When Arc woke up the next day he felt refreshed and remembered that he has yet to pick up the formation flag that he had ordered
Arc decided to head down the mountain immediately to get his formation,
he was excited to begin fighting with an actual formation flag/spear as this was something that he often thought about during his time on earth
The way down the mountain was fairly quick though before heading all the way down Arc stopped by the woods and chatted with the spirit bear
"Hey Arc, i have finally came up with a name"
The bear spoke proudly
"Oh really? What name did you decide on?"
Arc asked inquisitively
"I have decided to be known as ludwig"
He spoke proudly
"That's an interesting choice"
Arc said as he thought to himself
'That's the name of a video game character I know, hehe that's just a coincidence'
After speaking to ludwig for a while Arc descended the mountain and headed towards the city by the base of the mountain
The entire time that he was walking he was thinking about the the upcoming competition taking place at the nascent soul cultivator' "welcoming party"
As a core disciple he will most be required to fight, and Aurora expects him to win so he can't fail he must succeed at any cost
Cheating was obviously a no go, as attempting to pull a fast one under the sight of nascent soul cultivators, and golden core cultivators would be the root of ignorance
So he could only increase his combate level to the highest possible,
Lately he has been focusing on the cultivation of the soul, in the form of practicing the Art dao, as well as forging
His mind continued to wander aimlessly before he realized it, he had arrived
"Hello sir how may i help you"
"I put in a commission for a formation flag awhile ago, i just came to pick it up"
Arc spoke
"What was the name used for the order"
"Archean"
"Very well, i will check if your formation was completed"
The store attendant spoke, before heading to a backroom
A short while after the attendant returned holding a folded flag that had no poll
"Yes it was competed, you just have to pay the remaining balance and it's all your"
Arc nodded his head and payed as he thought to himself
'This was expensive so i hope it ends up being worth it"
After paying the attendant handed over the flag, and Arc quickly placed it within his spirit ring and headed out the door
"Hey should we follow him"
A man wearing a hood spoke softly, only to get smacked by another person next to him
"He is a core disciple of the black mountain sect to rob him this close to the mountain is asking to die"
"The very fact that you brought that up makes me think your a spy trying to set me up to fail"
The man said lightly before laughing
The hooded man began to sweat, he knew his boss was joking but that's exactly what he was doing
Arc had no idea how close he was to getting "robbed" and even if he did he would probably laugh,
They weren't even foundation establishment cultivators, he could quite easily defeat them with a single mana punch through their chest
Anyways Arc was heading home as he had a thought running through his head
After arriving home Arc pulled out his spear and the formation, today it would finally become the formation flag spear that he wanted since the beginning
It was easy to put together but that was only step one, Arc began to infuse it with his mana, allowing his endless energy to blend into the formation leaving his own mark on it
This step was very difficult, it was easier on the spear since it has been constantly "washed" by his mana
The only thing holding him back from turning it into a natal weapon was his realm
As Arc's energy flowed through the formation the spear seemed to work in unison with Arc increasing its effectiveness and allowing the formation to blend into the spear
This cooperation between the spear and Arc allowed the formation to merge into the spear making them become one
This caused it power to raise but its affinity to Arc somewhat decreased, but as long as it became a natal weapon that would slowly be recovered
The spear..no now it's a flag, the flag looked amazing but it still was empty in design being a white flag
Unlike the Art dao runes which reside on top of the workpiece , refinement style formation runes are blended into the deepts of the workpiece
This allows one to add designs to the flag and customize it appearance to a certain extent,
Arc looked at the blank canvas and began to think of what he could draw upon it
He realized that due to the fact that the formation flag had a isolation formation, when combined with some of the runes of the Arc dao
when placed within the isolation barrier, he can make the trapped see the painting from the inside
Arc spoke as he thought to himself
" a third dimensional painting of a landscape seems like a good one, but what exactly should I paint?"
