Li Fan had no idea why an ancient illusion had appeared here at the moment of the convergence of the five elements—or why he was the only one who could see it.
Even so, he was convinced that the words spoken by the master and disciple of the Crossing Adversity Sect were no idle ramblings.
*Could the sudden convergence of the five elements in the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven also be the result of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals excessively exploiting the resources of a grotto-heaven of a particular element?*
Thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind. After pondering for a moment, he decided he could not simply sit and wait for death. If that colossal explosion truly occurred, even the Dust-Crossing Boat might not be safe.
Without delay, Li Fan contacted Qi Buyi through his Overseeing Heaven Record and recounted the bizarre scene he had just witnessed.
To his surprise, Qi Buyi showed not the slightest hint of panic upon receiving the report.
"Oh, so it's a Time Mirage! You're quite lucky, Fellow Daoist..."
"Wait, if I recall, you're only at the Golden Core realm, aren't you? You can sense it too?"
"It seems your divine soul must be exceptionally resilient, far beyond ordinary cultivators."
Through her explanation, Li Fan finally understood what this so-called Time Mirage was.
It was just like how the Mortal Transcending to Soul Formation Wall in Tianyun Province had preserved the scene of Mr. Bai transcending from a mortal to Soul Formation in a single bound. When specific conditions were met, a scene in this world could be recorded and then repeatedly replayed at special points in time.
When the five elements converged and being returned to non-being, the Time Mirage phenomenon was especially prone to happen.
Many years ago, when the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven had undergone a convergence of the five elements, a master and disciple from the Crossing Adversity Sect had passed by. The master had explained the phenomenon to his disciple, and that very scene had been captured by a Time Mirage.
Now, after countless cycles, the convergence of the five elements was happening once again. The scene of the master dispelling his disciple's doubts replayed, and Li Fan—whose divine soul had grown powerful from cultivating the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation—sensed it.
***
Although Qi Buyi's words clarified the origin of the illusion, they did not entirely put Li Fan's mind at ease.
Frowning, Li Fan asked, "Senior Qi, will the catastrophic explosion mentioned in the mirage truly occur? Should we take some defensive measures?"
Qi Buyi gave a light laugh. "Don't worry, it's a minor matter. Back when we first discovered the signs of the five elements converging, we anticipated all sorts of possibilities. That explosion is fully within our calculations.
"Fellow Daoist, just sit back and watch in peace.
"Besides, the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation is already nearly complete. Why gild the lily and bother with extra defenses?"
Qi Buyi went quiet after that, but the meaning behind her words plunged Li Fan into deep contemplation.
*The Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock is enough to disregard a catastrophic explosion caused by the imbalance of the five elements?*
A flicker of doubt crossed Li Fan's mind.
Just as Zhang Zhiliang had said, even the builders of the Spirit-Locking Formation, like Li Fan and the others, did not necessarily know the true power of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation. In the present Xuanhuang Realm, perhaps only a handful of people truly knew what kind of terrifying might a fully activated Spirit-Locking Formation could unleash.
*This happens to be an opportunity to see in advance what kind of divine abilities this creation we toiled over for years actually possesses.*
Li Fan remained skeptical that a formation intended ostensibly for "surveillance" could withstand a catastrophic explosion that would return everything to chaos. However, since Qi Buyi had spoken with such certainty, she was definitely not making baseless claims. The presence of the Eternal Calamity Fine Gold used to protect the formation nodes also proved that the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was indeed thoroughly prepared.
With that, Li Fan stood by the edge of the Dust-Crossing Boat, quietly gazing downward and waiting for the convergence of the five elements.
Resembling mixed paints, the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens grew increasingly chaotic and disorderly. Tremendous rumbles and collisions even breached the heavy barriers of space, echoing up onto the Dust-Crossing Boat.
The branches of inverted giant trees grew wildly, spreading across the azure ocean. Raging flames burned everything to ash, and from the ashes arose verdant wood.
***
Bizarre scenes entirely contrary to the natural world continually played out within the doomed Five Elements Grotto-Heavens.
As time passed, the five elemental grotto-heavens fused ever tighter. In the sea traversed by root systems, metal and stone thrust upward, warped, and melted into scorched earth. Soon after, fire sprang forth from the wasteland, where wood and water collided.
Gradually, as the process of the five elements converging accelerated, even these grotesque spectacles ceased to exist. All that remained were variegated spiritual energies of the five attributes swirling and tangling together, painting the grotto-heavens below into an utterly abstract canvas.
Li Fan focused his spirit, watching the dying grotto-heavens unblinkingly.
The colors grew fainter and fainter.
An unseen darkness, like a ferocious beast, devoured the remaining hues with increasing speed.
Yet, once the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven region had completely turned into nothingness, many indescribable shades still seemed to linger. Then, these entities—appearing grey as a whole—proliferated violently.
Like a massive, relentlessly churning vortex continuously absorbing the surrounding darkness, the region below now looked like a rapidly expanding palette of pigments.
Staring at it made Li Fan feel a sudden wave of dizziness. Even so, he forced himself not to look away. He had a faint premonition that observing this catastrophic explosion of elemental imbalance might bring him immense benefit.
At this moment, the anomaly in the void below also caught the attention of the other cultivators. They called over their friends to watch, yet none of them showed any trace of worry—clearly possessing absolute faith in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
The multicolored palette spun faster and faster until, at a certain moment, it reached its absolute limit.
An extremely perilous aura suddenly erupted from below.
Li Fan instinctively took a step back.
A light akin to the dawn of creation illuminated the dark void. Absolute white was born, carrying power that could obliterate heaven and earth, ready to sweep across everything around it.
Right at that moment...
Beyond the void, a gleam of cyan light flashed into existence.
Then, along the nodes and conduits of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation that Li Fan and the others had constructed, it spread at astonishing speed—several times faster than the white light born of the explosion.
In an instant, crisscrossing lines of fine cyan light formed a colossal net, completely enclosing the blast radius.
Then, before the cultivators could even react, countless cyan threads erupted from the main conduits in an unending, boundless cascade.
In the blink of an eye, the blinding white light vanished. In its place before the eyes of the gathered cultivators was a colossal cocoon enveloped in cyan light.
With a squirm, the light cocoon abruptly shrank by several degrees. Meanwhile, the cyan glow along the main conduits of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation shone with mounting brilliance, just like a pulsing heart continuously pumping blood.
To the utter astonishment of the watching cultivators, the cyan cocoon shrank smaller and smaller until it vanished completely.
Having effortlessly resolved the catastrophic explosion born of the elemental imbalance, the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation radiated its cyan splendor across the dark void without restraint.
"Is this the power of the Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock?"
Li Fan stood dazed as well.
He was utterly certain that even in the ancient cultivation world where Dao Integration experts roamed everywhere, resolving such a terrifying explosion with such effortless ease would have been impossible. Yet the present-day Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had done so with trivial ease, relying solely on the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation.
Suddenly, a chill welled up in Li Fan's heart.
Its defense was already like this.
Could the Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock truly possess no means of offense?
Chapter 388