Having suffered such a massive setback at the hands of Mo Rubin and the Heavenly Profound Mirror, to say Li Fan had no intention of seeking revenge was utterly impossible.
However, as one of the Dharma Kings of the Profound Heavenly Sect, Mo Rubin possessed abilities that were far too uncanny. He could slip in and out of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters as if strolling through an empty field.
Though he later died under mysterious circumstances in the Nether Realm, Li Fan currently had no foolproof certainty of subduing him.
Without a fundamental conflict of interest, Li Fan had no plans to provoke him for the time being in this lifetime.
"Perhaps I can secretly study how the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals deals with this Dharma King of the Profound Heavenly Sect."
According to the normal course of history, Mo Rubin would be dug up by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals before he ever awakened.
Perhaps within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, some special means to counter Profound Heavenly Sect members lay hidden. Caught by a preemptive strike, Mo Rubin might indeed have lost all power to resist.
When the time came, Li Fan could follow suit and deal with Mo Rubin in the exact same way lifetime after lifetime.
However, if Mo Rubin, just like in Lifetime 119, had merely feigned being subdued while actually seizing the opportunity to infiltrate...
Then before finding a definitive way to handle him, Li Fan would not take the initiative to make an enemy of Mo Rubin.
As for the Heavenly Profound Mirror...
Carrying a trace of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's origin, he was already in an invincible position.
And now that he possessed a method to peer into its interior...
To refuse Heaven's gifts was to invite disaster!
Li Fan pondered swiftly in his mind.
"The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals searching for Mo Rubin across the various sect ruins is to facilitate finding the ultimate method to restrain the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Behind this, the Mirror Keeper faction must be quietly pulling the strings."
"Cang, Fu... Heh. Neither of those two is a benign character."
"Yet that is precisely where my opportunity lies."
His thoughts surging, Li Fan turned back into an illusory light and vanished into the Boundless Mirror.
Inside, he continued constructing formations to solidify his control.
While waiting for Sun Luyuan to return to the secret chamber, he also took the chance to study the traces of the immortal-grade grand array remaining within the Boundless Mirror.
***
Daqi, Shengjing.
During this period, as Wang Xuanba tirelessly traversed every corner of the Xuanhuang Realm, in addition to Master Yin, the father-and-son duo of Ou Daozi, Ximen Yu, and the other "Stars of Xuanhuang" selected by Li Ping were all persuaded—hoodwinked by Wang Xuanba using the rhetoric taught by the Holy Emperor—into coming to the sacred dynasty of Daqi.
Naturally, not everyone on the list was persuaded. Some not only declined the invitation, but even struck down and killed Wang Xuanba's clones.
Wang Xuanba was not angered either; he merely noted down their names and reported them to the Holy Emperor.
Then he skipped past them to invite the next candidate.
After the Stars of Xuanhuang arrived in Daqi, Li Ping received them personally, and just like Master Yin, they all settled down in the sacred dynasty from then on.
Each found their own pursuit.
For example, with Ximen Yu, Li Ping promised to assist him in deepening his research into the power of the earth veins, and even disclosed some important information regarding the Earth Vein Ancient Tree.
For Ou Daozi, he would oversee the construction of Daqi's new Shengjing. Moreover, for every pocket world the sacred dynasty conquered in the future, Ou Daozi would serve as the chief planning designer to carry out overall remodeling.
More importantly, Li Ping recognized at a glance that Ou Shangtian possessed two miraculous objects: the Bone Hand of Earth and Heaven, and the Myriad Deaths Ledger. Consequently, he took Ou Shangtian as his direct disciple.
Ou Shangtian felt not the slightest malice from Li Ping.
Furthermore, the various intriguing secrets of the cultivation world and the profound mysteries of the Great Dao spoken of by the Holy Emperor genuinely captivated the young Ou Shangtian.
And so, he willingly took him as his master.
A person's life in this world was nothing more than the pursuit of fame, fortune, or peace of mind.
And all of these, Holy Emperor Li Ping could satisfy.
As for those who refused the summons...
Their fates were already sealed in Li Ping's mind.
Beneath the Holy Emperor Throne, deeper even than Master Yin's underground chamber, the sacred dynasty's secret intelligence agency known as the Heaven-Supervising Bureau had gradually been established.
As the central node of the Grand Formation of Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits, under the formation's coverage, all affairs within the pocket world could be seen at a glance.
Once the sacred dynasty embarked on its path of conquest in the future and brought other pocket worlds into its territory one by one, they would likewise fall under the strict surveillance of the Heaven-Supervising Bureau.
Not only that.
In Li Ping's vision, the name "Heaven-Supervising" was not aimed solely at those pocket worlds.
Even the Xuanhuang Realm proper was to be included.
The Crossing Adversity Sect's paper figurines, the Heavenly Profound Mirror...
With these serving as a foundation, establishing a rudimentary intelligence system was hardly a difficult task.
The covert agents of the Heaven-Supervising Bureau would be handpicked by Li Ping himself.
The effects of the cosmic shift—"Heaven Bestows Its Favor, All Stars Descend to the World"—upon the Daqi pocket world were already beginning to show. Among the infants born in the sacred dynasty recently, many were born manifesting extraordinary abilities.
With Holy Medical Bureaus spanning every region, the moment any infant was born, Li Ping could immediately perceive their constitution.
Trained personally by Li Ping from childhood, once grown, they would either be sent to the Heaven-Supervising Bureau or participate in Master Yin's new cultivation method deduction project...
Every resource was put to its best use.
Talent, like an empire, required time to mature.
The sacred dynasty of Daqi was developing at an extraordinary pace, yet at present, the event drawing the most attention across the dynasty was a grand competition.
A fishing competition.
Decreed personally by the Holy Emperor, anyone across the realm who harbored an interest could participate, regardless of whether they had any prior angling experience.
Winners would first be decided in each region before traveling to Shengjing for the final contest.
When the time came, the Holy Emperor would also appear to share the joy with his people.
The top one hundred competitors would all receive lavish rewards, enough for an ordinary family to live without worry for a lifetime.
And for those who performed outstandingly, it was said there would be extra, unique rewards from the Holy Emperor.
The news had been circulating for half a month, drawing countless responders.
Had immortal masters of the sacred dynasty not been assisting in every region, the fish throughout all the rivers might have been fished clean, leading to the embarrassing situation where no fish were left to catch.
Aside from common folk, the Holy Emperor's disciples would also compete.
This ignited people's enthusiasm all the more.
It was widely known that the Holy Emperor had publicly stated more than once that he currently had no offspring and would never sire any in the future.
The Holy Emperor had no heirs.
His disciples were beyond doubt the successors to the sacred dynasty.
If one caught the Holy Emperor's eye during the fishing contest and was taken as a true disciple...
A carp leaping the dragon gate—the chance was here and now!
Spurred by all sorts of rumors, the common folk of Daqi had reached a point of near-obsession with angling.
It was treated as even more important than studying or cultivating.
Li Ping naturally saw all of this clearly.
The reason he allowed it—and even fanned the flames—was naturally for that supreme treasure, the fishing pond.
This immortal artifact was an existence that surpassed even the Xuanhuang Realm.
Within it lay countless opportunities.
Perhaps the very method to break his impasse was hidden within.
An opportunity to acquire vast quantities of divine treasures at zero cost was not something he would ever let slip.
Catching any secret treasure from it at random had the potential to dramatically enhance the sacred dynasty's combat strength.
Chapter 1161