The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation is the Jie tradition’s final and largest battle in the later chapters of Investiture of the Gods.
After the Immortal-Executing Formation is broken, Tongtian Jiaozhu refuses to accept defeat. He gathers his disciples again and establishes the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation near Tong Pass.
This is no longer a contest between a few individual adepts. It is a mass assembly of the Jie tradition. The novel fills the formation with Daoists, perfected beings, wandering immortals, dense banners, strange mists, multicolored light, and magical treasures, creating a battlefield that seems to contain the entire tradition.
The Jie Tradition’s Final Grand Formation
The formation matters for more than its number of participants. It is the last time the Jie tradition commits its wider network to battle as a whole.
Among those present are:
- Tongtian Jiaozhu
- Jinling Shengmu
- Wudang Shengmu
- Guiling Shengmu
- Wuyun Xian
- Qiushou Xian
- Lingya Xian
- Jinguang Xian
- Pilu Xian
- Jingu Xian
- Chang’er Dingguang Xian
- Shen Gongbao
They are joined by many followers who are not individually named. The formation is therefore the last concentrated display of the Jie world.
Four Directional Ranks
The novel gives the formation a rich visual structure. Different followers occupy the east, west, south, and north in distinct robes and with different weapons and mounts: water-pattern robes and Tai’a swords, pale yellow robes and ancient-set swords, bright red robes and Kunwu swords, dark clothing and iron maces, together with deer of several kinds.
Flags and clouds appear in multiple colors:
- emerald blue
- plain white
- bright red
- dark black
- apricot yellow
The formation should therefore not be reduced to a simple geometric diagram. It is a vast battlefield filled with figures, banners, treasures, strange beasts, and immortal vapors.
Ten Thousand Immortals Gather
Wuyun Xian, Jinguang Xian, Qiushou Xian, Lingya Xian, and many others appear here. Jinling Shengmu rides the Seven-Fragrance Carriage, Shen Gongbao directs the host from the Eight-Tiger Carriage, and Tongtian Jiaozhu occupies the center on his Kui Ox.
This makes the formation a major CG relationship node, capable of connecting characters, mounts, subsidiary formations, treasures, and the battles that follow.
Formations within the Formation
The Ten Thousand Immortals Formation is not a single uniform mechanism. It contains the Taiji Formation, Two Principles Formation, and Four Symbols Formation, defended respectively by Qiushou Xian, Lingya Xian, and Jinguang Xian.
It is best understood as a large battlefield system containing smaller formations.
Final Destruction
Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, and the two western sages ultimately join in breaking the formation. Chan adepts, Jiang Ziya, Nezha, Luya, and others enter the battle at the same time. Members of Jie are killed, escape, or are subdued.
After this battle, the Jie tradition largely ceases to exist as a coherent fighting system. The formation represents both a military structure and the final turning point in the tradition’s collapse.
CG Visual Language
- overwhelming numbers
- forests of banners
- dense concentrations of mounts
- treasures and conventional weapons together
- differently colored sectors
- immense scale
- immortals mixed with warrior figures
- disorder held within a larger structure
The first impression should be: “The entire Jie tradition is here.”
