Lu Yun had no intention of engaging Sword Thirteen in further conversation. His mind was filled with the Domain of First Snowfall legacy that the spirit of Argent Snow had given him.
To Lu Yun, that was enough.
His body slowly coalesced in the Hall of Soul Dominion, but he sensed an incredible killing intent drape over him as soon as he opened his eyes.
Lu Yun jumped with shock and hastily leapt aside. When he looked back to where he’d been standing, he saw a brooding Xing Lingkong where he’d just been.
“Xing Lingkong?” Lu Yun started, not knowing how he’d offended the man so badly that he’d be waiting for Lu Yun to exit his trials.
“Aren’t you something, junior brother Feng Feifan,” Xing Lingkong sneered at Lu Yun. “You failed the first level of the first domain two hundred and thirty-four times. I wouldn’t fault you for that if you hadn’t received my reflections, but if this is all you amount to after ten years of closed door cultivation, I have to beat a lesson into you!
“You’ll swing from the hall doors today so I can slap some sense into you!” Xing Lingkong charged forward and reached for Lu Yun’s collar.
With his ten years of cultivation and insights derived from the snowflakes’ ripples, Lu Yun’s mastery of Argent Snow had long outstripped Xing Lingkong’s. The other had completed the eighty-first level of the third domain. If Lu Yun fully exerted himself, he’d be able to pass the same level as well.
Most importantly, he was a Nihil World Sovereign and Xing Lingkong a Void World King.
Lu Yun calmly assessed Xing Lingkong’s attack and firmly kept his cultivation in check. He shook Argent Snow and deployed the Domain of First Snowfall with a flurry of one hundred and eight snowflakes.
Unable to halt in time, Xing Lingkong slowed down as soon as he drew near his junior brother, like he’d sunk into a bog.
“How dare you flaunt Argent Snow in front of me!” he scoffed, fanning out an arc of silver light through the air. His Argent Snow appeared amid a dance of dense snowflakes.
The two domains crashed together and Xing Lingkong shouted with agony when Lu Yun’s stick hit him on the head. He only had time for one pained gasp before he fainted dead away.
“Good thing I pulled back in time or I would’ve killed him,” Lu Yun breathed out with relief. He’d gotten used to smacking the spirit of Argent Snow on the head, so when he deployed the Domain of First Snowfall, his method of attack was the stick instead of the snowflakes.
If he hadn’t abruptly come to his senses and dismissed most of his strength, he would’ve smashed the Void World King’s head like a watermelon. Even still, Xing Lingkong was out cold on the ground.
The disturbance drew the crowd’s attention, but Lu Yun ignored their reactions. It wouldn’t be long now before a new round of rumors appeared in the sect, such as Xing Lingkong and Feng Feifan being at odds with each other over a beauty. Perhaps the newest addition to the stories would be that they’d fought each other for three hundred rounds in the Hall of Soul Dominion before Xing Lingkong tragically lost.
Things developed as he thought, but the gossip was even worse than he’d imagined.
Xing Lingkong had fallen in love with both Feng Feifan and Xing Lan at the same time. In order to bring happiness to his beloveds, he’d voluntarily withdrawn, purposefully losing to Feng Feifan so the other two could move on without guilt.
That explained why the former head disciple would lose to a mere inner disciple.
This version of events swept through the entire sect within a few short days, becoming the hottest topic on everyone’s lips. Xing Lan almost vomited blood from anger when she heard the gossip, but didn’t clarify anything. Some things became even worse if they were explained.
Still, she sought out Xing Lingkong and beat him black and blue.
……
Back in his residence, Lu Yun didn’t immediately delve into the legacy that the spirit had given him. He was mulling over formula dao.
Whether it was regular or supplemental cultivation in the fourth realm, all of his progress was the result of derivation from formula dao. He’d decided to have it take root and flower in the fourth realm so that it could herald the immortal dao from the Hongmeng.
