Chapter 815: A Secret Art to Sense the Xuantian Sect
Chapter 815: A Secret Art to Sense the Xuantian Sect
Shang Tianci paused, then explained in a deeply mysterious tone, "This purple gourd can materialize the scenes recorded within the azure gourd!"
"If there's enough energy, that is."
"With my current abilities, the most I can recreate is a great lake nearly thirty miles wide."
"If I advance to the Dao Integration stage, I reckon creating the Nine Mountains with a single thought would be no difficult feat!"
Shang Tianci's voice swelled with pride.
Li Fan was genuinely intrigued. "Oh? Are there any restrictions on the landscapes you can materialize? How long do they last? Can you create them within a lesser Xuanhuang world?"
"No restrictions at all," Shang Tianci declared, holding his head high. "Once materialized, it's permanent, indistinguishable from a real landscape. I can do it anywhere—the main Xuanhuang Realm, a grotto-heaven, even a lesser world!"
"A friend of mine from the Mountain River Pavilion once had a wild idea," Shang Tianci whispered. "He wondered what would happen if I used the materialization art inside a Nascent Soul cultivator's grotto-heaven. If the landscape I created was larger than the grotto-heaven itself, it would instantly blow the cultivator to bits!"
Its members were all prodigies of immense talent from the various provinces. It had a strict entry requirement: anyone who formed their Golden Core after the age of twenty was barred from joining.
The Mountain River Pavilion had few members, numbering only around fifty.
However, they were a tight-knit group, mutually supportive and exceptionally unified. Once a member passed the entrance assessment, they were treated as an equal, regardless of their family background.
"Your friend has some interesting ideas. A promising talent!" Li Fan let out a low chuckle. "If you get the chance, you should try to win him over to our side!"
"I was thinking the same thing," Shang Tianci agreed with a nod. "Yan Fangzhou is young, but he's already at the Soul Transformation stage. If he were to join us, he'd be a tremendous asset!"
"Soul Transformation..." Li Fan's breath hitched for a fraction of a second before he recovered his composure.
He chuckled darkly. "First, you should try to get closer to him, feel him out. Then, I'll make my move."
Just as Shang Tianci was about to reply, an urgent alarm suddenly blared from the distant Taihua Heavenly City.
In an instant, the sound echoed throughout the entire Taihua Mountain Range.
The moment any cultivator heard the alarm, a message materialized in their mind.
"Effective immediately, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is entering its highest state of combat readiness."
"All cultivators from the Martial Halls, Garrison Courts, and Array Strategy Halls in every province are to return to their respective Heavenly Cities at once and await further orders."
"Establish checkpoints and increase patrols along all provincial borders. Guard strictly against any infiltrators."
...
Li Fan smiled faintly. "The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has finally reacted."
Shang Tianci, however, looked faintly worried. "I wonder how far this will escalate."
"Rest easy. The Five Elders Council needs time to digest its conquest of Nine Mountains Prefecture. And the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance will never swallow this insult; they'll be determined to reclaim it."
"Therefore, for a long time to come, both sides will be wrestling for control of Nine Mountains Prefecture. It's unlikely that the war will spread to other provinces."
"Unless other special factors come into play," Li Fan added abruptly.
Although Shang Tianci had been momentarily swayed by Li Fan, he was still young and kind-hearted at his core.
The thought that he might be partly responsible for triggering a long and brutal war left him deeply unsettled.
Li Fan offered no words of comfort, simply letting the young man stew in his own troubled thoughts.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Five Elders Council should soon try to contact me using the method I left in the jade slip."
"No need to rush. I'll let them hang for a while."
Just as Li Fan was scheming about how to demand an exorbitant price and make a killing in the upcoming transaction, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
"Hm?"
His mind instantly sharpened with vigilance.
"Strange, this feeling is..."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed as he turned his senses inward.
In a flash, he located the source of the mental disturbance.
The secret art, [Xuan Bane]!
It was a secret art from his 115th lifetime, taught to him by Jiang Yushan of the Medicine King Sect. In ancient times, it was used to identify the remnants of the Xuantian Sect!
Intent on gathering as much hidden information about the Xuantian Sect as possible, Li Fan had kept the Xuan Bane art continuously active ever since leaving the Xuanhuang Realm in this lifetime.
He hadn't held out much hope that his luck would pay off.
But to his surprise, after randomly teleporting with Shang Tianci, he had actually stumbled upon one!
"Taixu Mountain."
Li Fan's gaze swept over the surroundings.
"One of the ten peaks of the Taihua Mountain Range. Not long from now, it will mysteriously collapse and be forgotten by the world, leaving only the nine peaks of Taihua."
"How could a remnant of the Xuantian Sect be hiding here?"
Li Fan's interest was piqued.
Although he already knew for certain that a Law King of the Xuantian Sect was slumbering deep beneath the Purple Cloud Sect Ruins, Li Fan had no immediate plans to capture him.
Not yet, at least.
The Law Kings were among the most formidable warriors of the ancient Xuantian Sect, their strength certainly no less than that of an ordinary Dao Integration cultivator.
Besides, the cultivation arts of the Xuantian Sect were bizarre and unpredictable, as Li Fan had learned firsthand in Senior Sister Zhao's dream.
Even after slumbering for millennia, the Law King was likely not someone the current Li Fan could handle.
If an attempt to capture him failed and Li Fan was forced to reset...
It was always better to be cautious.
Besides, the Law King wasn't going anywhere.
He would wait until the Medicine King Cauldron returned and he had subdued Dao Integration-level fighters like Liu San.
Perhaps then he would give it a try.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, Li Fan began to wander through Taixu Mountain, the Xuan Bane art active.
The art's detection range wasn't very precise.
After the better part of a day, he still hadn't located the source of the anomaly.
"Senior, are you looking for something?" Shang Tianci asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Yes. It seems some secret is hidden here on Taixu Mountain. Help me look for it." An idea struck Li Fan as he looked at Shang Tianci.
He promptly taught the Xuan Bane secret art to the young man, though he omitted any mention of its true purpose.
Once Shang Tianci had learned it, he joined Li Fan in wandering through the mountains, searching.
Fortunately, with everyone on edge after the combat alert, most cultivators had retreated to the safety of Taihua Heavenly City.
Otherwise, their furtive behavior would have undoubtedly drawn suspicion.
After searching for the better part of another day, it was ultimately Shang Tianci's luck, far superior to Li Fan's, that prevailed.
He seemed to have found something and quickly sent a mental message, "Senior, over here!"
Li Fan's eyes glinted, and he swiftly appeared beside Shang Tianci with Tianyang in tow.
"How many chimes?" Li Fan asked.
"Two."
Within the Xuantian Sect, a higher rank corresponded to more warning chimes from the Xuan Bane art.
When it had detected the Tianxuan Mirror, there had been three distinct chimes.
Two chimes, while not on par with the Tianxuan Mirror, still signified that this was no minor figure.
"Interesting."
Li Fan too could feel the persistent alerts from the Xuan Bane art.
He scanned the area.
They were in a deep, secluded mountain valley, utterly silent.
It felt as though it had remained undisturbed for a thousand years.
--
Another chapter at two o'clock.
(End of this chapter)
Comments