The man had been reasonably pleasant at first, but the moment Li Fan raised this question, his expression changed.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist must have misheard! What earliest preaching grounds? I know nothing of such things!" He waved his hands repeatedly, putting on the posture of a man approached by mistake.
Without waiting for Li Fan to reply, he took to the air and sped away.
His speed was astonishing—several paces faster even than an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.
Having finally encountered someone with insider knowledge, Li Fan had no intention of letting the trail go cold.
He gave chase at once, though he took care not to press too closely, trailing from a distance instead.
At the same time, he sent continuous voice transmissions: "Do not misunderstand, Fellow Daoist. I harbor no ill intent. I am merely deeply interested in what you said just now."
The man ahead did not reply. Instead, he accelerated even more, attempting to shake Li Fan off.
Yet Li Fan stayed glued to his trail, persistently offering quiet reassurances from behind.
Only after more than half a day, seeing that he could not shake Li Fan no matter what he tried, did the man finally slow to a halt.
He glanced left and right. Seeing no one else around, his expression fluctuated between caution and hesitation.
After a long pause, he lowered his voice and said, "This is no place to talk. Follow me, Fellow Daoist!"
Li Fan smiled faintly, cupping his hands. "In that case, my thanks in advance!"
Following the man, they flew several hundred li to the west before plunging beneath the waves.
Eventually, they arrived at a structure resembling a crystal palace.
Leading Li Fan to a room deep within the dwelling, the man gestured for him to sit and let out a soft sigh. "It wasn't that I refused to speak earlier. I was simply afraid that a loose tongue might bring disaster!"
"How should I address you, Fellow Daoist?" Li Fan nodded, choosing not to press the issue immediately and asking for his name first.
"I am Sima Changkong!" With a wave of his hand, a servant appeared who possessed the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.
The servant poured two cups of tea for them, then bowed and withdrew.
Li Fan could not help but glance at the servant's retreating figure.
"Merely a beast seed—a personal indulgence of mine. Forgive the unsightly sight, Fellow Daoist!" Sima Changkong took a small sip of tea, his face unchanging.
"A beast seed..." Li Fan's eyes flickered.
Back in the underground chamber of Mr. Bai in Ningyuan City, Senior Brother Zhang had used that exact term for the half-beast, half-human skeletons they had found.
He had assumed they were extinct by now, yet here was one before his eyes.
Even so, Li Fan had no intention of playing the righteous crusader. He merely gave a small nod and steered the conversation back onto track.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, is it...?" Sima Changkong easily saw through the identity Li Fan presented with his clone.
"Now that we are inside my private residence, we can speak freely."
"Do you know why Wanxian Island is called Wanxian Island?" Sima Changkong asked.
Li Fan had indeed wondered about this before.
The capital cities of every other province were named after the provinces themselves—Daoyuan City, Shilin City, Tianyun City, and so forth.
Yet the seat of the Congyun Sea was not named Congyun City or Congyun Island; it was named Wanxian Island.
He had searched through historical records in the past but found no noteworthy accounts, so for the longest time, he had assumed it was simply an established convention.
Now, it appeared there was indeed a hidden truth behind it.
"I would be honored to hear the details." Li Fan took on a solemn expression, listening attentively.
"A very long time ago, when the Congyun Sea was still a vast plain, there was a great lake here,"
"and within that lake lay an island. Long ago, when the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable first preached the Dao to the world, it was on that very island."
"At the time, tens of thousands of cultivators and mortals gathered there to listen to the Immortal Venerable's teachings."
"In the end, all of them comprehended the Heavenly Venerable's immortal methods, forging the earliest foundation of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals,"
Sima Changkong recounted at a measured pace.
"Perhaps blessed by the Heavenly Venerable's protection, even as mountains and rivers shifted and the seas turned into mulberry fields, that island never once changed its form."
"Several thousand years later, when the present Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was established and chose the site of its provincial seat, they selected this island out of reverence for the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable."
"To a certain extent, it would not be an exaggeration to call this island the birthplace of the Alliance. That is why everyone called it Wanxian Island—the Island of Ten Thousand Immortals."
Having succinctly explained the origin of the name, Sima Changkong took a deep draught of his tea, discreetly studying Li Fan.
Li Fan pondered Sima Changkong's words carefully, his brow furrowing slightly. "If it is truly the birthplace of the Alliance and the site where the Heavenly Venerable first transmitted the Dharma, why is it that almost no one knows of it today?"
"Even finding relevant records is exceedingly difficult."
"Not only that, but it was left so poorly defended that someone managed to carry it off without resistance."
Li Fan shook his head, seeming somewhat unconvinced by the explanation.
Sima Changkong let out a long sigh. "That is precisely why I was unwilling to say much before."
He paused, falling silent for a moment.
Then he confessed in a low voice, "Tens of thousands of forebears laid down their lives without fear of death to spread the Heavenly Venerable's new method. Only through their sacrifices was the foundation of today's Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals established."
"By rights, this should have been a magnificent chapter of history, celebrated in song and story, remembered by every living cultivator."
"Yet today, it has been deliberately sidelined—even sealed away."
"The reason is simply that the Heavenly Venerable has not appeared in the world for many years. And those who hold power in the Alliance today are no longer the tens of thousands of original Dharma Transmitters."
Sima Changkong drained the rest of his tea in one gulp. "The war between the new and old methods was far more brutal than anyone today imagines. Faced with a force capable of shaking the very foundations of their rule, the ancient sects naturally did not hesitate to wield their butcher's cleavers."
"The truly pure Dharma Transmitters nearly all perished in that struggle against the sects."
"Those lingering today are nothing more than petty scoundrels who usurped the Heavenly Venerable's authority."
A trace of disdain seeped into Sima Changkong's voice.
...
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly.
This explanation was, at least, plausible.
In mortal dynasties, changes in power frequently led to the deeds of founding heroes being erased or even distorted; it was nothing new.
The same principle applied just as readily to the cultivation world.
*To withstand the shifting of seas and plains without altering its form... Wanxian Island might indeed conceal some secret.*
*The Alliance must have examined it thoroughly in the past and found nothing, which was why they left it unattended.*
*Yet the Five Elders Association must have recently caught wind of something. That is why they did not hesitate to risk all-out war just to forcibly carry Wanxian Island away.*
Thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind.
Moments later, he looked at Sima Changkong, who was still stewing in quiet indignation, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Sima, you seem remarkably well-versed in the hidden secrets of the Alliance."
"However, according to your words, Wanxian Island's symbolic significance seems far greater than its practical value."
"It hardly seems worth the immense risk the Five Elders Association took to abduct it. What are your thoughts on this?"
Sima Changkong's expression turned solemn.
He considered the question for a while before answering slowly, "I do have a theory."
"Because the earliest Dharma Transmitters cultivated at staggering speed, their habits and outlook remained quite similar to those of mortals."
"Mortals have a saying: fallen leaves return to their roots."
"Back then, whenever Dharma Transmitters fell in battle against the immortal sects, their surviving comrades would almost always bring their remains back to Wanxian Island to be buried."
Chapter 492