At this moment, Ji Shaoli stood frozen in place like a lamb awaiting slaughter, the shock and terror on his face congealed.
Looking at the withered yellow branch in his opponent's hand, a mocking smile crept onto the young man's lips.
"An Earth Vein Ancient Tree, and this mysterious seven-colored radiance..."
"A mere Golden Core cultivator, yet in possession of such treasures."
"Just when did such an extraordinary organization emerge under the rule of our Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals?"
"Let me take a good look."
Under the young man's gaze, Ji Shaoli's soul was slowly drawn out of his body.
In that instant, his physical form aged a thousandfold.
Within moments, it turned into a skeleton and collapsed into a pile of scattered bones.
The technique the young man was currently executing was evidently an exceptionally vicious form of soul searching!
Ji Shaoli's soul fell into the young man's grasp without the slightest resistance.
In an instant, as the soul searching progressed, a vast torrent of information surged into the young man's mind.
The young man's body shuddered slightly, a flicker of astonishment flashing through his eyes.
...
"The Profound Heaven Sect?"
At that moment, the soul searching seemed to trigger a restriction within the soul.
Before the young man could finish reading all the information held within the soul in his grasp, it withered like a dying flower, dimming and fading into nothingness.
The young man did not mind this.
If what he had just seen through the soul searching was true, having such a restriction placed on the soul was only natural.
"To think that after several millennia, the ghost of the Profound Heaven Sect still refuses to disperse."
The young man frowned slightly.
From what he had retrieved just now, this cultivator named Ji Shaoli had been taken in as a subordinate by a mysterious Profound Heaven Dharma King.
They were secretly cultivating power throughout the Congyun Sea and across the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, plotting a resurgence.
"What era do they think it is? Still refusing to give up—truly ridiculous."
The young man gave a cold snort, yet inwardly he did not dare slacken in the slightest.
"The Purple Cloud Sect ruins? To think they're hiding in a place like that..."
Baleful intent flashed in his eyes as his figure slowly vanished.
...
Meanwhile.
Li Fan, who was already not far from the Purple Cloud Sect, sensed the disappearance of his avatar.
His figure paused slightly.
A few hazy images surfaced in his mind, leaving him in thought. 'The Department of Heavenly Oversight?'
'Such an organization actually exists.'
'Then again, it makes sense.'
'My earlier notion that I could casually cultivate Dao Integration cultivators just by knowing where animas of Heaven and Earth were was indeed somewhat naive.'
'The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has existed for thousands of years; if it didn't even possess this degree of control, it would have been overthrown long ago.'
Setting the thought aside for now, Li Fan looked toward the nearby Purple Cloud Sect ruins.
"Now that the fish has taken the bait, I'll just sit back and watch the show."
His eyes narrowed, and his divine sense swept out.
Soon, based on intelligence from his past life and that faint wisp of vitality ordinary people would easily overlook, Li Fan located the slumbering Profound Heaven Dharma King in a sealed chamber deep underground!
Judging by his appearance, he was indeed identical to the Purple Cloud Sect's Li Chen, whom Li Fan had once possessed!
He unleashed a streak of Extinction Sword Qi straight into the depths of the earth.
Carrying an aura of ruinous might, it threatened to engulf everything within the secret chamber.
The moment the black light was about to strike the chamber, strands of golden thread materialized out of the void.
The chamber collapsed, yet the barrier formed by concentric loops of golden thread firmly shielded Li Chen at its center.
Seeing this, Li Fan relentlessly launched several more destructive sword qi blasts in succession.
Bombarded by the immense force, the golden threads caved inward.
They looked on the verge of snapping at any moment.
At this life-and-death crisis, the Profound Heaven Dharma King finally opened his eyes.
Li Fan smiled faintly, his figure flickering before vanishing without a trace.
A moment later, once Li Chen was fully awake, he stared blankly where he stood for a short while.
Having slumbered for so long, it took him time to sort through the memories in his mind.
Yet before he could fully comprehend his current situation, Li Chen's expression shifted slightly.
For he suddenly realized that the surrounding space appeared to have been locked down.
Connecting this with the attack he had just suffered, Li Chen instantly understood: his hiding place had somehow been discovered.
Still, he was a Profound Heaven Dharma King after all—someone who had once escaped with ease even under the hunt of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao.
Alarmed but not panicked, he first retrieved a porcelain bottle from his storage ring.
He took a sip of the Seven-Colored Nectar inside.
His aura, languid from prolonged slumber, solidified in an instant.
Just as Li Chen was recovering his strength, a portal opened in the sky, and several dozen black-robed cultivators marched out together.
Solemn of countenance, the killing intent swirling around them was almost tangible.
And leading them was none other than the young cultivator who had just performed soul searching on Ji Shaoli in the Congyun Sea.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he swept his gaze across the ruins below.
"Three bell tolls—it truly is a Profound Heaven Dharma King!"
Feeling a surge of excitement, the young man waved his hand. The black-robed cultivators immediately dispersed to every corner of the sky, each holding a small mirror.
Once in position, an endless expanse of teal-green light burst from the mirrors.
In a flash, the light swept across the entire area.
Illuminated by the green light, the subterranean space turned virtually transparent.
And so, Li Chen, concealed below, was exposed before the Alliance members.
Though surrounded, Li Chen showed no panic.
He merely stared at the small mirrors in the hands of the black-robed cultivators, a flicker of reminiscence and resentment passing through his eyes.
Seeing the look in Li Chen's eyes, the young Dharma Transmitter sneered inwardly.
With a thought, the surrounding black-robed cultivators raised their mirrors high at his bidding.
They aimed countless beams of green light directly down at the Profound Heaven Dharma King below.
The green beams bound Li Chen like solid shackles.
A sneer crossed Li Chen's face. "Using things from our Profound Heaven Sect to capture a Profound Heaven Dharma King?"
"Have the cultivators of today truly become this foolish?"
A crisp chime of a bell seemed to accompany Li Chen's words, ringing out beside him.
In an instant, the green light binding him began to bend in an eerie manner.
The restraint loosened.
Expressions diverged instantly on Li Chen's and the young man's faces.
Li Chen showed surprise and solemnity.
The young man, however, showed sheer ecstasy.
"Fellow cultivator of the Profound Heaven Sect, why don't you come with me!" Taking a deep breath to suppress his excitement, he called out.
Li Chen ignored him completely.
The crisp bell chimed once more, and the green light emanating from the mirrors began to shake violently.
Then, as if spinning out of control, it erupted with violent force.
In an instant, the green light engulfed the entire Purple Cloud Sect ruins.
Under the cover of the blinding brilliance, right before everyone's eyes, Li Chen's figure vanished!
It happened so fast that even the young Dharma Transmitter was caught off guard.
Chapter 892