Zhang Qianmo's "I'll be back shortly" turned out to take quite a while.
Three full days and nights passed without any sign of him returning.
Standing atop the Purple Cloud Flying Cloud, Li Fan passed the idle time by observing Ningyuan City below.
During the battle between the two Golden Core cultivators, Zhang Qianmo and Song Hesong, most of Ningyuan City had been reduced to ruins.
The mortals who had survived this unprovoked disaster had cried their throats dry, their eyes filled with bewilderment and despair.
"Mr. Bai says!"
"Anyone who still has strength, gather over here! We'll work together and do our best to dig out and rescue those who are still alive!"
"Those with minor injuries, help gather water and food..."
"Everyone bring the seriously injured to the small shrine—Mr. Bai will be treating people there!"
Just when the disaster victims were plunging into despair, cries began echoing from different corners of Ningyuan City, rising and falling in succession.
Li Fan listened with interest.
The voices belonged to children of barely ten years old.
Dressed like beggars and skinny as twigs, they were remarkably precocious and clever.
The young children's shouts were like the first rays of dawn piercing through the darkness.
As if finding a guiding pillar to lean on, the people gradually awoke from their stupor and helplessness, methodically starting to rescue themselves.
Watching this scene unfold, Li Fan was suddenly reminded of when he had first encountered Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, and how he had organized relief efforts in the ruins of Xuanjing after it was destroyed.
While he was lost in reflection, a sudden surge of spiritual energy pulsed from within the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
*Looks like Miss Chi Xia has succeeded in drawing qi into her body,* Li Fan thought to himself.
Sure enough, less than half a day later, Zhang Qianmo returned.
Though his expression remained calm, the joy in his eyes could not be hidden.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Junior Brother!" Zhang Qianmo said apologetically.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother, on resolving what weighed on your heart!" Li Fan said with a smile. "Is Miss Chi Xia not returning to the mountain with us?"
Zhang Qianmo waved his hand. "We should wait for the Sect Master Ancestor to decide before making any moves. Since I've already waited this long, waiting a little longer won't hurt."
"Heh, if you ask me, getting those old fossils in the sect to accept this so-called new method anytime soon will probably be quite difficult," Zhang Qianmo sneered.
Li Fan nodded in agreement.
With only three or four days left before his time in the Fallen Immortal Realm ran out, Li Fan was in no rush to leave. He wanted to use the opportunity to visit the Purple Cloud Sect.
Li Fan had long yearned to witness the grand spectacle of an immortal sect.
Unfortunately, the Purple Cloud Sect's mountain gate was simply too far from Ningyuan City.
After covering more than half the journey, Li Fan felt his surroundings blur.
Images and sounds receded one after another. Moments later, Li Fan's consciousness returned to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
A surge of inexplicable warmth welled up within his head, bringing faint, prickling pain.
Li Fan could not help frowning, but a moment later, joy crept across his face.
With a brief recollection, the contents of the *Purple Empyrean Soul Observation Technique* surfaced in his mind, word for word, with crystal clarity.
*This method of 'equivalent exchange' truly works.*
It was merely an application of the divine soul, not a cultivation method, so naturally no prompt regarding practicing numbers followed.
With his experience inside the Fallen Immortal Realm, it took Li Fan hardly any effort to master it completely.
*Now that I have this soul-searching technique, all that's left is to wait for Zhou Qing'ang to fetch those fifty supreme-grade spirit stones.*
After purchasing a few items in the Heavenly Profound Mirror to ensure nothing was left to chance, Li Fan cultivated while waiting patiently.
Seven days later, Li Fan sensed Zhou Qing'ang change his appearance again and depart Tai'an Island.
Li Fan immediately left Wanxian Island as well. Concealing his presence, he hurried toward Zhou Qing'ang's location.
Li Fan had visited the place where Zhou Qing'ang went to pick up the spirit stones before.
It was none other than the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Repositories on Youlan Island, where he had obtained He Zhenghao's legacy, the *Detailed Explanation of the Hundred Meridians Formation Diagram*, back in his twelfth lifetime.
Li Fan did not follow him inside, choosing instead to lie in wait outside.
Before long, Zhou Qing'ang swaggered out of Youlan Island, flying toward a deserted, remote stretch of sea—evidently intending to revert to his original appearance.
This suited Li Fan's intentions perfectly. He trailed far behind, silently tracking his target.
With the Formless Killing Intent locked onto him for surveillance, no matter what tricks Zhou Qing'ang pulled, he could never shake Li Fan off.
After more than half a day, Zhou Qing'ang felt he was safe.
He dived into the depths of the sea, found a set of underwater ruins, and shifted back to his true appearance.
Sensing the supreme-grade spirit stones worth fifty thousand contribution points inside his storage ring, Zhou Qing'ang planned to head to Wanxian Island first to pay off his debts.
Yet the moment he surfaced, Zhou Qing'ang discovered to his horror that, for reasons unknown, his entire body had frozen stiff, and he had lost control of his limbs.
At the same time, a deafening crash like a gong detonated right above his head.
Dizziness washed over him as his ears rang with a thunderous roar.
*Not good!*
Before the thought could fully form, Zhou Qing'ang was knocked unconscious by the shock.
Li Fan revealed himself, grabbed Zhou Qing'ang, and dove back down to the seabed.
Locating a structure among the ruins, he casually set up a few concealing formations around it before slipping inside.
He dumped the unconscious, defenseless Zhou Qing'ang onto the ground.
Then, retrieving thirteen cold iron nails from his storage ring, he drove them into Zhou Qing'ang's body.
Only then did Li Fan cast the Purple Empyrean Soul Observation Technique.
Zhou Qing'ang's body twitched violently.
Images flickered rapidly before Li Fan's eyes.
"Forged his Dao Foundation using the 'Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart', and changes his appearance through 'Appearance Shifts with the Heart'..."
"So that's how it is."
"To infiltrate the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals as a spy, he really does have some skill."
Li Fan felt an instant surge of delight.
Just as he was about to delve deeper into Zhou Qing'ang's soul to uncover information about his handler and the organization he served, something seemed to trigger a restriction.
A terrifying, destructive force erupted from the depths of Zhou Qing'ang's divine soul.
Li Fan's expression shifted, and he instantly withdrew his divine sense.
Yet there was no way to stop that power from destroying Zhou Qing'ang's soul.
"Ah!"
Even in his coma, Zhou Qing'ang let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Immediately after, Li Fan watched as his divine soul was wiped out in an instant.
Though his aura of life remained, he had been reduced to a living corpse, an empty shell.
"A secrecy countermeasure, is it...?"
Seeing this, Li Fan was not particularly surprised.
"A pity I couldn't unearth more secrets."
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan erased all traces of the formations he had laid.
Taking Zhou Qing'ang's body with him, he fled hundreds of li away.
He arrived at a stretch of sea teeming with schools of fish and tossed Zhou Qing'ang toward them.
Although the divine soul was gone, the aura radiating from a Foundation Establishment cultivator naturally instilled terror in these fish.
Every one of them darted away, lacking the courage to treat this body as food.
Seeing this, Li Fan locked his Formless Killing Intent onto the strongest fish in the school.
He then retreated another hundred li.
And unleashed the Formless Killing Intent against Zhou Qing'ang.
Chapter 198