zì tiān zūn chuàng zào xīn fǎ ， xiū shì yī kào lüè tiān duó dì xiū xíng hòu bù jiǔ 。
自天尊创造新法，修士依靠掠天夺地修行后不久。
Since the Heavenly Sage created new techniques, cultivators began relying on the Overheaven and Seize-the-Earth method to practice not long ago.
tiān dì fǎn zhì ， jù biàn jiàng lín 。
天地反制，剧变降临。
Soon after, the heavens and earth retaliated, bringing about a dramatic change.
yī mén gōng fǎ tóng shí xiū xíng de rén shù yuè duō ， dà jiā de xiū liàn sù dù yě jiù yuè màn 。
一门功法同时修行的人数越多，大家的修炼速度也就越慢。
The more people practiced a single technique simultaneously, the slower their cultivation speed became.
cǐ zhī wèi xiān fǎ bù kě tóng xiū 。
此之谓仙法不可同修。
This was known as "immortal techniques cannot be practiced simultaneously."
zhè shì rú jīn zhēn shí cún zài de tiān dì zhī lǐ ， yě shì wèi hé gōng fǎ rú cǐ zhēn guì de gēn běn yuán yīn 。
这是如今真实存在的天地之理，也是为何功法如此珍贵的根本原因。
This was a true principle of heaven and earth, and also the fundamental reason why immortal techniques were so precious.
dàn xiàn zài ， yí gè míng bú jiàn jīng zhuàn de xiǎo zǔ zhī zhōng ， jū rán dàn shēng le mén gēn tiān dì zhī lǐ xiāng wéi bèi de gōng fǎ 。
但现在，一个名不见经传的小组织中，居然诞生了门跟天地之理相违背的功法。
But now, in an obscure small organization, a technique that contradicted this heavenly principle had been born.
shuí xìn ？
谁信？
Who would believe it?
yī kāi shǐ ， xiū shì men zhǐ bǎ tā dàng zuò xiào tán ， gēn běn bù yǔ lǐ cǎi 。
一开始，修士们只把他当做笑谈，根本不予理睬。
At first, cultivators only regarded it as a joke and paid no attention to it.
bù guò ， zǒng yǒu xiē yù qiú xiān fǎ ér wú mén de rén ， bào zhe shì shì kàn de tài dù ， bá shān shè shuǐ ， yuǎn fù jiǔ shān zhōu yī tàn jiū jìng 。
不过，总有些欲求仙法而无门的人，抱着试试看的态度，跋山涉水，远赴九山州一探究竟。
However, there were always those who sought immortal techniques but couldn't find them. They ventured far into the Nine Mountains Province with a试试看 attitude.
zài jiā rù líng yuán jiào ， zhèng shì kāi shǐ xiū xíng 《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》 hòu 。
在加入灵元教，正式开始修行《苍生灵元功》后。
After joining the Spirit Essence Sect and officially starting cultivation of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*,
ràng tā men zhèn jīng de shì qíng fā shēng le 。
让他们震惊的事情发生了。
a shocking event occurred.
líng yuán jiào zhòng ， dí què xiū xíng de dōu shì zhè yī mén gōng fǎ 。
灵元教众，的确修行的都是这一门功法。
Indeed, the members of the Spirit Essence Sect practiced this single technique.
cóng liàn qì dào huà shén ， gè gè jìng jiè dōu yǒu 。
从炼气到化神，各个境界都有。
From Qi Refinement to Spirit Transformation, there were practitioners at all stages.
zuì guān jiàn de shì ， fǎ bù kě tóng xiū de zhì lǐ zài 《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》 shàng fǎng fú shī xiào le yì bān 。
最关键的是，法不可同修的至理在《苍生灵元功》上仿佛失效了一般。
Most importantly, the principle that techniques could not be practiced simultaneously seemed to have failed in *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*.
gēn běn méi yǒu yīn wèi xiū xíng rén shù guò duō ér dǎo zhì gōng fǎ xiū liàn guò màn de shì qíng fā shēng 。
根本没有因为修行人数过多而导致功法修炼过慢的事情发生。
There was no slowing down due to an excessive number of practitioners.
shì shí shì wú kě biàn bó de 。
事实是无可辩驳的。
Facts spoke for themselves.
