, much like alchemy and weapon forging, was profoundly elusive and usually required extensive practical experience to master. For Wu Tian, however, all he needed to do was prepare the required materials, directly deploy his Formation Mastery skill, and leave the rest to fate.

Upon learning that the envelope bore a concealment array, Wu Tian immediately checked the system mall and searched for formation blueprints. After browsing for quite some time, he finally found a diagram capable of breaking concealment arrays: the "Array-Breaking Array," a Yellow-grade formation blueprint capable of dismantling numerous Yellow-grade formations.

The blueprint only cost five exchange points, and Wu Tian purchased it without the slightest hesitation.

Following the instructions in the blueprint, Wu Tian set about preparing to dismantle the concealment array on the envelope.

"Place one spirit stone in the northwest, place a first-tier demonic beast core in the southeast at a distance of one foot, place two spirit stones one foot due east of the demonic beast core..."

Wu Tian arranged the materials precisely as the manual instructed. A normal formation master would need to channel their own true qi to activate a formation, requiring extreme precision to prevent failure. Wu Tian, however, had no such need; he simply had to cast his Formation Mastery skill.

"Formation Mastery!"

Instantly, a flash of white light illuminated the room, and the spirit stones instantly crumbled into fine ash.

*“Player Wu Tian failed to inscribe the formation. Formation Mastery proficiency +1.”*

*“Again! Formation Mastery!”*

Just like alchemy, the success rate was quite low in the beginning. Wu Tian failed over a dozen times in a row, consuming more than ten spirit stones.

*“Formation Mastery!”*

*Ding!*

*“Congratulations to player Wu Tian for successfully inscribing the Array-Breaking Array. Formation Mastery proficiency +1. Due to your first successful inscription, the system rewards you with 10 points of Formation Mastery proficiency. Keep up the good work, player Wu Tian!”*

*“Congratulations to player Wu Tian for successfully lifting the concealment array.”*

On his fiftieth consecutive failure, a system notification finally sounded, breaking the envelope's concealment array at last. Lines of text materialized upon the paper. Wu Tian eagerly picked up the envelope to read—this was the hard-earned fruit of fifty failures!