Once Chief Lu and her entourage vanished from sight, the cultivators present flushed with excitement and began buzzing with conversation over divine sense.
"I knew a big shot was coming, but I never imagined it would be Chief Lu herself!"
"Forgive my ignorance, brother, but who is this Chief Lu?"
"Are you serious, brother? Which province are you from, not even knowing the name of our Formation Planning Hall's Chief Formation Master?"
"With Chief Lu's Dao Integration realm might, a single thought could sweep through the entire Spirit-Dissolving Ravine, couldn't it? Why does she need to inspect it spot by spot in person?"
"That's where you're naive—appearances must be kept up. If she just showed up and left immediately without thoroughly inspecting a single place, wouldn't it make it seem like..."
"Brother, mind your tongue!"
...
Li Fan took no part in their lively discussion. Acting as though nothing were amiss, he diligently continued testing the formation units, having faintly sensed an immense divine consciousness sweeping back and forth over the Spirit-Dissolving Ravine without pause.
*You all know appearances need to be kept up, yet you recklessly chatter through divine sense right under her nose. Do you really think divine sense voice transmission is completely foolproof?*
Li Fan shook his head inwardly. Keeping his gaze lowered and his thoughts guarded, he refused to take part in such suicidal behavior.
Once the initial excitement wore off, an order was handed down that had everyone crying out in dismay.
Chief Lu was scheduled to depart in two days. Prior to that, everyone had to redouble their efforts to completely finish constructing the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation.
Although the original schedule had been nearly on track, forcibly compressing the timeframe into two days multiplied their immediate workload several times over. Yet this order had been issued directly by Dongfang Yao in the sternest of terms. Knowing that Chief Lu was present, no one dared to grumble, leaving them no choice but to work like madmen.
Fortunately, for Li Fan, working nonstop without rest was nothing out of the ordinary. His expression remained serene and unchanged.
To prevent errors in the rush, Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao appeared from time to time to inspect the progress. As for Lu Xichan herself, aside from showing her face that first day, she never appeared before the crowd again, occupied with who knew what.
However, the immense divine consciousness that Li Fan sensed cloaking the Spirit-Dissolving Ravine never wavered for a single moment. Thus, he worked conscientiously, not revealing the slightest anomaly.
Time flew past as everyone threw themselves into their labors. In the blink of an eye, two days had gone by.
Just as the array hub was about to be installed and the Spirit-Locking Formation was on the verge of full completion, Chief Lu finally reappeared.
"I shall install this Heavenly Profound mirror plate myself."
She made a request that caught everyone by surprise.
Surprising though it was, no one dared defy Chief Lu's order. Dongfang Yao, a hint of tension in his expression, handed the red phantom of the array hub over to Lu Xichan.
In the formation's central core region, beneath the watchful eyes of all, Chief Lu set the Heavenly Profound mirror plate into place.
The mirror plate seemed intimately familiar with her. Requiring almost no active guidance, it nestled obediently into its designated spot and began linking with the peripheral formation.
It unfolded exactly like the scene seen outside Chizha Abyss: beam after beam of cyan light radiated outward from the central array hub.
*Huh?*
Li Fan keenly perceived that this Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation seemed to have a faint difference from the ones he had built.
Showing no outward reaction, his thoughts spun rapidly. *Where is the difference?*
Purely from the standpoint of formation theory, Chief Lu's execution was flawless, without the slightest blemish. Yet Li Fan harbored an inkling that this same Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation had undergone some peculiar alteration at a key juncture.
Watching quietly as the Spirit-Locking Formation solidified, that feeling of being constantly watched reemerged. Li Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately knew where his intuition had come from.
The instant the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation was completed, the unknown formation of transparent patterns that had previously shrouded the Spirit-Dissolving Ravine dissolved without a trace at the exact same moment. And the immense divine consciousness that Li Fan had felt throughout this period vanished as well.
Everything seemed entirely natural. Even if someone noticed, they would only assume Chief Lu had withdrawn her divine ability now that the formation was finished.
Li Fan, however, thought otherwise. A bold idea suddenly sprang to mind.
The way the unknown formation deployed was an exact match for the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation, and its all-seeing surveillance was strikingly similar. Both forced Li Fan's imagination to run wild.
*It hasn't vanished.*
*Rather... it merged?*
*Did the two become one? Or is it simply lying in wait?*
Li Fan's gaze remained calm, yet towering waves churned within his heart.
*Is she leaving herself a backdoor within the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation?*
As the Dao Integration formation master who had originally proposed the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation project, Lu Xichan unquestionably possessed the capability to pull this off. Her motives, however, remained an enigma to Li Fan.
*Did she do this to guard against the formation potentially spiraling out of control in the future?*
*Or is there another objective?*
*Once Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking becomes widespread, controlling the formation equates to holding supreme authority.*
*The Chief Formation Master of the Formation Planning Hall is ultimately just a formation master.*
*She is still quite far from the true pinnacle of power.*
*Perhaps, through Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking, she hopes to achieve a qualitative leap.*
*It might even grant her a glimpse into the Longevity realm...*
While Li Fan's thoughts wandered, the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation—brought to completion by Chief Lu's own hands—drew thunderous applause from the cultivators gathered in the Spirit-Dissolving Ravine.
Lu Xichan also showed a rare smile. With a gentle expression, she looked down at the cultivators below. But as her gaze swept across the face of a white-haired elder, her eyes suddenly narrowed.
*Have I seen this person somewhere before?*
Lu Xichan felt a flicker of surprise. He was merely a Golden Core cultivator; by all rights, he shouldn't have caught her attention.
Her thoughts raced, memories surging into her mind in an instant. Suddenly, they settled upon an event several years ago, when her daughter had vanished for a time before returning.
Her daughter, Lu Xuejing, had grown arrogant and blind, inadvertently falling captive to Old Man Yufu. Fortunately, a cultivator had traded items he carried to ransom her back. Having narrowly escaped with her life, her daughter had wished to thank that cultivator, only for him to depart in haste as if pressed for time.
She knew nothing of her benefactor's identity, only remembering his face. At the time, her daughter had used the Water Mirror Technique to depict his appearance, and Lu Xichan had committed it to memory.
It had to be this man.
And yet, in just a few short years... how had he aged so severely?
"Who is that man?" Lu Xichan inquired via divine sense to Dongfang Yao.
*Here it comes!* Seeing both Chief Lu and Brother Dongfang looking toward Li Fan, Huangfu Song thought to himself.
Chapter 376