The young guard cultivator appeared to be full of righteousness. No one would have expected that he was actually a spy for the Five Elders Association.
Even more ironically, he had previously participated in the capture of Five Elders Association spies…
This only made the situation seem even more absurd.
After casually leaving behind these words and a Voidbright Stone Mother, he quickly departed without drawing any attention.
Xu Bai also remained calm, swiftly stowing away the fully packed stone core.
Upon inspection, he confirmed that the types and quantities of resources were exactly as he had requested—down to the last detail.
“In this regard, the Five Elders Association is actually quite reliable. At the very least, they’re far more dependable than the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.” Xu Bai mused to himself.
After some twists and turns, he had finally obtained the True Fruit of Temptation he needed.
However, Xu Bai still could not leave Tianliang Prefecture.
At this moment, however, public attention was largely focused on the purging of Wang Qiupo’s old faction and the power struggle over vacant positions.
Thus, he had been momentarily forgotten, allowing him to enjoy some peace.
Meanwhile, amidst the boundless white mist…
“What’s going on? Yesterday, when I checked, there were only five Dissociation Discs left. Why has the number returned to six now?”
Huangfu Song suddenly exclaimed in shock as Samantabhadra True Boat sped through the mist.
Dongfang Yao’s face changed drastically. “Could it be that we’ve entered another strange maze zone? Have we gone back in time by a day?”
Li Fan was silent for a moment before speaking with some helplessness:
“It’s likely due to the impact of the Wang Qiupo case. Among the four people who redeemed the Dissociation Discs, one must have been related to Wang Qiupo and is now suspected of being a spy. Since the Dissociation Disc is an invaluable treasure of the Immortal Alliance, it naturally wouldn’t be left in his hands. It must have been confiscated.”
The three had only just escaped a maze domain and reestablished communication with the Tianxuan Mirror, so they were aware of this major recent event in the Immortal Alliance.
Upon hearing this, both Dongfang Yao and Huangfu Song immediately understood.
“Brother Li, you really think fast,” Dongfang Yao chuckled.
Huangfu Song sighed in relief. “I was worried that at our current pace, we wouldn’t be able to snatch a Dissociation Disc. But now that an extra one has appeared, our chances should be solid.”
All three of them instinctively checked their Qingxuan Points.
“36,000 points.”
Based on previous experience, they only needed to complete one or two more maze explorations to make up the remaining 14,000 points.
“Nowadays, even the most remote areas within the white mist are swarming with cultivators. It’s as if the entire Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance has flooded in. This is ridiculous! The maps they gave us for the explored regions are completely useless now,” Dongfang Yao grumbled.
“Yeah. Good thing Brother Li has exceptional abilities and can hear those mysterious voices from the mist,” Huangfu Song said, glancing subtly at Li Fan.
“Speaking of which, Brother Li, what exactly do those voices sound like? Could you describe them to us?” Huangfu Song probed cautiously.
Li Fan smirked coldly in his heart, just about to reply—
“Tian…”
“Yi…”
That ghostly voice suddenly echoed in Li Fan’s ears once again.
“There’s a Maze Zone nearby.”
Having grown accustomed to this phenomenon, Li Fan did not feel fear. Instead, he immediately halted the speeding Samantabhadra True Boat, focusing his mind to discern the direction of the voice.
However, this time, something felt different.
Because the wailing, which sounded like “Tian Yi”, was growing louder and louder—
As if…
A maze zone was rapidly approaching them!
Li Fan’s expression instantly changed. His divine sense expanded outward, probing the mist to detect any danger.
But the mist was like a deep, still pool—completely undisturbed.
There was no way of knowing where the threat was coming from.
“Tian…”
“Yi!”
The sound of wrath and resentment grew clearer, the voices filled with anger and resentment became increasingly distinct.
One could clearly hear the words—”Tian Yi.”
The sound came from all directions, as if countless ancient, berserk beasts had lost their reason, roaring and closing in.
The sheer intensity of it made Li Fan’s eardrums ache.
He glanced at Huangfu and Dongfang beside him, only to realize that despite the deafening roar, they seemed oblivious to the terrifying noise.
“Something feels off around us,” Dongfang Yao, being the more alert one, suddenly spoke up.
“Go!”
A sudden surge of crisis flooded Li Fan’s heart, growing stronger by the second. He made a swift decision.
The Samantabhadra True Boat instantly accelerated, attempting to break through the mist.
At that moment, a colossal hand suddenly emerged from the white fog below.
Its five fingers curled inward, forming a cage, aiming to seize the Samantabhadra True Boat in its grasp.
“What the hell is that?!” Huangfu Song’s face turned pale. He let out a shrill cry, but his hands moved swiftly.
He flung an apricot-yellow formation flag, which shot forward like an arrow towards the giant hand.
The flag exploded upon contact, transforming into strands of golden silk that wrapped around the massive hand, momentarily halting its movement.
“Go! Quickly!”
Huangfu Song shouted in panic.
Li Fan didn’t need the reminder—he had already pushed the Samantabhadra True Boat to its limits, fleeing in the direction they came from.
It wasn’t that they lacked the courage to fight; rather, the sudden appearance of this hand was far too horrifying.
Li Fan had once seen the severed hand of an Ancient Heavenly Sovereign outside the Chizha Abyss, at the Eternal Immortal Fortress.
But even that sight paled in comparison to what they had just witnessed!
Because this so-called “hand” was not a natural entity—it was grotesquely stitched together from the corpses of countless cultivators.
In that brief moment of terror, Li Fan could clearly see their twisted bodies, their contorted faces, and the strange black threads that bound them together.
What sent chills down his spine, however, was that despite the complete absence of life in these corpses, their mouths continued to move, letting out hellish howls:
“Tian!”
“Yi!”
Though the Thousand Silken Vine Formation temporarily restrained the giant hand, another one suddenly emerged from the depths of the white mist.
With sheer brute force, it ripped apart the golden silk strands.
The three of them could now see it clearly—
It was another ghastly, monstrous arm, grotesquely fused from countless corpses.
It was as if a colossal undead giant lurked within the mist, watching and hunting them.
“Could it be that the Immortal Alliance’s ‘Sky-Splitting Cannon’ was meant to deal with this thing?!” Dongfang Yao shouted, his voice trembling.
Gritting his teeth, he swung a powerful fist towards the monstrous giant behind them.
A black rift tore through space like a blade, erupting in an explosion—this was the divine ability Dongfang Yao had comprehended within the Great Vortex of the Rift Realm.
Yet even this attack, strong enough to sever space itself, failed to slow the undead giant.
The shattered corpses making up its body were obliterated, only for new ones to squirm out from the depths of the corpse pile, instantly replacing them.
This terrifying scene made both Huangfu and Dongfang shudder in absolute fear.