Chapter 331: Strange Changes in Heaven and Earth

After some consideration, Li Fan didn't directly ask He Zhenghao. Instead, he sent a message to Master Jingxuan.

As He Zhenghao's direct superior, Master Jingxuan's position was higher than He Zhenghao's. If Lü Junyi was promoted to the position of the Commander-in-Chief, he should benefit significantly.

Master Jingxuan did not respond immediately, and Li Fan did not rush to remind him.

Next, Li Fan checked the information about the rewards for the longevity treasures offered by the Supreme Immortal Venerable.

With less than eight months left until the three-year deadline, the competition for these treasures was fierce. Apart from the already clear leader, the Longevity Fruit, which could extend life by five hundred years, the competition below was intense.

The competition had reached the point where professional cultivators needed to accurately determine the specific time of life extension, down to the month.

"The Lifespan-Extending Fruiting only extends life by three hundred years..."

Li Fan sighed inwardly.

The allure of the Yinfajue was too tempting, and the competition was beyond imagination.

"It's a bit forced. But it's impossible to find another treasure for longevity."

"Let's see how the world unfolds."

Closing the information about the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan suppressed distracting thoughts, calmed his mind, and began his dedicated cultivation.

However, shortly after entering seclusion, Li Fan's cultivation was unexpectedly interrupted by a sudden surge in feedback of cultivation progress.

Although not as much as the feedback He Zhenghao, Su Xiaomei, and others received when breaking through to the Golden Core stage, it was still a pleasant surprise for Li Fan. It significantly accelerated his progress to the mid-Golden Core stage.

"What is this..."

After sensing it for a moment, Li Fan was somewhat surprised.

"Xue Mu?"

"He went to the Mortal to Divine Barrier for a visit, and he actually gained something?"

"Judging from the amount of cultivation feedback, he's at least at the Three Laws Golden Core stage?"

"Interesting. The Mortal to Divine Barrier is indeed famous. It seems worthwhile to go and take a look after dealing with the matters here."

While Li Fan was contemplating, he received an excited message from Xue Mu.

"Haha, Friend Li Fan, I've made it!"

"I really have to thank you. If it weren't for the strange phenomenon you recommended, how could I have achieved the Three Laws Golden Core stage?"

"I will never forget your kindness!"

...

Li Fan smiled faintly and didn't respond.

"Your diligent cultivation is the best way to repay me."

Li Fan thought to himself.

After putting away the communication talisman, Li Fan once again focused on his cultivation.

Unexpectedly, just over two months later, he was once again disturbed by a powerful feedback of cultivation progress, forcing him to stop his cultivation.

This feedback of cultivation progress was several times more than what Xue Mu brought, clearly indicating a deeper connection between this person and Li Fan.

"This is... Xiao Heng?"

"He has broken through to the mid-Golden Core stage?"

Feeling the faint connection coming from the feedback, Li Fan was somewhat surprised.

"He should be in Shilin State right now. Unfortunately, it's too far to use the formless killing intent to check."

"Breaking through again so quickly, he must have encountered some opportunities."

With an additional source of help, the difficulty of advancing to the next stage was significantly reduced.

"It seems that reaching the early Golden Core stage perfection before the deadline should not be a problem."

"I just don't know if the bottleneck for this small realm's Heaven's Calamity will be troublesome or not."

With a hint of excitement, Li Fan once again immersed himself in cultivation.

However, what happened in the following months, while bringing a bountiful harvest to Li Fan, also stirred an inexplicable sense of unease in his heart.

This was because, apart from Xue Mu and Xiao Heng, in the past half year, everyone, including Su Xiaomei, Zhang Haobo, He Zhenghao, the Yin sisters, and even Zhao Dabao and Su Changyu, had successively broken through.

It's worth noting that Su Changyu intended to cultivate using the method of "Building the Foundation with Myself."

The amount of cultivation progress he fed back this time was not at all like that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Could it be that he successfully "Built the Foundation with Myself"?

Elder Yin dissected over a hundred of his own corpses, all resulting in only partial success.

When did Su Changyu's aptitude become so outstanding?

What intrigued Li Fan even more was that if one or two cultivators breakthrough simultaneously, it could be explained by coincidence. However, the widespread phenomenon of cultivators breaking through their realms in such a short period made Li Fan suspect that some inexplicable changes were occurring.

To verify his speculation, Li Fan couldn't afford to continue cultivation.

In the Tianxuan Mirror, he began searching for information.

Using "breakthrough" as the keyword, Li Fan found that in the past year, the information that surfaced was indeed much more intense than before, even showing signs of a surge.

In the excited words of the cultivators, Li Fan learned that most of them were fortunate enough not to encounter the bottleneck of the Heavenly Calamity when they broke through this time.

Naturally, after reaching full cultivation, they smoothly ascended.

This phenomenon was not isolated. Even many cultivators who had been trapped at bottlenecks for years unexpectedly broke through their realms in this mysterious manner.

"Cultivation seems to have become easier."

Many cultivators said so.

Because the number of low-level cultivators was too large, many cultivators still hadn't broken through and ascended.

Therefore, most people just regarded their words as boasting after a successful breakthrough and didn't pay much attention.

However, Li Fan didn't think so.

"Could it be that the urgent construction of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array by the Supreme Immortal Alliance is related to this?"

Li Fan couldn't help but link these two things together.

The number of cultivators cannot be too many or too few. Through the mission of hunting the red-haired exotic beasts on the deserted island, Li Fan understood that the Supreme Immortal Alliance intentionally controlled the number of cultivators under its command.

Being in a rush to build the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array meant that there must be something about to happen that could affect or even overturn the rule of the Supreme Immortal Alliance.

To maintain stability, they had to take such an extreme measure.

"Heaven and Earth are changing again. Is the number of cultivators about to go out of control?"

Li Fan narrowed his eyes.

If this speculation were true, then it could almost be foreseen that in the near future, the Supreme Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders would inevitably begin massive reductions in the number of cultivators through various means.

A massacre on the surface should be impossible.

It could be another war.

Or maybe...

As if he thought of something, Li Fan's heart suddenly became cold.

He stood up straight, as if plunged into a cold winter.

In the propaganda of the Supreme Immortal Alliance, the establishment of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array was to expose the spies lurking from the Five Elders.

The actual effect of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array had been fully verified in the Jiushan Prefecture.

Cultivators trusted its magical effects.

However, when the array was completed and the pillars of light that penetrated the heavens and earth appeared, all spies were revealed.

But...

The core hub of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array was the self-aware Tianxuan Mirror.

What if the Tianxuan Mirror intentionally marked genuine Supreme Immortal Alliance cultivators as Five Elders' spies?

Under the pillars of light, would other cultivators believe that you are innocent?

The more Li Fan thought about it, the colder his heart became.

A legitimate and open massacre might be imminent.

(End of this chapter)