Though Li Fan claimed he trusted Senior Sister Zhao would never stoop to underhanded tricks, he did not return directly to the Spirit Wood Realm after leaving Jiushan Province.
Instead, he quietly made a detour back to the Congyun Sea.
Aside from treasures containing the power of Heavenly Venerables, such as the Truth Enticement Fruits, all the conventional resources were handed over to his avatar, Ji Shaoli.
He intended to use the Heavenly Profound Mirror to "launder" these items: selling them off and buying them back.
This would wipe away any traces that might have been left on them.
He did not even keep the priceless Kongming Stone Mother, which could be used to forge spatial dharma treasures.
Going back and forth like this would cost some contribution points in transaction losses, but if it reduced the risk of being targeted by the Longevity Heavenly Venerable, it was well worth it.
Of course, the war between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association was currently in full swing.
To avoid arousing suspicion, laundering this batch of supplies would take Ji Shaoli some time.
Still, with the help of the other members of the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association, the process would not be too slow.
"As for those supreme treasures imbued with the power of Heavenly Venerables, they involve the might of other Heavenly Venerables, so it won't be that easy for Senior Sister Zhao to tamper with them."
These were pure creations of the laws, and Li Fan had already come into contact with them in his previous life.
After examining them closely and confirming that nothing seemed amiss, he finally set his mind at ease.
Though Li Fan had appeared completely at ease during the trade just now, the truth was that when Senior Sister Zhao's voice sounded and echoed repeatedly in his mind, scenes from his past life—intimate whispers and embraces with his senior sister in the illusory realm—had surfaced uncontrollably.
Fortunately, Li Fan possessed a resilient temperament and practiced secret mind-tempering techniques.
Suppressing those reveries in time, he had managed to avoid showing any flaw.
He had even turned the tables, casually letting slip knowledge that suggested a deep familiarity with the All Minds as One Dadao Sect.
By laying down this smoke screen, he had made Senior Sister Zhao grow suspicious and uncertain, which weakened the bewitching charm she inadvertently radiated.
Only then had Li Fan secured the upper hand.
"As expected of the Longevity Heavenly Venerable. Even facing just one of her bodies requires my utmost effort," Li Fan could not help but sigh softly.
He set aside a portion of the Carefree Crystals and Humanity Stardust to leave behind on Haixuan Island.
It was not until a month later, once the members of the Mutual Aid Association had finished "cleansing" most of the materials, that Li Fan finally returned to the Spirit Wood Realm alongside Lin Ling and Tianyang.
During the month spent on the island, Pei Tuo, Xiang Xin, and the others had caught fleeting glimpses of Lin Ling and Tianyang.
Even without deliberately displaying their strength, the faint aura of pressure emanating from them left the Mutual Aid Association members thoroughly awestruck.
They became all the more convinced that the Mutual Aid Association had to be an unimaginably vast, formidable organization, and that the Congyun Sea branch had merely just been established.
While secretly congratulating themselves on being among the first to join the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association, they also grew increasingly "loyal" to it.
Also during this month, the Five Elders Association seemed to have taken Li Fan's parting suggestion to heart, easing their offensive on all fronts.
The flames of war along the border gradually subsided.
Yet the Five Elders Association did not sit idle.
Across the various provinces of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, all manner of rumors suddenly began to circulate.
Though they were all old, long-buried matters, they stirred restlessness and anxiety among the Alliance's populace.
For instance, a team leader in the Tianquan Province Martial Practice Hall had killed an ordinary cultivator out of personal spite. According to Alliance law, he should have been dismissed and investigated. Yet the matter dragged on and on until it faded into silence, gradually forgotten by the public. Only recently, after someone brought it back to light, did people realize with shock that this Martial Practice Hall team leader had lived comfortably all these years, having escaped with nothing more than a trivial forfeiture of some stipend!
Or for example, an administrator in the Youtai Province Administration Hall had neglected his duties during his tenure, causing an otherwise avoidable natural calamity within the territory. Hundreds of cultivators were caught in the disaster and met gruesome deaths. The administrator was dismissed at the time. Yet to everyone's astonishment, after another recent revelation, the public discovered that barely a year later, this administrator had assumed a new identity and taken up a new post in Tianyu Province—not demoted, but promoted!
...
All kinds of old scandals and cold cases erupted all at once!
Li Fan had never even heard of most of them.
They were dark secrets buried by history.
Yet now, driven by some mysterious force, they suddenly resurrected!
The Alliance cultivators were naturally incensed.
Although no overt disturbances had broken out yet, treasonous sentiments were already spreading in secret across various regions: "The Alliance is rotten to the core; it's not worth throwing our lives away for them!" "I'm sent to die while you enjoy the spoils? We might as well all burn together!"
Though the Alliance attached great importance to this situation and ordered rigorous investigations across every province, how could the mouths of the multitudes be stopped so easily?
Far from improving, the situation showed signs of spiraling out of control.
And the time-honored tactic of stalling, which had never failed before, seemed to have suddenly lost all efficacy.
Seven days, fifteen days, a month...
As time slipped by, before the fallout from previous scandals could even subside, new dark deeds from the past were exposed in various regions.
The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was suddenly left scrambling, battered and overwhelmed.
His avatar, Ji Shaoli, gathered and cataloged these dirty secrets as if uncovering rare treasures, committing them firmly to memory.
"Who would have thought the Five Elders Association had such a move up their sleeve?"
"These are all priceless gems!"
"Frequent forgetting can indeed continuously suppress negative emotions. But looked at from another angle, if those forgotten memories are triggered to surge and erupt all at once within a short time..."
"The devastation they bring would be truly terrifying."
"No less devastating than a million-strong army!"
"Mm, perhaps this is also related to Heavenly Venerable Wuyou temporarily easing the power of oblivion blanketing the Alliance's domain."
"These are all methods I can replicate to strike at the Alliance in the future. I must study them well."
Ji Shaoli marveled in admiration at the pleasant surprise the Five Elders Association had delivered.
A month and a half after the crisis erupted, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals finally made its move in response.
Their response was just as unexpected to Li Fan.
Yet after savoring it for a moment, he could not help but slap the table in admiration.
"What a brilliant move!"
"There are capable people within the Alliance!"
The Alliance's countermeasure was remarkably simple.
There was no coercion of cultivators, nor any ban on discussing the controversial topics.
Just a simple announcement, proclaimed to the entire world:
The next Alliance induction examination would be moved up, scheduled for six months from now.
In order to counter the fierce offensive of the Five Elders Association, the recruitment quota this time would be increased by fifty percent compared to previous years.
The moment the news dropped, the world was shaken!
Everyone despised privilege, yet everyone longed to become privileged!
The scandals circulating everywhere were painful indictments of injustice.
Yet they also served as peerless promotional material.
Did you want to be the victim in these scandals, or one of the privileged elite?
If tempted, then come take the exam!
With the acceptance quota increased by nearly half, everyone's chances shot upward.
Cultivators throughout the Alliance were itching to try their luck.
Without any suppression, the turmoil subsided on its own.
Chapter 828