Five-Elemental Sword Array Formations.
Hao Ren switched his focus back to the ancient book in front of him.
Without any Nature Essence, it didn't even differ from any other old books from the used bookstores.
Hao Ren picked up the book and opened to the first page.
The fundamental sword array formations: fire-elemental array formation, earth-elemental array formation, water-elemental array formation, metal-elemental array formation, and wood-elemental array formation.
Hao Ren turned a few pages.
Five-Elemental Array Formations, One-line Snake Array Formation, Two Dragons Array Formation, Three Talents Heaven Earth Array Formation, Four Gates Base Guard Array Formation, Five Tigers Sheep Flock Array Formation, Six Ding Six Jia Array Formation, Seven Star Big Dipper Array Formation, Eight Gates Golden Lock Array Formation, Nine Characters Multi-Chain Array Formation, Ten Sides Ambush Array Formation, Ten Thousand Heart-Piercing Array formation, Tiangang Killing Array Formation!
The book of sword array formations!
In comparison to how Hao Ren shot out sword energies randomly, this book would guide Hao Ren to practice powerful sword array formations to increase his attack power.
There weren't only the circulation paths of the Nature Essence in the eight Extraordinary Meridians but also detailed demonstrations of sword array formation!
Hao Ren got even more astonished as he read more. Then, he looked up to only found that Xie Yujia disappeared without a trace.
"Who is that old Grandma? Why did she ask Xie Yujia to bring the Five-Elemental Sword Array Formations to me?" he thought.
After putting the book away, Hao Ren vaguely recalled that he happened to have met that old Grandma once before
She was in her 70s or 80s. She had wrinkles all over her kind face, and she wasn't able to speak!
Tang! Tang!
The radio speakers on the campus started to play music during the lunch break. Hao Ren realized that he still had classes, so he rushed out of the cafeteria.
Having been playing games for two hours, Zhao Jiayi and the guys went to class as well. They started to yell when they saw Hao Ren sitting the classroom already, "What the hell? Why are you here already!"
Hao Ren shook his head and replied, "I'm early only because I have to occupy the seats in the last row for you guys!"
"You are such a nice guy!" They rushed to the last row and took their seats.
"What book are you reading!" Seeing Hao Ren holding an old book in his hands, Zhao Jiayi reached out to check it. "Five-Elemental… Sword Array Formations?"
"Ren, don't you have anything better to do?" Zhao Jiayi gave the book back to Hao Ren after finding that the entire book was an ancient literature.
"What book? What book?" Zhou Liren and Yu Rong came closer to look at the book out of their intense curiosity.
Unfortunately, after all of them went through the book, none of them could understand it. They tossed the book back to Hao Ren in disappointment. "We thought it is an interesting book! Are you so bored that you decided to study ancient literature!"
Hao Ren smiled helplessly and put the Five-Elemental Sword Array Formations away. How could they understand the magic of this book?
Hao Ren knew how much he could improve with the help of the book, even though he only read it twice. What an amazing book!
If the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll were the technique that created sword energies, then the Five-Elemental Sword Array Formations would be the real practical combat technique.
"Speaking of Saturday, what is our plan? Are we going to the Music Academy first then to the Teachers Academy? I heard that most of the beautiful girls in Xin'an City are there," Zhou Liren said in a good mood after sitting down.
"There is the Giant Buddha Temple in Xin'an City; we can visit that first. Then, we can walk around the Teachers Academy and play cards in the hotel after dinner," Yu Rong joined the conversation.
They were all passionate about the event this weekend.
"Ren, you are coming with us, aren't you?" Zhou Liren asked Hao Ren all of a sudden.
"Yes, probably." Hao Ren nodded.
"Aren't you going on a secret date with the Class President?" Zhou Liren winked at Hao Ren.
"How about inviting those two pretty girls from first-year?" Yu Rong interrupted suddenly. Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were known as the most popular girls in the school nowadays. Therefore, Yu Rong wanted to have the chance to get to know them.
"It is a class activity; there is no need to invite them." Hao Ren waved his hand.
"Screw you! Many people will bring their 'cousins' this time, but who knows if they are actually their boyfriends and girlfriends," Yu Rong started to shout.
It was a trip not organized by the school, and none of the teachers would show up. Xie Yujia also told everyone that there were a dozen seats still available on the bus for the classmates' family members. Therefore, the classmates would bring their boyfriends or girlfriends who they usually tried to hide. It would be an interesting scene.
It happened that all the guys in Hao Ren's group were single; a lot of their classmates would be cuddling with their boyfriends or girlfriends intimately while they were just a group of guys hanging around, which would be too...
Things would be different if Lu Linlin and Lu Lili joined them! It would be such an honor for them to hang out with the most popular girls in the school.
"They probably don't have time; I think it's better for you guys to just talk about what to do during the trip." Hao Ren laid his head on the desk and surrounded it with his arms, pretending that he was about to sleep.
The guys discussed wildly until the class started.
