Within the space of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Xu Bai listened to the mirror's slightly metallic, mechanical voice, while thoughts churned incessantly in his mind.
"Even if the Heavenly Profound Mirror is not the original Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror itself, an extraordinarily close connection must exist between the two."
"Since the Heavenly Profound Mirror originates from the Profound Heaven Sect, does that mean the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable does as well?"
"Was it all to avenge the destruction of the sect at the hands of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao back then?"
Xu Bai suddenly recalled the fact that over the past several millennia, the Heavenly Profound Mirror had continuously birthed secondary bodies.
"Even though the Profound Heaven Sect has been destroyed for so many years, one can still sense the Heavenly Profound Mirror's connection to it using the secret art 'Extirpating the Profound.' Does this suggest that the Heavenly Profound Mirror has still not completely broken free from the Profound Heaven Sect's control?"
"So the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals went to such great lengths to search for the Profound Heaven Sect Dharma King buried within the Purple Cloud Sect, all to gain ultimate control over the Heavenly Profound Mirror."
"And the trigger for all of this was the prophecy I made back when I disguised myself as a cultivator of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect: 'Heavenly Profound locks the spirits; Xuanhuang unites under one rule.'"
In an instant, the events of this life clicked together.
It allowed Xu Bai to see through the surface of events and discern the deeper causes hidden beneath.
"And now, the Alliance has taken the initiative to usher in the Great Exploration Era, seemingly to spur a further transformation and breakthrough for the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Does this mean the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has gotten its wish and mastered this supreme treasure left behind by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable?"
Xu Bai's eyes flickered.
In the past, he had speculated that the true ruler operating in the shadows of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was not any cultivator, but the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Later, through a twist of fate, he learned of the existence of the Dharma Transmitters. From that, he deduced that the Dharma Transmitters and the Heavenly Profound Mirror checked and balanced one another, jointly leading and governing the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
From the look of things now, had the cultivators ultimately emerged victorious in this struggle?
The figures of Shuo Feng and Lu Xichan suddenly flashed across Xu Bai's mind.
"The Xuan family..."
A sentence Lu Xuejing had uttered when she first met his true body echoed in his ears once more:
"Which clan do you belong to? You don't look familiar at all! You wouldn't happen to be a Five Elders Association spy deliberately getting close to Brother Shuo to sniff out the Heavenly Profound Mirror's location, would you? You don't look like a good person at all—Brother Shuo has never lied to me before..."
It was like a bolt of lightning cleaving through the fog.
"So that's how it is." A flash of realization dawned in Xu Bai's eyes.
As the saying went, without factions outside the party, it was imperial rule; without factions within the party, it was bizarre and absurd. Not all cultivators stood on the side of the Dharma Transmitters.
At least according to current information, the Head of the Formation Planning Hall, Immortal Venerable Feixue, and the cultivators surnamed Xuan stood on the side of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
The Dharma Transmitters sought to gain complete control over the Heavenly Profound Mirror through the methods of the Profound Heaven Sect.
Cultivators who aligned themselves with the Heavenly Profound Mirror naturally had to find a way to counter them. Perhaps powerless to halt the Dharma Transmitters' actions directly, they took a different approach: prompting the Heavenly Profound Mirror to undergo a transformation and upgrade to resist control by the Profound Heaven Sect's secret arts.
Yet, to cause such a massive stir, expending virtually the entire strength of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals to encourage cultivators to explore the white mist—Xu Bai would never believe that this happened without the consent of the Alliance's supreme ruling class, the Dharma Transmitters.
"Unless... searching through the mist was a decision originating from an even higher will, one that even the Dharma Transmitters could not defy. The Heavenly Profound Mirror seeking to upgrade itself through this was merely borrowing a favorable wind."
"And in this Xuanhuang Realm, the only existence that could force the Dharma Transmitters to bow their heads is..."
Following this deduction, Xu Bai's heart trembled violently.
"The Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable!"
