Li Fan was clearly not the only one who had noticed this.
After the battle ended, watching the Fallen Wood turn to ash amidst the roaring flames, Yan Hang and the others showed not the slightest hint of excitement.
"Damn it, these monsters seem to have grown stronger again," Yan Hang cursed, his expression grim as he stared at a withered yellow wound on his arm.
The other four were also wounded to varying degrees.
"Let's report the battle situation right away. Hopefully higher-ups can come up with a good solution soon. Otherwise, I doubt we'll be able to hold out for much longer," sighed Li Shifeng, one of the four.
Yan Hang snorted coldly without arguing. Opening his Overseeing Heaven Record, he closed his eyes and began his report.
Li Fan was likewise examining the Overseeing Heaven Record.
Compared to when he had first entered the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, the information recorded within it was far more extensive.
"Overall formation completion progress: 78%."
"On schedule—in fact, a bit faster than originally projected."
"Yet clearly, things here are spiraling somewhat out of control."
"I wonder what measures the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals will take next."
Li Fan's eyes flickered, his hands working without pause.
Could the Alliance truly complete the construction of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation on schedule?
Li Fan was almost certain they could.
Currently, the vast majority of the main operational force inside the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens was only at the Nascent Soul realm.
And the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was by no means lacking in Soul Formation cultivators.
They clearly had yet to commit their full strength.
If the Alliance discovered that the current workforce was insufficient to accomplish the objective, they would naturally ramp up their investment.
As for whether the cultivators currently inside the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens could survive until the day reinforcements arrived, that was another matter entirely.
...
Just as Li Fan anticipated, the ever-increasing strength of the grotto-heaven monsters threw everyone into a panic.
Qi Buyi soon stepped forward to reassure the cultivators.
First, she explained to them that due to the principle of mutual overcoming among the five elements, the five-attribute fusion monster that everyone feared would not actually appear.
In the most extreme scenario, at most a four-attribute fusion monster would be born.
Even that would only occur in the final stages of the convergence of the five elements.
What everyone needed to deal with were still primarily monsters formed from fusions of two or three attributes.
Second, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters was already aware of the situation in the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.
Reinforcements would arrive soon.
Furthermore, the reinforcements would be immense in scale, with their total numbers exceeding all the cultivators currently working in the grotto-heavens combined.
There was no need for anyone to worry.
Although everyone took Qi Buyi's words with a grain of salt, having received a definite assurance, the cultivators breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Their anxieties eased slightly, and they continued their work with uneasy hearts, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements.
Time flowed on amidst this ever-tense atmosphere.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed since Li Fan entered the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.
During this period, cultivators indeed arrived in succession as reinforcements.
However, they fell far short of the massive force Qi Buyi had promised.
Whenever questioned, Qi Buyi deflected with various excuses.
Nevertheless, two new Dao Integration cultivators arrived to hold down the fort, which brought considerable peace of mind to everyone.
And as more reinforcing cultivators arrived, everyone learned from them the reason why the promised reinforcements had been so long in coming.
Over the past two years, the outside world had been in great turmoil, with many major events unfolding.
First were the external woes.
The Five Elders Association had once again massed troops along the border, repeatedly probing and provoking.
Unlike in the past, however, they showed no intention of initiating a large-scale conflict.
Instead, they concentrated all their forces on Fenglei Province, which bordered Tianling Province.
According to widespread rumors, the Five Elders Association coveted the mysteries of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation and sought to seize an entire province from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals to conduct a thorough and meticulous analysis of the formation.
Li Fan, however, knew that this was merely a pretext on the surface.
The true objective of the Five Elders Association was undoubtedly the void in Tianling Province that nurtured the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.
"It seems paper cannot wrap up fire after all. Indeed, after two years, the Alliance's unusual movements in Tianling Province were more than enough to arouse their suspicion," Li Fan pondered privately.
In addition to the pressure brought by the Five Elders Association, all was not calm within the borders of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals either.
During this period, numerous voices opposing the rollout of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation suddenly emerged across various regions.
Moreover, those speaking out were no mere nobodies.
Most were cultivators at or above the Soul Formation realm who occupied important positions across various provinces.
For reasons unknown, these cultivators—who had only recently voiced unanimous, absolute support for the Spirit-Locking Formation construction plan—suddenly reversed their stance and raised clear banners of opposition.
Nor was their opposition contrarian for its own sake; rather, they presented substantial arguments and reasons.
Their arguments were as follows:
As everyone knew, no matter how exquisite a formation was, the day would always come when it would be deciphered and dismantled.
In past history, there had been numerous instances where protective formations were compromised without the Alliance's knowledge, leaving them caught completely off guard by the enemy.
This was the very reason why protective formations had to be overhauled and replaced in their entirety every so often.
Now, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was sparing no effort or expense to construct a Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation covering their entire territory—could they guarantee that it would remain effective forever? If it were deciphered and neutralized by the Five Elders Association shortly after completion, would that not be the ultimate mockery?
In addition, these individuals harbored serious doubts about whether the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation could achieve its advertised effects.
For the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable, who had been haunting the territory of the Alliance like a lingering phantom, had grown increasingly rampant of late.
High-ranking cultivators in many provinces had fallen victim to his venomous hands.
Even in certain provinces where the construction of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation had already been completed, it had merely slowed the pace of his killings; ultimately, he had slipped away regardless.
Besides, even if he were truly caught, what then?
If the Five Elders Association could cultivate one Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable, they could inevitably cultivate a second and a third.
When first promoted, the greatest significance of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation was to ensure that all Five Elders Association cultivators within Alliance borders would have nowhere to hide.
And now?
The enemy wreaked havoc openly and boldly across their territory, yet the Alliance was utterly helpless.
What use, then, was this Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation?
It had to be said that their arguments were extraordinarily compelling.
Consequently, when they raised these challenges to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters, they resonated with many people.
As the wave of opposition grew increasingly fierce, headquarters uncharacteristically refrained from punishing these dissenters, falling instead into an eerie silence.
Against this backdrop, the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable's movements grew ever more elusive, and his slaughter ever more ruthless.
Aside from these external woes and internal troubles, Li Fan also heard of an intriguing development.
As tensions steadily escalated, an organization named the Lingyuan Sect in Jiushan Province, along the border between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association, had recently been flourishing.
It had genuinely drawn the attention of many cultivators.
All of this was due to a bizarre cultivation method within the Lingyuan Sect:
The more people who practiced it at the same time, the faster their cultivation speed became.
Chapter 384