"Even when piloted by a Golden Core cultivator, its speed far exceeds the physical flight of an ordinary Soul Formation expert."
"Furthermore, it draws on external spiritual energy as its power source, so you need not worry about draining your own reserves. Here within the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, where spiritual energy is exceptionally abundant, its performance is all the more outstanding."
As Qi Buyi spoke, the black-gold Sky-Evading Shuttle in her hand flickered. In the blink of an eye, identical replicas split from its body.
Transforming into streaks of fine black light, they flew before everyone present.
"As for the wondrous intricacies of the Sky-Evading Shuttle, you may explore them on your own shortly."
Li Fan drew the flying dharma treasure before him into his hand, immediately feeling a cool, refreshing sensation.
The moment his divine sense made contact with it, a crisp mechanical voice resonated in his mind.
"Authority confirmed."
"Sub-unit 016 activated."
"Current operator: Li Fan."
The instant the Sky-Evading Shuttle was activated, instructions on how to use it along with various precautions surfaced in Li Fan's mind one after another.
Li Fan's eyes lit up. Even as he inwardly marveled at it, he could not help but feel a tinge of regret.
*A fine treasure. In terms of sheer speed alone, it's probably several degrees faster than Zhong Shentong's Seven-Colored Divine Light.*
*Yet it is merely a sub-unit, meaning its various functions are subject to external control.*
*Not only that, but the shuttle's operating conditions, positional data, and even everything occurring inside it will almost certainly be monitored.*
Li Fan secretly surmised.
Before everyone could fully grasp the Sky-Evading Shuttle, Qi Buyi produced several dozen rectangular jade slips and distributed them.
Li Fan took one. On the slip, which was no larger than a palm, a black dot immediately appeared.
"Qi Buyi."
Upon touching it with his divine sense, he instantly sensed these three characters.
Immediately after, functional options such as "Communication," "Marking," "Transmission," and "Sharing" popped up.
"This is the Overseeing Heaven Record. To facilitate coordination, the alliance has specially equipped each of you with one."
"A complete map of the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven has already been charted within it."
"Once you log your information into the Overseeing Heaven Record, you can synchronize and share your real-time position."
"Anyone holding an Overseeing Heaven Record may view it at any time."
Qi Buyi continued her conscientious explanation to the crowd.
"Furthermore, if you encounter any unusual situations, you can mark and annotate locations on the map at any time to share intelligence."
"When you need to contact a specific member individually, you can also do so through the Overseeing Heaven Record."
"Now, please log in first, everyone."
Li Fan pondered for a brief moment, then sent his divine sense probing into the jade slip.
A moment later, a small black dot representing "Li Fan" appeared on the display within the jade slip.
One after another, the surrounding cultivators also appeared in sync on the Overseeing Heaven Record's display.
With a thought, Li Fan manipulated the display to zoom out.
Instantly, a map of the entire water-attribute grotto-heaven appeared before his eyes in minute detail.
Aside from the black dots representing people, there were blue marks indicating the locations of rare resources and red marks denoting danger zones.
There were also forbidden zones marked with one or two "X"s where travel was strictly discouraged.
There were even constantly shifting golden markers.
Those were the powerful primitive creatures inhabiting the water-attribute grotto-heaven.
Li Fan hungrily synchronized all the map information into the Dao Transformation Stone crystal within his sea of consciousness, preserving it securely.
*This style of map...*
While covertly pilfering the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' secrets, Li Fan suddenly found the map before him somewhat familiar.
An instant later, he realized why.
Back when the incident of the "blue ox pulling a cart and the Master teaching" had caused the inexplicable deaths of dozens of cultivators, he had undergone an investigation by the Heavenly Secret Hall as the sole survivor.
There, he had seen a similar map that charted countless secrets across the entirety of the Congyun Sea.
*An Overseeing Heaven Record, is it? Looking at it this way, it isn't limited to just the Congyun Sea and the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.*
*Perhaps every province and region under the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has this kind of map charted.*
While Li Fan was lost in thought, Qi Buyi was already delivering her mobilization address.
"The matter is urgent, and there is not much time for everyone to rest. Shortly, I will synchronize the construction plan for the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven's Spirit-Locking Formation to all of you."
"Each person's responsibilities will be allocated with absolute clarity."
"Everyone need only follow the established plan and execute it diligently."
"Of course, if anyone can exceed their assigned tasks, that would be even better."
Finally, Qi Buyi added, "Just as you have seen on the Overseeing Heaven Record's map, besides our Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, there are currently several primitive creatures inhabiting this water-attribute grotto-heaven."
"Though they are powerful, they haven't developed much higher intellect. For the most part, they remain in fixed locations and do not attack unprovoked."
"You need only avoid them. If you truly encounter danger, use the Sky-Evading Shuttle to flee."
...
With the briefing complete, Li Fan received his mission objectives.
Because the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens were on the verge of convergence, the plan for constructing the Spirit-Locking Formation was slightly different from that in other regions.
The main body of the formation was to be laid out in the void outside the grotto-heavens.
Inside the grotto-heavens, they would only construct corresponding connecting formation units at key nodes.
Afterward, these units would be shielded with specialized materials to ensure that even when the five elements converged into one, the formation would remain intact and undamaged.
The protective material was said to be Eternal Calamity Fine Gold, capable of withstanding the trials of chaotic destruction.
Such a treasure would naturally be placed personally by key figures.
What Li Fan needed to do was no different from his previous work in Chizha Abyss and the Spirit-Dissolving Ravine—simply serving as hard labor to construct the formation's basic structural units.
Without any complaints, the moment Qi Buyi declared the start of the operation, Li Fan took out the Sky-Evading Shuttle and silently focused his mind.
The black-gold object instantly came alive, flowing like liquid to envelop his entire body.
In the blink of an eye, a teardrop-shaped layer of armor formed around him.
"Evade!"
Following Li Fan's command, swept along by the Sky-Evading Shuttle, he transformed into a streak of black light.
It tore through the sky.
*The consumption of my own spiritual energy is practically negligible. As long as there is some spiritual energy in the outside world, this speed can be maintained indefinitely.*
Li Fan noted the sensation of piloting the Sky-Evading Shuttle.
During flight, the black-gold fluid around him gradually turned transparent, allowing him to observe the surrounding scenery without any obstruction.
Frictional resistance and even sound were shut out completely.
He could not feel that he was flying at breakneck speed at all.
Only the continuously receding, shifting scenery—which appeared slightly distorted due to excessive speed—proved how fast he was actually flying.
The simultaneous presence of extreme speed and extreme stillness felt entirely contradictory, causing Li Fan a slight sense of discomfort.
Soon, however, a prompt from the Sky-Evading Shuttle echoed in his mind, indicating that external volume could be adjusted.
Once he tuned the sound beside his ears up just a sliver, dispelling the absolute silence, that feeling of discomfort instantly vanished.
Locking onto the coordinates marked on the Overseeing Heaven Record in his mind, Li Fan flew in a straight line toward his objective.
Chapter 381