Faldon immediately tensed when he felt this familiar aura. Without thinking, he rushed out towards James' house. Along the way though he became confused.
'Huh? Why don't I see any clouds in the sky? I clearly feel the tribulation aura but it's nowhere to be seen…'
When he arrived, he saw Liz standing in front if the house, hesitating whether to proceed inside or not.
"Liz, have you seen any Tribulation clouds or anything out of the ordinary?"
"No master, I only felt the Tribulation aura and rushed outside. I wanted to asked Junior brother but I was worried I would interfere in his Tribulation again if I approached."
"Hmm yes let's wait here for now. While we can't see any Tribulstion clouds, it could be dangerous to approach if he truly was going through another Heavenly Tribulation."
——
Inside James' house, he was staring wide eyed at the forming storm clouds above his newly created formation. When they finished condensing, a thick lightning bolt struck down onto the paper. The formation held for only a handful of seconds before the paper disintegrated. Once the formation was destroyed, the mini Tribulation cloud dispersed along with its heavy aura.
James was shocked to see that his first formation, the one he'd been dreaming of creating for so long, was obliterated almost immediately after being created. He was completely confused by what just happened.
'All I did was create a basic Mana Gathering formation but the Heavens or the World or whatever just decided to destroy it?? Why is life so unfair…'
James thought this while fighting back tears. He then sensed Faldon and Liz standing outside his house and proceed outside to talk to them.
"Master, Senior sister, i'm sorry to have disturbed you both. I did not do it on purpose, all I did was create a formation but then a small Tribulation cloud appeared and destroyed it…"
James tried his best to explain what happened but even he was confused. He'd never heard of something like this happening.
"Wait, you said your formation attracted a Heavenly Tribulation?! That means it must have reached level 5 or higher! That's a level equivalent to the Tribulation Transcendance realm! Almost the highest level a mortal can reach…"
Faldon was practically having a mental breakdown. He'd just finished accepting the fact that his disciple went through a Heavenly Tribulation before he did. That he'd gone through one earlier than anyone else in history. But now he found out that not only was his cultivation talent extreme but so was his talent in Formations.
'Just how many more times is this disciple of mine going to surprise me…'
It took Faldon and Liz a couple minutes to calm down and accept reality. Once they had, James asked if they knew the reason behind why his formstion could call a Heavenly Tribulation and if it really could have reached level 5 or higher.
"Well, I may need you to create you formation again so I can see it. It's possible that the purity of your mana boosted the strength of tbe formation, elevating it by several levels. It could also be some unknown Heavenly law that anyone who undergoes a Tribulation will trigger one with their creations…but my knowlege of Heavenly Tribulations is too shallow to speculate further."
James agreed to recreate his Mana Gathering formation for them. He then led the duo into his cultivation room, sat on his mat and drew the formation in the air with his mana. They both were shocked upon seeing the glowing golden formation as it was a first for them.
'Junior brother is truly incredible. First he teaches me Sword Intent, then he calls down a Heavenly Tribulation when establishing his foundation and now this…'
Liz became lost in thought. Faldon observed the formation that James had just created.
"Hmmm, it does appear to be a level 1 Mana Gathering formation. The only difference being it's color…can you attach it to an object so we can test its effects or see if it will call the Tribulation again?"
" I would but I don't have any more paper large enough to contain it…"
"Haha no need to worry, here I have an empty formation plate you can you."
Faldon then took out a round metalic disc and handed it over to James. Formation plates are objects created specifically by Artifact refiners to hold high level formations. Normal paper is unable to withstand the high concentration of mana and soul energy that high level formations are made from. This is where formation plates come in, being able to contain far more concentrated mana.
James took the formation plate that was no larger than his palm and began moving his formation onto it. As soon as the formation was placed, the heavy aura that accompanied a Heavenly Tribulation appeared. James hurriedly place the formation disc on the ground and watched as storm clouds began to appear. Faldon and Liz stared wide eyed at the mini Tribulation clouds appearing.
The Heavenly Tribulation finished condensing and then struck down with a bolt of lightning. This time however, the formation plate helped to withstand the Tribulation lightning. Clearly showing more resistance than the piece of paper had. The formation plate was struck 8 more times and then the Tribulation clouds began to disperse.
As soon as the last bolt hit the formation plate, the Mana Gathering formation began to glow and absorbed some kind of energy from the dispersing clouds. 3 minutes later, everything returned to normal. The Heavenly Tribulation fully dispersed and the formation stopped glowing.
"The formation…has evolved? But that's impossible…once formations are created, they are set. However, it clearly has a far more complex and powerful aura after the Tribulation…"
Faldon was immensely puzzled. There were too many things he didn't understand and so he decided to consult the other sect higher ups to see if they had answers.
James was shocked but also curious about how powerful his formation had become after hearing his master's analysis and so he decided to activate the formation.