Limitless: New Dawn

Chapter 282: Formations

The moment Arthur disappeared after their brief exchange, Fu Chengde remained standing there for a short moment, his eyes fixed on the empty space where Arthur had stood. The night air was calm, the marketplace had long since quieted, but his thoughts were anything but. Arthur’s disappearance… It did not feel like a simple movement technique. There had been no residual trace of spiritual energy dispersing in the air that most movement techniques leave behind.

Fu Chengde exhaled slowly, his expression tightening as he turned and made his way through the dimly lit streets toward the Artifact Refiners Union. His pace was quick, his mind replaying the scene again and again, trying to rationalize it within the limits of his understanding.

By the time he reached the Union, the building still stood illuminated, its structure towering above the surrounding establishments, showing its superior authority. Even at night, the place was active, disciples and assistants moving in and out, carrying materials, scrolls, and artifacts under refinement. 

Fu Chengde entered without hesitation, nodding briefly to those who greeted him as he moved straight toward the inner section where Chen Yuze’s office was located. He didn’t bother to waste time with formalities beyond what was necessary.

He knocked once before stepping inside. “Chief.”

Chen Yuze was seated behind his desk, a document spread open in front of him. The room was quiet, the faint glow of a formation lamp casting steady light across the polished wooden surface of the table. 

He looked up as Fu Chengde entered, and asked “What is it, Chengde?”

Fu Chengde bowed slightly before speaking. “Chief, Master Liu has requested a ticket to the Violet Heaven Secret Realm.”

Chen Yuze leaned back slightly in his chair, his fingers tapping against the surface of the desk as he processed the information. “Hmm…” he murmured, his gaze drifting briefly toward the side as if considering something about what he just heard. “I had hoped he would stay within the safety of the city for a while longer. With his level of artifact refinement, a few months of uninterrupted work would have allowed him to establish a far stronger foundation here.”

He shook his head lightly, a faint smile appearing on his lips, though there was no real amusement behind it. “But at the end of the day, he is still a cultivator. Curiosity toward a place like the Violet Heaven Realm is inevitable.”

His gaze returned to Fu Chengde. “Alright, give him the ticket.”

Fu Chengde nodded immediately, stepping forward to place the spatial ring containing the spirit stones Arthur had provided onto the desk. Chen Yuze accepted it without saying anything, his focus still remaining on the implications of Arthur’s decision rather than the transaction.

But Fu Chengde didn’t move.

Chen Yuze noticed his hesitation almost instantly. His brows furrowed slightly as he looked up again. “Is there another matter you want to talk about? ”

Fu Chengde hesitated for a brief moment before speaking, choosing his words carefully. “Chief… I am not entirely certain, but I believe Master Liu’s comprehension of spatial law is… unusually high.”

That caught Chen Yuze’s full attention.

The casual air around him vanished almost instantly as his posture straightened, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Spatial law?” he repeated, his tone no longer indifferent.

Fu Chengde nodded, though there was still uncertainty in his expression. “Yes. When I went to his shop, he… appeared out of nowhere and again disappeared after the transaction. I could not detect any fluctuation, nor could I track his movement.”

Chen Yuze’s fingers stopped tapping.

“That’s not possible,” he said after a brief pause, his voice sounding intrigued and serious. “Comprehension of laws… that is something only those in the Immortal King realm can begin to touch. Even then, it requires time, talent, and opportunity.”

His gaze sharpened as he leaned forward slightly. “From what I sensed, Master Liu is only in the Great Unity realm. Unless…” he trailed off, his expression darkening slightly.

“Unless he is far stronger than he appears, and is hiding his strength.” he finished quietly.

The possibility hung heavily in the room.

Chen Yuze looked directly at Fu Chengde. “Are you certain of what you saw?”

Fu Chengde shook his head slowly. “I cannot confirm it, Chief. It may be a high-level movement technique I haven’t come across or something beyond my understanding.”

Chen Yuze leaned back again, his eyes half-closed as he considered the situation more deeply this time. “A movement technique… or did he really comprehend Spatial law.” But even he could understand how absurd that idea was.

A few seconds passed in silence before he spoke again. “Keep an eye on him,” Chen Yuze said finally. “Do not interfere, or provoke him. I need to understand exactly what kind of person we are dealing with.”

“Yes, Chief,” Fu Chengde replied immediately, bowing once more before turning and leaving the room.

The door closed softly behind him.

Chen Yuze remained seated, his gaze drifting toward the dagger resting on his desk, one of Arthur’s creations. He picked it up again, turning it slowly in his hand as his thoughts deepened.

“Who exactly are you… Liu Yang?” he murmured under his breath.

