Doubts piled up in his heart, and Ji Mofan sighed, realizing that he would have to hurry to Qianhe Tower after he left this secret realm.
He reached out and opened the manuscript of formations in his hand.
As he expected, this senior's skill in formations was indeed remarkable.
Moreover, at a rough estimate, he should be far superior to Shen Yun.
That's not surprising, after all, this senior was hundreds of years old when he passed away, and Shen Yun now is probably only a fraction of that age.
As he flipped through the pages, inspiration detached itself from the paper and gradually seeped into Ji Mofan's mind.
My fingertip stopped abruptly when it touched a certain page.
This document records how to make the formation, like the appendix, first draw it on the medium and then activate it directly when needed, saving unnecessary time.
Looking at the text and the illustrations beside it, Ji Mofan was momentarily distracted while studying.
Who was the mysterious woman he encountered in the Shallow Ocean Secret Realm commissioned to attack Ge Gen?
Or rather... he was the target from beginning to end.
Otherwise, it would be too strange to ask a Nascent Soul expert to deal with a child who was only at the Qi Refining stage back then.
Not only did he not show himself but borrowed someone from Diesha, he even tried to pin the methods he used on Shen Yun. Was he so afraid of his identity being exposed?
Did he offend someone like that in his past life?
Whether this person appeared in his previous life or not is no longer important. After all, he was already covered in wounds at the Yuncang Sword Sect back then, and even if no one intervened, he wouldn't have lived much longer.
He had a lot of questions, but staying here wouldn't solve them, so he had to leave as soon as possible.
*
Lin Ju'an waited outside the cave for a shorter time than Ji Mofan perceived.
He stayed in the illusion for more than ten hours, but to the outside world it was only a moment. Lin Ju'an only waited for the time that Ji Mofan spent later in order to break through his cultivation.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage." The moment Lin Ju'an saw Ji Mofan, he sensed an unusual fluctuation of aura emanating from him, and he immediately guessed that Ji Mofan's cultivation had improved again.
It's truly lamentable that, despite being five years older than his opponent, his cultivation level was far behind.
I'll have to work even harder on my spiritual practice when I get back.
Ji Mo Fan felt somewhat guilty accepting his congratulations.
If what he learned in the illusion was true, then the reason why his cultivation progressed so smoothly was probably not due to his own efforts, but rather to the puppet body created by Lu Tong and the one that Demon Lord Xiao Wangyan built by consuming half of his cultivation.
Even if those things were true, Ji Mofan still couldn't understand why he was brought from the Demon Realm to the Immortal Cultivation Realm.
In the illusion, he asked Xiao Wangyan, but the latter had no clue either. He was attacked too suddenly, and he only found out that Ji Mofan had been taken to the cultivation world by the demonic energy he left on him.
Ji Mofan chose not to dwell on these unanswerable questions for the time being.
"Senior Brother Lin, what are your plans for the future?" He lowered his head and straightened his clothes.
After waiting a moment without receiving a reply, he looked up in confusion.
"...Senior Brother, I'm not used to you calling me that." Lin Ju'an touched the tip of his nose.
Ji Mofan frowned. "What's the problem? You're older than me, so I should address you that way."
"But..." Lin Ju'an still felt awkward.
“Senior Brother, you should now be a true disciple of the Chaoming Hall, right?” He remembered the key point. “In that case, it would be proper for you to call me Junior Brother.”
Ji Mofan felt somewhat helpless about his dilemma.
Generally, these seniority titles are only carefully considered within the same sect. Different sects basically only look at seniority, or some may use special honorifics for disciples with specific functions.
However, it's just a form of address anyway, a difference of only one character. Since Lin Ju'an thought it was better to call him that, Ji Mofan didn't argue with him and simply changed his address to "Junior Brother Lin".
Lin Ju'an then realized it was to his liking.
"I'm thinking of staying in this area before the Dao Inquiry Conference," he said. "There are few cultivators coming and going in and around the Mirage Realm, so it's quiet."
Ji Mofan nodded. "That's fine too."
Finally, he sighed again, "It's all my fault for dragging you down with me."
"Senior Brother already carries too many unnecessary burdens, so how can he drag us down with him?" Lin Ju'an quickly waved his hand.
Ning Weisheng instructed them to cover up the matter concerning the Demon Lord in Ji Mo Fan, and all those who knew the truth voluntarily kept quiet.
Even if we're talking about being implicated, it was their own initiative, so there's no question of making Ji Mofan feel guilty.
Ji Mofan lowered his eyes and pondered for a while, then looked up at Lin Ju'an again, "Since you don't plan to leave anytime soon, could you help me one more time?"
"The lightning tribulation can't penetrate the secret realm, but once I go out, I'll definitely face a lightning tribulation that represents a breakthrough from the mid-stage to the late-stage Nascent Soul realm," he said. "Could you protect me one more time?"
Lin Ju'an's eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated several degrees.
“Of course, no problem, as long as Senior Brother trusts me!” He immediately agreed.
In general, when undergoing a breakthrough tribulation, it is best to find someone of a higher rank to protect you.
Just like the Ge Gen protector who helped Ji Mo Fan break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, if the cultivator's own realm is unstable, then the protector can take the brunt of the subsequent lightning tribulation to prevent him from being struck by lightning and having his soul scattered.
However, if it is not possible to find a protector of a higher rank, finding a lower rank is better than having none at all.
At least it can take action to stop or warn when someone approaches and intends to disturb the intruder.
When we left the Mirage Realm, it was nearly evening.
The sky was already quite dark, and the calamity clouds summoned by Ji Mofan turned the tops of their heads black.
There were streaks of lightning flashing among the dark clouds.
A thunderous roar erupted, striking the emerald figure standing silently between heaven and earth.
Lin Ju'an stood at a distance, spreading his divine sense to the nearby woods, slowly searching for any suspicious movements around him.
There are usually not many people near the Mirage Realm.
However, perhaps attracted by the tribulation clouds surrounding Ji Mofan's breakthrough, the aura of living beings gradually appeared around them.
None of them had any ill intentions; they just wanted to see who had broken through to a higher realm.
After all, the final tribulation of the Nascent Soul stage is naturally quite significant.
Three bolts of lightning struck down in succession.
Ji Mofan held the Yongxue sword, handling the situation with ease. He didn't even get his clothes dirty, maintaining his aloof and otherworldly appearance.
It wasn't until the fourth lightning tribulation that he showed signs of strain.
Three more bolts of lightning struck down in succession. When the sixth tribulation ended, the runes on Ji Mo Fan Yi’s clothes shattered, and the defensive spells written on the robes became dull and lifeless.
The tribulation clouds immediately gave rise to the seventh lightning tribulation.
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