Li Fan looked up and saw a lone crescent moon hanging against the blood-red canopy of the sky. It exuded an intensely bloody aura, as if it had condensed the lives of countless living beings.
"This must be the culprit behind this world's strangeness," Li Fan silently thought.
Looking closely, he could even see on the surface of the blood moon an endless scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Li Fan had seen scenes countless times more horrific than this, so he was naturally unmoved. The other Dadao Sect disciples, however, reacted more normally.
Their faces turned deathly pale, and many vomited on the spot.
Fang Dingge did not blame them; he merely cast an indifferent glance over them.
Li Fan also feigned the posture of vomiting, avoiding the other man's notice.
After a while, once everyone had barely adjusted, Fang Dingge slowly said, "This realm is called [Blood Moon], named after the creature hanging above. The thieves who ambushed our Dadao Sect have fled to this place."
"We must wash away the shame of our sect's near-destruction with their blood!"
As a sect lord, Fang Dingge was undoubtedly qualified. In just a few words, he stirred the emotions of the crowd.
The look of panic vanished instantly, and the Dadao Sect disciples were instantly brimming with killing intent.
"Spare none!" At Fang Dingge's order, everyone quickly scattered in all directions, each displaying their various magical arts and treasures.
As expected of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, even the basic disciples below the Golden Core realm possessed foundations far surpassing those of unaffiliated cultivators.
To avoid standing out, Li Fan merely employed the sword-riding technique, stepping on a water sword as he followed behind one of them.
This man was named Lei Fanzi, whom Li Fan had seen in Zhao Ruoxi's memories. He would become one of the future elders of the Dadao Sect. His survival to the future indicated that he should not encounter any fatal danger in this battle.
Although, with Li Fan's strength, he should be able to sweep through this strange world at the Golden Core realm, this had no practical significance for him. Being caught up in this place was purely an accident. Li Fan still intended to keep a low profile and get through this incident. However, he planned to quietly spread the Supreme Dao Scripture within the Ten Sects.
"Junior Brother, your sword-riding technique is truly extraordinary!"
Li Fan had already kept as low a profile as possible, but with what he knew, revealing even a little could make ordinary cultivators look up in surprise and instinctively feel it was extraordinary.
"Would you like to team up with me?"
Lei Fanzi greeted him, asking tentatively. It was clear that Lei Fanzi was still inexperienced at this time. Perhaps this was his first time leaving the sect to carry out such a killing mission. Li Fan could clearly sense the other man's inner nervousness.
"Then I'll be in your care, Senior Brother," Li Fan said with a smile.
Following Fang Dingge's instructions, the two advanced deep into the [Blood Moon] world, sweeping through the enemies.
Whoever they saw that was alive and not a Dadao Sect disciple was to be killed without exception.
Although the overall environment here was strange, the living beings within were not very different from normal humans, except that their skin had an eerie purple color.
After carrying out the massacre at another gathering point, Lei Fanzi stared blankly at the flames rising above the ruins, a trace of reluctance flashing in his eyes.
"Those of a different kind must have hearts that differ."
"They should have foreseen today's outcome from the moment they attacked our Dadao Sect," Li Fan said coldly, reminding him.
First, he genuinely thought so; second, he sensed Fang Dingge's divine sense monitoring the Dadao Sect disciples, so he deliberately said this.
Lei Fanzi sighed but did not argue.
Just as the two were about to leave, Li Fan suddenly exclaimed softly, "Senior Brother, look at this!"
Lei Fanzi looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Li Fan had found two bright, shiny thin sheets from among the black ruins. They were covered with complex patterns surrounding images of mountains and seas; clearly not ordinary items at first glance.
Lei Fanzi's heart leapt. He flashed closer, took the two thin sheets, and examined them.
"Although I don't understand the meaning of the words on these thin sheets, the moment I saw them, the four characters [Supreme Dao Scripture] surfaced in my mind. Senior Brother, this..." Li Fan's voice trembled.
Lei Fanzi held the thin sheets and examined them carefully. His expression was first bewildered, then full of shock.
Suppressing the trembling of his body, he instinctively scanned left and right. After confirming no one else was nearby, he took a deep breath and returned one of the thin sheets to Li Fan. "This item should be a lost Dao scripture from the Immortal Realm. It is a supreme opportunity for us."
"I have examined them; the two thin sheets have no difference. You and I will each take one..."
"Today's matter is due to your kindness. I will surely repay it in the future."
Although he had directly taken one of the two treasures, he had at least returned the other half to Li Fan and had not concealed it. He could hardly be called a good man, nor was he a villain. It was simply the normal choice of a normal person.
