Chapter 1132: Endless Practice of the Extended Method

Chapter 1142: The Great Deduction Never Rests

Elder Nangong seemed surprised by Li Fan's question, pausing for a moment. Then his gaze suddenly deepened. "If such a person truly existed..." he began.

"...then they should be even more strongly prevented from approaching the Yanfa Jade. To be alone for hundreds of years, with one's mood as stable as ever from beginning to end. Either they are a madman, or they possess an extreme disposition..."

Li Fan interrupted him. "I've heard that peerless geniuses can remain focused even after a century of seclusion. Isn't it perfectly normal for their state of mind not to collapse from being trapped?"

Elder Nangong scoffed, shook his head slightly, and stated with certainty, "Such a genius wouldn't come here. Unless they had ulterior motives."

Li Fan was immediately speechless. Beside him, Sun Xingyao's expression was also somewhat awkward.

"Alright, welcome to the Guardians' Hall. Next, I will brief you on some special precautions. Beyond the various regulations of the Immortal Alliance, these mostly concern what's needed when interacting with the Yanfa Jade. Brother Sun, you may return now. Your mission is complete."

Sun Xingyao had been waiting for Elder Nangong's words and felt a sense of relief. He gave Li Fan a few more instructions before taking his leave.

After nearly half an hour of detailed explanations, Nangong then led Li Fan out of that space. They completed the onboarding procedures and collected the Guardians' Hall Elder supplies. Dressed in the unique black robe with gold trim of the Guardians' Hall, Li Fan followed Nangong to the brightest point of light, located at the very center of the dome.

"Once I escort you inside and complete the final handover, I'll be free," Nangong said with a smile, clearly genuinely pleased.

"Oh, one last instruction," Nangong whispered without changing his expression. "There are two other Guardians' Hall Elders who will be guarding with you. Unless absolutely necessary, do not communicate with them via spiritual transmission or engage in conversation. Every spiritual transmission within the Yanfa Jade's space is recorded, and a dedicated person reviews them regularly."

Li Fan cupped his hands in gratitude. Then, bidding farewell to Nangong, he soared into the white star-like point.

What greeted his eyes was a scene he was already very familiar with: the space where the Yanfa Jade resided. It was a massive sphere composed of countless characters. At every instant, the characters on the sphere were in an endless state of transformation. Occasionally, an entire passage of characters on the sphere would pause briefly, then emit a flash of light and disappear, only for the endless transformations and deductions to resume.

Beneath this massive sphere, a desk floated in the void. A loli, appearing to be only five or six years old, was sprawled on the desk. She watched the constantly appearing text on the desktop with a listless expression, just as she had every time he had seen her before.

As if sensing someone's arrival, the Yanfa Jade slightly raised its head. Upon seeing the serious-faced Li Fan and the black and gold robe he wore, she pouted and lowered her head again. "Another ugly one," she muttered quietly.

Li Fan distinctly heard the Yanfa Jade's quiet murmur. He couldn't help but pause slightly. "Hehehe, you'll get used to it," an old voice sounded beside Li Fan. It was a spiritual transmission from one of the Dao Integration Elders, who was hidden there and responsible for guarding.

"Zhang Xu," he briefly introduced himself, then fell silent again. The other colleague, however, never greeted Li Fan.

Li Fan didn't mind and flew towards his "workstation." This so-called "workstation" was actually a special position within the space, similar to a key node in a formation. Being there felt like having a commanding view, with all surrounding energy fluctuations visible at a glance. Most of the time spent guarding the Yanfa Jade was passed in this specific location.

"This is truly worse than being in prison. No wonder none of the Sun family's Dao Integration cultivators were willing to come here," Li Fan sighed as he arrived at his post. He pretended to observe his surroundings, seemingly familiarizing himself with the work environment, but in reality, he was secretly contemplating the vulnerabilities of this surveillance space.

Aside from the constantly shifting light and shadow of the massive character sphere, the place maintained a quiet, almost suffocating atmosphere. In the short time he'd been there, Li Fan had no idea how to break through the restrictions and secretly contact the Yanfa Jade.

About half a year passed in this manner. The little loli, who had been hunched over her desk, suddenly straightened her back and raised her hands high. "Yay! It's break time!" she exclaimed excitedly. After speaking, she immediately flopped back down and fell into a deep sleep.

"Six hours," Zhang Xu and the other guarding Dao Integration cultivator's voices simultaneously chimed. Six hours was the Yanfa Jade's rare rest period. As soon as the time was up, she had to be woken precisely.

Looking at the Yanfa Jade sleeping soundly, Li Fan secretly lamented, "This is truly a bit inhumane. She should at least get twelve hours of rest."

During the half-year he had been on guard, for some reason, no cultivators using the Audience Jade Tablet had entered this space. This meant the Yanfa Jade had virtually no opportunities to slack off.

After some thought, Li Fan decided to voice his question to Elder Zhang Xu. Since it fell within their duties, Zhang Xu was silent for a moment before replying, "Three years ago, a spy from the Council of Five Elders somehow acquired an Audience Jade Tablet and infiltrated this place, intending to cause trouble. Although we discovered and stopped him in time, preventing any serious consequences, the Immortal Alliance's high-ranking officials were alarmed."

"Until accountability for this incident is fully established, all audiences have been completely suspended. It will likely be several years before they resume." Zhang Xu spoke a few brief sentences, then fell silent again.

Li Fan, deep in thought, mused, "Each Audience Jade Tablet is an extremely precious reward given by the Immortal Alliance to cultivators who have performed outstanding meritorious deeds. It's surprising that one would fall into the hands of the Council of Five Elders. And judging by Nangong's previous warnings, the probability of Council of Five Elders spies infiltrating is not low. Basically, an incident like this happens every few decades... Although the Council of Five Elders is no match for the Myriad Immortals Alliance in direct confrontation, the Myriad Immortals Alliance is considerably less skilled when it comes to schemes and intrigues."

Thanks to the heaven-defying ability of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's origin, Li Fan was aware of the ownership of almost all the Audience Jade Tablets currently in circulation.

"As one of the three guardians, I'm under strict surveillance, so it's not easy to make a move," Li Fan secretly pondered. "Perhaps I can find a roundabout way, using an Audience Jade Tablet to create an opportunity to be alone with the Yanfa Jade."

Twelve hours passed quickly. However... the Yanfa Jade remained sprawled on the long table, deeply asleep, showing no sign of waking.

Li Fan faintly sensed a hint of helplessness from the other two guarding Dao Integration cultivators. "Brother Sun, you go ahead," Zhang Xu transmitted with a chuckle.