Chapter 893: The Dharma Spreader Appears
For the Wooden Sword, a Heaven's Wonder, to set aside dedicated time for one-on-one instruction...
...this unassuming black sword had to possess some extraordinary quality.
Li Fan's spiritual sense slowly swept over it, but no matter how he examined it, the blade appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary piece of common iron.
It felt as though he could snap it in two with little effort.
But just as the Wooden Sword’s spiritual presence faded and the other remnant swords looked around in confusion, a subtle change was taking place within the black sword itself.
"It's like being slowly tempered by fire, removing the impurities to purify the essence. It looks utterly plain, but in truth, just like the Wooden Sword, it embodies the principle that all laws converge to one, that the Great Dao is ultimately simple." Slowly, Li Fan began to perceive the mystery within it.
"Is the Wooden Sword creating another body for itself?" The thought suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
"The other remnant swords will likely need a very long time to evolve into purely conceptual beings," he mused. "But this black sword, thanks to the Wooden Sword's special tutoring, isn't far from completing its transformation."
"Perhaps this is one of the reasons the Wooden Sword was willing to leave with Shuo Feng," Li Fan reflected.
"It should take another decade or so..."
"This is a fruit borne of the Wooden Sword's labor. If I can take it away, the Heavenly Sword Sect in my Spirit Wood Realm will have a true foundation."
Although he didn't yet understand the Wooden Sword's reasons for doing this, it wouldn't stop Li Fan from putting the situation to good use.
He returned to his original spot and remained in the sword tomb for several more days.
Only when he was certain he could glean no new insights from the Wooden Sword did Li Fan reluctantly depart.
Before leaving, Li Fan made sure to conceal the sword tomb with a secret technique.
He also left behind a mark.
This would alert him the moment anyone else tried to enter.
"That settles matters with the Heavenly Sword Sect. Next up, the Medicine King Sect."
The location of the Medicine King Sect ruins was no great secret.
It was situated deep within a remote mountain range in Liuxian Province, a place where few ever ventured.
Over the years, the ruins had been thoroughly plundered by cultivators, picked clean of anything valuable.
Only worthless scraps and debris remained, scattered across the grounds.
When Li Fan arrived, he couldn't find a single living soul for fifty kilometers in any direction.
A faint, foul stench permeated the air, stirring an unavoidable sense of revulsion.
"I have to admire the Medicine King Sect's methods," Li Fan thought wryly. "Even as the entire sect prepared to flee, they made sure to leave behind this nauseating miasma to prevent anyone from occupying their former grounds."
This peculiar stench was indeed what the Medicine King Sect had left behind all those years ago.
It had practically fused with the land itself, lingering for thousands of years without dissipating.
Unless it was dispelled, no one would want to live in a place so thoroughly saturated with the foul odor.
As disgusting as the Medicine King Sect's tactic was, it was undeniably effective.
Li Fan surveyed the surprisingly well-preserved buildings and, following Jiao Xiuyuan's directions, made his way to an abandoned workshop.
Enduring the stench, he channeled his spiritual energy and unearthed the Small Medicine King Cauldrons buried deep underground.
"Thirty-six cauldrons?"
A strange look crossed Li Fan's face.
He had previously entrusted Jiao Xiuyuan with excavating the Small Medicine King Cauldrons, but the man had sworn there were only twenty-some of them.
"Jiao Xiuyuan, Jiao Xiuyuan..."
Li Fan shook his head slightly, making a mental note to settle this score later.
As was his habit, he conducted another thorough search.
Aside from these old cauldrons, the Medicine King Sect ruins truly held nothing else of value.
With that, Li Fan headed straight for the Purple Cloud Sect.
...
Meanwhile.
On Haixuan Island.
Ji Shaoli was suddenly struck by a profound sense of unease.
"Strange. I've made thorough preparations. In theory, I should be able to retreat with ease even if a Dao Integration cultivator were to arrive in person."
"So where is this sense of crisis coming from?"
Ji Shaoli, who always trusted his instincts, shot to his feet, his expression turning grave.
He paced back and forth, but the sense of crisis didn't fade.
On the contrary, it grew ever more intense.
His heart hammered in his chest, a frantic drumbeat heralding imminent disaster.
Ji Shaoli knew something was terribly wrong.
He checked the island's teleportation array and discovered it had been sealed, completely inoperable!
"Trying to trap me like a turtle in a jar?"
A cold glint flashed in Ji Shaoli's eyes.
He attempted to activate a personal teleportation array, but that too failed.
It was as if something had locked down the entire space surrounding Haixuan Island!
Though alarmed, Ji Shaoli remained calm.
He grasped a withered branch and felt the power of the earth veins flowing beneath his feet, still unrestricted.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief.
After a period of growth, spent in the constant company of the Daoist child Liuli, Lin Ling's power had increased substantially.
Moreover, as her spiritual nature deepened with each passing day, her bond with the ancient earth vein tree had grown stronger.
The tree had given her this withered branch, which allowed its holder to travel through the network of earth veins.
Despite having a clear escape route, Ji Shaoli didn't leave right away.
He was determined to see exactly who was targeting him.
To be able to shut down the two-way teleportation array of Ten Thousand Immortals Island, and to render useless the network of contacts he had spent a fortune in contribution points to maintain...
...all of this pointed to a formidable enemy.
This was far beyond the capabilities of a mere local power like the Xiang family.
Ji Shaoli wasn't afraid of being exposed; he just wanted to understand the reason for this failure.
Humming a little tune, he brewed two cups of spirit tea.
Ji Shaoli patiently awaited the arrival of his guest.
He had already sent the members of the Mutual Aid Association away from Haixuan Island under some pretext.
He had also given Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi the specific information about the two Earthly Treasures he had promised them.
As for whether they would survive to find them...
...that would depend on their own fortunes.
Ji Shaoli did not have to wait long.
Suddenly, the figure of a young man materialized beside him.
What made Ji Shaoli's pupils contract was that the young man had appeared without the slightest fluctuation of aura.
It was as if he had been standing there all along.
But what shocked him even more...
...was that he had seen this young man before!
"A Dharma Spreader?!"
Ji Shaoli blurted out.
This was the man Li Fan's true self had witnessed in the Fallen Immortal Realm, in the vision of acquiring the Longevity Fruit in Ningyuan City.
He was one of the cultivators spreading the New Method, an image taken from the memories of the earliest members of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance during a soul search!
"Hmm?"
The young man seemed somewhat surprised that Ji Shaoli had identified him instantly.
"Interesting."
The young man's gaze burned as he stared at Ji Shaoli.
The next moment, the clone felt his mind and body freeze solid.
The escape measures he had prepared in advance were rendered useless!
As if his very soul were being extracted, a blurry silhouette began to rise from Ji Shaoli's body.
Just then...
Two beams of seven-colored divine light suddenly erupted, striking toward the young man.
But in the instant they neared him, he caught them between two fingers.
They were stopped dead, unable to advance another inch.
"This is..." the young man murmured, looking at the seven-colored divine light held between his fingers, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.
With a flick of his wrist, he suppressed the light and put it away.
The young man turned his gaze back to Ji Shaoli.
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