Chapter 62 Piercing the Essence of Sorcerers

The moment the formation expanded, Zhang Zhiwei keenly perceived the turbulence of the surrounding natural energy. The previously chaotic natural energy unexpectedly began to arrange itself in an orderly, categorized manner.

The arrangement was extremely complex, seemingly divided into two major categories. With his strong perceptive abilities, Zhang Zhiwei was able to discern some subtle patterns within it.

Centered around Zhuge Yunhui, natural energy of the fire attribute was arranged in the south, water attribute in the north, thunder attribute in the east, metal attribute in the west, wind attribute in the southeast, and earth attribute in the southwest...

Although Zhang Zhiwei had never studied the Qimen Dunjia of the warlocks, as a practitioner of Daoism, he possessed some basic knowledge of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams.

Qian in the northwest belongs to metal, with its natural image as heaven; Kun in the southwest belongs to earth, with its image as earth; Xun in the southeast belongs to wood, with its image as wind; Zhen in the east belongs to wood, with its image as thunder; Kan in the north belongs to water, with its image as water; Li in the south belongs to fire, with its image as fire; Gen in the northeast belongs to earth, with its image as mountain; Dui in the west belongs to metal, with its image as marsh.

Matching the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams to the distribution of natural energy around Zhuge Yunhui, Zhang Zhiwei naturally drew the conclusion that this should be the orientation of the Earth Plate's Eight Trigrams within Zhuge Yunhui's Qimen formation.

If Zhuge Yunhui wanted to cast a spell of a certain attribute, he had to stand in the corresponding zone of natural energy—that is, the designated position on the Earth Plate.

If he wanted to cast a fire-attribute spell, he would have to rush to the Li sector. And if I were to step into that position a step ahead of him, would he be dumbfounded?

No, things weren't quite that absolute. The Qimen formation only served an auxiliary role; some warlocks with high cultivation could still cast spells without the aid of a formation.

Just as Wang Ye had said before his match against Jin Yong, the only spells he could unleash without relying on Qimen were the Earth Escape of the Kun character and the Illusion Technique of the Dui character.

However, casting spells out of thin air was far less powerful than doing so within a Qimen formation. Generally speaking, this Qimen formation was the foundation upon which warlocks made their living.

From Zhuge Yunhui's setting of the formation, Zhang Zhiwei understood many things. The so-called Qimen formation of the warlocks was essentially a method of utilizing natural energy.

Warlocks relied on deducing the changes within it to cast spells, mobilizing the natural energy inside the Qimen formation to deal with enemies.

Of course, this was merely a simple conclusion Zhang Zhiwei had reached. In reality, the factors a warlock had to consider when facing an enemy were far more complex.

Yet, the Great Dao is simple by nature. Complex things are bound to be less efficient than simple ones, and Zhang Zhiwei felt as though he had touched upon some fundamental truths.

"Senior Brother Zhang, how does it feel?" Zhuge Yunhui asked, spreading his hands.

"There's definitely some substance to it!" Zhang Zhiwei praised.

"Just some substance? Indeed, Senior Brother Zhang's cultivation is far superior to mine. Even after stepping right into the Qimen and right into the ominous position most unfavorable to yourself, it hasn't caused any significant negative impact. For an ordinary person, I'm afraid most of their strength would have already been neutralized by now!" Zhuge Yunhui praised sincerely.

Zhang Zhiwei: "............"

I was standing in the most ominous position... negative impacts... were there any?

Zhang Zhiwei carefully sensed his surroundings and quickly discovered the anomaly. He indeed seemed to be standing in a rather unfavorable spot.

In this position, the surrounding natural energy faintly formed a Feng Shui Qi formation—a Feng Shui Qi formation of ominous portent.

By standing here, he was subjected to the impact of this Feng Shui Qi formation.

However, his own strength was vastly superior to Zhuge Yunhui's; the impact of this ominous portent on him was negligible. Coupled with the fact that he had been entirely engrossed in observing the Earth Plate's Eight Trigrams structure, he hadn't noticed it at first.

Zhang Zhiwei chuckled awkwardly, "There is indeed a slight discomfort. These warlock methods are truly hard to guard against, falling into a trap without even realizing it!"

"For those who don't understand warlock techniques, that is indeed the case. But Senior Brother Zhang, I recall that disciples of Mount Longhu are all taught some basic knowledge of numerology and arts. Why didn't you study it?" Zhuge Yunhui asked with a puzzled expression.

What he said was actually correct; the elders transmitting skills on Mount Longhu did indeed teach such things. In the original storyline during the Luotian Grand Ceremony, Zhang Lingyu had seen through Zhuge Qing's methods at a single glance.

Yet, just because the elders taught it didn't mean Zhang Zhiwei had to learn it. Zhang Zhiwei remembered that when the Qimen numerology was being taught, the dry, uninteresting knowledge gave him a headache. Furthermore, having just been taught the Yang Five Thunders at the time, he simply stopped listening and instead went off to refine the primordial heart-fire qi and primordial lung-metal qi of the Yang Five Thunders.

"I spent more energy on internal elixir cultivation. How about you give me a brief explanation?" Zhang Zhiwei smiled.

