I'll make you the furnace and the cauldron, so you can refine Yin and Yang and prove the Great

Li Hanshan held the dark blue jade slip in his hand, and could feel the ancient spiritual energy fluctuations flowing within it at his fingertips, like a river frozen for a long time slowly flowing inside the jade.

He remained silent for a moment, then put the jade slip into his storage ring and looked up: "This disciple is willing to give it a try. However, I need some time to comprehend the restrictive structure within this jade slip, and I cannot guarantee that I will definitely achieve a breakthrough."

He didn't make any definitive statements. The complexity of ancient restrictions far surpasses that of ordinary array formations; to rashly promise that he could definitely break them would seem frivolous.

Elder Gong nodded slightly, clearly pleased with his prudence: "It's best if you think this way. Ancient restrictions cannot be broken by brute force; they require patience and accumulation. You can take this jade slip back to study; there's no need to rush. I will arrange the affairs of the Array Hall for you. Routine tasks will not be assigned to you for the time being; you only need to focus your energy on that restriction."

He paused, as if remembering something, his gaze lingering on Li Hanshan for a moment: "As for the matter with the Enforcement Hall, you don't need to worry. Elder Zhou has personally taken over Zhao Yuan's case, and with his methods, it won't be long before he finds out who's behind it. No matter how well that person hides, they won't be able to stay hidden for long under the Enforcement Hall's thorough investigation. You just focus on studying the restrictions; I'll handle everything else for you."

Li Hanshan felt a slight sense of relief. Although Elder Gong's words were spoken casually, they carried considerable weight. Given his status in the Immortal Alliance and his relationship with Elder Zhou, with these words, at least until the investigation results were released, no one would try to make things difficult for him by accusing him of being a "spy of the Demonic Sect."

"Thank you, Elder." He solemnly clasped his hands in thanks.

Elder Gong waved his hand and walked to the palace door. The morning light poured in from outside, gilding the edges of his silver-white robe with a warm golden glow.

He glanced back at Li Hanshan: "Now that you are a steward of the Array Hall, you can freely enter and exit the outer area of ​​the Immortal Island with that token. The Library and the Trial Grounds are open to you. If you need to consult the books related to ancient restrictions, you can go to the third floor of the Library. Although the collection there is not as complete as the inner hall, you can find most of the common array theory."

He gave a few more instructions regarding the opening hours and borrowing procedures of the library, then turned and walked out of the side hall. His silver-white figure gradually disappeared into the morning light, soon being obscured by the figures of the disciples walking outside the hall.

Li Hanshan stood in the side hall, watching Elder Gong's figure disappear into the halo of light outside the door before turning his gaze away. He sat down by the stone platform, taking out the dark cyan jade slip again and placing it in his palm. The surface of the jade slip was slightly warmer than when he had touched it, as if his body heat had activated a dormant aura within it. He didn't rush to probe it with his divine sense, but instead put it away carefully, stood up, and walked out of the side hall.

The main hall of the Array Formation Hall was even larger than what he had seen when he emerged from the teleportation array. The array flags and blueprints arranged within the hall gleamed with a fine spiritual light in the morning glow. Some people were squatting in front of an array flag about half their height, adjusting the angle of its base, while others stood at a long table covered with blueprints, discussing something in hushed tones. The air was filled with the distinctive scent of spiritual ink and metallic powder, mingled with the rising mist from the spiritual spring, flowing gently in the sea breeze that swept through the hall.

Li Hanshan walked along the corridor on the side of the main hall for a while, and stopped in a small hall near the entrance of the library. Several long tables were set up in the hall, and on the tables were scrolls recording the borrowing of array-based books. After showing his deacon's token to register his identity, he went up the spiral staircase to the third floor.

The third floor of the library was quieter than the two floors below, with bookshelves arranged more sparsely. The scrolls on the shelves were mostly made of animal hide or jade slips, with obvious signs of wear on the edges. He stopped in front of the bookshelf by the window, his gaze sweeping over the scrolls labeled "Ancient Restrictions," "Ancient Array Paths," and "Relic Defenses," and casually pulled out a scroll to open.

The contents did indeed share some similarities with the array flag structure of the Flowing Light Array, but they were mostly basic theories and fragmented records, scattered and unsystematic. He flipped through more than a dozen volumes, and the more he read, the more he felt that although there were quite a few of these books, most of them were deductions pieced together by later generations based on fragments, and their connection with the original restrictive structure contained in the dark blue jade slip was extremely limited.

He closed the last volume of the animal hide book and leaned against the bookshelf in silence for a moment. With his current access, he could only access peripheral information; the truly core original records of the restrictions were probably deeper inside, requiring higher access levels.

Although Elder Gong granted him the authority to serve as a steward and the freedom to enter and exit the Library Pavilion, the level that token could reach was obviously limited. If he wanted to see more in-depth information, he would probably have to wait until he made substantial progress in his research on the ancient restriction.

He put the volumes back in their place and was about to go downstairs when a very familiar warm throbbing suddenly came from the depths of his consciousness. The throbbing was like a ripple on the surface of water touched by a spring breeze, spreading out in a fine circle at the edge of his consciousness, carrying a calm texture that he knew all too well, unique to the level of soul power.

Xiao An's aura was rising in an extremely slow but irreversible way, like a spring that had been accumulating for too long finally overflowing its last sluice gate and steadily advancing to a higher level. Her soul trembled in the darkness, and the power that had been accumulating for too long was surging toward the threshold of the Void Refinement Realm with an unstoppable momentum.

Li Hanshan withdrew his hand from the bookshelf, feeling Xiao An's clear thoughts transmitted through the Yang Pattern: Senior, I can't suppress it anymore. There are at most three days left.

His heart tightened suddenly. The Array Hall was clearly not a place where Xiao An could break through; once Xiao An's identity as a ghost was exposed, it would bring him endless trouble.

He strode down the spiral staircase, passed through the main hall, and arrived at the teleportation array at the side entrance of the Array Hall. The disciple on duty let him pass after he showed his deacon's token. As the light of the teleportation array shone beneath his feet, he sensed that Xiao An's aura was steadily rising, like a taut string being stretched inch by inch towards its limit.

After passing through the light of the teleportation array, he appeared on the dock in the outer area of ​​the core immortal island. Without lingering, he summoned his flying sword and transformed into a streak of purple-gold light, speeding towards the sea outside the island.

The morning light spread a layer of fine golden fragments on the sea surface, and his escape light left a long trail in that fragment of light, like a lit arrow cutting through the boundary where the sea and sky meet.

The outline of the fairy island behind us quickly shrank in our field of vision. The sea breeze blew in from ahead, carrying the salty, fishy smell and the unique dampness of the deep sea.

He continued flying into the depths of the endless sea, sensing the ever-increasing fluctuations of soul power in his sea of ​​consciousness, and estimating the distance in his mind—he had to fly at least ten thousand miles away to ensure that the cultivators on the immortal island would not detect Xiao An's breakthrough.