Even though, after thousands of years of towing and devouring, the Xuanhuang Realm had grown far more colossal than any ordinary cultivation realm, Li Fan still could not imagine where a faction formidable enough to inspire dread even in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals could possibly hide, if one truly existed.
Back when the Heavenly Profound Mirror sublimated and transformed, it had conducted an exhaustive sweep of the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
Not only was the information on nearly every attached grotto-heaven and pocket world largely uncovered, but even the world crevices deep within the white mist had mostly been explored.
"Unless it's another hidden area of unusual nature, like the Nether Realm."
"All one can say is that it truly lives up to its status as the final refuge for surviving cultivators of the Pitch-Black Star Sea. You never know when some powerhouse will suddenly pop out."
"Still, since they didn't ultimately survive the extinction of the Xuanhuang Realm, even if they're strong, that strength has its limits."
After this analysis, Li Fan felt somewhat reassured.
"Speaking of which, that period of history where the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals suddenly rose from the cultivation wasteland really does seem a bit fishy upon closer reflection."
After the great catastrophe of the Xuanhuang Realm, cultivators fell into a dark era of mutual suspicion and slaughter.
In the end, civilization shattered, and collective organizations ceased to exist in the world. All that remained were solitary lone wolves, watchful as beasts and brimming with murderous intent—the so-called cultivation wasteland.
Among all the records accessible today, the accounts regarding what happened afterward in the Xuanhuang Realm were largely unanimous.
The long-vanished Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable returned once more, rebuilding civilization atop the ruined earth.
Now, here was the question.
Whether it was the "Era" illusory realm experienced in the Shenzang Museum, or the historical fragments unearthed from the crimson river by the Nether Seeking department in the Spirit Wood Realm, their descriptions of cultivators living during that period could all be summed up in four words: fierce and bloodthirsty.
To ultimately survive such a battle royale, their disposition, methods, and strength went without saying.
How would such a bunch of people react when faced with Chuanfa suddenly appearing and declaring his intent to unify the Xuanhuang Realm?
And where were those people now? Neither within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals nor the Five Elders Association did their traces seem to exist.
"I recall that the Myriad Laws Chamber of Commerce in Jiushan Province was handed down from that period. A pity it has already been razed to the ground; otherwise, I might have gone there to probe for relevant information."
Li Fan kept this in mind, putting it aside to resolve in his next lifetime, before returning his attention to the True Immortal remains.
Having received Li Fan's warning, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had indeed grown far more cautious.
As for the animas of Heaven and Earth that appeared, they opted to capture them collectively.
As for who would ultimately receive them, agreements had already been negotiated in advance, all to safely swallow these "baits" as quickly as possible and convert them into immediate combat strength.
With the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals stepping in officially, the various turmoils stirred up by the appearance of the animas of Heaven and Earth quickly settled down.
When dealing with the True Immortal remains, however, the Alliance took a very cautious attitude.
Chasing was allowed, but cultivators were forbidden from killing one another over it. Who would claim the prize in the end would depend entirely on personal fortune.
At the same time, to quell this storm as soon as possible, multiple Dharma Transmitters—who usually remained detached from worldly affairs—took the unprecedented step of mobilizing in force. It seemed that after the Mo Rubin incident, their operational style had shifted accordingly.
Once the Alliance entered the game, Li Fan clearly felt that leading everyone on a chase with the pitch-black puppet had become far more taxing.
The Alliance's control over its own territory remained formidable.
Not long after the puppet appeared carrying the True Immortal remains, it would be spotted immediately, forcing another relocation.
As the frequency of relocations increased, the pitch-black puppet's shortcoming—its inability to engage in sustained operations—became glaringly obvious.
Fortunately, Li Fan had ordered Qiaogong and the others to urgently craft several more puppets for alternating use, which barely preserved the True Immortal remains' elusive nature.
However, Li Fan also faintly sensed that the Alliance seemed to have caught on to the fact that the True Immortal remains were being transferred using the power of darkness.
The time they required to track it down was growing shorter and shorter.
"It seems this play won't last much longer."
"No matter. My objective has already been achieved. All that remains is to deliver a pleasant surprise to everyone in the Xuanhuang Realm when the final curtain falls."
Scanning the status of his various arrangements, Li Fan showed an amiable smile.
"Young friend, why must you do this?"
Three figures suddenly drifted out, encircling Li Fan.
Their brows were furrowed in sorrow, and their complexions were sallow and withered.
They stared at Li Fan together without speaking, doing nothing but sighing and groaning.
These were precisely the paper figures that had awakened from the Book of Crossing Adversity.
Ever since Li Fan had begun preparations for world extinction, even though the various arrangements were executed through avatars and puppets, the paper figures of the Crossing Adversity Sect had somehow sensed the impending crisis.
From just one at the beginning, two more paper figures had now awakened one after another.
Moreover, they could faintly perceive the thoughts of world extinction in Li Fan's mind. Whenever Li Fan rehearsed or deduced future scenarios, these fellows would tirelessly gather around him to plead and dissuade him.
Li Fan naturally ignored them entirely, meeting them with a cold expression.
Seeing that their persuasion was futile, the three Crossing Adversity Sect paper figures simply gave up trying to reason. Instead, wearing funeral faces, they clung to Li Fan.
At first, Li Fan thought this was just powerless rage. But later he discovered that when surrounded by these sorrow-faced paper figures, he would actually be infected by their emotions.
No matter what he had been thinking before, how passionate he was, or what extreme notions he harbored,
everything would eventually turn utterly despondent and completely hollow.
If Li Fan had not been protected by the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation, he might truly have been swayed and altered by them.
The Crossing Adversity Sect paper figures could only sense the general situation; as for the specific measures Li Fan had taken during this period, they lacked the ability to divine them from afar.
Li Fan did not expose the fact that he was entirely unaffected either.
Instead, he played along obligingly.
The dark scowl on his face gradually faded, replaced by an empty apathy where nothing seemed worth the effort.
He slowly cleared his mind of everything, no longer dwelling on preparations related to world extinction.
The forms of the three Crossing Adversity Sect paper figures shifted accordingly. Rather than returning directly to the Book of Crossing Adversity, they took on the image of stern, venerable scholars.
Sitting upright and solemn, they began recounting to Li Fan the various tribulations the Xuanhuang Realm had endured in the past.
Their names were also quite interesting.
All of them were named after these historical disasters.
For example, one of them was named "Starfall."
It referred to a time before the immortal path was severed, when an alien star had plunged from the starry sky into the Xuanhuang Realm.
The energy radiating around this alien star had briefly disrupted the efficacy of spiritual energy for all cultivators across the Xuanhuang Realm. Regardless of their cultivation realm, everyone experienced a drastic plunge in strength.
Chapter 1108