"Does this mean that the formation is real?" Jiang Chen frowned slightly. He'd first heard about the formation from Mang Qi when he trained in the Eastern Kingdom's Boundless Catacombs many years ago. After traveling to the sealed grounds in the desolate wildlands, he made another trip to the Boundless Catacombs for confirmation from Mang Qi. And now he wanted to see from the venerable master if Mang Qi's words held any water.
Jiang Chen didn't care how long the tale might be. He needed to know.
Jiang Chen wasn't surprised that the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect had a hand in the creation of the formation. It was only natural that one of the strongest sects of the ancient age would participate in such a grand undertaking.
"Oh?" Jiang Chen raised a brow. He didn't expect there to be so much history behind the formation.
"Was it really that terrible?" Jiang Chen was taken aback. How would a single formation require so much?
Time was an extremely precious commodity during the invasion. A decade was simply too long. Every second wasted was a life lost and every single day was worth fighting for. One day was all it took for the war to shift sides.
Jiang Chen came to understand why so many formation masters had died of exhaustion. They'd taken only three months to complete a formation that would normally take ten years. Such urgency was unheard of in modern times. They'd traded their lives for its completion. He was struck by awe.
"Nine elders from our sect had lost their lives during the construction of the formation, including my own younger brother." Venerated Skysoarer lamented.
Skysoarer gritted his teeth. His hatred for the demons ran so deep that he wanted to rip them apart with his teeth. The story seemed to match with Mang Qi's rendition. It seems Mang Qi wasn't lying after all. Jiang Chen sighed deeply.
The Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement had been constructed as a weapon against the demons, yet it'd been used on nothing but scapegoats. If the main force of the demons had been captured by the formation, then the human race's fortunes might not have declined so dramatically. The fates were incredibly cruel.
"Venerated master. Since the formation seized the wrong target, perhaps we can reactivate it and release the scapegoats to bolster our own army?" Jiang Chen probed.
"We considered the same thing back then, but the invasion was already in full swing. We couldn't spare any manpower to reactivate the formation. Moreover, there was no guarantee that the scapegoats would willingly join forces with us to fight against the demons if we freed them. They were under the demon's control after all." Venerated Skysoarer had made a good point.
He was an all-knowing expert in the art of formations, but he didn't have a good grasp of the Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement because he hadn't encountered it in his previous life. Therefore, he wanted to learn more about it from the venerable master himself.
The venerable master's conjecture was very reasonable, but Jiang Chen didn't believe that it was an insurmountable problem.
"Venerated master, no matter how difficult it may seem, every possible path is worth exploring. If we somehow reactivate the formation, we could blockade the demon army at the desolate wildlands and hinder their march into the human domain." Jiang Chen had done some research regarding human domain terrain.
The Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement was constructed with geography in mind and was located between demon territory and human domain as an invisible barrier. The demons would have no choice but to march around it. The vastness of the world meant that they'd have to travel up to ten times the distance to enter the human domain. This made their invasion significantly harder.
The longer the distance they had to cover, the more likely their army would be spread too thin. This too served as an advantage for the humans. The human leaders of the ancient times had been very meticulous in the placement of the formation. If Jiang Chen could somehow reactivate the formation, it would serve as the perfect barrier to keep the demons out. Unfortunately, the formation was simply too complex and high level. Reactivating it would be extremely difficult even for someone like him. The material and human resources needed was simply too colossal.
Fortunately, time was on his side. The demons were still rather dormant and their invasion likely a few decades away. The ancients had needed ten years to construct the Great Formation of Heavenly Soul Confinement at a sustainable pace. Perhaps taking five times as much time would be a sustainable pace for modern humans? After all, the ancients had to construct it from scratch, but all modern humans had to do was reactivate it.
"Sect Head, do you really intend to reactivate the formation?" Venerated Skysoarer asked involuntarily when he saw how resolute Jiang Chen seemed.
"None." The venerable master answered bluntly.
"What if we were to reactivate the formation?" Jiang Chen asked again.
I have to say, the bit about the ancient demon war is actually quite enjoyable. Realizing they'd fallen into a trap must've been soul crushing!
Half Step Empyrean Realm sponsors, thank you for your patience! # of advance chapters slowly creeping up as promised (currently at 34!), and some of that will trickle down to Great Emperors as well. Stay tuned!