Though Young Lord Shang was the commander of the Qingxuan Army, he had never faced an entity of the Longevity realm head-on.
Waiting in anxious anticipation, he felt utterly restless, every passing second dragging like a year.
He had no idea how much time slipped by before the sword lights swirling relentlessly around them finally came to a halt.
Li Fan, who had been waiting with his eyes closed the entire time, opened them at last.
As the sword lights dissipated, Young Lord Shang instinctively looked around.
What met his eyes plunged him into bone-chilling cold.
The several ruined worlds that Li Fan had just provoked into collapse with his sword light had somehow reappeared!
Suspended upside down overhead, eerie crimson threads intertwined with one another, thicker and sturdier than before.
They extended in dense clusters toward the depths of the Chizha Abyss.
"Not only did they not disappear, they're even..." Shuddering inwardly, Young Lord Shang looked toward Li Fan.
He even began to wonder whether the apocalyptic destruction he had witnessed earlier was merely an illusion.
"He was here," Li Fan said in a low, heavy voice.
"Who was he?" Young Lord Shang could not help asking.
Sacred Embryo Li Fan shook his head.
"We will know once we look."
Li Fan formed a hand seal and tapped forward into the void.
The thousand-odd sword lights that formed the array reappeared before them.
They swiftly spun into a whirl.
As the sword lights accelerated, faint, blurry images gradually surfaced upon the screen of light they cast!
"Whoever pulled this off must be an exceptionally formidable existence. If we had spied on him in secret just now—even with my supreme array cloaking us, and even with the shockwaves of collapsing worlds serving as natural cover..."
"...He would likely have detected us all the same."
Only now did Li Fan explain why he had used the array earlier to shield Young Lord Shang's prying gaze.
Young Lord Shang's heart tightened, but Li Fan continued, "Even when recording with these sword lights, I did not concentrate them in a single place. Each sword light captured only a single fragment of information. Only when assembled together do they reveal the true course of events."
"Only in this way could the chances of being discovered be reduced to the absolute minimum."
As Li Fan spoke in hushed tones, the imagery on the sword curtain shifted.
World fragments shattered, and apocalyptic shockwaves erupted, raging outward.
Just as this violent storm began to subside, a figure abruptly appeared right at the center of the tempest.
The recording captured by the sword light did not show the person's face.
Or perhaps he had never revealed his true form in the first place?
All Young Lord Shang knew was that the moment this culprit behind the scenes appeared, the wildly raging energy fluctuations went dead calm in an instant.
The figure observed the area for a moment, seeming somewhat puzzled.
Then he cast a glance in the direction of the Chizha Abyss.
Even though it was merely a recorded image, even though the other party had no distinct face, and even though they were separated across different times and spaces, the moment that glance swept past, Young Lord Shang felt his body and even his divine soul freeze.
He was paralyzed from head to toe, incapable of thought.
Fortunately, the figure merely inspected the area briefly and did not probe deeper before withdrawing his gaze.
Young Lord Shang felt as if he had just survived an exhausting battle, utterly spent and gasping for breath.
Yet his eyes remained glued to the shifting, whirling screen of sword light.
The figure pressed both hands down in the air before him, instantly quelling the storm in this space.
With a wave of his sleeve, he gathered away the remaining embers of the worlds.
And then...
With solemn, ginger care, the figure retrieved an equal number of world fragments from somewhere unknown!
Like a titan splitting heaven and earth in ancient myth, he hung these shattered worlds upside down at the bottom of the Chizha Abyss.
Then, with a gentle sweep of his fingers, bizarre crimson threads flew from the world fragments.
As though possessing a consciousness of their own, they darted toward the Xuanhuang Realm.
Roars resounded once more from within the Chizha Abyss.
It was the sign of worlds merging.
Having done all this, the figure waited until the inverted worlds stabilized before finally departing.
...
The image came to an abrupt stop.
When Li Fan retrieved the thousand sword lights, Young Lord Shang was still lost in the unbelievable scenes he had witnessed.
"Does the Xuanhuang Realm truly hide such a figure?"
"Even the immortals of legend who pluck the stars and seize the moon could hardly do more than this, could they?"
Recalling how that figure had retrieved the world fragments and held them up so effortlessly, Young Lord Shang trembled uncontrollably.
Yet Li Fan's reply jolted him straight out of his bottomless dread.
"Though this person is strong, he is still no match for a True Immortal."
His tone was calm, as if he had truly seen an immortal before.
Before Young Lord Shang could reply, Li Fan continued, "From the looks of it now, my guess was correct. Behind this bizarre state of affairs in the Xuanhuang Realm, someone is orchestrating an unknown conspiracy."
"The figure we saw is one of them."
"What does the Young Lord plan to do?"
Young Lord Shang froze.
What could he do?
That terrifying, unknown entity's strength was certainly in the Longevity realm, or perhaps even beyond.
What could he, a mere Dao Integration cultivator, possibly do?
"I must return to the Alliance Headquarters at once and report this matter," Young Lord Shang said with righteous resolve.
Li Fan merely looked at him with a faint, mocking smile. "Are you sure?"
"If you truly insist on doing so..."
"...then I fear today will be the last time we ever see each other," Li Fan said in an eerie murmur.
Young Lord Shang's face shifted. "What do you mean?"
"The Chizha Abyss clearly hides secrets. Years ago, discerning people within the Alliance organized an expedition on their own initiative to investigate, yet they were turned down by the Alliance..."
"Does the Young Lord still not understand? On the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' own turf, how could such a massive operation ever be kept from them?" Li Fan said indifferently.
In truth, how could Young Lord Shang not understand this logic?
It was just that in his heart, he had never dared to admit such a conclusion.
Now that Li Fan had mercilessly laid it bare, Young Lord Shang's expression shifted repeatedly.
He knew full well that if the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was involved, or perhaps even orchestrating this, the implications behind it...
Even having witnessed countless conspiracies and struggles, Young Lord Shang felt a profound sense of powerlessness at this moment.
"Yet the Young Lord need not despair," Li Fan said.
"This matter clearly exceeds what you and I can handle. Polluting Xuanhuang using the Heavenly Dao of ruined worlds—such an act makes one nothing less than the public enemy of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Though certain higher-ups in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals may be involved, surely that faction cannot cover the sky with one hand."
"The Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable is roaming beyond the heavens, indifferent to worldly affairs. But I have heard that the Dharma Transmitters possess a special method to summon him back..."
Sacred Embryo Li Fan guided him patiently.
Hearing this, Young Lord Shang's eyes lit up. "Indeed. With the situation so dire and critical, summoning Chuanfa back is likely the only way to resolve it. However, the only ones who can contact the venerable Heavenly Venerable are..."
Young Lord Shang frowned slightly.
Li Fan, on the other hand, was recalling the scene from earlier.
"Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable..."
Chapter 1152