Hearing Ximen Yu speak with such certainty, Li Fan could not help but fall into deep thought.
"Time flows, with increases and decreases following an orderly rhythm. Is this an intrinsic change of the Xuanhuang Realm itself, or the result of external force?"
Li Fan's mind subconsciously drifted to that elusive Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable.
And for good reason. If any cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm possessed the power to reshape heaven and earth so effortlessly, it had to be the creator of the new method.
"Yet, if this hypothesis is correct—the Xuanhuang Realm is on the verge of plunging into the Immortal Ruins, yet rather than fleeing, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable has spent thousands of years tirelessly reshaping the world day in and day out—why?"
"Could it be that only by completing this transformation of the world was the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable able to achieve transcendence?" Recalling how the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable had departed the Xuanhuang Realm more than a decade later in his previous life, Li Fan could not help but speculate further.
After countless thoughts flickered through his mind in an instant, Li Fan suppressed his doubts for the time being.
"Brother Ximen is truly a peerless genius capable of spanning heaven and earth! To glimpse the true nature of heaven and earth from such subtle details—in my eyes, even Dao Integration masters fall far short of you!" Li Fan praised profusely.
Then he shifted the conversation. "With such earth-shattering research, does Fellow Daoist possess a treatise elaborating on it in detail? If so, I would love to peruse it through the night!"
Ximen Yu initially puffed up with pride, but the moment Li Fan asked about published writings, he began stammering, looking thoroughly mortified.
Only under Li Fan's repeated questioning did he reluctantly reveal the truth.
As it turned out, he had previously completed virtually the entire draft of *A Study of Past and Present Mountains and Rivers*. Just as he was preparing to publish it and achieve lasting renown, he received a warning from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Alliance officials deemed that *A Study of Past and Present Mountains and Rivers* contained a great deal of content unsuitable for public release and demanded revisions.
Yet they never specified which contents violated taboos.
Left with no alternative, Ximen Yu had cut out portions of the work and resubmitted it for approval, only to be rejected once again.
In the end, that thick volume had been slashed to pieces, leaving only a single long essay to survive alone.
"Heh, after that, I grew utterly disheartened. Now I just rely on my learning to earn a few contribution points. And I changed my research direction as well."
"By the way, I've recently been dedicating myself to researching leyline flows. If Fellow Daoist is interested, we could certainly exchange notes," Ximen Yu said with a touch of melancholy in his voice.
Li Fan pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Does Fellow Daoist still keep a backup of the original manuscript?"
Ximen Yu gave a hollow laugh. "*A Study of Past and Present* represents my life's learning, etched indelibly into my mind. What need do I have for a backup?"
"However, the full version cannot be transmitted through the Heavenly Profound Mirror. If Fellow Daoist truly wishes to peruse it, you can come find me at Qihong Isle in Leyang Province."
Leyang Province lay in the east-central region of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, over a dozen provinces away from the Congyun Sea. Even so, traveling entirely via teleportation arrays would not take long.
Li Fan readily agreed.
"By the way, Fellow Daoist Ximen, regarding those locations I commissioned you to find that couldn't be located—you mentioned they might have fallen within the scope of the White Mist Barrier."
"Could you mark their possible locations on a map for me?" Li Fan asked just before disconnecting.
Ximen Yu sounded somewhat surprised. "Could it be that Fellow Daoist wishes to venture deep into the white mist to investigate?"
"Not necessarily, just keeping the thought in mind. After all, the Essence-Devouring White Mist is ferocious. Who would think their life too long and head in there for no reason?" Li Fan smiled, neither confirming nor denying it. "Perhaps if the day comes when my lifespan is near its end, I might go in to explore and wander a bit."
"That's good. I thought I had run into another madman," Ximen Yu muttered.
"Run into another madman? What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Ximen?" Li Fan's curiosity was piqued, and he promptly asked.
"Ah, nothing special. Back when I was surveying terrain in the field, I witnessed a raving mad cultivator dash in and out of the White Mist Barrier multiple times."
"In the beginning, he still looked like a young man. Later on, he had grown decrepit and senile. I don't know whether he's still alive now."
"I tried warning him, but he wouldn't listen. He just kept raving that there was a great secret hidden within the White Mist Barrier..."
"Isn't that nonsense? You need your life to study anything in the first place." Ximen Yu scoffed disdainfully.
As he spoke, he transmitted a map marked with several locations.
"As for the remaining few, I'll spend the next couple of days trying to see if they can be unraveled. If it truly proves impossible, I won't bother contacting you." With that, the line went silent.
Li Fan scrutinized the map closely, finding that the markers were scattered across the territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. Yet when Li Fan had intentionally selected them, they were relatively clustered within one or two adjacent provinces according to Linghu Chang's memories.
From this, it was clear that Ximen Yu's findings were no lie.
The Xuanhuang Realm had indeed been torn apart and reshaped.
Staring at the map, Li Fan remained silent for a long time. Only after a while did he completely erase the map data.
"For now, the priority remains purchasing ingredients to refine Longevity Pills from the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Once a sizable batch has been accumulated, I'll have Liu San pilot the Puxian True Boat deep into the white mist to see if anything can be discovered."
"If that fails, I can also consider cultivating them within the wood-attribute grotto-heaven of my Five Elements Grotto-Heavens."
At present, Li Fan's Five Elements Grotto-Heaven Domain was merely a nascent embryo.
In scale as well as density of spiritual energy, it could not compare to the one that had triggered the great war between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association.
Fortunately, there was no difference in essence, and its potential was limitless.
"Cultivating spirit flora will also aid in perfecting the laws within the wood-attribute grotto-heaven. Still, specialization is key..."
Li Fan suddenly thought of Chen Ying, the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Medicine Hall in the Congyun Sea.
Ever since Chen Ying had been conscripted into the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, there had been no word from him.
Unlike in the previous life, however, because Li Fan had offered a warning, Chen Ying had not perished to this day.
He simply could not be reached.
"He should still be inside the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens. I wonder what he's busy with." Li Fan recalled that shortly after this time in his previous life—in Anchor Year 38—so many resources had been extracted from the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens that its five elements lost balance, collapsing into a unified annihilation.
"I wonder whether the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals will repeat the same mistake in this life." Li Fan still did not understand why the Alliance was extracting resources from the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens on such an exaggerated scale. But judging by the fact that Chen Ying had yet to return, it seemed the Alliance's operations there had not ceased.
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan shook his head slightly, dwelling on it no further.
Just as he was about to return to Shenhua Island, a notification suddenly arrived through the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
The former Island Master of Wanxian Island, the Soul Formation cultivator Immortal Lord Hongxi—who had been conscripted to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters for several years—had finally returned.
He ordered Li Fan, in his role as the "Secret Script Emissary," to present himself immediately.
Chapter 619