Although he could now contend with Dao Integration experts after breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, this was a volatile time with tensions between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association ready to erupt at any moment. Li Fan did not act overly arrogant.
The appearance of the Seven-Colored Divine Light was simply too conspicuous, so Li Fan chose to expend a bit more spiritual energy. Just as he had done before when destroying the yellow, one-eyed paper figurine, he condensed the seven hues into a faint white light.
Flying low, he concealed his aura with a secret technique.
His speed was astonishing. In mere moments, he had crossed the expanse of Tianling Province.
When confronted by the barrier of white mist ahead, he neither dodged nor slowed down, barreling straight through!
The Seven-Colored Jade Void Flowing Light was domineering to the extreme, brooking no foreign element.
Even the mysterious white mist, capable of devouring lifespan, could find no flaw to infiltrate and was left merely hovering outside, unable to advance.
Driven by the nearly boundless, pure spiritual energy of the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven, Li Fan was able to push the speed of the Seven-Colored Divine Light to its absolute limit.
Before departing, he had notified Lin Ling.
Yet the two of them arrived in Shilin Province almost at the same time.
*The movement technique of the Seven-Colored Divine Light isn't much slower than traversing quickly through the rush of earth veins!* Li Fan nodded to himself, thoroughly pleased.
With this, his shortcoming in making escapes was finally remedied. If he ran into a life-or-death crisis in the future, he wouldn't immediately have to resort to True Reversion, but could first try fleeing.
"Master." Lin Ling sensed the earth-shaking transformation in Li Fan and could not help looking him up and down in surprise.
"Let's go," Li Fan instructed, gazing toward the border between Shilin Province and Jiushan Province, where arrays of cultivators were gathering.
During his period of closed-door cultivation for the breakthrough, the false information he had provided had misled the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association into small-scale friction along their bordering provinces.
Disturbances of varying degrees had also broken out simultaneously in the heartlands of both factions.
Now, the defensive formations of every province were kept permanently active.
Furthermore, because the mole in the Formation Planning Hall had never been exposed, this time's defensive grand formation was something that had never appeared before—the newly created "God Extinction Formation" developed by the Alliance headquarters.
The name was certainly domineering.
And its actual performance was truly remarkable.
The Terminal Dissociation Disc, which had hitherto succeeded without fail, was actually unable to decipher the formation right away.
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. *It seems to be more than just a simple formation. There are also quite a few capable cultivators serving as array eyes within the God Extinction Formation to compensate for any potential flaws.*
According to the deductions derived by the Dissociation Disc, even if one defeated a cultivator anchoring a particular node, so long as the formation's overall structure remained intact, power could be drawn from other areas to rapidly generate a new array.
Moreover, this newly generated array would differ from what came before.
"The power of the God Extinction Formation will scale continuously as the cultivators presiding over it grow stronger."
"If there are four Dao Integration experts..."
"Then none save a Longevity Heavenly Venerable can break it."
Such was the conclusion reached by the Dissociation Disc.
Fortunately, the formation only blanketed the territory, the sky, and the shallow surface layers of the earth.
The subterranean currents of the deep earth veins were left unhindered.
Guided by Lin Ling, Li Fan crossed the Alliance's defensive line and arrived in Jiushan Province.
Jiushan at this moment was likewise fraught with tension.
One could see that the Five Elders Association had constructed numerous fortresses across the nine mountain peaks.
They looked like black spheres buried underground, with only their upper domes exposed.
On the surface of these black spherical fortresses, a small red dot could faintly be seen, constantly drifting about.
The moment Li Fan cast his gaze toward one, the little red dot reacted instantly, fixing its gaze upon him.
A faint sense of crisis welled up in his heart.
Yet it vanished quickly as the locked red dot shifted away.
Evidently, Lin Ling had already sent the signal for their contact.
While waiting for their counterpart to arrive, Li Fan took the opportunity to observe Jiushan Province.
This had nothing to do with the Five Elders Association's defensive deployments; Li Fan was merely trying to see if he could find traces of the Crossing Adversity Sect's yellow paper figurines here as well.
Unfortunately, the brief lingering effect brought by destroying the paper figurine had already faded. Li Fan scrutinized the surroundings for a long time without discovering where those hidden talismans were concealed.
*Out of sight, out of mind, but knowing they're there still leaves an uneasy knot in my chest,* Li Fan thought, frowning inwardly.
While he was lost in thought, a figure suddenly appeared on the horizon.
Covering a thousand li in a single instant, the figure stood before Li Fan the next moment.
Unlike their previous contact, the one who came to negotiate this time was a young cultivator dressed as a scholar, exuding an air of righteousness.
Curiously, this scholar carried a stone slab on his back.
The writing upon it seemed obscured by some kind of power, making the content illegible.
"Greetings to the two Fellow Daoists of the Federation," the scholar said in a gentle tone, offering a courteous bow.
*I can't even see through his cultivation.* Li Fan's heart tightened, not daring to be remiss.
"Fellow Daoist looks unfamiliar. Where is the person from before?"
"The Alliance launched a surprise attack some time ago. He has unfortunately perished," the scholar said flatly, his expression devoid of sorrow.
Whether that was true or not, Li Fan did not care.
Adopting a solemn expression, Li Fan got straight to the point: "This time, our Myriad Realms Association has come to seek assistance."
Only then did a flicker of surprise appear on the scholar's face.
However, he reacted quickly: "Though our past dealings were trades, we have indeed benefited greatly. If you have any difficulties, please speak freely."
Li Fan glanced left and right, then laid down a formation to isolate them from the outside world.
Then, lowering his voice, he spoke in a whisper: "Not long ago, after emerging from closed-door cultivation, an elder of our Federation suddenly discovered something that shocked him to his core."
"The world of this Xuanhuang Realm is actually teeming with one-eyed little figures crafted from yellow talisman paper."
"Not only the Xuanhuang Realm proper, but even the surrounding pocket worlds are full of these things."
"The feeling of being constantly watched is truly unbearable. We tried many methods, but none could clear these talismans away..."
"May I ask if Fellow Daoist has any good strategy?"
Li Fan spoke slowly while watching the other man's reaction.
When he saw that the scholar had no particular reaction to the mention of the talisman paper figures, Li Fan knew.
This person's identity was certainly extraordinary, and he must have long been aware of the Crossing Adversity Sect's talismans.
The scholar carrying the stone slab straightened his posture and said solemnly, "There are indeed many methods to clean these talismans away. However, the cost is somewhat steep, so we do not advise you to do so."
"Besides..."
The stone slab on the scholar's back emitted a nearly imperceptible beam of azure light. He paused, then added, "These 'World-Observing Divine Eyes' have practically integrated into the fundamental laws of the Xuanhuang Realm. If they were to be eradicated entirely, it would inevitably bring immeasurable harm to the Xuanhuang Realm itself."
Having said this, the scholar's meaning was already abundantly clear.
Li Fan could not help but frown. "Speaking of which, your Five Elders Association has many old members from the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao of the past. The Crossing Adversity Sect is being so thoroughly disgusting—does nobody object to this?"
Chapter 862