Adhering to the principle of never wasting a single moment, the Dao Transformation Stone within Li Fan’s sea of consciousness operated at full capacity, its multi-threading mode activating once more.
Outwardly, Li Fan appeared to be idle.
In truth, he was multitasking, simultaneously studying arrays, thoroughly reading the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture , and accumulating cultivation for the Tribulation Body. His mind worked on multiple fronts, orderly and methodical.
Taking the silver token in hand, he sent his divine sense into it. A flood of information instantly appeared in his mind.
It was called the Cosmic Token, an artifact forged as a set with the Cosmos Branch Academy.
Beyond basic functions like communication and storage, its primary use was to control the residential courtyards within the branch academy.
The dwellings in the branch academy were divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. Each grade offered different privileges.
The one Li Fan had been assigned to was of the upper grade.
Likely based on the results of the previous test. Li Fan thought to himself.
Li Fan stored the token away and browsed the latest trending events with the Tianxuan Mirror.
Most were local news from the surrounding regions rather than incidents affecting the entire Xuanhuang World, but the sheer density of information and the number of people discussing it far exceeded what he'd seen in the Congyun Sea, leaving him with an undeniable sense of the region's prosperity.
He skimmed across the multitude of messages.
"Another strange occurrence at the Chaoyuan Sect ruins. This time, even a Spirit Transformation cultivator was lost inside. Fellow Daoists, best not to take the risk!"
"Immortal Venerable Jicheng has resigned as Commander of the Garrison Command. Rumor has it he was struck by a sinister technique during a battle with a Dao Unity infiltrator from the Five Elders Council during the Heavenly Venerables’ game of bluff. His lifespan was drastically reduced. He is weary and no longer has the strength to oversee major affairs."
"Another cultivator this year has comprehended the Dao before the Mortal to Spirit Transformation Wall in Tianyun Province, ultimately achieving a Five-Law Golden Core!"
"Martial Madman has recently been spotted near Tianquan Province. Fellow Daoists, take care to avoid him!"
"Old Man Fisher appeared yesterday in Xiaoxiang City, Tianshu Province. He is expected to remain for about seven days. Those who wish to take this opportunity, make haste!"
Old Man Fisher... Li Fan’s interest was piqued, and he tapped to read more.
It turned out this Old Man Fisher was a cultivator who appeared utterly mad, with no one knowing his true cultivation level.
Dressed as a fisherman, he was constantly muttering that he had lost something. His whereabouts were erratic, with records of his appearance in every province.
The so-called opportunity was a matter of pure luck.
One would show Old Man Fisher their possessions to see if any matched what he had lost.
Usually, Old Man Fisher would shake his head repeatedly, saying none of it was his. Occasionally, however, he would take an interest in a particular item and propose an exchange.
Old Man Fisher was exceedingly generous. The techniques or artifacts he offered were almost always far more valuable than what the cultivator traded them for.
Thus, many cultivators were eager to try their luck.
Of course, there had been foolish cultivators who considered simply robbing him. None who attempted this survived.
Interesting... A pity that once you enter this Cosmos Branch Academy, you cannot leave until the closed-door training concludes. Otherwise, it would be fun to travel and join the excitement.
Taking in this information, Li Fan sighed inwardly.
After cultivating within the small courtyard for several days, Li Fan finally received a message through the Cosmic Token.
All trainees had arrived. The intensive training would officially begin tomorrow.
Simultaneously, a set of white clothes and a small, glittering golden sphere appeared within the Cosmic Token.
The sphere was made of an unknown material, feeling incredibly hard to the touch. Yet, divine sense could not penetrate it.
Upon closer inspection, golden radiance flowed within the sphere, as if some kind of liquid existed inside.
Li Fan changed into the white garments and waited quietly for the training to begin.
The following day, a wave of fluctuations surged from the Cosmic Token, followed by an eruption of silver light.
Enveloped in the light, Li Fan arrived on a vast, open plain.
In the sky, wearing identical garments, were over a thousand other people.
According to what Zhang Zhiliang said earlier, three slots in this intensive training were reserved for the Congyun Sea province.
Does this mean there are more than three hundred such provinces within the territory of the Myriad Immortals Alliance?
No, perhaps some provinces have more slots reserved for them.
Even so, it shows the sheer vastness of this Xuanhuang World.
As Li Fan pondered this, the white-robed Ji Hongdao he had previously met quietly appeared above the assembled crowd.
He swept his gaze across them and declared in a clear voice, "You should already know the purpose of this training.
"It is to accelerate the universal implementation of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array throughout our Myriad Immortals Alliance, ensuring that every enemy from the Five Elders Council is left with nowhere to hide.
"The Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array—you’ve surely heard its name many times before. But few of you have likely seen the real thing.
"Today, you shall witness it for yourselves."
As Ji Hongdao finished speaking, the image of a mirror suddenly flashed into existence above the crowd.
Then, three colossal pillars of light descended from the heavens, piercing through sky and earth, each locking onto a specific location on the plain below.
Witnessing this, the crowd was first stunned, then focused their minds, extending their senses toward the positions marked by the light pillars.
Li Fan frowned slightly, for no matter how he probed with his senses, the marked locations seemed completely empty.
Judging by the expressions of those around him, nearly everyone felt the same.
At this moment, Ji Hongdao spoke again. "Surprised? Clearly, your senses detect nothing there. Yet the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array has marked them nonetheless..."
His voice suddenly rose a notch. "This is the Five Elders Council's stealth technique, Unity of Dao and Self. It is precisely by relying on this technique that they have repeatedly violated our borders as if walking through unguarded land.
"But now, with the birth of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, that will be a matter of the past!"
Ji Hongdao pointed lightly. All three pillars of light flared at once.
The air distorted. At the marked locations, three disheveled cultivators, bound by shackles, were forcibly revealed.
These three cultivators stared up at Li Fan and the others in the sky, pure hatred burning in their eyes.
But they could not move or speak. They could only remain there, reduced to props in a demonstration.
"The fundamental principle of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array lies in the Soul Contract that every Five Elders Council cultivator is compelled to sign..."
Ji Hongdao began his lecture to the array prodigies gathered from various provinces.
To demonstrate the unique characteristics of a Five Elders Council cultivator's soul, he even used a secret technique to forcibly extract the soul of one of the captives.
The pillars of light followed that soul, which contained faint threads of golden light, as it moved.
Extracting a living soul was an agony difficult to describe with words.
Many of the younger cultivators present winced, their faces etched with pity at the sight.
Ji Hongdao gave a cold snort but said nothing, merely filing their reactions away in his mind.
Time flowed slowly onward as the lecture continued.
After clarifying the foundational structure of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, Ji Hongdao continued, "The key to constructing the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array lies in creating an array control hub capable of identifying these unique characteristics in a soul."