Huangfu Song clutched the Heaven-Measuring Mirror tightly, as if he had seen a ghost, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.
Meanwhile, Dongfang Yao, who usually appeared open-minded and carefree, turned bloodshot the moment his divine sense connected to the Heaven-Measuring Mirror. He watched as the 30,000-plus Qingxuan Points they had risked their lives to earn instantly dropped to zero.
“Huangfu! Is this thing even reliable? How did it just swallow up all our hard-earned merit?” His veins bulged on his neck, and his face twisted with rage.
In contrast, Li Fan remained much calmer.
After checking the records, he confirmed that during the brief period when the Heaven-Measuring Mirror disconnected from the Xuanhuang Realm, all the Qingxuan Points they had accumulated from exploring the Life-and-Death Maze had indeed vanished without a trace.
“This only happened after we left the Maze and reconnected with the Tianxuan Mirror…” Li Fan pondered, summoning the Samantabhadra True Boat to pull Huangfu and Dongfang, who were still exposed to the Devouring Essence White Mist, into the cabin.
“Calm down, brothers. We should be thankful that we made it out alive. We can always earn more Qingxuan Points in the future,” Li Fan reassured them while standing at the bow of the boat, gazing into the dense white mist not far away.
Beyond the thick, milky veil, something seemed to be changing quietly, beyond the limits of their sight.
“No! We can’t just let this slide. Either something went wrong with the Tianxuan Mirror, or someone stole our merit. I have to get an explanation!” Huangfu Song gritted his teeth.
Seeing their determination, Li Fan no longer tried to dissuade them.
After such an incident, they had lost all interest in further exploration. Besides, they had already used up a significant amount of supplies, and embarking on another expedition wouldn’t be wise. Thus, they quickly returned to Tianyu City.
“Wait for my news. I’m going straight to Dean Ji!” As soon as they arrived, Huangfu Song couldn’t wait any longer and rushed off to find Ji Hongdao.
Dongfang Yao, however, couldn’t suppress his anger. Even after they entered the discussion hall’s private room, he didn’t sit down. Instead, he kept pacing back and forth, stretching his body as his joints crackled loudly.
Li Fan remained silent. He ordered a cup of spiritual tea, took a sip, and closed his eyes to wait.
Half a day later, Huangfu Song returned, looking completely dejected.
He collapsed onto the floor, his eyes empty.
“Huangfu, what did he say?” Dongfang Yao immediately sensed something was wrong but couldn’t hold back his impatience.
“It… doesn’t exist… It doesn’t exist anymore…” Huangfu Song mumbled under his breath.
“What doesn’t exist?! Speak clearly, damn it!” Dongfang Yao roared.
“Dean Ji said… the Life-and-Death Maze we reported…” Huangfu Song stammered, his face pale. “That place doesn’t exist at all.”
Dongfang Yao was stunned for a moment before his fury exploded. “How dare they lie in broad daylight?! We experienced it firsthand, and we have that damned mirror as proof!”
“I told Dean Ji the same thing. But…” Huangfu Song’s expression turned even more ghastly.
“He asked me to take him there again. But when I followed my memory back to the location… the Life-and-Death Maze was gone.”
“What?” Dongfang Yao froze.
“There was only the Devouring Essence White Mist. No great Reversal Life-and-Death Formation, no Sea of Death and Life—everything we went through… it was as if it had all been an illusion,” Huangfu Song murmured in confusion.
“Did we really experience all that? Or were we affected by some strange entity within the white mist, trapped in an illusion?” His expression was filled with doubt, as if even he couldn’t tell reality from deception anymore.
Dongfang Yao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he simply slumped beside Huangfu Song and grabbed a cup of spiritual tea, downing it in frustration.
“An illusion? Hmph…”
In Li Fan’s mind, the Dao Deviation Stone emitted a dazzling blue light, instantly reconstructing the image of the Reversal Life-and-Death Formation.
“What kind of illusion could create a formation like that?”
Li Fan was certain that the experiences he and his two companions had in the Life-and-Death Maze were entirely real.
However, for some reason, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance officially refused to acknowledge the existence of such a place.
“It seems that the high-ranking officials of the Immortal Alliance, or perhaps the Tianxuan Mirror, are aware of the true identity of this Heaven-Defying Life-and-Death Sovereign. Moreover, they appear to have a deep connection with them. Since this being has no intention of revealing themselves to the world, the Immortal Alliance is actively covering their tracks.”
Li Fan noticed that after they left the Life-and-Death Maze and the Heaven-Measuring Mirror established a connection with the Tianxuan Mirror, faint fluctuations emanated from the location of the Maze.
That was probably when the Maze was relocated elsewhere.
“Such a method…”
“Interesting.”
Although more than thirty thousand Qingxuan Points had vanished without a trace, Li Fan was not as grief-stricken as Huangfu and Dongfang were.
“If my guess is correct, the compensation from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance should already be on its way.”
“After all, they need to turn a big issue into a small one, and a small one into nothing. Otherwise, if Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao become enraged and start spreading the news, it will be difficult to contain the situation.”
Having figured out the intricacies of the matter, Li Fan leisurely sipped his spiritual tea, patiently awaiting their visitor.
Sure enough, after a short while, a knocking sound came from outside the private room.
“Who is it?” Huangfu and Dongfang both showed a hint of vigilance in their eyes.
Before they could react, the door opened on its own. A black-robed cultivator, whose face was obscured, suddenly appeared before them.
“You…” Dongfang Yao’s expression changed drastically. His muscles tensed as he instantly entered a combat-ready state.
Just as he was about to strike, he suddenly froze, his heart pounding in shock.
Because at that moment, he saw the Heaven-Measuring Mirror automatically fly out of Huangfu Song’s robes and float before the black-robed cultivator.
The black-robed cultivator tapped lightly on the mirror and then spoke coldly:
“The currently explored regions within the White Mist Barrier are all stored in here.”
“If you wish to explore more efficiently, head toward the unmapped areas.”
“Remember—there are things you must never speak of. Otherwise, no one will be able to protect you.”
“Take care of yourselves.”
With a flick of his finger, a glowing orb flew toward Huangfu Song.
Then, the figure of the black-robed cultivator began to distort, gradually fading away until he vanished into thin air.
Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao stood frozen, staring at the glowing orb before them.
After a long while, as if finally grasping the weight of the situation, cold sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their bodies trembled slightly.
Only after some time did they manage to collect themselves.
Exchanging a glance, they remained silent, as if tacitly agreeing never to speak of this again.
Probing the light with his spiritual sense, Huangfu Song’s pale face lit up with a hint of joy.
“Talisman of Exemption!”
As he spoke, he retrieved three talismans radiating seven-colored light from within the orb.