After a brief flicker of doubt, a dense sense of crisis immediately surged.
"The only being in this world capable of making the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals react so swiftly and uniformly is..."
"The Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable!"
Li Fan's thoughts churned at lightning speed.
"That the fall of Dharma Transmitters would alarm the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable is understandable."
"Yet why would He choose to cooperate with Rebirth?"
Li Fan's brows furrowed deeply.
With the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's might, upon laying eyes on Rebirth, He would certainly see right through his origins at a single glance.
Rebirth attempted to borrow a corpse to resurrect a soul—to revive the world that had been devoured. Meanwhile, based on previous intelligence, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable cared about the Xuanhuang Realm immensely...
Their positions were almost completely antithetical.
Yet judging by the present circumstances, in such a short time, they had somehow reached some sort of agreement.
"Is it because He was toyed with and grew enraged? Or is there some deeper underlying reason?"
The joint intervention of two Longevity Heavenly Venerables was something Li Fan had never anticipated.
Decisively, he severed his connections directly with all the puppets currently carrying out missions across the Xuanhuang Realm.
The final command he issued was for the puppets to self-destruct and disintegrate.
At the same time, he sealed the entrance leading from the Spirit Wood Realm to the Xuanhuang Realm with formations. As for the subterranean world, he also temporarily shut down the passages connecting to the Nether Realm.
He prepared to lie low until the storm blew over.
Li Fan could, of course, forcibly trigger his World Extinction arrangements ahead of time right now. However, under Chuanfa's watchful gaze, the bait puppets flying toward the Immortal Ruins to draw the gaze of the immortals within might not even successfully fly out of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Although the bait puppets were shielded by nether dark power and formations, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable was definitely not someone to be underestimated.
Li Fan had no confidence that he could pull this off right under His nose.
Faced with unexpected variables, Li Fan was startled but not panicked.
"I still have plenty of time. I refuse to believe these two can keep their eyes on everything forever."
"A thief cannot be guarded against for a thousand days."
"Besides, in Their eyes, at most I am merely a petty schemer seeking to incite internal strife to profit from the chaos."
"They have no reason to suspect my true scheme of World Extinction."
"As long as I seize the right opportunity..."
With this thought, Li Fan gradually calmed down.
He then suddenly recalled the final scene he had witnessed through the True Immortal remains.
"Heavenly Venerable Rebirth, with white mist for a body. He could actually clash head-on against the massive tide formed by nether dark power..."
"He definitely possesses the strength to threaten the Xuanhuang Realm's very existence. Perhaps that is also one of the reasons Chuanfa chose to cooperate with him."
Li Fan suddenly thought of another point.
"The White Mist Barrier began appearing in the Xuanhuang Realm ever since the great tribulation descended. On the surface, it spans heaven and earth, dividing the provinces and territories. In truth, it acts as the adhesive fusing the Xuanhuang Realm and the devoured world together."
"And the white mist is faintly connected to that Heavenly Venerable Rebirth. Looked at this way, Chuanfa and Rebirth might well have known each other long before now. That is why they could reach an agreement so quickly."
As for Rebirth's true identity, Li Fan also had several suspects.
The Heavenly Physician was one of them.
He hailed from another cultivation world. He viewed a world like a human body, inverting its life and death.
No matter how one looked at it, he perfectly fit the criteria.
Moreover, Heavenly Venerable Rebirth attaining Dao in this life was somewhat faster than in previous lives, very likely because Li Fan had inherited the Mending the Heavens Record and resolved the hidden anxieties of the people from Cloud Water Heavenly Palace on his behalf.
Coupled with the Heavenly Physician's previous actions regarding Tianjue, Tianyu, and the others, it was almost certain that Heavenly Venerable Rebirth was definitely linked to the Heavenly Physician.
Even if he was not the Heavenly Physician himself, their connection was undoubtedly profound.
The Heavenly Physician was elusive, seen only in glimpses.
Just like Chuanfa, he crossed the void alone, searching through the Pitch-Black Star Sea for surviving fragments of cultivation worlds to strengthen Xuanhuang.
Ever since their last parting, he had never contacted Li Fan again.
Li Fan, naturally, would not take the initiative to contact the Heavenly Physician either.
Furthermore, he had used the power of the Faceless True Immortal to shield against the other's perception.
"With my strength at this stage, whatever I wish to do, I can hardly avoid bumping into figures at the level of Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician."
"That is the inevitable consequence of the Xuanhuang Realm being reduced to just one tiny corner."
"Though I still know very little about them, fortunately..."
"They know even less about me."
Li Fan's eyes turned deep and brooding. "There is indeed a gap in strength, but when I even dare plot against True Immortals, why would I fear them?"
"It is merely a matter of biding my time for now."
...
Even though the Spirit Wood Realm was completely sealed off, Li Fan still had everything transpiring in the Xuanhuang Realm at his fingertips.
First was peering into cultivators' idle chatter through the origin of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Second, of course, was gathering intelligence through Dharma Transmitter Zhou.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, has something major occurred in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals? That highest-level warning bell, and earlier I couldn't reach you at all..."
Dharma Transmitter Zhou's voice carried a faint trace of helplessness. "A fellow Dharma Transmitter has fallen."
Li Fan feigned utter shock and hurried to press for details.
Dharma Transmitter Zhou gave a brief account of the matter's background.
"I knew all along that this so-called True Immortal remains was a trap. But I never imagined the power behind it could actually harm a Dharma Transmitter!" Li Fan acted utterly astonished.
"Has the culprit behind the scenes been caught? Are there any clues?" Li Fan asked in passing.
Dharma Transmitter Zhou shook her head and did not answer in detail.
Li Fan pressed no further, instead adopting a solemn tone. "I will also report this matter to the Federation. If there are any discoveries, I will be sure to inform you at once, Fellow Daoist."
"Then I thank you in advance." Dharma Transmitter Zhou seemed to hold little hope in Li Fan's side, responding perfunctorily.
After cutting off communication, Li Fan began pondering suitable targets to pin the blame on.
Yet after turning it over in his mind, in the vast Xuanhuang Realm, those with the strength to accomplish what Li Fan had done were shockingly few and far between.
"Among the remaining candidates that fit the bill—such as the Five Elders Association or the Taiyan Sect—framing them will truly be no easy feat. Trying to get clever might only end up giving myself away."
Li Fan sighed softly to himself and took stock of the lesson: "I still haven't built enough alter egos."
"If I had yet another persona right now, I could frame one of my own alter egos to clear suspicion."
"I'll have to keep that in mind for the future."
Even as shrewd and resourceful as Li Fan considered himself, faced with the current predicament, aside from patiently waiting for the storm to pass, he could think of no better approach.
The primary reason was still that in this life, having inadvertently fallen into the net of a True Immortal, he could not immediately use True Reversion.
Hence, no matter what he did, he felt somewhat constrained, unable to act with complete freedom.
Yet hiding deep within the Nether Realm to flee into True Reversion in panic was hardly what Li Fan desired.
...
"As the saying goes, circumstances overpower will. No matter how adeptly one maneuvers and strategizes, there come times when one runs out of room to maneuver."
Chapter 1112