Immortality Through Array Formations Chapter 2084 Chapter 991: Wood's Renewal

Within the lofty pavilion, a heavy tension filled the air, as if the emptiness itself had frozen solid.

Mist-like vapors hovered in the air, refusing to drift.

The device representing the Three Talents halted its spin completely.

Time itself appeared to drag to a crawl.

Yet in the eyes of the Pavilion Elder, the horrifying secrets of heaven and the dangerous threads of cause and effect churned like massive waves deep in a chasm, surging without end.

After what felt like an eternity, the tension began to lift just a bit.

The void started to stir once more.

The vapors returned to their hazy drift, and the celestial device resumed turning.

All things fell back into their normal rhythm.

The Pavilion Elder wore the same exhausted and bewildered expression, looking ready to nod off at any second.

Still, the waves from those heavenly secrets in his mind refused to settle.

"Rebirth..."

"That individual's... rebirth?"

The Pavilion Elder struggled to believe it.

The chain of events that had ended began to unfold again, bit by bit.

The already confusing and earth-shattering game of strategy twisted into an alarming twist without warning.

"The Yin Yang Rebirth Formation, flipping Yin and Yang, shifting life from death, defying natural laws, bypassing Dao rules..."

"No one must learn this array..."

"Folks nowadays are so reckless, dreaming up wild ideas and acting on them without fear... Is it sheer ignorance driving them, or do they possess... depths of bravery beyond measure."

"Why of all things... this very formation..."

The Pavilion Elder fell quiet for a long stretch and let out a deep sigh.

As a Pavilion Elder, he grasped fully the sheer dread those four words "Yin Yang Rebirth" carried.

If unleashed, the web of causality it would drag in was immense, enough to rouse even the sleeping elders.

Should the chaos swell too much, he could lose his role as Pavilion Elder.

The Pavilion Elder stayed mute for another moment.

Switch the lure, or switch the target?

Employ this "lure" to hook that massive prize.

Or pick a different "target" to shake things up?

Anyone with half a brain would pick the obvious path.

This "lure" formed a mighty array, hiding secrets of Yin and Yang plus rebirth, even tied to the Pavilion Elder's own status.

Forget one target—even hundreds or thousands couldn't match the worth of this "lure."

Not even the Golden Dragon Fish.

"If this target proves impossible to snag, simply go for another."

After much reflection, the Pavilion Elder moved to store away the Yin Yang Rebirth Formation, but a sudden idea stopped him cold.

The Pavilion Elder thought to himself:

"Even a fool would know the right choice...?"

As a respected Pavilion Elder, am I about to follow the path even a fool could see?

The Pavilion Elder's eyes sharpened a touch, as he plunged into profound quiet.

A true Dao seeker grasps heavenly secrets by instinct, seeing beyond the limits of mere sight.

Probe the essence of all matters, unbound by their forms.

Shun the traps of worldly glory and wealth, hold onto a child's pure heart, and view everything on equal footing—only then will the true shapes of heaven's causal wheels reveal themselves in the soul.

Chasing this reasoning, the Pavilion Elder reflected further...

"At this juncture, the heavenly secret lays this dilemma at my feet, both offering a path and... granting a revelation?"

"What sort of revelation is this...?"

The Pavilion Elder positioned himself by the chessboard, lost in silent thought, still as a statue carved from clay.

Various heavenly secrets and causal strands swirled endlessly through his thoughts.

Fate's options rocked back and forth without pause.

Moments slipped by one after another.

The incense stick dwindled gradually.

The moon dipped low, the sun climbed high, dawn broke in the east, then faded to dusk, with sunset painting the heavens in fiery hues as night drew near.

The Pavilion Elder remained seated firmly on the cushion, mulling over the matter through a full day and night, before finally firming his resolve.

This choice even sent a shiver of unease through him.

Yet it also filled him with a serene calm.

In this realm, nothing is truly won or lost—it's all a glimpse from the grand causal workings of heaven.

With that realization, the world seemed to expand endlessly before him.

A spark lit in the Pavilion Elder's gaze as he drew the "Yin Yang Rebirth Formation," woven from golden causal threads, back from the void; with a flick of his finger, spiritual energy pierced the boundary of real and unreal, forming intricate designs that layered fresh "Formation Patterns" onto the jade slip via pattern integration.

At last, he etched five more characters onto the jade slip himself:

Wood Revitalization Formation.

Once finished, the Pavilion Elder called for a young attendant, directing him: "Fetch the Supervisor."

The boy bowed and departed.

Soon enough, the Supervisor appeared, his hair streaked with gray but his face smooth as jade, and he saluted: "Elder, you summoned me."

The Pavilion Elder gestured him closer, "Come, join me for a game of chess."

The Supervisor paused uncertainly.

The affairs in the Qian Learning State Boundary grew ever more tangled.

Under orders from the Taoist Court, as Supervisor, he faced a pile of preparations, with deadlines pressing hard—how could he spare time for chess with the Pavilion Elder?

Besides, the Pavilion Elder had a "reputation for being awful at chess"...

Yet refusal was out of the question.

"Yes."

The Supervisor inclined his head, took his seat across from him with respect, and started the game against the Pavilion Elder.

As expected, the Pavilion Elder's stones soon lay in ruins, utterly disorganized.

This was despite the Supervisor going easy on him.

The Pavilion Elder frowned in annoyance, declaring: "Your style of play falls short."

The Supervisor sighed to himself.

Everyone knew that in the Heaven Shu Pavilion, the toughest task was sharing a chessboard with the Pavilion Elder.

It wasn't the game itself that challenged, but figuring out his intentions.

No one could tell what the Pavilion Elder truly aimed for—his own skills were dismal, yet he always claimed others fell flat.

When facing the Pavilion Elder, a strong win gets you labeled as unskilled.

A casual tie draws complaints about your lack of seriousness.

Letting him triumph on purpose earns charges of a wavering spirit and bootlicking, followed by a stern lecture.

Satisfying him proved nearly impossible.

"I can't imagine who could actually mesh well with the Pavilion Elder over a game of chess..."

The Supervisor grumbled inwardly but kept his focus sharp, continuing to play against the Pavilion Elder with full effort.