The Vanguard Realm Li Fan chose had the lowest rental rate at eight thousand contribution points per year.
Although small in scale, the landscape suited Li Fan's tastes perfectly.
Instead of picturesque, magnificent immortal vistas, it was built atop an enormous skeletal left hand.
The surrounding space was pitch-black and desolate, with the colossal bone hand drifting in endless void.
According to Immortal Venerable Zimiao, the concept behind this landscape originated from the very "immortal" whose single thought brought forth the entire Fallen Immortal Realm.
After agreeing with Immortal Venerable Zimiao to rent it for thirty years initially, payable in ten-year installments, a Commercial Contract was signed, completing the transaction.
Li Fan transferred sixty-four thousand contribution points over.
At the same time, he received a storage ring.
Inside the ring were three items: a miniature skeletal left hand, ten skeletal fingers, and a jade slip.
Li Fan picked up the jade slip, and after reading it for a moment, he understood how to use them.
The miniature skeletal left hand served as the Vanguard Realm's control hub. By initiating the ritual with it to enter, one would wield the realm's supreme authority.
As for the ten skeletal fingers, they were the so-called mediums.
He set up the ritual within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, placing the four items representing clothing, food, shelter, and travel in the four corners, while suspending the skeletal left hand in the center.
"Blessings of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable!" Li Fan silently chanted.
Because he had only recently brought back the Purple Empyrean Soul Searching Technique from the Fallen Immortal Realm, he was still under restriction and could not re-enter the realm yet. Entering the Vanguard Realm, however, was not an issue.
The four items, along with the skeletal left hand, gave off a faint glow.
A slight dizziness washed over him, and in an instant, Li Fan felt his surroundings shift.
An ancient, sorrowful aura permeated the air.
Five enormous skeletal fingers thrust diagonally toward the sky.
Li Fan stood at the base of the palm bones. Compared to these colossal hand bones, he was like an ant.
"If I hadn't prepared myself mentally beforehand, seeing this for the first time would probably have given me quite a fright.
"Very good. It'll definitely be enough to hoodwink those kids."
Li Fan nodded in satisfaction.
With a thought, he appeared atop the thumb bone in an instant.
The formation to enter the Fallen Immortal Realm was set up here. Su Xiaomei and the others had no need for it for the time being, nor could they be allowed to discover it.
With a wave of his hand, Li Fan concealed the formation.
Afterward, he explored the entire space to make sure no traces remained that could leak information. Only then did he exit the space.
"The stage is set. It is time for the actors to make their entrance.
"Though they're still young, cultivation should start from childhood, after all.
"After costing me so many contribution points, I need to recoup my investment as early as possible," Li Fan thought to himself.
After making his preparations, Li Fan departed Wanxian Island at once and headed straight for the Li Realm.
At this time, the imperial capital of the Li Realm was enveloped in a faint sense of despair.
Several months had passed since the date agreed upon with the immortal master to collect the supplies. The materials had long been gathered, yet the immortal master was nowhere to be seen.
The volcano at the center of the Li Realm seemed to have grown increasingly active in recent days. Dense black smoke surged straight into the sky, clearly visible even from the capital thousands of li away.
The court officials wore dismal expressions day after day, and the Emperor of Great Li had lost all appetite.
Rumors were secretly circulating in the capital that the immortal master had abandoned the Li Realm. Destruction was not far off for the Li Realm.
Although the Emperor had dealt thunderous blows, executing everyone who dared spread the rumors and managing to curb their spread, he could not stop despair from festering.
Amid this suffocating atmosphere, a strange incident occurred in Great Li one day.
In the dark of night, a meteor illuminated the horizon and streaked toward the imperial palace, striking dead center into the throne hall where morning court was normally held.
It blasted open a deep crater, reducing the palace hall to ruins.
Fortunately, it happened in the dead of night, so aside from a few guards sustaining minor injuries, there were no other casualties.
Afterward, under the Emperor's personal supervision, excavation revealed that the meteor from that night had remained completely intact.
What left the Great Li officials buzzing in bewilderment, however, was that this so-called meteor was actually a skeletal left hand.
Translucent as jade, it was extraordinarily wondrous.
Though the Emperor knew this bone hand had to be a treasure, he studied it for a long time without discerning its purpose. In the end, he had to leave the matter unresolved, ordering it to be locked away deep within the imperial treasury under strict guard.
One night, after the commotion over the bone hand had gradually settled down:
At the Ye residence in the capital.
"Senior, spare my life!"
Ye Feipeng jolted awake from a nightmare, his forehead drenched in sweat.
A nine-year-old face was filled with terror, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.
Only after his emotions calmed slightly did he notice something was off.
Staring blankly at his tiny body and the surroundings that felt both familiar and alien, Ye Feipeng's eyes filled with utter confusion.
"Young Master, what happened?" A maidservant in the adjoining room heard the noise, hurriedly threw on an outer garment, and rushed in.
"It's nothing. Leave me!" Ye Feipeng dismissed her and rubbed his temples, his mind an utter mess.
"Was it a dream? Or was I reborn?"
Just now, Ye Feipeng had experienced a long, vivid dream.
In the dream, ten years later, he was taken out of the Li Realm by the immortal master and settled on Liuli Island.
After five years of cultivation, he finally cleansed his body of miasma and successfully drew Qi into his body, becoming a true cultivator.
Unfortunately, a cultivator's life was not nearly as wonderful as he had imagined. It was far less carefree and comfortable than living as an aristocratic playboy back in the Li Realm.
Toiling all day like a beast of burden, it took him an entire year just to scrape together enough contribution points to buy a cultivation method.
Just as he was feeling pleased with himself for breaking through to the middle Qi Condensation stage in a mere three years, an earth-shattering event shook the Congyun Sea, completely shattering his worldview.
"Crimson Flame incinerates the sea, Haobo integrates with the Dao."
Ye Feipeng clenched his fists tightly, nails digging into his palms, but he didn't care in the slightest.
He racked his brain over the post-mortem analyses cultivators had shared regarding this epic event, terrified of missing a single detail.
"Sixteen years of cultivation, a Golden Core slays a Dao Integration.
"Becoming the youngest Dao Integration Heavenly Venerable in history."
Ye Feipeng's eyes burned with jealousy and ambition.
"Using the Congyun Sea as leverage, seizing the critical juncture during the great battle between the five Soul Formation Immortal Lords and Crimson Flame to steal the fruit of victory...
"If Zhang Haobo could do it, why can't I?
"If I only head to the cultivation world ten years early, armed with foreknowledge and the myriad opportunities etched in my memory, I might very well supplant him and become a Dao Integration Heavenly Venerable dominating an entire province!
"Instead of toiling through decades of bitter cultivation, only to be casually swatted dead like an ant by a passing Nascent Soul cultivator!
"This should never have been the fate of Ye Feipeng!"
Ye Feipeng's eyes were bloodshot, countless thoughts tangling in his mind.
Suddenly, a piercing agony tore through his head. Unable to bear it any longer, his vision went black, and he passed out.
Beside him, Li Fan's figure slowly materialized in the darkness.
Chapter 205