Li Fan sensed the state of things once more.
"The Fallen Immortal Realm can be entered again. Since there is still some time, I can make another exploration trip."
"However, before that, I should first see what major events have occurred over the past half year."
Foresight was his greatest advantage. Every piece of valuable information could signify an immense opportunity in the next life.
Naturally, Li Fan did not take this lightly and immediately began searching within the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Innumerable strange tales and unusual occurrences flashed before his eyes.
However, two matters drew his attention the most.
First, Old Man Yufu, who had not shown himself in a long time, had reappeared. This time, he lingered in Tianchen Province. Unlike in the past when he walked alone, Old Man Yufu was actually accompanied by a little girl of seven or eight. Dressed identically to Old Man Yufu in a coir raincoat, she carried on her back the fish basket he usually took everywhere, which was nearly as big as she was. It looked quite comical.
Some daring cultivators attempted to strike up a conversation and get close to this little fisher girl, only to be scolded by her in a precocious, worldly tone.
Though she appeared to have only a Foundation Establishment cultivation, when facing Nascent Soul cultivators, she spoke entirely in the tone of an elder reprimanding juniors.
One had to know that Old Man Yufu had wandered for ages, elusive and unpredictable, and no one had ever managed to follow at his side.
This little girl instantly aroused the curiosity of many cultivators.
Cultivators speculated endlessly about her identity, but opinions varied wildly with no consensus.
When Li Fan saw this news, for some reason, he suddenly thought of the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token he had traded to Old Man Yufu back then.
"Sikong Yue?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes, guessing inwardly.
When he had first obtained the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token and learned its origins, he had harbored a faint suspicion.
Could the creator of the token—the thirty-eighth-generation successor of the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Sect, Sikong Yue—have used some secret method to transform herself into the token in an attempt to survive that unimaginably bloody Great Dark Era?
Whenever a later cultivator attempted to cultivate the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art through the token, their body and soul would merge with it.
At that point, she could secretly siphon strength and ultimately achieve resurrection through "stealing heaven and changing the sun."
That was why Li Fan had remained thoroughly wary of the token from the beginning.
After obtaining it, he had kept it discarded in a corner of his storage ring without touching it.
When Yufu demanded it, he handed it over without the slightest hesitation.
Looking at it now, his premonition might truly have been right.
"I just wonder what method Old Man Yufu used to awaken her. Still, after sleeping for thousands of years, to finally revive only to be forced into acting as a lackey fisher girl—the taste of that surely isn't pleasant," Li Fan thought to himself. Then he turned his mind to the second matter that greatly concerned him.
Over the past year, rumors had spread everywhere throughout the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Word was that the long-silent Five Elders Association was on the move again.
A cultivator skilled in the Dao of the soul had allegedly infiltrated deep into the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals in secret.
This cultivator's cultivation was unfathomable; he was said to have reached the Dao Integration realm a thousand years ago.
Furthermore, he had discarded his physical body, existing in the world solely as a soul.
His soul was so powerful that it differed little from an ordinary physical body.
Even more, he could slip into other cultivators' bodies at will, performing possession to take their places.
Not long ago, a tragedy occurred in Lietu Province.
The Zhupi City Garrison suddenly underwent a drastic shift in temperament, slaughtering every single mortal under his jurisdiction.
He then falsely reported that "spies have infiltrated and committed a massacre," using the pretext of "inspecting on-site details" to lure dozens of Martial Practice Hall cultivators from Lietu Province into Zhupi City.
Afterward, he erupted with power entirely inconsistent with his original self, wiping out the Martial Practice Hall squad led by a Nascent Soul cultivator in an instant.
Before the cultivators of Lietu Province could react, he swaggered away.
He left behind only a city of blood and gore, leaving the cultivators who arrived later both shocked and furious.
After this, over a dozen similar incidents occurred in succession, where cultivators suddenly underwent violent personality changes and slaughtered ruthlessly as if turning against all kin and reason.
Yet the culprit could never be found.
People connected these tragedies to the earlier news of the Five Elders Association's Dao Integration Immortal Venerable infiltrating the territory.
Almost everyone believed that the reason those cultivators experienced such drastic shifts in temperament was that they had been possessed by that Dao Integration Immortal Venerable from the Five Elders Association.
As the massacres continued without pause, a sense of fear gradually took hold among the cultivators of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
After all, no one could guarantee that they would not become the next victim of possession.
Even worse, one had to worry whether a close friend might suddenly plunge a blade into one's back at any moment.
As negative emotions accumulated continuously, voices criticizing the incompetence of the Martial Practice Hall grew louder and louder.
At the same time, the clamor demanding the rapid popularization of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation grew increasingly intense.
The effectiveness of the Spirit-Locking Formation had already been made abundantly clear in Jiushan Province.
Although the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals issued a rare official announcement explaining that the light pillar lock of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation was only effective below the Dao Integration realm—and that Dao Integration cultivators, after being locked down for a time, could break free relying on their own strength—in the eyes of the cultivator masses, having an effective measure was far better than having no countermeasures at all and waiting passively to be slaughtered.
Besides, formations could always be improved and strengthened.
Even if it could not deal with Dao Integration cultivators now, through continuous refinement, it would surely manage eventually, wouldn't it?
In short, due to the presence of this Five Elders Association spy dubbed the "Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable" by the Alliance's cultivators, public attitude toward the deployment of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation shifted.
It went from initial opposition, to subsequent acquiescence, and now to eager hope and support.
The widespread rollout of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation had become an irresistible trend.
Not only was the official stance resolute, but the populace also welcomed it with urgency.
Granted, in the face of this surging tide, a few discordant voices of dissent remained.
Yet before they could draw any attention, they were decisively suppressed.
At the same time, the Martial Practice Hall's incompetence in dealing with the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable's infiltration provoked dissatisfaction among a substantial number of cultivators.
Some cultivators felt that the current Martial Practice Hall could no longer adapt to the increasingly fierce struggle against the Five Elders Association.
They suggested emulating the Garrison Court of the central heartland by forming a brand-new armed force to safeguard security within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Support for this idea was extraordinarily strong.
The official administration of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals also released a statement saying they would fully consider and respect the opinions of the cultivator populace.
Related matters were under deliberation, and specific measures would be announced in the near future.
The Alliance's uncharacteristically proactive response invigorated countless cultivators.
They believed this shift might be a sign of better days ahead.
Yet cultivators who had truly glimpsed a sliver of the truth—such as Li Fan at this moment—could only maintain silence with a chilled heart.
"What a brilliant move."
"The appearance of the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable has not only drastically accelerated the deployment of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation."
"Once the formation is fully established, its utility will be truly limitless."
"Spies can eventually be wiped out completely."
"However, the Thousand-Faced Demon Venerable is exceptionally cunning; no matter how hard they try, he simply cannot be caught."
Chapter 343