“Good!” Ming Ren nodded with satisfaction, “Now, see how many you can call!”
Lin Dong and Lin Qiang stared in astonishment. Multiple summons? One was surprising enough, could she summon more? Seeing as Ming Ren wasn’t joking, Lin Qiang once again directed the pinkish energy, envisioning the wild ape. The powerful beast appeared, cultivation base at the first layer of the Spirit Sea Realm.
“Again!” Ming Ren urged. The summoning energy spread and a saber-toothed cat at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm emerged.
“I… this is my limit…” Lin Qiang felt three summons reached the limit with some burden on her body.
“That’s fine, this is already amazing enough.” Three summons already far surpassed any common beast summoner and her control over the energy would only get better with time.
Each summon only went down by a layer due to her raw innate potential and the Beast God’s Blessing. Increasing cultivation base meant more powerful creatures, which also simulated the original beasts in attributes and characteristics. Mastering this power would turn Lin Qiang into a formidable entity.
Ming Ren crossed his arms, leaned the right hand on his chin and remained there in thought. Could their cultivation improve further? No, they pushed themselves too much.
With a uniquely tailored supreme cultivation law, hidden problems would be unlikely to appear, but any more would be truly dangerous as each breakthrough required time and effort to consolidate the realm. Ming Ren’s Bright Eyes identified most problems, but he would eventually leave their side. They needed something else.
‘A battle formation!’ The improved techniques of the Forest Clan didn’t include battle formations. Ming Ren almost forgot those but noticed the group using it back during the battle against the spirit beasts. He looked straight at Lin Dong, “Show me the Forest Clan battle formations!”
“…!” Lin Dong wasted no time in teaching him the Strong Wood formation. Ming Ren took a thoughtful posture once again. What were [Battle Formations]?
Military formations were a pattern of the distribution of soldiers in a coordinated form for battle. A cultivator’s battle formation followed the same line of thought, patterns of positioning, but took things further. Not only it determined positioning but ways of moving, attacking, and defending. They were battle techniques suited for groups and not only ways of arranging people.
Battle formations were closer to cultivation laws than to traditional military formations. They could contain special principles or powers, such as innate elements. Ming Ren couldn’t approach those types right now as they required profound experimentation. Fortunately, the Forest Clan formation was nowhere near that level.
Battle formations depended on the three elements from techniques (Might, group speed, and spirit consumption), plus rhythm, leadership, and size. The first three elements didn’t differ from techniques.
Rhythm embodied rules that explained how, where, or when to strike, defend, or move. It was the [core] of any battle formation. Complex instructions made it harder to comprehend and put the formation into motion. Rhythm could be seen as the same as a true formation’s [core], except it positioned individuals, not flags or other tools.
Ming Ren thought about people in a battle formation as conduits or meridians, transporting the Qi needed to activate its might.
Meridians were roads into which spiritual energy circulated, and cultivators were the meridians of a battle formation.
A single person often led as in a military formation, [leadership] playing a fundamental part. In a dual formation, one led, and the others followed, rare types allowing both to lead at some point. Battle formations might have over one head, but most followed military rule and rank. One competent officer would be enough, yet one capable and one incompetent officer ruined the formation.
The leader corrected mistakes and had to decide quickly. He needed to understand the formation the most to avoid it crumbling or people breaking out. The leading position affected the entire power of the battle formation.
Size ruled the optimal amount of people in the formation but they often also worked with fewer or more people. Battle formations improved over the ages, reaching the best form through experience and change. The optimal number reflect that experience and worked best.
The Forest Clan’s [Strong Wood] was a low-grade Body Tempering Realm formation with low Qi might, low group speed, and high spirit consumption. It had a rigid rhythm and an optimal size of ten, specializing in flow control, and reducing damage and risk. An organized system for a group to attack and defend with no mystical powers.
Unlike other techniques, battle formations didn’t restrict the realm. Spirit Gate cultivators could join with Spirit Sea cultivators on the same formation, yet it caused many problems. Common cultivators couldn’t support their movements or resist the full might. A single mistake and it backfired.
A Body Tempering battle formation didn’t require its members to use Spirit Sea Realm abilities such as true elements or rare energies. A Spirit Sea formation would not guide spirit gates.
