Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback when he saw the message from Director Gao. His first thought was that his relationship with True Monarch Magnetic Pole had been exposed.
However, after reading Director Gao’s message twice and pondering its content, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Director Gao doesn’t seem angry or sarcastic.”
“Did he really introduce True Monarch Magnetic Pole to me?”
After a moment’s thought, Zhang Yu decided to message True Monarch Magnetic Pole.

Zhang Yu: True Monarch, did Teacher Gao ask me to come to you?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: That old Gao wants to help you, asking me to guide you.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: He would never guess that his much-praised nominal disciple had secretly become my disciple long before he became his.

Zhang Yu: True Monarch, what are you planning to do?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: Of course, I’m going to guide you.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: Don’t worry, as long as you behave, I promise no one will get hurt.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: Come to the address below.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: This is the training room Old Gao prepared for us.

In a flash, Zhang Yu arrived at the training room.
He saw the four characters “True Monarch Magnetic Pole” projected along with a text box.

“There are only fifteen minutes of rest time between halves, so time is limited. I’ll speak to you at ten times the normal speed.”

The next moment, True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s speaking speed abruptly increased, like a rapid cascade of incantations rippling through the air.
Zhang Yu calmed his mind and concentrated, using his Temporal Demonic Eye to accelerate his thought processes, while his Limitless Heart Inner Dharma Body prompted his quadruple thought processes to cross-check and fill in gaps. This allowed him to fully keep up with True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s speed.

“The key to defeating Su Yanyang’s team in the next match lies in overcoming their advantage in intelligent architecture.”

“While ‘intelligent architecture’ sounds impressive, it’s essentially just a gimmick. The underlying technology is still the old guard: civil engineering, spell formations, and soul cultivation.”

“You already possess civil engineering capabilities, so I won’t dwell on that.”

“As for spell formations… all functions of a spell formation can be achieved by magic artifacts.”

“The biggest difference is that magic artifacts are generally faster and more portable for achieving the same functions, whereas spell formations require a larger area but cost relatively less.”

“You could say a spell formation is a poor man’s magic artifact, trading space and inconvenience for the same immortal power as a magic artifact.”

“However, in reality, even the wealthiest individuals must make trade-offs between the two, often resulting in the combined use of spell formations and magic artifacts, much like how arcane bones and magic artifacts are used together.”

“In short, the weakness of spell formations lies in their spatial requirements and inconvenience…”

As True Monarch Magnetic Pole spoke, he sent Zhang Yu a file.
Zhang Yu opened it and found it contained the diagrams for the Two-Worlds Separation Formation, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Illusion Formation, and the Thousand Mountain Weight Formation.

True Monarch Magnetic Pole said, “Su Yanyang has set up three grand formations: the Two-Worlds Separation cuts off communication with the Spirit Realm, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Illusion disrupts vision and communication, and the Thousand Mountain Weight strengthens buildings and draws in spiritual ley lines.”

“Moreover, these three grand formations have been modified by a formation professor from the civil engineering department, interlocking and nesting to subtly form a single entity.”

“I also have the authorization to transmit these diagrams, so consider this my free gift to you today.”

Although Zhang Yu had studied engineering formation diagramming, he only recognized the most basic diagrams, such as those commonly used on construction sites to reinforce building strength or foundations.
Regarding the three grand formations set up by Su Yanyang, despite having fought against them once, he still knew very little about them.
Now, as he opened the diagrams, he saw hundreds of densely packed pages, involving various knowledge fields related to civil engineering, spiritual ley lines, geology, and other engineering disciplines.
Just as Zhang Yu’s scalp began to tingle from the sheer volume, True Monarch Magnetic Pole simultaneously stated, “You must memorize these three formation diagrams before the battle begins.”

“I’ve also conveniently marked the key points on them—these are crucial for breaking the formations. You must commit these points to memory repeatedly.”

Zhang Yu was secretly astonished, thinking, “I haven’t even finished reading the table of contents, and True Monarch Magnetic Pole has already marked all the key points? Just how fast is his thought process?”
Meanwhile, True Monarch Magnetic Pole continued, “Only after you’ve learned the diagrams can you devise a way to break the formations.”

Zhang Yu’s spirits lifted, and he asked, “Is there a way to break Su Yanyang’s formations?”

True Monarch Magnetic Pole scoffed, “What kind of breaking is merely tearing open someone’s formation? At most, that’s forced demolition. True breaking means being able to hijack and repurpose the opponent’s formation.”

“Speaking of which, remember to find two reliable soul cultivators to assist you in breaking the formation before the battle.”

“Soul cultivators are like the poor man’s artifact spirits. If your opponent uses artifact spirits and you don’t, isn’t that like having one less equipment slot? You’ll be at a disadvantage before the fight even begins.”

Zhang Yu asked curiously, “You know about equipment slots?”

True Monarch Magnetic Pole replied indifferently, “Nonsense, I was one of the first people to make games. Unfortunately, rich people stopped playing, and in the end, only poor folks played, and games became less and less profitable, so I retired long ago.”

After this casual remark, True Monarch Magnetic Pole explained the secrets of breaking formations, leaving Zhang Yu to assimilate the knowledge after studying the diagrams.
Midway through the explanation, Zhang Yu questioned, “You want me to insert my soul cultivators into the opponent’s grand formation? But I don’t have such strong talismancy abilities.”

