After discreetly returning his aura to the Foundation Establishment stage, Li Fan's breakthrough drew little attention in the Universal Courtyard.
Apart from Ji Hongdao casting a surprised glance his way during a lecture, practically no one knew that Li Fan had already stepped into the Golden Core realm.
Even if these students had known, however, they likely would not have thought much of it.
After all, among this crowd, the Golden Core realm was all too common.
Compared to cultivation, what they valued far more was attainments in formations.
The closed-door training for the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation was drawing to a close.
Ever since witnessing the packaging of the Heavenly Profound Mirror surfaces with their own eyes last time, many students seemed to have gained some enlightenment, and their scores had progressed by leaps and bounds.
In the final testing subject—the array hub affinity test—they had caught up from behind.
Li Fan, on the other hand, was slightly distracted, with his mind preoccupied by the major events in the Congyun Sea and his own Core Formation. On top of that, his innate talent in the Dao of Formations was thoroughly mediocre, and he truly had gained no profound insights.
These two factors combined caused his performance to practically stagnate.
As the saying went, if one did not advance, one fell behind, and Li Fan's ranking suffered a steep drop.
Fortunately, his scores in the earlier subjects of formation structure and soul covenant identification had placed him near the top.
Taken all together, he had not fallen too far behind.
His overall ranking remained above average.
One day, Ji Hongdao announced that the final trial would take place in a month and a half.
A hands-on practical test in laying out the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation.
Sufficient formation materials would be provided, but without any assistance from others; each person had to deploy the array alone.
In the end, they would be evaluated based on the actual construction of their formations and ranked according to their performance.
Those with outstanding results would naturally receive rewards.
As for what the specific prize was, Ji Hongdao kept it a mystery.
He said only that it was extraordinarily precious—so much so that even he was sorely tempted and wished he could personally enter the competition.
Hearing this, the students could not help feeling invigorated.
They eagerly returned to their respective courtyards to make thorough preparations for the final trial.
Li Fan was about to leave as well when Ji Hongdao called out to him.
"Though the final trial is coming up soon, rationally speaking, I ought to conceal this matter from you for now."
"However, this matter is far too significant. I believe you have the right to know."
Li Fan understood in an instant what Ji Hongdao was referring to.
Even so, the act had to be played.
Startled for a moment, Li Fan put on a bewildered look and said respectfully, "Senior, please speak freely. I can take it."
Ji Hongdao nodded slightly. "If that is the case, listen carefully."
"Your homeland, the Congyun Sea..."
"It is gone..."
Li Fan's response was flawless.
He showed no dramatic reaction, only sheer confusion across his face. "Gone? What does that mean?"
A flicker of gloom crossed Ji Hongdao's eyes. "Gone in the literal sense."
"The entire Congyun Sea has vanished."
Li Fan gave a scoffing laugh. "Senior, do not joke with me. How vast is the Congyun Sea? How could such a massive region simply vanish just like—"
Midway through his sentence, Li Fan abruptly fell into dead silence.
He stared blankly at Ji Hongdao, seeing that the man did not look like he was joking in the slightest.
As if struck by lightning, his body began to tremble.
His eyes widening like copper bells, Li Fan disregarded the gap in cultivation and status between them, lunging forward to grab Ji Hongdao's arm.
"Is it true? How could that be?"
"What on earth happened?!"
...
"Sigh." Watching Li Fan's sudden descent into near madness, Ji Hongdao let out a long sigh.
With a flick of a finger, he sent Li Fan back to his courtyard and said, "Go back and calm down first. As for what exactly happened, you can search for it yourself in the Heavenly Profound Mirror."
"The relevant information should still be findable right now."
A blur passed before Li Fan's eyes, and he was back in his own small courtyard.
Maintaining that very same expression, Li Fan searched for the Congyun Sea in the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"It seems the Heaven Fiend Sword was ultimately no match for Mo Sha after all. Today, the Congyun Sea has completely turned into a void abyss."
"The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace is likewise nowhere to be found."
"This outcome is well within expectations. Perhaps the origin of Tian Sha was an entity on the same level as Mo Sha, but she was, after all, only part of a broken sword. It lacked even a hilt."
"And... for such a monumental event, the heat of discussion is surprisingly low. It seems that Heavenly Venerable is at work again."
When something this massive happened, concealing it was impossible.
The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals did not choose to block or censor the news; instead, they gave it the cold-shoulder treatment.
At the beginning, the discussions had been impassioned. The footage of Mo Sha destroying the world recorded by Jiao Xiuyuan had left many cultivators terrified, while also arousing their greed.
Aside from pity for the misfortune of the Congyun Sea cultivators and wonder over why Mo Sha would resort to such tyrannical methods to wipe out the realm, the most discussed topic had actually been the feasibility of achieving Dao Integration with Mo Sha.
Yet with the passage of time, fewer and fewer people discussed the first two topics.
Only the combat purists were still keeping at it.
"Just how much combat power must one display to integrate with Mo Sha? In my view, vast as the cultivation world is, not a single cultivator qualifies."
"I nominate one person: Young Master Jinglun. Legend has it that decades ago he was already at the peak of Soul Formation, his strength unfathomable. Once, faced with the temptation of an anima of Heaven and Earth, he resolutely abandoned the chance for Dao Integration. Merely because that anima of Heaven and Earth was too weak!"
"Young Master Jinglun is formidable, but compared to Mo Sha, he still falls short."
"Those black particles annihilate everything. Resisting them is easier said than done. In my opinion, if Zhong Shentong breaks through to Soul Formation, his boundless Seven-Colored Divine Light might be able to contend with it."
"Zhong Shentong? A Foundation Establishment cultivator? And so old, too! Do you really think any piece of trash can come out and step on Young Master Jinglun? No need for Young Master to act; even I could crush him!"
"Oh? Fellow Daoist speaks mighty big! Dare you leave your name and address? This old man will come to your door and seek guidance personally!"
"..."
With a face full of heartbreaking grief, Li Fan browsed through these messages one by one.
Yet in his heart, he thought, *Having suffered such a tragedy, even if my final evaluation score is a bit poor, it would be entirely reasonable.*
Over the next few days, Li Fan did not step outside his door, refusing all visitors.
He gave a flawless performance of a cultivator struck by a sudden, devastating catastrophe.
As time slowly drifted by, Li Fan also clearly noticed that the memories of the Congyun Sea in his mind were continually fading.
His thoughts were impeded, and he almost never took the initiative to think of related matters.
Had Li Fan not deliberately carved out a dedicated area within the Dao Assimilation Stone in his mind to keep specialized records and review them every few days, even he would have nearly forgotten that the Congyun Sea had been wiped out.
All this had taken barely a month or so.
"The might of the Longevity Heavenly Venerable is truly terrifying and awe-inspiring."
Experiencing the Heavenly Venerable's influence firsthand once again, Li Fan could not help sighing with emotion.
Thus, everything settled into tranquility.
More than ten days later, the final trial of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation's closed-door training finally arrived.
Chapter 311