Inside Thousand Li Hall, an eerie silence settled for a moment. Jiao Xiuyuan stared at Li Fan in disbelief, his face filled with astonishment.
"Don't look at me like that. I wanted to pay for it, but no matter how much I called out to you, you didn't respond."
Li Fan shrugged. "And when you woke up, before I even had the chance to say anything, you went and blew yourself up. Can you really blame me for that?"
Looking at Li Fan's utterly innocent expression, Jiao Xiuyuan's face twitched.
After thinking it over, knowing the man did not seem like the sort to take without asking, he could only put on a magnanimous front and say, "Forget it, it was just a puppet. If it blew up, so be it! I have plenty of puppets!"
"Daoist Jiao is truly generous!" Li Fan applauded in praise.
"If I recall correctly, that painting depicts a scene of the ancient Heavenly Sword Sect. Could it be that Daoist Li was moved by seeing a familiar object and recalled events from the past?" Right at that moment, Jiao Xiuyuan gave Li Fan a searching look and asked inexplicably.
Li Fan looked at Jiao Xiuyuan, his thoughts racing.
After a moment, Li Fan shook his head, his tone puzzled. "The Heavenly Sword Sect? Daoist friend, you must be mistaken. Although I lost part of my memories during my several thousand years of slumber, I still have some recollection of the two stone steles before the Heavenly Sword Sect's mountain gate—'Halt' and 'Cease Arms.' The sect in this painting doesn't look like it at all!"
Jiao Xiuyuan slapped his forehead. "Heh, look at my memory. Losing a puppet just now must have scrambled my thoughts."
"The Taishang Sect! It must be the Taishang Sect!" Jiao Xiuyuan said again.
"The Taishang Sect..." Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, seemingly trying to recall something.
After a while, he slowly shook his head. "No. I visited the Taishang Sect back in the day. The thirty-three floating peaks within that sect don't match the scenery in the painting either."
Li Fan looked at Jiao Xiuyuan with some suspicion. "Daoist Jiao, you..."
Jiao Xiuyuan chuckled dryly and said hurriedly, "Misremembered again! Uh, let me think..."
"It must be the Crossing Adversity Sect! Absolutely no mistake this time!" he vowed with conviction.
"The Crossing Adversity Sect?" Li Fan's heart stirred.
Jiao Xiuyuan's two intentional probes had both failed; the Crossing Adversity Sect he mentioned this time should not be false.
In his previous life, outside the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven during the convergence of the five elements, Li Fan had once witnessed a temporal mirage of a master and disciple from the Crossing Adversity Sect.
Moreover, among all the cultivators aboard the Dust-Crossing Boat back then, he was the only one who could see it.
Originally, Li Fan assumed it was merely because his divine soul was exceptionally resilient and unlike ordinary people.
Yet if the scene he had witnessed beneath the Ruins Abyss also came from the Crossing Adversity Sect...
Li Fan also recalled that beside the Ruins Abyss, when gazing into its depths, there had been a fleeting moment where he had been seduced by the power of the abyss.
He had nearly lost his mind and committed the suicidal folly of seeking to explore the Ruins Abyss before True Reversion had finished charging.
And at that critical juncture, bright light suddenly blazed from the bottom of the Ruins Abyss.
The four words "The Immortal Dao Is Dead" had entered his sight, snapping him back to his senses.
It could be said to have saved his life.
*It seems this Crossing Adversity Sect is inextricably linked to me. How strange...*
Pondering for a long time and tracing back through his past experiences, Li Fan could not find any reason for this connection.
"The Crossing Adversity Sect. I have heard the name, but I don't believe I have ever visited. Daoist Jiao, how much do you know about this Crossing Adversity Sect?" Li Fan turned to ask Jiao Xiuyuan instead.
"For some reason, the scenery within this Crossing Adversity Sect feels familiar to me. Could my own memories have gotten scrambled as well?" A puzzled expression appeared on Li Fan's face.
Ignoring the teasing undertone in Li Fan's words, Jiao Xiuyuan said in surprise, "Is that truly so? Then that is extraordinary indeed!"
"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Li Fan asked promptly.
"Daoist friend, you are very likely the calamity-bearer of the Crossing Adversity Sect cultivator who left this painting!" Jiao Xiuyuan said solemnly, his gaze toward Li Fan turning profound.
"Calamity-bearer?" Li Fan murmured the term several times. "What does that mean?"
"The sect lives up to its name. Cultivators of the Crossing Adversity Sect take 'crossing adversity' as the nourishment for their cultivation. Their method, *Eternal Tribulation, Constant World*, is designed precisely to draw power from various calamities. Each time they overcome a disaster, their strength undergoes a qualitative leap.
"The greater the calamity, the more power feeds back to them once they successfully cross it.
"Conversely, their next breakthrough requires targeting an even more perilous disaster.
"Yet calamities in this world are countless. Even heaven and earth can be destroyed in tribulations. How could cultivators of the Crossing Adversity Sect ever have absolute certainty of crossing them?
"When they sense that they might not survive the next disaster, they employ secret methods to temporarily conceal themselves within heaven and earth.
"At the same time, they leave behind various means, waiting to sense the appearance of someone capable of resolving this calamity.
"Such a person is what is known as a calamity-bearer!"
Jiao Xiuyuan explained slowly to Li Fan.
Hearing this, Li Fan furrowed his brows deeply. "Such a method exists? In that case, haven't I been targeted by some Crossing Adversity Sect cultivator? Daoist Jiao, do you know of any way to resolve this?"
Jiao Xiuyuan waved his hand. "Don't be so tense! Thousands of years have passed—who knows if the Crossing Adversity Sect cultivator who left this painting is even still around?
"Besides, even if he is still alive, there is nothing for you to worry about. If he wants to cross his adversity, he has to rely entirely on you. Before overcoming that disaster, he would never do anything to harm you.
"And should you help him cross the calamity, he will owe you a massive favor. When the time comes, he must repay that kindness. That has always been the rule handed down within the Crossing Adversity Sect. Otherwise, who would bother playing along with their tricks?
"Furthermore, think about it: if you can resolve a calamity that even he could not cross, wouldn't your strength be superior to his by then? He should burn high incense and thank the heavens that you don't trouble him; how would he dare cross you?"
Jiao Xiuyuan made light of Li Fan's concerns, instead looking Li Fan up and down once more with keen interest.
"Daoist Li Fan, to be sensed as a calamity-bearer by a Crossing Adversity Sect cultivator, your future is truly limitless!"
Following Jiao Xiuyuan's explanation, Li Fan felt slightly more at ease.
Yet a thorn had lodged in his heart after all.
Judging by the assistance provided in the Ruins Abyss earlier, this Crossing Adversity Sect cultivator was certainly still alive.
While it might not mean constant surveillance of Li Fan's every move, under prolonged observation, there was no telling what might be discovered.
*It seems I must find an opportunity to resolve this hidden worry,* Li Fan thought to himself.
"Daoist friend is truly knowledgeable, having the secrets of these ancient sects at your fingertips. Impressive, truly impressive!
"By the way, how many contribution points is this painting? I'll buy it. I certainly cannot let you make a loss-making trade!"
Even as he pondered inwardly, Li Fan's demeanor showed no sign of anything amiss as he spoke to Jiao Xiuyuan.
Chapter 465