To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

The next day, at Ziyun Palace.

A figure as red as a cloud landed in front of the Purple Cloud Palace, riding a beam of light. Hou Wenzhao was already waiting at the gate. Upon seeing the light descend, he immediately stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Uncle-Master. The Master is already waiting in the main hall."

Li Fengyi nodded and followed Hou Wenzhao through the vermilion gate, looking around at the Ziyun Palace.

In front of the main hall, Gu Fan noticed Li Fengyi's arrival and went out to greet her.

"Greetings, true disciple." Li Fengyi bowed respectfully, but there was a strange emotion in her voice.

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need for such formalities. Please come into the hall for a chat."

Gu Fan's lips curled slightly, and he quickly guessed Li Fengyi's little thoughts—being eliminated in the first round of the competition for the position of true disciple, Li Fengyi was bound to be dissatisfied with it.

The two entered the main hall, where Hou Wenzhao stepped forward to serve tea, then retreated to the outside of the hall to await a summons.

Before Gu Fan could speak, Li Fengyi asked first, "What brings you here, Senior Brother?"

"Are you still indignant about the struggle for the position of true disciple?" Gu Fan bluntly asked.

Upon hearing this, Li Fengyi's breathing became heavy. After hesitating for a moment, she nodded and said in a muffled voice, "I clearly prepared for this for a long time, but in the first round... in fact..."

After saying that, he sighed dejectedly and his shoulders slumped.

Gu Fan couldn't help but slowly shake his head.

Li Fengyi must have prepared for the contest of magic for a long time, but with her wisdom, it was indeed difficult for her to pass the test of the Questioning Platform.

However, this is precisely what Gu Fan values ​​– he can fight, although he's not very bright, but based on past collaborations, he's not reckless, or rather, he's obedient enough.

"My visit to find my junior sister this time is related to this matter."

Gu Fan then recounted the matter of the true disciple's deputy, and the more Li Fengyi listened, the wider her phoenix eyes widened.

"Isn't my senior brother afraid I'll usurp his place?"

With a "pfft," Gu Fan finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He discovered another characteristic of Li Fengyi—a significant misunderstanding of herself.

Li Fengyi was clearly dissatisfied with Gu Fan's reaction. She frowned and stared at him intently. After a long while, she said dejectedly, "Fine, I agree."

"Then it's settled!" Gu Fan picked up his teacup and gestured, "I'll be troubling you from now on, Junior Sister."

Li Fengyi also picked up her teacup, and with a crisp clinking sound, the two drank a cup of tea instead of wine.

......

After recruiting Li Fengyi as his deputy, Gu Fan became engrossed in cultivation again.

Meng Wei's wedding is scheduled for three months from now.

Gu Fan specially set aside time to craft a pair of top-grade magical love locks as a wedding gift.

In addition, Gu Fan used his fixed stipend as a true disciple, which was 50,000 merit points from the sect's annual stipend, to exchange for a batch of spiritual materials to forge new magical artifacts.

Hou Wenzhao's Beast Garden has been completed, and first-tier spirit beasts of various attributes have begun to be cultivated.

Gu Fan would set aside a few days each month to study the Spirit Forging Technique and explore the combinations and reactions of various attribute spiritual materials.

Most of the spirit-forging attempts failed, with the spirit beasts either exploding or turning to ashes, leaving Hulu terrified.

While it slumbered in the Origin Furnace, it never realized that forging spirits was such a dangerous thing!

A few spirit beasts that successfully underwent spirit forging were entrusted to Hou Wenzhao for raising. Every now and then, Hou would check and compare them. Although the progress was slow, each successful spirit forging brought some insights, much like winning the lottery, which made Gu Fan somewhat addicted.

Hou Wenzhao, seeing nearly half of the spirit beasts he had raised die, could only work even harder to cultivate more spirit beasts, fearing that he would not be able to keep up with Gu Fan's consumption.

Gu Fan never dared to miss a single month's trip to Wendao Peak to receive instruction in array formations from Master Xuanji.

After activating the seven acupoints, many first-order formations can be arranged at will. Although their power is not very strong, they have greatly enriched the means of dealing with enemies.

Don't miss out: Chapter 192, First Battle, full text available. Click here.

Formations can be broadly categorized into five types: attack, defense, trap, illusion, and support.

