Chapter 754: Complete

"Let's begin!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan flipped his wrist, and a series of formation flags appeared in his palm. Yu Cheng's spatial ring contained many such five-star formation flags. These auxiliary formation flags had no specific attributes, making them perfectly suitable for use.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

His wrist rotated so fast that his entire arm seemed to blur. Hundreds of formation flags shot out from his palm, landing around the formation disk and piercing straight into the ground. With a raised eyebrow, Zhang Xuan stepped forward and stamped his foot on the ground. A clear hum sounded as the formation flags vibrated, instantly activating. A thin mist boiled forth, completely enveloping the formation disk.

Boom!

Immediately, the fire dragon at the center of the formation disk, as if invigorated by a powerful tonic, surged from a mere one or two meters to dozens of meters high. It looked as though it could burst through the towering hall at any moment, burning the roof clean away!

"Is this a five-star formation? And he set it up... so quickly!" Yuan Hong's eyebrows twitched.

He also studied formations as a secondary pursuit, and even as a six-star formation master, he couldn't deploy a formation so rapidly. This fellow did it with such ease, and his technique was clearly different from anything he had seen. It seemed he might truly have inherited a high-level master teacher's secret techniques. Legends said that powerful formation masters possessed unique methods that allowed for quicker deployment and greater power, enabling them to set up formations swiftly even with insufficient cultivation. This was likely what Zhang Xuan was using.

"Making the fire dragon like this... this must be an auxiliary formation for accelerating the extraction of geofire!" Yuan Hong nodded.

Despite the speed of deployment, he could still identify the formation's type based on its effect and the orientation of the flags. But... why deploy this formation? Could this guy be planning to use geofire to replace the Earth-Core Floodstone?

"That won't work, will it? Even if the geofire extraction speed increases and the fire dragon grows, the temperature won't rise..." Yuan Hong furrowed his brows and couldn't help but speak.

As the Vice Dean of the Artificer Academy, even if he hadn't heard of geofire being used as a substitute, his expertise allowed him to discern this. This auxiliary formation increased the geofire's extraction rate, channeling more energy into it. While the fire dragon became larger, it was merely an increase in quantity, not quality. It was like burning charcoal: burning one piece versus burning a ton increased the quantity but not the temperature.

"Don't worry!" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and offered no further explanation. He flipped his hand, and another row of formation flags appeared in his palm.

Swish! Swish!

His fingers moved like the wind, inserting them into the ground once more, positioning them outside the previous formation. Soon, this new formation was also activated. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! As the formation began to operate, the fire dragon, which had been dozens of meters tall and almost touching the ceiling, immediately dwindled, shrinking back to one or two meters in height. Although its size decreased, the flame became much hotter; the intense heat could be felt even from a considerable distance.

"This is... compressing the fire dragon, making its temperature higher and its power stronger? What an ingenious method!" Yuan Hong was stunned, a look of surprise on his face.

The first formation increased the geofire's extraction rate, while this one violently compressed the extracted flames. After compression and purification, the flame lost its towering height but became far more terrifying, its temperature increasing by more than tenfold! Even he, if he were to approach it, would likely be unable to withstand the heat.

"He... he can't really be thinking of using geofire to replace the Earth-Core Floodstone, can he?" Yuan Hong's face twitched.

Although he had suspected it earlier, he hadn't dared to believe it. Now, seeing this, his doubts grew stronger. By continuously deploying two formations, Zhang Xuan was raising the geofire's temperature higher and higher, already bringing it close to that of the Earth-Core Floodstone. If he continued, he might indeed be able to repair the channel... but geofire was inherently unstable, and now he was extracting and compressing it. Could he truly control it? If it got out of control, not only the record channel but perhaps the entire branch academy would be implicated.

It wasn't just Yuan Hong who frowned; the many master teachers around him also furrowed their brows.

Those who guarded the record channel and sought to break records were not simple individuals. Even if they couldn't name the formations Zhang Xuan deployed, they could discern their effects and purpose. Especially the compressed flame nearby, which emitted astonishing heat; even though they were quite strong, watching it for a while made their scalps tingle. It felt as if their souls, if they fell into it, would be instantly reduced to ashes.

"Done!"

Ignoring the crowd's astonishment, Zhang Xuan felt a slight sense of relief once the two formations were set up. Though they appeared to be two separate formations, they were, in fact, a single integrated one, merely divided into an inner and outer layer. The inner layer amplified the geofire's power, while the outer layer compressed that power, making it purer. Combined, they allowed the geofire to achieve the effect of the Earth-Core Floodstone. This design had originated thousands of years ago from a peak six-star formation master, who had conceptualized it specifically for the channel but could never resolve the conflict issues, thus it remained a theory and was never put into practice.

"Let's begin!"

Knowing that the first step was merely the simplest and the true challenge lay ahead, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, his gaze focused, and activated his Eye of Insight. After becoming a third-tier Heavenly Acknowledged Master Teacher, his Eye of Insight had advanced again. As long as he chose not to reveal it, even a six-star master teacher wouldn't detect it. With master teachers all around and him not yet reaching five-star, using it openly would be sensational, so it was better to keep a low profile. Despite being hidden and imperceptible to outsiders, its effect was not diminished. As it operated faster and faster, the formation that had lost its balance and ceased functioning previously now appeared before his eyes, its flags standing like stars around the fire dragon.

