After spending nearly another half a month to ensure there were no major flaws in the Dissociation Disc's scheme for breaking the restriction, Li Fan wasted no time and contacted Mo Rubin and the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar directly to inform them of the situation.
Mo Rubin studied the exceedingly intricate formation recorded in the jade slip for a long time. When he finished, he pinched his temples and frowned. "I can't make heads or tails of this. You'd best consult the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar as well. After all, once we commit to it, making changes later will be difficult."
Meanwhile, as the Heavenly Profound Mirror's human avatar read through the jade slip's contents carefully, his eyes gradually lit up.
"Brilliant. Utterly marvelous.
"Great artistry conceals its craft, seemingly simple yet profoundly intricate, cutting straight to the Great Dao..."
The avatar remained immersed in it for a long while before suddenly snapping his head up to look at Li Fan. "How did you deduce such a formation?"
Deep suspicion lingered in his eyes. Clearly, the mirror's avatar did not believe Li Fan possessed such ability.
Li Fan smiled, his eyes shifting. Recalling his earlier suspicion regarding immortal artifacts taking human form, he said casually, "Me? I certainly couldn't deduce an array this complex. Still, every specialization has its masters. Just because you and I can't do it doesn't mean others can't. Did you think that you, the Heavenly Profound Mirror, are the strongest in the Xuanhuang Realm? Back in the day, our Profound Heaven Sect had immortal treasures—"
Li Fan let out a cold snort and abruptly cut himself off.
The Heavenly Profound Mirror stared intently at Li Fan, as if trying to see right through him. Unfortunately, he failed to discern anything from that face.
After a moment of silence, the avatar took the initiative to speak. "Very well. Regardless of how you obtained this restriction-breaking method, by my judgment, it should indeed be able to break Chuanfa's restriction.
"However..." The avatar's tone suddenly shifted. "To ensure nothing goes awry, we still need to verify it first."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes. "Verify it? How?"
The avatar said leisurely, "The restrictions left behind by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable were not placed solely upon me..."
"Hmm?"
The avatar paced back and forth, seemingly lost in thought.
Only after quite a while did he speak slowly: "To maintain the stability of the Xuanhuang Realm, Chuanfa once purged nearly all destabilizing factors within it. I call it the Cleansing of Xuanhuang. Those that could be destroyed were thoroughly wiped out. Those that could not... were permanently sealed away with restrictions."
An intrigued look appeared on Li Fan's face. "To think such a thing happened..."
The avatar replied matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, why do you think the Xuanhuang Realm has been so peaceful? Integrating multiple worlds, yet remaining at peace for the vast majority of its history... That in itself is an incredible anomaly."
Li Fan nodded slowly, conceding the point. Even in mortal Great Xuan, history followed the cycle of unity inevitably giving way to division and division to unity. Yet ever since the Xuanhuang Realm was reborn after the Great Calamity, it had remained locked in a bipolar confrontation between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association. Although occasional skirmishes and friction arose, they functioned more like a mechanism to regulate the total number of cultivators. Behind all this, there had to be Chuanfa's secret manipulation at play.
"So, which restriction are we going to test it on? Won't it alert Chuanfa?" Li Fan was immensely intrigued by the destabilizing elements sealed away by Chuanfa, and he asked immediately.
"I am considering that as well." The avatar knitted his brows, seemingly caught in a difficult decision.
After a long time, he gave his answer.
"The sealed object cannot be too hazardous. With things of high danger, Chuanfa usually left a sliver of his attention behind when he sealed them. Even though thousands of years have passed, there is no guarantee that attention has vanished. It is best if it was something Chuanfa sealed in a fit of rage—something that posed no real threat to the Xuanhuang Realm, but suffered sealing purely for angering him. To Chuanfa, it would have been like swatting a rat in passing. After so many years, he may well have forgotten about it long ago."
As the avatar spoke, his eyes grew brighter.
Finally, he looked at Li Fan. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the Crossing Adversity Sect?"
"The Crossing Adversity Sect?" Li Fan's heart jolted.
His expression twisted violently, a flash of fury surfacing. "Isn't that one of the ten sects that rebelled against our teaching back then? Don't tell me you want me to break their seal?"
Li Fan waved his hand in flat refusal. "Out of the question! It's mercy enough that I haven't slaughtered those traitors to the last man, and you expect me to save them? Hmph, it seems Chuanfa actually had some merit. Sealing that rubbish away for so long... Well done, Chuanfa!"
As if the name Crossing Adversity Sect had touched a sore spot, Li Fan's entire demeanor suddenly became erratic, sneering one moment and agitated the next.
The avatar watched Li Fan for a moment before explaining, "Heh, you needn't worry about that. The disciples of the Crossing Adversity Sect were almost certainly slaughtered by Chuanfa long ago. What Chuanfa sealed was merely some arrangements left behind by the sect. Those things had already embedded themselves so deeply into Xuanhuang that they could hardly be removed. Even Chuanfa couldn't destroy them completely, so he had no choice but to seal them away. They are inanimate objects. If you test the restriction-breaking method there, as long as you don't touch what's inside after succeeding, nothing out of the ordinary will happen. After screening through the options, this is the most suitable place I found for an advance test."
Hearing the avatar's words, the image of paper effigies densely populating the Xuanhuang Realm to surveil everything instantly flashed across Li Fan's mind.
*The Crossing Adversity Sect...*
Countless thoughts flickered through his mind in an instant. Eventually, his expression settled. "In that case, where is the site of the Crossing Adversity Sect's seal? I'll take your advice and give it a try. However... this journey carries considerable danger. Do you have any compensation for me?" Li Fan's gaze was burning.
The avatar showed a helpless expression. "I haven't recovered yet. We'll talk when you return successfully. As for the location of the Crossing Adversity Sect's seal..."
The avatar's face turned serious. He snapped off another joint of his finger and handed it over.
"It's just a set of coordinates, why go through so much trouble? You could have just said it..." Li Fan muttered, somewhat puzzled, but his words cut off abruptly once he examined the contents within the finger.
"Concealing a mustard seed within Sumeru... Chuanfa actually possessed such methods?" Li Fan was stunned.
The avatar warned, "You must navigate strictly according to the scale and coordinates. Otherwise, not only will you fail to find the Crossing Adversity Sect, you might even lose yourself in the void."
Li Fan committed the contents recorded in the finger firmly to memory, then crushed it to dust.
According to the records within, the Crossing Adversity Sect had been shrunk by Chuanfa by a factor of one hundred thousand, perpetually concealed within the void of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Chapter 1037