Chapter 945: All Is Ready
Chapter 945: All Is Ready
It had to be said, Yan Fangzhou looked as if he had truly lost his mind.
Even someone as perceptive as Li Fan couldn't tell if he was faking it at first glance.
"But it doesn't matter. A little test will reveal the truth."
With a mere thought, thousands upon thousands of hideous, terrifying specters and demons descended upon the formation.
Darkness enveloped the entire space.
The malformed monsters all turned their gazes upon Yan Fangzhou in unison.
Each wore a heart-stopping expression as they lunged toward him.
Instantly, the sounds of ghostly wails and monstrous howls reverberated through the air.
His eyes were bloodshot. As he looked at the countless ghouls surrounding him, he couldn't help but shudder.
But seeing the phantoms about to fall upon him, Yan Fangzhou gritted his teeth and roared in desperation, "I'll fight you to the death!"
He then summoned the last shred of his cultivation and threw himself into a desperate battle with the demonic specters.
"Not bad. The act is quite convincing. He almost had me fooled."
Li Fan offered a rare compliment.
But at his signal, the ferocious specters intensified their assault, their attacks growing even more savage.
Since they were all constructs of divine sense, every blow that landed on Yan Fangzhou inflicted not only physical trauma and pain but also a corresponding agony upon his soul.
The specters seemed to be toying with him, refraining from tearing him to shreds outright.
Instead, blow after blow, they seemed to rip tiny pieces from his very soul.
The wounds weren't fatal, but they amplified the torment a thousandfold.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!"
Yan Fangzhou let out a helpless, desperate roar before he was finally overwhelmed and swallowed by the swarm of ghouls.
"When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on a man, it must first test his will and strain his body..."
"Young man, I have high hopes for you."
Li Fan nodded in satisfaction.
His figure flickered and vanished, leaving the thousands of ghouls to continue Yan Fangzhou's "training."
Back in his private cultivation chamber, Li Fan mused to himself, "Now that my technique is in its initial stage, the aura it generates should be enough to impersonate the Law King Sun Xingwang."
"As for appearance and memories, I can conceal those with the [Secret Canon of Sitting in Oblivion]."
"One could say all is ready; I just need Mo Rubin to come knocking."
"I wonder how He Zhenghao is doing..."
Soon, through the faceless statue, a series of images flooded Li Fan's mind.
He Zhenghao had been praying less frequently of late.
It wasn't that his faith in the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal had weakened, but rather that he had been overwhelmingly busy.
He barely had time for a fleeting thought of gratitude before being interrupted by official business.
This so-called "official business" was the full-scale implementation of the [Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation].
Thanks to Li Fan's guidance, He Zhenghao had fully mastered the complete set of diagrams for the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation, along with a deep understanding of its principles.
And after a thorough review, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's Array Strategy Hall had also recognized the formation's viability.
The decision was made with surprising speed, a stark contrast to their usual dithering.
Approval from the higher-ups came through quickly, and the order was given: construct a true Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation as soon as possible.
At the same time, the Alliance headquarters would provide a sub-body of the Heavenly Profound Mirror to serve as a test subject for the formation's power.
This experiment was considered one of the Alliance's highest secrets.
He Zhenghao was transferred from the Array Strategy Hall headquarters to another, unknown location.
It was clearly a top-secret facility with numerous defensive measures; even the sensory images from the faceless statue became somewhat blurry.
But its power level was, after all, higher than that of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Thus, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance couldn't completely block Li Fan's prying eyes.
Knowing and understanding the formation's diagrams was an entirely different concept from being able to construct it independently.
He Zhenghao, who had spoken with such confidence in theory, encountered unimaginable difficulties when it came to actual practice.
However, the Alliance understood the difficulty of creating such a formation and dispatched six other exceptionally brilliant array masters to assist him.
They worked together, exploring and discussing the challenges.
Even the Chief of the Array Strategy Hall, Lu Xichan, would visit frequently to inquire about the formation's latest progress.
While this placed immense pressure on He Zhenghao, he also felt a thrill of excitement surging through him.
Pushing his innate talent for arrays to its absolute limit, he actually managed to create a preliminary version of the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation without once begging the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal for help.
A beam of dark light shot out, striking a small, ancient mirror positioned ahead.
The small mirror instinctively emitted a ripple of energy, as if to resist the dark light's corrosion.
The two forces clashed for a moment, but the contest ultimately ended with the ancient mirror's victory.
He Zhenghao's face was etched with disappointment.
The pent-up desire to prove himself finally gave way, and he collapsed on the spot.
His collapse sent the cultivators present into a flurry of panicked activity.
Although the first test had failed, the Alliance did not blame him.
On the contrary, they offered words of comfort.
They even made a promise: if the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation was successfully developed, the Alliance headquarters would personally intervene to arrange a marriage for He Zhenghao.
They would help him reconcile with Heng Ruoshui.
Upon hearing this, He Zhenghao, who had looked on the verge of death just a moment before...
...leaped up from his bed the very next second, ready to begin the next experiment immediately.
He Zhenghao knew that while the Heng family was powerful, they were nothing before the might of the entire Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
If the Alliance headquarters stepped in, the Heng family elders would have no grounds to obstruct their marriage.
Imagining a glorious return to the Heng family in the near future, He Zhenghao was instantly filled with boundless energy.
All fatigue and hardship were forgotten.
Watching this scene, Li Fan couldn't help but shake his head.
"Since they've already investigated He Zhenghao's past so thoroughly, they must also know about his meteoric rise after joining the Congyun Mutual Aid Association."
"Now it's just a matter of when Mo Rubin comes looking for me."
A faint light glimmered in Li Fan's eyes.
However, waiting passively had never been Li Fan's style.
He decided to take the initiative and stir up some trouble to attract Mo Rubin's attention.
With a flicker of his form, Li Fan left the Spirit Wood Realm.
After flying at high speed for half a day, he arrived in the border province of Nine Mountains Prefecture.
The Nine Mountains Prefecture of today was no longer a vast, empty plain.
Ever since the Five Elders Council had offered its apology, Nine Mountains Prefecture had returned to the rule of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
Furthermore, this was the place where the Heavenly Venerate's avatar had first displayed its divine might, so it had attracted many Alliance cultivators who came to observe the site.
Some cultivators even tried to comprehend the Heavenly Venerate's lethal divine abilities by studying the area.
Combined with the fact that the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance now held an absolute strategic advantage, there was no immediate threat of an invasion from the Five Elders Council.
As a result, this once-barren borderland had become quite bustling.
The new floating sky-city was not yet complete, so most cultivators were resting inside a defensive fortress on the ground.
When discussing the previous great war with the Five Elders Council, the cultivators were still buzzing with excitement.
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