bù guǎn dào dǐ shì yǒu duō me de bù kě sī yì ， tā jiù shì zhè me fā shēng le 。
不管到底是有多么的不可思议，它就是这么发生了。
No matter how unbelievable it might seem, this was what happened.
hěn kuài ， líng yuán jiào yǒu zhè me yī mén qí gōng de shì qíng ， biàn chuán biàn le zhěng gè xiū xiān jiè 。
很快，灵元教有这么一门奇功的事情，便传遍了整个修仙界。
Soon, the existence of such a unique technique within the Spirit Essence Sect spread throughout the world of cultivators.
dà zhòng duì cǐ de dì yī fǎn yìng ， jiù shì chuàng zào chū zhè mén gōng fǎ de ， shì yī wèi bù shì chū de cháng shēng tiān zūn 。
大众对此的第一反应，就是创造出这门功法的，是一位不世出的长生天尊。
People's first reaction was that the one who created this technique must be an unparalleled immortal sage.
wéi yǒu nì zhuǎn le tiān dì zhī lǐ ， fāng néng dá dào rú cǐ xiào guǒ 。
唯有逆转了天地之理，方能达到如此效果。
Only by reversing the principles of heaven and earth could such results be achieved.
bù guò ， shì rén duì yú cháng shēng tiān zūn ， suǒ zhī shèn qiǎn 。
不过，世人对于长生天尊，所知甚浅。
However, people knew very little about the immortal sage.
jī běn jiù zhǐ kào 《 wǔ líng gǎn qì fǎ 》 zhōng jì zǎi de nà jù “ nì tiān dì zhī lǐ ， yǐ zhèng cháng shēng ”， cái kuī jiàn yī èr 。
基本就只靠《五灵感气法》中记载的那句“逆天地之理，以证长生”，才窥见一二。
They only learned from the statement in *The Five Sensory Essence Technique*—“Reverse the principles of heaven and earth to achieve eternal life”—that he existed.
rú hé nì ， jiū jìng zěn yàng cái suàn nì ， nì dào shén me chéng dù cái néng chéng jiù cháng shēng ……
如何逆，究竟怎样才算逆，逆到什么程度才能成就长生……
How exactly one reversed it, what truly counted as a reversal, and how much one had to reverse to attain immortality...
děng děng wèn tí ， dōu zhǐ shì bù kào pǔ de chuǎi duó ér yǐ 。
等等问题，都只是不靠谱的揣度而已。
These were merely speculative guesses.
duì yú 《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》 de shén yì xiào guǒ ， tā men zuò chū rú cǐ cāi cè ， yě wú kě hòu fēi 。
对于《苍生灵元功》的神异效果，他们做出如此猜测，也无可厚非。
Their speculations about the miraculous effects of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* were not without merit.
hěn xiǎn rán ， zhè ge cāi cè shì cuò wù de 。
很显然，这个猜测是错误的。
It was clear that this speculation was incorrect.
tiān qìng zhōu de zī shēn hé dào 、 huáng yuè xiān zūn zài yuè dú le yī fān 《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》 hòu ， zuì zhōng jiē xiǎo le mí dǐ 。
天庆州的资深合道、黄月仙尊在阅读了一番《苍生灵元功》后，最终揭晓了谜底。
In Tianqing Province, Senior Coalescence Yellow Moon Immortal Sage read through *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* and finally revealed the truth.
fǎ bù kě xiū de tiān dì zhī lǐ ， gēn běn méi yǒu nì zhuǎn 。
法不可修的天地之理，根本没有逆转。
There had been no reversal of the principle that techniques could not be practiced simultaneously.
ér zhī suǒ yǐ xiū xíng líng yuán gōng de xiū shì hǎo xiàng méi yǒu shòu dào yǐng xiǎng ， dān chún shì yīn wèi 《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》 zì shēn gōng fǎ tè xìng de yuán gù 。
而之所以修行灵元功的修士好像没有受到影响，单纯是因为《苍生灵元功》自身功法特性的缘故。
Instead, it was simply due to the unique nature of the technique itself. The more people practiced this technique, the faster their cultivation speed became.
tóng yī shí jiān ， xiū xíng líng yuán gōng de rén shù yuè duō ， xiū xíng sù dù yuè kuài 。
同一时间，修行灵元功的人数越多，修行速度越快。
This was the effect of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*.