"I just need to activate this..."

Knowing that this formation had merely temporarily ceased functioning and that the geofire channel could be reformed by reactivating it, Zhang Xuan stepped forward, arriving at the core of the activation formation. "Activate!" He stamped his foot on the ground, channeling true qi into the core. The inert formation flags subtly vibrated, producing a whistling sound, and then mist instantly enveloped the fire dragon.

Crash!

The formation sustaining the fire dragon, upon contact with the mist, immediately produced a sound like a collapsing building. It seemed as though the two grand formations were incompatible and could explode at any moment. "Oh no..." Yuan Hong's eyebrows twitched, his face paling. He had encountered incompatible formations before, even witnessing a six-star formation master being blown to death. If this exploded here, injuries to the crowd would be minor; the entire academy branch might vanish.

He spread his five fingers, about to intervene and suppress it, when he saw the young man nearby seize something. A spirit beast inner core flew straight towards the core of the mist. As soon as the inner core touched the mist, the violently shaking and conflicting formations immediately stabilized, as if they had consumed a powerful tonic.

"This is... the balance point of the two formations?" Yuan Hong's eyes widened.

For the volatile formations to stabilize so quickly, there was only one possibility: Zhang Xuan had found their balance point and secured it.

"This is... the inner core of an eighth-stage mortal ascension Cold Snow Dragonfish, which is inherently yin and cold. It's truly an excellent choice for neutralizing a formation full of fiery power..." Recalling the appearance of the inner core, Yuan Hong couldn't help but nod.

Not only had the young man found the balance point for the formations' conflict, but more importantly, he had also utilized the principle of yin and yang symbiosis. By using the inherently yin and cold inner core of the spirit dragonfish, he neutralized the fiery power, thus breaking the situation of "solitary yin cannot grow, solitary yang cannot prosper," and thoroughly stabilizing the formations!

"One formation after another, linked in a chain, truly impressive!"

To achieve this using geofire in the absence of Earth-Core Floodstone, one had to admit that this fellow indeed possessed genuine talent and knowledge. No wonder he dared to claim he could fix it; Yuan Hong hadn't expected him to actually succeed. As long as this core element remained balanced, the channel's walls could easily be repaired by finding some artisans; that was no longer an issue.

Seeing the formation stabilize, Zhang Xuan also breathed a sigh of relief.

Earlier, he had seen many flaws in the Heaven's Path manuals and thought it might be impossible to set up, but to his surprise, everything went smoothly. "I didn't fail my mission!" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and turned around.

"This is... the geofire channel?"

"It's so magnificent, with so many flames swirling. Can people really walk inside?"

"What scorching heat! Senior Brother Luo Yan, did you really last three minutes? I probably wouldn't last ten seconds before being burned to ashes..."

Looking up, the crowd erupted in an uproar. Among the many master teachers present, only a handful had ever ventured into the geofire channel, so they weren't aware of its true conditions. Now that Zhang Xuan had repaired it, with no walls obstructing the view, its interior was laid bare, instantly shocking countless people. Flames surged, heatwaves assailed them... How could the geofire channel be so terrifying, and how did Luo Yan manage to endure for seventeen minutes, as recorded? And Zhang Xuan, had he truly stayed inside for more than an hour?

"Elder, I have restored the geofire channel. So... I don't need to compensate you, do I?" Ignoring the expressions of the crowd, Zhang Xuan smiled faintly and looked up at Yuan Hong, who was not far away.

"It looks restored on the outside, but whether it truly functions as a geofire channel can only be known through personal experimentation!" Yuan Hong waved his hand.

The channel Zhang Xuan had created using geofire as power, while appearing similar to the original, still needed to be personally tested to confirm its effectiveness.

"Then please, Elder, examine it!" Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"Hmm, I've maintained this channel before. I'll go in and take a look first!" Yuan Hong nodded.

As the Vice Dean of the Artificer Academy, he had specifically overseen this channel and knew more about it than anyone. To truly confirm if it was restored, he had to enter it himself.

"Elder, please!" Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

Without a word, Yuan Hong lifted his foot and stepped inside. The moment he entered, the scattered flames immediately converged upon him. In an instant, the heat surged, and the temperature sharply increased. "Hmm?" Noticing that the scene was somewhat different from when he himself had entered the geofire channel, Zhang Xuan frowned, then suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but turn to Luo Yan, who was nearby.

"What materials did your Artificer Guild use to forge the formation that extracts geofire?"

"Oh, it was crafted from Azure Leapstone, combined with Furnace-Elevating Crystal, and fused with Gold-Iron Steel!" Luo Yan pondered for a moment before replying.

"Azure Leapstone, Furnace-Elevating Crystal?" Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted, and his eyes widened. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt the ground tremble.

Boom!

A colossal roar, followed by a powerful blast of air, surged forward, sending him tumbling through the air. Immediately after, he watched as the record channel nearby instantly collapsed, and the hall of the Artificer Branch Academy crumbled...