Beyond Jiushan Province's treacherous terrain, the failure of teleportation formations to function there, and the inability of cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm to fly across its mountains and rivers, the outright betrayal of the Lingyuan Sect was another major reason why the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' offensives had repeatedly ended in failure.
No one knew what benefits the Five Elders Association had promised the Lingyuan Sect.
Under the rule of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, this organization had frequently wavered and changed allegiances. Yet after being brought under the jurisdiction of the Five Elders Association, they seemed to undergo a complete personality shift, showing unswerving loyalty.
They even seized several lobbyists secretly dispatched by the Alliance, bound them on the spot, and handed them over to demonstrate their absolute fidelity.
With its offensive in Jiushan Province thwarted, the Alliance altered its strategy accordingly, shifting from attack to defense.
Large contingents of heavy forces were redeployed to defend the neighboring border provinces.
Even the protective formations were activated to encompass entire provinces.
"The Tianyuan Creation Formation..."
Li Fan raised his head to look at the sky, which had turned an earthy yellow, and narrowed his eyes slightly as he felt the ambient essence being continuously drained away around him.
"The Alliance's grand defensive formation certainly has its merits. Unfortunately, it falls far short of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation. With the Dissociation Disc in hand, I could breach it in an instant."
Countless images flashed across his eyes.
A moment later, as Li Fan casually formed a hand seal and cast an art, a vacuum seemed to materialize around him.
The Tianyuan Creation Formation's ability to siphon the essence of heaven and earth ceased to function in his vicinity.
More crucially, not a soul noticed the abnormality.
"Under normal circumstances, now that the Alliance has activated its protective formations, the Five Elders Association won't be able to breach them any time soon."
"The war might slide into a stalemate, only to gradually peter out as people forget about it..."
"That won't do, that won't do! Let me lend you a helping hand!"
With a low chuckle, Li Fan's figure darted like a ghost toward the border of Shilin Province.
He did not cross the defensive line into Jiushan Province.
Instead, he arrived near a small border city named Heshi, not far from the White Mist Barrier.
A squad of cultivators from the Alliance's Martial Practice Hall was stationed in the city.
The garrison commander of Heshi accompanied them with a tense expression, inspecting the specific status of the defensive measures, including formations and restrictions.
Without alerting any of the guards, Li Fan slipped into the city.
Once they finally parted ways, he quietly tracked down Heshi's garrison commander.
The garrison commander was named Yu Dayi, a man who had only recently attained the Golden Core realm.
Sporting a protruding belly and an amiable face, he appeared thoroughly honest and unassuming.
Having just taken a break, he was sipping a cup of spirit tea to steady his nerves when Li Fan suddenly materialized before him without warning.
His face fell, and he was about to shout for help.
However, noticing that the other man was examining him with an amused look, Yu Dayi's mind raced, and he swallowed the shout that had reached his lips.
"Who might you be, sir?" Yu Dayi asked, narrowing his eyes.
"You should know of the Myriad Realms Association, shouldn't you?" Li Fan said in a deliberately bizarre tone.
Yu Dayi's expression shifted once again in an instant, but he cautiously refrained from admitting anything.
Li Fan continued to look Yu Dayi up and down, letting out an eccentric laugh. "Riddled with holes from infiltration... The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals truly shows every sign of impending doom!"
At these words, the aura around Yu Dayi instantly turned elusive and dangerous.
"No need to worry. Aside from our Myriad Realms Association, no one else knows of your identity as a spy for the Five Elders Association," Li Fan glanced at him and said flatly.
At this point, Yu Dayi finally dropped his facade.
Though he had no idea how he had been exposed, he maintained the fundamental discipline of a spy, responding with composure: "Sir, what brings you to my door...?"
"It is simply that your Five Elders Association has disappointed us too greatly. After taking Jiushan Province, you should have pressed the advantage in one fell swoop and swallowed up several more provinces. How could you be satisfied with this and freeze in your tracks?"
Yu Dayi's expression soured slightly. "Does Your Excellency truly believe the Alliance is easy to deal with? Our successful surprise attack on Jiushan Province was the result of exhaustive planning. Can you not see how tight the border defenses are? To say nothing of anything else, this protective formation blanketing the entire province is not something easily breached."
"Jiejie, the weak always love to make excuses for themselves. Or could it be that you fear the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, and that is why you hesitate to take decisive action?" Li Fan glanced at Yu Dayi with a cold laugh.
Without waiting for a response, Li Fan continued on his own, "Still, your concerns are not entirely unwarranted. Now is indeed not the time for a full-scale invasion."
"However, taking things one step further and expanding your gains just a bit won't provoke Chuanfa into taking action."
With that, Li Fan tossed over a jade slip.
Yu Dayi reacted swiftly, catching it and inspecting its contents.
He could no longer maintain his composure. "The flaws of the Tianyuan Creation Formation?"
He looked at Li Fan, his eyes brimming with shock. "This..."
"Whether it is true or false, you'll know once you test it. I only hope you have the nerve," Li Fan said with a sinister laugh.
Before the other man could speak again, Li Fan's figure flickered and vanished from sight.
Yu Dayi gripped the jade slip tightly, his expression wavering between light and shadow.
This cultivator claiming to be from the Myriad Realms Association had a mysterious background and spoke with terrifying audacity.
Not only did he know Yu Dayi's undercover identity, but he even knew state secrets as closely guarded as the weaknesses of the Alliance's grand defensive formation inside and out.
...
Yu Dayi fell into indecision.
*Should I transmit this information after all?*
*The front lines are guarded too heavily now. If I want to pull this off, my only option is to abandon this hard-won identity.*
After much deliberation, Yu Dayi carefully studied the contents of the jade slip again.
Then, he went alone to a quiet spot in the city and tested it against the Tianyuan Creation Formation blanketing the province.
Nearly half a day later, while Yu Dayi's outward expression remained unchanged, his body was already trembling slightly uncontrollably.
It was born of sheer excitement.
*It's actually real.* Yu Dayi took a deep breath, forcing down the agitation in his chest.
He went about his daily routines as if nothing were amiss.
It was not until three days later, seizing a rare opportunity, that he used an excuse to slip out of Heshi City.
Li Fan's figure slowly reappeared.
"I hope the Five Elders Association doesn't disappoint me."
...
Yu Dayi's inexplicable disappearance soon drew the attention of the Martial Practice Hall cultivators stationed in the city.
By the time they confirmed that he had truly defected and hurriedly sent out a border warrant for his capture, Yu Dayi had already returned safely to Jiushan Province and reconnected with his organization.
The peace lasted barely half a month.
Before the fallout from the spy incident in Heshi City and the Alliance's accountability inquiries could even finish running their course, the Five Elders Association's tempestuous onslaught swept in.
It was not just Shilin Province.
War erupted simultaneously along the entire border.
The protective formations—one of the Alliance's greatest reliances—proved utterly useless, rendered nothing more than hollow ornaments.
Caught completely off guard, the Alliance suffered catastrophic losses.
In less than seven days, news arrived that several provinces had fallen.
Shilin Province, on the other hand, was still stubbornly holding out only because of the heavy forces stationed there.
The turn in the war caught everyone completely by surprise.
Throughout the Alliance, fear and panic gripped the cultivators' hearts.
Chapter 818