These were the only two possibilities.
The first, as Jiang Chen saw it, was essentially impossible — that the Red Cauldron Central Domain somehow harbored a formation master of that caliber. A Heavenly Sovereign-level formation master might exist on the Divine Abyss Continent, but certainly not in the Red Cauldron Central Domain. Perhaps not even across the entirety of the human domain.
So that possibility could be ruled out entirely.
Which left only the second.
For a moment, Jiang Chen's emotions grew complicated. A powerful earth-attribute treasure had long been something he sought above all else.
Among the Five Elements — Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth — it was the earth attribute where he still lacked a perfect complement. That was precisely why he had yet to attempt his breakthrough to the seventh level of the sovereign realm.
He had been waiting. Waiting for an earth-attribute treasure to appear.
If this place truly possessed such a treasure — one capable of generating the might of earth pulses — then it was anything but ordinary.
Even a man of Jiang Chen's vast experience from his previous life could not entirely suppress a surge of excitement at this moment.
Perhaps in his former life, he had seen treasures ten or a hundred times more powerful than this one. But those belonged to his past existence, and no matter how extraordinary, they were nothing more than decorations to him now.
Back then, he had possessed no cultivation talent and could make no use of them whatsoever.
This life was different. What he lacked right now was precisely this kind of treasure. He had searched tirelessly for it without success!
He had originally come here tracking the Cuihua Pavilion Master, intending to rescue Wei Xing'er. An unexpected discovery along the way was a most welcome surprise — a tremendous one, at that.
Jiang Chen's mind stayed heated for only a brief moment before he quickly cooled down. He sat cross-legged and began meditating, carefully deducing and reasoning through the situation.
To ensure accuracy, he dispatched the Gold-Munching Mouse King once more, ordering it to scout again and confirm whether the earth pulses were real.
As a member of the Gold-Munching Mouse clan, the Mouse King could draw near the formation's edge without attracting undue attention from those sovereign-realm experts. After all, it was hardly unusual to encounter powerful beast cultivators deep in these mountains.
Though the Gold-Munching Mouse King was timid by nature, it would carry out Jiang Chen's instructions to the letter without fail.
Roughly half an hour later, the Gold-Munching Mouse King returned and confirmed with absolute certainty that these were indeed earth pulses — no mistake about it.
With the Mouse King's confirmation, Jiang Chen became even more certain that somewhere in the surrounding area lay a powerful earth-attribute treasure.
What exactly it was, however, remained a mystery.
But one thing was certain: this treasure must have been nourishing itself here for a very long time. Otherwise, it could never have shaped this stretch of land, giving rise to the terrifying pulse formation that rippled through the terrain.
Such a pulse-based terrain could be exploited by any formation master with even a modest understanding of the art. They could easily leverage the earth pulses to construct devastating formations.
Once activated, a formation like this would harness the power of the earth pulses themselves. There would be no need for the formation to unleash any particularly fearsome attack of its own — merely channeling the earth pulse energy would be enough to make a sovereign-realm expert fall on the spot.
One had to admit, whoever first discovered this place was extraordinarily fortunate.
And that fortunate person was most likely the Cuihua Pavilion Master.
Though it was speculation, Jiang Chen was nearly certain that the Pavilion Master's choice to break through to the seventh level of the sovereign realm here had its reasons.
The earth pulse terrain was likely the very reason he had selected this location.
The Pavilion Master must have discovered this terrain a long time ago. Otherwise, he would never have built a formation here or set up such an elaborate arrangement.
While the layout was far from flawless, it certainly could not have been completed in a year or two. Without a decade or more of careful preparation, it simply could not have been done.
Seeing was believing. Having finished his deduction, Jiang Chen immediately summoned the Ice Fire Demon Lotus and used it to approach the formation's edge from deep underground.
Upon reaching the formation's boundary, Jiang Chen brought every ounce of his knowledge to bear and began studying it in earnest.
The formation itself was not particularly complex. But at its core — the formation's eye — there churned a powerful vortex of energy.
All the earth pulses radiated outward from that single area, generating a formidable earth-pulse field that permeated the surroundings.
The formation merely channeled that earth-pulse field toward the perimeter, creating a perfect defensive barrier that forced anyone who wished to pass through to go around it entirely.
Jiang Chen observed carefully, studying the formation for a long time from every conceivable angle, searching for a flaw — some opening through which he might pass.
But to his disappointment, despite its simplicity, the formation had no discernible vulnerability.
Or rather, once the earth-pulse field had been established, no vulnerability existed within it.
Unless the formation ceased operating and stopped channeling the earth pulses, even a Great Emperor-level powerhouse could not necessarily force their way through.
What comforted Jiang Chen, however, was that the formation was too rudimentary to channel the earth-pulse field completely.
If it had, the surrounding area would have become a death zone. Anyone who drew near would be swallowed by the pulses without exception.