One had to remember that in Linghu Chang's memories, Liu San was a grandmaster exceptionally well versed in the Dao of Alchemy.
Yet even someone of his caliber had required three full attempts to adapt to the changes in pill refinement brought on by the shift from ancient to modern times.
Taking all this in, Li Fan felt deeply pensive.
"I will take this Longevity Pill to Fellow Daoist Zhou first and see how much it fetches. Elder Liu, I will trouble you to keep at it and refine all the raw ingredients in the storage ring into pills as soon as possible," Li Fan said to Liu San.
"Rest assured, Young Master!" Liu San naturally nodded in assent. Granting the disciples only a brief rest, he resumed refining pills once more.
Li Fan exited the Xuanhuang Cauldron, lightly tossing the freshly concocted Longevity Pill in his hand.
"It wouldn't be convenient to sell this under the identity of 'Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator Li Fan'..." After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan shifted back into his original appearance and headed for Congyun City.
Back when he purchased the Tianling Flower, Li Fan had used Huang Ranqi, the garrison of Chongwu Island, to join the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals under his original appearance, creating an entirely new persona for himself.
Now, circulating the secret technique Covering the Sky with One Hand, he entered the Heavenly Profound Mirror and retrieved the Longevity Pill.
First, he had the mirror conduct a free appraisal.
"Longevity Pill: Low-grade. Extends lifespan by one hundred and eighty-six years."
Li Fan's eyelids twitched.
It seemed that even though Liu San had grown accustomed to the discrepancies between past and present, the quality of this first refined pill was still rather dismal. At the very least, it fell somewhat short of his promised mid-grade pill that would extend life by three hundred years.
Li Fan looked up past market transaction prices for lifespan-extending treasures, added a thirty percent markup, and listed it for sale at fifty thousand contribution points.
Almost instantaneously, the Longevity Pill was snapped up.
Li Fan was momentarily taken aback before realizing why.
Lifespan-extending treasures typically lost almost all efficacy once consumed. Prior to this, Longevity Pills had never appeared on the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' market. This meant that for cultivators in need, a single Longevity Pill offered a solid century-plus of additional lifespan. Naturally, it was somewhat more precious than other commonplace lifespan-extending treasures.
Furthermore...
Just as Li Fan expected, an inquiry from the buyer quickly arrived.
"Fellow Daoist, do you have any more Longevity Pills?"
"I feel this pill is somewhat different from other lifespan-extending treasures. Does continuing to consume them still yield effects?"
Li Fan replied with feigned surprise, "Really? There's such a thing? Then didn't I sell it at a loss?"
The buyer was not fooled by Li Fan's performance, persisting relentlessly: "Heh, stop joking, Fellow Daoist. That pill was clearly refined quite recently. How could you not know its properties?"
Li Fan continued to play dumb: "Haha, you've truly misunderstood, Fellow Daoist. It was pure coincidence—I happened upon it at a roadside stall and bought it cheap. I merely thought the pill looked extraordinary; I never expected it to be a treasure that actually extends lifespan."
"How about this? If you truly need more, I'll go back and check. Hopefully the vendor is still around."
"..." The other side met this with silence.
A moment later, holding back their temper, the buyer replied, "Fine. If you get more in the future, you can find me."
"Tianquan Province, Zhao Tianlong!"
Li Fan did not reply, disconnecting the transmission at once.
"The value of the Longevity Pill exceeds even my earlier estimates. Even if I rely entirely on buying raw ingredients through the Heavenly Profound Mirror, I can make a fortune."
"However, to maximize profits, I must control the supply rate."
"Moreover, I can barter directly for specified resources."
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan considered that he could perhaps establish sales channels not only within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, but also over in the Five Elders Association.
After all, one could never have too many treasures like Truth Enticement Fruits.
If he could bring another Dao Integration cultivator or two under his control, his upcoming situation would improve considerably.
"I'll wait until I have more stock before deciding."
Li Fan made a show of leaving Congyun City, changing his identity back into the "Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator."
Returning inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he contacted Ximen Yu.
"Fellow Daoist Ximen, how is the task coming along?"
Only after a long while did a message come back.
"Well, I've already mapped out most of them, but I've run into some trouble with a few locations."
"Oh? How so?" Li Fan asked with keen interest.
Ximen Yu first transmitted the locations that had already been compared between ancient and modern times, and only then spoke: "Qingniu Ridge, the Valley of Longevity, the Fantian River..."
"No matter how I cross-reference them, I haven't been able to find any trace of their existence in the real world today."
"In fact, this situation has come up before in my past research, but the chances were always very low."
"I must say, Fellow Daoist, your luck is truly awful. Out of just a few dozen locations you picked at random, so many have vanished completely," Ximen Yu grumbled.
"I suspect I probably won't be able to finish. I'll just refund the excess contribution points to you," he added with a sigh.
Hearing this, Li Fan's eyes flickered slightly.
"Vanished completely? Does Fellow Daoist Ximen know the reason?" Li Fan asked.
"There are many possibilities. First, great cataclysms in Heaven and Earth where seas turned into mulberry fields; naturally, those places disappeared. Second, the existence of the White Mist Barrier; their ancient locations might fall right within today's White Mist Barriers, which is why they cannot be found."
"As for the third..."
Reaching this point, Ximen Yu fell silent.
"What? Is there something you find difficult to speak of, Fellow Daoist?" Li Fan was somewhat surprised.
"Not that, but my conjecture is rather shocking and lacks evidence. I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself by voicing it," Ximen Yu hesitated.
This only piqued Li Fan's curiosity further. "No matter. Your erudition is something rarely seen in this world. Speak your mind—it will broaden my horizons if nothing else."
Perhaps because it had been a long time since anyone had shown such affirmation toward him, hearing Li Fan's words made Ximen Yu somewhat excited.
He immediately said, "You might not believe me, Fellow Daoist, but through years of comparing ancient and modern terrain, I've discovered that across the land of the Xuanhuang Realm, a massive portion of ancient territories is missing."
"It's as if someone forcibly took away a piece."
"However..."
Ximen Yu's tone grew puzzled once more.
"Certain regions seem to have appeared out of thin air, emerging from the void. In the ancient cultivation world, such lands seemingly did not exist at all."
"So, viewed as a whole, compared to ancient times, the Xuanhuang Realm has not shrunk at all—in fact, it has expanded by a full ring."
"It is truly bizarre and utterly baffling."
...
Li Fan narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.
"Is your conclusion reliable, Fellow Daoist?"
"Of course it is! The Fallen Immortal Realm contains a complete panoramic view of the ancient Xuanhuang Realm. Ordinary cultivators merely catch a glimpse of a single corner each time they enter. I have visited countless cultivators and virtually reconstructed the original landscape of the ancient cultivation world. Comparing the ancient and modern, this is precisely the conclusion I arrived at!" Ximen Yu declared emphatically.
Chapter 618