A small circular gap appeared on the golden barrier enveloping the island. He Zhenghao led Li Fan into the interior of the protective formation through this gap.
"When you meet the master formation experts later, don't mention the matter of contributing points in front of them. Act according to the situation. After the matter is successful, transfer the contribution points to me, and I will pass them on to Zhang Zhiliang," He Zhenghao whispered to Li Fan.
Li Fan smiled slightly, indicating his understanding.
"Haha! He Daoist, you arrived just in time!"
At this moment, Guo Boyu's laughter came from afar.
Li Fan followed the sound and saw several master formation experts from the Formation Department gathered here.
In front of them was a giant screen that vertically displayed many tiny formation units flashing quickly.
The formation experts occasionally pointed at the screen, discussing something with various expressions.
"What is this..." Li Fan's gaze flashed as he looked towards the golden formation in the sky.
Sure enough, he vaguely saw many small discs, resembling crawling insects, attached to the surface of the formation barrier.
While absorbing the power of the formation, they transmitted the most detailed unit data forming the large formation to the central screen.
"Breaking Formation Disks."
In the twelfth era, Zhang Zhiliang's legacy had mentioned this kind of treasure.
It could analyze the composition data of a formation without damaging its structure, providing a reference for cracking the formation.
A set of one thousand and eighty Breaking Formation Disks was quite valuable.
He had never had the chance to see them before, but unexpectedly, he encountered them today.
"Come, He Daoist, take a look at the latest analysis data. Is the reappearance of this island from the sea floor related to the changes in the earth's veins?" Guo Boyu enthusiastically greeted them.
Although He Zhenghao was interested, he didn't forget the main business. He turned to Zhang Zhiliang and said, "Zhang Daoist, this is the formation repairman I mentioned before, Li Fan Daoist. He is at the Foundation Establishment level and has some knowledge of formations."
Zhang Zhiliang just casually glanced at Li Fan, tossed a Spiritual Recognition Orb to him, and said, "Test yourself. As long as you're not completely ignorant of formations, there should be no problem."
Li Fan took the Spiritual Recognition Orb, and after circulating his spiritual sense within it, the test quickly ended.
Zhang Zhiliang looked at the number of glowing points on the Spiritual Recognition Orb and was somewhat surprised.
"It's said that you've been self-learning formations all along? This result is quite good. Being a formation repairman is more than enough for you!"
Regarding the difficulty of the test questions in his Spiritual Recognition Orb, Zhang Zhiliang was well aware. Some of them could be considered tricky. Even apprentices in the Formation Department might not do as well as the person before him.
"Master, you exaggerate! The junior has limited talent, and the only thing to rely on is diligence," Li Fan responded calmly.
Zhang Zhiliang nodded, growing more satisfied. He handed a jade token to Li Fan.
Engraved on the jade token was a diagram of the main building of the Formation Department.
Zhang Zhiliang instructed, "Take this jade token to the Bureau of Administration for identity registration. Afterward, collect the relevant items at the Wanyuan Mirror. After activating the permissions, if you have any questions, you can find answers in the Tianxuan Mirror."
Li Fan nodded to express his understanding, put away the jade token, and thanked him.
Seeing that things went smoothly, He Zhenghao also showed a pleased expression. With the matter settled, he immediately focused his attention on the screen of Breaking Formation Disks.
His expression became concentrated, and his demeanor suddenly changed, as if he had become a different person in an instant.
Li Fan observed and couldn't help but marvel.
The images on the screen flashed faster and faster.
He Zhenghao also seemed to be struggling a bit, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
Above his head, a scroll slowly unfolded.
In the scroll, one could vaguely see continuous mountain ranges and a densely distributed network of water systems.
Mountains and rivers were integrated, extending endlessly for millions of miles.
The grandeur was magnificent and spectacular.
"This should be He Daoist's Foundation Establishment extraordinary item, the 'Map of a Hundred Veins in Mountains and Rivers.' Judging by its momentum, it seems more than just an ordinary item for humans." Li Fan carefully observed and thought in his heart.
After about half an incense stick's worth of time, He Zhenghao finally let out a sigh of relief and put away the extraordinary item.
"Daoist Guo has extraordinary insight! One word, accurate!" He praised first.
Then he slowly said, "Indeed, this island is located on a ley line. There must have been a major change at another node on this ley line, causing this island, which had sunk into the sea for three thousand years, to resurface."
"But the location seems to be extremely far from the Congyun Sea. With my Foundation Establishment cultivation, it's difficult for me to sense the specific position." He Zhenghao said regretfully.
He Zhenghao's words immediately sparked a lively discussion among the group of formation masters.
"It's actually caused by changes in the ley lines? How big of an event must that be?"
"If Daoist He can't sense it, the location where the incident occurred should be quite far away. With such an impact from a distance, it's probably at least a grand scene like 'Hundred Mountains Transforming into Flat Plains.'"
"Go back and inquire to find out which province this happened in."
"It's not necessarily so. Changes in the ley lines may also occur only in the extremely deep underground. The surface might only experience a slight tremor."
...
While they were having a heated discussion, Zhang Zhiliang, who hadn't participated, suddenly asked, "He Daoist, what do you think of this golden protective formation?"
He Zhenghao narrowed his eyes, meditated for a moment, and replied, "This golden formation is connected to the ley lines. If my guess is correct, it should be based on the 'Mountain and River Formation.'"
"As long as the ley lines are intact, this defensive formation will be enduring. Moreover, the 'Wan Xian Formation' can condense the ley lines of a province, making its protection so strong that even three or four Harmony Realm experts can't break through."
"It's stronger than the current defense plan in more than one aspect."
Zhang Zhiliang nodded slowly, "Although the defense of this formation is strong, if the formation is broken, it will cause some damage to the ley lines. I wonder what happened at that time, prompting them to choose such an extreme solution as the Mountain and River Formation."
Guo Boyu also approached at this time, "Why bother with so much? This free Mountain and River Formation is right in front of us. We can watch without spending any merit contributions. Such a good opportunity is rare in a century."
He Zhenghao continued, "Daoist Guo makes sense. We shouldn't miss this opportunity; we should carefully study it."
Saying this, the group of people immersed themselves in the constantly flashing images on the Breaking Formation Disks' screen.
Li Fan also observed for a while. Unfortunately, with his current foundation in formations, it was not enough to comprehend anything from it.
Seeing the various formation masters who seemed like they wouldn't wake up for a while, Li Fan didn't linger any longer.
After bidding farewell, he quietly returned to Wan Xian Island.
Heading straight to the Bureau of Administration at the center of the island.
(End of this chapter)