Chapter 1049: The Defecting Dharma Transmitter
Chapter 1049: The Defecting Dharma Transmitter
"To spend two hundred thousand contribution points on her statue... it seems this Jia Yiyuan was also saved by the 'Savior Fairy'."
"He's quite powerful, too, and very confident in himself. Not worried about any tricks hidden in the statue..."
"A pity he ran into me."
Li Fan felt the traces he had left on the statue being gradually erased, and the sensory feed from it began to blur.
But those measures were merely superficial.
His true connection to the statue was maintained through the Source Power Essence of the Faceless Immortal.
It was a power that transcended the mortal realm; Li Fan had no fear that anyone could sever it.
Although the image was dimming, Li Fan could still vaguely make out what was happening on the other side.
His expression was grave as he muttered something under his breath.
Then, an invisible ripple materialized out of thin air, tearing a rift in space. Jia Yiyuan strode into it without hesitation.
The connection instantly grew weaker.
He could only perceive faint, indistinct shadows and hear fragmented voices.
"Senior Zhou's identity has been exposed somehow. Go investigate."
"There must be something strange about that shop."
"Senior Zhou brought in dozens more people recently. To think that after all these years, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance still hasn't given up hunting us."
"An undeserved calamity? What's the point of saying that now? Regardless, our feud with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is to the death!"
The voice was laced with a bone-deep hatred, sparking a chorus of agreement.
"They treat the lives of cultivators like us as nothing more than weeds to be cleared away, without a care for the truth... Those people are unworthy of the title of Dharma Transmitter!"
"Exactly! Only someone like Senior Zhou is a true Dharma Transmitter!"
...
"Dharma Transmitter Zhou?" The information coming from the statue surprised Li Fan.
In the intelligence Mo Rubin had provided, there was no mention of such a figure among the ruling Dharma Transmitters of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
"No wonder Senior Zhou chose to part ways with them back then, unable to stand their actions."
"Sigh, if she hadn't left the Alliance, perhaps she could have argued her case and changed the Alliance's order to slaughter us."
Numerous voices continued the discussion, and by listening in, Li Fan gradually pieced together the full story.
It turned out that five hundred years ago, this Dharma Transmitter Zhou had voluntarily left the council of Dharma Transmitters due to ideological differences with Dharma Transmitter Jiang and the others in power.
Although she had stepped down from the highest echelons of the Alliance's power structure, she was still a Dharma Transmitter.
She still controlled resources unimaginable to ordinary people.
The place where these survivors had taken refuge was Dharma Transmitter Zhou's private small world.
"No wonder the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has been so relentless in their hunt, searching every inch of land yet failing to find any trace of the survivors."
"A Dharma Transmitter's private world... even if they wanted to search it, they wouldn't have the means."
Li Fan pondered for a moment, deciding against acting rashly and alerting the enemy.
Though he had found a lead on the survivors, the involvement of a being at the level of a Dharma Transmitter made Li Fan cautious.
After suffering a hidden loss at Mo Rubin's hands, Li Fan understood deeply that no one who had survived for millennia in the Xuanhuang Realm was an easy opponent.
Especially not someone who stood at the apex of the Alliance's power.
"However, if she really is as she appears..."
"Then our positions might be aligned. It might be worth trying to make contact discreetly."
Based on his investigations over the past five years, Li Fan was almost certain that Mo Rubin had escaped with the Heavenly Profound Mirror that day.
This wasn't just because of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's extremely bloody retaliation afterward, but also because the Heavenly Profound Mirror had been plagued with numerous problems over the last five years.
At first, the trading module malfunctioned without explanation, causing anomalies in the transactions of several million cultivators.
The cultivators' demands for an explanation went unanswered, as the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance simply announced the shutdown of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's trading module.
Recently, another rumor began to circulate among the populace: the residential spaces for cultivators within the Heavenly Profound Mirror were supposedly being canceled.
This sent waves of panic through the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, who began frantically buying up any available cave residences in the various prefectures.
The price of cave residences in ordinary prefectures nearly doubled within three months, and the same was true even in a remote corner like the Cong Yun Sea.
Not to mention the Central Four Prefectures.
Although the Alliance officials quickly issued a statement to debunk the rumor, they had released a similar announcement right before the Heavenly Profound Mirror's trading function was shut down.
As a result, this only seemed to confirm the rumor's validity.
The price of cave residences soared day by day, with no end in sight.
"The Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar once said that after it escaped, it would leave behind a sub-body capable of replacing the original and performing most of its functions."
"It seems now that it's no match for the true immortal artifact, after all. Over time, all sorts of problems are bound to arise."
Li Fan mused to himself.
"Or perhaps something happened to the original Heavenly Profound Mirror, which is now affecting this copy?"
Li Fan quickly dismissed this speculation.
The Final Dissociation Disc in his sea of consciousness remained completely unaffected.
"For the past five years, it's as if Mo Rubin and the Heavenly Profound Mirror have vanished from the Xuanhuang Realm without a trace."
"It's not just me; the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is also hunting for them."
"And yet, they've remained hidden."
A thread of doubt crept into Li Fan's mind.
He even began to suspect that they might have already left the Xuanhuang Realm.
"Their goal is to find the Xuantian King."
"If they were already in the Xuantian King's hiding place, that might explain it."
"The Xuantian King has been missing for so many years without anyone finding him. If he's truly still alive, he must be in an extremely secret location."
The Dao Transformation Stone crystal in Li Fan's mind spun rapidly, processing all the clues he had gathered over the past five years.
He tried to find some minute clue, any trail to follow.
"Whatever exists must leave a trace. I refuse to believe you can hide for a lifetime."
"If all else fails..."
A dangerous glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
At his thought, the spectral form of the Calamity Crossing Book slowly materialized in the air before him.
Beyond its countless shifting silhouettes, tiny, seven-colored clusters of light floated.
Within these clusters, an unidentified yellow substance seemed to flow sluggishly.
The Calamity Crossing Book seemed to sense the danger; its pages flipped and its form shifted at a frantic pace.
"Young friend, let's talk this over. Why the sudden murderous intent?"
A paper figure suddenly drifted out of the Calamity Crossing Book. It shot a wary glance at the seven-colored orbs and began to plead gently.
Li Fan merely smiled, ignoring it.
The paper figure sighed, a look of bitter resignation on its face, as if it had grown accustomed to this.
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