"I have always been so cautious, yet this time I carelessly ran right into spies from the Five Elders Association.
"And Han Yi, who was originally doomed to soul searching, managed to cheat death because of it.
"Those favored by fortune find everything going their way; those crossed by fortune find misfortune at every turn.
"Is this the power of karmic luck...?"
Li Fan finally understood a bit of Song Yang's anguish back in the Fallen Immortal Realm, when he had tried so desperately to pry the Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird from Xu Ke's hands.
Staring at the vortex still spinning rapidly among the ruins, Li Fan hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding against pursuing him down into it.
A faint premonition deep down warned him that forcing a chase would likely bring no good outcome.
For something to give the present Li Fan a subtle sense of danger, the depths of that whirlpool were certainly no mortal pocket world devoid of extraordinary power like the Li Realm or the Great Xuan.
"Ah, well. The monk may run, but the temple won't."
The Formless Killing Intent had already locked onto Han Yi; Li Fan had merely lost track of his aura temporarily.
The moment Han Yi returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan would know immediately.
Turning back, he rose above the surface of the sea. Under the Five Elements Annihilation Sword, the four cultivators of the Five Elders Association had already been wiped out completely, leaving not a trace behind.
Li Fan took out an image-recording stone, recorded the scene in the sky, and then unhurriedly made his way back to Wanxian Island.
The simultaneous death phenomena of four Nascent Soul cultivators were truly magnificent, lingering without dissipating for a long time.
Even though this stretch of ocean was exceptionally remote, it still drew quite a few cultivators to watch.
Upon seeing the scene clearly, they were shocked out of their wits.
Four Nascent Soul True Monarchs had fallen all at once!
What shocked them even more was that the killer was a single person.
Furthermore, it was the famed divination master of the Congyun Sea, the ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator—Li Fan!
At once, even more confusion welled in their hearts.
Hadn't it been said that Li Fan's cultivation had plummeted to the Golden Core realm because he had slumbered for thousands of years?
How could he single-handedly slay four Nascent Soul cultivators?
Wasn't he skilled in the Dao of Divination? How could his combat prowess be so terrifying?
No one had ever heard of these four Nascent Soul cultivators before. Just who were they?
What grudge did they hold against Master Li to make him strike them down so ruthlessly?
Teeming with doubt, they relayed the explosive news to their friends and kin.
Before long, the feat of Li Fan slaying four Nascent Soul cultivators spread like wildfire throughout the Congyun Sea.
Within the Martial Practice Hall on Wanxian Island.
"You're here to claim a reward?" The cultivator at the reception looked at Li Fan, completely baffled. "Claim what reward?"
"If I remember correctly, there is a corresponding reward for successfully slaying spies from the Five Elders Association, right?" Li Fan asked patiently.
As he spoke, he produced the image-recording stone and replayed the scene he had just recorded.
"I killed four Nascent Soul cultivators from the Five Elders Association," Li Fan said earnestly.
"Cough, cough, cough..." The Martial Practice Hall cultivator broke into a violent fit of coughing.
He snatched the image-recording stone and watched it repeatedly in utter disbelief.
Only after a long while did he look up at Li Fan in total shock. "You... Please wait a moment, Senior!"
With that, he stumbled and scrambled toward the inner depths of the Martial Practice Hall.
"What did you say?!" Faint clamor drifted out from within.
Not long after, Li Fan was respectfully ushered into the hall's reception room.
Li Fan took a seat casually.
Before long, a crowd of cultivators flooded into the room.
"Master... Master Li, we have just verified that the footage in the image-recording stone is genuine," said a Nascent Soul cultivator clad in a snug, ochre-yellow martial robe, still carrying a faint trace of bloodlust. He stood before Li Fan with an awkward, constrained posture.
"Might I be so bold as to ask... have you restored your former cultivation?" He looked at Li Fan with a trace of anticipation.
Li Fan took a sip of the spiritual tea on the table, savored it carefully, and set the teacup down before leisurely shaking his head. "Restored my former cultivation? Nothing of the sort! Am I not still stuck at late Golden Core? It's so obvious, can you not tell?"
The air in the reception room fell dead silent.
"This..." The martial-robed cultivator was dumbfounded.
A moment later, he asked, somewhat exasperated, "Then how did you kill those four Nascent Soul cultivators from the Five Elders Association?"
Li Fan slammed a hand onto the table, giving everyone present a fright. Looking around with disdain, he scoffed, "What era do you think this is? Does killing someone require doing it with your own hands?
"In ancient times, sects kept to themselves and guarded their secrets jealously. They drove up prices for their own gain. High-grade magical artifacts, talismans, and the like were exorbitantly expensive and near impossible to come by.
"Yet nowadays, the Alliance holds half the Xuanhuang Realm, and with a divine treasure like the Heavenly Profound Mirror overseeing everything, unethical merchants can no longer hoard goods to corner the market.
"Single-use, high-lethal-force artifacts, formation charts, and talismans—they're practically given away for next to nothing!"
Li Fan shook his head smugly. "I finally woke up after so long; of course I have to take extra care of my own life. Is it not perfectly normal to buy a few to keep handy for emergencies?"
Following Li Fan's explanation, the martial-robed cultivator finally understood, stammering with wide eyes, "You mean... you relied entirely on external items to beat those four Nascent Soul cultivators to death?"
Li Fan raised an eyebrow. "What? You don't believe me?"
With a snap, he pulled several Void-Tearing Gilded Thunders from his storage ring and slapped them onto the table.
A wave of panic instantly swept through the Martial Practice Hall.
Li Fan didn't stop there.
A Sky-Burning Fury Formation Chart, Eight Desolations Annihilation Divine Thunders, Soul-Anchoring Divine Needles, Demon-Sealing Monster-Subduing Banners...
One exorbitantly priced lethal weapon after another was produced by Li Fan and piled up before the crowd.
The Martial Practice Hall instantly fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard.
Looking at the small mountain of consumable magical artifacts piled upon the table, the cultivators turned pale.
"With all these added in, is it enough?"
"If that's not enough, no matter. I still have some bigger toys here," Li Fan asked nonchalantly.
Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, the yellow-robed cultivator stammered repeatedly, "Enough! Quite enough! Master Li, please, put these away first! If something were to accidentally go off here, we'd all be in for a nightmare!"
Hearing this, Li Fan nodded in satisfaction and waved his sleeve to stow his arsenal away.
Only then did the cultivators in the hall heave a collective sigh of relief.
Although these lethal weapons were standard items sold through the Heavenly Profound Mirror with diluted power, they were still high grade, and there were simply too many of them.
If such a pile were unleashed, let alone Nascent Soul cultivators, even a Soul Formation Immortal Lord would suffer greatly!
*People say this man uses his divination skills to easily harvest and amass wealth. Now it seems the rumors are true.*
*It really is wonderful to have money. That pile of goods alone is worth more than half a year's budget for our squad.*
*I heard it's possible to seek investment from him through He Zhenghao? Maybe we should look into that...*
For a moment, all kinds of thoughts raced through the minds of everyone present.
"Now that there are no questions, let's talk about my reward!"
"To deal with those black-robed cultivators from the Five Elders Association, I paid a heavy price out of pocket. You can't let me take a loss, can you?"
Li Fan took another sip of tea and slowly cast his gaze over the crowd.
Chapter 476