Arc decided to just do something random to not have anything in mind, to just draw random buildings and add lands
Arc's pen moved and yet seemed to not move, he would draw rune after rune on top of one another, they slowly blended before turning into building
A golden castle floating within the sky with a giant waterfall, the waterfall leading into a river, that traveled across a city below
Its flowed endless and building slowly appeared around it,
a large building that twisted upwards towards the sky, made of colorful glass
A large prism made of sand and stone rose up, it seemed to reach the sky, its peak reaching the heights of the golden city
Arc then had a funny idea as he drew the next building, it was a prison over a cliff near it city, it allowed a perfect view of the city blocked only by the prison bars
When someone is pulled into the isolation barrier they would see this, the endless beauty that was unreachable
This prison achieved two major effects, the first being the physiological attack on the person of being through in a prison cell
The second being as it only allowed a specifically selected view of the city, it blocks the sides that have yet to be painting
Arc wasn't planning on finishing this painting today, it was way too large for that
his plan was to casually add building whenever he is free until the the painting is not only full but completely "walkable"
It's not a real space but by adjusting the position of the formation you can move your perspective
an interior would eventually be added to each building and to each floor while this would be a difficult endeavor, Arc found it fun
it would just be a thing he does to pass the time, as from the perspective of someone caught in the formation it was completed painting
Arc pen stopped for one moment as he then spoke
"Wait did i just add an illusion formation to my flag"
Arc realized in adding those runes to the isolation barrier it essentially added an "illusion" effect
only difference between a real illusion array it that their illusion is made by mental power being infused within formation,
while Arc's isn't an illusion its painted directly onto the space of the isolation array
In practice though it acted almost the same as a illusion array only difference is that it looks much more real, due to being a real painting
Most cultivator's can tell when they are in an illusion, though being able to tell or escape are two different things
Arc laughed lightly as he stopped, and looked at the flag, the white was gone and it looked like the completed prison
Since the painting was third dimensional, he made sure that the outside visible parts only caught the prison so that whoever is caught is surprised by the city he drew
After Arc laughed lightly he decided to add a few more building to the painting as a easter egg,
He drew a small neighborhood towards the back of the city, each house seemed different while one was completely a different style, being an ancient style mansion
The one thing each of these houses had incommon was that they were house Arc had lived in them one point
He didn't put too much effort into this part of the painting, as it was an unseen part of the city,
perhaps it would only be complete when he decides to add the interiors to all the buildings within the painting
After Arc completed those houses he lifted his pen off the flag, and looked deeply at it, it was an amazing looking flag
He even added a special touch, since the flag could become small and take the shape of a streamer, he drew in a matter that when it takes that shape the prison is changed as well
It becomes a sideways painting seemingly showing how tall the prison is, yet it looked purposely distorted
Arc thought it looked amazing and that this was among his best paintings
Arc headed towards to Aurora prepared to test it out in combate, he was ready to show off his new strategy
Arc knocked on the door, and Aurora quickly opened when she saw Arc in full combat gear and was fairly excited; she couldn't help but laugh lightly
Due to the fact that Aurora would soon be attempting to breakthrough she has been working less,
to the librarian's dismay, as he was called in to replace her during this time,
the grand elders and sect leader had no choice but to put up with his lousy attitude as long as Aurora needed
She had placed her full focus on cultivation and maintaining a good state of mood, as inner demons are more prevalent when stressed
She was determined to reach nascent soul cultivation, so she would cultivate and forge and fight with Arc, things she found enjoyable until she found herself confident to advance
Aurora then spoke
"it seems that your ready to fight today, very well let's go then"
They headed towards the forest and prepared for combate,
Aurora wore her full set of armor and her large sword was on her back
Arc's Armor seemingly appeared out of thin air, as it was hidden under his robes
He took the flag in his hand, upon it one could see the image of a prison, it looked disheartening and despair inducing
Arc immediately activated the isolation effect of his flag and went in close to attack with the spearhead
Normally the isolation barriers affect could only delay Aurora's movements by less than half a second
But seeing her surroundings turn from a forest into the walls of prison overlooking the most beautiful city she's ever seen in her it was completely disorienting
Especially since with her senses as a golden core cultivator she could tell everything before her was real
Nonetheless, her experiences stopped her from delaying any further, she immediately broke through the isolation barrier, swinging her sword towards Arc
It seemed that even though she was within the barrier she never lost sight of Arc's location, overall the formation managed to slightly distract her for just over 2 second
This is of course, due to the fact that she's restraining herself down to arc's level, had she not it would've broken instantaneously
