A Dharma Transmitter was the highest-status presence in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals that Li Fan could possibly access since stepping into the Xuanhuang Realm.
Even better, this particular Dharma Transmitter was not a real one at all.
His true identity was a malicious Dharma King of the Profound Heaven Sect.
"At the level of a Dharma Transmitter, any casual leak of information carries unimaginable value and inexhaustible benefits.
"Right now, the only difficulty is figuring out how to get in touch with this Mo Rubin and win his trust."
Just as with previous experiences in the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan had merely caught a glimpse of a fraction of Mo Rubin's memories.
Yet none of the information related to cultivation methods, divine abilities, or secret arts within those memories had been preserved.
Therefore, if he wanted to maintain a flawless facade before this Profound Heaven Sect Dharma King without giving himself away, he would have to plan meticulously.
Mo Rubin's infiltration into the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals did not seem to have exerted any influence on the Xuanhuang Realm's current situation.
Throughout this period, clashes between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association continued unabated.
The foremost issue remained the Dharma-Transmitting manifestation repeatedly appearing in the Five Elders Association's airspace.
The techniques it could wield grew increasingly varied, and the manifestation itself grew steadily more lifelike.
Judging from the latest recordings sent over from the Five Elders Association, subtle emotional fluctuations could actually be observed on the originally solemn, majestic countenance of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable.
It truly could not help but inspire dread in anyone who saw it.
Perhaps because this manifestation resembled the true Chuanfa more and more, even those five Longevity Heavenly Venerables felt a touch of unease.
When the Dharma-Transmitting manifestation appeared yet again, billowing black clouds suddenly surged from the horizon, blanketing the sky entirely.
The province was plunged into absolute darkness in an instant, sealed off from within and without, and the Dharma-Transmitting manifestation was completely swallowed by the gloom.
Li Fan had no way of knowing the final outcome.
However, after that battle, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals did indeed show considerably more restraint.
The frequency with which they deployed the Dharma-Transmitting manifestation slowed significantly, though it did not cease altogether.
As for the Five Elders Association, they seemed to have abandoned much hope that the Myriad Realms Association could uncover intelligence concerning the thirty-three Immortal Chosen.
Inquiries asking for assistance virtually dried up.
At most, they feigned casual interest in the sudden downfall of the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association.
Li Fan merely replied that the Congyun Mutual Aid Association had nothing to do with the Myriad Realms Association.
The Myriad Realms Association's prospects were flourishing.
The Five Elders Association would do best to mind their own business.
Yet paper could never wrap fire; as the Dharma-Transmitting manifestation was summoned time and again, rumors concerning it eventually began spreading through the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Even though Alliance authorities forbade open discussion, they could not stop the cultivators who relished talking about it.
For a time, opinions ran rampant, and all manner of speculations sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
Li Fan kept an ear to the ground as well, gathering what information he could.
Most of it was mere wild conjecture from cultivators, plainly unable to withstand scrutiny.
Yet one rumor among them stirred Li Fan's curiosity.
It claimed that this Dharma-Transmitting manifestation was very likely connected to the Statues of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable scattered across the Alliance.
"Fellow Daoists, have you ever wondered why a stone statue of the venerable Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable stands towering in every single Sky City?
"Moreover, I wonder if you have ever used the ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays. The interior of these stone statues has actually been hollowed out to serve as the carriers for those arrays!
"What utter sacrilege!
"Though the venerable Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable remains aloof from mundane affairs, his divine might endures. Without his permission, would the Alliance authorities dare to do such a thing?!
"I am certain there must be something strange going on!" declared a cultivator named Yue Gu emphatically.
"Brother Yue makes a lot of sense! No wonder every time I use that ultra-long-distance teleportation array and see the cloud mass representing the Xuanhuang Realm, I feel an indescribable sense of weirdness in my heart."
"I think you are overthinking it. It is obvious that the Heavenly Venerable manifestation is cast through the thirty-three Immortal Chosen—what does it have to do with those stone statues?!"
Everyone clung to their own views, and none could convince the other.
Li Fan, on the other hand, recalled the stone statues of Chuanfa wearing tall headdresses in numerous Sky Cities, lost in thought.
"The Xuanhuang Realm holds a uniquely important place in Chuanfa's heart.
"Even if he stayed away for a time, he shouldn't have left the Pitch-Black Starry Sky. And if I were Chuanfa, to be safe, I would certainly leave backup measures in the Xuanhuang Realm in case of unforeseen circumstances.
"Perhaps these stone statues are Chuanfa's methods.
"And the thirty-three Immortal Chosen are the keys to unlock them,"
Li Fan surmised inwardly.
Yet he was in no hurry to verify this.
In any case, he had already left a fragment of the Dissociation Disc inside Wei Qizheng, one of the Immortal Chosen. As long as he waited until Wei Qizheng perished, the recorded secrets would be relayed back to him.
Li Fan simply did not believe that with the thirty-three Immortal Chosen possessing Dao Integration cultivation at best, unleashing the Heavenly Venerable manifestation so frequently would come without any cost.
Therefore, before this life of his came to an end, he would surely see the day Wei Qizheng fell.
Provided no inexplicable accident occurred.
Temporarily putting the conflicts of the Xuanhuang Realm out of his mind, Li Fan entered a secret chamber in the Spirit Wood Realm and began refining a new clone.
His previous clone, Ji Shaoli, had already died at the hands of the young Dharma Transmitter. The Xuanhuang Realm was fraught with danger, and lacking a clone was truly inconvenient.
This time, Li Fan secretly took a thread of Su Yuqing's essence blood and began the refining process.
Unlike his past clone crafting, having mastered the Limitless Waxing and Waning Method, Li Fan subjected the clone's soul to special treatment.
He excised all memories concerning True Reversion from the soul
and modified the rest.
The clone would still transmit its perceptions back to the original body, but what the original body experienced would only be passively and selectively received by the clone.
In the clone's memories, he was a clone created by an ancient, slumbering Profound Heaven Sect Dharma King after awakening.
Because of severe injuries, his own memories were also fragmented and incomplete.
Yet he remembered the benevolence of the King of Profound Heaven from those days and was sworn to rebuild the Profound Heaven Sect.
Thus, he secretly gathered the strength of various pocket worlds and organized the Myriad Realms Association,
raising troops and recruiting followers to revive the sect.
Such a method of altering a soul was something Li Fan had previously been unable to accomplish.
However, after mastering the Limitless Waxing and Waning Method, it became achievable.
Although the technique remained somewhat crude—unable to make delicate cuts, to the point of directly inflicting soul trauma—
the Limitless Waxing and Waning Method's monstrous capacity for repairing the soul allowed Li Fan, through continuous trials, to barely manage targeted soul modifications.
Fabricating the memories of his clone Ji Shaoli earlier to deceive the young Dharma Transmitter
had relied on this very method.
***
Three days later.
Looking at the extraordinarily handsome clone before him, whose masculine form carried a feminine grace, Li Fan showed a look of satisfaction.
"True caution means guarding even against one's own clone.
"And when necessary, throwing it out as bait."
This was the progress Li Fan had achieved after going through the incidents with the young Dharma Transmitter and the Profound Heaven Sect Dharma King.
Pointing a finger toward the clone's glabella, the clone's brows trembled slightly as it gradually awakened.
"I shall call you Li Qing."
Chapter 900