The Stone Slab Scholar gazed at Li Fan for a moment, appearing somewhat surprised.
After a brief pause, he finally spoke, his tone enigmatic. "Even if you still harbor resentment, what is the point of holding a grudge against dead men?"
Li Fan was taken aback.
"The Crossing Adversity Sect of old has long since ceased to exist in this world," the Stone Slab Scholar said with a touch of melancholy. "The World-Observing Divine Eyes are merely carrying out the final orders they ever received."
"The Crossing Adversity Sect is gone?" Li Fan felt a jolt in his heart at the revelation.
Seeing Li Fan's utter disbelief, the scholar smiled faintly and nodded in confirmation. "It is absolute truth. As dead as dead can be."
"Could it be a diversion to evade disaster?"
To think the hypothetical nemesis he had envisioned all this time—the insidious schemer lurking behind the scenes—had already been completely wiped out.
Unable for a moment to accept that he had actually been matching wits and trading blows with thin air, Li Fan pressed on, unwilling to let the matter rest.
The Stone Slab Scholar gave a faint, mocking laugh. "The Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable took action in person. There was no conceivable way the Crossing Adversity Sect could have survived. It was acknowledged by all the sects back then.
"Still, your Myriad Realms Association is relatively young, so it is only natural that you would not know."
Li Fan fell silent at those words.
"After defying the principles of Heaven and Earth to achieve the status of Longevity Heavenly Venerable, Chuanfa rarely intervened in mundane affairs. Exterminating the Crossing Adversity Sect was one of the very few occasions he did. Even though they fled beyond the realm, they could not escape their demise," the Stone Slab Scholar remarked with a sigh.
"Yet though the culprits perished, the damage they caused was irreversible. Everyone had no choice but to let the World-Observing Divine Eyes remain.
"Fortunately, unless one actively searches for them, they are practically undetectable. So people simply let them be.
"Besides, in a hundred thousand years at most, these paper figurines will naturally dissipate with the passage of time. Because of that, no one truly pays them much mind."
The scholar explained the situation with utmost seriousness.
Li Fan now understood what had transpired.
It was just like the earlier analogy comparing the Xuanhuang Realm to a house.
After defying the principles of Heaven and Earth, the Longevity Heavenly Venerable had become a foundational part of the structure.
Yet due to a momentary lapse in vigilance, someone had rigged the entire house with surveillance.
Cameras were plastered all over the place, and they were an eyesore.
Crucially, when those devices were installed, every single one had been integrated directly into the main framework of the building.
Any attempt to tear them down would inevitably inflict irreparable damage upon the house itself.
As it stood, hovering just outside the Immortal Ruins on the fine line between life and death, this was a cost the cultivators within the Xuanhuang Realm could not bear.
Thus, no matter how bitter or resentful they felt, they had to hold their noses and swallow the bitter pill.
Consumed with rage, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable—who saw himself as the master of the house—personally struck down and slaughtered the Crossing Adversity Sect that had planted the surveillance.
Once he pieced it all together, Li Fan sank into a prolonged silence.
"Why on earth did the Crossing Adversity Sect do such a thing?"
A flicker of reminiscence crossed the Stone Slab Scholar's eyes.
"Those fellows always babbled mysteriously all day long. Who could ever decipher what was going through their heads?
"What is certain, however, is that they must have foreseen the consequences of their actions long before they took them.
"Yet they still obstinately went through with it.
"In truth, I am rather curious myself," the scholar said with a chuckle. "Alas, the dead are gone. Perhaps this riddle will never see the light of day."
Li Fan's expression turned solemn.
Judging from these words and the man's demeanor ever since his appearance, this scholar was undeniably a formidable cultivator who had survived from ancient times down to the present day.
"May I ask senior's title?" Li Fan cupped his hands in inquiry.
The scholar made no attempt to conceal it. "Among the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, the one without a name—that is me."
Li Fan's mind trembled violently.
Whenever he had searched through records of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao in the past, no matter how thoroughly he investigated, he could only ever find the names of nine sects.
Regarding the remaining one, not a single record existed.
At one point, Li Fan had even assumed that the 'Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao' was merely a conventional figure of speech, or perhaps that one of the sects had long since gone extinct.
Never had he expected to meet the most mysterious, nameless final sect in person today!
Moreover, the scholar's words carried a great deal of intrigue.
*The nameless one among the ten sects is me...*
*Like Senior Sister Zhao, where a single person is an entire sect?*
Even though the scholar before him appeared completely harmless, Li Fan elevated his vigilance to the absolute maximum.
This was likely the second powerhouse of the Longevity realm he had ever encountered in the flesh.
Seeing Li Fan bracing as if facing a mortal foe, the Stone Slab Scholar shook his head faintly.
"No need to be so tense. I have no interest in the disputes between the Five Elders Association and the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
"In fact, I care very little whether the Xuanhuang Realm lives or dies.
"If the Xuanhuang Realm were truly destroyed one day, I would surely be the first to clap and cheer." The scholar spoke with an underlying edge to his words.
He glanced down at the stone slab strapped to his back, an intricate look passing over his face.
Sensing that the man was not lying and had displayed no malice from the beginning, Li Fan grew a bit bolder.
"Senior, this stone slab..."
"In ancient times, cultivators mostly relied on the fruit of the Ruomu to steal the power of longevity from Heaven and Earth.
"Yet by a stroke of serendipity, I obtained this stone slab, allowing me to exist alongside Heaven and Earth, enduring undying for tens of millions of years." The scholar's voice was laden with the weight of ages and sheer exhaustion.
"This artifact is called the Genesis Stone Slab. Every single event that unfolds within the Xuanhuang Realm, down to the minutest detail, automatically surfaces and is recorded upon it.
"The world considers it a supreme treasure and seeks to wrest it from me.
"I would ask for nothing better, yet no one can take it away.
"Fellow Daoist of the Association, would you like to give it a try as well?" the scholar asked with utter sincerity.
Li Fan's heart pounded violently.
Every matter in the Xuanhuang Realm automatically surfaced and was recorded upon it?
Was this not an ultimate, enhanced fusion of the Bloodline Historical Records and the World-Observing Divine Eyes?
If one could acquire it, all secrets from ancient antiquity to the present day would fall into one's grasp.
What kind of unfathomable fortune was that?
Li Fan's mouth went instantly dry.
Yet a shred of rationality remained within him.
Faced with the scholar's invitation, Li Fan dared not act rashly and shook his head repeatedly.
The Stone Slab Scholar looked somewhat disappointed and explained, "My words are no falsehood. There is truly no harm in trying."
Even though the man spoke with immense earnestness, Li Fan remained steadfast in his refusal.
The scholar shook his head with a touch of loneliness and did not press the matter.
"People nowadays have grown more and more timid."
Li Fan closed his eyes, pretending entirely not to have heard.
After a moment, seeing that the scholar no longer brought up the subject, Li Fan asked again, "With your esteemed standing, Senior, what whim possessed you to come and make contact with me?"
The Stone Slab Scholar looked closely at Li Fan, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes.
"I came precisely for you."
Li Fan's heart tightened. "Senior, please do not frighten me. How could a lowly Nascent Soul cultivator like me possibly catch your discerning eye?"
"Though the Genesis Stone Slab can record everything within this world down to the finest detail..."
The Stone Slab Scholar raised his voice and declared, "Certain things transcend beyond the confines of the world itself."
Chapter 863