At this moment, Jiang Chen's mind was as calm as still water.
After stepping into the formation, the overwhelming pressure bearing down from outside the formation had indeed delivered a certain shock to Jiang Chen. However, the impact of this formation's pressure was clearly not meant to kill—it was a trial.
This trial tested not only a martial artist's defensive capability, but also their martial dao willpower and their realm of spiritual sense.
This formation was not the killing type brimming with murderous intent, nor was it a despairing trapping formation—it was purely a trial formation.
Jiang Chen sat within the formation, clear-minded and composed, feeling the overwhelming pressure of the formation slowly settle over him, gradually adapting to its rhythm.
"Not bad. An hour and a half has passed and I don't feel much. It seems the Nine Transformations of Gods and Demons has been quite effective in tempering my physical body. My bodily strength is now on par with those so-called half-step Emperors. As for martial dao willpower, in my previous life at the side of my Heavenly Emperor father, I witnessed countless great powers across the myriad heavens—naturally I wouldn't buckle under the pressure of some formation. And as for my spiritual sense, the tempering of the Heart of Rock and the Divine Ability of Seven Apertures Spiritual Resonance have elevated my spiritual sense far beyond that of martial artists at the same level. By that logic, this formation was practically tailor-made for me."
If these advantages were all he had, Jiang Chen could certainly endure within the formation for a long time, but not beyond what the supreme geniuses of antiquity had achieved.
However, Jiang Chen also happened to possess exceptional talent in formations—inherited from the Ancient Danxiao Sect—which allowed him to quickly attune himself to the formation's rhythm.
A genius who understood formations and a genius who did not would naturally experience very different outcomes within this formation.
Although Crystal Pagoda City contained an ancient will, and the formation's power was far beyond anything Jiang Chen could break, within this formation, Jiang Chen could still find better ways to cope. These nuances were enough to let him endure longer than anyone else.
Before he knew it, Jiang Chen had actually grown somewhat fond of this grinding sensation within the formation.
The formation's overwhelming pressure came in wave after wave—called a trial, but in truth it was also a form of tempering for the martial artist.
The further one progressed, the more pronounced the tempering effect became.
"The great waves wash away the sand. This formation's pressure hammers the martial artist's body, their martial dao willpower, their spiritual sense—over and over again. It's like forging iron. The formation is the furnace and the hammer, while I am a bar of fine steel, being tempered through a thousand strikes."
Jiang Chen continued feeding himself these psychological affirmations.
As time passed, the formation's intensity steadily climbed.
The pressure on Jiang Chen grew ever stronger. But his self-suggestions kept him firmly rooted within the formation.
…
Meanwhile, outside, a wave of astonishment had already swept through the crowd.
All the other geniuses from the eighteen batches had been expelled. Now, within the formation, he alone remained.
Like a lone leaf of a boat spinning in a vast ocean, yet never once swallowed by the waves.
"Pill King Zhen still hasn't come out—what a genius! Is there truly nothing a capable man can't do?"
"Two hours already. Who would've thought Pill King Zhen's martial dao talent was this formidable. Passing the two-hour mark, he should be able to break into the top two hundred on the genius rankings at the very least!"
"How enviable. I don't ask for Pill King Zhen's talent—even one-third of his talent would be enough to bring glory to my ancestors."
"Dream on. Pill King Zhen is the foremost alchemist in our Crystal Pagoda City. If you had one-third of his talent, you'd at least be comparable to an ordinary Ninth-Rank Pill King."
"Heh, that's true."
"Take a guess, everyone—how long will Pill King Zhen hold out? Can he break the previous record?"
"Whatever happens with Pill King Zhen, anything is possible."
"Exactly—Pill King Zhen seems to create miracles every single time!"
Around the Crystal Pagoda, exclamations like these rang out everywhere. Some people had even lost the capacity for jealousy.
All that remained was endless admiration, endless reverence.
Because everyone knew that Pill King Zhen was, in the final analysis, simply not on the same level as them. Jealousy toward Pill King Zhen was entirely meaningless.
Young Master Ji San stood in the crowd, already surrounded by the buzzing of discussion on all sides. At that moment, he felt as though his brain had short-circuited.
Yes, the psychological shock he received was no lighter than that of anyone present.
Everyone knew Pill King Zhen was an alchemy genius, the foremost alchemist.
But regarding his martial dao talent, he had always kept a low profile—very few people knew much about it. Even Young Master Ji San, as Jiang Chen's brother, had been kept in the dark.
At this moment, Young Master Ji San wore a wry smile, caught between laughter and tears: "Brother, here I was worrying about you, and all along you had the composure to spare. How ridiculous that I was the one consoling you before…"
Young Master Ji San understood all too well what it meant to endure past the two-hour mark within this formation.