The Grand Celestial Constellation Formation had once been the ultimate hidden trump card of the Golden Crow Demon Court in the primordial world.
It had been created specifically to contend with the Twelve Ancestor Witches.
Among the formations of the primordial age, the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation stood alongside the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and the Twelve Heavenly Capital Fiend Formation as one of the highest formations in existence.
It even stood above the Primordial River Map Luo Writing Formation and the Dust of Two Poles Formation.
As for the Yellow River Formation of the Nine Bends—which had shone brilliantly during the Investiture War and even stripped the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Three Flowers atop the crown and the Five Vapors within the chest—
though that formation was certainly formidable, before the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation it was little more than child's play.
Thinking of the power of the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation, a strange gleam appeared in Theodore's eyes—along with a trace of regret.
"Unfortunately, the Heavenly Demon Treasure-Refining Art contains records of the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation, but not its complete formation diagram."
"It only contains the method for refining the formation flags."
"Even if I refined all three hundred and sixty-five main flags and the fourteen thousand eight hundred supporting flags, without the formation diagram and without the great powers that once entered the formation under the Golden Crow Demon Court, the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation could never be fully reproduced."
Then Theodore shook his head.
But then again, he was not actually trying to fight some primordial war of witches and demons, nor overturn the Investiture catastrophe.
If all he needed was to shield one region of the magical world—
why would he need the full Grand Celestial Constellation Formation?
One formation flag alone should be enough.
The problem, however, was that the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation had once represented the full foundation of the Golden Crow Demon Court, the very deepest card it held during the primordial war.
Even refining a single minor supporting flag required an ocean of rare treasures.
Theodore calculated briefly.
If this had happened earlier, he might have needed ages just to gather the materials.
And even then, whether the magical world even contained enough suitable ingredients would have been an open question.
Fortunately, this time he had gained an enormous quantity of merit.
That reduced the difficulty of refining a single Grand Celestial Constellation Formation flag by a tremendous amount.
That, too, was one of the marvelous uses of merit.
It could not only refine treasures of merit—it could also drastically lower the difficulty of refining other magical treasures.
Once some ordinary materials were fused with merit, they could completely substitute for much rarer components.
With the quantity of merit Theodore now possessed, so long as he could gather materials that were at least passably decent, refining a single formation flag should not be too difficult.
His eyes flickered.
"And now I've also just received the talent Proving the Dao Through Artifacts from Ollivander."
"I can raise my cultivation by refining magical tools and treasures."
"And the higher the level of the treasure I refine, the more cultivation it grants in return."
"For something on the level of a Grand Celestial Constellation Formation flag—even if it's only one flag—the Proving the Dao Through Artifacts talent should still raise my cultivation by another significant step."
"That's close to a double victory."
"The only trouble is that I still need a large number of rare magical materials."
As Theodore was considering where he could possibly obtain so many components, a fluctuation from outside the Room of Requirement interrupted his thoughts.
Only then did he realize that the appointed hour with Hermione and the others had arrived.
When they entered the Room of Requirement and saw the immortal cave-realm Theodore had fashioned within, their eyes all widened.
Harry had always felt that Hogwarts Castle was the most magnificent place he had ever seen.
But the sight of Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and the Slanting Moon, Three-Star Cave before him carried a completely different sense of mystery—one that instinctively filled him with reverence.
Then Hermione suddenly let out a shrill cry of shock, as though she had just seen something completely impossible.
"Was this made by Transfiguration?"
"Wait—water? There's water in here?"
"Merlin above—and trees, birds, insects?"
"That's impossible! Transfiguration can't create food, water, and things like that. Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration states it clearly. No master of Transfiguration can violate it—not even Dumbledore…"
"How did you do this?!"
Harry and Ron, however, had already grown far more used to such things where Theodore was concerned.
"Hermione, don't act so shocked."
"Maybe Gamp's Law just doesn't apply to Theodore."
"If Theodore can do the impossible, isn't that basically normal by now?"
Hermione's expression shifted several times, clearly as though she wanted to explain in detail exactly how absolute Gamp's Law was, but after opening her mouth, she gave up and turned instead toward Theodore.
"Theodore, how did you do it?"
Theodore only gave her a mysterious smile.
"Isn't that exactly why I asked all of you to come here tonight?"
"I've got a kind of… well, let's call it a very new form of magic."
"If you can learn it, then bypassing Gamp's Law won't really be anything that extraordinary."
A fierce light rose at once in Harry's eyes.
He did not understand exactly how impressive bypassing Gamp's Law was. The only way he could measure it was against the most terrifying wizard he knew of.
"Would it be able to deal with You-Know-Who?"
Theodore let out a laugh.
Could the Eight-Nine Mystical Art defeat Voldemort?
Theodore could only say that it was one of the funniest questions he had ever heard.
"If you could really train it to that level…"
"Then it would be You-Know-Who who had to start calling you mysterious."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all held their breath and felt momentarily dizzy.
They knew Theodore was strong.
