"Across the Nine Mountains none may fly; cultivators gaze at the sky and sigh. Truly a rare and wondrous sight!"
"If an ordinary province possessed even one such majestic mountain range, it would be renowned across the realm. Yet here, there are a full nine of them!"
A youth in white ambled to the foot of Mount Tianlao, exclaiming with admiration.
The youth had fair skin and rather handsome features, though his eyes frequently flashed with a resolve uncharacteristic of his age.
Around his neck hung a long cord woven from green vines.
At the end of the cord was tied a verdant gourd.
The youth shook the gourd, uncorked the stopper, and aimed its opening toward the towering Tianlao Mountain Range ahead.
After adjusting its angle slightly, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Capture!"
With a low cry, a phantom image seemed to be drawn from distant Mount Tianlao and sucked into the verdant gourd.
The youth brought his nose to the mouth of the gourd and inhaled deeply.
"Truly a supreme landscape!"
His face beamed with utter enchantment.
Yet in the next instant, his expression abruptly froze, and his body locked in place, unable to move.
A figure slowly materialized behind him, reaching out to take the verdant gourd from his grasp.
"The Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd—this is indeed a fine thing," the person chuckled with an eerie cackle.
A flicker of terror immediately flashed in the youth's eyes.
Li Fan ordered Tianyang to hold the youth while he put the treasure gourd away.
"Shang Tianci, a member of the Alliance's Shanhe Pavilion. Achieved Core Formation at eighteen, truly a peerless genius."
"His companion wonder, the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd, can draw landscapes of the Xuanhuang Realm into itself, creating copies within that are nearly identical, differing only in being slightly reduced in size."
"Furthermore, with a single thought, one can travel among the locations recorded within the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd. If not for my Insect Binding divine ability, even at the Soul Formation stage, I might not have caught him so easily."
Li Fan projected his divine sense into the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd. Amid swirling clouds and mists, distinctive mountain and river vistas were scattered like stars.
Some of them were not unfamiliar to Li Fan.
For instance, the Ten Veins of Taihua, the Thousand Waters of Tianling, and the like.
And Mount Tianlao, which Shang Tianci had just drawn into the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd, was among them!
"Having just stepped into the Golden Core stage, he dared to venture alone into the utterly chaotic Jiushan Province. A newborn calf truly knows no fear of tigers."
"Yet if not for me, in the events about to unfold, he truly would have held the protagonist's script."
"While traveling, he would happen upon a surprise raid by the Five Elders Association."
"With the Lingyuan Sect colluding from within, the Five Elders Association had already deployed heavy forces to seal off Jiushan Province, permitting entry but no exit. They also jammed communications so news could not spread by ordinary means, seeking only to stall for as much time as possible. Speed is the essence of war; their aim was to seize Jiushan Province in one fell swoop before the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals could react."
"Who would have guessed they would have the misfortune of running into an anomaly like Shang Tianci? Relying on his companion item, he could teleport instantaneously even within Jiushan Province, where spatial transmission was otherwise impossible."
"Consequently, the secret leaked, and the whole operation fell short of success at the final hurdle."
Li Fan's thoughts churned as he recalled the official account given by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals in his previous life.
"Still, there is no guarantee that this was the whole truth of the matter."
"I will need to observe a bit more."
"As for this lad..."
Li Fan turned his head and glanced at the immobilized Shang Tianci.
Understanding the gesture, Tianyang knocked him unconscious with a single slap. Li Fan then flicked a finger, sending a crimson orb containing a drop of his own essence blood instantly flying into the youth's body.
This was none other than the Bloodline Transfer technique, capable of influencing the mind.
"A Myriad Realms Association with only me will not do. A genius like this is well-suited to serve as our public face."
Standing atop Tianyang, Li Fan flew to the summit of Mount Tianlao.
With a casual gesture, he laid down an array around himself to conceal his aura, then looked into the distance, awaiting the arrival of the Five Elders Association's army.
"It should be soon."
While waiting, Li Fan studied the newly acquired Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd.
Although this was Shang Tianci's companion item, for some reason, the youth had not used it to establish his Dao Foundation.
Instead, he merely carried it around like an ordinary treasure.
Li Fan sent his divine sense into the verdant gourd, attempting to connect with the landscapes inside to see if he could travel through them at will just as Shang Tianci did.
Yet they ignored Li Fan completely, showing not the slightest reaction.
"It cannot be refined with spiritual energy. Even True Reversion cannot sense or absorb it..."
"It seems this truly is this fellow's exclusive treasure."
After his attempts proved fruitless, Li Fan shook his head slightly and gave up.
"If he did not even use such a treasure for Foundation Establishment, what could his Foundation Establishment wonder possibly be?"
Li Fan walked over to the unconscious Shang Tianci and examined him closely.
"Hm?" A moment later, a strange glint appeared in Li Fan's eyes.
Upon the surface of Shang Tianci's Golden Core was engraved the pattern of a purple-gold gourd.
Its appearance was identical to the Heavenly Scenery Gourd, but its aura was even more profound and majestic.
"Twin gourds? Interesting."
Li Fan's eyes flickered.
Yet he had no thought of directly seizing it.
First, Shang Tianci still had some utility alive.
Second, this companion wonder was likely just like the Heavenly Scenery Gourd—exclusive to its owner and impossible to take for oneself.
"Perhaps an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao like Mr. Bai could borrow it without hindrance. As for me, I cannot."
A treasure right before his eyes, yet he could not enjoy it.
Yet Li Fan felt no impatience whatsoever.
He merely narrowed his eyes, silently sensing the progress of the Bloodline Transfer within Shang Tianci's body.
When Shang Tianci leisurely came to and looked again at the mysterious person who had captured him, the fear in his heart had completely vanished.
In its place was a feeling of closeness and trust.
"Young lad, what do you think of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals?" Li Fan asked in an eerie voice.
"Ah?" Shang Tianci froze slightly, not expecting the other party to ask such a random, baffling question out of nowhere.
Subconsciously, he answered, "The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is wonderful! Everyone has cultivation techniques to practice, and there's no need to worry about personal safety..."
Li Fan gave a cold snort, interrupting him. "Wonderful? Can you not see how many cultivators toil away for half their lives just for a single technique? If it were a complete orthodox method, that would be one thing."
"Yet they deliberately chop the techniques into pieces to sell. One part for Foundation Establishment, then another exchange required once you reach Golden Core. And it is even worse for Nascent Soul and Soul Formation!"
"All to treat our fellow cultivators like beasts of burden!"
Just as Shang Tianci was about to argue back, Li Fan tapped a finger against his brow.
In an instant, countless scenes of bottom-tier cultivators struggling desperately for a meager few contribution points flooded his mind.
A heaven-blessed prodigy like Shang Tianci naturally had no idea how arduous it was for mediocre cultivators to struggle up step by step from mortals through Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core...
Just how terribly difficult it was.
Many were trapped their entire lives in realms he could break through with a wave of his hand, unable to advance even an inch.
Confronting these harsh realities for the very first time, Shang Tianci suffered a tremendous psychological shock, shaken beyond words.
Li Fan continued to beguile him with words.
Gradually, the look in Shang Tianci's eyes began to change.
Chapter 811