Even after Sima Changkong's death, the pool of green slime covering the floor seemed to retain a conscious will of its own.
Like maggots, it crawled slowly in every direction.
Even the hard floor of the Crystal Palace hissed and sizzled under the corrosive slime.
Witnessing this eerie scene, Li Fan could not help drawing a sharp breath inwardly.
"What a domineering Profound Net!"
"To think it can trace through the medium attempting to record it and eliminate the target."
"Wait..." Suddenly realizing something, Li Fan's expression shifted.
He pulled a blood-red talisman from his storage ring and focused his intent: "Fellow Daoist Sima, are you alright?"
After a long wait, there was still no response.
"Damn. This means all of his avatars are gone as well." Li Fan's cheek twitched once more.
The Profound Net's pursuit capability was truly terrifying.
Originally, Li Fan had thought only this avatar in the Congyun Sea had been destroyed, but now it seemed...
Sima Changkong had met with grim misfortune.
This blood-red communication talisman had been specially refined by Sima Changkong using his own essence blood.
As long as any Blood-Dividing Avatar remained in the world, Li Fan could use it to reach him.
Yet now, every communication Li Fan sent was like a stone sinking into the ocean.
The outcome was already obvious.
Sima Changkong drinking heartily and discussing the Dao with Li Fan—his voice and smile were still vivid in memory.
Yet who could have foreseen that life was so fickle, snuffed out in an instant?
"Sima Changkong, safe journey! Next lifetime, I'll share drinks with you again!"
Li Fan felt no sorrow in his heart. He merely shook his head slightly, unleashed the Five Elements Annihilation Sword, and brought down the undersea Crystal Palace to serve as Sima Changkong's makeshift tomb.
"To think it could reach such an extent..."
"Its offensive lethality is a few notches higher than the Profound Net in my memories of the previous lifetime."
"This is definitely no half-finished product." Li Fan's expression grew slightly somber.
Ever since Anchor Year 9, when cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm and above from the Heavenly Secret and Formation Planning Halls of each province were transferred to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters, nothing had been heard from them.
Later, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had even issued an Order to Enlist Worthies, gathering the realm's finest formation masters.
Now four years had passed, and it seemed they had produced tangible results.
"The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has already shown its lethal hand. Now it remains to be seen how the Five Elders Association responds."
"With me tipping them off in advance, they shouldn't be completely devoid of countermeasures."
"A pity that the Tianling Province battlefield is far too perilous, and Fellow Daoist Sima, the only one who could provide a live broadcast, has unfortunately perished."
"The exact state of the battle is beyond my reach now."
Li Fan felt a slight twinge of regret.
Still, one thing was certain: once a weapon of slaughter like the Profound Net was deployed, the battle of Tianling Province could not be far from a definitive end.
"A bit faster than anticipated."
"Yet for me, this is a good thing. I have already reached the Golden Core completion stage; everything is in place."
"I need only wait for the war to end and for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals to relocate the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven back to the hinterland, and then I will head into the void of Tianling Province to investigate."
The cultivation feedback from his numerous subordinates across the Congyun Sea continued to pour steadily into Li Fan's dantian, stored within his calamity body.
By now, his first calamity body was already mostly condensed.
Estimating the rate of his cultivation's growth, Li Fan mused inwardly, 'If I step into the Nascent Soul realm one day, I might be ready to push for the mid Nascent Soul stage in no time.'
He shook his head, putting the thought aside for now.
Before the war ended, he had to keep lying low.
Rather than searching for another hiding place, Li Fan skillfully wielded the Five Elements Annihilation Sword to carve out a cave dwelling deep within the ocean trench.
Only after sealing the area with formations and the secret technique Covering the Sky with One Hand did he feel a measure of peace.
Over the past year, Li Fan had also visited the Fallen Immortal Realm once.
However, the journey from the Southern Nether Demon Mountain back to the Beast Taming Sect was vast and arduous.
Most of that journey in the Fallen Immortal Realm had been spent traveling.
Li Fan had possessed Xiao Hei, diligently cultivating the Creation Furnace Technique modified by Mr. Bai, and so had not found the trip dull.
Yet when Xiao Qing carried him and Xu Ke back to the sect, they discovered that both Lu Ya and Di Sanmo were nowhere to be found.
Right up until Li Fan departed, neither had returned.
'It should still be over half a year before the next entry.'
'Best to prepare for forming the Nascent Soul first.'
Within his mind, light swirled across the Dao Transformation Stone, and numerous insights and essentials on forming a Nascent Soul that he had read in the past resurfaced.
Rereading, corroborating, and comparing them, Li Fan felt he had gained fresh understanding.
Cultivation knew no passage of time.
In the blink of an eye, three months slipped by.
While Li Fan's true body remained immersed in secluded meditation, contemplating the Dao, on this day, his avatar Zhou Qing'ang suddenly received a visiting card.
"Liu Yihang?" Li Fan's expression stirred.
The Medicine King Cauldron had not yet returned.
Clearly, this Liu Yihang could not be the adopted son of Liu Ruchen, the sect master of the Medicine King Sect.
"Then it must be someone from the Five Elders Association," Li Fan deduced.
During their last deal, Li Fan had demanded that the Five Elders Association hand over ten million contribution points to He Zhenghao under the alias Liu Yihang.
Sure enough, the name Liu Yihang had appeared on He Zhenghao's fundraising roster.
"It seems they must have run into an extremely urgent matter."
"No method of contact was left previously, yet this time they actually risked exposure to come straight to my door."
Li Fan opened the visiting card, committed the meeting location to memory, and then channeled his spiritual energy to destroy it.
When late night fell, he set out alone to quietly keep the appointment.
Five hundred li northwest of Congyun Immortal City lay a mortal island with no immortal cultivators stationed upon it.
At the center of the island stood a bamboo grove.
A thatched cottage rested within the grove. Li Fan walked inside, and his gaze sharpened upon the figure before him.
'It's him.'
Though the man used a secret technique to conceal his features, Li Fan recognized him at a glance: this was the very contact from the Five Elders Association who had traded the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals induction examination in the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Repositories.
"How should I address you?"
"Last time we met, I didn't even realize you weren't the real Zhou Qing'ang at all."
"Heh, when the boss told me, I was truly scared out of my wits," the man said with an unfriendly edge to his voice.
"Did you take such a massive risk to seek me out just to ask that?"
"Pointless!" Li Fan snorted coldly and turned to leave.
The Five Elders Association cultivator's face instantly shifted. "Wait!"
He scrambled up, blocking Li Fan's path, his tone softening. "Fellow Daoist, let's talk this out properly..."
Li Fan shot him a sidelong glance, then turned back and slowly took a seat.
The Five Elders Association cultivator let out a sigh of relief and revealed the purpose of his invitation.
"The diagram of the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation?"
Li Fan narrowed his eyes and refused flatly, "I don't have it!"
Instead of growing discouraged, the Five Elders Association cultivator looked as though he had caught sight of hope. "Fellow Daoist, your first reaction was not to ask what the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation is, but to refuse outright."
"That proves precisely that you are aware of it."
"Please, you must help us!" he pleaded with earnest sincerity.
Chapter 564