Chapter 355: Lost in Jiaxu Outpost

Inside Jiaxu Outpost, Li Fan looked at the Golden List projected from the heavenly mystery small mirror.

"This Guo Yezhong is quite an interesting character. If there isn't a special reason for it, then he's openly slacking off under the gaze of thousands. This is a blatant slap in the face to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance."

Recalling the Guo Yezhong he saw during the training camp, the man seemed completely unremarkable.

"If this person still has zero points by the end of the competition, I'll respect him as a real man."

Faint whispers of resentment suddenly echoed in his ears again. After more than a year of tempering, Li Fan had long since grown accustomed to this.

Without changing his expression, he lit a glazed lamp in the room. An eerie black flame flickered to life, and the strange noises from the abyss instantly vanished.

"This [Nirvana Glazed Lamp] is indeed useful." Enjoying the rare silence once more, Li Fan couldn't help but praise it.

The Nirvana Glazed Lamp was a new type of noise-canceling treasure sent by the Yanwu Hall two months ago.

It came from the Western Ethereal Province.

After lighting the Nirvana Wick inside the lamp, it would emit black flames that reduced all surrounding sounds to nothingness.

Simple to use, with outstanding effects.

Moreover, unlike other treasures that risked mutation after absorbing too much demonic sound, this lamp remained unaffected.

This glazed lamp would not be affected at all until it burned out. It could also be extinguished when not in use to extend its lifespan.

Among all noise-canceling treasures, this Nirvana Glazed Lamp was considered the most exceptional.

Unfortunately, it was said that the key component, the [Nirvana Wick], required a special manufacturing process, had a long production cycle, and was extremely precious.

Thus, only Formation Masters like Li Fan and Xue Mu were equipped with one to carry around.

Those belonging to the Qingxuan Army would only bring them out to deal with difficulties in moments of crisis.

However, Li Fan lighting the Nirvana Glazed Lamp now wasn't due to extravagance.

Ever since the sudden outbreak of the demonic sound tide from the Chizha Abyss fifteen days ago, this Jiaxu Outpost had lost contact with other outposts and the Eternal Immortal Fortress.

Communication talismans, Spell transmissions, and even the tianxuan mirror could not connect to the outside world.

In fact, the list Li Fan had been looking at out of boredom just now was merely data frozen before the tide's outbreak.

According to the veteran of the Qingxuan Army and Nascent Soul Cultivator guarding him, Leng Yingyi, the intensity of this tide was a once-in-a-century event.

Based on Leng Yingyi's experience, the duration of a demonic sound tide was almost directly proportional to its power.

The sudden outbreak of the tide was beyond everyone's expectations.

Various supplies in the outpost, including the [black death talisman] used to maintain survival in the Devouring Yuan White Mist, were running low and needed timely replenishment.

Consequently, Leng Yingyi, as part of his duty, led three subordinates and risked the danger of falling to return to the Eternal Immortal Fortress for supplies during a lull after the tide's outbreak.

However, he had yet to return.

Although Li Fan was a bit puzzled as to why he happened to encounter a once-in-a-century tide.

But given the current situation, the outpost was still relatively safe, so there was no need to panic.

It was just that under the dual influence of the tide and the White Mist, not only communication but even Spiritual Qi had become turbulent.

One's mind could not focus; if one forced their cultivation, it would cause Spiritual Qi to surge irregularly within the body, damaging one's vital energy and blood.

Unable to Cultivate, the usually diligent Li Fan also found himself with nothing to do.

He had also tried to trigger the ritual to enter the Fallen Immortal Realm.

But within this White Mist, the connection to the Fallen Immortal Realm was too weak.

After several failed attempts to enter, it instead left Li Fan's Divine Soul shaken and his head spinning.

So he had no choice but to give up.

The only way to pass the time was to chat and ramble with the other Cultivators in the outpost.

However, as the days passed and the supplies in the outpost grew scarcer, while Leng Yingyi still showed no sign of returning.

Everyone's mood became heavy, and idle chatter gradually decreased.

The black fire flickered unsteadily, jumping continuously.

It cast a somewhat somber shadow over Li Fan's face as well.

"Could it be that this life will end right here?"

After staying for a long time, this thought would occasionally pop into his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he habitually circulated the Profound Yellow Heart Refining Mantra to suppress his stray thoughts.

Since there was nothing else to do, after some thought, Li Fan simply devoted all his focus to practicing this heart refining mantra.

Ever since his cultivation had reached a certain level, although circulating the Profound Yellow Heart Refining Mantra had become as natural as breathing.

But after all, full-hearted comprehension and practice were still different from the slow cultivation of instinct.

This was also the first time in a long while that Li Fan seriously practiced the heart refining mantra again.

When he was still a Mortal, the Heart Purifying Mantra was his hope of breaking the barrier between immortals and Mortals.

Therefore, he could forget food and sleep, persevering in bitter cultivation for several years.

But once he broke through to the Qi Refinement Stage and the Heart Purifying Mantra transformed into the heart refining mantra.

Its role became blurred.

It couldn't increase his cultivation by even a shred; its only apparent function was to suppress and crush stray thoughts in his heart.

In today's Cultivation World, which did not place much importance on Heart-Nature, this was almost useless.

Furthermore, Li Fan's will was exceptionally resilient, and he almost never encountered Heart Demon troubles.

So for Li Fan, the effect of the heart refining mantra was even more negligible.

If it weren't for his intuition and the fact that it was listed first among the Cultivation Techniques on the Huan Zhen panel, which indirectly indicated its value.

Li Fan might have given it up long ago.

After all, no matter how powerful a dragon-slaying technique was, if there were no dragons in the world, it was just a useless effort and not worth wasting time on.

However, at this moment, when Li Fan once again temporarily set everything aside and immersed himself in heart refining, he gradually gained some insight.

"Heart refining, heart refining."

"I already know how to refine it by heart."

"But what it should be refined into, and what the ultimate goal is, I have no clue."

"Perhaps this is also the reason why the progress of my heart refining mantra has been stalled and incomplete for so many years."

"What is being refined?"

…

This question might be too profound.

It left Li Fan, who considered his Comprehension Ability to be quite good, stuck in a difficult problem for a while.

Time slowly passed in this process.

Working behind closed doors had limited effect.

On the thirty-sixth day after the outbreak of the demonic sound tide, Li Fan, who still couldn't think of an answer, simply stopped his cultivation temporarily.

He just paced slowly through the outpost, listening, observing, feeling, and thinking.

Compared to ten or so days ago, Jiaxu Outpost had quietly undergone some changes in a short time.

The enclosed environment, the unknown future, and the demonic sound tides that would strike from time to time.

The daily depletion of survival supplies.

While the Cultivators in the outpost felt like each day was a year, an inexplicable emotion also began to slowly sprout in everyone's hearts.

Although they hadn't reached a desperate situation yet, Li Fan, who could perceive human hearts, noticed it immediately.

"Besides me, there are three Nascent Souls and six Golden Cores."

"I am the weakest, but if I play the pig to eat the tiger and reap the benefits of others' conflicts, surviving until the end shouldn't be a problem."

This was the first thought that popped into Li Fan's mind.