"What? You want to return to the outpost and continue working on the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array?
"Have you lost your mind?"
Hao Hui was first startled when the aged, decrepit Li Fan suddenly appeared before him.
Then, when Li Fan stated his request, Hao Hui thought he had misheard, and utter disbelief registered on his face.
Finally, after repeated confirmations, he laughed in exasperation and flatly refused.
"Fellow Daoist Li, you have already done more than enough. Leave the rest to the other array masters.
"Given your current condition, it is truly not a good idea to continue array construction work."
Hesitating for a moment, Hao Hui still offered his advice: "Fellow Daoist, you were trapped in the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist for too long. Your lifespan is nearly exhausted.
"Your best course now is to seize every possible moment to cultivate, and try to break through to the Nascent Soul realm before your time runs out.
"With your talent, I believe defying fate is not entirely impossible for you."
Although Li Fan wholeheartedly agreed with Hao Hui's words, he still shook his head, forcibly quashing his true feelings. "I appreciate your kindness, Fellow Daoist. But a man must know his own limits. With the lifespan I have left, reaching the Nascent Soul realm is utterly impossible!
"Rather than wasting time on such a meaningless endeavor, I should use what mobility I have left to contribute my final ounce of strength to building the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Arrays.
"If I can witness the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Arrays enveloping all the territories of the Myriad Immortals Alliance within my lifetime, I can die without regret!"
Li Fan's expression was solemn, his words righteous and firm.
"If my remaining days are spent in idle mediocrity, waiting blindly for death, I will not rest in peace. I beg you to grant me this last wish, Fellow Daoist!"
Looking at the utterly serious Li Fan, Hao Hui was struck speechless.
His instinct was to refuse, yet facing the other's utterly sincere gaze, he was filled with an indescribable feeling.
"...Very well. Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I will relay your request."
As if afraid to continue facing Li Fan, Hao Hui hurriedly departed.
Li Fan waited patiently.
A short while later, Hao Hui returned, his expression complex.
"Fellow Daoist Li, the higher-ups have agreed to your request. Once this demonic sound tide subsides, our Qingxuan Garrison will dispatch an escort to return you to the front lines."
"In that case, I thank you, Brother Hao." Li Fan seemed to let out a sigh of relief, nodding in gratitude.
“Fellow Daoist Li Fan... why? Truly, why?” Seeing the profound relief on the white-haired Li Fan’s face after his wish was granted, Hao Hui could not help but ask this.
No matter how he tried, his brain simply couldn’t process Li Fan’s actions.
Li Fan simply smiled without replying. Then he cupped his hands in salute and strode away.
The bewildered Hao Hui remained rooted to the spot for a long while, questioning his entire existence.
As expected, news that Li Fan, who already had one foot in the grave, was preparing to return to the front lines of array construction spread through Severed Hand Immortal City in an instant.
Amid the ensuing uproar, voices of skepticism inevitably arose.
Yet half a month later, when Li Fan departed the Eternal Immortal Fortress for Outpost 01-11 under the watchful gaze of countless onlookers, escorted by several dozen soldiers of the Qingxuan Garrison... all doubts vanished.
The cultivators were stunned by Li Fan’s choice, and at the same time, felt ashamed of their own narrow, selfish thoughts. Compared to the sacrifice Li Fan had made, their own decades of guardianship in the Roaring Abyss, far from home, suddenly seemed insignificant.
Thus, a new wave began to surge within the Qingxuan Garrison. They no longer spoke of hardship at every turn. Instead, they began to compete over who had served the longest in the Roaring Abyss.
Li Fan, upon arriving at Outpost 01-11, was unaware of all this. Thanks to his timely call for aid, reinforcements from the Eternal Immortal Fortress had arrived before the outpost's supplies were exhausted, averting a tragedy.
While the surviving cultivators received some punishment for allowing Li Fan to venture alone into the White Mist, it was nothing compared to keeping their lives.
Moreover, due to Li Fan's intercession, cultivators like He Chen and Kong Yu ultimately returned to Outpost 01-11 to atone for their failures by assisting Li Fan with array construction.
To ensure Li Fan's safety, the Eternal Immortal Fortress tripled the size of his guard detail. The stockpiled resources they brought were beyond imagination, allowing for lavish expenditure with no further worry about shortages.
And Li Fan did not rest for a single moment. Once the long-raging demonic sound tide finally subsided, he immediately resumed construction of the Soul-Locking Array.
He Chen and the others owed him their lives. Meanwhile, the members of the Qingxuan Garrison had their orders and obeyed Li Fan's words without question. Thus, within the confines of the small Outpost 01-11, Li Fan attained absolute authority. His commands were followed with 120% dedication, as smoothly as moving his own arm.
Coupled with Li Fan's own personality overhaul—transforming from someone who slacked off whenever possible into a workaholic who didn’t know the meaning of rest—the speed of the array's construction nearly doubled compared to before.
The earlier demonic sound tide had forced a halt to the work, causing Li Fan's ranking on the competition's golden leaderboard to plummet to the very bottom, hovering around 600th place. Yet once the team resumed construction, his ranking began to climb steadily.
Li Fan's rise on the leaderboard attracted little attention. The most eye-catching figure on the entire leaderboard remained Guo Yezhong, with his zero points. This man seemed to hold the so-called competition in utter contempt.
Cultivators gossiped endlessly, but the Myriad Immortals Alliance took no special action. Rumors simply circulated in the shadows that Guo Yezhong was still within Alliance territory and had neither defected nor given up on the competition. When asked, he would only reply, "Who will win and who will lose? It’s still too early to say for sure."
While Li Fan threw himself wholly into the array construction, enduring the torment within his own heart, the anecdotes surrounding him began to spread rapidly beyond Severed Hand Immortal City at the behest of certain interested parties.
His moving story was recounted in lavish detail—how, after suffering a great crisis and with his lifespan nearly spent, he still mustered his last ounce of strength to construct the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array.
Soon, virtually every Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivator not in secluded meditation knew of Li Fan's deeds. Whether they believed it or not was another matter.
Li Fan's communication spirit talisman was quickly overwhelmed. Old acquaintances from his days at the Cosmos Branch Academy, including He Zhenghao, Shen Yuzi, and others, all sent messages of inquiry.
There were simply too many, forcing Li Fan to set up an automatic reply, briefly explaining the situation.
His friends, of course, all expressed deep regret and sighed on his behalf, while simultaneously holding him in the highest esteem. A few even promised to search for life-extending treasures for him.
Li Fan thanked each of them in turn. Then, without pause, he threw himself back into the construction of the array.
And so, two years passed.
On this day, a beam of multicolored light pierced through the White Mist, streaking directly toward Severed Hand Immortal City.