Chapter 877: Breaking a Formation

It was a natural cloaking formation; even a body condensation state cultivator might not penetrate it with their spirit sense, let alone someone at the false core state. What most surprised Ye Mo was the location's obscurity; it lacked any distinguishing marks. How had Li Yuqian found it? How had the previous cultivator?

He dismissed these questions. He could always ask Li Yuqian; her silence wouldn't greatly affect him.

Ye Mo's spirit sense pierced the formation, entering a roughly ten-square-meter stone room. Someone had evidently discovered the formation and constructed the room within. A skeleton lay inside, likely the cultivator Li Yuqian had mentioned. The Li Zhe Fire wasn't present, but within the stone wall behind the room, Ye Mo detected a faint orange glow.

Could this be the Li Zhe Fire? He stared, puzzled. He'd seen Rare Fire Seeds before—the Magical Herb Sect's elder possessed a Ken Qing Fire, ranked 26th, vastly superior to this purported "Li Zhe Fire." The Li Zhe Fire ranked 29th; this shouldn't be so weak.

Yet, a wisp of white smoke accompanied the faint yellow flame, a signature of the Li Zhe Fire. Surprisingly, despite its weakness, it possessed an orange hue. Ye Mo knew the Rare Flame hierarchy: yellow, orange, red, green, aqua, blue, and purple, lowest to highest. Pale yellow was the weakest; dark yellow could ascend to orange. This flame was already a pale orange.

Disappointed yet undeterred, Ye Mo realized this was still a Rare Flame. As his spirit sense locked onto it, a problem became apparent: the flame wasn't simply left there; it was bound by a restriction. He would have to break it to acquire the flame.

Restrictions shared similarities with formations, but were simpler. Any cultivator could create basic restrictions, but high-level ones presented challenges comparable to formations. Ye Mo initially assumed it would be easy, but a spirit sense scan revealed his error. The restriction was exceptionally strong, far beyond his effortless removal.

Worse, it was an attack restriction; improper removal would trigger it.

Ye Mo calmed himself. This was more complex than anticipated. A careful spirit sense scan of the room's corners brought a near-shout. The stone room predated the natural formation; it was completely embedded within it.

No natural process could create a stone room and then encase it in a formation. It was artificial. Someone had created a natural-seeming formation—a feat that even shocked Ye Mo. Natural formations are inherently undetectable; artificial ones leave traces. To create an undetectable formation… Ye Mo dared not imagine the creator's skill.

Looking at the skeleton, he pieced things together. The cultivator hadn't brought the Li Zhe Fire; perhaps they'd attempted to acquire it and perished trying. Li Yuqian had found both the cultivator and the fire, taking the storage ring but leaving the flame.

Someone else had placed and restricted the fire. For some reason, they never returned. Had they left it to evolve? If so, breaking the restriction would yield an orange-level Rare Flame.

His heart pounded, but Ye Mo remained cautious. The restriction was formidable, and he needed to understand the spirit sense barrier formation's construction. Mastering it would greatly benefit him; perhaps he could even create a natural formation himself.

The Three Birth Chant enhanced his insight, and as a high-level formation master, he quickly identified the formation's peculiarities. The stone wall subtly absorbed spirit energy. How could a stone wall do that? The stone wall was the formation's core; the Li Zhe Fire resided within.

Breaking the wall to take the fire would trigger the restriction, as would attempting to spirit-control it without doing so. To obtain the fire without activating the restriction, he had to break the formation non-destructively.

However, knowing the core allowed him to solve it. It wasn't exceptionally powerful, just a spirit sense barrier formation.

Ye Mo gathered materials and created thirty formation flags, placing them strategically. He activated them, using high-grade spirit stones. An hour later, the stone wall cracked; he'd broken the connection between it and the restriction.

Simultaneously, the restriction released the fire. He no longer needed to deal with it.

But then, a curse escaped Ye Mo's lips. He had to use all his cultivation essence to restrain the Li Zhe Fire and attempt spirit control. Breaking the formation hadn't helped; once freed, the Li Zhe Fire was escaping. The person behind this clearly didn't want anyone to possess it.

He wouldn't let it escape. He'd travelled far for this. Yet, his assumption of easily capturing the pale flame was wrong. As his spirit sense and cultivation essence enveloped it, intense heat erupted. Even the previously discarded spirit stones fueled the flame.