"Xiao Mang, your soul is the strongest I have ever seen compared to your peers. Due to it being five times stronger, you will probably be capable of engraving level six formations at the peak of the saint realm and level nine formations at the peak of the king realm. Formations will allow you to kill higher realm cultivators if you are capable of trapping and attacking them inside a formation."
These words made Jiang Mang's eyes sparkle until his master said the following words: "You are, however, still not even a formation apprentice. Starting from today, you will have to start engraving all the three thousand on clay tablets while infusing them with spiritual energy. A clay tablet is capable of holding one perfected foundational formation. Once you have created one thousand perfected foundation formations for each of the three thousand formations, you will be taught about level one formations."
She then imprinted the most basic method of engraving formations and the three thousand diagrams on a jade slip and gifted them to him. She also gave him the lowest quality engraving knife. After Jiang Mang understood the jade slip, he started his journey to becoming a formation artist.
Elder Zhu didn't mention to him that it is common for formation master to only know the engravement method of the foundation, and would slowly train their skills while practicing level one through four formations. This was done as it was seen as a waste of time, to try and perfect the foundation first as they would learn it equally as good when they engraved higher tier formations.
She had done the opposite for Jiang Mang to make sure his foundation is as perfect as it can be. Every formation below level thirteen is built on top of these foundation diagrams, and this method would allow him to always engrave formations to perfection without flaws, which were rarely seen and known as flawless formations.
Jiang Mang had started his first engraving, but after a minute had the clay tablet cracked. His master pointed out his mistake before he restarted. He was now engraving the easiest engraving of the earth element, which was a square. He successfully engraved the diagram after ten failures, but it was of an inferior grade, so he discarded it and restarted it.
When the lesson ended, he had become capable of consistently engraving the earth formation diagram, but his highest grade was only high grade. Master Zhu had given him the task to use one hour of each day, to engrave formations on the clay tablets.
Jiang Mang had asked his master Zhu if sister Chang and sister Bai could learn formations, and she agreed because their souls were a bit above average. She did, however, only allow them to learn the same basics as him but more advanced techniques and formation diagrams above level one they had to acquire themselves as they weren't her disciples. She would also not correct their engravings, but he was allowed to help them.
He was quite happy about her approval, as he liked it when he practiced those dull tasks together with his two sisters. When he returned to the cave, he asked the two girls if they wanted to learn formations together with him. Lu Chang and Zi Bai were shocked by his question as they never thought they could learn an occupation. They happily agreed and became even more resolute in their decision to keep following as they had learned too many things this one month alone. It could even be said that they had completely transformed.
They learned from the same jade slip as Jiang Mang had been given and started engraving formations together with him, and when they made a mistake, Jiang Mang would try to help point out their mistakes.
In the following weeks, he continued his new training regime and further polished his basics and foundation. Every night, he would play the zither strings, practice vocals with his sisters and spend an hour on engraving formations. The two girls kept accompanying him to his charm lessons and vocal lesson when Jiang Mang wasn't in his cave they would practice cultivation and practice their techniques. They would train their vocals and engrave formations with Jiang Mang at night and absorb the spiritual energy when he played the zither.
The three also kept their practice of charm up, by always paying attention to their behavior and actions and trying to achieve perfections in their charm techniques by letting them become ingrained in every action, movement, spoken word, and glance. The goal was to make them passively active and being able to increase their effectiveness by consciously activating them when needed.
Three months had now passed since his life at the Zither palace had started, Jiang Mang had just finished his last medicinal bath and perfected the technique. His skin had now become the softest it could be, but no weapons would be able to pierce his skin if they weren't at least king rank artifacts. His skin was also snowy white, while his features were incredibly soft. His looks had lost their sharpness, but the effects of demonic prince weren't lost as his body still retained its trained state. His muscles were still accentuated, but they had just lost their angled sharpness.
He could be described as a pampered but trained prince, who was in the prime of his youth. His behavior and demeanor had also changed to resemble that description. His every action and movement contained the aura and charm of a cute, lively prince loved by everyone. His looks were perfect for his age and due to his behavior and demeanor, he was described by his master Zhu and two sisters as an incubus in the making.
Jiang Mang's change would probably shock his friends, but his personality hadn't changed except for having become a bit mischievous and less serious. He was still, however, equally determined, hardworking, and driven to become stronger. He would stay amiable to friends and family but kill enemies in cold blood without batting an eye.
This last week his charm techniques had reached perfection and become passive. He had completed his string training with the zither and had perfected his engraving technique after engraving millions of clay tablets with formations. He had learned all of the three thousand formations and only needed to engrave the last one thousand perfected formations of the most difficult diagram.
This formation diagram is connected to the great dao of puppets and requires one hundred formation lines to be engraved. This formation diagram would allow the formation to control or create images, figures, and puppets to attack or defend against a person or group of people.
His master Zhu would now accompany him while engraved this formation for the afternoon. She pointed out the deficiencies in his engravings, and under her guidance, he managed to create one thousand puppet formations that were of perfect quality.