Every detail of Li Fan's formation-laying process was recorded in the blue crystal within his mind.
Whenever an attempt failed, Li Fan could retrieve and review the memory at any time, carefully identifying exactly where the mistake had occurred.
On his next attempt, he could multitask even better, comparing his physical gestures and techniques against the imagery in his mind point by point.
After several iterations, Li Fan's success rate skyrocketed.
And once he achieved a flawless installation, he could use it as a master template, referencing it entirely for every subsequent node.
With his success rate guaranteed and practice making perfect, Li Fan laid nodes faster and faster.
Gradually, he fell into a state of selflessness.
Nothing remained in his mind except the formation.
By the time the entire Tianyuan Creation Formation was completed and he came back to his senses, the calendar had already reached Anchor Year 12.
Zhang Zhiliang connected the core formation to the outer formation and activated the more than three hundred thousand nodes.
A translucent blue light barrier instantly enveloped the entire island.
With the grand formation fully built, Li Fan could not help sighing with lingering enthusiasm.
Through this practice, his practical formation-laying skill had at least doubled.
At the same time, Li Fan noticed that the other three array repairers were looking at him with rather strange expressions.
"Good! Very good!"
As Zhang Zhiliang praised him lavishly, Li Fan realized that in his selfless trance, he had single-handedly laid nearly half of all the formation nodes.
He had practically been a relentless formation-laying puppet.
Having finished the mission ahead of schedule, Zhang Zhiliang was in high spirits and settled the rewards for rebuilding the Island-Protecting Grand Formation on the spot.
Li Fan received four thousand contribution points as compensation, more than the other three combined.
Li Fan naturally did not care about such a small sum of points, but he still expressed his gratitude to Zhang Zhiliang.
"Once we return, come by the Formation Planning Hall again. I have something else to discuss with you," Zhang Zhiliang quietly sent Li Fan a voice transmission while rebuking the other three array repairers.
Li Fan maintained an impassive expression and replied via voice transmission to acknowledge it.
With matters on Tonghai Island settled, Zhang Zhiliang led everyone back to Wanxian Island.
After parting ways with his fellow repairers, Li Fan waited a brief moment before heading to the Formation Planning Hall once more.
Zhang Zhiliang was already waiting.
"Master Zhang, may I ask why you summoned me?" Li Fan asked respectfully.
Zhang Zhiliang smiled and cut straight to the chase. "I see that you possess remarkable talent in the Dao of Formations. Would you be willing to stay by my side and study formations under me?"
Li Fan feigned profound delight. "Master Zhang's formation mastery is number one in the Congyun Sea. Of course I am willing.
"However..." Li Fan added with a hint of hesitation.
"What, do you have some concern?" Zhang Zhiliang raised an eyebrow and asked.
Li Fan answered honestly, "This junior is currently in the late Foundation Establishment stage. I wished to first concentrate my energy on advancing my cultivation to break through to the Golden Core realm..."
Before he could finish, Zhang Zhiliang cut him off.
"For us immortal cultivators, one's realm of course takes first priority. After all, every breakthrough adds substantial lifespan. It is only natural that you have such plans.
"However, cultivation also requires balancing work and rest. Sometimes, when hitting a bottleneck in cultivation, shifting to study formations might actually make breaking through easier."
Zhang Zhiliang pondered for a moment, produced a small metallic figure from who knew where, and handed it over.
Li Fan took it and examined it closely, finding that the object in his hand bore an uncanny resemblance to Zhang Zhiliang.
"Master Zhang, this is...?" Li Fan asked.
"Heh heh, this is a Divided Spirit Jade Slip. It contains a sliver of my divine sense, which can materialize into a phantom to lecture on the knowledge stored within the slip," Zhang Zhiliang explained with a proud look.
As he spoke, the little metallic figure instantly broke down into countless specks of light, reforming into a silhouette that stood before Li Fan.
It looked identical to a living person, virtually indistinguishable from reality.
"During your studies, you may ask it anything you do not understand. It will answer you based on the slip's contents and the memories within the divine sense. It is effectively half an avatar of mine,"
Zhang Zhiliang's true body and the phantom transformed from the metal figure spoke in unison.
"Should you encounter a question it truly cannot answer, I can take over at any time to answer you personally.
"Your talent is quite good, so I present this Divided Spirit Jade Slip to you. Keep it by your side, and you can study formations at your leisure during breaks from cultivation.
"That way, it will not delay your cultivation, yet will advance your formation attainment.
"Of course, the contents of the slip are limited. Once you have learned everything inside, come find me at the Formation Planning Hall.
"I will swap it for a new Divided Spirit Jade Slip.
"What do you think?" Zhang Zhiliang asked with a beaming smile.
Li Fan was no stranger to this phantom.
When he had studied at the Formation Planning Hall in his twelfth life, it was this very kind of phantom that had taught him.
Back then, however, he had assumed the phantom was some sort of formation effect or avatar spell.
He had never imagined it was merely manifested from a jade slip.
Still, this made no real difference to Li Fan.
He had sought out Zhang Zhiliang for two reasons: first, to elevate his formation skill, and second, to gain Zhang Zhiliang's trust so that he would eventually be entrusted with the Posthumous Bequest containing four hundred thousand contribution points.
Now that he had this Divided Spirit Jade Slip, he did not have to remain cooped up in the Formation Planning Hall all the time, which granted him even greater freedom.
He immediately put on an expression of overwhelming joy and thanked Zhang Zhiliang.
Zhang Zhiliang then laid out the rules of his tutelage before finally allowing Li Fan to depart.
*If previously I entered Zhang Zhiliang's tutelage through sheer coincidence and eventually moved him through diligence, then in this life, it's because the talent in formations I displayed caught his fancy, prompting him to take the initiative to accept me as his disciple.*
*Still, this doesn't necessarily mean my talent is exceptionally high. More likely, Zhang Zhiliang is simply casting a wide net.*
*Thinking about it, that makes complete sense.*
*Even the Congyun Sea knows better than to put all its eggs in one basket. Master Zhang wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting his life's work, the Infinite Method, to a single Qi Condensation cultivator either.*
Inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan reflected on his twelfth life's experiences, feeling a moment of realization.
Still, given that his own motives were far from pure, he naturally had no right to feel aggrieved.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Li Fan activated the Spirit Enlightenment feature.
Activating the Divided Spirit Jade Slip, Li Fan listened to the lectures of Zhang Zhiliang's phantom while diligently cultivating.
Two distinct lines of consciousness functioned clearly apart, neither interfering with the other in the slightest.
"Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation truly is a supreme wondrous art. Splitting my mind across multiple tasks dramatically boosts efficiency no matter what I do."
Feeling the extraordinary effects of this Taiyan Sect secret art, Li Fan could not help sighing in admiration.
...
While Li Fan's true body was in secluded cultivation, his clone finally received a transmission from Jiao Xiuyuan.
"Fellow Daoist Lin Fan, mission accomplished! That Small Medicine King Cauldron you asked me to track down—I finally dug it up!
"Heheh, it's a massive harvest this time. Take a guess—just how many cauldrons did I dig out?!"
Chapter 220