Soon, the evening arrived. Hao Ren was worried about Zhao Yanzi, so he gave her a call and found out that she had already gone home. Therefore, he went directly to Zhao Yanzi's home.
Various hearty dishes were placed on the dinner table.
Hao Ren figured out that Zhao Yanzi had almost recovered based on the complexion on her face.
Zhao Yanzi might not be aware of how much Hao Ren worried about her, but Hao Ren himself did. He went out to look for a pharmacy near Su Han's place last night, but most of the pharmacies were closed at that time. That kind of nervousness he felt was still affecting him right now subtly.
Zhao Yanzi's face was tender and rosy after recovering. However, in comparison with that, Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu seemed quite exhausted.
"Ren, thank you for taking care of Zi." Zhao Hongyu looked at Hao Ren and expressed her appreciation.
Zhao Yanzi opened her mouth and was about to seize the chance to belittle Hao Ren. However, she held it back after thinking for a while.
She must have lost her mind when she saw how much Hao Ren cared about her and kissed him on the neck. Thinking of this, Zhao Yanzi blushed.
"That's alright; Zi didn't know how to take care of herself." Hao Ren smiled.
Hearing Hao Ren's reply, Zhao Yanzi, who used to think that Hao Ren was easy to tease, suddenly felt like he was actually gentle and well-mannered.
Being handsome, brilliant, and fashionable didn't mean anything to her all of a sudden.
"Let's get the dinner started," Zhao Guang said while asking them to sit down.
Sitting across from Hao Ren, Zhao Yanzi looked at him softly and thought, "Did my temper get better after I got sick?"
Hao Ren didn't notice the change on Zhao Yanzi's face nor the secret conversation she had with herself; he had a lot of things on his mind as well.
He asked Zhao Guang, "Uncle, how are the things going in the Dragon Palace?"
"Well, I was just going to talk about this with you." Zhao Guang sat up straight. "The Ancient Elixir Pills you took from the Nine Dragon Palace are categorized into five types. The first type is the Detox Elixir Pill. The second is the Foundation Establishment Elixir Pill, which is used to enforce one's foundation. The third is the Essence Replenishment Elixir Pill for recovery. The fourth is the Realm Elevation Elixir Pill, which helps to increase one's level. And the fifth is the Empowerment Elixir Pill for getting stronger Nature Essence."
He took out a brocade box as he said, "I'll give you one elixir pill of each type. There are five small boxes in this box, and I have labeled the effects on them already."
"Thank you, Uncle." Hao Ren took over the box and put it away in the hidden space in the necklace. With the protection of the box, he didn't have to worry about Little White eating the elixir pills.
"You don't have to thank me; it's what you deserve. I only gave you five elixir pills; it isn't because I'm cheap. I gave you one elixir pill of each type for unexpected situations. Actually, you won't need any of them at this moment," Zhao Guang said.
"Ok." Hao Ren nodded. He hadn't even reached Zhen-level yet. It would be such a waste if he ate those powerful elixir pills now.
"Moreover, you probably have also noticed that the Nine Dragon Palace has returned to the mortal world," Looking at Hao Ren, Zhao Guang said again.
"Yeah, I have seen that." The look on Hao Ren's face turned serious.
"The Nine Dragon Palace appears every time after it is opened. What I didn't expect was that it would appear above East Ocean City." Zhao Guang's mood appeared to be heavy. "Hongyu and I didn't come back for the last few days since we were discussing with some of the core elders."
"The discussion was mainly about three issues. The first was about the effects of the Ancient Elixir Pills and how they should be allocated, the second was how we should plan around the appearance of the Nine Dragon Palace, and the third was how we could cope with Zeng Yitao's transfer to East Ocean City. We spent the entire two days and nights discussing these issues."
"At present, we have solved the first problem. The elixir pills have five effects, and we stored them in the secret room in the Dragon Palace; every elder will take a Foundation Establishment Pill and a Realm Elevation Pill. We have also decided on the second problem; we will send five of the most powerful elders to look for ancient cultivation techniques in the Nine Dragon Palace. It is extremely dangerous, and you don't have to get involved. Regarding the third problem, we are concerned that West Ocean had found out that Zhao Kuo failed the Heavenly Tribulation. Otherwise, they wouldn't send Zeng Yitao to East Ocean City to study in such an arrogant way. It is known that Zhao Kuo hates that boy the most, so they wouldn't dare to send Zeng Yitao to East Ocean City if they thought that Zhao Guo succeeded in the Heavenly Tribulation."
Zhao Guang explained every situation, which all pointed to West Ocean! Having the elders take the elixir pills and look for techniques in the Nine Dragon Palace in order to take preventive actions against Zeng Yitao was all because of the pressure West Ocean put on East Ocean!
A few days before, the arrogant tone Zeng Yitao used on Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren had also proved that he was confident and ambitious. It wouldn't be too long for them to try to take Zhao Yanzi away. Under the pressure of West Ocean's absolute force, Zeng Yitao, the Crown Prince of West Ocean, could get anything he wanted!
