"Could there really be such a thing? Are you taking advantage of my lack of experience?" Li Fan still wore an incredulous, obstinate look.
Only after repeated explanations from the shopkeeper and chiming in from curious onlooker cultivators nearby did he accept it with lingering skepticism.
"So you're saying that the Tianling Flower, whose breathtaking beauty once surpassed all of Xuanhuang, has completely vanished now?"
Looking thoroughly crestfallen and filled with remorse, Li Fan said, "If I'd known earlier, no matter what it took, I would have come over a few years ago to catch a glimpse of its exquisite face!"
"I heard that with the Tianling Flower, every petal blooms differently. Once in full bloom, each petal brings forth a singular scene: verdant mountain ranges, surging great rivers, or skies fluttering with white snow. A single blossom gathered scenic splendors from across the realm. Endowed with the spirit of the heavens, its beauty was beyond words..."
Li Fan's recounting instantly stirred the memories of the cultivators present.
Most were native cultivators of Tianling Province who had witnessed the peerless beauty of the Tianling Flower back then. Now, one after another chimed in, making everyone sigh with even greater wistfulness.
What cannot be obtained is always the most precious.
The more they thought about it, the more lamentable it seemed, and the cultivators shook their heads and sighed.
Seeing that the mood had reached a peak, Li Fan spoke up in a ringing voice: "If one cannot witness such a treasure with their own eyes, it truly is one of life's greatest regrets! The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has countless capable individuals; I refuse to believe no one preserved a pristine Tianling Flower back then!
"I hereby offer a bounty: I am willing to trade a Longevity Pill capable of extending life by three hundred years just for the chance to see a primordial Tianling Flower in person!"
Saying so, under the watchful gaze of the crowd, Li Fan took out an elixir pill and rested it in his palm.
His voice carried instantly across the area, and upon seeing the pill in Li Fan's hand and feeling their hearts throb with yearning, the crowd erupted into an uproar.
A treasure that extended lifespan by three hundred years was already exceptionally precious. Yet this man was willing to offer it merely for a single chance to look at a flower!
"Fellow Daoist is truly a man of genuine passion—I am full of admiration! Don't worry, I have a friend who specialized in cultivating Tianling Flowers back in the day; perhaps some in their original form were preserved."
"I'll ask around for you as well!"
...
The crowd instantly bustled with excitement.
The flower shop owner's eyes flickered with keen interest, and he took out a communication talisman to start contacting acquaintances.
Li Fan simply stood amid the crowd, quietly waiting.
The result was just as he had expected.
After nearly half a day, people wore deeply regretful expressions. Throughout Tianling City where word had spread, indeed no one possessed a Tianling Flower preserved in its original form.
Li Fan let out a long sigh, appearing utterly disappointed.
"If I cannot fulfill this wish, I shall not rest in peace even in death!
"My bounty remains valid indefinitely; I must trouble you all to keep an ear out for me!" Li Fan cupped his hands to the crowd, then strode away amid deep sighs and laments.
Although this matter seemed unremarkable on the surface, in a Tianling City that had grown rather desolate following the great war, it was still a rare novelty.
Thus, through casual chatter, the "extinction of the primordial Tianling Flower"—a detail that hardly anyone had cared about before—gradually became widespread knowledge.
In any case, cultivators who had once seen or heard of the Tianling Flower's renown were by no means few.
And as this novel anecdote spread far and wide, their memories of the Tianling Flower resurfaced from the depths of their minds.
"Sigh, it truly is a pity."
"Such a treasure, yet I never admired it back then? Some chances truly never come again once missed!"
More and more cultivators couldn't help having such thoughts surface in their minds.
Meanwhile, the instigator behind it all, Li Fan, watched the discussions about the Tianling Flower multiply across various regions within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, nodding in satisfaction.
"Next, I just need to let the sentiment ferment for a while. A good start has been made among ordinary cultivators, and with the Medicine King Sect disciples adding fuel to the fire next, there shouldn't be much trouble.
"However, to truly inflate the value of the Tianling Flower, it will still depend on the real aristocracy of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals."
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes, and he retrieved the communication talisman Shuo Feng had left him back then.
"Brother Shuo, how have you been lately?"
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Fan cut straight to the chase: "I have a matter for which I must trouble Brother Shuo to make some inquiries.
"The Tianling Flower..."
After sending over his pitch, Li Fan waited quietly for a reply.
Before long, Shuo Feng sent a message back: "Tianling Flower? Seems I've heard of it before as well. Small matter, I'll ask around for you."
Li Fan smiled faintly: "In that case, my thanks in advance, Brother Shuo!"
From Shuo Feng's end, silence fell for the moment.
"Next, all that's left is to quietly await the bloom."
In no hurry to return to the Valley of Longevity, Li Fan browsed the major and minor events that had occurred throughout the Xuanhuang Realm over the past two years within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, in meticulous detail.
Well-versed in the trajectory of history, Li Fan could naturally discern from the faintest clues those unusual developments that were deliberately concealed.
For instance, the information regarding the Chaoyuan Sect ruins in Jiushan Province, which he had always paid close attention to, had vanished overnight. It was as though a cave abode soaring into the sky and drawing cultivators to explore had never occurred. What came up in searches were merely sparse, scattered records of the ancient Chaoyuan Sect.
Another example was that in Martial Practice Halls across various regions, some cultivators had been requisitioned and dispatched to parts unknown. The vacancies left behind had even caused considerable scrambles and unrest.
...
Li Fan committed the numerous clues to memory one by one.
"I still need to resolve the issue of access permissions. The information a commoner can gather is far too little. There are too many restrictions."
After more than half a day, Li Fan temporarily stopped.
After pondering for a moment, he sent another message to Shuo Feng: "Brother Shuo, I recently comprehended a divine ability. Recalling the sparring session we had back then, my hands have been itching for a bout. I wonder if you have time recently to have another contest with me?"
This time, Shuo Feng replied very quickly.
"Oh? What, after not seeing each other for over two years, you're confident you can beat me? I forgot to tell you, I've already broken through to the Golden Core cultivation by now. Even if you attack with all your might at the Nascent Soul realm, you might not necessarily beat me."
"Words are meaningless; a trial will tell," Li Fan replied just as crisply.
These words instantly stoked Shuo Feng's fighting spirit.
"Come here," he sent a set of coordinates and indicated.
Li Fan looked: it was in a mountain range on the outskirts of Tianquan City in Tianquan Province.
"Alright, I'll be right there. Brother Shuo, please wait a moment."
"No problem. I'll be here for the next few days," Shuo Feng replied, after which nothing more was said.
Li Fan then exited the Heavenly Profound Mirror and arrived in Tianquan Province via teleportation array.
Tianquan Province was dotted everywhere with the cave abodes of Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals aristocrats.
The location Shuo Feng had given was naturally no exception.
From midair, observing the traces of one protective array formation after another, Li Fan carefully navigated through the gaps between the arrays, heading straight toward his destination.
Chapter 675