Not knowing what he had discovered, he went so far as to take Senior Sister Zhao's droplet of blood out of the isolated space without warning, bringing it close to inspect it carefully.
"Sect Master, you—!" Senior Sister Zhao could not help crying out in astonishment.
"It matters not!" Around Ji Changxi's body, a layer of black light emerged, wrapping him securely.
Senior Sister Zhao recognized it in an instant: it was the unique divine radiance manifested by the divine ability "Great Dao, Only Me" from the Heaven-Slaying Dao Scripture.
Before this divine ability, all alien energies would be converted into an existence that he could control.
She, too, had once briefly cultivated this divine art! Only now...
Lowering her head, Senior Sister Zhao carefully concealed the ambition and discontent in her eyes.
Fortunately, the Dadao Sect seniors present had their attention entirely focused on the churning droplet of blood in Ji Changxi's hand. No one seemed to notice anything amiss with her.
Black light continually surged from Sect Master Ji, encircling the droplet of blood.
While the black radiance churned ceaselessly, the droplet of blood was steadily consumed.
Yet before Ji Changxi could analyze anything conclusive, a crisp cough suddenly rang out beside him.
A flicker of shock instantly surfaced on his face.
And this was merely the beginning.
As if triggering some chain reaction, uncontrollable coughs soon rose and fell one after another, echoing throughout the grand sect hall where the elite were gathered.
"How is this possible?!" Having personally experienced the potency of this unknown affliction, the elders' faces changed drastically.
"Interesting, interesting..."
"Wait, this seems to be..."
Nevertheless, those present were, after all, the cream of the crop who had survived thousands of years in the Xuanhuang cultivation world.
Soon, each employed their own methods to suppress the abnormality in their bodies.
Some even began researching it on the spot with keen interest.
Seeing the elders react this way, Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao exchanged a glance, feeling somewhat reassured.
"Both its transmissibility and pathogenicity are dreadfully terrifying. Truly something seen once in a lifetime! I fear even the Immortal-Extirpating Edict unleashed by the Profound Heaven Sect in its death throes falls short of it," a white-haired elder said slowly.
Li Fan only knew this man was named Mo Zhiran, an elder of the Dadao Sect who was well-versed in the dao of medicinal theory. He lived in seclusion and paid no mind to sect affairs. It was said, however, that the pills he concocted were of extraordinary quality. Even with the Fortune Purple-Gold Pill they had swallowed earlier, this man could refine a defective version with seventy to eighty percent of its efficacy relying solely on his Dao Integration cultivation.
With Mo Zhiran having broken the ice, the other elders also spoke freely, voicing their opinions.
"This illness is 'One is All.' So long as one comes into contact with it, it will spontaneously grow within a cultivator's body. Mild symptoms are manageable, but if not promptly suppressed and it turns severe..."
"At best, one's cultivation regresses; at worst, one perishes and one's Dao dissipates!"
At these words, the expressions of everyone present turned somewhat somber.
"I just attempted over a dozen methods. Although all could quickly eliminate the symptoms it brought, the source power causing this disease seems never to have truly dissipated. It remains deeply hidden in the body. Just what is its host medium? How truly bizarre..."
"We old fellows have decent cultivation and can easily suppress the symptoms. But what about the disciples in our sect? If there are no medicinal pills to rescue them, I fear..."
"First dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently, and now this bizarre, uncanny disease..."
"The immortal path is severed, the future bleak! Better to go back, better to go back!"
"Lei Fanzi, juniors are present—what nonsense are you spouting again?"
...
The grand sect hall, a place of supreme dignity and solemnity, had now turned into something like a vegetable market, clamoring with endless noise.
Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao merely kept their heads down, not daring to show the slightest abnormality.
"Everyone!"
Right at this moment, a voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention.
The hall instantly fell silent.
"I have a thought," Dadao Sect Master Ji Changxi said gravely.
"Presumably some of you have already realized that the reason this so-called bizarre illness is so impossible to guard against is entirely because it is also one of the newly born laws between heaven and earth.
"That is to say, a principle of Heaven and Earth. What's more, unlike 'dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently'...
"It is the doing of a cultivator!"
His voice boomed like thunder. Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao snapped their heads up, staring at Ji Changxi, colossal waves surging through their minds in an instant.
The doing of a cultivator?
Defying the principles of Heaven and Earth?
One had to know that ever since Chuanfa attained Longevity and only the new method could be cultivated between heaven and earth, though a vast multitude of Dao Integration cultivators had emerged in the world, not a single person had been able to defy the principles of Heaven and Earth to break through to the Longevity realm.
The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao had countless heroes and talents.
Yet through decades of attempts, not a single one of the so-called chosen ones had succeeded.
From this, one could see just how difficult it was to defy the principles of Heaven and Earth!
Yet now, according to Sect Master Ji, a cultivator had silently attained Longevity without anyone knowing?
Just who was it?
Though the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao harbored their own hidden motives, they still kept channels of information open with one another. A major event like a disciple breaking through to the Longevity realm, even if not announced beforehand, would certainly be communicated to all sects once the ascension succeeded.
Moreover, what this newly ascended Longevity Heavenly Venerable seemed to have defied was "pestilence cannot harm immortal cultivators."
Such an act, virtually making an enemy of every cultivator alive, was definitely not the work of anyone from the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao.
Where in the world was the logic in digging one's own grave?
So just what kind of person would not be satisfied merely with ascending to the Longevity realm, but also want to slaughter every cultivator in the world?
This was a blatant provocation and a declaration of war.
Not just Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao—in the eyes of the elders and Ji Changxi within the hall, wisps of killing intent surged uncontrollably as well.
"Investigate! We must investigate this thoroughly!"
"Even if this person is a Longevity Heavenly Venerable, such deeds cannot be forgiven!"
"I will immediately meet with the other leaders of the immortal sects to pass along this news. As for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals..." Ji Changxi paused.
"Send someone to inform them of this as well. Test their tone.
"With the highest powers of the entire Xuanhuang Realm uniting, I refuse to believe we will let this villain remain at large!
"While pursuing the culprit, we must also take precautions against this illness. Starting today, the Medicine Hall will operate at full capacity to ensure an ample supply of pills within our Dadao Sect.
"As for outside the Dadao Sect..."
Ji Changxi hesitated for a moment.
"Having suffered multiple calamities, our Dadao Sect has also sustained heavy losses. Merely protecting ourselves may strain our capabilities...
"Let them fend for themselves."
The elders all nodded slightly, voicing no objection to Sect Master Ji's decision.
"I will also try to see if I can find a way to alleviate the symptoms of this strange illness," Mo Zhiran murmured, a trace of yearning welling up in his eyes. "If its harm to cultivators can be completely dismantled, it would be equivalent to defying a principle of Heaven and Earth once more.
"In that case, perhaps I too might have hope for Longevity."
Chapter 518