Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 481 A Stunning Skill! The Connection Between the Fixed Word Technique and This Place!

"It's done!" the Qian family patriarch exclaimed in delight.

All eyes turned to the stone pavilion, where the jade slips were ancient and elegant, and the two magical artifacts were a small bronze bell and a short jade ruler, both exuding spiritual light and clearly not ordinary items.

The most eye-catching item was the jade bottle, its stopper slightly loose, emanating a fragrance that invigorated anyone who took a breath.

"Purifying Essence Pill! It's at least a fifth-grade spiritual pill! It has a miraculous effect on purifying impurities in the Nascent Soul!" The Spirit Stream Sect's Elder Ling Shui, with his vast knowledge, exclaimed in surprise.

Greed gleamed in Young Master Wang's eyes, but he forced himself to suppress it. He first looked at Chen Fan and sneered, "You do have some skill. Continue, next one!"

Chen Fan nodded silently, his gaze shifting to another area more than ten feet away that was shrouded in an array!

It was a dilapidated alchemy furnace half-buried in the ground, with a crimson glow covering its mouth, radiating intense heat.

Having succeeded the first time, Young Master Wang and the others became more convinced of Chen Fan's mastery of formations, but they still kept a tight watch on him.

Chen Fan remained focused, treating each formation-breaking attempt as a learning opportunity.

The second is a fire-based formation, using earth fire as its foundation and incorporating the transformations of Li fire and Bing fire. The formation's core is hidden inside the furnace. To break it, one must simultaneously infiltrate the rune nodes at Qian, Zhen, and Gen with water-based cold energy to draw the fire power inward, and then use divine sense to adjust the position of a "flame crystal" inside the furnace.

Following the instructions, Chen Fan had the Xuanqing Sect's Shangqing Daoist break through the attack with Xuan Yin True Qi.

After the light barrier dissipated, three fiery red Earth Fire Yuan Pills, each the size of a longan, remained inside the furnace. These were top-grade materials for tempering fire-type magic treasures and cultivating fire-based divine abilities, causing a stir.

The third location is a metal-element formation, guarding a broken sword stuck in a boulder.

The formation is fierce, containing the murderous aura of Geng metal, making it even more dangerous to break.

After observing for a long time, Chen Fan pointed out that it was necessary to use the powerful force of the earth element to suppress the three positions of Dui, Kan, and Li at the same time, and then use the vital energy of the wood element to guide the metal energy to leak into the ground.

This success was only achieved through the combined efforts of the founding patriarch of the Vajra Sect and Daoist Qinglian. Although the broken sword was damaged, its sword intent remained undiminished. With a little repair, it could become a top-tier flying sword, making several sword cultivator patriarchs extremely envious.

With each breakthrough, Chen Fan's divine sense frantically memorized and analyzed the rune structure, spiritual energy flow, and node arrangement of these formations.

He became increasingly certain that these formations shared the same origin as the Fixed Word Technique, only their development paths differed. The Fixed Word Technique focused more on the concept of immobilization, while these formations perfectly combined this core concept with the changes of the Five Elements and the spiritual energy of the earth's veins, evolving into various ingenious uses such as defense, counterattack, trapping enemies, and illusion.

"So the true meaning of 'fixation' is not stillness and immutability, but rather the control of the rules within a region. Water can be fixed to become ice, fire can be fixed to become warm, metal can be fixed to become sharp, wood can be fixed to become fertile, earth can be fixed to become supportive... all changes are based on the same principle." Chen Fan's understanding deepened, and his comprehension of the "fixation" technique quietly rose to a new level even when his cultivation was sealed and he was on the verge of life and death.

His speed and accuracy in breaking the formation gradually turned the surrounding Nascent Soul elders from initial doubt to astonishment.

"This old eunuch... his understanding of formations is simply unbelievable." The Heavenly Fiend Ancestor of the Talisman Sect secretly transmitted his voice to the Azure Lotus Daoist.

"Many changes at certain points require me to deduce them over a long period of time before I can even begin to understand them, yet he was able to see the key at a glance. When did such a figure emerge from the Sealed Land?"

