The technique chosen was the Nine Swords Dance Formation, a formation that allowed the user to manipulate nine swords from afar and use them for attack, defense, or even fly for a short period of time.
This formation was considered a high-level Foundation Establishment technique with a really high requirement for talent and practice to be mastered.
It didn't allow the cultivator to directly control nine swords from the get-go. No, far from it. To control every sword, a major meridian is needed. In other words, when activating this formation, every sword from the nine swords would be fueled with spirit energy by one major meridian.
The more minor meridians opened for the said major meridian, the more powerful and refined the sword would become.
Lingtian had chosen this formation for the last and most important reason, and that was the high requirement for a strong soul to use this formation. Not just strong spirit power, no, a strong soul that can keep up with multitasking without a drop in performance.
As every sword would be controlled separately, he would have to focus on the movement of multiple swords at the same time, all while still keeping control of the formation which channeled the commands and spirit energy to the swords in the first place.
Honestly, the technique acknowledged this and recognized this demand, which was almost impossible to be met. So the solution was pre-trained moves. There were nine moves recorded in the technique encompassing the different use cases a cultivator may encounter like attack, defense, surprise attack, concentrated attack, and so on.
After getting familiar with them, he would execute them from memory directly without the heavy need for multitasking. True, that would make the technique several times less effective as it would lack the adaptability needed in a fight between cultivators, but at least now it was usable.
But for most people, the cons outweighed the pros, so it was discarded as just a learning material and fell down to a low-tier formation technique.
But Lingtian was different. He chose this not because he was that arrogant to think he could do what these experts couldn't, not at all. But he was betting on his greatest secret, his greatest talent, the Mystic Soul Physique.
This physique gave him a soul that could operate at a rate that others could only dream of. His control over spirit energy was superb, and the spirit power generated by his soul from this spirit energy was unmatched. Not just that, his mental fortitude was refined to a great level because of this. In short, this special physique made this technique perfect for him.
The time Lingtian took to memorize the Nine Swords Dance Formation was three hours. Now, with more than six and a half hours having passed, he used the little time left to read more about the general knowledge about the famous and frequently used formations.
"Time's up, Mr. Gu. Follow me," a voice pulled Lingtian from his immersed state. It turned out that Elder Ming had come back when the eighth hour was up.
"Elder Lao, is the token ready?" Following him outside, Lingtian asked when they arrived at the main hall.
"Of course, here you go." Elder Ming took out a jade token with the name 'Gu Lingtian' and a star engraved on it. This would be the proof of his identity from now on.
"You can use this token in any Formation Association branch as an identification or to accept tasks through the association. But remember when doing those tasks, you have to complete them unless you have a proper justification for not to, or your token would be confiscated, and you will be blacklisted. So be careful," Elder Ming added as he handed the token to him.
This was mainly to preserve the association's reputation and prevent any attempts to abuse the association backing for scamming people.
"Thank you, Elder Lou, for the reminder. Don't worry, I know what I should and shouldn't do. I wonder if you can show me the tasks that are available at the moment," Lingtian asked with some anticipation. He was completely out of essence crystals, and all he had left was some gold coins, so he planned to use this chance to earn some money.
"No problem. I will call Attendant Lin to accompany you and show you the task hall. Wait a moment." Elder Ming left after saying, and just moments later, Attendant Lin came and took him to the task hall and showed him the different tasks posted.
[Defensive Formation Repairs: The Northern Sky City defensive city formation was damaged after an attack from a beginner stage Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator, and it is in need of repairs. The formation core isn't damaged.
Poster: The Northern Sky City Lord.
Reward: 500 low-grade essence crystals.]
[Trapping Formation: The Tiger Mercenary Group needs a trapping formation that can trap a tier 1 demonic beast 'the winged black serpent' for an ambush. The formation master has to be present throughout the operation.
Poster: The Tiger Mercenary Group Leader.
Reward: 1000 low-grade essence crystals.]
[Essence Gathering Formation: The newly promoted Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator Cheng Jun wants to establish a family and is in need of an essence gathering formation in the main estate.
Poster: Cultivator Cheng Jun.
Reward: 200 low-grade essence crystals.]
Lingtian found a lot of requests from different types of people, and he was confident in completing a lot of them. But he just took note of some and then left the Formation Association.
Sitting cross-legged in his house, he recalled the Spirit Foundation Technique and tried to familiarize himself with it. The excitement in his heart was rising. This was the moment of truth, the moment he would find out if the Mystic Soul Physique is as powerful as he thought.