For Gu Fan at present, the most effective formations are trapping formations, illusion formations, and auxiliary formations. The effects of first-tier killing formations and defensive formations are extremely limited for Foundation Establishment cultivators, so they are rarely used.

This is also one of the flaws of the "Da Luo Nei Jing Tong Tian Xuan Zhang".

In the late Foundation Establishment stage, one can activate up to twelve acupoints, allowing for the arrangement of any first-tier formation at will. However, second-tier formations that pose an effective threat to Foundation Establishment require activating more acupoints after reaching the Golden Core stage.

Similarly, there are only two ways to break through the limitations: either cultivate the technique to perfection and enlighten the 365 acupoints of the body, or comprehend the Dao of Arrays to a superb level, like the "Creation Spirit Casting Array," which can achieve ever-changing effects with seven array hubs.

Unfortunately, neither of them is attainable.

To date, the greatest function of the "Great Luo Inner Realm Heavenly Profound Chapter" is to set up an interdimensional teleportation array after Gu Fan reaches the Nascent Soul stage, helping him leave the Qionghua Realm and find a broader path.

Therefore, in order to ensure combat strength, Gu Fan not only studied the "Red Sun Demon-Slaying Scripture" to strive for complete mastery of the Blazing Flame Slash and Heavenly Fire Bath Robe, but also created more high-grade magic weapons.

In the world of cultivation, magical artifacts have an even greater impact on the battle situation than spells.

A powerful magic weapon is enough to tip the scales of battle.

......

Spring has passed and autumn has come; two years have flown by in a flash.

In a quiet room of Ziyun Palace.

Golden Six Ding Divine Fire burned fiercely, enveloping an iron chain within it.

The iron chain was entirely crimson, made of interlocking iron rings, with a diamond-shaped dart hanging from each end, gleaming with a cold, eerie light.

Gu Fan made a hand seal and pointed at the iron chain. The Six Ding Divine Fire spread along the iron ring like water, slowly seeping into the iron ring.

Then, he took out a jade bottle. As soon as he opened the bottle, a chilling aura emanated from it. He tilted it slightly, and a stream of dark blue water flew out of the bottle, pouring over Tie Suo from head to toe.

In an instant, a torrent of water vapor burst forth from the iron chain, and the iron chain cooled down, turning from crimson to pitch black.

As the moisture dissipated, Gu Fan reached out and the iron chain, like a serpentine snake, danced wildly along his arm, coiling several times before shrinking and disappearing beneath his sleeve.

"The Dragon Binding Lock has finally been mastered!"

Gu Fan stroked the spear under the iron chain, a smile appearing on his face.

The Dragon Binding Lock can be said to be his most prized magical artifact recently. Not only did it consume a lot of rare spiritual materials, but more importantly, Gu Fan, relying on his status as a true disciple, exchanged artifact-making experiences with artifact refiners in the Lingxiao Sect, such as Li Kunyuan, and his skills broke through again.

The tempering method I just used was obtained through communication with others.

The hidden resources behind the position of a true disciple are far more numerous than Gu Fan had imagined.

Gu Fan walked out of the quiet room, intending to find a place to test the power of the Dragon Binding Lock, when he noticed the Divine Firmament Token in his sleeve trembling slightly.

"This is... a summons from the Sect Leader!"

Gu Fan's gaze immediately sharpened.

He had been a true disciple for two years, but Qi Zongyuan had never issued a single order; this was the first time.

Without delay, Gu Fan immediately set off on his escape light towards the Lingxiao Palace.

In the Lingxiao Palace, Qi Zongyuan sat high on the cloud platform, only opening his eyes after Gu Fan entered.

"Disciple Gu Fan pays respects to the Sect Leader."

Qi Zongyuan nodded slightly and asked with a smile, "How do you feel after being promoted to a true disciple?"

Gu Fan hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "This disciple has not yet served the sect, but has received a considerable amount of cultivation resources. I am eagerly awaiting the sect leader's summons!"

"Good." Qi Zongyuan praised, and then instructed, "There is something I need you to do right now."

Gu Fan immediately assumed a listening posture.

Qi Zongyuan's voice lowered, and he said slowly, "Something has happened at Xuan Yin Mountain. We must march into the Wu Kingdom."