zhè shì líng yuán gōng de gōng fǎ xiào guǒ 。
这是灵元功的功法效果。
However, because of the limitations imposed by heaven and earth, every additional practitioner slowed down the rate of cultivation.
dàn tóng shí ， yīn wèi tiān dì de xiàn zhì ， měi duō yí gè xiū shì xiū xíng ， gōng fǎ de xiū xíng sù dù yě jiù yuè màn 。
但同时，因为天地的限制，每多一个修士修行，功法的修行速度也就越慢。
These two effects coexisted.
zhè liǎng gè xiào guǒ shì tóng shí cún zài de 。
这两个效果是同时存在的。
As a result, one fast and one slow canceled each other out.
zào chéng de jié guǒ jiù shì ， yī kuài yī màn 、 liǎng xiāng dǐ xiāo 。
造成的结果就是，一快一慢、两相抵消。
Thus, *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* became a technique that could be勉强 practiced.
líng yuán gōng biàn chéng le yī bù néng gòu miǎn qiǎng xiū xíng de gōng fǎ 。
灵元功变成了一部能够勉强修行的功法。
In fact, according to Yellow Moon Immortal Sage, when the number of practitioners increased from 1 to 5 initially,
shì shí shàng ， gēn jù huáng yuè xiān zūn suǒ shuō ， zài zuì kāi shǐ ， líng yuán gōng de xiū xíng rén shù cóng 1 dào 5 zhú jiàn dì zēng de shí hòu 。
事实上，根据黄月仙尊所说，在最开始，灵元功的修行人数从1到5逐渐递增的时候。
the limitations imposed by heaven and earth were far greater than the speed-up effect of the technique.
tiān dì de xiàn zhì xiào guǒ shì yuǎn dà yú gōng fǎ zēng sù tè xìng de 。
天地的限制效果是远大于功法增速特性的。
For an ordinary technique, five people practicing together would have already reached a point where no matter how talented you were, you couldn't make any progress.
xún cháng gōng fǎ ， wǔ rén tóng xiū de huà ， jiù yǐ jīng dào le wú lùn nǐ rú hé tiān cái ， dōu wú fǎ cùn jìn de dì bù 。
寻常功法，五人同修的话，就已经到了无论你如何天才，都无法寸进的地步。
But as the number of practitioners continued to increase from 5 to ten, hundred, thousand, and finally ten thousand,
dàn shì ， dāng xiū xíng líng yuán gōng de rén shù cóng 5 kāi shǐ jì xù zēng jiā ， biàn chéng shí 、 bǎi 、 qiān 、 wàn hòu 。
但是，当修行灵元功的人数从5开始继续增加，变成十、百、千、万后。
the speed-up effects became more pronounced until they eventually offset the limitations imposed by techniques not being able to be practiced simultaneously.
zēng sù xiào guǒ yuè lái yuè míng xiǎn ， zhè cái zuì zhōng kān kān dǐ xiāo le fǎ bù kě tóng xiū de xiàn zhì 。
增速效果越来越明显，这才最终堪堪抵消了法不可同修的限制。
This was a form of *human determination overcoming nature*.
zhè shì mǒu zhǒng yì yì shàng de 【 rén dìng shèng tiān 】。
这是某种意义上的【人定胜天】。
However, this was as far as it went.
dàn yě jì zhǐ yú cǐ le 。
但也技止于此了。
Because the speed-up effect of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* also had its limits.
yīn wèi cāng shēng líng yuán gōng de zēng sù xiào guǒ yě shì yǒu zhe jí xiàn de 。
因为苍生灵元功的增速效果也是有着极限的。
After canceling out the negative effects from heaven and earth, the growth in cultivation speed became almost meaningless.
zài dǐ xiāo le tiān dì de fù miàn xiào guǒ zhī hòu ， líng yuán gōng de zēng zhǎng xiū xíng sù dù de gōng xiào yě jī hū biàn dé liáo shèng yú wú 。
在抵消了天地的负面效果之后，灵元功的增长修行速度的功效也几乎变得聊胜于无。
Moreover, *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* itself did not have any other special effects beyond increasing the rate of cultivation.
