Elder Victor Deng was visibly stunned to learn Evan Yang could use formations. In his eyes, Evan was already an incredible genius for being able to fight a peak Xuan-Immortal. If he was strong in formations too, then Evan was truly a prodigy who seemed to excel at everything.
So, in Elder Deng's mind, he thought Evan at most knew a little—certainly not that he was truly strong in formations.
"Since you actually know formations, I'll help you report it. Wait here for a bit, I'll be right back," Elder Deng said, then left.
Evan Yang and Hannah Nangong stayed behind to wait. Hannah spoke up, "You know formations?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Evan replied with a smile. He knew that from today, his ability with formations would be exposed, but for the sake of his father, he had no choice. If it meant finding his father, he was willing to do it.
"That's strange. Your Northern Faction doesn't seem to specialize in formations. How did you learn? Don't tell me you studied it in your world-realm too?" Hannah said in surprise.
"That's right, I learned it in my world-realm as well," Evan replied with a smile.
Hannah looked at Evan, her expression stunned. "What kind of place is your world-realm anyway? How could it produce someone as talented as you?"
"Talented? Not really—just a bit over the top," Evan said with a smile, though in his heart he was grateful for all the benefactors he'd met. Otherwise, he wouldn't be who he was today.
"Still not a genius? Good thing you don't know pill refining or artifact forging, or you'd be the biggest prodigy in history. And in that duel a few days ago, you didn't use your earth attribute. If people knew you had dual attributes, it'd spread across the Immortal Realm again," Hannah said.
Evan gave a dry laugh. "Is it really that exaggerated?" But he felt helpless—he really did know all those things, but what could he do?
"Of course it's over the top. There aren't many people with dual attributes, and those who have them are incredibly strong. Plus, you're not from a formation sect, so having talent in formations is definitely odd. And we're not talking about simple formations—these are Immortal Realm arrays, which require real skill. For example, even though I'm a Xuan-Immortal, I could learn basic formations in a few years, but to reach Immortal-grade arrays, you'd need tens of thousands of years of experience. So you're basically a genius. Honestly, how many years did you spend learning?" Hannah mused, thinking it wasn't impossible for Evan to learn formations, since formation study doesn't conflict with cultivation. She was curious.
Evan smiled. "I forgot exactly how long. It's been quite a few years, I suppose."
"Quite a few years, huh? You sure know how to brag," Hannah glared.
Evan gave a dry laugh and stayed silent. If he told the truth, it'd scare people to death. Soon, Elder Deng returned and said to the two, "Alright, I've already spoken with the other elders."
"You can go tomorrow, but I need to tell you the assessment rules first," Elder Deng said.
"Please go ahead, senior," Evan said. Elder Deng explained, "Immortal-grade formations are divided into three major segments and nine minor tiers: basic (one, two, three), intermediate (four, five, six), advanced (seven, eight, nine). The assessment you'll take is at least tier three, meaning everything will be judged by tier three standards."
"I see. What are the specifics of the assessment?" Evan asked curiously.
"First, array-laying. Second, array-breaking," Elder Deng replied.
"I see. What exactly do those two entail?" Evan asked, now understanding.
"For array-laying, you'll need to set up four types: illusion array, attack array, trapping array, and defensive array—one of each. As for array-breaking, it's the same. Sometimes these four will even be combined, and you'll have to break through them," Elder Deng explained.
Before Evan could speak, Hannah Nangong exclaimed, "If you fail, will you die inside?"
"That's right. If you can't break through, you'll be trapped or die inside. Both array-laying and array-breaking have strict time limits," Elder Deng said.
Hannah said worriedly, "Maybe we should forget it and find another way."
"No need, I can handle it," Evan replied with a smile.
Elder Deng was stunned by Evan's confident smile, then laughed, "Alright, come see me tomorrow morning. For now, feel free to wander around. I'll have someone show you around Celestial Resonance Sect."
Evan smiled and said, "No need for the trouble, Elder Deng. We'll just walk around ourselves and come back in the morning."
"Are you sure you don't want a guide?" Elder Deng asked again.
Evan nodded, "No need, thank you."
Elder Deng nodded, then took out a token. "Since you're outsiders, there are plenty here who don't know you. Take this token—if anyone tries to make trouble, show it and they won't dare touch you."
Evan looked at the token and smiled. "Alright, thank you." With that, he left with Hannah Nangong.
Watching Evan leave, Elder Deng muttered, "Good thing I gave him a token. If some clueless fool tries to provoke him, he'll definitely teach them a lesson."
