Chapter 384: External Troubles and Internal Worries

Li Fan was clearly not the only one to notice this.

After the battle, Yan Hang and the others showed no excitement as they watched the Fallen Wood turn to ashes in the raging inferno. "Damn it, these monsters seem to have gotten a bit stronger," Yan Hang cursed, his face grim as he looked at a withered, yellowish wound on his arm. The other four also had injuries to varying degrees. "We should report the battle situation quickly. I hope the higher-ups can come up with a good solution soon. Otherwise, I don't think we'll last much longer," sighed the cultivator named Li Shifeng, one of the four. Yan Hang snorted coldly, offering no rebuttal. He opened the Heavenly Supervisor's Record and began to report with his eyes closed.

Li Fan was also checking the Heavenly Supervisor's Record. Compared to when he first entered the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, the information recorded within was now much more extensive. "Overall progress of the grand array: 78%." "It's on schedule, even a bit faster than initially expected." "But clearly, what's happening here is getting a bit out of control." "I wonder what measures the Myriad Immortals Alliance will take next." Li Fan's eyes flickered slightly, his hands continuously moving. Could the Myriad Immortals Alliance really complete the construction of the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array on schedule? Li Fan was almost certain they could. At this time, the majority of the active forces within the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven were only Nascent Soul cultivators. However, the Myriad Immortals Alliance was not short of Soul Transformation cultivators. Clearly, they hadn't committed their full strength yet. If they found that their current strength was insufficient to complete the objective, the Myriad Immortals Alliance would naturally increase their investment. As for whether the cultivators currently in the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven could survive until reinforcements arrived, that was another matter entirely.

Just as Li Fan had anticipated, the continuously strengthening grotto-heaven monsters caused widespread panic. Qi Buyi quickly emerged to calm everyone down. First, she explained that due to the principle of the Five Elements mutually restraining each other, the fusion of all five elemental attributes in monsters would not occur as people feared. At most, only four-attribute fusion monsters would emerge, and even that would only happen at the very end of the Five Elements Unification process. The main threats everyone needed to contend with were monsters with two or three fused attributes. Second, the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters was already aware of the situation in the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. Reinforcements would arrive soon. Furthermore, the scale of the reinforcements would be immense, with their total numbers exceeding all the cultivators currently working in the grotto-heaven combined. There was no need to worry. Although everyone harbored a mix of belief and doubt regarding Qi Buyi's words, receiving a definite assurance finally allowed the cultivators to breathe a sigh of relief. With their emotions slightly soothed, they continued their work with apprehension, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements.

Time continued to pass in this atmosphere of constant tension. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed since they entered the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. During this period, cultivators did arrive to provide support in succession. However, their numbers were clearly far from the large-scale reinforcements Qi Buyi had promised. When questioned, Qi Buyi would always offer various excuses. Nevertheless, two new Dao Integration cultivators had arrived to oversee the situation, which significantly eased everyone's minds. As more new support cultivators arrived, the reason for the delayed reinforcements became known through their accounts. In the outside world, these past two years had indeed been tumultuous, with many significant events unfolding.

First, there was external strife. The Five Elders Council had redeployed troops to the border, repeatedly displaying intentions of probing and provocation. Unlike before, they didn't seem to intend to initiate a large-scale conflict. Instead, they concentrated all their forces in Fenglei State, which bordered Tianling State. According to unofficial rumors, it seemed the Five Elders Council coveted the mysteries of the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array and wished to seize an entire state from the Myriad Immortals Alliance to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis and study of the array. Li Fan, however, knew this was merely a superficial excuse. The Five Elders Council's true objective should still be the void in Tianling State where the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was conceived. "It seems a secret can't be kept forever. Indeed, two years of unusual activity by the Myriad Immortals Alliance in Tianling State were enough to alarm the other side," Li Fan mused to himself.

In addition to the pressure from the Five Elders Council, the territory of the Myriad Immortals Alliance was also far from peaceful. During this period, numerous voices suddenly emerged from various regions, opposing the widespread implementation of the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array. And those speaking out were not nobodies. Many were cultivators at the Soul Transformation stage and above, holding important positions in various states. What had happened, no one knew, but these cultivators, who had unanimously expressed absolute support for the Locking Spirit Array construction plan just recently, had suddenly changed their tune, explicitly voicing their opposition. And it wasn't opposition for opposition's sake; they had ample arguments and reasons. These were their points:

As everyone knew, any array, no matter how intricate, would eventually be deciphered and broken. In the past, there had been numerous instances where protective arrays were compromised, and the Myriad Immortals Alliance remained unaware, only to be caught off guard by their opponents. This was why, later on, protective arrays had to be replaced entirely every so often. Now, the Myriad Immortals Alliance was going to great lengths and expense to build the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array, which would cover all its territory. Could they guarantee that it would remain effective forever? If it were analyzed and broken by the Five Elders Council soon after completion, wouldn't that be a monumental joke?

Furthermore, these individuals were skeptical about whether the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array could achieve the advertised effects. This was because the Thousand-Faced Demonic Venerable, who had been haunting the Myriad Immortals Alliance's territory, had become increasingly rampant recently. Many high-ranking cultivators in various states could not escape his deadly grasp. Even some states where the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array had already been completed only slightly slowed down his killing spree. In the end, he still managed to slip away. Moreover, even if he were truly captured, what then? Since the Five Elders Council could cultivate one Thousand-Faced Demonic Venerable, they could certainly cultivate two or three. When it was first promoted, the greatest significance of the Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array was to ensure that all Five Elders Council cultivators within the territory had nowhere to hide. What about now? Others were brazenly wreaking havoc within your territory, yet you were powerless. What good was this Heavenly Mystic Spirit Locking Array then?

It had to be said, these people's arguments were indeed very reasonable. So much so that when they raised their doubts to the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters, they resonated with many people. The tide of opposition grew stronger, yet the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters, unusually, did not punish these dissenters but instead fell into an eerie silence. It was against this backdrop that the Thousand-Faced Demonic Venerable became even more elusive and his massacres more brutal.

Besides the internal and external troubles, Li Fan also heard an interesting piece of news. As the situation grew increasingly tense, an organization called the Spirit Yuan Sect in Jiushan State, which bordered the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council, had recently been thriving. It had indeed attracted the attention of many cultivators. All because the Spirit Yuan Sect possessed a unique cultivation method: the more people practiced it simultaneously, the faster the cultivation speed.