The Azure Lotus Daoist's expression was complex as he watched Chen Fan's profile as he focused on breaking the formation, his heart also churning. He recalled how Chen Fan had infiltrated the Sword Tomb of the Azure Cloud Sect years ago, and later sealed the mountain with an formation. At that time, he only thought that this person was cunning and difficult to deal with, but he never expected that his mastery of formations would be so profound.

"I don't know either. This knowledge of formations likely came from some extraordinary encounter," Qinglian Daoist replied in a deep voice.

"However, the more useful he is right now, the better it is for us. We can deal with him after we obtain the core treasure."

Young Master Wang also witnessed Chen Fan's performance, and his astonishment was compounded by his intensified murderous intent. "This fiend must not be allowed to live! After I've used him, I'll extract his soul and refine his spirit, digging out all the array inheritance from his mind!"

Chen Fan was fully aware of the undercurrents behind him, but at this moment all his attention was focused on the fourth formation in front of him.

This is a large-scale complex formation that covers half of a relatively intact side hall.

The light shield was earthy yellow, thick and solid, with faint mountain shadows floating in it, and the sense of oppression it exuded far exceeded that of the previous three places.

The words "Sutra Collection" can be faintly seen on the lintel of the side hall.

"This place... might be where the Soul Refining Sect stores its cultivation techniques and scriptures!" Fairy Hongyun of Zixia Mountain exclaimed excitedly.

Everyone's spirits were greatly lifted. The inheritance of cultivation techniques is often more precious than magic treasures and elixirs, especially for a demonic sect like the Soul Refining Sect, which dominated a region ten thousand years ago; the core inheritance value of such techniques is immeasurable.

Chen Fan carefully probed with his divine sense, his brows furrowing slightly. This formation integrates the elements of earth and metal, with Wu earth as the base and Geng metal as the skeleton, nested layer upon layer, interlocking rings, making its structure extremely complex.

What's more troublesome is that there seems to be an extremely subtle fluctuation of divine soul hidden deep within the formation, like some kind of early warning or counterattack mechanism.

"This formation is called the Mountain-Suppressing Golden Lock. It manifests as earth on the outside and contains metal within. A forced attack will trigger a backlash from the earth's veins and cause the metal to attack the soul," Chen Fan said slowly, his voice slightly hoarse.

"The solution requires first using water-elemental spiritual power to nourish the Kun and Gen positions, softening the earth-elemental defenses. Then, fire-elemental spiritual power to scorch the Qian and Dui positions, dissipating the sharpness of the metal element. Finally, three fellow practitioners who cultivate wood-elemental techniques must simultaneously use vital energy to connect the Zhen, Xun, and Li positions, guiding the essence of the Wu earth and the Geng metal spiritual core of the array to temporarily separate. All three must be completed within three breaths; the timing is crucial."

He detailed the precise locations of the seven nodes and the required intensity of the spiritual energy infusion, even including the frequency of spiritual energy fluctuations during spellcasting.

The group exchanged bewildered glances. The requirements were too high; perfect coordination was essential.

"Then so be it." Young Master Wang decisively ordered, "Ancestor Lingshui, you and Ancestor Qian are in charge of the water element; Ancestor Tiansha and Fairy Hongyun, you two are in charge of the fire element; Senior Qinglian, Guest Elder Zhou, and... Ancestor Li, you three are the most proficient in the wood element, so you are in charge of the final step."

The seven Nascent Soul elders who were named looked solemn and prepared to circulate their energy. The others retreated several feet, fully alert. The two guest elders also took Tianxiangzi a little further away, but their auras remained locked on Chen Fan.

"Begin!" Young Master Wang shouted in a low voice.

Ling Shui Patriarch and Qian Family Patriarch attacked simultaneously, two beams of azure water light emerging like serpents from their caves, precisely penetrating the earth-yellow light shield at the Kun and Gen positions.

The surface of the photomask ripples, significantly reducing its heaviness.

Immediately afterwards, the Heavenly Fiend Ancestor's talisman fire and the Red Cloud Fairy's Purple Cloud Fire Qi struck the Qian and Dui positions almost simultaneously.

A clanging sound could be heard from within the light shield, momentarily halting the sharp aura.

"Now!" Chen Fan shouted.