Chapter 1556: The Calculated Formation Eye

Then, he poured the melted candle oil onto the plate. While it was still a viscous liquid, he quickly shook it until the entire bottom of the plate was evenly coated with the candle oil.

After a few dozen breaths, the candle oil solidified into a pale golden wax.

Everyone could see a tiny light spot on the edge of the plate. Bai Ziqi pointed at it and said, "This is the location of the Giant Fernwood near the mountain gate. For the rest, we'll have to wait."

Now it was a matter of time. The attendant spread a fur pelt for Bai Ziqi on the bluestone, inviting him to sit. The others settled down nearby, preparing for a long wait.

A quarter of an hour passed.

Two quarters of an hour...

Three quarters of an hour...

Nothing happened.

Bai Ziqi closed his eyes to rest. "It seems this formation covers a vast area."

The Lamp Spirits flew incredibly fast and were numerous, yet after so much time, they still hadn't encountered the next formation pillar.

Bai Ziqi wasn't surprised. The Void Mountain Grand Formation of Spirit Void City covered nine major peaks, not to mention the smaller mountains.

How could a formation capable of gathering spiritual energy for True Immortal Qianhuan be small?

Approximately half an hour later, the attendant suddenly exclaimed, "There's a movement!"

Everyone looked and saw another light spot suddenly appear on the vast white background of the wax plate.

This was the next Giant Fernwood encountered by a Lamp Spirit clone. It couldn't return to report to its master midway, so it marked the location on the wax plate using its divine ability.

An hour later, another light spot appeared on the plate.

At this rate... the others exchanged glances and sighed inwardly. To wait for the Lamp Spirits to find all the formation points, it would likely take at least a dozen hours!

As expected, the first night quickly passed.

The waiting was the hardest part, but Bai Ziqi pulled out a stack of scrolls and documents and engrossed himself in reading them.

The attendant leaned over several times and found his master circling things with a red pen on the documents. He quietly counted, and among the circled words, "eliminating violence and bringing peace," "acting on heaven's behalf," and "egregious crimes" appeared most frequently.

"My Lord Chief Envoy, what are you doing?"

"I'm wondering why the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities always gives these judgments at every trial scene."

Bai Qi replied, "Perhaps he's finding an excuse for his vigilantism; it also provides a sense of relief for the common villagers."

"His judgments have almost always been correct," Bai Ziqi mused, resting his chin. "What exactly does this person intend by stirring up trouble in the Glimmering Gold Plains?"

Without understanding the perpetrator's motive and goal, he would be passive when tracking the suspect, making it difficult to predict their next move.

Easy tasks, it seemed, never fell to him.

The attendant comforted him, "My Lord, don't be too hard on yourself. No one in the Glimmering Gold Plains can answer that question."

Bai Qi also said, "Not to mention that the Yao Kingdom can't catch the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities, I suspect the Qingyang Regent has probably also dispatched people to investigate, but they have no leads either."

"Others are others," Bai Ziqi stated. "I am myself."

"For someone like the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities to do these things, his objectives won't be too obscure. A mere conspiracy couldn't support the flourishing and bustling trend currently emerging in the Glimmering Gold Plains."

This person must be employing an overt strategy, and he surely understands how to leverage the current momentum.

"If we only look at his killing cases, we're being led by the nose the entire time, striking here and there aimlessly. It's impossible to discern his true intentions that way." Bai Ziqi stretched. "Besides, the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities has always hidden himself and set up many deceptive formations for us."

When dealing with an opponent of the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities' caliber, 'how to act' isn't the urgent matter. Understanding 'how they think' is paramount!

As long as he understood the Great Emperor of Nine Serenities' psychology, Bai Ziqi would have a chance to predict his opponent's predictions.

Just then, a subordinate quietly pointed at the purple-gold tray and said, "It's lit up again, the eighteenth light spot!"

On the plate, each light spot represented the location of a Giant Fernwood.

After a full day and night of effort, there were finally eighteen light spots on the purple-gold plate.

Bai Ziqi pointed at the plate and asked his close attendants, "What do you think? What kind of formation is this?"

A day ago, the few scattered light spots didn't reveal much, but now a general outline had emerged. Bai Ziqi had brought various talents with him, including those specialized in formations and barriers. They had long been speculating about the formation diagram on the purple-gold plate. Now, one of them said, "There are still many Giant Fernwoods to be found, but observing the general formation, I estimate there's a sixty percent chance it's the Grand Heavenly Dipper Formation!"

"Hmm, that means there are still eighteen Giant Fernwoods left. The Heavenly Dipper has thirty-six points. Mark them out first."

The Divine Attendant took a twig and lightly tapped the solidified wax on the purple-gold plate eighteen times. According to his calculations, the remaining eighteen Giant Fernwoods should light up at these locations.

Five more hours passed, and three golden light spots lit up sequentially on the purple-gold plate, precisely matching the locations marked by the Divine Attendant.

Their accurate predictions significantly accelerated the Lamp Spirits' search efforts.

Dusk fell again, and fifteen Giant Fernwoods still hadn't been found.

Just then, a golden light spot flew back, transforming into a smaller Lamp Spirit, which whispered into Bai Ziqi's ear.

"Someone has entered the mountain," Bai Ziqi said, pointing to a nearby large tree. "Everyone, hide."

These were Lamp Spirit sentinels he had placed near the mountain gate, not for repelling enemies, but solely for scouting and relaying messages.