What surprised Li Fan somewhat was that the other man had discovered the mysteries of the Supreme Dao Scripture so quickly.
"The elites of the Ten Sects are indeed not comparable to disciples of second-rate sects," Li Fan thought, nodding inwardly as he sensed another corner of the Dao emerging from the mist.
On his face, however, he put on an expression of shock and hesitation: "Such a treasure—shouldn't it be turned over to the sect? If we keep it for ourselves and the Sect Master finds out, will he punish us?"
Lei Fanzi snorted and said dismissively, "What are you talking about? The heritage of the Ten Sects originates from the Immortal Realm, with countless immortal treasures. It's just one Dao scripture; if the Sect Master were to come seize it... that would be too disgraceful. No need to worry."
"Besides, heaven knows and earth knows, you know and I know. As long as we keep our lips sealed, we'll be safe."
Li Fan sensed Fang Dingge's divine sense sweeping over again and nodded in agreement.
The sweep of the Blood Moon Realm encountered no major incidents.
Except for a large-scale battle that broke out in another realm, the cleanup work elsewhere proceeded smoothly.
When Fang Dingge, wielding the Furnace of Burning Dao, absorbed and burned the blood moon in the sky to exhaustion.
The suppression of cultivators in this realm returned to normal.
Although the upper limit of cultivator strength it could bear was still the Golden Core realm, cultivators could now burst forth with their true strength in a short time. The price was that, after a moment, they would be expelled.
"Now that this realm has been subdued, let it serve as a bridgehead for our Dadao Sect's conquests."
Fang Dingge stood atop the sky canopy, following the golden chains beyond the world to gaze into the distant depths of the starry sky. His voice boomed, spreading everywhere.
"The Grand Star-Crossing Array. At this point in time, it has not yet been damaged," Li Fan thought thoughtfully.
From Fang Dingge's words, this battlefield involving the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao was still far from its most intense phase.
"A war of such scale, yet no record of it exists in later generations. Interesting..."
A true great war to conquer other cultivation realms was obviously not something Golden Core realm cultivators could participate in. The more than one hundred disciples who completed this mission were brought back to the sect by Fang Dingge.
The bloody aura within the Dadao Sect had not yet dissipated, but some disciples had already returned from the battlefield.
They were listless, and deep terror occasionally flickered in the depths of their eyes. Obviously, the frontline battlefield had left them with deep psychological scars.
At night, Li Fan quietly infiltrated the minds of several Dadao Sect disciples who had returned from the front. However, apparently to prevent battle plans from leaking, the memories of these returnees had all been cleansed to varying degrees.
As for the specific battle situation, they were not very clear. But judging from the horrific scenes of countless cultivators falling, the terror of this war exceeded even Li Fan's estimates.
"Hmm, it seems that in the future, a cultivator once experienced this world-shaking war again in the Fallen Immortal Realm." Triggered by these images, Li Fan recalled some distant memories.
"Only the Fallen Immortal Realm could preserve records through the cleansing. However, it seems the outcome of this war for the Ten Sects was not good. Otherwise, if the final result were victory, there would be no need to cleanse so thoroughly." Li Fan's eyes flickered as he looked toward the mountaintop where the Dadao Sect's main hall stood.
War was like deep, calm water, silently devouring countless lives. And Li Fan's previous covert arrangements had finally taken effect.
A divine sense, extremely "overbearing" relative to Li Fan's current realm, suddenly intruded into the Supreme Dao Scripture.
"Dao Integration stage!"
Li Fan was delighted inside, and his attention instantly focused.
Even a Dao Integration cultivator, before the Dao starry sky Li Fan had created, would lose his mind in an instant.
Even more quickly than the Golden Core disciples had succumbed.
For only after reaching the Dao Integration stage could one begin to glimpse a corner of the vast Dao of heaven and earth. Thus, only upon seeing the Supreme Dao Scripture could one truly realize its value.
This new strand of divine sense had entered through Lei Fanzi's thin sheet.
Just as he lost his mind, in the real world, on a mountain somewhere in the Dadao Sect, a tremendous aura suddenly surged into the sky. A golden long bow was drawn and an arrow loosed. The arrow shattered the sky, straight out beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, flying into the depths of the starry sea.
"That is..."
"After being trapped for nine hundred years, on the verge of death and the extinction of his Dao, Uncle-Master Fu has finally broken through! How joyous, how joyous!"
"Fu Xiwen is said to have been the strongest in combat among the proud sons of heaven of our Dadao Sect's previous generation, wielding unparalleled archery. 'When the bow opens, the setting sun falls; when the arrow sounds, the Golden Crow cries!' It's a pity that he focused too much on archery, delaying his comprehension of the Dao, so his realm remained stuck at the peak of Soul Formation. Originally thinking there was no hope in this life, who would have thought today..."
