"Indeed it is so!"
Li Fan's resonant voice echoed within the space.
The White Jade Heart-Interrogation Platform remained completely quiet, without the slightest reaction.
The old man scrutinized Li Fan closely once more and continued asking, "May I ask where Fellow Daoist was in slumber previously? Roughly when did you awaken?"
Li Fan showed a look of displeasure, but still said in a deep voice, "On the border of the Congyun Sea, in an underground karst cave. As for the time, it should have been roughly twenty-six days ago."
"Please wait a moment, Fellow Daoist," the old man said with a smile, then closed his eyes.
Li Fan waited patiently on the Heart-Interrogation Platform.
A full day passed, and Li Fan began to show signs of impatience.
"Aren't you done yet, old man?!"
"Each generation is truly worse than the last. Back in our day, when the Heavenly Mechanism Sect selected disciples, it was never this troublesome..."
He muttered under his breath.
A short while later, the old man opened his eyes.
"It has been confirmed: a cultivator indeed flew out from the Baishi Grotto-Heaven some days ago."
"However, do not be impatient, Fellow Daoist. There is still one final procedure to go through."
The old man wore an apologetic smile. Following his words, a primitive bronze mirror surfaced above Li Fan's head.
It cast down an eerie green light, enveloping Li Fan.
"Here it comes..."
Li Fan's heart stirred, yet he showed no fear.
In the future that once was, the Myriad Forms Furnace Technique coupled with the secret art Covering the Sky with One Hand had been enough to deceive the Profound Net, the upgraded version of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Now, Li Fan was further empowered by the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, and the one conducting the verification was merely an avatar of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
The possibility of exposure was minuscule.
Sure enough, after a short while, the Heavenly Profound Mirror retracted its green light and vanished.
The old man's expression turned increasingly warm and amicable. "Welcome, Fellow Daoist, to our Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals!"
"Years pass, and all things change. During the years you have slept, Fellow Daoist, many major events have occurred in the world."
"Should you require it, our Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals can assign a specialist to assist you in adapting to modern life as quickly as possible..."
Li Fan waved a hand. "I appreciate the thought! But before coming here, I interacted with He Zhenghao of Liuli Island and have already gained a fairly good grasp of your alliance's various affairs."
The old man nodded. "That is even better. Your identity information has been recorded, Fellow Daoist; you are now free to move as you please."
Hearing this, Li Fan strode away.
"By the way, Fellow Daoist, do remember to change your phrasing from now on. It is no longer 'your alliance,' but 'our Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals,'" the old man said with a smile and a meaningful look.
Li Fan's footsteps paused briefly. Without replying, he walked straight out.
Leaving the central area of Wanxian Island, he arrived before the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Looking at the mirror surface before him, seemingly ordinary and harmless, Li Fan could not help recalling the colossal green net that had enveloped the entire Xuanhuang Realm in the future.
After staring at it for a long while, Li Fan took a deep breath and stepped into the mirror.
"Ancient cultivator Li Fan, welcome to the future!"
The familiar mechanical voice of the Heavenly Profound Mirror sounded.
Afterward came a series of introductory explanations about the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Li Fan pretended to listen attentively and tested every single function.
A long time later, the voice of the Heavenly Profound Mirror faded.
Li Fan looked at his contribution point balance.
"10,000 points."
"Surprisingly generous. If I recall correctly, they only gave 1,000 points during the late Foundation Establishment stage."
"Or does an ancient cultivator turning over to them receive extra preferential treatment?"
Shaking his head inwardly, he cast this trivial matter to the back of his mind.
After searching through the technique list in the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan retrieved a pile of jade slips from his storage ring and requested to sell them.
They were precisely the various cultivation techniques he had obtained from the Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
Fortunately, these techniques were all unique copies.
Originally, there had been twenty Golden Core techniques and ten Nascent Soul techniques in total.
Li Fan kept three of each just in case, for future emergencies.
All the rest were sold off.
The Heavenly Profound Mirror offered a purchase price averaging 13,000 per Golden Core technique and 85,000 per Nascent Soul technique.
Li Fan did not quibble and sold them directly.
Thus, in the blink of an eye, Li Fan's account balance turned into 826,000 contribution points.
"Reselling cultivation techniques really is the fastest way to make money. Done so easily, yet almost rivaling what I earned over years of preaching the Dharma at Mingyue Palace."
"They truly are an essential necessity."
Li Fan could not help sighing in admiration.
"Over eight hundred thousand contribution points will be enough to last a while. But it's still not enough..."
Li Fan was currently still at the mid Golden Core stage.
In eight years—that is, Year 16 of Anchor—the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven would be discovered and subsequently relocated back to the heartland of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
In Year 36 of Anchor, the void of Tianling Province would reveal the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens once more, drawing the alliance's attention anew.
In other words, the time left for Li Fan was only twenty years.
Time was pressing; within eight years, Li Fan had to advance to Golden Core completion.
Only then would he be qualified to plot for the void of Tianling Province.
Eight years, from mid Golden Core to Golden Core completion.
With Li Fan's cultivation aptitude, it would be rather difficult.
Therefore, he naturally had to employ some methods.
Li Fan looked at his reflection in the mirror.
It was not his original youthful appearance of a twenty-year-old, but that of a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties.
This was transformed precisely through the Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation.
"Wearing a skin and not showing my true face gives a unique sense of security in this perilous Xuanhuang Realm."
"Even if things are exposed, it will merely be a matter of switching identities."
Li Fan smiled faintly and purchased the materials needed for refining an avatar through the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Afterward, he took the teleportation array to Tai'an Island.
Using Formless Killing Intent to lock onto Tai'an Island's garrison, Zhou Qing'ang—who was also a Five Elders Association spy—he pretended to leave Tai'an Island, but in fact did not travel far, lurking beneath the sea instead.
He waited for a full month and more before finally catching an opportunity where Zhou Qing'ang went out to sea alone.
Following him all the way, Li Fan trailed him to an uninhabited expanse of open sea.
The Insect Binding divine ability was suddenly unleashed, capturing him.
Taking him down to the seabed, Li Fan dug out a secret chamber as was his habit.
Without wasting any words, Li Fan tapped his index finger lightly, activating the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique.
Zhou Qing'ang immediately fell into a deep slumber.
With the experience of his previous life, Li Fan knew that a special restriction from the Five Elders Association was planted inside Zhou Qing'ang's soul.
A forced soul searching would trigger the restriction and obliterate his soul.
Therefore, Li Fan used a different method this lifetime: constructing a false dream world to pry into the secrets deep within his heart.
Gradually, a faint smile surfaced on the corners of Zhou Qing'ang's lips.
In the dream, he had diligently lurked within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals for centuries.
Working his way up from the grass roots, once he broke through to the Soul Formation stage, he finally became the Wanxian Island Master.
Then, acting from the inside while allied forces struck from the outside, the Five Elders Association launched a massive offensive with unstoppable momentum, conquering the entire Congyun Sea in just a few short days.
And he, Zhou Qing'ang, finally returned to his homeland in triumphant glory, his great deed fulfilled.
...
"The Country of Gentlemen?"
Looking at Zhou Qing'ang, who was completely entranced and unable to extricate himself from the illusory dream, Li Fan murmured thoughtfully.
Chapter 426