Chapter 1112: The Heavenly Venerate Annihilation Strategy
A fleeting moment of confusion was swiftly followed by a profound sense of crisis.
"For the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance to react so quickly and in such unison, there is only one person in this world who could command such a response..."
"The Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate!"
Li Fan's mind raced.
"It's understandable that the fall of a Dharma Transmitter would alert the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate," he mused.
"But why would he choose to cooperate with Rebirth?"
Li Fan’s brow furrowed deeply.
With the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate's power, he would have undoubtedly seen through Rebirth's true nature at a single glance.
Their positions were almost completely antithetical.
And yet, based on the current situation, they had apparently reached some kind of agreement in an astonishingly short amount of time.
"Was he enraged at being played for a fool? Or is there some other, deeper reason at play?"
The joint intervention of two Long Life Celestial Venerables was a development Li Fan had not anticipated.
With absolute decisiveness, he immediately severed his connection to the puppets currently executing missions in the Xuanhuang Realm.
His final command was for the puppets to self-destruct.
At the same time, he used formations to seal the entrance from the Spirit Wood Realm to the Xuanhuang Realm. As for the subterranean world, he temporarily closed the passage connecting to the Gloomy Realm.
He was preparing to lay low and wait for the storm to pass.
Li Fan could, of course, have forcibly triggered his world-ending arrangements ahead of schedule. But first and foremost, under the watchful gaze of the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate, the bait puppets flying toward the Immortal Ruins to draw the attention of the immortals within might not even make it out of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Although the puppets were cloaked by the power of the Gloomy Realm and shielded by formations, the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate was not to be underestimated.
Li Fan had no confidence he could pull it off right under the Venerate's nose.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, Li Fan was startled but not panicked.
"I still have plenty of time. I refuse to believe those two can maintain their watch forever."
"No one can stand guard indefinitely."
"Besides, in their eyes, I'm at most a petty schemer trying to stir up internal conflict for my own gain."
"They couldn't possibly guess my true plan to bring about the end of this world."
"I just need to seize my chance..."
With these thoughts, Li Fan gradually composed himself.
He then abruptly recalled the final scene he had witnessed through the True Immortal's remnant.
"The Rebirth Heavenly Venerate, his body formed of white mist, was able to withstand the great tide of the Gloomy Realm's power..."
"He definitely possesses the strength to threaten the Xuanhuang Realm. Perhaps that's another reason the Dharma Spreading Venerate chose to cooperate with him."
A new idea suddenly struck Li Fan.
"The White Mist Barrier began to appear in the Xuanhuang Realm after the Great Calamity. On the surface, it stretches across heaven and earth, dividing the prefectures. In reality, it's the adhesive fusing the Xuanhuang Realm with the devoured world."
"And the white mist is faintly connected to the Rebirth Heavenly Venerate. If that's the case, it's highly likely that the Dharma Spreading Venerate and Rebirth already knew each other. That would explain how they reached an agreement so quickly."
As for Rebirth's true identity, Li Fan had a few suspects.
The Heavenly Doctor was one of them.
He hailed from another cultivation world, viewed worlds as living bodies, and could reverse their life and death.
No matter how you looked at it, he fit the description perfectly.
Furthermore, the fact that the Rebirth Heavenly Venerate had attained his Dao slightly faster in this lifetime was likely because Li Fan had inherited the "Mending the Heavens Record" and resolved the lingering troubles of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace's cultivators on his behalf.
Considering the Heavenly Doctor's past interactions with figures like the Heavenly Severance Venerable and the Heavenly Decree Venerable, it was almost certain that the Rebirth Heavenly Venerate was connected to him.
Even if it wasn't the Heavenly Doctor himself, the connection had to be profound.
The Heavenly Doctor was an elusive figure.
Like the Dharma Spreading Venerate, he journeyed alone through the void, searching the darkest star sea for surviving fragments of cultivation worlds to strengthen the Xuanhuang Realm.
Since their last encounter, he had not contacted Li Fan again.
Naturally, Li Fan had no intention of initiating contact with the Heavenly Doctor either.
He had even used the power of the Faceless Immortal to conceal himself from the other's perception.
"At my current level of power, almost anything I want to accomplish will inevitably bring me into contact with beings of their tier, like the Dharma Spreading Venerate and the Heavenly Doctor."
"This is an unavoidable consequence of the Xuanhuang Realm being reduced to a mere corner of its former self."
"And while I still know very little about them, the saving grace is..."
"They know even less about me."
Li Fan's gaze grew distant and profound. "There is indeed a gap in our strength, but I dared to scheme against a True Immortal. Why would I fear them?"
"For now, I will simply bide my time."
...
Although the Spirit Wood Realm was completely sealed off, Li Fan remained perfectly aware of the events unfolding in the Xuanhuang Realm.
His first source of information was the Heavenly Profound Mirror Origin, through which he could monitor the various idle chats among cultivators.
His second, naturally, was to probe Transmitter Zhou for intelligence.
"Daoist Zhou, has something major happened in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance? That highest-level warning bell rang, and I couldn't reach you earlier..."
Transmitter Zhou's voice carried a hint of weariness. "A fellow Transmitter has fallen."
Li Fan feigned immense shock, then quickly pressed for details.
Transmitter Zhou briefly recounted the course of events.
"I knew that so-called True Immortal remnant was a trap, but I never imagined the force behind it could actually harm a Dharma Transmitter!" Li Fan exclaimed, his face a mask of disbelief.
"Have you caught the culprit? Are there any leads?" he added casually.
Transmitter Zhou shook his head, offering no further details.
Li Fan didn't push the matter, instead adopting a serious tone. "I will report this matter to the Federation as well. If we discover anything, I will inform you at the earliest opportunity, my friend."
"My thanks in advance," Transmitter Zhou replied perfunctorily, clearly not holding out much hope for any help from Li Fan's side.
After ending the communication, Li Fan began to consider potential scapegoats.
But as he mulled it over, he realized that within the vast Xuanhuang Realm, there were precious few who possessed the power to accomplish what he had done.
"The few remaining candidates, like the Five Elders Council or the Tai Yan Sect... framing them would be no easy task. If I try to be too clever, I might just expose my own trail."
Li Fan sighed softly, summarizing the lesson learned. "It seems I still don't have enough aliases."
"If I had another persona to play right now, I could frame myself to clear my own name."
"I should keep that in mind for the future."
Even Li Fan, who prided himself on his intellect, could see no better course of action in the current situation than to wait patiently for the turmoil to subside.
The primary reason was that he had inadvertently fallen into the True Immortal's net this lifetime, which prevented him from using "Return to True" at a moment's notice.
As a result, his every action felt constrained, as if his hands were tied.
Yet, hiding deep within the Gloomy Realm to make a hasty "Return to True" was not something Li Fan was willing to do.
...
"As they say, circumstances can overwhelm even the most capable individual. No matter how masterful your strategies, there comes a time when you simply run out of room to maneuver."
(End of Chapter)
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