Only now did Li Fan's true body snap back to reality. Nodding slightly, he said with a solemn expression, "The Alliance's supreme treasure, the Heavenly Profound Mirror, is indeed connected to the Profound Heaven Sect."
He then described the scene his clone had sensed using the secret art Extirpating the Profound.
Hearing this, Jiang Yushan furrowed her brows. "Three chimes—that is already the highest level of existence warning within the Profound Heaven Sect. It seems this so-called Heavenly Profound Mirror is actually the Profound Heaven Mirror of old."
Liu San, however, wore a puzzled look. "The characters were merely reversed—what significance could that have? If it was meant to hide its origins, they could easily have chosen an entirely unrelated name. What is more, the Profound Heaven Sect's mortal enemy, the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, has long since turned to dust and ashes. There would be no need to conceal it from anyone, would there?"
Jiang Yushan shook her head and explained, "It is not as simple as merely changing a name. I once heard that the Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror has mysterious origins. It reflects all phenomena in the world and possesses supreme power. Back then, there was speculation within the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao that this mirror might not be native to the Xuanhuang Realm, but possibly hailed from the Immortal Realm."
Li Fan's gaze focused.
Fang Zaiji, who had originally been staring trance-like in study at the End Stone Platter, also suddenly raised his head and looked at Jiang Yushan. "The Immortal Realm?!" he cried out in shock.
Jiang Yushan calmly continued on her own, "It is not something difficult to surmise. Before the master of the Profound Heaven Sect, the half-step True Immortal known as the King of Profound Heaven, ascended, he possessed no magical treasure resembling a mirror. Yet after he returned from the Immortal Ascension Passage, he had this extra treasure on his person. In the course of him sweeping through the Xuanhuang Realm with the body of a half-immortal and founding the Profound Heaven Sect, the Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror played a crucial role.
"Otherwise, even after the demise of the Profound Heaven Sect, the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao would not have coveted and feared it so greatly, to the point of offering a seat of Longevity fruit status as a bounty for it.
"And once cultivation reaches the realm of a True Immortal, their name itself represents a certain form of power."
Recalling something unknown, Jiang Yushan lapsed into a brief silence.
Li Fan asked at the right moment, "What does Elder Jiang mean by this?"
"Before the Immortal Path was severed, there were many cultivators in the history of the Xuanhuang Realm who successfully overcame their tribulations and ascended. Some were even senior elders of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao. But when later generations sought to trace and consult records of these True Immortals...
"They discovered that every single record concerning them had vanished on its own.
"Not only could no trace of their deeds from those years be found, but even their names could not be preserved.
"'True Immortals have no names.' Or rather, once They completed the transformation into True Immortals, They became existences entirely beyond our comprehension."
Upon hearing these words, Liu San and Fang Zaiji, both Dao Integration cultivators, were filled with shock.
"No wonder when I traveled throughout the Xuanhuang Realm in those days, I only ever heard that there were immortals in ancient times, yet never knew an immortal's name and surname," Fang Zaiji remarked, enlightened.
Jiang Yushan continued, "As it is with True Immortals, so it is with True Immortal treasures. Although magical treasures are not like True Immortals whose true names do not manifest in the world, they must nevertheless correspond to some kind of rule-based power. From 'Xuantian' to 'Tianxuan,' there should be some marvelous, unknown transformation."
When she finished speaking, the other three were stunned by the rumored power of True Immortals, falling into silence for a time.
Not long after, Fang Zaiji was the first to react. "If the Heavenly Profound Mirror is a True Immortal treasure, then wouldn't its secondary body be equivalent to half an immortal artifact?!"
His face flushed crimson with excitement in an instant. Gripping the End Stone Platter tightly, he took off like a streak of smoke, vanishing without a trace.
"Sect Master, rest assured, I shall go into secluded cultivation right now to study it thoroughly! If I don't produce results, I won't come out for the rest of my life!"
His figure was gone, yet his voice continued to echo.
Li Fan shook his head slightly, then thanked Jiang Yushan. "Elder Jiang truly lives up to being a true disciple of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao—erudite, well-read, and possessing vast experience. Secrets of True Immortals such as these are something I had never heard of before."
Liu San also sighed with feeling. "To think our Medicine King Sect could already be considered a mid-sized sect, yet we knew so little of such matters."
Jiang Yushan seemed rather dismissive, speaking in her grating voice like rubbing metal: "It is merely idle chatter for leisure. After all, the Immortal Path has been severed for so long; immortals and the like are just like the myths and legends spoken of by mortals—unattainably distant."
Looking in the direction where Fang Zaiji had vanished, she suddenly added, "I have to go keep an eye on him. Otherwise, by the time he produces any results, a hundred years will probably have passed."
"Heh heh, surely it won't be that long. Old Fang is still relatively reliable..." Liu San began, only to find that Jiang Yushan's figure had already turned into a streak of black light and sped away.
Instantly anxious, he shouted, "Yushan, wait for me!"
Without even saying goodbye to Li Fan, he gave chase.
In an instant, only Li Fan was left in the area.
"True Immortals bear no name or surname..." Paying no mind to the three who had departed, Li Fan merely reflected on Jiang Yushan's words, falling into a reverie for a while.
Only after who knows how long did he snap out of his thoughts.
"The exploration of the white mist is drawing to a close, and the Heavenly Profound Mirror will complete its transformation before long...
"Right now, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is in a critical period of upheaval; it is not advisable to go out. I should simply stay peacefully in the Valley of Longevity and wait for the changes to arrive.
"The restrictions on entering the Fallen Immortal Realm have long since been lifted, but as I was exploring the Lost Domains earlier, I had no time to enter again.
"I could take this opportunity to visit the Heavenly Sword Sect once more."
Pondering for a moment, Li Fan made his decision.
However, before entering the Fallen Immortal Realm, he quietly strolled through the Valley of Longevity and the Beast Seed Realm.
Within the Valley of Longevity, most of the awakened Medicine King Sect disciples had already gone out. Disciples stood guard only at key positions.
And within the Beast Seed Realm, Li Fan spotted several familiar figures.
They were none other than Xiao Fan, Su Changyu, Su Xiaomei, and the others from the Li Realm.
His divine sense swept over them without their knowledge, and Li Fan noticed something strange.
In this lifetime, although he had not paid much attention to them, he had still bestowed cultivation methods upon them and had not placed excessive restrictions on them.
Now more than a decade had passed. Judging by the talent they had shown in previous lifetimes, at least one of them should have broken through to the Golden Core realm by now.
Yet right now...
Their progress was rather underwhelming.
Ye Feipeng, who simultaneously cultivated methods, body refinement, and the Beast Soul Bead, had the highest realm, yet he was only barely at the middle Foundation Establishment stage.
Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu, who cultivated standard methods, had only recently broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Their wonders of heaven and earth had naturally been provided by the Medicine King Sect. Selling Longevity Pills over the past three years had increasingly enriched the Medicine King Sect's treasury.
As for Xiao Heng, who had chosen not to cultivate a standard method and instead opted to commune with the Empire's Beast Soul Bead, he had thoroughly slacked off, completely losing any ambition.
All day long, in the guise of Beast God Armor, he lorded his power over the Beast Seed Realm.
"Although their cultivation speed is still considerably faster than mine, it is clearly not the level they should have.
"Is the spiritual energy gradually dissipating..."
Li Fan was deep in thought.
Chapter 730