Time slipped by unnoticed.
In a haze, Ian Song felt a sudden flash of inspiration in his mind. He vaguely sensed he'd found a way to decipher the runes, but it was as if a thin membrane still separated him from the answer.
"How am I supposed to crack this, anyway?"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just then, a series of explosions rang out.
Next thing he knew, he was shoved out of the creation space. Someone was shaking his body—he instantly grew annoyed and glared over, only to find it was Mira Skylar. He couldn’t help but snap, “Are you crazy?”
"You... you're impossible! Someone's attacking the formation, and I called you several times but you didn't answer, so I had to shake you awake!" Mira protested, her face full of grievance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rumbling echoed again—sure enough, someone was bombarding the formation.
He stood up, waved his hand, and the scene outside the formation appeared before his eyes. The one blasting the array was none other than Nina Shaw. Ian snapped irritably, “What do you think you’re doing?”
"Kid, get out here! I have something to ask you!" Nina barked coldly.
"Ask my ass! Do you have any idea I’m training here?" Ian shouted back, showing zero respect. Mira was left speechless, convinced Ian was asking for trouble.
"You little thief, what did you say? Say it again if you dare!" Nina was furious, her eyes blazing with killing intent.
"I said, you’ve got something seriously wrong with you! Why the hell are you blasting my array for no reason? Is your brain fried? I’ve got medicine for that—want some? I’ll give you a free dose!" Ian cursed again without holding back.
"You’ve got guts, little thief, to insult a God-King like this!" Evan Wilder, the other God-King, stepped over with a frosty expression and questioned Ian.
"Old man, cut the good guy act or I’ll curse you out too!" Ian shot back, still annoyed.
"Evan, let’s break this array together and then teach that little thief a lesson!" Nina gritted her teeth.
"Fine!"
The two of them attacked at once, unleashing their full power against the formation.
Unfortunately, Ian’s mastery of formations had already reached a terrifying level. Even a casually set array was far beyond what those two could break.
You two idiots can keep hammering away. I don’t believe you can break my formation!
As he spoke, Ian quickly tossed out a pile of god-crystals and laid down hundreds more layers of formations. Breaking just one would take them dozens of days by brute force; with hundreds, Ian—bad at math—didn’t even bother to calculate how long it’d take.
Aren’t you afraid you’ll just piss them off more by insulting them like that?
Mira asked.
Afraid, my ass! With these hundreds of layers, unless they hammer away for years without sleeping, they’ll never break through. Don’t bother me—I’m going to meditate!
With that, Ian sat down cross-legged and set up a formation to isolate himself from Mira, so she wouldn’t bug him again.
Mira spent the next few days nervously watching, but after seeing that the two God-Kings still couldn’t break the first layer, she relaxed and simply sat down to cultivate, imitating Ian.
Hmph, once I break through to God-King, I’ll pay that bastard back!
Outside the formation.
Nina and Evan were frustrated to the extreme. A formation set by a mere Mid Heavenly God had held them up for five whole days, and it showed no sign of breaking.
They even tried all sorts of tricks, but the formation was as stable as Mount Tai. If they knew Ian had quietly added hundreds more layers, who knows what they’d think.
His inspiration was interrupted—the flash of insight vanished. Ian could only stare at the Heaven Stele, hoping the feeling would return. But days passed and it never came back.
You two deadbeats, just wait till I figure out this Creation Heaven Diagram—then I’ll deal with you!
Ian couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
Huh? That’s not right!
Suddenly, Ian realized something: all those so-called runes were just meant to confuse people. Beneath the runes, there was a faint, blurry diagram.
That diagram was hazy; when he focused, it disappeared.
Playing hide and seek with me?
Ian smirked, then relaxed; sure enough, when he stopped trying, the diagram reappeared.
After a few hours, Ian imprinted the diagram into his mind and started studying it there.