Chapter 657 Base Cities as the Formation “The Longjing Base City...” Su Ping mumbled to himself. He had been paying attention to the other base cities ever since he found out that there was an entrance to the Deep Caves in the Longyang Base City. If his guess was right, there was also an entrance to the Deep Caves in Longjing. So, the starting point of the strike was the entrance to the Deep Caves? “Did the strike begin inside the base city or from the outside?” Su Ping asked the two Qin family elders. “Inside. That is what I heard,” one of them said. That was to be expected. The wild beasts were coming out from the Deep Caves! The odd thing was, he had barely seen any wild beasts when he was inside the Deep Caves. They must have been hiding somewhere in the caves. Su Ping was worried. He wondered if Li Yuanfeng and the others were fine. It was unfortunate that he had no Space Swallowers and couldn’t contact Li Yuanfeng. “Where is Qin Duhuang?” Su Ping asked. “He’s patrolling the outer wall. Do you need to talk to him? We can call him for you...” “It’s okay. I’m just asking.” Su Ping looked at the sand table. Those base cities had been marked on the sand table and Longjing wasn’t far off. There were three base cities between Longjing and Longjiang; it would only take thirty minutes to arrive by riding a common ninth-rank bird. Longyang Base City... Longjing Base City... Both names start with Long. Su Ping shook his head. Something caught his attention all of a sudden. He looked at the sand table again and something seemed to be off. Of all the base cities of the Subcontinent District, over a dozen had a name starting with “Long.” When looking at the base cities with the “Long” prefix, Su Ping suddenly realized that those base cities were actually forming the shape of a five-pointed star! There were actually two five-pointed stars; the overlapping stars revealed ten points! Some base cities around the two five-pointed stars were like supporting structures! Su Ping was no longer a green hand when it came to formations. He had studied formations with Joanna for more than twenty days, having mastered the small Five Elements Formation. He noticed how the base cities had created a formation! The supporting structures were normally used to stabilize the formation and to provide energy to the formation. However, he was able to recognize the formation type. Am I wrong or is it plain overthinking... Wait a minute...” Su Ping suddenly remembered the Otherworld Heavenly King. It had first sent beast kings to attack the Longjiang Base City, and then the Heavenly King made an appearance. It wasn’t a hunting mission. Su Ping believed that the Otherworld Heavenly King was trying to find some things in the Longjiang Base City back then. Or, something in the Longjiang Base City was appealing to the Heavenly King. Longjiang seemed to be one of the supporting structures. The Longjiang Base City was not part of the ten-point star. There were six supporting stars! Six supporting stars are scattered around the ten-point star! There are entrances to the Deep Caves in Longyang and Longjing, but not in the Longjiang Base City. There’s one in Longlin which is a Class B base city. I don’t think this is a coincidence. Su Ping blinked. He decided to take the sand table to Joanna; it was highly likely that she’d be able to recognize the formation. “I’ll be borrowing this,” Su Ping said. Although surprised, the two Qin family elders didn’t stop Su Ping. They could get another one. He picked up the sand table and went back to his store so that he could show Joanna. “Take a look. What formation is this?” Su Ping asked Joanna. He had highlighted the base cities which had the “Long” prefix in their names with astral powers. Joanna looked at it, and then she appeared to have been amazed. “The Heaven Lock?” “A formation indeed...” Su Ping’s mind was weighed down. “What type is it? Some sort of sealing formation?” “Something like that. But the formation is not sealing any life forms, but heaven itself!” “What?” Su Ping didn’t understand. Back at the Celestial Star, he had learned from the Golden Crow’s Chief Elder about existences related to heaven, the “Heaven Master.” The Heaven Masters could destroy over a hundred Blue Planets with one stomp, and could even flatten the entire Federation! Still, Joanna said that the formation had been used to seal heaven within? Joanna gazed at him. “I think you might have misunderstood me. I mean the tangible heaven and earth!” “What?” “Well, this is a sealing formation that affects space. Once the seal is opened, both the heaven and earth sealed inside would be revealed. The Blue Planet would grow; the planet’s potential growth is dependent on how much heaven and earth had been sealed.” Joanna continued, “I didn’t know that this small planet of yours was keeping that many secrets. The one who set up this Heaven Lock probably wanted to loot astral powers. He or she was surely trying to contain all the astral powers in that area so that he or she could enjoy the astral powers alone. “I don’t know whether the astral powers have already been absorbed by someone else but if not, all the astral powers across the entire Blue Planet will be more profound and you’ll have more powerful humans and beasts alike.” Su Ping was surprised. je Someone used over a dozen base cities to build a Heaven Lock, just so that he or she could enjoy the astral powers alone? “Which rank would this person or being have to be able to build this formation?” Su Ping asked. “Building formations is not strict when it comes to ranks. Legendary Fate State Warriors, as you call them, can build this Heaven Lock and the small Five Elements Formation. It would only take them more effort. Those at the Star Rank can build those formations with more ease. “However, I don’t think those at the Star Rank would want a small portion of astral powers. I suppose the builder was most likely at the Fate State.” Su Ping nodded. The builder of the formation surely had something to do with the construction of more than a dozen base cities. Some base cities had been recently built while others—like Longyang and Longjing-had been put together over a thousand years before. “No wonder the Otherworld Heavenly King would pay us a visit. It must have been thinking about destroying the Heaven Lock so that the astral powers could be unleashed. That way, the wild beasts around the world would enjoy a boost of strength, which would help them encroach on human lands. I bet the Heavenly Kings were actually trying to devour the astral powers themselves,” Su Ping mumbled to himself. The statement made sense. The Otherworld Heavenly King had shown up