A lower-tier formation affected the effectiveness of those at superior realms as the number of options available to the attack and defense patterns also changed. Spirit Sea cultivators used spiritual energy freely outside the body, pulling power from true elements and rare energies, and Spirit Gate cultivators had gates available to them. A formation that focused on martial arts would not consider those factors.
Ming Ren adjusted the formation, concentrating on increasing might by sacrificing speed. It focused on reducing damage and controlling the flow, like the original Strong Wood formation. It didn’t take long for him to finish improving it to his current limit.
“Good!” Ming Ren transferred the formation back.
“… This!” How could they not know how much it changed?
Lin Qiang was the first to notice, “This battle formation can form a bigger formation!”
Ming Ren smiled, satisfied, “With more groups it will turn into a huge ancient forest on the battlefield. The attacking might is not there yet, but your Forest Clan’s power should increase!”
Ming Ren had to limit the effectiveness of the formation since he couldn’t experiment with it, taking a conservative approach. Jana was slack-jawed. How long did that take?
“I thank benefactor once again, but I fear this is beyond my means. There’s no way I can comprehend this formation in a short time,” Lin Dong answered truthfully. Lin Qiang had more confidence, but even she didn’t feel ready.
“No need to, that formation is for your clan. Let me create one for us…” Ming Ren went back to his thoughts. Jana, Lin Qiang, and Lin Dong felt faint. Elder Lin Dong’s legs wobbled. Let me create a battle formation?
Ming Ren chose several patterns for a battle formation, taking into consideration the other two and their abilities. How would the joint spiritual energy flow? How and when should it circulate? Which forms and stances to take? Which patterns would be most effective considering their individual abilities and realms? How would their true elements and rare energies integrate into the formation?
[Ming Ren Style Battle Formation – Sword, Beast, and Fist Trinity]
A mixed Spirit Sea-Body Tempering Realm battle formation tailored for them with high offensive Qi might, medium defensive Qi might, high battle speed, low spirit consumption, high pace rhythm, and a fixed size of three. A heaven-grade formation specialized in attacking.
The fist became the spearpoint, taking the brunt of the opponent’s strikes. The sword focused on speed to disrupt and slash. The beast summoner could take on any role, from support to offense.
The flexibility of beast summoning represented a great asset. Support abilities would be possible by summoning a copy of little red, a monster snake copy added poison, wild ape provided a tank, and flood mantis slashing power.
As the leader, Ming Ren’s spiritual sense relayed commands with ease, helping the others adapt to this battle formation. He could still correct their mistakes right away even if they didn’t adapt.
Ming Ren’s cultivation should have decreased the might of the formation, yet his Qi control reached a godly level. Using the might of his physique in short bursts, he balanced the flow and even improved the amplitude of power. This formation would never work without him. He was the core, and it created a heavy toll on his mind and body.
Ming Ren took more time and created another formation for Lin Qiang and Lin Dong as he would leave after this event was over and worried he might have given them too much, attracting greed from everywhere. Once his cultivation was at the Spirit Sea Realm he could improve the techniques further, turning them into powerhouses only inferior to the heaven-defying genius of large clans.
[Battle formation – Fist And Beast Collaboration]
This formation focused on flexibility, allowing for both offensive and defensive might. The fist once again became the vanguard and the summoner jack-of-all-trades. He simplified the patterns and focused on efficiency. Another heaven-grade battle formation.
Ming Ren smiled and transferred the formation over to Lin Qiang and Lin Dong. This time they weren’t as surprised, becoming numb to the youth going against everything they knew. He also used his spiritual sense and explained to Jana how to fix the formation in the simplest way. Jana thought its friend would die on the spot if he knew someone fixed his hard built formation with such ease.
‘You need not worry about that girl. I will contact someone I know, the one who created this formation. He owes me a lot, I will make sure he takes that girl under his wing,’ Jana sent Ming Ren a sound transmission.
Ming Ren sighed in relief as it would be for the best if a great power sheltered Lin Qiang until she grew. Having no more worries, he said, “A double-hour, then we will head out. Use this time to focus on learning the formations, I will guide you through it!”
The youth guided them in learning the formations, speeding up their comprehension. He also taught a lot of things about combat, cultivation, true elements, and rare energies. Even with little time, each lesson enlightened them to a new level. While they did not know how he came across such profound knowledge, one thing was certain:
Heaven-defying, ah!