Ji Hongdao seemed oblivious to the disappearance of the other party and continued on as if talking to himself, “What Lord Shao should be concerned about is simply being trapped within the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array, nothing more.”

“In terms of safety, there’s no need to worry.”

“As the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has always proclaimed, cultivators who have achieved Dao Integration have already surpassed the capabilities of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array.”

“With Lord Shao’s strength, you shouldn’t feel fearful towards a mere array, right?”

“If a bit of freedom can be exchanged for sufficient benefits, I believe Lord Shao would be more than willing.”

“Beneath the abyss, beyond the mist, isn’t Lord Shao curious about what lies there?”

After Ji Hongdao finished speaking, the distorted figure of the Lord Shao reappeared on the Dust Crossing Boat.

Without a word, he just stared coldly at Ji Hongdao, waiting for his next words.

Ji Hongdao wasn’t surprised by his departure and return, “Once the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array is fully constructed, the Tianxuan Mirror will also undergo another refinement.”

“By then, there might be a great chance to resolve the unfinished matters from two hundred years ago.”

“Furthermore, if the refined Tianxuan Mirror wants to advance further, apart from encroaching on the territory of the Five Elders Council, it will inevitably explore beyond the boundaries.”

“As a breakthrough point, the Age Devouring White Mist will naturally not give up easily.”

“As long as it expends its energy, the Age Devouring White Mist will surely be unable to stop it. It’s just a matter of how much time it will take.”

“What Lord Shao needs to do is to patiently wait.”

“So many years have passed, does it matter now?”

Lord Shao seemed unaffected by Ji Hongdao’s words, his voice tinged with sarcasm, “Ji Hongdao, you really haven’t changed at all.”

Without waiting for a response, his figure disappeared once again.

Ji Hongdao slowly turned his head, looking back at the busy cultivators within the distant immortal stronghold, a faint smile playing on his lips.

…

The next day, Li Fan’s arduous task of commanding the construction within the Abyss of Roars officially began.

Aside from Xue Mu, the formation masters responsible for collaborating to construct the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array included five cultivators from the Tianyu Province Formation Pavilion.

Unlike in ordinary provinces where they only needed to consider the construction of the array, here, outside the Abyss of Roars, building the Locking Spirit Array was extremely challenging and required the combined efforts of multiple departments.

First, the garrison stationed at the Eternal Immortal Stronghold, known as the “Azure Mystery,” under layers of protection, painstakingly carved out a blank passage in the white mist where formations could be laid.

Subsequently, cultivators from the Tianji Pavilion stepped forward to select suitable positions within the passage.

Cultivators from the Martial Hall, in coordination with the Azure Mystery garrison, swiftly constructed dozens of footholds before reclaiming lost territory within the white mist.

These footholds became resting places for Li Fan and his group after each formation deployment.

In order to increase construction efficiency, at the suggestion of the experienced formation master Dou Xingsi, the Locking Spirit Array enveloping the Abyss of Roars adopted a method of simultaneous construction with multiple points of blossoming.

The seven formation masters each began expanding outward from a different direction, eventually converging the outer perimeter formations.

Then, they constructed the central core formation inward.

Finally, after everything was completed, they placed the central formation pivot and performed the final debugging.

The plan had no major issues, but the actual construction process was extremely arduous.

Even Li Fan, known for his toughness, was almost exhausted by the process of building the formation.

For instance, in order to set up formation nodes within the white mist, the Age Devouring White Mist had to be expelled first.

The vacuum zones created by the Azure Mystery army were not sustainable.

Before the white mist returned, Li Fan had to race against time to complete the production of a small formation node, which would later connect to other formation structures.

If a mistake or accident resulted in only half-finished work within the designated time, Li Fan had no choice but to temporarily retreat in the face of the surging Age Devouring White Mist.

It was as if all previous efforts had been in vain, and they would have to start over again next time.

Furthermore, the previously constructed formation nodes, submerged in the thick white mist, would require Li Fan to risk his life, accompanied by several cultivators, to venture into the mist for inspection if any maintenance was needed.

Not to mention, throughout the entire process, they had to constantly guard against the invasion of the Abyssal Demonic Sounds.

Most of the time, the eruption of Demonic Sounds followed a tidal pattern, with a predictable rhythm provided by the Azure Mystery army to allow Li Fan and his team to evade.

However, there were also unexpected situations where a sudden surge of Demonic Sounds occurred.

Although the position where Li Fan was constructing the formation was already outside the Abyss of Roars, the Demonic Sounds passed through the Eternal Immortal Stronghold, and most of their power had been absorbed.

But when facing a full-on onslaught of Demonic Sounds, Li Fan truly felt what it was like to be a flame extinguishing in a storm.

The resentful, sharp, and terrifying sounds surrounded him,

threatening to cloud his senses.

At one point, the danger was so severe that even the protective energy of Truth decreased by several percentage points.

Fortunately, the Azure Mystery army was professional in dealing with the Abyssal Demonic Sounds.

During these critical moments, they remained calm and composed.

They guarded Li Fan in the center while each took out treasures capable of devouring sound.

One such treasure was a peculiar black stone riddled with holes,

bearing only a faceless figure with two ears.

There were also green grasses that danced with the sound, among many other varieties.

Li Fan even encountered the red-haired exotic beasts from the Myriad Sound Island several times.

The effects were extremely significant.

Once activated, the overwhelming demonic sounds would immediately disappear.

However, Li Fan keenly observed that after devouring a certain amount of demonic sound, these exotic beasts and treasures seemed to undergo some kind of transformation.

The beasts became more restless and difficult to control, while the treasures occasionally emitted eerie sounds on their own.

Therefore, the Azure Mystery army generally replaced these treasures periodically.

When the reserves were depleted, they needed to replenish supplies at the Eternal Immortal Stronghold.

In addition to sound-suppressing treasures, there were also consumables like the “Black Death Talisman,” which sustained the stronghold and allowed cultivators to survive in the Age Devouring White Mist.

If, for some reason, the provisioning was delayed, the construction would be forced to halt.

In short, constructing the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array within the vast white mist was many times more difficult than in ordinary provinces.

Perhaps for this reason, despite the slow progress, Li Fan’s ranking on the Gold List hadn’t fallen far behind.

But what was more eye-catching than the top performers was the last place among the seven hundred and eighty-three cultivators.

The Golden Core cultivator, Guo Yezhong.

It had been nearly a year since the official start of the Grand Competition, yet his score remained at zero, unmoving.

He was the only one on the entire list like this, making him stand out more than the first place.

Cultivators speculated one after another that Guo Yezhong either disappeared and was trapped somewhere or he had simply defected.