Chapter 388: Time Stored in the Mirage

Although he didn't know why an ancient illusion would appear at the moment of the Five Elements' unification, and only he could see it, Li Fan believed the words of the master and disciple from the Sect of Crossing Tribulations were not baseless claims.

"Could this sudden unification of the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven also be due to the Myriad Immortals Alliance over-mining the resources of a certain elemental grotto-heaven?" Li Fan's thoughts raced. After a moment of contemplation, he decided he couldn't just sit there and wait for death. Even on the Dust-Crossing Boat, it might not be safe if the great explosion truly occurred.

Li Fan quickly contacted Qi Buyi using the Heaven-Monitoring Record and recounted the strange scene he had just witnessed. To his surprise, Qi Buyi showed no sign of panic upon hearing the news.

"Oh, so it was a temporal mirage! Fellow Daoist, you're quite lucky..." "Hmm? I recall you only have Golden Core cultivation, don't you? Can you also sense it?" "It seems it must be because your soul is exceptionally resilient, far surpassing that of ordinary people."

After her explanation, Li Fan finally understood what this "temporal mirage" was. Just as the Mortal-to-Deity Wall in Tianyunzhou once preserved the image of Mr. Bai transcending to deity status and ascending in one step, certain conditions in the world can also cause scenes to be recorded and then repeatedly reappear at specific times. The phenomenon of a temporal mirage is particularly prone to occurring when the Five Elements unify and return to nothingness.

Many years ago, when the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven underwent its unification, a master and disciple from the Sect of Crossing Tribulations passed by. The master explained something to the disciple. This very scene was recorded by the temporal mirage. Now, after countless cycles, the unification of the Five Elements has occurred again. The scene of the master elucidating concepts to the disciple reappeared and was sensed by Li Fan, whose soul was strong due to his cultivation of the Xuanhuang Heart Refining Incantation.

Although Qi Buyi's words explained the origin of the illusion, they didn't fully put Li Fan at ease. Li Fan frowned and asked, "Senior Qi, will the great explosion mentioned in this mirage truly occur?" "Should we take some defensive measures?"

Qi Buyi replied with a smile, "Don't worry, it's just a minor event. When we first learned of the signs of the Five Elements' unification, we predicted all sorts of possibilities. This great explosion, too, is within our plans." "Fellow Daoist, just watch with ease." "Besides, the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array is almost complete. Why bother adding feet to a snake by taking more defensive measures?"

Qi Buyi offered no further response, but the implication of her words left Li Fan in deep thought. "The Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array is powerful enough to disregard the great explosion caused by the Five Elements' imbalance?" A trace of doubt flashed in Li Fan's mind.

Just as Zhang Zhiliang had said, even Li Fan and the other builders of the Spirit-Locking Array might not fully comprehend the true power of the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array. Perhaps, in the current Xuanhuang Realm, only a handful of people truly knew what formidable might a fully activated Spirit-Locking Array could unleash.

"This is a good opportunity to see what kind of divine abilities our creation, which we toiled for years to build, truly possesses." Li Fan still harbored doubts about whether a seemingly "monitoring" array could withstand a massive explosion capable of reducing everything to chaos. However, since Qi Buyi said so, it meant she was not speaking idly. The existence of the Everlasting Gold, used to protect the array, also indicated that the Myriad Immortals Alliance was indeed well-prepared. Thus, Li Fan stood by the Dust-Crossing Boat, quietly observing the scene below, waiting for the Five Elements to unify.

The Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, like mixed paints, grew increasingly chaotic. Tremendous roars and crashing sounds penetrated layers of spatial barriers, reaching even the Dust-Crossing Boat. Branches of an inverted colossal tree grew wildly, spreading across the azure sea. Raging flames burned everything, and from the ashes, green wood was born. Bizarre scenes, completely contrary to the current reality, continuously unfolded within the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven as it approached its end.

As time passed, the five elemental grotto-heavens integrated more closely. In the root-filled sea, metal and stone structures rose and twisted, melting into scorched earth. Immediately after, fire was born from the desolate land, and wood connected with water. Slowly, as the unification of the Five Elements intensified, these bizarre phenomena ceased to exist. Instead, only vibrant five-element spiritual energy intertwined and mixed, transforming the grotto-heaven below into an incredibly abstract painting.

Li Fan concentrated, staring intently at the grotto-heaven on the verge of annihilation. The various colors grew fainter and fainter. An invisible, profound darkness, like a fierce beast, devoured the remaining hues, accelerating its consumption.

However, even after the region of the Five Elements Grand Grotto-Heaven had completely turned to void, many ineffable colors seemed to persist. Consequently, these overall greyish entities proliferated violently, like a massive, constantly swirling vortex, as the surrounding blackness was continuously absorbed. The area below now resembled a rapidly expanding dye palette. Li Fan, staring at it, suddenly felt dizzy. Yet, he forced himself not to look away. He had an obscure intuition that observing this great explosion, caused by the Five Elements' imbalance, might greatly benefit him.

At this moment, the anomaly in the void below also attracted the attention of other cultivators. While they called friends to watch, they showed no signs of worry, clearly possessing immense confidence in the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

The vibrant dye palette spun faster and faster, finally reaching its limit at a certain moment. An extremely dangerous aura suddenly erupted from below. Li Fan instinctively took a step back. A light, as if of creation, illuminated the dark void. Absolute white was born, carrying world-destroying power, poised to sweep away everything in its path.

Just then... From beyond the void, a streak of green light suddenly appeared. It then rapidly extended along the network nodes of the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array that Li Fan and the others had built. Its speed was several times faster than the white light caused by the explosion. In an instant, crisscrossing fine green lines formed a colossal network, completely enveloping the explosion's range.

Then, before the cultivators could even react, countless threads of green light shot out from the main network, endless and continuous. In a flash, the dazzling white light vanished. In its place, before the eyes of the cultivators, appeared a massive cocoon of light enveloped in green radiance.

With a ripple, the light cocoon suddenly shrank slightly. The green on the main network of the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array grew even brighter, like a pulsating heart continuously transmitting blood. To the wide-eyed astonishment of the watching cultivators, the green light cocoon grew smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing. The Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array, which had effortlessly resolved the great explosion caused by the Five Elements' imbalance, now fully displayed its green brilliance in the dark void.

"Is this the power of the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array?" Li Fan was also somewhat stunned. He was absolutely certain that even in the ancient cultivation world, teeming with Dao Integration experts, such a terrifying explosion could never have been resolved so easily. Yet, the current Myriad Immortals Alliance had effortlessly achieved this feat, relying on the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array.

Suddenly, a chill surged in Li Fan's heart. If its defense was already like this, did the Sky-Profound Spirit-Locking Array truly lack offensive capabilities?