Ningyuan City was home to nearly three hundred thousand mortals.
Suspended above the heads of these three hundred thousand mortals hung an invisible boundary.
"The Creation Yuan-Transforming Grand Array..." Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing the wisps of vitality that surfaced in the air from time to time.
"With life energy so pure, no wonder it can form Longevity Fruits that prolong lifespan."
This pervasive vitality naturally originated from the mortals living within Ningyuan City.
"I recall that in later eras, the defensive grand arrays of every Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals stronghold had the effect of drawing upon mortal essence to enhance spiritual energy density.
"Yet compared to this Creation Yuan-Transforming Grand Array, that was practically an act of profound mercy."
Li Fan swept his divine sense across the mortals of Ningyuan City and found that elderly people were exceedingly rare.
"The Creation Yuan-Transforming Grand Array siphons the vitality of mortals. The lifespans of mortals raised within the array are drastically shortened as a result.
"To live to forty or fifty is often their absolute limit.
"At this point in time, the immortal-mortal miasma does not yet exist. In the eyes of cultivators, mortals are nothing more than cattle and sheep, theirs to take from as they please."
Thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind, yet he made no unnecessary movements.
Following Song Hesong, he walked all the way to the center of Ningyuan City.
Here, the life energy grew even more concentrated and refined.
It was dense enough to take on a faint green hue, condensing into undulating tendrils that were slowly absorbed by a massive tree growing in the area.
Upon its branches hung three heavy fruits.
Jade-green, translucent, and overflowing with fragrance, they made one's mouth water at a glance.
"Senior Brother, this is the Rebirth Longevity Tree." Song Hesong drew out a large seal and pressed it toward the empty air before the tree.
At the same time, he barked, "Release!"
An invisible barrier seemed to surround the longevity tree.
The large seal collided violently against the barrier.
Several dozen beams of light poured from the seal, then coursed across the barrier surrounding the Rebirth Longevity Tree in an instant, like silver snakes.
"Senior Brother, please lend a hand!"
Song Hesong shouted as he strained to maintain his hold on the seal.
Veins bulged along his forehead, as though the effort taxed him to his limits.
Seeing this, Li Fan did not hesitate. Reaching out with one hand, a purple seal immediately materialized.
"Haste!"
The purple seal stamped onto the invisible barrier.
In a flash, dozens of purple light snakes surged out from the seal.
The purple serpents gave chase to the silver snakes from before.
Each selected its target, devouring them one by one.
Moments later, once the silver serpents were completely consumed, the dozens of purple serpents emitted a faint luminescence.
Then they circulated at breakneck speed, forming an image of Purple Cloud thunderclouds across the invisible barrier.
Prompted by the instructions in his memory, Li Fan cast a bolt of Purple Cloud True Thunder that could only be produced by cultivating the Purple Cloud Thunder-Commanding True Scripture.
Purple lightning flickered.
The invisible barrier blasted open.
Circulating the Thunder-Commanding True Scripture, purple cloud spiritual energy enveloped his entire body as Li Fan strode inside.
Arriving beneath the Rebirth Longevity Tree, he looked up to inspect the Longevity Fruits radiating an alluring fragrance.
"This batch is of fine quality.
"A single small fruit like this can actually extend one's lifespan by three hundred years."
Appraising the Longevity Fruits according to the methods in his memory, Li Fan could not help but sigh with boundless emotion.
"It is said that the finest Longevity Fruits can grant over a millennium of life.
"Unfortunately, with the birth of the immortal-mortal miasma, this method of condensing Longevity Fruits seems to have been rendered obsolete.
"In the eras to follow, these Longevity Fruits would surely be priceless treasures.
"I wonder if there is any way to bring these fruits back to reality."
Pondering this, Li Fan gently plucked the three Longevity Fruits from the tree and placed them inside a specially crafted jade box.
"What should I do next? Deliver these Longevity Fruits back to the sect, or taste one myself first to see if it has any effect?"
For a moment, Li Fan felt torn.
According to Chen Ying, everything obtained within the Fallen Immortal Realm existed solely within the realm itself.