in the flesh, just so that it could destroy the formation and enjoy the stored astral powers. A thousand years ago... Was the first master of the Tower the actual builder? Su Ping thought of the possibility. He decided he would have to ask Xie Jinshui. The mayor had to know more about Longjiang’s history. “Do you know how to build and deactivate the Heaven Lock? Teach me,” Su Ping said to Joanna. He didn’t mind opening the formation to unleash the astral powers himself. He could take the astral powers; other battle pet warriors could have a share if there was too much of it. The wild beasts would grow, of course, but humans would find reaching the legendary rank much easier. “This is a third-rank formation, as easy as the small Five Elements Formation,” Joanna said. That formation was merely child’s play for her. “You just have to destroy the six supporting stars, which is the most common approach. There are two special methods. First, you can use the power of rules and enter the sealed space directly to destroy it from within. “The second method is to build three additional supporting stars, thus reversing the formation.” Joanna added, “You would have to be at the Star Rank if you wanted to try the first special method. As for the second, you would have to build three base cities, which would be more possible for you. I’ll tell you where to build the three supporting stars and how.” Su Ping clicked his tongue. Such an extraordinary formation seemed to be a piece of cake for her. He knew that some of the third-rank formations could be strong enough to directly kill those at the Star Rank! “You’re a good employee,” Su Ping exclaimed. Joanna had helped him greatly. “I am glad you know that.” “I’ve developed swordplay that contains the power of rules, and I can cut open the void with it. Can I enter the sealed space with this?” Su Ping was curious. If he was able to enter the sealed space with the help of the Void Sword, he would have the chance to consume the astral powers which had been accumulating for a thousand years. He had reached a bottleneck in his rank, but the Chaos Star Chart was miraculous enough; it allowed him to continue absorbing astral powers. If he could consume more astral powers-and since a quantitative change could lead to a qualitative change-he trusted that he would be able to reach the legendary rank even without the Heaven’s Test. “Swordplay?” Joanna looked at him. “You’re still a mortal being who has not yet reached the legendary rank. Have you truly started to understand rules?” “Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t think I’m a trophy boy just because I’m handsome,” Su Ping answered. Joanna: “...” “That is not what I meant.” She sneered. “I know what you meant. How about I show you?” Su Ping asked. “Sure. I want to see...” Joanna still had doubts. She knew that Su Ping was powerful, but rank limits were also true. She was fine accepting that Su Ping was able to compete against one at the Fate State. Talents like him did exist... But, a mortal being mastering the power of rules? He would be as talented as I am! That reincarnated version of her original self carried the memory of her previous lives, including the understanding of rules and principles. That was why she could use a large number of secret skills. Boom! Su Ping lifted his hand and the sword appeared in his grasp. He slashed. The void was torn open! Destruction! Annihilation! Joanna saw a dark mark in space; she could see through the crack and into the many layers of space inside. She narrowed her eyes. That’s the power of rules! She felt that! “You...” Su Ping asked, “Can I cut the formation open with this?” Joanna gradually came back to her senses. “No. You’d have to be proficient in using the power of rules to break the formation. Your usage is still crude and not nearly enough...” Joanna forced a bitter smile. Even though Su Ping was still far from being an expert, she already found the situation terrifying This guy is a monster! “Ah...” Su Ping was disappointed, since Joanna had confirmed that it wasn’t enough; she had to be telling the truth. He had never doubted her. “So, the only thing I can do is to build three base cities to reverse the formation or to destroy six base cities and the latter is obviously not possible...” Su Ping shook his head. He couldn’t destroy their base city, or any other base city for that matter. He then decided not to linger on that topic; he returned the sand table to the Qin family. The task at hand was to deal with the beast strike; he would revisit the Heaven Lock topic with Joanna in the future. He went to the west segment of the city wall; there he saw many battle pet warriors instructing their battle pets to help them move weapons and devices around. The Longjing Base City was under attack and the wild beasts could later spread to Longjiang; they had to be ready. Su Ping went to see Qin Duhuang and ask about the situation in Longjing. The Xing-Jing Defense Line had excluded the Longjiang Base City, but that was only the Tower’s decision; Su Ping didn’t loathe the base cities. “They didn’t ask us for help. The titled warriors from the base cities in the Xing-Jing Defense Line and the legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower are hurrying over to Longjing. I heard that they have only lost five legendary battle pet warriors...” Qin Duhuang told Su Ping about the frustrating updates. They were all humans; honor one and you honor them all. Qin Duhuang didn’t want to see the Longjing Base City fall. Five legendary battle pet warriors have died... Su Ping frowned. Legendary battle pet warriors should have enough power to stand on their own and they could help each other. However, five had already passed away; that was definitely not good. The defensive line was useless if not even the legendary battle pet warriors from the Tower were able to stop the beast strike! The other eleven base cities which were part of the defensive line would also be in danger. Those base cities had even accepted relocated population! The defense line had a population of over a billion! “I’ll go there if the situation is urgent,” Su Ping said. Qin Duhuang looked at him. “But the Xing-Jing Defense Line excluded us...” “My grudge is with the decision-makers, not with the public. The people in the base cities are innocent,” Su Ping said. Qin Duhuang expressed his admiration, “Mr. Su, you have my respect!” Su Ping waved his hand. He wasn’t trying to prove how generous he was. He was simply unwilling to see that many people suffer! Right then, his phone rang. “XXMr. Su!” It was Venerable the Blade’s voice. “Mr. Su, can you come to the Longjing Base City?”