“Let me oversee the construction of the core area?”
Inside the Anchor Point, Li Fan looked at the suddenly visiting Xue Mu and others, slightly stunned.
Just after a brief thought, he decisively refused.
“I’m not being modest. During the assessment at the Langhuan Academy, my affinity with the Tianxuan Mirror was just ordinary.”
“On this point, Friend Xue Mu can testify for me.”
“I appreciate your kindness, but I’m truly limited in ability and can’t bear such a heavy responsibility.”
“Senior Jiang’s array skills far surpass mine, and he is highly respected. I see no one more suitable than him.”
Li Fan sincerely said.
The array master named Jiang Qigui, looked at the surrounding cultivators with some unfriendly eyes, hurriedly responded: “Friend Li Fan is joking. Your contributions are obvious to all. How could I dare…”
Before he could finish, Li Fan smiled and interrupted him: “Friend Jiang, don’t misunderstand, every word I said was sincere.”
“As everyone knows, the final construction process of the Tianxuan Spirit Lock Array requires communication with the central array hub for continuous debugging in the future.”
“This is indeed not my forte, and I’m not deliberately declining.”
Seeing Jiang Qigui’s hesitation, Li Fan added: “I understand your concern, Senior Jiang. Contributing more to the peripheral and internal arrays requires a lot of effort but relatively less recognition.”
“However, taking over the management of the central core area, while it may not require much effort, yields significantly more recognition.”
“Taking on this responsibility now may seem like plucking peaches forcefully. Are you afraid of being criticized in the future, or not?”
Seeing Li Fan openly express his thoughts, Jiang Qigui’s old face turned slightly red.
Just as he was about to explain, Li Fan continued: “Let everyone know, I’m already halfway to the grave.”
“As for the so-called grand ranking…”
Li Fan paused, dispelling the slight resentment in his heart.
With a calm expression, he said: “I simply don’t care at all.”
“The only thing I hope for is to make as much contribution as possible before my demise.”
“All I’m considering is the most efficient way to construct the array.”
“So, Senior Jiang, there’s no need to refuse.”
“Who else but you for such an important task?”
With that, Li Fan scanned around to express his intentions.
After hearing Li Fan’s heartfelt words, Jiang Qigui’s face flushed.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Qigui bowed deeply to Li Fan.
“In that case, I’ll accept with gratitude!”
“I will certainly not disappoint your expectations, Friend Li.”
Jiang Qigui said solemnly.
Li Fan grasped his hands earnestly, “Friend, I will trouble you from now on.”
Three days later, Huangfu Song, accompanied by two black-robed cultivators, arrived at the Anchor Point.
Their visit was prompted by the message from Li Fan and the others, notifying them to deliver the Tianxuan Mirror, also known as the central array hub.
“Greetings, Senior Huangfu!” Li Fan bowed.
“You little brat…” The chubby Huangfu Song looked at Li Fan with a complicated gaze.
“Not bad, kid!” Patting Li Fan’s shoulder, Huangfu Song didn’t say much more.
He took out a damaged jade token, turned around, and completed the connection with the jade tokens in the hands of the two black-robed cultivators.
In the unfolding light curtain, countless characters cascaded like a waterfall.
A barely noticeable ripple emanated from the light curtain, scanning the surroundings.
It seemed to be conducting identity verification.
After a moment, the ripple receded, and a quaint and exquisite copper mirror emerged from the light curtain.
As the characters flowed into the mirror, the light curtain disappeared without a trace.
Only the copper mirror remained, floating in mid-air, emitting a serene dark light.
Huangfu Song’s expression became solemn as he consecutively pinched hand seals.
Pointing towards the outside of the base, amidst the devouring white mist, he gestured with one finger.
Ripples spread through the mist, as if something inside the mist was responding to him.
Li Fan squinted slightly; that should be the position of the core area of the planned Tianxuan Spirit Lock Array.
As expected, after a moment, a green light broke through the white mist.
Straight towards the Anchor Point below.
Directly hitting the suspended copper mirror.
Every trace of green light was absorbed by the copper mirror.
The surrounding green light gradually converged and disappeared.
Finally, when there was no more mysterious aura around the copper mirror, it looked just like the most ordinary object.
Huangfu Song finally relaxed, took out a square crimson wooden box from his bosom, and put the copper mirror inside.
However, as the copper mirror entered the wooden box, the previously substantial wooden box transformed into a red phantom in front of everyone’s eyes.
Then, converging towards the center, it turned into a red light spot and flew to the center of Huangfu Song’s forehead, where it settled.
Without explaining his recent actions, Huangfu Song spoke solemnly to the crowd, “Until the central array hub is fully placed, I will be overseeing it.”
“Jiang Qigui, how long do you think this process will take with everyone’s combined efforts?”
Without hesitation, Jiang Qigui replied, “Within seven days, with everyone’s combined efforts, we should be able to complete it.”
Huangfu Song nodded slowly, “Time is of the essence. After the formation is completed here, I still have to rush to other places.”
With that, he looked at Li Fan, his expression somewhat relieved, “Thanks to the hard work of Li Fan, your progress in constructing this formation is already one of the fastest batches.”
“As far as I know, the current top-ranked Tianchen Province has not yet completed the entire formation and should still be in the process of constructing the central core area.”
“If you put more effort into it, you might be able to overtake them…”
Just as Huangfu Song was encouraging everyone, a cry of surprise suddenly came from outside the council chamber, from the direction where the Tianxuan Mirror was located.
“What’s going on? How did the first-ranked suddenly increase their points so much?”
“Now the gap between them and the second-ranked has widened!”
As these words fell into the ears of the cultivators present, their gazes towards Huangfu Song became somewhat strange.
“Heh… You’re a step too late. But aiming for second place is still hopeful.” Huangfu Song had quite a thick skin and spoke as if nothing had happened.
“Alright, no time to waste, let’s move quickly.” He instructed.
Just as everyone was preparing to head to the central area of the formation to complete the final work,
Another cry rang out, attracting the attention of Li Fan and the others.
“Huh? Look, Guo Yezhong, who has always been ranked last, is finally moving!”
“Indeed, although his points are pitifully low, he is still ranked last, but at least he’s finally starting to work.”
…
Li Fan, Xue Mu, and Jiang Qigui looked at each other.
They all felt something was amiss.
Did Guo Yezhong gain points at the same time the first Tianxuan Spirit Lock Array was completed?
Is there any connection between them?
Li Fan turned his gaze to Huangfu Song, seeking answers.
The chubby man just shrugged, looking like he absolutely had no idea.