"Truly bizarre. To think they've even shelved an emergency like the Heavenly Profound Mirror potentially escaping as a human clone..."
"If we couldn't still initiate one-way contact with the outside, I'd almost think the Alliance had fallen," Sun Luyuan said with a frown.
Sun Luyao feigned surprise as well. "Something like that happened? How did I not glimpse anything related to it within the Heavenly Profound Mirror?"
The two brothers exchanged a look.
Sun Luyao said uncertainly, "I wonder if my spying simply failed, or if the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is concealing this even from the Heavenly Profound Mirror itself?"
"Alliance Headquarters is originally an independent space inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror. If they wanted to shield something from the Heavenly Profound Mirror's senses, the Council of Dharma Transmitters and the Mirror Keepers would likely have to join forces..." Sun Luyuan's expression turned grave, as though remembering something.
"Alliance Headquarters is inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror?" Sun Luyao had known nothing about this and was taken aback.
Snapping back to his senses, Sun Luyuan nodded, though he did not elaborate further.
"That old fellow Fu being tied up is a good thing for us. We can take this exact opportunity to retrieve the Boundless Mirror fragment you sensed."
"Alright, Brother." Sun Luyao naturally had no objections.
"I was originally planning to use this rare window to take you to the Blood Essence Pool for some nourishment. I suppose it'll have to wait until we get back." Sun Luyuan shook his head slightly.
The Blood Essence Pool was a secret site of the Sun Clan, holding bloodline essence donated regularly by direct descendants of the clan.
Refined through secret arts, its effects were even slightly superior to the blood essence of a close kin like Sun Luyuan.
However, harvesting blood essence from clan disciples could not be done too frequently, or it would inevitably arouse suspicion. Thus, it took quite a long time to amass enough for nourishment.
Sun Luyao had experienced that nourishment a few times before, and it indeed had some effect.
However...
*Compared to Senior's methods, it falls far short.*
Nourishing with clan blood essence was ultimately just strengthening the power of Sun Luyao's remnant soul.
The stronger he was, the easier it became to corrode the Boundless Mirror.
Li Fan, on the other hand, had directly laid bare before him the method to master the Boundless Mirror.
Not only did it eliminate the need for brute-force corrosion, but the damaged, chaotic Boundless Mirror even showed signs of gradual restoration, sparing him from the agony he had previously felt whenever he faced it.
Although he thought this, he still had to keep up appearances.
So he feigned a look of regret.
Seeing this, Sun Luyuan consoled him, "Let us see how smoothly our trip goes. If we return quickly, there will still be plenty of time."
With that, Sun Luyuan went back and made some preparations.
When he returned to the secret chamber, he had already transformed into the guise of a Sun Clan junior.
It was Sun Luyuan's habitual disguise.
"Let's go."
Tucking the Boundless Mirror into his robes, Sun Luyuan quietly slipped away from the Sun Clan and hurried toward Shilin Province.
Perhaps because it was damaged and unstable, the Boundless Mirror could not pass through teleportation formations, leaving him with no choice but to fly by physical flight.
Fortunately, the distance was not particularly great for a Dao Integration cultivator, and he soon arrived at the entrance of Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
Guided by Sun Luyao's senses, he plunged deeper and deeper into the underground karst caverns.
Whenever he hit a dead end, he forced his way through, drawing ever closer to their destination.
"Damned place." The deeper they went, the harder the cavern walls became, until even Sun Luyuan began to find it somewhat strenuous.
"Brother, almost there." Sun Luyao sensed the familiar aura ahead, excitement stirring within him.
Perhaps because it had been buried so deep underground before, his perception had been impaired. Only upon arriving here did he realize this fragment might be even larger than he had imagined.
"Hmm?! Someone's behind us?"
With only a single wall standing between him and the Boundless Mirror fragment, Sun Luyuan's expression abruptly shifted, and he halted in his tracks.
"We're actually being tracked."
Reacting swiftly, Sun Luyuan changed direction and pressed deeper into the caverns.
Accelerating abruptly, his figure vanished in an instant into the labyrinthine tunnels.
Two cultivators clad in blue robes now revealed themselves, their expressions sour.
"Damn it, he still noticed us."
"It seems Sun Luyuan's cultivation has progressed yet again."
"No matter. We've already sealed the entrance. He won't escape."
...
Yet what the two did not know was that deeper inside the cavern, Sun Luyuan had already witnessed everything they did through the Boundless Mirror.
"Tianquan, the Chen Clan."
Sun Luyuan let out a cold snort.
Regarding the Chen Clan of the Medicine Hall, who had long coveted the Boundless Mirror, Sun Luyuan was naturally well aware of their petty maneuvers.
However, they possessed considerable foundation, after all; without any overt actions on their part, he had lacked an excuse to strike.
"Coming right to my door, giving me this opportunity."
A plan formed in Sun Luyuan's mind in an instant.
Releasing his aura, he lured the two Chen Clan members further underground.
Then he quietly concealed himself and swiftly doubled back to where the Boundless Mirror fragment lay.
*Boom!*
Blasting open a sealed cave, Sun Luyuan quickly pinpointed the fragment's location.
This place appeared to be the ruins of an ancient sect, where the Boundless Mirror fragment had surprisingly been fused into another mirror-like magical treasure.
Regrettably, this sect had long since been wiped out, and this mirror-like treasure had gathered dust, buried deep underground for thousands of years.
Knowing it was unwise to linger, Sun Luyuan did not have time to inspect it closely and simply stowed it away.
Then, no longer bothering to conceal himself, he even burned his blood essence, unleashing the full brunt of his cultivation in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he shot out toward the entrance of Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
Caught off guard, the two cultivators guarding the entrance could not hold him back in time. To their shock, Sun Luyuan broke through just like that.
"Chen Clan! If I do not avenge this hatred, I am no man!"
Despite suffering no real injuries, Sun Luyuan violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and his aura rapidly weakened.
His roar was like thunder, echoing over Shilin Province for a long time.
Then Sun Luyuan turned into a streak of light, continuing in flight toward the heart of the Alliance.
He left the two Chen Clan cultivators standing there in utter bewilderment.
By the time the two Dao Integration cultivators who had been lured away arrived belatedly from the cavern, the four of them finally realized what had happened.
"We're in trouble." The four exchanged looks, their expressions dark.
Now that the matter was out in the open, pursuing him in broad daylight was out of the question.
"This operation failed, and the Sun Clan will likely shed all pretense of cordiality. We must return immediately to discuss how to handle this."
"Hmph. At worst, we give up on the immortal artifact and make this whole affair public. I refuse to believe a tiny Sun Clan could hold onto an immortal artifact!"
One after another, the four Chen Clan cultivators vanished.
Across Shilin Province, Sun Luyuan's furious roar gradually sparked discussion among the people.
A storm began to spread.
Meanwhile, Sun Luyuan had already returned home.
Going straight to the underground secret chamber, he retrieved the Boundless Mirror.
Chapter 1206