This attack forced Arc onto the defense, he activated the formation flag's defensive abilities, the prison's image seemed to wrap around him, as if he were the warden
Since Aurora was matching his physical strength and speed, her strike was not able to tear through his heightened defenses
Seeing that he wrapped himself up like a turtle shell, she struck endlessly it seems as though each strike had more force than the last
This was caused because of way she was striking the exact same point with every attack, slowly weakening it defenses
Arc realizing that Aurora would soon break his defense, struck forward attempting to make her backup giving him space
While he did this, he also activated the isolation array right once more, this time Aurora immediately broke through with no delay
" you already tried that trick"
Aurora spoke confidently as she kicked him to the side
Arc body flew backwards breaking several trees as he flew, he then fell to the ground and couldn't get up
Aurora walked over to see him on the ground and sat next to him, and began explaining in which parts of the fight he could improve
"Another thing, what was the illusion?, how was it so real it managed to fool my senses"
Aurora asked curiously
" it's not an illusion it's a painting, the reason why your senses fell for it is because it could tell it's real object, and not an image formed by mental power"
" I drew directly on the isolation formation, a third dimensional image, just random buildings to form a cool city"
Arc spoke and got more excited as he spoke, he began explaining how he painted it and how the runes blend into the images making the buildings look even more realistic
Aurora listened carefully and asked questions about the building she saw, seeing Arc was so happy she continued down this topic
After awhile Arc realized that he didn't have to explain that much and pulled out the formation, placing Aurora and himself within it
This time Aurora didn't break through it, and they just wandered around the city looking at the buildings
they weren't moving, anyone from an outside perspective would see them still sitting on the ground
They only moved within the formation as Arc was changing their perspective to different areas of the painting
She saw most of the buildings and that their were still certain areas that were blank, seemingly waiting to be painted
"Oh that's why you positioned the prison like that, so that the incomplete parts aren't visible"
Aurora spoke seemingly enlightened
"Yeah makes the painting look more full that way, i thought of it while i painted that part of the city"
Arc spoke cheerfully
They continued to chat a while before Aurora decided to head off, she needed to head back to cultivating
Arc headed back to his room after him and Aurora separated, he then lied down he was still in pain from being kicked through several tree's
Arc's thoughts slowly drifted away as he fell asleep He began to have a nostalgic dream,
Arc face turned into a light smile as he his dream progressed as he began cultivating the moment he awoke
Arc opened his eyes and a glint of energy could been seen escaping them as his realm to advanced to stage two
Yet it was so dense he felt his power had increased significantly, the amount of energy at his disposal had changed thought
It somewhat decreased yet it was extreme density, whether attacking or using spells he will essentially use nearly nothing
'I basically won't run out of energy'
Arc thought to himself before snapping back to reality and saying
"No, this amount of energy means nothing, i could only outlast another qi condenser,"
"any foundation establishment cultivator whose energy has been completely liquefied can beat me purely with the quantity of energy"
Arc got rid of his arrogant thoughts, he knows that there are countless strong people and many who were born gifted
there are already immortals who have have lived who knows how long, so there's no reason Arc should get arrogant with his strength
He lifted his head and found Aurora standing before him him, before he could say anything Aurora spoke
"Follow me"
Arc immediately got up and began to follow her, after arriving back to their house she closed the door behind her and spoke
"I have decided the date for my attempt to reach nascent soul cultivation".
Arc got serious and began focusing intently on what she was saying
"I will try in 3 days, i would love to spend more time preparing but i will need time to adjust to the realm after advancing"
"As i need to be combat ready in time that we head to the nascent soul party"
Arc nodded his head while feeling worried
While Arc and Aurora had this conversation the sect was making big moves
They had begun recalling every member of the sect back to the mountain and prepared to shut the gates
Anyone who misses the deadline will find themselves locked out until the doors are reopened
This was being done to prevent information from leaking, as to limit the chance of outside interference while Aurora advances
In Fact the grand elders had been preparing for this since Aurora agreed to advance within the 2 month time frame
At this moment the sect defensive formations were all active and under the direct control of the sect leader
The first grand elder stood at the gates to make sure no outsiders sneak into the sect
And luton remained on the first peak, he would be guarding Aurora incase someone can make it through their defenses and reaches the top
After Arc and Aurora finished their conversation, they began preparing everything for her advancement
Arc was helping her since he built the cages with her, so he knew how they were to be set up
This entire time Arc felt as though he was in a daze, he was moving and yet it didn't feel real
He was extremely worried yet he didn't stop if he let his worries get in his way he could mess up the cages and ruin everything
After setting up the cages Aurora sat within them and began cultivating