"What? You want to return to the outpost and continue constructing the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation?"
"Have you lost your mind?"
When he saw the decrepit, aged Li Fan suddenly appear before him, Hao Hui jumped in surprise.
And when Li Fan stated his request, Hao Hui's face was at first filled with disbelief, thinking his ears were playing tricks on him.
After confirming it repeatedly, he was even driven to an exasperated laugh and flatly refused.
"Fellow Daoist Li, you have already done enough."
"Leave the rest to the other array masters."
"Given your current condition, you truly aren't suited to continue array construction."
Hesitating for a moment, Hao Hui still advised, "Fellow Daoist, you were trapped in the Essence-Devouring White Mist for too long, and your lifespan is nearing its end."
"Your only sensible course now is to seize every second and cultivate with all your might."
"See if you can break through to the Nascent Soul realm before your time runs out."
"With your natural talent, I'd say you may well have a chance to defy the heavens and rewrite your fate."
Although Hao Hui's words suited Li Fan's tastes, Li Fan nevertheless shook his head against his inner thoughts. "I appreciate your kind intentions, Fellow Daoist. But a person must know their own limitations. With the lifespan I have left, cultivating to the Nascent Soul realm is utterly impossible!"
"Rather than wasting time on such meaningless efforts, I would rather contribute my very last ounce of strength to building the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation while I can still move."
"If I can witness the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation covering all of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' territories within my lifetime,"
"I can die with no regrets!"
Li Fan's expression turned solemn as he spoke with righteous conviction.
"If I must spend the rest of my days doing nothing of note, waiting idly for death, I will not rest in peace."
"I hope you will grant my wish, Fellow Daoist!"
Looking at the dead-serious Li Fan, Hao Hui fell completely silent.
He instinctively wanted to refuse, but meeting the man's incomparably sincere gaze, an unspeakable feeling welled up in his heart.
"...Very well. Wait a moment, Fellow Daoist. I will go ask for instructions."
As if afraid to face Li Fan any longer, Hao Hui hurried away.
Li Fan was in no rush, waiting patiently.
Nearly half a day later, Hao Hui returned with a complicated expression.
"Fellow Daoist Li, the higher-ups have agreed to your request. Once this demonic sound tide subsides, our Qingxuan Army will send personnel to escort you back to the front lines."
"In that case, my thanks to you, Brother Hao." Looking as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders, Li Fan nodded in gratitude.
"Fellow Daoist Li Fan..." Seeing how relieved the gray-haired Li Fan looked after receiving his assignment, Hao Hui couldn't help asking.
"Just... why?"
Li Fan's actions went far beyond Hao Hui's understanding.
He asked in utter bewilderment.
Li Fan merely smiled without answering, cupped his hands, and walked away.
He left behind a bewildered Hao Hui, questioning reality as he stood frozen in place, speechless for a long time.
Unsurprisingly, word that Li Fan—with one foot already in the grave—was about to rush back to the front lines of array construction spread throughout Broken Palm Immortal City in an instant.
Amidst the widespread uproar, voices of doubt inevitably surfaced as well.
However, half a month later, when Li Fan departed the Eternal Immortal Bastion under the watchful eyes of the crowd and guarded by dozens of Qingxuan soldiers, speeding toward Outpost Jiaxu,
all doubts crumbled on their own.
The cultivators were shocked by Li Fan's choice, and simultaneously ashamed of the petty, sordid thoughts they had harbored earlier.
Compared to the sacrifice Li Fan had made, leaving home and guarding the Chizha Abyss for decades without stepping away suddenly seemed insignificant.
Consequently, an unprecedented wave began to surge within the Qingxuan Army.
No longer did they constantly complain about hardships; instead, they began to compete over who had served the longest in the Chizha Abyss.
Naturally, Li Fan, having arrived at Outpost Jiaxu, was unaware of all this.
Thanks to Li Fan's timely call for help, reinforcements from the Eternal Immortal Bastion had successfully arrived before the outpost's supplies ran out.
A tragedy had been averted.
Although allowing Li Fan to delve into the white mist all alone earned the surviving cultivators some degree of punishment,
it was nothing compared to keeping their lives.
Moreover, after Li Fan pleaded on their behalf,
cultivators like He Chen and Kong Yu were ultimately sent back to Outpost Jiaxu to redeem themselves through merit by assisting Li Fan with the array construction.
To ensure Li Fan's safety, the Eternal Immortal Bastion tripled the size of the guard detachment.
The provisions and reserve materials they brought were unimaginably abundant, plenty to use lavishly, so there was no longer any need to worry about running out of supplies.
And Li Fan did not rest for a single moment.
As soon as the raging demonic sound tide finally subsided, he immediately resumed the construction of the Spirit-Locking Formation.
He Chen and the others had all received the favor of having their lives saved by him.
The members of the Qingxuan Army had received explicit orders to obey Li Fan implicitly.
In this small Outpost Jiaxu, Li Fan thus achieved absolute authority.
Directing them was as natural as moving his own limbs; every single order was executed at one hundred and twenty percent.
On top of that, Li Fan had reversed his own inclinations, turning from someone who slacked off whenever possible into a workaholic who forgot to rest.
The pace of the array's construction became nearly twice as fast as before.
Due to the earlier demonic sound tide, array construction had been forced to a halt,
and Li Fan's ranking on the Grand Competition's Gold Ranking had previously dropped to the very bottom, hovering around the six-hundreds.
Once everyone resumed construction, his ranking rose steadily as he fought to catch up.
Li Fan's rapid ascent did not attract much attention.
On the entire ranking, the one who drew the most eyes was still Guo Yezhong with his zero points.
This person acted as though he didn't care about the so-called Grand Competition in the slightest.
Cultivators discussed it endlessly, yet the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals took no special measures regarding him.
Word merely circulated in secret that Guo Yezhong was still within the territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and had not defected.
Furthermore, he had not abandoned the contest; when others asked, he merely replied, "Who will win and who will lose remains to be seen."
While Li Fan threw himself wholeheartedly into the array construction and endured his inner torment,
the story of what had happened to him began to spread rapidly beyond Broken Palm Immortal City under the quiet encouragement of certain individuals.
In particular, the touching tale of how, after suffering such catastrophic upheaval and seeing his lifespan dwindle to its end, he still poured his very last ounce of strength into building the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation
was widely publicized and extolled.
Soon, virtually any cultivator in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals who was not in seclusion learned of Li Fan's deeds.
Whether they believed it or not was another matter,
but Li Fan's communication talisman was the first to blow up with messages.
He Zhenghao, Shenyuzi, and old acquaintances from his time at the Cosmos Courtyard sent inquiries one after another.
There were simply too many, so Li Fan had no choice but to set an automated reply briefly explaining what had happened.
His friends naturally lamented and sighed in grief, while holding immense admiration for Li Fan.
A few even promised to search for lifespan-extending treasures on his behalf.
Li Fan thanked each of them in turn,
and then plunged right back into the array construction without stopping.
In this manner, two years passed.
On this day, a streak of seven-colored radiance cleaved through the white mist, heading straight for Broken Palm Immortal City.
Chapter 362