They had not known he was this strong.
Harry's voice even shook slightly.
"If we learn this new magic… we can become that strong too?"
His eyes were burning with longing.
"Then what are we waiting for, Theodore? Teach us!"
"I don't want to keep dragging you down. And once I've learned this magic, I'm going into the challenge game and beating up the three-headed dog!"
A strange smile appeared at Theodore's mouth.
When he himself had started cultivating, he had done so with the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart, then later the Microscopic Heavenly Eye, and a whole series of powerful talents supporting him. Under those circumstances, even a profound art like the Eight-Nine Mystical Art had been easy for him to begin.
But Hermione and the others had none of that.
For them, the process would have to start from the absolute basics—meridians, acupoints, circulation, and all the rest.
The simplified cultivation method in the Flying Tiger Battle Manual might be comparatively easy to enter, but it still was not simple enough for absolute fools to train blindly.
And giving them a good foundation now would only help later.
Theodore flicked a finger.
Ancient-style desks immediately appeared before the three of them.
Then sheet after sheet of paper manifested, each one covered in writing, three full copies dropping before them.
At first, Hermione and the others were full of hope and excitement.
But gradually, as the stacks of white paper kept piling higher and higher—until they stood taller than a person—their expressions slowly became numb.
Even Hermione, after glancing at the dense diagrams of meridians, felt her scalp go numb.
Theodore smiled.
"Come on."
"Just finish all this beginner material first, and you'll be about there."
"Oh, and one more thing…"
His expression turned serious.
"You are to study these materials only inside the Room of Requirement."
"Do not take even a single sheet outside."
Hermione and the others felt a chill in their hearts. It was rare to see Theodore so solemn.
They all nodded at once.
Only then did Theodore begin explaining some of the most basic concepts.
Half an hour later, after leaving Hermione and the others struggling through the unfamiliar material with faces full of suffering, Theodore finally stepped out of the Room of Requirement.
Part of the reason he had made them start with fundamentals, aside from building a proper foundation, was also because he had not yet refined the Grand Celestial Constellation Formation flag. Until he did, he could not guarantee that the senses of the horrors would remain blocked.
For safety's sake, even this initial knowledge had to be confined to the Room of Requirement.
But once he completed the formation flag, there would be no more need for caution.
"Materials. Everything comes back to materials."
"Even with merit reducing the difficulty, the amount I need is still enormous."
"Where am I supposed to find all that?"
"Ask Dumbledore for a budget? Or perhaps ask Nicolas Flamel for a little help?"
As Theodore was thinking through the possibilities, he suddenly sensed something unusual.
A moment later, a young and quite attractive figure appeared in front of him—a Slytherin girl.
She had clearly taken pains with her appearance, and as soon as she "happened" to run into Theodore, she looked at him with bright, alluring eyes and spoke in a tone full of heated admiration.
"Theodore Ashbourne?"
"I watched your Quidditch match earlier. You were incredible. Everyone says you'll become someone even greater than Dumbledore one day."
"I… I never thought I'd run into you while wandering the corridors at night. Isn't that fate?"
Her eyes shimmered, and a flush touched her cheeks.
"May I have the honor of inviting you to tea?"
Inside Theodore's heart, however, there was only a cold sneer.
The System screen had already produced line after line of text.
[You encounter a female cultivator of the Hehuan Sect, bewitched and manipulated by Duobao Daoren's incarnation.]
[A seductive aura envelops you. Veils seem to drift before your eyes, graceful bodies seem to recline around you. The Hehuan Sect female cultivator is attempting to shake your Dao-heart.]
Clearly, this little witch had fallen under some form of Voldemort's manipulation.
Theodore's first impulse had been to knock her unconscious or simply break the spell controlling her.
But at that exact moment, a flash of inspiration passed through his mind.
Voldemort—Duobao Daoren?
That old bastard was rather talented when it came to finding treasures.
He had managed to locate three of the Four Founders' relics, not to mention the Resurrection Stone.
And Theodore himself was currently in urgent need of materials.
Wasn't treasure-hunting practically Voldemort's greatest specialty?
As Theodore's thoughts moved, the Slytherin girl gently tugged at her robe, letting the pale line of her long legs flash before his eyes for a brief instant.
Theodore coughed lightly.
"I'm very busy, you know. I don't just have time to drink tea whenever someone asks."
"Besides, I'm a Gryffindor. We're supposed to be natural enemies with Slytherin. We've had more than enough clashes already."
"And now you suddenly want to invite me to tea?"
"Do I look like the sort of person who'd betray Gryffindor that easily?"
Back in Quirrell's office, Voldemort's face darkened.
"Damn it."
"Is this going to fail too?"
"Theodore Ashbourne really isn't like ordinary children. He can resist even this kind of approach?"
Then Theodore changed tone.
"Still… if a pretty little witch like you is doing the inviting, then turning you down outright would be a bit too coldhearted."
He coughed again.
"So how about this…"
"If you give me a little something in return, then I might consider whether I'm willing to go have tea with you."
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