If Evan heard Elder Deng's words, he'd be annoyed. But at this moment, he was wandering through Celestial Resonance Sect with Hannah.
"Aren't you worried?" Hannah asked.
"Worried about what?" Evan replied.
"About the assessment, of course. If you fail, you could be trapped or even die inside. Wouldn't that be a shame?" Hannah sighed.
"Don't worry. Don't you trust my abilities?" Evan said with a smile.
Hannah hesitated—she'd never seen Evan's formation skills, so naturally she wasn't very confident.
Evan, to change the subject, said, "Look, Celestial Resonance Sect really is a formation powerhouse. Nearly every spot here is a formation."
"Formations? Where?" Hannah asked curiously.
"Most are hidden. Want to see?" Evan asked with a smile.
"Really? I feel like I haven't seen any," Hannah said, puzzled.
Evan smiled, gently touched a nearby tree, and the tree suddenly vanished.
"That tree was fake?" Hannah exclaimed in shock.
"That's right, just an illusion. And those stones over there are actually dangerous. If several people stand on them, they'll instantly trap everyone," Evan explained.
Seeing Evan explain so confidently, Hannah was half convinced. Not far away, Ian Lian had been waiting with several others. When he saw Evan dispel the illusion tree, Ian stepped out and sneered, "Who are you, daring to destroy our sect's property?"
Hannah quickly explained, "Brother Ian, it's just an illusion, not real damage!"
Ian didn't expect they knew it was a formation, but pretended ignorance. "Illusion? Don't joke around. I clearly saw him destroy our tree just now. Not just me—my fellow disciples saw it too."
The crowd began to stir, and as more people joined in, the gathering grew larger.
"You guys are quite something," Evan said with a grin.
"Kid, you come to our sect and cause trouble. I can't let that slide. But since you're a guest, we won't bully you with numbers. We'll pick someone at random to teach you a lesson, so you know you can't mess around here," Ian Lian snorted, glancing around. All the disciples present were Xuan-Immortals, none higher.
Evan and Hannah exchanged glances, then looked at Ian. Ian gritted his teeth and said, "Senior Brother Bei, you go."
A disciple stepped forward. Ian secretly sent him a message: "Trap him with formations. I doubt he can break your array."
The disciple called Senior Brother Bei knew what Ian wanted. He stepped up and said to Evan, "If you're a man, come on. Stop wasting time."
Evan was surprised—they really thought he was here to cause trouble. He smiled, "Are you sure you want to challenge me?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" the disciple replied.
Evan smiled, "Alright, I'll accept." If he didn't teach them a lesson now, they'd keep stirring things up. Evan told Hannah to step aside.
The crowd moved aside as spectators. The disciple moved quickly, his body flickering, but his target wasn't Evan—it was the area around him. Evan saw through his actions and thought, "Trying to use formations?"
Sure enough, the disciple stopped and shouted. An array formed around Evan, and the onlookers watched, waiting to see what would happen.
"Your array-laying speed is a bit slow, and this formation doesn't even qualify as an Immortal-grade array," Evan commented.
No one expected Evan would critique the array at that moment. The disciple he critiqued was furious—he'd spent time setting it up, only for someone to dismiss it like that.
He shouted, "If you're so capable, break it!"
"Break it? That's a breeze!" Evan smiled, threw a punch, and the array shattered. The crowd saw a flicker around Evan, then the formation disappeared.
The crowd was left dumbfounded, while the array disciple lost all dignity and shouted angrily, "Damn it, I refuse to believe I can't trap you!"
He set up another array, but Evan broke it again. This happened three or four times, and the crowd fell silent, not daring to speak. Even Ian Lian's face darkened; he wanted to send a message but held back, letting the disciple vent his anger against Evan.
Evan said, "Alright, that's enough. I'm done playing—you've lost."
"Lost? It's just formations. I want to compete in strength!" the disciple said angrily, his face red.
Evan smiled, "Compete in strength? I'd advise you not to. If anything happens, I'm not taking responsibility."
"I don't need you to be responsible. Just bring it on!" the disciple shouted angrily.
The crowd wanted to intervene, but held back. Ian Lian said, "Brother Bei, don't be afraid! Use your full strength against him."
The disciple nodded, glaring at Evan. "Come on!"
"Looks like you still don't believe me. Fine, I don't like hurting people—so I'll just leave you standing here for a whole day." Evan said, then moved with lightning speed to set things up.