…

The next morning arrived quietly, the marketplace gradually coming to life as the first wave of cultivators and merchants began their daily routines. The Spirit Tool Pavilion stood out as always, its clean, modern structure already drawing attention causing the other shopkeeper to be jealous.

Arthur stepped out to the front of the shop, casually flipping the sign to indicate it was open. He had just finished opening the shop when a familiar presence appeared nearby, it was Fu Chengde.

Arthur’s gaze shifted toward him briefly before he gestured casually toward the interior. “Come in.”

Fu Chengde nodded and followed him inside, his eyes briefly scanning the shop, this was the first time he was seeing the inside of the shop, ‘So, the rumors are true.’. He reached into his storage ring and retrieved a small token before handing it over respectfully.

“Master Liu, this is your entry token for the Violet Heaven Secret Realm.”

Arthur accepted it, his fingers brushing over its surface as he examined it carefully. It was not made of paper as he had initially expected, but from a dense, polished wood that carried faint traces of spiritual energy within it. The emblem of the Artifact Refiners Union was engraved on one side, while the other side appeared plain at first glance.

But Arthur’s perception went deeper. And he found an intricate array was embedded within it, functioning as both an identification marker and a key. It was far more sophisticated than a simple ticket.

He looked up at Fu Chengde. “Thank you for delivering it.”

Fu Chengde bowed his head slightly. “It is my duty.”

Arthur paused for a moment before adding, “Can you help me acquire some scriptures or tomes on formations and arrays? They should cover from basic to advanced.”

Fu Chengde didn’t hesitate. “Of course, I will have them delivered by the end of the day.”

Arthur nodded once. “That will be all.”

Fu Chengde bowed lightly before leaving the shop.

…

The rest of the day passed as usual.

Customers came and went, some familiar faces returning after previous purchases, others arriving for the first time after hearing about the shop’s reputation. Arthur handled them all with the same professional demeanor, answering questions, demonstrating artifacts, and occasionally negotiating prices when necessary.

At the same time, he continued absorbing spirit stones, his efficiency allowing him to divide his attention without any loss in performance. Threads of spiritual energy flowed into him continuously, refined and stored without waste.

But his mind remained focused on something else… formations.

As the day drew to a close and the last of the customers left, Fu Chengde returned once more, delivering a stack of tomes neatly arranged within a storage ring.

Arthur accepted them and closed the shop soon after.

…

Inside his room, thirty-five tomes were laid out before him.

Arthur sat cross-legged on the bed, his posture relaxed but his focus remained absolute. One by one, he began reading through them, his eyes moving rapidly across the pages as information flowed into his mind.

His photographic memory ensured nothing was lost and just like that more than an hour passed without interruption.

When he finally finished reading the last tome, he closed his eyes and leaned back slightly, allowing his mind to process everything he had just absorbed.

And then… he began analyzing the information.

Formations… were not unfamiliar to him. At their core, they shared a fundamental similarity with runes. If not for the use of different energies and mechanisms they followed he would have thought runes and formations came from the same root. 

“They’re like computer programs,” Arthur muttered quietly to himself.

Runes used mana or Aether to encode functions, while formations used spiritual energy. Both relied on structured patterns, logical flow, and precise execution to achieve specific outcomes.

But formations operated on a larger scale. Arthur’s thoughts deepened as he broke down the concepts layer by layer.

A formation required materials, anchors, and a central core known as the formation eye. This “eye” acted as the heart of the system, maintaining stability and control. Destroying it would collapse the entire structure instantly.

External tools like formation flags and plates allowed rapid deployment, especially in combat scenarios.

Then there were void formations… created purely through control over spiritual energy.

Arthur’s eyes opened slightly as he analysed that part again. “No external tools… only pure energy is used to create formations.” That level of higher mastery was not something ordinary cultivators could achieve. But he had already achieved that level with runes, now he just had to practice them with formations and see how it goes, at least his rune mastery would help in this regard.

He continued organizing the knowledge in his mind. Formations are categorised into offensive formations, defensive formations, trap and sealing formations, illusory formations, and spirit gathering formations.

Each category served a specific purpose, yet all followed the same foundational principles.

There are more types such as battle formations, which require multiple cultivators to activate. Spatial formations, which are used in creating spatial artifacts and teleportation arrays  And the esoteric temporal formations, advanced arrays that can manipulate or slow down time to allow years of training in just days. 

Arthur paused there. “Time manipulation…”

Even within the cultivation world, that was considered extremely rare and difficult.

He exhaled slowly, leaning back slightly, “If I integrate this with runes…”

Combining the two could create something far beyond what either system could achieve independently.

A faint smile appeared on his face. “This world is amazing.”

For the rest of the night, Arthur didn’t rest. He continued studying, cross-referencing, and refining his understanding, his mind operating at full capacity as he began laying the foundation for something entirely new.

***

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