"Senior Brother Zhang flatters me. I wouldn't dare call it an explanation; since we're sparring, it's just mutual guidance!"

For a grand master like Zhang Zhiwei to actually ask him for guidance, Zhuge Yunhui felt somewhat flattered, and naturally began to explain:

"As everyone knows, Qimen Dunjia is divided into four plates: the Earth Plate, the Heaven Plate, the Man Plate, and the Spirit Plate. What we warlocks must do is deduce the changes across these four plates based on the solar terms within the formation. Among warlocks, mastering the deduction of even a single plate is already considered an expert."

Spreading his hands with considerable pride, Zhuge Yunhui continued, "And as for me, I have mastered both the Earth Plate and the Man Plate. Ordinary Qimen warlocks need to use their opponent as the central palace to set the formation and adjust themselves accordingly, putting them at an inherent, passive disadvantage. However, the Wuhou Qimen passed down in my Zhuge family allows me to use myself as the central palace to set the formation, granting an innate proactive advantage."

"Therefore, the moment I stepped onto the sparring arena, I had already calculated the directions. Right from the beginning, Senior Brother Zhang, you happened to stand in the position of the Gate of Death among the Man Plate's Eight Gates that I set, which is an ominous portent. In this position, the surrounding natural energy invades the meridians and causes damage to the human body."

"If the gap in strength between the two sides is vast—well... I mean, if the cultivation of the warlock who sets the formation is far superior to the person the spell is cast upon, the target might even drop dead on the spot. Even if the cultivation levels are comparable, the target's strength will still be drastically reduced!"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei understood instantly. This was actually a very common tactic among warlocks. During the Luotian Grand Ceremony in the original storyline, Zhuge Qing had used this exact method against the Little Fire God of the Huode Sect, luring him to the Kan sector where water-attribute natural energy converged. The invading water-attribute natural energy crippled half of the fire-controlling master's abilities.

"The Earth Plate's Eight Trigrams and the Man Plate's Eight Gates—what a complex setup!" Zhang Zhiwei sighed in admiration.

"Senior Brother Zhang is right, it is indeed very complex. And this is merely two of the four plates!"

Zhuge Yunhui went on, "The four plates of Qimen Dunjia are ever-changing and encompass all variables in the world. Let alone completely mastering them, simply achieving an entry-level understanding of just two plates is already immensely difficult. A warlock capable of mastering all four plates is a rare sight once in several decades!"

"Senior Brother Zhang, let me explain some basic knowledge to you. When the Earth Plate of Qimen Dunjia rotates clockwise, it is considered yang; when it rotates counterclockwise, it is considered yin. There are nine yang formations and nine yin formations, totaling eighteen formations."

"As for the layout rules of the Heaven Plate and Spirit Plate, they are determined by adding the Stems of the Hour to the Chief Deity. The layout rule of the Man Plate is determined by adding the Branches of the Hour to the Chief Envoy. The Chief Deity and Chief Envoy are determined by the decade leader and the Earth Plate configuration. Once you know the Hour Pillar, you can deduce the decade leader."

"Therefore, as long as you know the Earth Plate configuration and the Hour Pillar, a complete four-plate Qimen setup can be entirely deduced. There are sixty possible Hour Pillars in total, so multiplying eighteen by sixty gives a total of one thousand and eighty formations. As long as you master these one thousand and eighty formations, you can learn all four plates... but that is merely learning the four plates. Once the four plates are combined, they generate countless more variations..."

After rattling off a long string of obscure and difficult-to-understand theories, Zhuge Yunhui sighed.

"Senior Brother Zhang, did you understand? The Dao of a warlock has no upper limit, and a warlock's power also has no upper limit. It's just that... it's far too difficult to pursue!"

"It's very hard to understand!"

Zhang Zhiwei spoke the honest truth. As for the detailed explanation Zhuge Yunhui gave regarding things like the Chief Deity and Chief Envoy, he did understand some of it. After all, once you comprehend one principle, you comprehend them all; he understood the basic knowledge of Daoism.

Yet, combining all these complex elements together made it as obscure as a heavenly book, and Zhang Zhiwei simply found it difficult to muster any interest.

However, some things actually become more confusing the more detailed your knowledge of them is, whereas knowing fewer rules allows one to better perceive the fundamental essence.

The Great Dao is simple. Some principles are often very simple in themselves, but trying to articulate them makes them long and complicated. Yet, you must not mistake a complex mode of articulation for the ultimate truth.

Zhuge Yunhui: "............"

"Senior Brother Zhang, could it be that I didn't explain it thoroughly enough?"

"No, you explained it very thoroughly, but it's also far too complex and rigid. The experience of predecessors can be used as a reference, but there's no need to learn it by rote memorization. Complex things can indeed produce more intricate effects, but complexity also dictates that they are less robust and durable than simple ones. As for me, in both life and action, I prefer things simple!"

With a casual grab of his hand, without displaying any discernible technique, Zhang Zhiwei effortlessly shattered the ominous Feng Shui position that Zhuge Yunhui had established.

"Thank you, Brother Zhuge, for clearing up my confusion. I've gained a little something from this. Come on, I won't use my cultivation to suppress you. Right here within this Qimen formation, I'll play along with you using warlock methods!"