"He didn't leave? He's still in the Xuanhuang Realm?"
An overwhelming sense of oppression crashed down upon him. Xu Bai suddenly remembered that even before the Great Exploration Era began, Liu San had already spotted many Alliance cultivators delving deep into the mist.
Back then, he had guessed the Alliance might be doing so to search for clues regarding the "Disorder" Formula.
Connecting everything together...
Xu Bai felt a sudden wave of chilling dread. "That day, after I unleashed the 'Disorder' Formula, the colossal divine sense that noticed and descended upon the area—was that the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable?"
Yet soon, Xu Bai frowned slightly, rejecting his own theory.
Though his performance that day had been masterful, he did not believe he could have fooled Chuanfa's eyes.
Furthermore, between the unleashing of the "Disorder" Formula and the descent of the divine sense, the span of time had been far too long. If it truly were Chuanfa, with His cultivation, His reaction time would never be that sluggish.
"It was likely the second detonation of the 'Disorder' Formula during the clash against Mo Sha that ultimately drew His attention."
Xu Bai's train of thought suddenly halted.
"Or perhaps Chuanfa was not within the Xuanhuang Realm at the time, and it was only my unleashing of the 'Disorder' Formula that drew Him back..."
The moment this thought surfaced, another jolt of shock ran through Xu Bai.
After pondering it repeatedly, he simply could not rule out this possibility.
"It seems that as powerful as the 'Disorder' Formula is, it cannot be used recklessly."
"Once was a stroke of luck. If there is a next time..."
Even when facing the Heavenly Physician, True Reversion was affected.
If the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable—who had reigned supreme over the Xuanhuang Realm for thousands of years—personally arrived, Xu Bai had no confidence whatsoever that he could activate True Reversion in His presence.
"It's better not to use it unless absolutely forced," Xu Bai cursed inwardly.
Xu Bai then thought: if the above deductions held true, then why would Chuanfa—who had already achieved Longevity and stood detached from worldly affairs—care so intensely about the "Disorder" Formula?
Was "Disorder" also a true immortal heritage?
Xu Bai was startled; this was the first possibility that leaped to mind.
In his mind, scenes witnessed back in the Contorted Lost Domain replayed in rapid succession.
The ground strewn with grotesque, horrifying corpses, and the stone stele engraved with the character "Disorder" at the center of the Lost Domain.
A hypothesis could not help but surface in his mind.
"The cultivation world of that Lost Domain suffered total annihilation precisely because it fell under the influence of the character 'Disorder.'"
"And that character 'Disorder' came from..."
"The Immortal Realm!"
"As for why that contorted monster claimed the culprit was the Heavenly Physician after mistaking me for 'Tianjue,' Old Man Yufu..."
Xu Bai suddenly recalled the words Di Sanmo had once spoken to Lu Ya:
"Sometimes, even what you see with your own eyes may not be the truth."
"Under the influence of the character 'Disorder,' the possibility of mistaking one's identity cannot be ruled out."
"Back at the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace when Tianjue, the Heavenly Physician, and Tianyu confronted one another, Tianjue personally admitted that he was the one who slaughtered everyone in Cloud Water Heavenly Palace."
"Perhaps the same was true for the Contorted Lost Domain."
...
"The Essence-Devouring White Mist is filled with all kinds of eerie and abnormal phenomena. It is hard to say whether the influence of 'Disorder' is absent here."
"The 'Disorder' Formula seems to have appeared not just in the Xuanhuang Realm; it may have surfaced in other cultivation worlds as well."
"And even brought about boundless catastrophe."
"This is likely why Chuanfa, as well as today's Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and Five Elders Association, care so deeply about it."
While Xu Bai was lost in thought...
Back in the Valley of Longevity, Li Fan, who had been spacing out, was shaken awake by Liu San's call.
"Young Master, is the Heavenly Profound Mirror related to the Profound Heaven Sect?"
he asked.
Chapter 729