Up to this point, Li Fan still had not figured out what kind of punishment awaited anyone who violated a covenant of the Five Elders Association.
Yet he had no intention whatsoever of testing it himself.
After all, hadn't he walked away from every transaction with the Five Elders Association having made a fortune? He wished he could deal with them many more times, so why would he ever breach the agreement of his own accord!
The Five Elders Association spy had been reduced to nothing, not even bone remaining, leaving Li Fan alone at the meeting place.
Casually destroying the stone table bearing the carved words, "Zhou Qing'ang" took to the air and flew back toward Congyun City.
On the way back, Li Fan pondered several unusual details from the negotiation just now.
Treasures like the Truth Enticement Fruit and Humanity Stardust were useful even to cultivators of the Dao Integration realm, yet the Five Elders Association had only agreed to provide no more than five of each.
Li Fan could understand that.
However, when it came to the Puxian True Boats, the Five Elders Association had been just as stingy, refusing to part with any more no matter what.
They had even preferred to offer other, more precious resources as compensation rather than yield on that front.
This puzzled Li Fan.
After all, back when his puppet body had traveled through the Five Elders Association's territory, those Puxian True Boats were common items that could be bought by the roadside on a whim.
Not much time had passed since then—how had they suddenly become so priceless?
What on earth had happened?
Li Fan was completely baffled.
It was not until "Zhou Qing'ang" returned to the Administration Hall and inadvertently caught sight of the map of the Congyun Sea and surrounding regions hanging on the wall that a flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.
He stared intently at the natural dividing line between the provinces on the map, the existence known as the White Mist Barrier, and felt an inkling of understanding.
"As they say, supply and demand dictate price.
"Although the actual value of a Puxian True Boat isn't high, if the Five Elders Association is currently requisitioning them on a massive scale and facing an extreme shortage... then everything makes sense."
Li Fan's thoughts raced.
"Is the Five Elders Association planning to march through the white mist?
"Are they moving along the White Mist Barrier to strike into the interior of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, or venturing into the mist's depths?"
Even Li Fan was shocked by this sudden hypothesis.
For countless years, due to the white mist's trait of devouring lifespan, cultivators had avoided it like the plague.
Who would ever imagine using these White Mist Barriers as natural waterways?
Granted, the higher-ups within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had long known that Puxian True Leaves could reduce the effects of the Essence-Devouring White Mist to a certain degree.
Yet when it came to practical applications, the method had not yet been popularized.
This was undeniably a massive blind spot in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' thinking.
From a White Mist Barrier that seemed utterly impenetrable and secure, an overwhelming army of hostile cultivators could pour forth at any moment.
No matter how one looked at it, this was a terrifying prospect.
"I hope I'm just worrying over nothing. The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has countless prodigies and geniuses; surely they have taken precautions against such a thing...
"...right?"
Over the next few days, "Zhou Qing'ang" deliberately made himself exceptionally busy.
Visitor requests that he would previously have flatly declined were now granted without exception.
Whenever he found a moment of spare time, he went out to inspect islands across the Congyun Sea.
In just three or four days, he interacted with hundreds of people of various ranks and backgrounds.
That way, even if the Five Elders Association wished to investigate his sources and uncover traces of the supposed Heaven-Overturning Alliance, it would be an impossible task.
Furthermore, even if the Five Elders Association possessed heaven-defying means and captured all of those people for soul searching, they were doomed to find nothing.
They would never dream that every scrap of top-secret information about the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals came solely from Li Fan himself!
By the fifth day, Li Fan carried the incomplete formation diagram and went alone to the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Repositories on Youlan Island.
In the deepest secret chamber, he met the contact for this exchange.
The figure was still clad in black, with their appearance concealed.
However, Li Fan could tell that this was not the same cultivator as last time.
"Excellent! Fellow Daoist Zhou is a person of his word, and we will not disappoint you either," the black-robed cultivator praised upon seeing Li Fan arrive on schedule.
Li Fan instead asked about the fate of the previous Five Elders Association spy.
The black-robed cultivator took on a solemn tone. "To complete the mission, he chose self-sacrifice. That is our destiny, as well as our honor."
Clearly, the man Li Fan had seen dissolve into the golden light that day had truly perished, his Dao dispersing entirely.
At the cost of his own life, he had obtained a covenant bearing the imprints of five Heavenly Venerables.
The only strange thing was that no omen of a cultivator's demise had appeared in the sky, though Li Fan did not know why.
Li Fan nodded and said no more.
Instead, he handed over the storage ring containing the encrypted jade slip.
The black-robed cultivator put it away respectfully and said, "Please wait here a moment, Fellow Daoist."
With that, he departed with the ring to an unknown location.
Li Fan closed his eyes and waited patiently.
He was not worried about this avatar's safety.
On one hand, the golden covenant stipulated that neither party could harm the other.
On the other hand, "Zhou Qing'ang" currently presented himself as a member of the Heaven-Overturning Society, a vast organization lurking deep within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Moreover, he was their only channel of contact with the Heaven-Overturning Society.
Unless the Five Elders Association was prepared to break relations with the society and forfeit any future secrets concerning the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, they would not make a move against Li Fan.
This was especially true given how utterly enigmatic the Heaven-Overturning Society appeared, with not a shred of information to be found no matter how hard they investigated.
Furthermore, the Five Elders Association was presently at war with the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals; they certainly would not create another enemy for themselves.
Naturally, he could not rule out the possibility that the Five Elders Association might make a foolish move, such as using a curiosity like the Truth Enticement Fruit to forcibly turn Li Fan to their side.
Thus, even as he waited, Li Fan remained on high alert, prepared to discard this avatar at any second.
The Five Elders Association worked very efficiently.
In just the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the black-robed cultivator returned to the secret room.
Though he did his best to conceal it, a faint hint of excitement could still be detected in his demeanor.
"Your side's methods are truly astonishing. This one is deeply impressed!
"Here are the items we promised. Please inspect them, Fellow Daoist."
Saying so, the black-robed cultivator handed over a white stone.
"This is..." Li Fan's eyes flashed.
Fortunately, he was well-traveled and knowledgeable. After searching through the memories stored in the Dao Transformation Stone, he immediately recognized what the white stone was.
The Kongming Stone Mother.
A purely natural storage material.
Compared to ordinary storage rings, its internal space was far larger. It could also be absorbed and refined by cultivators to reside within their bodies.
It was an essential material for crafting spatial treasures—exceedingly rare, to the point of being virtually unavailable on the open market.
This item had not been on the supply list Li Fan provided; it had clearly been given to him purely as a storage container.
Li Fan nodded slightly, then opened his mouth and swallowed the Kongming Stone Mother directly into his stomach.
Rather than rushing to refine it right away, he first inspected the contents inside.
The Five Elders Association had naturally not come up short in quantity: ten thousand Dao Comprehension Pills, three hundred Puxian True Boats, three pieces of Humanity Stardust...
All matched what was agreed upon in the covenant.
Li Fan then focused his attention on a statue floating in the middle of the items, radiating a five-colored luster.
Chapter 568