“So, remnants of the former Xuantian Sect still survive in this world. The one who fled to the Purple Heaven Sect… who exactly is it?” A cultivator from the Five Elders Association murmured to himself in a low voice.
As he spoke, his gaze shifted toward Zhou Qingang.
“Confirming this matter is of great importance to our Five Elders Association. Although this is merely a transaction, we still owe you our gratitude, Daoist friend. As for the contribution points that need to be laundered…”
He paused briefly before continuing, “Within a month, more than ten cultivators with different identities will personally bring secure, standardized spirit stones to you. All you need to do is transfer the contribution points to them.”
Sensing that Zhou Qingang might have concerns, he added, “These cultivators all use false identities that our Five Elders Association has carefully crafted over the years. Shortly after the transaction is completed, they will all perish due to various ‘accidents.’ There will be no risk of being traced or exposed.”
With the secret phrases for their rendezvous carefully explained, the transaction between the two parties was essentially complete.
“I look forward to our future cooperation.” As they parted ways, the black-robed cultivator from the Five Elders Association said to Zhou Qingang in a slow, deliberate tone.
“Likewise.” Zhou Qingang cupped his hands and replied with a smile before turning and leaving.
It wasn’t until Zhou Qingang’s figure disappeared beyond the horizon that the cultivator from the Five Elders Association furrowed his brows and muttered, “Zhou Qing’ang… Li Fan…”
“Does the Heaven-Suppressing Society truly exist? Or is it just a fabrication by certain cultivators within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, using the intelligence they possess as leverage to exchange for resources?”
After pondering for a while, he chuckled in amusement.
“Either way, as long as they provide us with intelligence, it’s enough. The more chaos within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the better!”
The figure of the Five Elders Association cultivator gradually faded until he completely disappeared into the air.
Meanwhile, Zhou Qingang, having completed the transaction, returned to Congyun Immortal City as if nothing had happened.
Spending such a vast amount of contribution points, he had already prepared for the possibility of his information being exposed. But it didn’t matter—at most, the Five Elders Association might deduce that “Li Fan, the cultivator from the Heavenly Mechanism Sect,” was also a member of the Heaven-Suppressing Society. They might even suspect that his identity as an ancient cultivator was merely a disguise.
But as for Li Fan’s true identity? They would never be able to guess it.
After all, who would have thought that the cultivator making waves in the Xuanhuang Realm was, in reality, just a mere “mortal” from a small outer world?
Before long, all truths would be buried beneath the catastrophe of world destruction. Even if someone wanted to investigate, there would be no way to do so.
The river of time surged forward, and everything proceeded steadily, step by step.
The number of revived cultivators from the Medicine King Sect had now reached 346, including Liu San.
Although the vast majority were at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages, with only five at the Nascent Soul stage, when united, they still formed a formidable force.
More importantly, as time passed, the effects of the Bloodline Transmission Ritual became increasingly apparent. Their reverence for Li Fan grew stronger by the day.
Moreover, Li Fan constantly reinforced their beliefs through indoctrination, repeatedly emphasizing the goal of “reviving the Medicine King Sect.” Gradually, their gazes toward him began to reveal a near-fanatical devotion.
Li Fan was convinced that soon, even if he ordered them to sacrifice their lives for the Medicine King Sect, they would do so without hesitation.
“The Bloodline Transmission Ritual is truly extraordinary.” Li Fan was extremely satisfied with the effects of this divine technique.
Of course, its remarkable effectiveness was largely built upon his absolute dominance in strength.
When he had attempted to use the ritual on a Soul Transformation cultivator, it had completely failed. Even among the five Nascent Soul cultivators, converting them had been extremely difficult. It was only with Liu San’s assistance that the process had barely succeeded.
Now that he had enough manpower, Li Fan gradually ceased the revival of further Medicine King Sect cultivators.
Li Fan knew that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance monitored the number of cultivators in each state. The sudden increase of more than 300 cultivators was still within a reasonable range, given the vast population of cultivators in Congyun Sea. However, any further increase might arouse suspicion and lead to an investigation, so he decided to hold off for now.
After inquiring with Liu San about the detailed information regarding the still-slumbering Dao Integration elder, Li Fan used the second True Temptation Fruit.
He awakened a Dao Integration cultivator named Fang Zaiji.
This man was an elder of the Medicine King Sect, specializing in artifact refinement. The Small Medicine King Cauldrons used by the disciples were crafted by him.
However, Fang Zaiji was not originally a cultivator of the Medicine King Sect. Years ago, while being pursued and near death, he was saved by Liu Ruchen. To repay this kindness and to escape from his enemies, he chose to remain in the Medicine King Sect as a Guest Elder.
Fang Zaiji had little emotional attachment to the Medicine King Sect, but he was deeply interested in the refinement method of the sect’s treasured divine artifact, the “Medicine King True Cauldron”.
Back then, Liu Ruchen had promised to lend him the Medicine King True Cauldron for research, which convinced him to stay.
Li Fan used the True Temptation Fruit to alter Fang Zaiji’s perception.
Now, in Fang Zaiji’s revised memories, his time in the Medicine King Sect was mostly distant from the other disciples.
Only Liu Yihang—who was actually Li Fan—constantly pestered him every day. He had practically watched Li Fan grow up and had already come to regard him as half a son.
Along with absolute trust in Li Fan’s commands, when the effects of the True Temptation Fruit faded and Fang Zaiji awoke—
After listening to Li Fan’s explanation, he quickly understood the current situation.
“It seems that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is even more sinister than the Ten Great Immortal Sects of back then,” Fang Zaiji muttered, his eyes darkening.
“Sect Master, you should have awakened me earlier,” he said with a trace of reproach in his tone.
Li Fan shook his head slightly and explained, “At the time, I wanted to secure Longevity Valley as a foothold first, so I awakened Elder Liu first.”
“When I considered awakening you next, I learned that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance was monitoring the number of cultivators in each state. At the time, I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I held off for safety reasons. Now that I understand the situation, it seems to be related to the new cultivation method of today’s cultivators. However, you remain unaffected, so I decided to awaken you.”
Fang Zaiji nodded slightly, accepting Li Fan’s explanation.
“The monitoring of cultivator numbers might be connected to the Immortal Ruins,” he said after a moment, as if recalling something.
“Oh?” Li Fan looked at him curiously.
“During my travels in the past, I once heard by chance that the Ten Great Immortal Sects had deployed a formation covering the entire Xuanhuang Realm,” Fang Zaiji said, lost in thought.
“A formation like a blade hanging over all living beings. From the moment they are born, regardless of their cultivation level or race, they are all caught within it.”
“This formation not only allows the sects to easily control all cultivators in the world but also gathers the power of all living beings to pierce through the endless void, locking onto the coordinates of other cultivation worlds. It can even establish cross-realm pathways to launch invasions.”
Fang Zaiji slowly recounted.