“Why do I feel like formula dao is a bit familiar?” Lu Yun rubbed his nose thoughtfully. “Formula dao can be the building blocks of anything, be it supplemental dao, immortal dao, or the cultivation daos of the third and fourth realms. It can derive them all.
“Formula… form… hang on a freaking second. Aren’t we talking about math on Earth here?” Lu Yun’s jaw dropped.
Mathematics was the foundation of science on Earth, whether it was physics, chemistry, astronomy, construction, computers… Everything required the calculations of math. This was very similar to formula dao. While it didn’t tangibly manifest in the various great daos, many theories and assessments stemmed from a beginning in formula dao.
Lu Yun and Qing Yu had extracted formula dao from the combat arts of immortal dao, then perfected it with the Tome of Life and Death for it to become a true great dao.
“The current iteration of formula dao is not fully complete. If it really is the math of cultivation, then there must be some actual, well, formulas within it that can derive everything!”
When Lu Yun and Qing Yu first used formula dao, they’d used it to dissect, theorize, reassemble, and perfect combat arts and cultivation methods. There was a definable pattern to any combat art or cultivation method, and theoretically speaking, a formula should be able to capture that pattern.
If they could systemize combat arts, then the intangible formula dao would become something tangible and thus be disseminated throughout the fourth realm.
It was mainstream knowledge in the world of immortals and had become the basics of cultivating immortal dao. Thus, development of this iteration of immortal dao had exceeded any other era it’d existed in.
Denizens of the world of immortals could swiftly grasp formula dao because it came from immortal dao, so learning was easier for them. It wasn’t as straightforward for those of the chaos, Hongmeng, and fourth realm.
But now, inspiration struck Lu Yun. If he could define this intangible formula dao as a system, then even those who didn’t understand or practice it could use formula dao.
“That’s right, that’s right, this is the right path! This isn’t my stroke of brilliance, but the heights that formula dao has reached in the world of immortals. Someone’s already started doing this, and since Little Yu and I are the inventors of formula dao, this is feedback from developmental trends on the world of immortals.
“Damn I’m dumb, why didn’t I think of this earlier? I’m an embarrassment to all Earthlings!” Lu Yun grinned.
When he and Qing Yu utilized formula dao, they simulated the cycle of great dao in their minds. But if formula dao was defined as a system, then manual calculations were possible. The notion of “system” was just Lu Yun’s framework. More accurately speaking, it was the simulation of pattern.
“Just me alone isn’t enough to make formula dao tangible and shape it as a physical great dao. Little Yu, the little fox, and I aren’t enough either. We need more collective wisdom.”
The joint wisdom of the world of immortals had induced the first metamorphosis in formula dao. The second step was up to the fourth realm.
“The Alchemist, Formation, Treasure, and Talisman Sovereigns… These people are wise sages in the Star Sect.” A smile floated onto Lu Yun’s face when he thought of the Alchemist Sovereign that he’d met.
Supplemental cultivators were viewed as the symbols of wisdom. The sovereigns had reached peak level in their fields. If they were introduced to formula dao, that would certainly deepen their understanding.
“I might be able to grasp that trace of the pattern if I use formula dao to analyze the Domain of First Snowfall, then calculate the other two domains. I might even be able to theorize the domains that are to come.” Lu Yun headed out of his abode when his thoughts traveled here and headed for Mount Buzhou.
“Where are you going, junior brother Feifan?” A threatening voice sounded in Lu Yun’s ears as he flew to Mount Buzhou.
He’d been considering formula dao as he traveled, so his speed wasn’t very fast. Lu Yun shuddered when he heard the voice and quickly stopped.
“Senior sister Xing Lan, you can’t do anything to me now or the gossip tomorrow will say that you’re madly in love with Xing Lingkong. They’ll interpret this as you beating me up in revenge for senior brother Lingkong and that you love him more!”
Lu Yun had wrapped his mind around the Star Sect gossip style. Rumors faded away after a few days if nothing else happened, but they grew even worse if anything further developed.
Xing Lan glared viciously at Lu Yun and reluctantly put her hand down.
