<h4>Chapter 25:Formations</h4>


    Alex looked at the weird-looking ss beaker and wondered what it was. The ss beaker was small, wide at the bottom, and narrow at the top. It had a circr metal ce at its base.


    The metal te was on the outside of the breaker and looked magical with intricate designs. The ss itself had a single ck line going across it vertically. There were small dots, along the side of the ck line.


    Kong Yuhan took his pill and dropped it into the beaker. He then focused as he poured his Qi into the metal part of the beaker. The beaker started to slowly fog up.


    At the base of the ss beaker, the mist slowly appeared. The mist appeared on the outer edge of the metal, and it started to mist the ss itself.


    Slowly, the mist rose up and started appearing more and more on the ss beaker .it had started at the bottom, and was moving upwards.


    After a few seconds, it stopped moving and showed no other signs. Kong Yuhan looked closely at the ck dot, next to the ck line where the mist had stopped forming.


    "Aww… it stopped at 19%. I was so close to 20%." Kong Yuhan sighed. Alex was puzzled. He asked, "What do you mean 19%, brother Kong?"


    "Look," Kong Yuhan said as he passed along the beaker to Alex. Now that Alex had it in his hand, he could see that the ck dots were not in fact dots, but numbers. They were just too tiny to tell apart from where he was previously.


    "Is this the pill''s harmony level?" he asked.


    "Yes," Kong Yuhan said and started to pack his cauldron.


    "How can a ss tell you what a pill''s harmony level is, brother kong?" he asked.


    "What are you talking about, Junior brother? Of course, it doesn''t. It''s the metal base that shows it." Kong Yuhan answered as if it wasmon sense.


    "The metal?" Alex was even more confused.


    "Well, more precisely the formation on the metal." Kong Yuhan rified a little.


    "A Formation?" Alex was shocked. He had never seen a formation before and only heard of it. "Wow, this is my first time seeing a formation," Alex said as he looked at the metal at the bottom of the beaker.


    Kong Yuhan took the beaker back, and put the pill inside into a ceramic pill bottle, quickly closing the bottle with a stopper.


    Alex was confused now. " I … I have?" he questioned the statement.


    Kong Yuhan took his namete out of the wall and looked at the stone door disappear above the door. " Of course, you have. How else do you think this door works?" heughed a little.


    "That is a formation too?" Alex was surprised.


    Kong Yuhan then pointed at thentern in the hallway and asked, "Have you ever looked at what''s inside antern, junior brother?"


    Alex had just done that the day before, so he answered, "Yes. I took off the outer cover yesterday night. Inside was a floating ball of fire, and a metal… Don''t tell me that metal te is a formation too?" he eyes were wide with shock.


    ''How could I have missed it?'' he thought. But, then he thought of something.


    " But, wait. Thenterns don''t require someone to infuse Qi into it as you did to that ss beaker." He asked.


    "The ''Pill Tester''? Well, that''s because the formation on it doesn''t have an energy source to run, so you have to give it Qi to work. Thenterns are different. They aren''t individual formation, but rather a part of arger formation." Kong Yuhan exined.


    " Arger formation?" Alex questioned.


    "Junior brother, did you know there is a massive formationid down on the sect ground. It epasses all 6 mountains and a little more." Kong Yuhan asked.


    "Such arge formation? I did not know that brother." He answered.


    "Well, I don''t know its actual name, but it''s unofficially called the ''Sect Running'' formation. It taps into the spirit vein below the sect, and uses its energy to run the sect." He exined.


    Alex thought of something, and said, "So thenterns are part of that ''Sect Running'' formation?" he asked.


    Kong Yuhanughed a little and answered. "Not just thenterns junior brother. The nametes, the sect medallion, the doors in the alchemy room, the fire burning inside, the map at the entrance, the mission board, the puppets, the ranking rock. Everything is part of the ''Sect Running'' formation."


    Alex was truly dumbfounded right now. He couldn''t even in his wildest dreams think of something like that. ''So everything I thought was magical, was in fact just part of the ''Sect Running'' formation.'' He thought.


    Kong Yuhan exined a little more, " How else do you think the rankings constantly change. How else do you think the mission board knows what missions you have taken. How else do you think the elders can call out disciples on their nametes. Everything inside the sect that runs by itself, is a formation."


    "So, it''s better if you don''t go around saying you have never seen a formation before. People will just call you ignorant."


    Alex couldn''t keep his thoughts straight until he got out of the Alchemy Hall. "Give me your namete, Junior brother." Kong Yuhan said. Alex absentmindedly handed him his namete.


    Kong Yuhan transferred 5 contribution points. "I will see youter junior brother." He said and walked away.


    Alex was still having a hard time grasping the sheer scope of the formation in the sect. So many things used formations.


    ''I guess the things around here aren''t exactly ''magical'' huh.''


    Grrrrr.


    He finally came back to focus. He looked at the namete in his hand and checked it. 5 points had indeed been added to it. He sighed a little and thought,


    ''Either way, it''s time to get some food.''