"While it may sound rather callous, I must say that it is precisely because this calamity claimed the life of Fellow Daoist Zhou Qing'ang that the massive debt we originally owed him no longer needs to be repaid. As long as you, Elder Liu, refine some more Longevity Pills and other useful medicinal pills to sell, accumulating enough over a few years to exchange for a Dao Integration cultivation technique will pose no problem at all," Li Fan spoke with calm confidence.
Hearing this, a gleam of vitality rekindled in Liu San's eyes.
Waiting a few years was completely negligible to someone like him. As for the unfortunate demise of Zhou Qing'ang, whom Li Fan mentioned, he had only met the man a few times. They were practically strangers, so naturally, he felt not the slightest grief.
*It's a good thing he died! That just saved me years of effort!* Liu San could not help thinking.
Li Fan continued, "During this period of accumulating contribution points, I will also need to arrange a legitimate identity for you, Elder Liu. After all, you possess Dao Integration cultivation, which is not as easily concealed as ours. Originally, I planned to bluff our way through with the story of 'an ancient slumbering cultivator awakening.' Who would have guessed that something seems to have happened previously, making the cultivators of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals sensitive to such claims and slow to trust them? So we need to come up with a more reliable approach.
"Rest assured, however, Elder Liu. I already have a few ideas."
Liu San did not pry into the details of Li Fan's words. His innate trust in Li Fan led him simply to nod with pleasure. "Whatever the Young Master decides is best!"
Having temporarily placated Liu San, one of the Medicine King Sect's two Dao Integration experts, Li Fan went to the newly built sect refinery workshop in the Valley of Longevity, where he met the other Dao Integration cultivator, Fang Zaiji.
At that moment, Fang Zaiji was staring intently at the true Medicine King Cauldron suspended in midair before him, a look of obsession in his eyes.
After moving to the Valley of Longevity, Li Fan had placed the Medicine King Cauldron here for him to study.
Beyond the intention to appease him as well, Li Fan harbored hopes that Fang Zaiji's artifact-refining skills would advance further—ideally strengthening and modifying the Medicine King Cauldron.
As for why he wished to do so...
In this lifetime, Li Fan intended to send a clone piloting the Medicine King Cauldron to break out of the Xuanhuang Realm and plunge toward the Immortal Ruins to investigate!
He wanted to see with his own eyes what that figure in the Immortal Ruins looked like, and whether it was dead or alive!
Li Fan knew that upon approaching the Immortal Ruins, the extraordinarily terrifying gravitational pull would distort even space and time.
A mere moment within the Immortal Ruins might correspond to ten million years passing in the outside world.
Under normal circumstances, if one used a clone to probe, the horrifying temporal disparity meant that before the clone could transmit any information back, the connection would simply be severed in an instant, and the true body would have already perished from an exhausted lifespan.
Yet Li Fan had a way to circumvent this.
It was precisely the new feature awakened after True Reversion devoured Tianyang's lingering remnant will: Avatar.
*Transform the body into an object; traverse eternity!*
In his previous lifetime, with merely Golden Core cultivation, he had been able to exist in the form of an Avatar for over three thousand years. Now, having attained the Nascent Soul realm through the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, his strength had undergone a qualitative leap. Having also awakened the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation, he would surely be able to endure for far longer.
Long enough to outlast the endless passage of time and await the information transmitted back by his clone.
Great secrets lay hidden within the Immortal Ruins, including but not limited to the Xuanhuang Realm's past mysteries and future destiny.
If he could catch a glimpse of them, the significance to Li Fan would be immense. It might even unravel the secret of the fallen immortals.
Of course, the prerequisite for all of this was that the Medicine King Cauldron could endure long enough without disintegrating under the terrifying pull of the Immortal Ruins.
"Back then, due to material and cost constraints, the materials used by the Medicine King Sect to forge the Medicine King Cauldron were not of the highest grade. However, its design philosophy and crafting techniques possess unique merits worth drawing upon.
"Give me enough time, and I will certainly return to you an even stronger Medicine King Cauldron!"
When Li Fan had laid out his request to reinforce the cauldron, this had been Fang Zaiji's reply.
And Fang Zaiji was indeed exceptionally skilled. The Small Medicine King Cauldrons he had casually forged during this time were vastly superior in quality to the ones held by the disciples, already possessing a hint of the true cauldron's elegance.
Right now, Fang Zaiji was so deeply engrossed that Li Fan had to call out several times before he finally snapped out of it.
Li Fan similarly recounted to him the disappearance of the Congyun Sea and the existence of Heavenly Venerable Wuyou.
Compared to Liu San's shock, Fang Zaiji's reaction was remarkably calm.
He merely uttered an "Oh," and then went back to staring fixedly at the Medicine King Cauldron.
A moment later, noticing that Li Fan still had not left, he finally asked, "Sect Master, is there anything else?"
Li Fan feigned hesitation, pausing for a moment before saying, "I wish to make a trip back to the Congyun Sea. However, the calamity has only just subsided, and its current state remains unknown. We might run into some dangers, so I would like to request that you accompany me, Master Fang."
Hearing this, Fang Zaiji instantly perked up.
Beaming with smug pride, he said to Li Fan, "Well? Now you know who can actually be counted on when it matters, don't you? That Liu San is nothing more than a short-sighted servant who got lucky. When real trouble comes, you still have to rely on me!
"Let's go! We set off right now! With me around, your safety is guaranteed!"
Li Fan smiled and nodded without arguing.
Without alerting anyone else in the Valley of Longevity, Li Fan and Fang Zaiji sped eastward toward the Congyun Sea.
With Fang Zaiji's assistance, in barely a dozen days, they were already nearing their destination.
However, after entering Shilin Province, Fang Zaiji suddenly ground to a halt. He cast a glance toward neighboring Yuandao Province, his expression turning solemn.
"Strange..." Fang Zaiji knitted his brows tightly, then shook his head, murmuring under his breath.
Li Fan's heart stirred, and he feigned surprise. "Is something the matter, Master Fang?"
"I sensed a familiar aura," Fang Zaiji explained.
"A familiar aura? Could it be an old acquaintance?" Li Fan asked, seemingly surprised.
"No. It feels like the Tiandu Purple Qi, yet faintly different," Fang Zaiji said slowly after gazing into the distance to discern it for a moment longer.
"Tiandu? It sounds familiar, but I can't quite recall it at the moment," Li Fan remarked, following Fang Zaiji's gaze.
Fang Zaiji chuckled derisively. "Never mind juniors like you, even Liu San wouldn't necessarily know the name 'Tiandu.' Back when I traveled the world, it was only by exploring alongside direct disciples of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao that I had the chance to hear of it from them.
"You at least know of the Profound Heaven Sect, right? Back in the day, the Profound Heaven Sect was at the zenith of its power, dominating all of Xuanhuang. The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao were nothing more than ordinary sects treated like beasts of burden.
"Under normal circumstances, we immortal cultivators would never have stood a chance of turning the tables.
"Yet one day, purple qi descended from the heavens, transforming into a colossal, towering city suspended in the sky.
"Although the Profound Heaven Sect swiftly issued a decree strictly forbidding anyone from approaching, there were still cultivators who braved death and sneaked inside.
"Only then did the subsequent Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao come to be!"
Chapter 662