Yet the ways of the world were ever unpredictable.
During the year Li Fan spent waiting patiently for changes across the Xuanhuang Realm and for his clone to successfully retrieve the black sword, an unprecedented event occurred—one he had never encountered in any of his previous reincarnations.
On that day, Tianyang, who had been lying idly in a daze within the Spirit Wood Realm, suddenly sat up.
He gazed toward a particular quarter of the Xuanhuang Realm with a grave expression.
Tianyang's abnormal behavior immediately put Li Fan on high alert.
Li Fan knew his junior brother's temperament well. Aside from himself and his senior brother, Tianyang was practically indifferent to everything else in existence.
For him to look this solemn meant something extraordinary had happened.
"Junior Brother, what is it?" Li Fan flashed over to Tianyang, asking with casual ease.
"I sensed an immense spatial fluctuation descend upon the Xuanhuang Realm. It was fleeting, and I cannot lock onto its location."
"But there is no mistake." Tianyang's speech had grown increasingly fluent, his words concise and direct.
Hearing this, Li Fan's heart gave a sudden thump. "An immense spatial fluctuation? What do you mean?"
"A simple spatial transmission within the Xuanhuang Realm would not produce such a powerful disturbance. This means the Xuanhuang Realm..."
"Has received a visitor from beyond?" Li Fan finished the thought.
Tianyang gave a slight nod.
Li Fan's expression instantly turned grim.
*Are there other cultivators surviving in this Pitch-Black Star Sea?*
*Or could this person have come from beyond the High Wall?*
Countless thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind.
His thoughts surged like waves; even with his profound composure, he could not settle his emotions for a long while.
Beyond the sheer shock of an offworld visitor, what mattered most was that such an occurrence had never once taken place across his past cycles of reincarnation.
What variable had shifted to cause this arrival?
*Perhaps there is another possibility,*
Li Fan thought, a sudden realization striking him. *This may have happened in previous lifetimes as well, but with my strength at the time, I was simply incapable of noticing it.*
Pondering this for a long time, Li Fan finally regained his calm.
Such a massive disturbance would certainly have been detected by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association as well.
He would see how they reacted first.
"Junior Brother, push yourself a little these days and see if you can track down that spatial fluctuation," Li Fan instructed.
Tianyang nodded in acceptance.
As it turned out, although the arrival of an outworld visitor was entirely unknown to the general public, it exerted a considerable impact on the ostensible rulers of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Most conspicuously, the originally tense standoff abruptly softened in mutual, tacit consensus.
For more than thirty days straight, the Heavenly Venerable's dharma manifestation of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals did not reappear once.
Over at the Five Elders Association, things were also uncharacteristically quiet.
It was as if both sides had simultaneously halted their present affairs to attend to something else.
Li Fan sent a transmission to the Five Elders Association inquiring about that intense spatial fluctuation.
While receiving their confirmation, he was told that they were currently investigating the source of the disturbance.
They also requested that if the Myriad Realms Association discovered anything, they must notify them at once.
***
*Such solemnity is rare indeed.* Li Fan stroked his chin, his brow furrowing slightly.
*Most crucially, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association joined forces to search for so many days, yet they still haven't found this visitor from beyond?*
A faint unease welled within Li Fan's heart.
After pacing back and forth, he made up his mind.
Heading to the dilapidated mountain shrine in Yongyun Province, he came before Senior Slate.
"You mean that fluctuation from not long ago?" Senior Slate seemed to have gained genuine comprehension regarding the Dao of fishing; the aura surrounding him waxed and waned like the tide, radiating a daunting presence with each ebb and flow.
With Li Fan's current strength, merely attempting to draw close caused him to be forcefully pushed back by this unintentionally emitted power. Li Fan was secretly astounded.
"Yes. The intensity of that spatial fluctuation clearly exceeded the scale of any transmission within the Xuanhuang Realm. If it is someone from outside our realm, I fear..." Li Fan said, genuine concern showing on his face.
"The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association joined forces to search for them, yet have come up empty-handed. For the safety of the Xuanhuang Realm, I had no choice but to seek Senior's guidance."
Senior Slate remained silent for a long while.
It was not that he refused to answer; rather, he appeared to have fallen asleep.
After a moment, once he roused himself again, he shook his head with a chuckle. "Tired of living though I may be, I still bear the Genesis Stone Slab upon my back. Were the Xuanhuang Realm truly plunged into mortal peril, how could I simply sit by and do nothing?"
"This matter is actually a misunderstanding. It is no visitor from beyond the heavens..."
"In short, if you truly wish to know the ins and outs of this, go to this place and find this person."
With that, Senior Slate gave a light tap toward Li Fan.
The corresponding information surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
As Senior Slate immersed himself once more in his contemplation of the Dao of fishing, Li Fan bowed respectfully and took his leave.
"Qinghuang Province, Han Zhong?"
Examining the information sent by Senior Slate, Li Fan could not help but frown.
Li Fan had visited Qinghuang Province before.
Situated in the southwestern corner of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, it was desolate and remote, vast in land but sparse in population.
It was even more backward than the Congyun Sea, truly the rearmost straggler among all territories under the Alliance's banner.
*Could it be that because of this very desolation, it serves as an ideal hiding spot?*
With that thought, Li Fan transformed into an escaping light and flew toward Qinghuang Province.
After spending considerable effort to reach his destination, he arrived before Han Zhong's door.
Even before stepping inside, Li Fan caught the strong stench of alcohol.
"Why won't anyone believe me?"
"Good wine!"
"Heh, none of it is real... It's just a dream! *Hic*..."
Li Fan's brow furrowed even deeper.
Stepping into the room, he saw a stubble-faced, disheveled cultivator lying haphazardly across the floor without a shred of dignity.
The man held a wine jar tightly in his grip, his eyes glazed and dazed.
Li Fan swept his divine sense over Han Zhong in an instant. There was no danger.
The man was merely a mid-Golden Core cultivator, posing no threat whatsoever.
"Are you Han Zhong?" Li Fan asked in a cold voice.
Han Zhong glanced blearily at Li Fan, staring blankly for a second.
Then, as if he had not seen Li Fan at all, he hoisted the wine jar and drank again on his own.
Li Fan gave a cold snort, intending to employ a soul-searching secret technique to pry the secrets straight from the drunkard's head.
However, just as Li Fan's right hand came to rest upon Han Zhong's scalp—
As if scalded by raging fire, Li Fan jerked his hand back in an instant.
"What?"
Li Fan stared at his palm, momentarily lost in thought.
Though his physical flesh showed no sign of harm, Li Fan distinctly sensed that the moment he touched the man, his divine soul had withered!
It was not an injury, but a soul-draining depletion, akin to a cultivator hovering on the brink of death!
A jolt ran through Li Fan's heart.
His divine soul's resilience had reached a level where few among Dao Integration cultivators could ever rival him.
Yet now, he had suffered harm before a petty Golden Core cultivator?
Chapter 908