"The Five Elements of heaven and earth..."
"Actually, it's not just the Five Elements; there are other types of energy too!"
Qi Ping sensed the various attribute energies within every spirit plant, and the joy in his eyes could no longer be hidden.
While the degree of affinity wasn't as high as his affinity for fire, it certainly wasn't far off.
Wanting to use this to comprehend the laws and True Meaning of the other four attributes might not be as easy as fire, but it was definitely no longer out of reach.
Especially since Qi Ping had his comprehension of Fire True Meaning as a foundation. By applying those principles, it was entirely possible for him to comprehend all five elemental meanings.
However, Qi Ping had no such plans for now.
Given his current comprehension, mastering Fire True Meaning in such a short time was already incredibly fast. He had only managed it thanks to two sudden insights and the assistance of that massive hammer containing the intent of Fire True Meaning.
If he truly wanted to master all five elemental meanings, it might take him ten years or more to succeed.
To delay his advancement to Foundation Establishment or Gold Core for that reason would be a case of losing the forest for the trees.
If the conditions allowed him to cultivate the Five Elements, he naturally wouldn't pass it up—but not now.
In the early stages, he still planned to focus on his most advantageous fire attribute, quickly building a solid foundation and raising his cultivation to Foundation Establishment or Gold Core as fast as possible.
Once he had a stable footing and higher comprehension and talent, it wouldn't be too late to switch to the Five Elements.
His current stage was still about stabilizing himself and quickly raising his power.
The reason Qi Ping was so happy wasn't just because he saw the hope of cultivating the Five Elements; more importantly, it removed many restrictions on his study of arrays.
Because he could use the Natural Heart talent to sense any energy belonging to plants.
This meant that no matter what kind of array he wanted to set up or study, he just had to find a plant of the corresponding attribute. After familiarizing himself with the energy within, he could begin setting up the array!
"With the help of Natural Heart, I won't be limited to one type of array anymore. Whether it's illusion, spatial, or any other type, I just need to find the corresponding spirit plant and sense the universal laws within until I reach the standard to set up the array..."
"In other words, the arrays I learn in the future won't be limited to fire or illusions. Any type is possible!"
"This way, I can build an incredibly powerful system according to a standard of absolute impregnability. I just need to study the arrays and find the right spirit plants to sense the laws."
Among the Four Arts, the 'unevenness' of formation masters was the most severe.
One had to have sufficient comprehension and mastery of the laws of heaven and earth to set up truly powerful arrays.
For example, the Shangyuan Five Elements Grand Array or the Two-Forms Myriad Phenomena Array were incredibly powerful, yet the people who could set them up were few and far between.
Setting up these arrays required too much in terms of law comprehension and Spirit-Soul strength. Very few formation masters could succeed.
Only a few renowned masters could achieve such a feat.
"But even if others can't do it, I, with the Natural Heart talent, can. Simply bringing my comprehension of the Five Elements to a level sufficient to set up the arrays won't take me an eternity..."
"As long as I set up a Five Elements Grand Array, paired with illusion and concealment arrays, as well as others with special effects, it will be enough to make my territory impregnable."
The Path of Formations and the Path of Cultivation were different.
The Path of Cultivation was about internalizing all power, focusing on extreme explosive power and reaching higher realms before one's lifespan ended.
The Path of Formations borrowed the power of the world, focusing on the degree to which one could use those forces. A mature Five Elements Grand Array could not only be self-sustaining with less consumption, but more importantly, the power it leveraged from the world could completely outmatch ten single-attribute arrays of the same level.
If a cultivator killing someone at a higher realm was a legend, then a truly perfect Five Elements or Circumpolar Array killing someone at a higher realm was a common occurrence.
Because a powerful array, leveraged by strong foundations, could draw upon a massive amount of worldly energy—an amount that could not be easily matched by human strength alone.
There was a common consensus in the cultivation world: if you met a formation master in the wild, just go for it—their combat strength was likely mediocre.
But if you wanted to fight a formation master in their lair, there was only one thing for someone of the same level to do: Run! If you don't run, you're looking for death!
(TN: The original Chinese phrase 'lighting a lamp in a latrine' means looking for death/shit.)
If it's a top-tier formation master, don't even provoke them if you're an entire realm higher. You never know how much effort they've spent on their own ground or what kind of terrifying array they've cooked up!
This was a lesson summarized through the bloody experiences of countless cultivators.
In various records, there were accounts of top-tier formation masters slaying enemies a whole realm higher than them. These cases were not isolated.
And Qi Ping now had the hope of becoming such a top-tier formation master!
For a top-tier formation master, while they might be relatively weak in the wild, they were absolutely terrifying in their own lair. A Qi Refinement cultivator killing a Foundation Establishment master, or Foundation Establishment killing a Gold Core, wasn't anything far-fetched.
"Thus, I am set on the path of a Five Elements Formation Master!"
Having such combat power in his own home was a perfect match for Qi Ping, who was happy to stay low, farm, and raise bees!
This would likely be his greatest trump card besides his animal companions.
"If I combine animal companions with arrays, that would be a trump card among trump cards!"
Qi Ping would have more and more animal companions in the future. If all of them could form super battle formations designed around arrays, and those were integrated with the arrays of the territory, then even a cultivator an entire realm higher would find it hard to gain any ground when coming to Qi Ping's territory to cause trouble.
"And another very important point is that becoming a Five Elements Formation Master won't slow down my cultivation speed too much. The value far outweighs the cost."
"Besides that, the process of comprehending universal laws can also speed up the Druid's leveling. Druids can gain experience by sensing nature and the laws of the world."
As leveling became harder and harder, being able to use law comprehension to speed up the process was a good thing for Qi Ping.
He had gained a significant amount of Druid experience during his comprehension of Fire True Meaning; otherwise, his current level-up might have been delayed by another month or two.
"The Natural Heart talent is truly an unexpected surprise. It's much stronger than the original Natural Affinity..."
"Now, it's time for the Beast King Druid skills!"
For Qi Ping, this level-up was not over. He had only just advanced his Jungle Druid profession to Shepherd of Trees.
While the Beast King Druid had not undergone an advancement, he could still choose the level-up skills for that side of his class.
(TN: Level 5 Beast King Druid skills generating...)
(TN: Please choose a profession skill...)