Chapter 993: Setting a Deadly Ambush
“What a shame,” he thought, “this thing is far too conspicuous. It’s impossible to trade it for anything else.”
Li Fan sighed, his gaze then falling upon the Ink Stained Evil Book.
The instant he took it out and placed it before him, both the Dao Transformation Stone and the Dissociation Disc within his sea of consciousness recoiled, radiating simultaneous waves of revulsion and a faint tremor of dread.
“There’s definitely something special about this,” Li Fan mused.
He stared intently at the small, pitch-black metal book.
It was impossible to tell what material it was forged from, but its surface gleamed with a sinister, dark luster.
This dark light seemed almost alive, constantly shifting and roaming across the book's exterior.
It was different from the inky blackness Li Fan had seen on Ink Death. The black of Ink Death was the pure essence of destruction.
The hue of the Ink Stained Evil Book, however, was a nauseating black that seemed to exude a foul miasma, sickening and unsettling to behold.
“In that sense, it’s quite similar to the Soul Shade Realm, the world Master Yin comes from.”
Li Fan mused, lost in thought.
He decided to test it. Taking out a standard-issue Immortal Alliance artifact for Nascent Soul cultivators, a treasure called the Green Bamboo Ring, Li Fan manipulated the Ink Stained Evil Book, unleashing a torrent of black light that completely enveloped it.
It was like splashing black ink across a pristine white page.
The brilliant emerald light of the Green Bamboo Ring dimmed in an instant, its aura vanishing as if snuffed out.
Even though he was the one wielding it, Li Fan still frowned and took a small step back from the black light.
He put the Ink Stained Evil Book away. Only after waiting for several hours did the blackness clinging to the Green Bamboo Ring finally begin to fade.
He felt a faint sense of unease from the ancient tree in the Spirit Wood Realm.
“The inky light doesn't simply vanish,” he realized. “The world has to expend time and energy to purify it. If there was too much, it would overwhelm the world's ability to cleanse itself, leading to complete contamination.”
“It might not be able to destroy a world, but it could certainly render it foul and uninhabitable for cultivators.”
Li Fan nodded slowly in understanding.
He picked up the Green Bamboo Ring, which had been steeped in the dark light for so long. It had lost all its properties as a magical artifact. With just the strength of his physical body, he gave it a gentle squeeze, and the ring crumbled into pieces, scattering across the floor.
“Just as I thought. It’s designed to destroy artifacts.”
“With this, Xuan Sushang's protective armor will be practically useless. Mo Rubin really is a thoughtful one...”
Li Fan put the Ink Stained Evil Book away, a silent word of praise forming in his mind.
Time flew, and the predicted meeting between Shuo Feng and Xuan Sushang drew ever closer.
Li Fan didn't even need to send his own people to watch them; Mo Rubin had already forwarded intelligence on several possible meeting locations—all of them grotto-heavens.
Of the five locations, two were quickly ruled out.
At the remaining three, cultivators had already begun making advance preparations.
The Xuan family held a revered status and was accustomed to a life of luxury. Wherever they went, their subordinates were expected to meticulously arrange every detail in advance, even without explicit orders, lest they incur their master's displeasure.
Since the final destination hadn't been chosen from the three grotto-heavens, preparations were being made at all of them.
After all, for the Xuan family, the cost of these supplies was a mere drop in the bucket.
Having spent so many years at the apex of the Immortal Alliance, they probably never imagined someone would dare to move against them.
Any so-called security measures were purely symbolic, practically nonexistent.
“Can't really blame them,” Li Fan thought. “Xuan Sushang herself probably scoffs at the idea of security.”
Li Fan smiled, a predatory glint flashing in his eyes for a fleeting moment.
He summoned Tianyang, Lin Ling, and Daoist Baihua and informed them of their target.
“All you need to do is follow my lead.”
Li Fan imparted a formation technique to them, instructing them to familiarize themselves with it and practice while they waited.
“With the four of us executing this formation together, we can completely seal off an entire region.”
“No one gets in, no one gets out. All contact with the outside world will be severed.”
“Anyone caught within the formation will be suppressed by the combined force of our spiritual consciousness, severely diminishing their power.”
“The danger level for this mission is low, but we need to act decisively and end it quickly.”
Li Fan explained concisely.
“Your Excellency, this formation is truly extraordinary,” Daoist Baihua exclaimed after their initial practice, having felt its power firsthand. “Even in our remnant worlds, back in their prime, it would have been difficult to find anything to match it.”
A flicker of fear also crossed Lin Ling's eyes.
Only Tianyang remained impassive, his expression as vacant and unconcerned as ever.
Li Fan merely responded with a faint smile.
How could they possibly guess that this seemingly invincible formation was something the Final Dissociation Disc had tailor-made over the last ten days, specifically designed using the intelligence gathered on Xuan Sushang and Shuo Feng?
With everything poised and ready, Li Fan contacted Mo Rubin.
The divine-demonic avatar Mo Rubin inhabited soon arrived, meeting them just outside the borders of Tianquan Province.
Mo Rubin's gaze swept over the three Dao Integration cultivators accompanying Li Fan, lingering for only a moment on Daoist Baihua before he closed his eyes, his expression one of utter indifference.
“If they had decided to meet within the Immortal Alliance's Heavenly City, things would have been rather tricky.”
“But no, they find the residences within the city too crude for their tastes and prefer the natural grotto-heavens outside...”
“Heh. Arrogance and indulgence. They're practically begging to be killed.”
Mo Rubin conveyed via thought transmission, his tone laced with undisguised contempt and murderous intent.
“That's the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance for you. They're all the same.”
“And the Dharma Transmitter you're currently inhabiting is even more so.”
Li Fan retorted with a wry chuckle.
“Then it's high time the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was given a sharp reminder,” Mo Rubin snorted.
Over the final two days, by monitoring the movement of cultivators around the three grotto-heavens, they finally pinpointed the target location.
It was a location nestled within a vast sea of bamboo that stretched for hundreds of miles.
Li Fan and his group hovered silently in the sky, gazing down at the endless expanse of green that stretched to the horizon, each lost in their own thoughts.
Perhaps reminded of her own devastated homeland, a shadow of sorrow passed through Daoist Baihua's eyes.
Lin Ling, on the other hand, scanned her surroundings, searching for any sign of other plant spirits like herself within the bamboo sea.
Mo Rubin and Li Fan exchanged cynical glances. "They certainly know how to live."
“It will make a perfect grave for them,” Li Fan added coldly.
As they lay in wait for Xuan Sushang's arrival, a minor interruption occurred.
The devout voice of a prayer suddenly echoed in Li Fan's mind.
Mo Rubin seemed to sense something, casting a brief, questioning glance at Li Fan with a slight frown.
“It's nothing,” Li Fan said, his expression calm as he gestured for Mo Rubin to relax.
At the same time, he turned his attention to the images appearing in his mind.
It was Dao Xuanzi, a member of the Federation of All Worlds in this lifetime, whom he had not heard from in a long while.
Sometime ago, Li Fan had revealed the general location of the Ocean Pearl to them. After years of waiting and searching, they had finally found it.
Using the method of re-establishing the Dao, he had successfully re-cultivated his foundation to the level of an Earthly Treasure.
That intense surge of faith he had just felt was Dao Xuanzi's heartfelt prayer of gratitude to the “Red Dust Compassionate Immortal” upon his successful Foundation Establishment.
Li Fan noticed that the golden power of faith materializing within his calamity-forged body was subtly different from what he had previously gathered.
(End of Chapter)
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