Bringing items back to reality required meeting specific conditions.
Moreover, these conditions varied from object to object and had to be discovered on one's own.
Even for identical items, encountering them under different circumstances or timings would lead to different conditions.
It seemed tied to the karmic cause and effect intertwined with the item.
Furthermore, one appeared in a different location every time one entered the Fallen Immortal Realm.
Thus, missing an opportunity this time likely meant missing it forever.
This uncertainty inevitably left Li Fan fretting over potential gains and losses.
Soon, however, Li Fan regained his composure.
"The greater an item's value, the harsher the conditions to bring it out should be. How could it be so easy for me to take it back to reality?"
Mocking himself with an inward sneer, Li Fan made up his mind.
"Better to return to the Purple Cloud Sect first and see what opportunities lie there.
"I just wonder if there is still enough time."
With that, Li Fan exited the protective barrier of the Rebirth Longevity Tree, intending to call upon Senior Brother Zhang and head back to the Purple Cloud Sect.
*Boom!*
Right at that moment, a colossal crash suddenly rang out from within Ningyuan City.
Li Fan's heart leaped. He looked toward the direction of the deafening sound.
"Chi Xia!" Zhang Qianmo's anguished cry echoed from the distance.
"You're courting death! Don't you dare run!" Along with his furious roar, a streak of black light shot into the sky.
Immediately after, Zhang Qianmo transformed into a flash of purple light in hot pursuit.
A foreboding premonition welled up within Li Fan.
He hurried to follow.
Song Hesong closely trailed behind him.
"Senior Brother, stay calm! Beware of a trap!" Li Fan transmitted via divine sense.
Yet Zhang Qianmo was evidently consumed by fury and had lost his reason.
He turned a deaf ear to Li Fan's warning.
He fixed his pursuit entirely on that streak of black light.
High in the sky, the black light abruptly halted.
Looking down at the frantic Zhang Qianmo, the figure wore a smirk of triumphant deceit.
"Fellow Daoists, why remain hidden?!"
In an instant, three other figures materialized beside the black-clad figure.
They formed a battle formation, tightly enclosing Zhang Qianmo, who had plunged headlong into their trap.
"Senior Brother Zhang! Long time no see!"
The black-clad figure laughed boisterously, looking utterly smug.
Realizing he had fallen into an ambush, Zhang Qianmo's expression darkened.
"Senior Brother? Do I know you?" He stared at his opponent for a moment, looking somewhat bewildered.
"You..." The black-clad figure became agitated at once, as if profoundly insulted.
"Relying on your lightning spirit root, you look down on everyone so completely!
"You don't even recognize Chu Liang, who entered the sect alongside you back then, only to be brutally humiliated by you?!"
Hearing this, Zhang Qianmo recalled something.
His body shuddered, and he blurted out, "You're Chu Liang? How is that possible?!
"Didn't you lack a spirit root, unable to cultivate, and get cast down the mountain?! How do you possess Foundation Establishment cultivation now?!"
Chu Liang threw his head back and laughed wildly. "Unable to cultivate without a spirit root?
"That's right—but that was in the past!"
A fanatical look crossed his face. "Today, the Immortal Venerable has bestowed a new method, and all can cultivate!
"What's more, our cultivation speed is far faster than that of you old relics!
"You, with your grand lightning spirit root, began cultivating over a decade before me, yet aren't you still in the very same realm as I am?!"
Disbelief washed over Zhang Qianmo's face.
"All can cultivate? What utter nonsense!"
Chu Liang sneered with contempt. "How pitiable. Once stripped of that cultivation talent you took such pride in, what do you even have left?"
Then he glared viciously at Zhang Qianmo. "Back then, I knelt before your door for three days and three nights, nearly crippling both my legs.
"All I asked was for you to take me in so I could remain on the mountain.
"Not only were you completely unmoved, but you mocked and humiliated me to the extreme.
"Today, that past disgrace shall be washed clean with your blood!
"Fellow Daoists, strike together!"
Chapter 175