Exclamations rose and fell from all over the Dadao Sect.
Li Fan also understood the situation.
"Fu Xiwen is Lei Fanzi's master. Lei Fanzi should have given him the Supreme Dao Scripture."
"However, this person's divine sense cultivation had already reached the Dao Integration stage; he was just missing that final step. With my Supreme Dao Scripture guiding him, his breakthrough was a matter of course."
Openly, a new Dao Integration powerhouse had emerged in the Dadao Sect.
And secretly, Li Fan, through Fu Xiwen's efforts, had touched upon more of the Xuanhuang Dao.
Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Dao Integration.
Confined within a small room, the aura rising from Li Fan changed in an instant and ten thousand ways.
It seemed to have the bearing of ancient-method cultivation, attaining the Dao in a single epiphany. But in reality, it was completely different inside.
It was not Li Fan comprehending the Dao, but the Dao returning to Li Fan's body.
On the Dadao Sect mountain, the turbulent aura of advancing to Dao Integration did not subside for a long time. And where Li Fan was, everything had long since returned to calm.
Even though the Dao Integration eye could see only limited things, it gave Li Fan a sufficiently suitable point of leverage.
In the current Xuanhuang Realm, although the highest realm was the Longevity realm, actual combat strength was not very different from Dao Integration, relying entirely on the Ruomu Fruit to prove Longevity.
Leaving aside those hidden monsters, the current Li Fan had already returned to the pinnacle of Xuanhuang.
"But it is still far from enough."
"Just one Dao Integration is still far from enough for me to restore the Myriad Manifestations Dao Net."
"There has been some progress in the Transformation of Real and Unreal, but it is merely a small step."
The three consecutive leaps of cultivation realms, manifested in the Myriad Manifestations Dao Net, were only slightly better than a drop in the bucket.
From Dao Integration upward, the gap between each realm was evident.
"I need more Dao Integration cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm to lend me a hand." Li Fan turned his gaze toward the great battle that was breaking out.
Just as he was pondering, a knocking suddenly sounded at the door.
You must know that not long had passed since Li Fan infiltrated the Dadao Sect. The only one who could be considered an acquaintance was Lei Fanzi alone.
Seeing Lei Fanzi's conflicted and complex expression outside the door, Li Fan almost instantly understood the other man's intention.
He smiled slightly and opened the door.
Then, seemingly without any guard, he agreed to the other's request to go out together.
"You also know that our master has finally broken through to the Dao Integration stage this time. This is absolutely a great joy."
"So I was sent down the mountain to notify and invite other sects to come and offer congratulations..."
Lei Fanzi spoke in broken phrases.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother. Having a Dao Integration master, your status in the sect will surely be vastly different from today. When you rise to power, don't forget your Junior Brother." Li Fan seemed to completely fail to notice the flimsiness of Lei Fanzi's excuse, speaking from the heart with joy.
Lei Fanzi merely responded with a complex expression.
The two went to a desolate, uninhabited place when a sharp blade suddenly pierced Li Fan's chest.
"Junior Brother, don't blame me!" Lei Fanzi said sternly.
Then he resolutely beheaded Li Fan.
Afraid that Li Fan was not truly dead, after finding the Supreme Dao Scripture carried by Li Fan, Lei Fanzi's trembling body burned the corpse to ashes.
He stood there dazed for a long time before coming back to his senses, returning to the sect in some disarray.
He did not discover that Li Fan, who was clearly dead beyond any possibility behind him, had appeared out of thin air.
"Destroying the body and erasing the traces—splendid."
"Even if the Ten Sects find some clue later, the trail ends here." Li Fan smiled as he watched Lei Fanzi leave.
The instant Lei Fanzi's figure completely entered the Dadao Sect's mountain gate.
Li Fan, whose mouth had been full of smiles, suddenly changed expression.
He abruptly looked up and sensed the arrival of danger.
This crisis did not come from anyone in the Xuanhuang Realm.
But came from this point in time.
It was as if he had returned once more to the River of Time, where turbulent waves gradually rose.
This time-scouring surge had no effect on time and space itself, yet it targeted only Li Fan.
Without the protection of the Longevity Dao, the Retrograde Boat had also shattered completely. At this moment, Li Fan could only rely on himself to cope with this sudden change.
"What is this..."
"The storm caused by the change and alteration of the River of Time!"
"As a changer of history, I naturally must bear its backlash!"
Chapter 1533