ér líng yuán gōng běn shēn chú le zēng jiā xiū xíng sù dù zhī wài ， méi yǒu rèn hé qí tā tè shū de xiào guǒ 。
而灵元功本身除了增加修行速度之外，没有任何其他特殊的效果。
This made it a less-than-ideal technique for most cultivators with choices.
zhè yě dǎo zhì le ， duì yú jué dà duō shù yǒu xuǎn zé de xiū shì ér yán ， tā dōu suàn bù dé yī mén hǎo de gōng fǎ 。
这也导致了，对于绝大多数有选择的修士而言，它都算不得一门好的功法。
Additionally, there seemed to be some other limitations on *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*, but Yellow Star Immortal Sage didn't explicitly state them.
chú cǐ zhī wài ， líng yuán gōng sì hū hái cún zài zhe qí tā yī xiē xiàn zhì 。
除此之外，灵元功似乎还存在着其他一些限制。
"The *Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* really came at an unfortunate time. In any other world, this would definitely count as a groundbreaking and heaven-defying technique. Unfortunately, it's restricted to the Xuanhuang Realm," Li Fan thought while building the array, listening to Yan Hang and company chat.
bù guò huáng xīng xiān zūn méi yǒu míng shuō 。
不过黄星仙尊没有明说。
The Spirit Essence Sect wasn't unfamiliar to Li Fan. It was the organization that set up checkpoints at the Nine Mountains Passes where Su Xiaomei and others encountered them.
“《 cāng shēng líng yuán gōng 》， zhēn shì shēng bù féng shí 。 huàn zuò rèn hé qí tā shì jiè ， zhè jué duì suàn de shàng shì yī mén jīng shì hài sú de nì tiān gōng fǎ 。 kě xī ， zài xuán huáng jiè bèi xiàn zhì de sǐ sǐ de 。” yī biān jiàn zào fǎ zhèn ， yī biān tīng zhe yàn háng tā men xián liáo de lǐ fán xīn zhōng àn zì gǎn kǎi dào 。
“《苍生灵元功》，真是生不逢时。换做任何其他世界，这绝对算的上是一门惊世骇俗的逆天功法。可惜，在玄黄界被限制的死死的。”一边建造法阵，一边听着晏杭他们闲聊的李凡心中暗自感慨道。
Shen Yuerou, who had been injured by his invincible sword and possessed a Peach Blossom Cave Heaven, left an impression on him.
zhè líng yuán jiào ， lǐ fán yě bù mò shēng 。
这灵元教，李凡也不陌生。
"According to Yellow Moon Immortal Sage's words, only if many cultivators gathered from the beginning to practice this Spirit Essence Technique could they possibly gain entry."
zhèng shì dāng chū sū xiǎo mèi tā men yù dào de ， zài jiǔ shān guān ài shè kǎ shōu fèi de nà ge zǔ zhī 。
正是当初苏小妹他们遇到的，在九山关隘设卡收费的那个组织。
"The leader of the Spirit Essence Sect must be quite formidable given their ability to gather such a large group in that chaotic place in the Nine Mountains Province."
nà ge bù nán bù nǚ 、 shēn jù táo huā dòng tiān ， bèi wǒ wú dí yī jiàn dǎ shāng de shěn yù róu ， huán gěi lǐ fán liú xià le diǎn yìn xiàng 。
那个不男不女、身具桃花洞天，被我无敌一剑打伤的沈玉柔，还给李凡留下了点印象。
...
“ àn zhào huáng yuè xiān zūn de shuō fǎ ， zhǐ yǒu yī kāi shǐ jiù jù jí zhòng duō de xiū shì ， yì qǐ xiū xíng zhè líng yuán gōng 。 cái yǒu kě néng rù mén 。”
“按照黄月仙尊的说法，只有一开始就聚集众多的修士，一起修行这灵元功。才有可能入门。”
The influx of new members slightly alleviated the increasingly tense atmosphere within the Five Elements Caves.
“ zài jiǔ shān zhōu nà hùn luàn zhī dì ， néng gòu lā qǐ zhè me dà yī piào rén ， zhè líng yuán jiào de shǒu nǎo ， yě bù jiǎn dān 。”
“在九山州那混乱之地，能够拉起这么大一票人，这灵元教的首脑，也不简单。”
But it didn't last long. As the frequency of fusion monsters increased, cultivators working in various caves finally began to lose their resolve.
