"Hurry up! Stop looking around!"
Wanxian Island was nearly razed to the ground, and the cultivators from the Five Elders Association had begun excavating underground.
Li Fan wanted to observe further, but an armored cultivator barked at him, forcefully marching him away from the area.
Several squads of armored cultivators formed a formation, herding the cultivators from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals like a flock of sheep toward the entrance of a small cave at the bottom of a canyon.
Sinister winds gusted from the mouth of the cave, exuding an eerie, chilling dread.
"Get in! Stop dawdling!"
The leading armored cultivator slammed his weapon into the ground, bellowing like angry thunder.
Some among the crowd wore indignant expressions, exchanging glances as if secretly discussing rebellion.
Yet circumstance was stronger than individual will; after a moment of hesitation, they ultimately gave in.
One after another, they filed into the gloomy cavern.
Li Fan was merely occupying a puppet body, so he naturally felt little fear.
Still, to avoid standing out and prolong his survival, he feigned utter panic and followed behind the crowd.
The moment his foot stepped inside the cave, light vanished from sight.
In the next instant, a scene entirely different from what they had anticipated unfolded before them.
Instead of a twisting, shadowy subterranean passage, they inexplicably found themselves in a lush, green valley.
In the distance, a wooden pavilion came into view.
Several dozen people sat cross-legged on the ground before the pavilion, listening to a scholar-like cultivator lecture on something.
Seeing that this did not look like an interrogation or torture chamber, the Alliance cultivators—who had been restless and scheming to resist—quieted down once more.
They decided to observe the situation first and act when an opportunity arose.
Escorted by the armored cultivators, the captives walked slowly toward the pavilion.
Hidden among the crowd, Li Fan keenly sensed a certain change taking place in his body during this walk, and his expression shifted slightly.
It turned out that as they drew nearer to the scholar at the pavilion, their bodies seemed to shrink steadily.
This change was limited strictly to the captured Alliance members; the armored cultivators, the scholar, and even the scenery of the surrounding valley remained completely unchanged.
Thus, though their marching speed did not slacken, they seemed to be getting farther and farther from their destination.
This abnormal phenomenon caused a stir among the Alliance ranks, but it was quickly suppressed.
"Move faster!"
In their eyes, the armored cultivators had already swelled to the size of small hills.
Showing no mercy, they kept urging them forward.
Viewing others from the perspective of literal ants for the first time, the Alliance cultivators struggled to maintain their composure.
Their faces grew pale, and they subconsciously obeyed the armored cultivators' beck and call.
As they continued walking, the shrinking of their bodies did not halt.
By the time nearly a dozen days had passed and the group finally arrived before the pavilion, the scholar had become like an immense mountain in their eyes, propping up the sky and buttressing the earth.
"Sit," the scholar said in a gentle voice.
Yet to their ears, it boomed like a massive ceremonial bell, filling heaven and earth.
It echoed unceasingly within their hearts.
It seemed to pierce straight into the depths of their souls; even if they cut off their own senses, they still could not prevent the scholar's words from ringing in their minds.
One after another, they lost control of their bodies and meekly sat down on the ground.
*What kind of divine ability is this?*
Terror gripped everyone's hearts.
The armored cultivators bowed toward the scholar in unison. Seeing that the Alliance crowd had taken their seats, they quietly departed.
The scholar glanced at the crowd and sighed softly. "Yet another flock of lost lambs.
"However, since fate has brought you here, I will not let you wander into error again."
The cultivators, who identified as members of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, naturally felt profound defiance upon hearing this.
"In your eyes, what is our Five Elders Association like?" the scholar asked softly at that moment.
"You control cultivators with soul covenants—vile and evil in the extreme!"
"Lingering on your last breaths! In less than a thousand years, you will surely be wiped out by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals!"
"Ignorant and backward!"
"Though not benevolent by any means, being able to contend with our Alliance for so long means you must have some merit."
...
Under the scholar's questioning, the crowd spoke out one after another, voicing the answers in their hearts.
Yet the horrified looks on their faces clearly showed that their answers were not uttered of their own volition.
However, confronted with the scholar's inquiry, not all cultivators lost control and answered.
At the very least, the puppet body Li Fan inhabited was unaffected.
Several cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm also resisted the scholar's control with furrowed brows.
*Isn't this an area-of-effect version of the Heavenly Physician's technique of Inquiry?* Li Fan was inwardly astonished.
*Even though its power doesn't seem equal to when the Heavenly Physician casts it in person, its targets are so numerous.*
Li Fan remained on high alert, prepared to abandon the puppet body at any moment.
Fortunately, the scholar did not pay extra attention to Li Fan.
The crowd answered with one comment after another.
The scholar listened attentively with a smile on his face.
After a long while, the crowd fell silent, and calm gradually returned outside the pavilion.
The scholar shook his head and said, "Utterly mistaken!
"Do you know the origins of our Five Elders Association?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"After the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable created the new method, the rogue cultivators across the realm relied on its staggering cultivation speed to launch an assault against the immortal sects.
"Meanwhile, the sects fractured internally into two factions, warring and slaughtering each other incessantly.
"Yet before a decisive victor could emerge..."
Rather than answering directly, the scholar recounted history to the crowd.
"The Great Cataclysm descended, and dharmas could not be cultivated concurrently.
"The immortal sects suffered a devastating blow, with fewer than one in a hundred surviving.
"Yet having ruled the Xuanhuang Realm for ten thousand years, their foundations ran deep.
"A few surviving sects weathered the catastrophe. They withdrew from the world in seclusion, waiting for the storm of blood and slaughter to pass.
"When the killing ceased and darkness lifted, they joined together once more upon the ruins.
"And that became the embryonic form of today's Five Elders Association."
Ignoring their dumbfounded reactions, the scholar said slowly:
"The conflict between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association is fundamentally still a clash between the new and old powers of cultivation.
"All struggles in this world largely stem from the oppression of newcomers by those who came first.
"Thus, it has dragged on for thousands of years without end.
"Until a definitive victor emerges, it will never cease.
"Living within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, it is only natural that your eyes were clouded. No one can blame you."
The scholar wore a look of compassionate sorrow for the world.
Sitting on the ground and listening to the scholar's lecture, every one of the Alliance cultivators looked stunned.
Though they had long grown accustomed to the existence of the Five Elders Association, this was the first time they had ever heard of its origins.
Hearing this, Li Fan was not as shocked as the others.
Senior Sister Zhao, one of the five Longevity Heavenly Venerables of the Five Elders Association, was once the sect master of the Dadao Sect, one of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao.
Hence, that the Five Elders Association was formed by cultivators of the surviving ancient sects was something Li Fan had guessed long ago.
Chapter 490