If it weren't because of the Ancient Elixir Pills that Hao Ren took back from the Nine Dragon Palace, East Ocean would almost lose hope! It was like how the civilized Tang Dynasty, as prosperous as it was, was conquered by the barbarian cavaliers!
Although the East Ocean Dragon Clan's businesses were operated successfully on land, and they possessed an enormous amount of wealth, it would still suffer from the force of West Ocean if it lost the threat and military power.
West Ocean would attack East Ocean as soon as the incident with the Nine Dragon Palace was over! Zeng Yitao's transfer to East Ocean City and enrollment to LingZhao High School was just a signal!
"Well, let's start dinner!" Zhao Hongyu picked up her chopsticks.
East Ocean was going to send five elders to contend for the treasures in the Nine Dragon Palace. The rest of the elders would be rushing the intake of the elixir pills, hoping that some of them would break through to Qian-level.
Only under this circumstance would it have a chance to fight against West Ocean. Thinking of this, Zhao Hongyu started to sigh in despair.
She had already made up her mind that she would expel Zhao Yanzi from the Dragon Tribe and make her into a mortal. Hao Ren would be able to take care of her for the rest of her life then.
The atmosphere started to get gloomy. Zhao Yanzi also twisted her eyebrows and didn't say a word.
Hao Ren suddenly asked Zhao Hongyu after dinner, "Auntie, do you know anywhere nearby I can cultivate?"
"Cultivate? You mean cultivating your sword energies?" Zhao Hongyu asked.
"Yes, I want to go somewhere to practice a bit." Hao Ren nodded and stood up.
"Our backyard will be fine. We set up an Isolation array formation there already. You can go to the attic on the third floor if you want to cultivate, and you can use the backyard if you want to practice combat techniques," Zhao Hongyu said.
"Ok." Hao Ren opened the back door of the house and walked to the backyard.
Beside the flowy bamboo grove and garage, the backyard was extremely quiet.
Moving along the precise pattern of the veins, the Five-Elemental Sword Energies converged in Hao Ren's body. It then crawled to the surface of the skin after going through the acupoints and meridians.
Becoming one with the swords!
Fire-elemental array formation!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...
Nine sword energies were shot out neatly at the same time, forming a small but terrifying sword array formation!
The fire went up in the sky as if it was going to burn down everything!
The nine sword energies transformed into nine phantoms, forming a circle as they spun around!
Bang!
A burned brown hole was created on the ground five meters away from Hao Ren.
"What an incredible sword array formation!" Hao Ren was amazed!
He used to throw the sword energies randomly to catch his opponents off guard. However, that kind of attack usually didn't do anything!
It would be different if he organized his sword energies this way. The damage of a sword array formation was much stronger than that aggregate of the nine individual sword energies!
Through exploiting the sword array formations, Hao Ren finally understood that he didn't have to use his palms or fingers to shoot out sword energies; any veins in his body could be the path of the sword energies!
The sword energies followed the heart, and every acupoint in his body was a potential exit for the sword energies! That was the so-called 'becoming one with the swords'! If he reached the highest level of Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, the sword energies he sent out would be Hundun Lightning Sword Energies. Moreover, every single pore on his body was able to shoot out sword energies!
The millions of pores on his body could shoot out millions of sword energies at once!
Who could block or dodge such an attack?
Hao Ren rested for a while after trying out the fire-elemental array formation. Then, he started to use the water-elemental essence in his body to try out the water-elemental array formation!
Similarly, nine sword energies came out of the nine acupoints in Hao Ren's body, and they formed the water-elemental array formation and rushed forward with the movement of Hao Ren's hands!
The spirit of water never ends and only goes forward with great strength and vigor!
Nine sword energies connected to form a giant dragon that was flying forward!
Bam!
The water-elemental essence that seemed soft and weak rushed onto a thick bamboo in the grove, shaking the bamboos!
After everything calmed down, there a bowl-sized hole in the center of a bamboo!
Everybody knew that bamboo was firm and tenacious! However, a hole appeared on the bamboo without having its body destroyed; this showed how powerful and controlled the water-elemental array formation was!
Hao Ren mobilized the essences in his body.
Wood-elemental array formation!
Gong! A spinning disk formed by nine wood-elemental sword energies dropped from the sky! It created a hole that was two meters in diameter and tens of centimeters deep!
Earth-elemental array formation!
Nine sword energies formed into a ball that rolled forward at high speed! It then exploded abruptly, and the sword energies rapidly shot into nine different directions!
Two of the sword energies went through the garage wall, leaving two holes on it.
Having no time to pay attention to that, Hao Ren tried the metal-elemental array formation!
A white light flashed by, and nine metal-elemental sword energies turned into a sword rain, stabbing at the place where Hao Ren pointed to!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!... They landed like arrows and pierced into the ground!
Nine finger-thick holes suddenly appeared in the firm ground in the backyard!
It wasn't hard to imagine what would happen if they landed on a human's body!