My Simulated Road to Immortality

Chapter 375: 352: Difficulties in Building the Array Technique

“As for safety, you needn’t worry.”

“Just as the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals always claims, an Integration Cultivator has already exceeded the capabilities of the Tianxuan Spirit Locking Array.”

“With your strength, Young Master, there’s no reason to fear a mere array formation, is there?”

“I believe that you would be more than willing to trade in a bit of your freedom for numerous benefits.”

“Aren’t you curious, Young Master, about what lies beneath the Abyss and beyond the Mist?”

Ji Hongdao’s words faded and soon after the Young Master’s distorted figure reappeared aboard the Dustcrosser Boat.

He didn’t say anything but merely eyed Ji Hongdao coldly, waiting for him to continue.

Ji Hongdao was not surprised by his reappearance, saying, “When the Tianxuan Soul Locking Array is fully constructed, the Tianxuan Mirror will achieve its next level of evolution.”

“At that time, the unfinished business of two hundred years ago might have a strong chance of success.”

“In addition, if the evolved Tianxuan Mirror wants to progress further, aside from encroaching upon the territory of the Five Elders Organization, it can only explore the Outer World.”

“The Element Devouring White Fog presents a breakthrough, and it won’t give up easily.”

“As long as it can spare the energy, the Element Devouring White Fog will definitely not hold us back, it’s just a matter of time.”

“What the Young Master should do is patiently wait.”

“After so many years, what’s the harm in waiting just a bit longer.”

The Young Master did not seem to be swayed by Ji Hongdao’s words and with a hint of mockery in his voice said, “Ji Hongdao, you haven’t changed a bit.”

Without waiting for a reply, his figure vanished again.

Ji Hongdao slowly turned his head, casting a look at the busy cultivators inside the Immortal Stronghold, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

The next day, Li Fan’s arduous work of Shaping the Abyss officially began.

In addition to Xue Mu, there were five other cultivators from the Tianyu State Array Hall helping him construct the Tianxuan Spirit Locking Array.

Unlike in ordinary provinces, where one only needed to consider the creation of the array and not worry about safety, constructing the Spirit-locking Formation here in the Roaring Abyss was extremely strenuous and required a joint effort from various departments.

Firstly, the Qingxuan army stationed in the Eternal Immortal Fortress, under intensive protection, painstakingly opened a clear path within the white mist where the formation could be laid.

Subsequently, cultivators from Tiantong Hall would select suitable locations within this path.

Cultivators from the Martial Arts Battle Hall would then promptly construct numerous footholds in collaboration with the Qingxuan Army before the White Mist could reclaim the territory.

These footholds served as the resting areas for Li Fan and the others after each laying of the array.

To improve construction efficiency, the Spirit-locking Formation that enveloped the Roaring Abyss was built simultaneously in several spots following the suggestion of Dou Xingsi, an experienced Array Master.

Each of the seven Array Masters started from one direction, expanding outward until the outer formations joined up.

Then they would construct the Central Core Array Technique inward.

In the end, when everything was ready, they would finally install the Array Hub for the last adjustments.

The plan itself was not problematic, but the actual construction was difficult beyond measure.

Even a tenacious man like Li Fan was almost exhausted by the process of building the Tianxuan Spirit Locking Array.

For instance, to deploy an array node in the White Mist, one had to first drive out the Element Devouring White Fog.

The vacuum area opened up by the Qingxuan Army couldn’t last long.

Before the return of the White Mist, Li Fan needed to race against time, completing the manufacture of a small array node for subsequent connection with other structures.

If he made a mistake or an accident occurred causing him to finish only half of a node within the given time, Li Fan would have to reluctantly retreat before the threateningly returning Element Devouring White Fog.

That would mean all efforts were in vain, and he would have to start over the next time.

The array nodes that had already been built were now drowned in the dense White Mist.

If there was a problem and they needed to be inspected, Li Fan would have to brave life-threatening risks, accompanied by several other cultivators, to venture deep into the White Mist to investigate.

What’s more, during all these operations, they constantly had to be on guard against the infiltrations of the Abyss Demon Sound.

Most of the time, the eruption of the Demon Sound was cyclical, like tidal surges, hence predictable.

The Qingxuan Army provided the timings of each sound tide for Li Fan and his team to avoid.

However, there were also unpredictable instances when the Demon Sound Tide attacked suddenly.

Although the spot where Li Fan set up the array was outside the Roaring Abyss, and the might of the Demon Sound was largely absorbed by the Eternal Immortal Fortress, when he was directly facing the Demon Sound tide, Li Fan truly felt like a frail flame in the storm.

The resentful, sharp, and terrifying sounds hovered around him.

They caused his mind to be on the verge of being lost.

Once, the danger level was so high that even the energy of his [Real] protective armor dropped by several percentage points.

Fortunately, the Qingxuan Army was professional in dealing with the Abyss Demon Sound.

Despite the danger, they never panicked.

They protected Li Fan in the middle while each of them took out their own peculiar treasures that swallowed sound.

A unique black stone, filled with cavities.

A faceless creature with only two ears.

A green grass that danced with the sound.

There was a wide variety of these and there were also several times where Li Fan saw the Red Exotic Beasts of Wanlai Island.

All were incredibly effective.

Once summoned, the tempestuous Demon Sound would immediately vanish.

However, Li Fan keenly observed that after a certain amount of the Demon Sound was absorbed, these exotic beasts and treasures seemed to undergo some sort of change.

The beasts would become wilder and harder to control, while the treasures occasionally emitted strange sounds outwards on their own.

Therefore, the Qingxuan Army replaced the treasures at regular intervals.

Once their own supplies were exhausted, they needed to go back to the Eternal Immortal Fortress to replenish.

Besides the sound-absorbing treasures, the [Black Death Talisman] which helped in maintaining footholds and allowed cultivators to survive in the Element Devouring White Fog was also a consumable.

If for any reason the preparation was delayed, the construction would be forced to halt.

In short, constructing the Tianxuan Spirit Locking Array in the vast White Mist proved to be several times harder than in normal provinces.

Perhaps it was because of this difficulty that despite the slow progress, Li Fan’s ranking in the Grand Competition Gold List didn’t fall behind much.

He managed to remain mostly around the top hundred.

The current score difference wasn’t too big, and the top ten contendants frequently shifted.

The center of everyone’s attention, however, was the last place among the 783 competitors.

The Golden Core Cultivator Guo Yezhong.

Nearly a year after the official start of the Grand Competition, his score remained at zero, unmoving.

He was the only one out of the entire list in such a situation, making him even more conspicuous than the first place.

The cultivators speculated that either Guo Yezhong was stranded somewhere or he had defected.