"They sealed off the ruins. While driving out the cultivators inside, they even went so far as to inspect everyone's storage rings."
"It was as if there were some extraordinary treasure inside."
Jiao Xiuyuan's eyes gleamed as he whispered, "Though I wasn't afraid of them, peace breeds wealth, so I didn't cause a scene and obediently left."
Hearing this, Li Fan stroked his chin.
"The Garrison Court..."
For an elite armed force that existed only in the central provinces of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, their sealing off and excavating the Medicine King Sect ruins was truly bizarre.
Could his earlier prophecy—"Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock, Xuanhuang unified as one"—have provoked the Alliance cultivators to scramble to deduce the future, thereby foreseeing that the true Medicine King Cauldron was about to return to the Xuanhuang Realm before long?
"What do you make of this, Daoist Jiao? Could it be related to what I foresaw earlier regarding the Small Medicine King Cauldron?" After pondering, Li Fan looked at Jiao Xiuyuan and asked.
To Li Fan's surprise, Jiao Xiuyuan shook his head in denial.
"After returning, I made inquiries. It's not just the Medicine King Sect ruins. Back in the day, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Taishang Sect, and so forth—every ancient sect ruin located within our Alliance's territory has been sealed off by cultivators from the Garrison Court."
"They won't let anyone get close, while they themselves are working frantically inside, up to who knows what."
A hint of indignation crept into Jiao Xiuyuan's voice.
"I sacrificed a few puppets to infiltrate them in secret, and I discovered that rather than searching for an object, they seem more like they're looking for a person!"
"A person?" Li Fan couldn't help but be taken aback. "How can you tell?"
"Every cultivator in the ruins holds a Spirit-Sensing Bead. This magical artifact is exceptionally sensitive to signs of life. Even if a cultivator has fallen into deep slumber with merely a sliver of vitality remaining, it can detect them." Saying this, Jiao Xiuyuan couldn't help but size up Li Fan.
Li Fan grew contemplative. "You mean they might be searching for an ancient cultivator who, like me, fell into slumber thousands of years ago?"
"Ninety percent chance," Jiao Xiuyuan asserted.
"Now that is strange..." Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.
The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals never did anything without purpose.
Making such a grand spectacle meant they were clearly aiming at a specific target.
'In other words, they are certain such a slumbering ancient cultivator exists, but they cannot pinpoint their exact location.'
'Knowing only that the person is within one of the ancient sect ruins, they resorted to this needle-in-a-haystack search.'
'This person must be immensely important to the Alliance, and...'
'The Alliance's reason for seeking them must be related to my phrase, "Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock."'
Li Fan pondered for a while without arriving at any clear clue.
"Daoist Jiao, did you really fail to unearth even a single Small Medicine King Cauldron?" He looked at Jiao Xiuyuan and suddenly asked.
Jiao Xiuyuan hesitated for a moment, then gave a sheepish smile. "I still couldn't hide it from your sharp eyes, Daoist brother. It's true that I didn't come away entirely empty-handed."
"It was just rotten luck—the moment I dug one up, the Garrison Court cultivators came knocking."
"Furthermore, affected by this incident, the price of every item unearthed from sect ruins recently has skyrocketed."
"Quite a few cultivators have already come inquiring about that Small Medicine King Cauldron, so..."
Jiao Xiuyuan looked at Li Fan, his eyes screaming three words: "You must pay more."
Li Fan merely waved his hand. "Since it is in such high demand, let's forget it. Daoist Jiao, sell it as you see fit!"
Instead of bargaining, Li Fan simply gave up.
Hearing this, Jiao Xiuyuan was completely dumbfounded.
"Uh, Daoist Li Fan, aren't you going to reconsi—"
"A gentleman assists others in fulfilling their wishes and does not snatch what someone loves! Besides, it's merely a modest stroke of fortune; how could I ever be lacking?" Li Fan waved it off with an airy indifference, refusing Jiao Xiuyuan outright.
Looking at Jiao Xiuyuan's bewildered expression, Li Fan added, "On the contrary, I am quite interested in what you said about the Alliance searching for an ancient cultivator."
"Perhaps this person might even be an old acquaintance of mine."
"I know you are well-informed, Daoist brother, so please investigate this for me!" Li Fan's gaze was sharp and pressing as he looked at Jiao Xiuyuan.
"Never mind the Small Medicine King Cauldron, but on this matter, surely you won't play dumb with me again, Daoist brother?"
Li Fan glanced at the three characters "Thousand Li Hall" hanging outside the door, his tone subtle and haunting.
"Rest assured, rest assured! I, Jiao Xiuyuan, would never ruin my own reputation!" Knowing he was in the wrong, Jiao Xiuyuan hurriedly answered.
"Very well—"
Just as Li Fan nodded, about to say more, a sudden wave of clamor erupted outside.
The two exchanged glances. Sensing the unusual atmosphere, they tacitly broke off their conversation and stepped outside.
On Wanxian Island, the towering statue of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable was radiating beams of light that shot straight toward the firmament.
The Island-Protecting Grand Formation had been activated at some unknown point.
Beyond the protective barrier, a colossal purple portal stood erect.
Cultivators in dense swarms were streaming endlessly out from the portal.
"The Five Elders Association?"
Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan cried out in astonishment at the same time.
"Have they gone mad? Are they launching an all-out war against the Alliance?" Shock filled Jiao Xiuyuan's voice.
Clearly, the Five Elders Association's surprise attack was so secretive that even Jiao Xiuyuan, whose eyes and ears spanned the entire cultivation world, was caught completely off guard.
What had happened?
In this lifetime, the Five Elders Association had actually initiated war first?
And their target wasn't the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven, but Wanxian Island?
In an instant, Li Fan's thoughts raced.
"Daoist Jiao, are the other provincial cities under attack by the Five Elders Association as well?" After a moment, Li Fan asked in a heavy voice.
"No. Wanxian Island here in the Congyun Sea is the Five Elders Association's sole target in this strike," Jiao Xiuyuan replied after a brief pause, his tone still brimming with confusion.
Li Fan frowned, feeling lost for a moment as well.
The two fell silent, merely gazing up at the battle unfolding in the sky.
The two Soul Formation Immortal Lords on the island had been transferred to the Alliance headquarters, leaving Wanxian Island's defenses noticeably inadequate.
Not daring to meet the enemy head-on, the defenders struggled bitterly to hold on behind the formation, pinning their hopes on reinforcements from elsewhere arriving early.
Yet the Five Elders Association had clearly come prepared: not only had the teleportation formations ceased functioning, but even communications seemed blocked, unable to transmit outward.
Wanxian Island gradually fell into a disadvantage, and the faces of the watching cultivators across the island all turned pale.
Having enjoyed peace for so long, when had they ever witnessed such a battle?
As time dragged on, to everyone's shock, once the Five Elders Association achieved overwhelming supremacy and shattered the defensive formation, they did not choose to invade the island. Instead, directly above Wanxian Island, they began laying out an array.
Threads of light descended from the central array above, shooting toward every edge of the island.
"The Heaven-Moving Earth-Swapping Formation?"
Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan exclaimed in unison once more.
"The Five Elders Association wants to haul away the entire Wanxian Island?"
The shock and suspicion in their eyes grew ever deeper.
In the blink of an eye, the array was fully arranged, the threads glowing with a faint white light.
The ground of Wanxian Island began to shake violently.
Chapter 487