Li Fan didn't bat an eye. "Fellow Daoist, you must be joking.
"From what you said just now, it seems the newly appointed Secret Script Emissary also happens to be named Li Fan.
"If I truly were a spy from the Five Elders Association, why would I pick such a high-profile name and needlessly draw attention to myself?"
Huang Ranqi found some reason in his words and nodded slightly.
Li Fan added, "Furthermore, I've heard that before joining the Alliance, cultivators must verify their identities. With the Alliance's extraordinary methods, if there were anything amiss about me, I would surely be exposed on the spot. When that happens, you would be a hero who brought in a spy—a remarkable merit.
"Given that, what do you have to worry about?"
After mulling it over, Huang Ranqi was finally convinced.
He went ahead to apply for a transit talisman for Li Fan, and upon returning, led him through the island's teleportation array onto Congyun Immortal City.
Looking at the city floating among the clouds before him, Li Fan feigned a look of surprise. "I heard that the Alliance's headquarters in the Congyun Sea was an island.
"Why is it a floating city now?"
"That's ancient history. If you're interested, you can look into it yourself after joining the Alliance," Huang Ranqi said, clearly reluctant to elaborate.
Li Fan pressed no further.
Soon, the two arrived at the entrance to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"This is the Heavenly Profound Mirror..." Huang Ranqi began to explain.
Li Fan feigned attentive listening, but inwardly he was taut as a bowstring. Silently circulating the secret art Covering the Sky with One Hand, he was already prepared to trigger True Reversion and flee at a moment's notice.
Judging by his experience from the previous life during "Transforming into Matter and Crossing the Myriad Ages," Covering the Sky with One Hand—refined repeatedly through ongoing struggles between the Heaven-Overturning Alliance and the Profound Net—was capable of evading the Heavenly Profound Mirror's detection.
Furthermore, the Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation deduced by the Yanfa Jade was an esoteric cultivation method capable of completely altering one's qi signature, destiny, flesh, divine sense, and soul.
It should not be possible for the Heavenly Profound Mirror to see through him and realize that he was actually the same person as Secret Script Emissary Li Fan of Congyun City.
Yet nothing was absolute, and caution was paramount.
Many thoughts flashed across his mind as Li Fan followed Huang Ranqi into the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
To Li Fan's relief, the outcome he feared did not occur.
The Heavenly Profound Mirror did not recognize him as Secret Script Emissary Li Fan of Congyun City, but instead assigned him a new identity.
The referral reward Huang Ranqi received was also in line with recommending a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Thus, he harbored no suspicion toward Li Fan.
After exchanging pleasantries, Huang Ranqi took his leave.
Li Fan was thus able to rejoin the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals under his original identity.
"It seems my guess was correct. The power of a Heavenly Profound sub-mirror created through Empowerment cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the true mirror.
"Granted, part of it is because my Covering the Sky with One Hand secret technique is an era ahead of its time, but infiltrating was truly a bit too easy.
"No wonder the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is riddled with countless spies from the Five Elders Association."
Li Fan felt thoroughly speechless.
On the day the Five Elders Association raided Wanxian Island, the Heavenly Profound Mirror had abruptly lost its power, turning into mere stone.
That incident had inspired Li Fan, leading to this bold attempt today.
And the result was just as he had expected.
Not lingering inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he used the complimentary contribution points to purchase a storage ring.
Then, through a teleportation array, Li Fan arrived in Tianling Province.
He did not leave Tianling City, instead waiting quietly within the city.
If the Five Elders Association truly launched a surprise raid on the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven, based on his experience from his past life, a Dao Integration cultivator would likely perish in that brutal war.
And the anomalous phenomenon following a Dao Integration cultivator's death would be vast enough to engulf the entire province.
That would allow Li Fan to confirm the event the moment it occurred.
Of course, to avoid arousing suspicion, Li Fan didn't just sit around waiting; he browsed the shops within Tianling City.
"Tianling Flowers? Yes, we have them! Fellow Daoist, come take a look at these."
Hearing Li Fan's request, the shopkeeper instantly grew warm and enthusiastic, eagerly pointing out several potted flowers in the shop to show him.
The Tianling Flower was a specialty of Tianling Province.
Each petal bloomed distinct from the next.
When in full bloom, a unique scene would appear on every single petal.
Some showed verdant mountain ranges, others surging rivers,
or falling white snow.
A single blossom brought together picturesque vistas from across the world.
As if imbued with the spirit of the heavens, its beauty was beyond words.
If one were to ask what practical use this flower had...
Two words: absolutely none.
Or perhaps, its sole purpose was ornamental.
However, the flower had a short life cycle; once in full bloom, it usually lasted for only seven days.
Even when kept in a specialized wooden box, it could be preserved for roughly a month at most.
What was more troublesome was that the flower was extremely sensitive to various energies.
If it was inadvertently tainted by spiritual energy fluctuations, or transported through spatial teleportation,
the scenes on the petals would be affected.
In milder cases, they would merely blur; in severe cases, the imagery on the petals would completely vanish.
Without the imagery on its petals, the Tianling Flower completely lost its ornamental value and became worthless.
Cultivators who fancied it and wished to behold the Tianling Flower had no choice but to travel to Tianling Province in person.
For this reason, outside Tianling Province, Tianling Flowers were exceedingly rare.
In his previous life, during the great war in Tianling Province,
the Tianling Flower was driven nearly to extinction.
Back then, everyone's attention was fixed entirely on that catastrophic war, and no one cared to speculate on its price.
Only after the war ended and Tianling Province regained its vitality did the Tianling Flower slowly flourish once more.
Yet by then, cultivators discovered that perhaps because the soil where they grew had soaked in too much bloodshed,
the images appearing on the petals were no longer scenic wonders of heaven and earth.
Instead, they displayed ghastly scenes of cultivators slaughtering one another.
It was an utter ruin of the mood.
People longed for the exquisite Tianling Flowers of the past, but the imagery appearing on the petals could not be controlled at all.
If transplanted to other provinces, they withered immediately.
The singular wonder of Tianling thus vanished entirely between heaven and earth.
Cultivators could only lament in vain, powerless to change it.
From then on, the true Tianling Flower became a thing of the past.
Anecdotes he had casually read in his previous life flashed through his mind, and Li Fan carefully selected a seventeen-petaled Tianling Flower in the shop.
"I'll take this one."
"Just one? Won't you choose a few more, Fellow Daoist?" The shopkeeper looked a bit disappointed.
"No. One is enough," Li Fan replied with a smile.
"Three hundred contribution points." Seeing this, the shopkeeper stopped pressing and gave the price.
Li Fan paid without hesitation and gingerly received the sealed wooden box handed over by the shopkeeper.
Inside the wooden box, the Tianling Flower was in glorious full bloom.
Having undergone special preservation, it could remain in bloom for roughly thirty days.
Chapter 557