Golden Lock Yuan Chen

The Golden Lock Formation is a trapping formation.

As the name suggests, the purpose of a trapping formation is to trap the people inside. Strictly speaking, a minor illusion formation is also a trapping formation, but the effects of the two are not comparable.

Once outsiders enter the small maze formation, they will be lost in the fog, and their sense of direction will be confused. If they cannot break the formation, they will keep going in circles inside it.

The Golden Lock Formation is different. Once activated, it can trap enemies within the formation according to the will of the person in charge, making them unable to move as if bound by golden locks.

Moreover, once bound by the golden lock, even the flow of magical power becomes sluggish.

It took Gu Fan a whole day to carve the array patterns of the Golden Lock Array, and he checked them twice to confirm that the carving of the array patterns was correct.

As the stone slab engraved with array patterns was placed in front of him, Gu Fan felt even more strongly that he needed to forge a few array flags. If he had array flags, some low-level arrays could be activated without engraving array patterns, which would save a lot of effort.

After Gu Fan embedded the eight spirit stones into the stone slab, he stood in the formation. With a slight thought, a golden light spread from the center of the stone slab, and eight dark gold chains, as thick as an infant's arm, appeared instantly from beneath his feet like eight spirit snakes.

Four chains were wrapped around his legs, and another four chains were wrapped around his hands. Even though Gu Fan was prepared, he was still caught off guard by the speed at which the chains wrapped around him.

With eight chains binding his limbs, Gu Fan was unable to move his hands and feet. He then exerted all his strength, causing his muscles and bones to vibrate, but he still could not break free.

When he felt his magical power begin to stagnate, he immediately interrupted the formation, and the golden chains turned into specks of spiritual light and scattered.

Otherwise, if he were to lose all his magical power, he might be trapped by his own formation, which would make him a laughingstock.

Having personally experienced the power of the Golden Lock Formation, Gu Fan was immediately beaming with joy. After erasing the formation patterns on the stone slab, he took Yu Jian and headed straight for the Star Pavilion.

......

Wendao Peak, Chenxing Pavilion.

Zhou Furui held the jade slip, his face somewhat blank, his eyes empty as if he were questioning the meaning of life.

Gu Fan stood in front of him and coughed lightly.

"Uncle Zhou, is this formation diagram correct?" Gu Fan asked cautiously.

Although he confirmed that the array diagram was correct, Zhou Shibo's reaction was rather strange.

"Oh? Oh! The array diagram is fine."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Furui snapped out of his daze, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He exclaimed, "You actually completed it in just eight months! Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

Zhou Furui said "good" three times in a row, making Gu Fan a little embarrassed. He scratched his head and smiled, "Senior Uncle, you flatter me. May I ask what the next formation I need to repair?"

"This." Zhou Furui first transferred two hundred merits to Gu Fan, then took out a white jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Gu Fan.

Gu Fan pressed the jade slip to his forehead, and when he saw the dense array patterns in his divine sense, his eyes widened and his pupils contracted. He couldn't help but put down the jade slip and look at Zhou Furui: "Uncle-Master didn't take the wrong one?"

"That's right, this is it."

Zhou Furui and Gu Fan exchanged a glance, seemingly a little embarrassed. Zhou coughed lightly and looked away, then held up three fingers, hesitated for a moment, and then held up one more.

"If this array diagram can be repaired, you will receive four hundred merit points."

Before Gu Fan could even feel happy, Zhou Furui continued, "However, it needs to be done within a year."

"A year?" Gu Fan blinked and asked in surprise.

"That's right, one year." Zhou Furui nodded slightly. "If it exceeds one year, even if we repair this array diagram, there will be no merit points. Do you still want to take on this task?"

After speaking, Zhou Furui narrowed his eyes slightly, observing Gu Fan's expression.

"One year..." Gu Fan thought for a moment, then nodded decisively, "One year it is!"

To be honest, Gu Fan wasn't confident that he could complete the array in the jade slip within a year. However, since he judged that this was a test, and that it was probably nearing its end, he would never be willing to give up now.

"At most, it will delay me from earning merit points and spirit stones for a year. I can always make up for it by doing more sect missions later!" Gu Fan thought to himself.

At this time, more than four and a half years had passed since he joined the Lingxiao Sect, and his cultivation had already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. This speed made Meng Wei so envious that his teeth ached!

He can afford to take on the responsibility in a year!

Seeing Gu Fan's decisiveness, Zhou Furui laughed heartily a few times, then looked at him admiringly and said, "Good, that's ambitious! With this drive, even if you fail to complete the array diagram in a year, I will still pass on a spell to you!"

"Thank you, Senior Uncle!" Gu Fan bowed and thanked him, but his heart was stirred with pride, and he said confidently, "I want Senior Uncle's magic, and I also want his merits. Please keep them for yourself, Senior Uncle."

After saying this, Gu Fan turned and left.

After Gu Fan's figure disappeared into the horizon, Zhou Furui stroked his chin, pondering, "This kid directly asked me for the next array diagram; could it be that he guessed something?"

Shaking his head, Zhou Furui chuckled to himself, "Clever kid, I hope you can do it."

......

After returning to the courtyard, Gu Fan took out the jade slip and examined it carefully.

The jade slip records the formation diagram as "Yuan Chen Formation".

The nature of this formation is different from any Gu Fan has encountered before; it is an illusion formation that can trap those who enter it in an illusionary state.

Literally, the Yuan Chen Formation seems to have some similarity to the Lesser Misty Formation, but the dense array patterns in the jade slip are almost twice as complex as the Golden Lock Formation, and this is still the incomplete part.

Thinking of this, Gu Fan focused his mind and activated his Myriad Manifestations Dharma Eye. He saw the array patterns in front of him twisting and combining, revealing the spiritual energy circulation paths, forming six array pattern hubs.

The distribution of the six array pattern hubs is quite sophisticated. A single array pattern hub seems to conform to the "one element" array principle, but the three hubs together form the "three powers".

If he hadn't consulted numerous secret manuals on array formations while studying the Golden Lock Array, he certainly wouldn't have been able to discern its key points.

However, recognizing the key points does not mean that repairing them will be easy. On the contrary, it was through the location of the array pattern hubs that Gu Fan truly felt the pressure, because each combination represents a set of array pattern engraving schemes. The more complex the relationship between the hubs, the more difficult the repair will be.

But having already accepted the task, Gu Fan naturally wouldn't give it up.

After taking a deep breath, Gu Fan plunged headfirst into the endless runes and array patterns.

......

Two months later.

When Meng Wei saw Gu Fan, he could hardly believe that the person in front of him was the same person he had seen a few months ago.

"Junior Brother Gu... has he become obsessed with magic again?"

Meng Wei recalled how Gu Fan had diligently cultivated the Flame Spirit Technique and tentatively asked.

Gu Fan's appearance has changed so much.

Her long hair, which was originally tied up with a jade crown, was now messy and looked like a bird's nest. Her complexion was alright, but she had grown a three-inch beard, which was obviously not groomed for a long time. Her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had not rested for a long time.

To Meng Wei's surprise, even though he was so tired, Gu Fan's eyes seemed to be filled with starlight, showing no signs of dimming.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, senior brother," Gu Fan replied in a low, hoarse voice.