……
……
After the first casualties appeared, some array mages chose to stop working.
xīn xiān xuè yè de zhù rù ， shāo wēi huǎn hé le wǔ xíng dòng tiān nèi rì qū jǐn zhāng de fēn wéi 。
新鲜血液的注入，稍微缓和了五行洞天内日趋紧张的氛围。
Of course, they didn't openly protest.
dàn yě méi néng chí xù duō jiǔ 。
但也没能持续多久。
Instead, they used the excuse of dealing with monsters to secretly slack off.
suí zhe róng hé guài wù chū xiàn de pín lǜ yuè fā pín fán ， fèn dòu zài gè gè dòng tiān nèi de xiū shì zhōng yú yǒu diǎn jiān chí bú zhù le 。
随着融合怪物出现的频率越发频繁，奋斗在各个洞天内的修士终于有点坚持不住了。
Qi Bu Yi was somewhat helpless. He couldn't ask those two senior coalescence immortals to go on a killing spree.
dāng shǒu lì shāng wáng chū xiàn hòu ， yǒu yī xiē zhèn fǎ shī zhí jiē xuǎn zé tíng gōng bù gàn le 。
当首例伤亡出现后，有一些阵法师直接选择停工不干了。
Not only were the array mages in the caves quite influential and well-connected,
dāng rán méi yǒu dà zhāng qí gǔ de zhèng miàn xuān yáng 。
当然没有大张旗鼓的正面宣扬。
but if she really did that, forcing them, it might backfire and cause the construction of the Five Elements Caves' arrays to come to a complete halt.
zhǐ shì yǐ yìng duì guài wù wèi yóu ， xíng yáng fèng yīn wéi zhī shì 。
只是以应对怪物为由，行阳奉阴违之事。
Qi Bu Yi was rarely faced with such situations. She felt somewhat at a loss for what to do.
duì cǐ ， qī bù yì yě yǒu diǎn wú kě nài hé 。
对此，戚不弈也有点无可奈何。
She reported the situation to Chief Lu while trying her best to console everyone to prevent more severe unrest.
zǒng bù néng qǐng nà liǎng wèi zuò zhèn de hé dào xiān zūn dà kāi shā jiè ba ？
总不能请那两位坐镇的合道仙尊大开杀戒吧？
Regarding the external turmoil, Li Fan himself wasn't overly concerned.
xiān bù tí dòng tiān nèi de zhèn fǎ shī dōu shì pǒ yǒu shēn fèn bèi jǐng de 。
先不提洞天内的阵法师都是颇有身份背景的。
But his array-building efficiency inevitably suffered as well.
rú guǒ tā zhēn de zhè me gàn ， qiáng xíng bī pò xià ， kǒng pà zhǐ huì shì dé qí fǎn ， dǎo zhì wǔ xíng dòng tiān de zhèn fǎ jiàn zào gōng zuò zhí jiē tíng bǎi 。
如果她真的这么干，强行逼迫下，恐怕只会适得其反，导致五行洞天的阵法建造工作直接停摆。
Yan Hang and company were gradually finding it harder to deal with the monsters. He had to split some of his attention to monitor the situation closely.
hěn shǎo pèng jiàn zhè zhǒng qíng kuàng de qī bù yì ， yī shí jiān pǒ yǒu diǎn jiāo tóu làn 。
很少碰见这种情况的戚不弈，一时间颇有点焦头烂。
In critical moments, Li Fan would even participate in the battles, but only by providing support through array techniques.
zhǐ dé xiàng lù shǒu xí huì bào qíng kuàng de tóng shí ， jìn lì ān fǔ zhòng rén 。
只得向陆首席汇报情况的同时，尽力安抚众人。
Just when things seemed to be deteriorating further, a beam of light piercing through the Five Elements Caves finally arrived.
yǐ miǎn gèng zāo gāo de bào dòng fā shēng 。
以免更糟糕的暴动发生。
Rescue forces had finally arrived. A massive Dust-Transcending Boat spanned the void outside the caves, occupying half the sky.
duì yú wài jiè de fēng yǔ ， suī rán lǐ fán běn shēn bìng bù zài hū 。
对于外界的风雨，虽然李凡本身并不在乎。
Cultivators flew towards each cave in an orderly manner like dense black dots.
