Chapter 831: All Things Prosper
Chapter 831: All Things Prosper
The cultivators had stopped discussing the dark secrets that had been dragged into the light; after hearing so much, they had simply grown accustomed to it all.
Instead, they all began to gather information, inquiring about the content of past Immortal Alliance entrance exams.
They were rubbing their hands in anticipation, vowing to become a part of the Immortal Alliance's establishment.
A crisis that could have easily erupted into civil war was thus quietly defused.
The resolution had been so masterful that even half a month later, Li Fan found himself replaying the events in his mind, marveling at the ingenuity.
"To neutralize a crisis so effortlessly..."
"And all it took was a single public announcement."
Li Fan praised the move from the bottom of his heart.
"Such a grand entrance exam in half a year's time... How could I not go and claim a piece of the pie for myself..."
"But even though this life has only just begun, its course has already deviated significantly. The exam questions are bound to have changed as well."
As he pondered this, information from all the past entrance exams he had ever collected flashed through his mind.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same. While I can't predict the exact questions, compiling a question bank covering the likely topics shouldn't be too difficult."
He casually retrieved a blank jade slip, and the Dao Transformation Stone crystal in his mind suddenly pulsed with a brilliant blue light.
An immense torrent of data then surged wildly into the jade slip.
The entire transfer took the time it would take to drink a cup of tea to complete.
"The Dao Transformation Stone, now upgraded to a medium grade, is indeed far more efficient. Its processing power has more than doubled."
Li Fan traced a finger over the jade slip's lustrous surface and nodded, thoroughly satisfied.
The Dao Transformation Stone's final promotion was not only due to his tireless efforts fusing with it in Yi Yin's tomb during every reincarnation.
The low-grade Dao Transformation Stone provided by the Five Elders Council in their recent trade had also been a crucial factor.
Though also low-grade, its quality was far superior to the one from Yi Yin's tomb, bordering on the cusp of medium-grade.
After devouring it, the stone in Li Fan's sea of consciousness immediately ascended to the medium grade.
"It's a shame the Five Elders Council was only willing to part with one. They'd rather offer more of the Heavenly Sovereign's Creations than another Dao Transformation Stone."
"Could it be they have a special use for them as well?"
Li Fan frowned in thought for a moment, but then his expression relaxed.
Although the Heavenly Sovereign's Creations were exceedingly precious, they could ultimately be reproduced. Compared to the finite Dao Transformation Stones, where each one used was gone forever, it was hard to say which held greater value.
"Hmm, this question bank for the Immortal Alliance exam... I should be able to trade this for a few more things from them."
"Whether they use it to plant spies or to sow chaos, the possibilities are endless."
Li Fan mused, his mind already spinning with calculations.
"Tianci!"
After a moment, he called out.
A figure flashed into view, and Shang Tianci came scurrying over to Li Fan, all eagerness and energy.
With Lin Ling now in the picture, the passionate young man—already successfully brainwashed by Li Fan—had become even more devoted, hanging on his every word. He sought every possible opportunity to prove his worth.
His recent trip to capture sceneries had been anything but a leisurely tour. He had swiftly visited all the required locations and rushed back without a moment's rest.
It was a good thing he could teleport using the Heavenly View Gourd; otherwise, covering such vast distances in so little time would have surely killed him from exhaustion.
Yet, despite his strenuous efforts, Tianyang's arrival had filled him with an overwhelming sense of insecurity.
Compared to the talkative and ever-fawning Shang Tianci, Lin Ling seemed more interested in Tianyang, who was as expressive as a block of wood.
This drove Shang Tianci to despair. He had no choice but to take an indirect approach: curry favor with Li Fan in an attempt to salvage the situation.
"Senior, what are your orders?"
Li Fan tossed the jade slip to him. "Make a hundred copies of this, for a start."
"You got it!" Shang Tianci agreed instantly, assuming it was a simple task.
However, when he took the slip and carefully examined its contents, he cried out in pain, clutching his forehead.
Then he stammered, "Senior, this is... there's just so much!"
"If it wasn't a lot, I would've just copied it myself. What would I need you for then?" Li Fan snorted.
"Remember, this is urgent. I need them within seven days."
Shang Tianci's face fell. Looking at Li Fan's stern expression, he didn't dare protest. He simply gritted his teeth and got to work.
Li Fan, meanwhile, turned his gaze to the vast lands of the Spirit Wood Realm, where countless treefolk toiled diligently.
"A pity. It seems these treefolk creations fall outside the scope of the Sitting Immortal Technique."
Compared to when Li Fan first arrived in the Spirit Wood Realm, the overall strength of the treefolk had improved by leaps and bounds.
The most numerous among them had advanced from the early Qi Refining stage to a level equivalent to its late stage.
Treefolk with the strength of Foundation Establishment and even Golden Core cultivators had also begun to emerge in explosive numbers.
The treefolk matriarch had benefited most of all.
She could now fight on equal terms with an ordinary Soul Transformation cultivator.
This remarkable progress was partly due to Shang Tianci constantly transporting the natural wonders of the Xuanhuang Realm into it.
More importantly, however, was the treasure acquired from the trade with the Five Elders Council: the Heaven Droplet Earth Dew.
This item was the supreme treasure of the ancient Divine Wood Sect, and it held a wondrous power over all plant life, a power that few other treasures could ever hope to match.
Though there was only a single drop, the great Spirit Tree had swelled in size yet again, growing by another half.
Its canopy now reached the firmament, looking as if it might pierce the very heavens.
Lin Ling was the greatest beneficiary of this latest transformation.
From barely possessing the strength of a Dao Integration cultivator at birth, she was now firmly established in that realm—and all within the span of a month or so.
And that wasn't even considering the ancient Earth Vein Tree, which was secretly watching over her...
"Comparisons truly are infuriating."
"And here I am, still struggling just to reach the Nascent Soul stage."
At the same time, Li Fan was beginning to understand that with enough resources, cultivating powerful warriors was a remarkably simple affair.
"The prominent families of the Immortal Alliance must be far more formidable than they appear on the surface."
Li Fan contemplated this for a moment before turning his attention back to the treefolk spread across the realm.
Their work was divided into two main tasks.
One group was responsible for constructing the complex for the "Federation of All Worlds."
The other treefolk were busy transporting and placing various materials at designated locations across the Spirit Wood Realm in preparation for an Array Refining.
The so-called Array Refining was a method of forging a spiritual treasure.
To completely refine a treasure, aside from the conventional methods of forging with fire or binding with one's own lifeblood, there existed this special technique.
It was a method favored mostly by array masters.
It involved inscribing complex arrays directly onto the treasure itself.
This not only allowed one to completely bind the treasure for personal use but also amplified its innate power through the arrays.
Li Fan was hardly an expert in the art of artifact refining, and he certainly wasn't about to learn the entire craft from scratch just to process a single treasure.
And since the treasure in question was the supreme Final Dissociation Disc, Array Refining was the perfect method.
However, the Spirit Wood Realm had undergone several transformations.
It had grown far more vast than any ordinary small world.
Successfully refining the entire realm would require a slow and methodical approach.
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