Chapter 755: The Alliance's First Setback
Hearing this, Liu San looked instantly embarrassed. "Ah, that might be a bit of a problem..."
"Oh?" Li Fan paused, slightly taken aback.
Just as Liu San was about to speak, Fang Zaiji cut in with a chuckle. "Sect Master, has your long seclusion made you a bit forgetful? We don't have any Qi Refining disciples left in the Medicine King Sect. Even those with the poorest aptitude reached Foundation Establishment long ago."
The movement of Li Fan's fingers, tracing patterns on the Dissociation Disk, paused for a fraction of a second.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble Mr. Fang to take a trip outside and select some promising new talent," Li Fan said, as if the idea had just struck him, a hint of feigned helplessness in his voice.
"You should probably take a Terminal Disc with you and be careful. If you're discovered by cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, a bloody fight is all but guaranteed," he added, with a great show of concern.
"Ah." Fang Zaiji's face fell. "Sect Master..."
"Please, Mr. Fang, make it a quick trip. The hope of cracking the Heavenly Profound Mirror rests on this. I really can't trust anyone else with such an important task," Li Fan urged with earnest sincerity.
Seeing no way out of it, Fang Zaiji shot a glare at the amused Liu San before flying off without another word.
Liu San was stunned.
"I've been cooped up in here for too long; it's grown stifling," Jiang Yushan explained calmly. "The world outside seems quite lively now. Countless small worlds, hidden for millennia, are finally revealing themselves. I'm quite interested. I might even run into a few old acquaintances."
Li Fan considered her request for a moment before nodding in agreement.
He handed her a piece of a Terminal Disc and a communication talisman, adding, "Your safety is paramount. The Medicine King Sect cannot rise again without your strength, Elder Jiang."
"Don't worry," Jiang Yushan replied coolly, then vanished into the sky.
"Young Master, I'd also like to—" Liu San began eagerly.
"You should stay here in Longevity Valley, Elder Liu." Li Fan waved a dismissive hand, decisively rejecting his request. "I have an important task for you and my clone in the near future. I'll need you here for that."
A bitter expression crossed Liu San's face, but he couldn't disobey Li Fan. Dejected, he went off to find some of the valley's disciples to vent his frustrations on.
Li Fan returned his focus to the task at hand, immersing himself once more in nurturing the Dissociation Disk.
Meanwhile, his clone, Xu Bai, having returned to Tianliang City, was catching up on the progress of the Immortal Alliance's campaign to conquer the myriad worlds.
The campaign had been going smoothly until now, but shortly after his return to the Xuanhuang Realm, the fervent cultivators suffered their first major defeat.
The first expeditionary force into this particular small world consisted of over a hundred cultivators, led by three Soul Transformation experts and supported by a core of fifty Nascent Soul cultivators.
Such an impressive force had been almost completely annihilated.
The sole survivor was a Foundation Establishment cultivator by the name of Lu Zhixian.
He had been at the very rear of the formation, having only secured a spot on the expedition through his connections with one of the Soul Transformation leaders.
He had hoped to coast along and earn some merit, but no one could have predicted how swiftly the battle would turn. Seeing things go south, Lu Zhixian had decisively fled.
Perhaps it was precisely because his cultivation was so low that the enemy didn't bother to hunt him down.
A defeat of this magnitude naturally caused an uproar and triggered an official investigation by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
With visual evidence recorded by the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Lu Zhixian was quickly cleared of any suspicion of being a spy and was released.
The subsequent release of the footage to the public caused an even greater outcry.
For the one who had single-handedly annihilated the expeditionary force was just one man.
He had white hair, white eyebrows, and a face etched with deep wrinkles. He looked ancient, as if he might crumble to dust from old age at any second.
Yet when he struck, there was no hesitation—only absolute ruthlessness.
His hair and beard moved as if they were alive, lashing out like silver dragons to instantly pierce through the bodies of the Alliance cultivators.
What was even more horrifying was that once his hair pierced their bodies, it began to drain their life force.
In an instant, cultivators withered into old age. Some turned to skeletons before they could even scream.
Meanwhile, a touch of color returned to the old man's own withered cheeks.
This white-haired elder's power was at the Dao Integration realm, at the very least. Moreover, he seemed to possess some special advantage within that small world; ordinary Soul Transformation cultivators were utterly powerless before him, forced to watch as they were drained of life.
The footage ignited a firestorm of indignation among the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
"He can drain a cultivator's lifespan directly? How is that any different from the vilest demon? He's a menace that must be destroyed!"
"Well said! I support you, fellow cultivator! Go on, you go take his head!"
"Damn, I never expected to find someone that vicious in a small world. It'll take at least two or three Dao Integration masters to even think about taking him down."
"You're all fools, don't you see? He let that Lu Zhixian escape on purpose! It's a trap to lure more cultivators to their deaths!"
"That... actually makes sense. But if that's the case, why doesn't he just leave that world and come wreak havoc in the Xuanhuang Realm?"
"Because he's not as stupid as you are."
...
Despite the heated discussions, the Alliance's cultivators were no fools. If a monster like that existed in one small world, they would simply avoid it. With countless other worlds yet to be explored, why waste lives on such a deadly foe? It was always wiser to pick the easier targets.
And so, a theatrical scene unfolded.
The small world was marked on the map with a red skull, but not a single cultivator was willing to venture inside again.
"The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance will have to send someone to clean it up eventually anyway,"
became the prevailing sentiment, and so, everyone simply chose to ignore it.
The Alliance leadership seemed to tacitly approve of this behavior, as no official bounty was ever placed on the world or its inhabitant.
"Interesting." After making some inquiries, Xu Bai learned that there was a dispute within the Alliance leadership itself about how to handle this particular small world.
One faction argued that such a miscreant should be swiftly exterminated to demonstrate the supreme authority of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
The other faction countered that they were bound to encounter other opponents of similar strength in their future campaigns. If they insisted on eradicating every last threat, heavy casualties would be inevitable.
Every Dao Integration cultivator was a pillar of the Alliance; the loss of even one would be a significant blow.
Even with the existence of the Rebirth Palace, which could resurrect the dead, the Dao Integration masters themselves seemed to have deep reservations about the process. Few were willing to lead the charge.
It took Xu Bai some effort, but he finally uncovered the reason why.
It turned out that even though various methods existed to resurrect the dead, allowing them to retain their memories and even their cultivation base, there was one fatal flaw that no Dao Integration cultivator could ignore.
Once someone entered the Rebirth Palace, their path to the Longevity realm was forever severed.
No one knew why, but judging by the reactions of the Dao Integration masters, it was an undeniable truth.
After all, what Dao Integration expert did not harbor the ambition of reaching the Longevity realm?
Resurrection was merely a last resort, an act of desperation.
Comments