Advancing in the way of formations is extremely difficult. To reach the level of a grandmaster, apart from accumulating time, comprehension is even more critical. With insufficient comprehension, even if one contemplates for thousands of years, it would all be in vain.
Ding Yan's comprehension was not outstanding, but it was also not lacking. Moreover, in front of him was a complete grandmaster-level symbolic formation for him to contemplate. Therefore, during this time, Ding Yan's proficiency in formations had made rapid progress.
The formation currently laid out before him was the method he conceived not long ago for extracting runes on a large scale.
The runes were neatly arranged, and upon closer inspection, it could be seen that every three weak runes surrounded a relatively strong rune. Layer by layer, at the center was the third type of rune that Ding Yan had extracted not long ago.
Sitting in the center, Ding Yan's eyes flickered with the interplay of Yin and Yang. With each flicker of his hands, a rune was struck.
After the runes fell, without waiting for them to flicker, Ding Yan's elemental force would immediately follow, fixing them in place. Gradually, the range covered by the runes became larger, and each rune was imbued with a strand of Ding Yan's elemental force. The third type of rune at the center also contained a trace of immortal elemental force.
Inside each Immortal ascendant was immortal elemental force.
The deeper one's cultivation, the purer the immortal elemental force within them. Some powerful Immortal ascendants could even condense the power within them into crystals, similar to immortal elements, but of course, it was only similar.
This was because immortal elemental force and immortal elements were entirely different forces. The form of immortal elements was that of solid droplets, which should accurately be called immortal crystal. Immortal crystal was the energy that seeped from the Immortal Realm into the mortal realm, available for use in battles.
On the other hand, immortal elemental force was the power that Immortal ascendants gained through the tribulations of the heavens. Accurately speaking, immortal elemental force was like the inner energy of martial artists, cultivated and not a natural product.
As time passed, more and more runes covered the ground, becoming increasingly dense. It resembled the shape of a spider's web, with the power of the runes weakening as they approached the edge, but their quantity increasing.
"Gather!" Suddenly, Ding Yan lightly commanded.
A beam of light radiated from his hand, landing at the center.
A circular glow spread out, illuminating all the runes for a moment before gradually disappearing.
Ding Yan saw the situation and his eyes flashed.
"Arrange formations within the formation, break the runes with runes. I refuse to believe that this formation can't be broken open."
If the one setting up the formation were to control it again, Ding Yan wouldn't be able to escape. However, the current formation was obviously impossible for anyone to control. During this time, while contemplating the formation, Ding Yan gradually came to understand some things. In the deathly stillness of this city, danger could roughly be divided into two types.
One was like the danger posed by the headless ancient corpse and the iron coffin monstrous corpse.
This kind of danger was the most direct. Upon encountering it, apart from fleeing, there were basically no other options. Of course, there might be some powerful individuals capable of facing those monsters head-on, but Ding Yan was clearly not among them.
The other type of danger was like the formation in front of him, akin to a prison.
This kind of danger was primarily about trapping people, such as the illusory city formed by the peerless Daoist art of illusions that Ding Yan had encountered before, and the current grandmaster-level formation. Compared to the first type of danger, this situation was evidently much safer. Also, because of the lack of manipulation, whether it was the peerless Daoist art or the grandmaster-level formation, they couldn't unleash their full power. This left a glimmer of hope for those trapped.
After concealing the formation, the ground began to tremble gradually.
Ding Yan saw the situation and rose again, flying into the air.
His right hand stretched out, and a burst of light emanated from the palm as his elemental force circulated, slowly drawing out a huge circle in the void. At the same time, within his body, the Qiankun Daojing began to crazily operate.
Suddenly, he pressed down with a finger.
"One Finger Rending the Void - Void Rending Finger!"
The huge circle suddenly contracted, compressing the surrounding elemental force back wildly, forming a giant fingerprint pressing towards the void.
In the formation space, unlike the outside, it's somewhat difficult to extract elemental force. If you want to cast the Void Rending Finger out of thin air, it can only erupt with a power similar to arts. Wanting to unleash the power of the Dao technique is very difficult. However, within the Qiankun Daojing, there is a supernatural power called "Drawing Elemental Force," forcibly absorbing the surrounding energy. The virtual circle Ding Yan drew out is precisely Drawing Elemental Force.
Boom...
The space collapsed like the surface of water.
Afterward, one rune after another continued to flash, at first, it was just the first kind of rune, but as the space continued to collapse, the second and third kinds of runes also began to shimmer.
A terrifying resistance blocked the power of the Void Rending Finger, slowing down the collapse of space.
Ding Yan stood in the void, watching this scene without any action.
If it was so easily blocked, then the Void Rending Finger is not worthy of being called a Dao technique.
Crack...
A crack appeared above the blocked Void Rending Finger's phantom, then rapidly enlarged, and in the blink of an eye, the entire giant finger collapsed. A terrifying force burst open from within!
The space, like porcelain, made a clear sound and cracked in several places.
At this moment, another kind of rune flashed, one after another, connecting to form a huge net, blocking the force.
"The fourth kind of rune..." Ding Yan was well aware of the existence of this kind of rune.
However, the power of the Dao technique was beyond imagination. Plus, with the Qiankun Daojing running elemental force, the power increased several times. It was somewhat unrealistic for an uncontrolled formation to rely solely on the fourth kind of rune to block it.
Sure enough, the power of the Void Rending Finger was briefly blocked and then spread out again.
At this point, the crack in space had already widened to about a meter, this space seemed like it could break at any moment.
At this moment, another kind of rune shimmered within the crack.
Seeing the situation, Ding Yan's eyes flickered and he flew back to the ground.
An expert level formation, comparable to the pinnacle Dao techniques. Breaking it is definitely not possible with sheer force. Ding Yan used the Void Rending Finger precisely to draw out these powerful runes hidden in the dark. Sure enough, after the fifth kind of rune flashed, the power of the Void Rending Finger was instantly suppressed and reversed, heading towards the ground with terrifying force!
Seeing the situation, Ding Yan waved his sleeve.
On the ground, a complex formation began to shimmer, and the originally summoned formation began to float one by one...