True Monarch Magnetic Pole said, “It’s not about remote operation. Since you can infiltrate the formation, wouldn’t direct physical contact for transmission be enough? Later, study the diagrams yourself and see where transmission points are.”

After explaining the method for breaking formations, True Monarch Magnetic Pole continued, “Finally, I’ll teach you a technique I created: the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand, to deal with Su Yanyang’s arcane bones.”

“So-called arcane bones are parts of the body, but they are essentially magic artifacts and require spiritual power to operate.”

“The human body transmits spiritual power to the arcane bones through meridians.”

“If you can precisely strike and sever meridians, you can temporarily reduce the efficiency of the arcane bones, or even, with sufficient mastery, temporarily disable them.”

“The Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand was originally a technique I used for adjusting and maintaining arcane bones, but when used in combat, it has two major prerequisites.”

“First, the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand is a meridian-severing technique with no destructive power of its own. You must break through the opponent’s protective aura and inject primordial magnetic spiritual power into their body for it to be effective.”

“Second, to successfully sever a meridian, you must accurately identify acupoints and meridians, and understand which acupoints and meridians are connected to different types and models of arcane bones.”

“I am now sending you the meridian acupoints connected to the arcane bones Su Yanyang is using this time. In the future, when you encounter other opponents, you will need to figure out and learn these yourself.”

After receiving another file detailing the arcane bone meridian connections, Zhang Yu was then granted permission to use the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand technique.

“All right, now I will instruct you on the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand.”

“First, you must condense a primordial magnetic spiritual power. This power, like the magnetism of a primordial magnetic channel, is most adept at penetrating flesh. Once it circulates within the meridians, it can block spiritual power, which is why it cannot penetrate a protective aura…”

After speaking, True Monarch Magnetic Pole guided Zhang Yu through a practice session, then said, “These thirty-six routes of the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand correspond to the thirty-six meridians in the human body. You must inject the primordial magnetic spiritual power in different ways to achieve the desired effect. Your time is pressing, so you must master this before the match begins…”

As Zhang Yu continued practicing, he said, “True Monarch, I feel like I’ve pretty much mastered it.”
At that moment, every move of the thirty-six routes of the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand appeared in Zhang Yu’s mind, as if he had been practicing it for a long time.
In fact, as True Monarch Magnetic Pole assigned Zhang Yu one demanding task after another, requiring him to complete them all within a mere dozen minutes, Zhang Yu’s anxiety gradually grew.
However, Zhang Yu thought that since True Monarch Magnetic Pole had made such a request, he must believe it was highly probable that Zhang Yu could achieve these feats.
So, after practicing the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand once and finding the technique not overly complex, Zhang Yu stopped feigning difficulty and directly stated that he had nearly mastered it.

Upon hearing this, True Monarch Magnetic Pole skeptically asked, “You’ve nearly mastered it?”
Having just watched Zhang Yu’s first practice session, True Monarch Magnetic Pole had seen numerous mistakes in his movements and simply couldn’t believe Zhang Yu had mastered the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand.
Yet, as Zhang Yu continued to demonstrate, his movements became increasingly fluid and skilled. “True Monarch,” he said, “I’ve practiced it many times in my mind; I truly feel I’ve mastered it.”
Watching Zhang Yu’s movements grow smoother and more orderly, True Monarch Magnetic Pole was astonished. “He actually learned it?”

“I had originally intended for him to only master the few routes of the Primordial Magnetic Meridian Severing Hand needed for this match, but he’s actually mastered all thirty-six routes in one go?”

“No wonder Old Gao values this kid. He possesses such strong martial arts aptitude? If he were to study in the security department for a few years, he would likely become a leading student.”

“Regardless of whether he can pursue the path of artifact forging in the future, his innate talent in being *forged* into an artifact is truly exceptional.”

“Even if he’s not a genius, he’s certainly a valuable asset.”

After a moment’s thought, True Monarch Magnetic Pole said, “Since you’ve mastered the Meridian Severing Hand, hurry and learn the formation diagrams. Also, don’t forget about the soul cultivators and other preparations needed for breaking the formations.”

Zhang Yu respectfully bowed to True Monarch Magnetic Pole. “Thank you for your guidance, Teacher.”

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: “Hurry now, no need for formalities. You may go.”

Within the Spirit Realm space, True Monarch Magnetic Pole glanced at Director Gao, who stood nearby.

Director Gao smiled slightly and sent a private message: How was it?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: How was what?

Director Gao: How did Zhang Yu perform? Can he win?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: He was alright. I’ve taught him the methods; the rest depends on his own execution.

Sensing the indifference in True Monarch Magnetic Pole’s message, Director Gao secretly thought, “It seems Zhang Yu’s performance was quite ordinary?”

Director Gao asked again: Just “alright”?

True Monarch Magnetic Pole: What else? What kind of genius haven’t I seen?

Sensing the fleeting disappointment in Director Gao’s message, True Monarch Magnetic Pole mused, “Old Gao, don’t blame me later.”

“Your disciple came to me first; I didn’t make the first move.”

“If you must blame someone, blame your civil engineering department for lacking the appeal to keep people.”

“In the future, I will take good care of him for you.”