...Lu Qing hadn't noticed this issue earlier because it wasn't enough; his Comprehension and Realm weren't high enough yet. It was the same logic as being inside a mountain and unable to see the view outside.

Now that he had encountered a bottleneck, Lu Qing gave it some thought and realized it wasn't that there had been no improvement.

Rather, those improvements had re-consolidated the foundations of his past Formation cultivation. It made it so that while his cultivation used to be like a fish in water, it now felt as if he had hit a thick wall, facing an obstruction.

“This is a good thing. No matter how I practiced the Bewilderment Array before, I was confined by my own imagination. When setting up the Formation and casting spells, I would unconsciously follow the book. But without a high enough Realm or enough insight, it was all just empty theory.”

Understanding this point was progress, but understanding it and achieving it were two different things.

Lu Qing had encountered a bottleneck. He had already considered this issue; his current study of Formations lacked a systematic foundation.

“Theoretical foundations are also very important.” Lu Qing had read a lot of Formation knowledge, but the words confined within a Jade Slip were distinctly different from being taught by an True Person.

“After I finish the assessment, I'll go to the Formation Institute to ask for guidance—well, I should say, attend a lecture.”

Lu Qing looked back on his cultivation path. He followed a path that the Sect had already refined countless times. Even the selection of cultivation techniques and the unlocking of permissions for each layer allowed him to know exactly what to do at every Realm.

This path, invisibly set from the moment of entry, wasn't entirely without risk, but it could avoid Qi deviation and straying from the path to the greatest extent possible.

However, cultivation involved more than just cultivating one's cultivation base; there were also the hundred arts of cultivation like the Dao of Formations, Talismans, Alchemy, Artifacts, Painting, and so on, which were all different.

“The cost of one lecture is roughly...”

Lu Qing checked the cost of the class hours. Since he wasn't a disciple of the Formation Institute, and the Formation Master assessment was much stricter than the Spirit Planter assessment.

It wasn't time for their assessments yet, so regarding the fees, there were no discounts for those who weren't disciples there.

But there was one exception: for Purple Mansion Cultivators, each institute branch opened a first-time discount privilege. This meant Lu Qing could purchase a Formation lecture here at a discount.

The Formation lecture mentioned by that inner gate Elder before was more practice-oriented, focusing on how to set up Formations, types of Formations, and their effects... Lu Qing had also gained a lot from that class.

What he needed to do now was to organize the complex knowledge entering his Sea of Consciousness into a Formation system that suited him best. Observing the theoretical lectures of a truly initiated Formation Master's system was such an opportunity to break through the bottleneck.

In Lu Qing's view, these confusions and doubts were also unpredictable parts of the cultivation path, and precisely where the charm of cultivation lay.

After putting aside the Formations, he calculated that there were still three days until the Spirit Planter assessment. Before that, he would first categorize the basic knowledge of Spirit Planters into different memory palaces.

Now, Lu Qing could memorize things with just a glance. The actual exam questions were forgotten the moment one left the exam hall; this was why the on-site assessment had oral recitations, while the paper assessment did not.

Consequently, even Lu Qing didn't know what form the written assessment would take.

With such thoughts, Lu Qing immersed himself in the world of his own mind.

During this time, excitement could be found everywhere in the Outer Court over the past two months.

But excitement like this was always rare.

Inner gate disciples basically rarely had the chance to interact with people from the Outer Court.

On the rare occasion they met a Senior Brother from the inner gate, who wouldn't want to go up and chat, seeing if they could strike up some sort of connection?

However, the behavior displayed by Feng Yun made many people afraid to approach easily, for fear he would think they were there to deliver a challenge letter and they would receive a beating for nothing.

This was also the source of the recent excitement—challenge letters. After Senior Brother Ning Shaohua was defeated, disciples who couldn't bear the loneliness also collectively sent out challenge letters.

It happened again and again, until today.

“This is too incredible. What stage of the Purple Mansion is this?”

“The Senior Brother Chen who went up before was at the Seventh Stage of the Purple Mansion Realm. He seemed to say that Senior Brother Feng Yun is around the fifth or sixth stage of the Purple Mansion? A stage lower than him?”

“This is fighting above one's level, isn't it? Is this the world of a Genius?”

“The Ten Outer Gate Excellencies have all been defeated; even the Heavenly Alpha and Earthly Star were beaten. If he wins today's match, I heard he's going to leave the Mountain Gate to challenge experts from all over.”

“What if someone at the Core Formation stage makes a move outside?”

Someone rolled their eyes. “Impossible. Here in the Profound Heaven Domain, as long as the news is out, there won't be any bullying of the weak by the strong, unless...”

It's a demonic Cultivator or some other evil Cultivator.

There was one more thing this disciple didn't say. For those coming out of the inner gate for experience, he had joined the Sect early and had once heard a Senior Brother mention such examples.

Usually, wouldn't such geniuses have the rumored Dao Protector or Senior Protectors by their side?

In any case, these matters weren't for them to worry about.

“Even Senior Brother Liu is no match; he actually lost. Senior Brother Liu's 'Willow Moon Wither' was previously rumored to be the work of a Genius who had gained some insight into the phenomena of time. He was a hot candidate to enter the inner gate during the next Grand Competition.”

Someone looked at the arena and saw an elegant young man lose. After seeing his face clearly, they couldn't help but be shocked.

“Body Refining disciples have powerful Physical Bodies, but because they once suffered a great loss, a Body Refining expert gave a sermon and created a technique called the 'Time Art of Ages'.”

“Rumor has it that this Senior glimpsed a sliver of true intent from the eyes of the Torch Dragon and suppressed this intent into the cultivation technique. Cultivating this technique naturally brings with it time-based phenomena. Liu Tianling's time phenomena is like duckweed in water before the true Time Art of Ages; it cannot find its footing.”

There were also disciples with burning gazes, speaking of long-past anecdotes.

“And those who can cultivation this technique are all true geniuses of the Body Refining lineage, peerless Prodigies.”

The people nearby also had eyes shining with excitement.

Witnessing the rise of a peerless prodigy was a rare pleasure in their cultivation lives. A prodigy's opponent is another prodigy; having been in the Sect for a long time, they had become indifferent to many things.

Of course, many disciples looked normal, but Battle Intent and self-confidence naturally arose in their hearts.

“So, having completed the first sharpening of the blade here, he will next leave the mountain with his blade and travel with his sword—like a dragon emerging from the abyss.”

Song Wen watched Feng Yun leave the Dao Academy with a deep gaze.

“Senior Brother, the assessment starts tomorrow. Do you have any suggestions?”

Seeing Song Wen approach, the Dean of the Spirit Herb Garden and the Elders also appeared together to welcome the Grand Elder.

Learning that he had come for the matter of the assessment, an Elder on the left spoke up...