dàn tā de bù zhèn xiào lǜ ， yě bù kě bì miǎn de shòu dào le yǐng xiǎng 。
但他的布阵效率，也不可避免的受到了影响。
For the first time, Li Fan, who was within the Water Attribute Cave, got a glimpse of the entire Five Elements Caves.
yàn háng wǔ rén yìng duì guài wù zhú jiàn chī lì ， tā yě dé fēn chū yī bù fèn jīng shén ， shí kè zhù yì zhàn kuàng 。
晏杭五人应对怪物逐渐吃力，他也得分出一部分精神，时刻注意战况。
It seemed to be a continuous ring, yet mixed together like a palette of colors. It was both distinct and indistinguishable.
bì yào guān tóu ， lǐ fán hái huì cān yù jìn zhàn dòu zhī zhōng 。
必要关头，李凡还会参与进战斗之中。
As the light beam gradually dimmed, the illusory images of the Gold, Fire, and Earth Caves also vanished.
dāng rán ， zhǐ shì yǐ zhèn fǎ fǔ zhù de fāng shì 。
当然，只是以阵法辅助的方式。
At the same time, the number of cooperative operation lists in the Supervision Record nearly doubled.
zhèng dāng xíng shì zhú jiàn bēng huài zhī jì ， suí zhe yī dào tōng tiān chè dǐ de bái guāng guàn chuān zhěng gè wǔ xíng dòng tiān 。
正当形势逐渐崩坏之际，随着一道通天彻底的白光贯穿整个五行洞天。
When Li Fan checked them, he saw many familiar names—those young array mages who had trained together with him at the Cosmology Separate Academy before returning to their respective provinces for the grand competition.
yuán jūn zhōng yú dào dá le 。
援军终于到达了。
"It seems that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is indeed short on manpower."
yī sōu jí qí páng dà de dù chén zhōu ， héng gèn zài dòng tiān de xū kōng zhī wài 。
一艘极其庞大的渡尘舟，横亘在洞天的虚空之外。
"Even reinforcements have been brought in."
zhàn jù dà bàn tiān mù 。
占据大半天幕。
(End of Chapter)
Since the Heavenly Sage created new techniques, cultivators began relying on the Overheaven and Seize-the-Earth method to practice not long ago.
Soon after, the heavens and earth retaliated, bringing about a dramatic change.
The more people practiced a single technique simultaneously, the slower their cultivation speed became.
This was known as "immortal techniques cannot be practiced simultaneously."
This was a true principle of heaven and earth, and also the fundamental reason why immortal techniques were so precious.
But now, in an obscure small organization, a technique that contradicted this heavenly principle had been born.
Who would believe it?
At first, cultivators only regarded it as a joke and paid no attention to it.
However, there were always those who sought immortal techniques but couldn't find them. They ventured far into the Nine Mountains Province with a试试看 attitude.
After joining the Spirit Essence Sect and officially starting cultivation of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*,
a shocking event occurred.
Indeed, the members of the Spirit Essence Sect practiced this single technique.
From Qi Refinement to Spirit Transformation, there were practitioners at all stages.
Most importantly, the principle that techniques could not be practiced simultaneously seemed to have failed in *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*.
There was no slowing down due to an excessive number of practitioners.
Facts spoke for themselves.
No matter how unbelievable it might seem, this was what happened.
Soon, the existence of such a unique technique within the Spirit Essence Sect spread throughout the world of cultivators.
People's first reaction was that the one who created this technique must be an unparalleled immortal sage.
Only by reversing the principles of heaven and earth could such results be achieved.
However, people knew very little about the immortal sage.
They only learned from the statement in *The Five Sensory Essence Technique*—“Reverse the principles of heaven and earth to achieve eternal life”—that he existed.
How exactly one reversed it, what truly counted as a reversal, and how much one had to reverse to attain immortality...
These were merely speculative guesses.
Their speculations about the miraculous effects of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* were not without merit.
It was clear that this speculation was incorrect.
In Tianqing Province, Senior Coalescence Yellow Moon Immortal Sage read through *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* and finally revealed the truth.
There had been no reversal of the principle that techniques could not be practiced simultaneously.
Instead, it was simply due to the unique nature of the technique itself. The more people practiced this technique, the faster their cultivation speed became.
