Sovereign of the Three Realms

Jiang Chen opened his eyes. A serious look entered them.

Everyone looked at him expectantly. The Eternal forefather was the first to approach. “Any leads?”

The young man inclined his head. “I have an idea of where to begin. This formation is named the Prismatic Convergence Formation. Functionally, it can gather up energy from elsewhere into a single point instantly. No matter how we attack, it’s difficult to brute force our way through. We can’t possibly strike quicker than the formation defends itself.”

“We can attack two areas separately, can’t we?” the Eternal forefather suggested. “It should break then.”

“You mean feint in one direction first, then strike another?”

“Something like that,” the forefather nodded. “If it uses spirit energy from elsewhere, we should be able to exploit its inability to understand our intent.”

“If it was that simple, this formation wouldn’t be famous in the heavenly planes. It’s easy for us to split up, but it doesn’t matter if we can’t break the point at which it directs the flow of energy. Attacking everywhere else won’t harm it.”

The details of the formation became clearer to Jiang Chen as he recalled the relevant parts of his memories.

The Eternal forefather agreed after a little consideration. If the formation was this easy to break through, then it would be grievously flawed. Why would it have been used here in the first place?

“How shall we break through the formation then?”

There was no room for pride. The forefather found no shame in asking his junior.

Jiang Chen’s response was direct and to the point. “We must find the node that serves as a nexus for the energy transfer. There should be several. If we can do that, I have a way of breaking out.”

Given the level of the formation, smashing it should be no problem once its weaknesses were found. After all, regardless of how well it was set up, the haste with which its creator had done so meant that it was relatively fragile.

A truly perfect formation needed time and polish. This formation seemed impenetrable on the surface, but closer scrutiny was sure to reveal problems beneath.

Jiang Chen surmised that those who had set up the formation supposed that the divine forefathers of the sacred lands wouldn’t know what it was, hence the boldness with which they’d brought it into being.

Finding the nodes was easier said than done. Thankfully, he had studied this formation – just as many others – long ago.

He stood up. “Venerated forefather,” he turned toward the old man, “I need some help from you and the other forefathers to find the nodes.” 

The Eternal forefather glanced at his peers.

“Haha, the Martial Sacred Land has received young friend Jiang Chen’s kindness in the past. I will lend whatever aid that’s necessary to get us out of this situation.” The forefather of the Martial Sacred Land was the first to step forward.

“I will come.” The Radiance forefather volunteered.

“Then I as well,” the Sunrise forefather followed, smiling.

The Eternal forefather nodded cheerfully. “Is the four of us enough?”

“More than enough!” Jiang Chen laughed.

The Eternal forefather nodded, then cupped a fist at the other forefathers. “Fellow daoists, we must help each other in this time of crisis. We will go find the nodes involved in this formation and rely on the rest of you to hold down the fort here.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll keep the others safe.”

“Good luck with your work. We will certainly give ours the utmost of attention.”

After the duties were divvied up, Jiang Chen immediately set off with the four forefathers in tow. The node was impossible to find using physical eyes. Through one’s consciousness, it was still extremely difficult to perceive.

However, that didn’t mean this instance of the Prismatic Convergence Formation was impregnable.

Perhaps a more perfect one would be harder to exploit, but Jiang Chen firmly believed this one in particular was flawed. The temporary nature of its manifestation and existence was living proof of that.

“Forefathers, I will choose a few areas that you should attack on my orders. From the ensuing dissipation of spirit energy, I will attempt to find where exactly that node is.”

Jiang Chen laid out his plans to the four forefathers, who tacitly nodded in agreement.

He scanned the surroundings for four reasonably important areas, then assigned each forefather to one of them.

“Get ready to attack on my orders,” he transmitted to all of them, casting out his consciousness. “Three, two, one… attack!”

The four forefathers assaulted their respective areas in a simultaneous effort. Their godhood granted them incredible grasp over minutiae, allowing them to truly move in synchronicity.

All four areas of the veil of light rippled violently at the same time.

Though the veil seemed to hold and recover very quickly, Jiang Chen’s consciousness could detect the differences in how the energy dissipated across the space.

He nodded to himself, having made a preliminary discovery.

Summoning the forefathers to his side, he assigned them new directions of attack. “This time, please attack these four areas in the same way you just did. All at the same time.”

He experimented a full six times in a row before a grin spread across his face.

The forefathers were gladdened by his joyous expression.

Jiang Chen pointed out a specific patch of space as they approached him. “There’s definitely a node around here.”

How’d you find it?” the Radiance forefather couldn’t help asking.

“Just trial and error. I used the aftershocks from your attacks to judge the distance from you to the node, and triangulated based on the strength of the defensive reaction. After six attempts, I’ve found roughly where it would be.” Jiang Chen sounded very certain.

The forefathers exchanged excited looks. They found Jiang Chen’s conclusion quite trustworthy.