Chapter 1131: Time Leaves a Flowing Gap

Chapter 1141Cracks in Time's Flow

Looking closely, those star-like points resembled countless tiny windows. Through these windows, scenes were reflected, varying in clarity and detail. Innumerable characters fluttered, clearly forming cultivation techniques.

Beneath the dome, no Guardian Hall cultivators were visible, only streams of light continuously traversing the space.

Sun Xingyao, the head of the Sun family, appeared to be reporting to someone. Soon after, a figure flew down from the dome and landed before Li Fan and the other person.

It was an avatar, entirely formed by flowing characters, not a real person.

It surveyed Li Fan, nodding slightly. "I saw this young man over a hundred years ago. He was just a Golden Core cultivator then. In the blink of an eye, he's grown so much..."

"Follow me."

After speaking, the characters formed a path leading directly to the dome.

Li Fan followed Sun Xingyao and stepped onto this path of characters. A moment later, his body seemed to transform into countless characters as well, on the verge of scattering across the path to form a grand text.

A sudden sense of crisis arose within him.

Li Fan realized that under the influence of the surrounding characters, the memories within his soul seemed to unconsciously spill outwards, writing down chapters of his past life.

"Is this a method to probe a visitor's past experiences by sensing their soul memories?"

Li Fan pondered, then instantly reproduced the memories of Sun Ang's past life, which he had taken over, within his soul. He then released them, allowing them to be sensed by the surrounding character path.

The characters he transformed into possessed unique personal identifiers, distinctly separate from the path beneath his feet.

As for Sun Xingyao, he seemed to be exempt from this scrutiny.

The character path soon reached its end, and Li Fan and Sun Xingyao arrived within a starlit window above the dome.

Their forms reverted from characters to human, but Li Fan's experiences alone had transformed into a scroll.

The guiding cultivator now revealed his true appearance.

He appeared even younger than "Sun Ang," like a boy of seventeen or eighteen.

Long hair cascaded over his shoulders, and a cinnabar mark adorned his brow. He looked delicate and serene.

"This is Elder Nangong of the Guardian Hall," Sun Xingyao introduced to Li Fan.

Nangong glanced at the scroll in his hand and nodded slightly. "There's no problem. This first trial is complete."

With a flick of his hand, the scroll documenting "Sun Ang's" life transformed into a stream of light and flew off to an unknown destination.

Li Fan, meanwhile, observed his surroundings.

He seemed to be in the void outside the Profound Yellow World, with a gigantic orb of light floating before him.

It was identical to the miniature model of the Profound Yellow World Li Fan had previously seen within the long-distance teleportation array.

"Pass through the Profound Yellow World. If you don't cause any ripples in the light orb, this second trial is complete," Nangong said, then transformed into a streak of light and departed first.

Li Fan didn't hesitate, following closely behind.

The yellow halo was dreamlike and ethereal. It even gave off an inexplicably warm sensation. Like returning to his mother's womb, Li Fan encountered no disturbances and quickly flew out of the light orb.

Upon leaving, he even felt a faint reluctance in his heart.

Li Fan also keenly noticed that the operation speed of his Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Incantation had accelerated several times beyond normal!

"Is this to verify whether one is a native cultivator of the Profound Yellow World?"

Li Fan suddenly understood.

The third trial was to verify if one was a cultivator of the Five Elders Association.

In the void, five stone statues with indistinct faces stood in a circle.

Li Fan needed to stand still within the circle of statues for half an hour. Only if there was no anomaly during this period would the test be considered passed.

Li Fan in this life was completely innocent. He had not yet formed any connections with the Five Elders Association.

Thus, he naturally passed this trial with ease.

"These statues have some trick to them. They actually seem to be imbued with a trace of the Five Celestial Venerables' inverse principles..."

While being observed by the Five Elders Association statues, Li Fan was also observing these five Celestial Venerables.

At the same time, he had a realization: "Even if it's not the Celestial Venerables themselves, it's not far from it."

"If I had come after experiencing Senior Sister Zhao's illusion, even if only a clone had been through it..."

"...it would likely have triggered a reaction from the statues."

The five statues dissipated, and Li Fan faced the final trial before his induction.

Suddenly, his surroundings plunged into an abyss of nothingness.

Sun Xingyao and Elder Nangong, who had just been by his side, suddenly vanished.

Li Fan frowned slightly, glancing around.

He detected no anomalies.

It wasn't a trap, nor was there any conspiracy.

This was merely a simple void.

There was nothing but Li Fan.

"What is this testing now?"

Li Fan understood, but felt no rush.

He stood in the void, waiting to see what tricks the Guardian Hall would play.

In the void, even time seemed to lose its meaning.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but even with Li Fan's patience, he began to feel a hint of irritation.

It felt as if the entire world had forgotten him; everything else had vanished except for himself.

Elder Nangong showed no signs of reappearing.

"They wouldn't just leave me hanging here, would they?"

Driven by his innate distrust of others, this thought involuntarily arose in Li Fan's mind.

The idea even crossed his mind to reveal his true cultivation, break through this mechanism, and leave directly.

But in an instant, Li Fan suppressed it.

Calming his thoughts, Li Fan opened his Reality Restoration Panel.

Confirming that it was still anchored to eight years, all his unease and anxiety vanished completely in an instant.

He continued to wait in the void.

After what felt like hundreds or even thousands of years, Li Fan suddenly thought of something.

He began to show signs of impatience.

Instead of standing still, he flew around, exploring, seemingly trying to find a way out.

Then, Li Fan gradually amplified the emotions he displayed.

However, he never showed a loss of control, only a hint of negative emotions.

In this manner, what felt like another hundred or thousand years passed...

Finally, light returned to the dark void.

Elder Nangong and Sun Xingyao reappeared.

Li Fan squinted slightly, feigning a look of bewilderment, as if he had been away for ages. He even scrutinized the two, seemingly contemplating their identities.

"This final trial is also complete," Elder Nangong said, a smile finally appearing on his face.

He looked at Li Fan and praised, "Your composure is remarkable. Over two hundred years passed in the temporal fissure before you even subtly showed signs of losing control. And you still maintained your sanity. This performance is quite impressive among all previous tests."

Upon hearing this, Li Fan remained silent for a long time.

He seemed to be processing the news.

Elder Nangong continued to explain, "This trial assesses a cultivator's mental stability."

"After all, one must accompany the Derivation Jade for over three hundred years, without leaving for any reason midway. If one cannot endure such torment and goes mad by then, it would be problematic."

Li Fan suddenly spoke up and asked, "Are there any cultivators who remained calm from beginning to end, without showing any signs of agitation?"