This was the effect of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*.
However, because of the limitations imposed by heaven and earth, every additional practitioner slowed down the rate of cultivation.
These two effects coexisted.
As a result, one fast and one slow canceled each other out.
Thus, *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* became a technique that could be勉强 practiced.
In fact, according to Yellow Moon Immortal Sage, when the number of practitioners increased from 1 to 5 initially,
the limitations imposed by heaven and earth were far greater than the speed-up effect of the technique.
For an ordinary technique, five people practicing together would have already reached a point where no matter how talented you were, you couldn't make any progress.
But as the number of practitioners continued to increase from 5 to ten, hundred, thousand, and finally ten thousand,
the speed-up effects became more pronounced until they eventually offset the limitations imposed by techniques not being able to be practiced simultaneously.
This was a form of *human determination overcoming nature*.
However, this was as far as it went.
Because the speed-up effect of *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* also had its limits.
After canceling out the negative effects from heaven and earth, the growth in cultivation speed became almost meaningless.
Moreover, *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* itself did not have any other special effects beyond increasing the rate of cultivation.
This made it a less-than-ideal technique for most cultivators with choices.
Additionally, there seemed to be some other limitations on *The Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique*, but Yellow Star Immortal Sage didn't explicitly state them.
"The *Lives of the World Spirit Essence Technique* really came at an unfortunate time. In any other world, this would definitely count as a groundbreaking and heaven-defying technique. Unfortunately, it's restricted to the Xuanhuang Realm," Li Fan thought while building the array, listening to Yan Hang and company chat.
The Spirit Essence Sect wasn't unfamiliar to Li Fan. It was the organization that set up checkpoints at the Nine Mountains Passes where Su Xiaomei and others encountered them.
Shen Yuerou, who had been injured by his invincible sword and possessed a Peach Blossom Cave Heaven, left an impression on him.
"According to Yellow Moon Immortal Sage's words, only if many cultivators gathered from the beginning to practice this Spirit Essence Technique could they possibly gain entry."
"The leader of the Spirit Essence Sect must be quite formidable given their ability to gather such a large group in that chaotic place in the Nine Mountains Province."
...
The influx of new members slightly alleviated the increasingly tense atmosphere within the Five Elements Caves.
But it didn't last long. As the frequency of fusion monsters increased, cultivators working in various caves finally began to lose their resolve.
After the first casualties appeared, some array mages chose to stop working.
Of course, they didn't openly protest.
Instead, they used the excuse of dealing with monsters to secretly slack off.
Qi Bu Yi was somewhat helpless. He couldn't ask those two senior coalescence immortals to go on a killing spree.
Not only were the array mages in the caves quite influential and well-connected,
but if she really did that, forcing them, it might backfire and cause the construction of the Five Elements Caves' arrays to come to a complete halt.
Qi Bu Yi was rarely faced with such situations. She felt somewhat at a loss for what to do.
She reported the situation to Chief Lu while trying her best to console everyone to prevent more severe unrest.
Regarding the external turmoil, Li Fan himself wasn't overly concerned.
But his array-building efficiency inevitably suffered as well.
Yan Hang and company were gradually finding it harder to deal with the monsters. He had to split some of his attention to monitor the situation closely.
In critical moments, Li Fan would even participate in the battles, but only by providing support through array techniques.
Just when things seemed to be deteriorating further, a beam of light piercing through the Five Elements Caves finally arrived.
Rescue forces had finally arrived. A massive Dust-Transcending Boat spanned the void outside the caves, occupying half the sky.
Cultivators flew towards each cave in an orderly manner like dense black dots.
For the first time, Li Fan, who was within the Water Attribute Cave, got a glimpse of the entire Five Elements Caves.
It seemed to be a continuous ring, yet mixed together like a palette of colors. It was both distinct and indistinguishable.
As the light beam gradually dimmed, the illusory images of the Gold, Fire, and Earth Caves also vanished.
At the same time, the number of cooperative operation lists in the Supervision Record nearly doubled.
When Li Fan checked them, he saw many familiar names—those young array mages who had trained together with him at the Cosmology Separate Academy before returning to their respective provinces for the grand competition.
"It seems that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is indeed short on manpower."
"Even reinforcements have been brought in."
(End of Chapter)