Li Fan didn't know why an ancient mirage had appeared at this moment when the five elements were converging, nor why he alone could see it. But he believed the words spoken by that master and disciple of the Deliverance Sect were not baseless.
Could the sudden convergence of five elements also be caused by the Myriad Immortals Alliance's excessive exploitation of resources from a grotto-heaven of a particular attribute?
His thoughts raced. After a moment of contemplation, he decided he couldn't just wait passively. If a great explosion truly occurred, even the Dust-Crossing Boat might not be safe.
Li Fan quickly contacted Qi Buyi using the Celestial Oversight Ledger, describing the bizarre scene he had just witnessed. To his surprise, Qi Buyi showed no trace of panic upon receiving the news.
"Ah, so it's a Time Mirage! You have good fortune, Fellow Daoist...
"Hmm? I recall you're only at the Golden Core realm, aren't you? You can see them too?
"It seems your soul must be exceptionally resilient, far surpassing ordinary people."
After her explanation, Li Fan finally understood what this so-called Time Mirage was. Much like how the Mortal to Spirit Transformation Wall in Tianyun Province had recorded the scene of Mister Bai's mortal-to-Spirit Transformation ascension in a single step, when specific conditions were met, scenes in this world would be recorded and then repeatedly reappear at special points in time.
The phenomenon of five elements convergence, of all returning to nothingness, was particularly prone to triggering a Time Mirage.
Countless years ago, when the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens converged, a master and disciple from the Deliverance Sect happened to pass by. The master was explaining something to the disciple. This scene happened to be recorded by the Time Mirage.
Now, after innumerable cycles, the convergence of five elements was occurring once more. The scene of the master enlightening his disciple reappeared and was percevied by Li Fan, whose soul had been strengthened through cultivating the Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra.
Although Qi Buyi's words explained the origin of the mirage, they didn't completely put Li Fan at ease.
Frowning, Li Fan asked, "Senior Qi, is there a chance that the great explosion mentioned in the mirage might happen? Should we take some defensive measures?"
Qi Buyi laughed in response. "Don't worry, it's just a minor spectacle. When we first detected signs of the five elements converging, we predicted all possible scenarios. Including this great explosion. It's all within our plans. Fellow Daoist, you can just watch without fear.
"Besides, the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array is nearly complete. Why add unnecessary defensive measures now?
Qi Buyi fell silent, but the meaning behind her words plunged Li Fan into deep thought.
Can the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array alone withstand the great explosion caused by the imbalance of five elements? A flicker of doubt crossed Li Fan's mind.
Just as Zhang Zhiliang had once said, even builders of the Soul-Locking Array like Li Fan might not know the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array's true power. Or perhaps, in the entire Xuanhuang World today, only a handful of people truly knew the might a fully activated Soul-Locking Array could unleash.
After so many years of labour, this is a perfect opportunity to get an early look at what abilities our creation possesses.
Li Fan still harbored doubts about whether a surface-level "monitoring" array could withstand a great explosion that would reduce everything to primordial chaos. But since Qi Buyi had spoken so confidently, her words were likely not baseless.
The fact that Eternal Calamity Gold was used to protect the array also indicated that the Myriad Immortals Alliance had indeed made preparations long in advance.
Thus, Li Fan stood by the edge of the Dust-Crossing Boat, quietly waiting for the five elements to converge below.
The Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, resembling mixed paints, grew increasingly chaotic.
The tremendous roars and collisions even pierced through layers of spatial barriers, reaching the Dust-Crossing Boat.
The branches of the inverted giant tree grew savagely, spreading across the cerulean sea.
Raging flames burned out, and from the ashes, wood was born.
Bizarre scenes completely contrary to the mundane world unfolded one after another within the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens as they neared their end.
As time passed, the five elemental grotto-heavens fused ever more tightly together.
Within the sea now blanketed by roots, metal and stone rose up, twisted, and melted, transforming into scorched earth.
From that wasteland, flames were then born, while wood and water intermingled.
Gradually, as the convergence of the five elements intensified, these grotesque scenes also came to an end.
What remained was nothing more than the motley spiritual qi of the five elements, interweaving and entangling with one another, turning the grotto-heaven below into an impossibly abstract painting.
Li Fan focused intently on the grotto-heaven that was about to fall into silence.
The various colors grew fainter and fainter.
An invisible darkness devoured what little color remained like a ferocious beast.
Yet even after the region encompassing the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens had completely turned into nothingness, many indescribable hues still seemed to linger.
From this, entities that appeared gray overall began to proliferate violently.
Like a massive vortex that churned without cease, they absorbed and assimilated the surrounding blackness.
The region below now resembled a rapidly expanding dye palette.
As he stared at it, Li Fan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. Even so, he forced himself not to avert his gaze.
A vague intuition deep in his heart told him that witnessing this great explosion born of this five element imbalance would be of tremendous benefit to him.
At this moment, the anomaly in the void below also drew the attention of the other cultivators.
They called out to friends and companions to come and watch, with no trace of worry on their faces. Clearly, they held absolute confidence in the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
The motley dye palette spun faster and faster. Then, at a certain instant, it finally reached its limit.
An extremely dangerous aura suddenly erupted from below.
Li Fan instinctively took a step back.
A light like the birth of creation blazed through the dark void. Absolute white unfurled from it, carrying world-annihilating power, poised to sweep across everything in its path.
At that very moment, outside the void, a flash of green light appeared.
Then it rapidly spread outward, following the nodal points of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array that Li Fan and the others had constructed.
Its speed was several times faster than that of the white light born from the explosion.
In the blink of an eye, intersecting green threads crisscrossed to form an immense network, completely enveloping the area affected by the explosion.
Then, before the cultivators could even react, countless green filaments burst forth from the main arteries of the network.
They were limitless, continuous, unending.
In a single instant, the blinding white radiance vanished without a trace.
In its place, what appeared before the cultivators was a massive cocoon of light, wrapped in green luminescence.
It writhed, then abruptly contracted by several degrees.
At the same time, the green glow along the main arteries of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array grew even more brilliant.
Like a beating heart, it continuously pumped blood through its veins.
Before the stunned gazes of the surrounding cultivators, the green cocoon of light shrank smaller and smaller, until it finally disappeared altogether.
The Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, having effortlessly resolved the catastrophic explosion caused by elemental imbalance, now hung suspended within the dark void, its green radiance blooming without restraint.
Is this the power of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array? Even Li Fan himself was momentarily dumbfounded.
He was absolutely certain of one thing: Even in the ancient cultivation world, where Dao Unity powerhouses were as common as grass, resolving such a terrifying explosion with such ease would have been impossible.
Yet the present-day Myriad Immortals Alliance, relying on the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, had accomplished it effortlessly.
A sudden chill crept into Li Fan’s heart.
If its defensive capabilities were already so formidable... did the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array truly possess no means of attack?