He had only brought five people into the mountain in total, a small group that was easy to conceal in the vast mountain range.

The five people split into three groups, each climbing a large tree to settle down, calming their minds and breathing. These large trees were lush and verdant, their branches and leaves so dense they blotted out the sky, making it easy to hide a few people.

Before long, over a hundred people rushed along the mountain path. They first inspected the Giant Fernwoods, then divided into groups here:

"Our avian scouts reported that firefly-sized light spots have appeared in the mountain forest, wandering everywhere and circling around Giant Fernwoods whenever they encounter one. These must be divine abilities released by unknown individuals. You are to disperse and search for the Giant Fernwoods, and it would be best to capture some of these light spots."

"Furthermore, issue orders to all mountain spirits and wild monsters: capture any outsiders or unfamiliar monsters on sight!"

After the group had gone far, the attendant quietly asked Bai Ziqi, "My Lord Chief Envoy, should we..."

Bai Ziqi knew what he wanted to ask. "No hurry, fifteen Giant Fernwoods still haven't been found."

The Heavenly Palace members patiently waited in the trees for another seven hours.

During this time, people frequently walked along the mountain path and beneath the trees. The Divine Attendant whispered, "There are quite a few people from the Carefree Sect."

Bai Ziqi shook his head. "Not all of them are from the Carefree Sect."

Upon reflection, the others understood.

As one of the pillars of Spirit Mountain, True Immortal Qianhuan's spiritual gathering formation had suddenly been damaged. Naturally, Spirit Mountain would dispatch people to investigate and repair it.

Those scurrying through the mountain were likely from Spirit Mountain.

Given this, they couldn't afford to let down their guard.

As they spoke, another light spot refreshed on the purple-gold plate. Bai Qi exclaimed, "It's different!"

The light spot that appeared on the plate did not coincide with the location they had previously marked!

"Interesting," Bai Ziqi's spirits lifted immediately. This was precisely why he insisted on waiting until the end: this formation was not the common Grand Heavenly Dipper Formation.

Indeed, how could a grand spiritual gathering formation laid by True Immortal Qianhuan be an ordinary one?

After another hour or so, two more light spots appeared, but their positions were consistent with the prediction.

However, after another five hours, the ten refreshed light spots showed greater deviation from their estimated locations.

One of them flickered a few times and then vanished.

Bai Ziqi's expression darkened slightly. "It was caught."

The Lamp Spirit clone guarding the Giant Fernwood had been captured by the pursuers. Bai Ziqi wasn't surprised; using this divine ability inherently carried such risks.

"Everyone, stay calm and wait!"

"Wait for the last two light spots to appear!"

Fortunately, his Lamp Spirit clones were diligent; these two were found almost in quick succession because their positions were very close.

"Good, quickly calculate the formation eye's location."

They had already memorized the location of the vanished light spot. Combining this with the thirty-five light spots on the plate, they rapidly calculated the location of the formation eye within a limited time.

During the calculation process, four or five more light spots on the plate successively extinguished.

Spirit Mountain and the Carefree Sect reacted quickly, and had already discovered that the Lamp Spirits were targeting the Giant Fernwoods. By directly searching for the Giant Fernwoods, they could capture the Lamp Spirits.

At this rate, the light spots on the purple-gold plate would only disappear faster and faster.

This method certainly tested one's memory.

Fortunately, just as the seventh light spot vanished, Bai Ziqi finally, with his subordinates, calculated the location, and gently tapped the plate with a broken twig:

"Here!"

It's calculated! This should be the location of the formation eye!

Two mirror lights shot out from the opposite tree canopy, flickering several times in succession. This was the attendant's warning: "More people are coming! A lot of them this time."

Evidently, the unusual occurrences on White Mane Mountain had also been reported to the sect, and large groups of people were continuously being dispatched from the front mountain.

"Let's go!" Bai Ziqi took out the pale golden candle and snapped it in half.

All the golden light spots on the purple-gold plate vanished instantly.

This meant that the Lamp Spirit clones in the wild were also extinguished, otherwise, anyone holding a light spot might use it to track Bai Ziqi in reverse.

The Heavenly Palace members seized the opportunity to descend and hurried towards the formation eye location marked on the purple-gold plate.

What appeared as a small dot on the plate was, in reality, a vast area in the White Mane Mountains. Getting there would take at least a full day.

Of course, in such a large mountain, any number of people could disappear instantly. They evaded four or five groups of mountain patrols and cultivators along the way, finally reaching the formation eye location marked on the purple-gold plate before sunset.

Here was an open pebble beach, indicating a former river with a significant flow. A few massive ancient trees on the ridge stood like silent, long-standing guards of the mountain forest.

Apart from that, it looked like any ordinary mountain forest, just with more vigorous vegetation.

There was nothing unusual: no strange rocks, no peculiar trees, no sudden or spectacular sights. Could the formation eye be underground?

Bai Ziqi asked his subordinate, "Can't it be more precise?"

"No, it can't. A 'dot' on a map could correspond to an entire forest in reality!"

"We can't narrow it down further than a five-li radius."

Bai Ziqi stated gravely, "True Immortal Qianhuan chose this location for the spiritual gathering grand formation likely due to the uniqueness of Dragon Head Mountain. Either there's an extraordinary divine artifact here, or Dragon Head Mountain itself is a complete wonder. As for the sudden exposure of the grand formation, there are two possibilities: either the formation malfunctioned, or its eye was damaged or taken by someone!"