'What if I remove their functionality and only keep the Qi-draining part?' Ken thought to himself in a moment of inspiration. It'd make the formations completely useless aside from wasting the scroll's activation time, but using the empty space where the useful runes once were, he'd be able to add more runes that can consume Qi.
Normally, the correct approach to creating formations was to maximize the usage of the Qi input, but Ken was doing the opposite. The formation would only suck in and out the Qi from the Qi Stones, but not utilize it for an actual purpose.
The Formation Suppression Scroll worked in a way that pulled the Qi out of the formations in its area of effect, and by making formations with an extravagant and wasteful output, the scroll will be used faster.
'It's probably not an innovative idea. It can't be that nobody in the top 20 sects didn't think about it before, but it's still a great tactic for formation masters,' Ken thought to himself.
Now that he had a plan, he continued his work. He filled the interior of the castle with Wasteful Formations as he called them, while the only practical formations were the Suppression Formations and the Illusion Formations. Additionally, he also prepared a triple Qi Gathering Formation at the corner of the room.
The formations were all fifth and sixth rank and placing them cost him a lot of Qi. He sat in the corner and took a Qi Absorption Pill and meditated to refill his Qi.
"Maria, take this pill," Ken threw her a red pill that pulsed with menacing Qi.
"What is this?"
"It's a different type of a more potent poison. You will die within three days once you take it, but I will cure it for you after the battle is done. I don't trust you, so I'd like to avoid variables like treason during our fight against Darma."
"Yes, Young Master," Maria said with a downcast face and took the pill. She understood that Mr. Darma would not be able to create an antidote for her within three days, which meant betraying Ken would only spell her death.
"Good. You will withdraw from the fight when the formations are reactivated. Go to the southwest corner of the hall, I placed there the control spot of the Illusion Formation. Its full name is 'Illusion of Duplication', and it can make the victim see things twice. Movements are always the weakness of illusion formations, but it's enough to slow down the enemy's reactions. I want you to control it and support us."
Ken explained his plan for the fight. The first part, in which they'd need to survive a couple of minutes against a sixth-stage cultivator, was the most dangerous. Afterward, he was confident that his preparations will allow him to easily subdue the other alchemist.
ραndαsΝοvεl.cοm "Yes, Young Master," Maria went to familiarize herself with the formation until the guest will arrive.
Ken still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
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*Knock Knock*
"Why are you knocking? Isn't it where you keep him prisoner?" Mr. Darma asked suspiciously when he saw Tiffany knocking on the door. In their culture, captors didn't ask for their prisoners' permission before entering their cells.
He was a tanned man with a broad nose and a round face. His dry curly black hair was cut rather short compared to the standard of the Verdant Qi Continent.
"Ahm, yes, but we left Maria with him, and we instructed her to lock the door from inside. She will open the door," Tiffany thought of a plausible explanation and quickly used it.
"I remember there was a fifth member in your group. What was his name… Uriah? Where is he?"
"He died," Tiffany said in a sad tone. Her teammates remained quiet, they usually let her talk as the leader of the group when interacting with superiors.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Mr. Darma said indifferently and waited for the door to be opened. He didn't care enough to ask about how Uriah died.
The large door soon creaked, and Maria's face appeared, "Welcome, Mr. Darma," she cupped her fist and stepped to the side to let the group enter. With Mr. Darma at the head, the five went inside and walked straight to the hall.
Darma knew his way at the castle; As a sixth-rank alchemist, he was invited to many luxurious events in the city, and most of them were held in the castle.
"Hello, Mr. Darma. I'm glad to finally meet you, I've heard you were a genius alchemist. In fact, the best in the city," a masked teen got up from his chair and cupped his fist without bowing.
'The mask is on, someone is going to die,' Maria shivered a little at the thought.
"I can only assume you are Ken I've been waiting to meet. Being called a genius by a child prodigy like yourself is too embarrassing. What's going on here?" Mr. Darma didn't lose his cool because of the situation. He could see that Ken was not handcuffed or limited, meaning he was not exactly a prisoner.
"Mr. Darma, we have remembered that we are righteous humans. We can't let our greed blind us and commit crimes against an innocent child," Tiffany bowed her head and explained.
"Innocent? Don't tell me you've forgotten Maria's descriptions of his cruelty and deceitful nature. Maybe he had swayed your hearts with his words too?" Darma raised an eyebrow.
"No, Mr. Darma. We must remember that Maria is a former bandit boss and a traitor who betrayed her previous master. She is the deceitful and cruel one between the two of them. She is the one who betrayed Uriah as soon as she believed Ken might defeat us in battle," Tiffany insisted, exposing Maria's ill-doing.
"What are you proposing?" Darma turned back to Ken. His attitude showed his confidence and contempt as a sixth-stage cultivator surrounded by weaker beings.
"I want to propose peace. There is no enmity between us, so we have no reason to fight. I could've gone back to the sect and informed them of your attempt to harm me and you'd be dead by nightfall, but I preferred solving it peacefully."
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