Chapter 864: Divine Destruction Envelops the Sky
Chapter 864: Divine Destruction Envelops the Sky
His recent breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage already put him on par with Dao Integration cultivators.
However, with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council on the brink of war, it was a sensitive time, so Li Fan chose not to be overly ostentatious.
The seven-colored divine light was far too conspicuous. Li Fan expended a bit more spiritual energy to condense the vibrant hues into a faint white glimmer, just as he had done when destroying the one-eyed yellow paper figures.
He flew at a low altitude, concealing his aura with a secret technique.
His speed was astonishing; in a mere moment, he had already crossed the entirety of Tianling Province.
When faced with the white mist barrier ahead, he didn't even try to evade it. He simply smashed right through!
The Seven-Colored Jade Void Gilded Light was utterly imperious, repelling all foreign substances.
Even this mysterious white mist, capable of devouring one's lifespan, could find no opening to invade and was forced to linger helplessly at the perimeter.
He had notified Lin Ling before he set out.
Yet the two of them arrived in Shilin Province at almost the exact same moment.
"The escape technique of the seven-colored divine light is nearly as fast as traversing the earth veins! " Li Fan nodded to himself, thoroughly satisfied.
With this, the glaring weakness in his escape abilities was finally addressed. In future life-or-death situations, he wouldn't have to immediately resort to [Truth]; he could try fleeing first.
"Master." Lin Ling sensed the earth-shattering changes in Li Fan and couldn't help but look him up and down with astonishment.
"Let's go," Li Fan instructed, gazing into the distance at the assembled ranks of cultivators on the border between Shilin and Nine Mountains Province.
During his secluded cultivation, the false information he had provided had already instigated minor skirmishes between the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council in the bordering provinces.
Within the heartlands of both factions, disturbances of varying degrees had also broken out.
Now, the protective arrays of every province were kept constantly active.
Furthermore, because the mole within the Array Strategy Hall had yet to be found, the new protective array was one that had never been seen before—the [Divine Destruction Formation], newly created by the Alliance headquarters.
The name was certainly imposing.
And its actual effects were indeed impressive.
The Final Dissociation Disc, which had been unfailingly effective in the past, was now unable to crack this formation in a short amount of time.
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. "This seems to be more than just a simple formation. There are some formidable cultivators acting as its core, compensating for any potential weaknesses."
According to the calculations of the Dissociation Disc, even if he defeated a cultivator anchoring one point of the array, as long as the formation's overall structure remained intact, it could draw power from other areas to rapidly regenerate.
Moreover, this newly generated formation would be different from the last.
"The power of the Divine Destruction Formation increases with the strength of the cultivators controlling it."
"If there were four Dao Integration cultivators..."
"...then it would be unbreakable by anyone less than a Longevity Immortal."
This was the conclusion drawn from the Dissociation Disc's analysis.
Fortunately, the formation only covered the land, the sky, and the shallow subsurface.
The deeper earth veins, however, had been left untouched.
Led by Lin Ling, Li Fan passed through the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's defense line and entered Nine Mountains Province.
The atmosphere in the Nine Mountains was just as tense, like a drawn bowstring.
He could see that the Five Elders Council had constructed numerous fortresses upon the nine mountain peaks.
They resembled black spheres buried in the ground, with only their uppermost arcs exposed.
On the surface of these black spherical fortresses, a tiny red dot was faintly visible.
It moved restlessly.
The moment Li Fan's gaze fell upon it, the red dot seemed to sense him and fixed its stare back.
A faint sense of crisis welled up in his heart.
However, it quickly vanished as the red dot's lock on him shifted away.
He assumed it was because Lin Ling had sent the contact signal.
While waiting for their contact to arrive, Li Fan observed Nine Mountains Province.
It had nothing to do with the Five Elders Council's defensive layout; he was simply trying to see if he could find any more traces of the Salvation Sect's yellow paper figures.
Unfortunately, the temporary effect of destroying the paper figure was gone. Li Fan studied the area for a long time but couldn't find where the hidden talismans were concealed.
"Out of sight, out of mind, as they say, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Li Fan muttered with a frown.
As he pondered, a figure suddenly appeared on the horizon.
Covering a thousand miles in a single step, the figure materialized before Li Fan in the next instant.
Unlike their previous contacts, the person who came to negotiate this time was a young cultivator dressed as a scholar, exuding an air of righteous integrity.
Strangely, this scholar carried a stone slab on his back.
The characters on it seemed to be obscured by some kind of power, making the content unreadable.
"Greetings to our two friends from the Federation of All Worlds." The scholar spoke in a gentle tone and offered a bow.
"I can't even see his cultivation level," Li Fan thought, his heart tensing. He didn't dare to be careless.
"You're a new face, friend. What happened to the previous one?"
"He unfortunately perished during a surprise attack by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance some time ago," the scholar stated calmly, his face showing no sign of grief.
Li Fan didn't know if it was true, nor did he care.
His expression grew solemn as he got straight to the point. "This time, it is our Federation of All Worlds that seeks your assistance."
Only then did a flicker of surprise cross the scholar's face.
But he recovered quickly. "Although it was a transaction, we did indeed benefit greatly from our previous dealings. If you are in any trouble, please do not hesitate to speak."
Li Fan glanced around, then set up a formation to isolate them from the world.
He then lowered his voice and said quietly, "Not long ago, an elder of our Federation made a truly shocking discovery after emerging from seclusion."
"This world, the Xuanhuang Realm, is teeming with one-eyed figures made from yellow talisman paper."
"And it's not just the Xuanhuang Realm itself. The surrounding small worlds are also filled with these things."
"The feeling of being constantly watched is dreadful. We have tried numerous methods, but none have been able to eliminate these paper talismans..."
"May I ask, friend, do you have any effective solutions?"
As Li Fan spoke slowly, he carefully observed the scholar's reaction.
When he saw that the scholar showed no particular response to the mention of the paper figures, Li Fan knew.
This man's identity was certainly not simple; he must have known about the existence of the Salvation Sect's talismans all along.
The scholar with the stone slab on his back replied earnestly, "There are indeed several methods to cleanse these talismans. However, the cost is quite high. I would not recommend you do so."
"Besides..."
The stone slab on the scholar's back emitted a faint, imperceptible green light. He paused for a moment before adding, "These [World Observing Divine Eyes] have all but integrated themselves into the fundamental laws of the Xuanhuang Realm. If you were to sweep them all away, it would inevitably cause immeasurable harm to the realm itself." At this point, the scholar's meaning was perfectly clear.
Li Fan couldn't help but frown. "Speaking of which, your Five Elders Council has many members from the old Ten Great Immortal Sects. The Salvation Sect is so repulsive; does no one have a problem with this?"
(End of this chapter)
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