Yet the Five Elders Association's spy network seemed to have been significantly disrupted as well.
No one ever came to make contact.
Li Qing had no choice but to venture deeper, and only after arriving in a region known as Fanqing Prefecture did he finally receive a response.
Yet once the transmission connected, the other side remained silent, merely waiting for Li Qing to speak first.
"I am a member of the Myriad Realms Association. I have an urgent matter and need to reach your superior," Li Qing transmitted.
"Myriad Realms Association? What is that?" came a bewildered voice, as if shaking off sleep.
The voice sounded quite young.
After a burst of noisy static, the contact quickly changed to a composed middle-aged cultivator.
"Please forgive us, Fellow Daoist. Everywhere is in turmoil right now. Many key figures in our organization vanished during the great war, their fates unknown. As such, we cannot verify your identity at this time..."
He had flatly rejected Li Qing's request for a meeting.
After a brief silence, Li Qing said, "At times like this, crucial intelligence is needed more than ever. The news I hold is enough to overturn the Five Elders Association's perilous situation..."
"A monumental achievement—would you truly let it slip through your fingers? With so many positions vacant now, if you were to render such meritorious service and rise..."
"What's more, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals already holds the absolute upper hand. Are you actually worried I might be a spy sent by them?"
Li Qing's tone was thick with ridicule, breaking through the man's psychological defenses in just a few sentences.
The breathing on the other end instantly grew hurried and ragged.
Yet the communication cut off temporarily.
Li Qing was in no rush, waiting patiently with confidence.
Sure enough, after half a day, that middle-aged cultivator initiated contact.
"Where do we meet?"
"Let me be clear upfront: I am coming on my own. If your intelligence isn't reliable, I'll treat it as though I never saw you."
Li Qing gave a faint smile and relayed his location to him.
Before long, a streak of black light came speeding across the horizon.
A cultivator encased head to toe in metallic armor, his features obscured, quietly appeared before Li Qing.
"Not a bad suit of armor," Li Qing remarked.
The armor the middle-aged cultivator wore was identical to the equipment of the cultivators who had flown out from that floating city in the sky.
"Only at a time like this would Carefree Paradise be willing to bring out these good things."
"If they hadn't been hoarding and hiding them all this time, how could we have suffered such a wretched defeat?" the middle-aged cultivator replied briefly, his voice laden with resentment.
As he spoke, a transparent ripple washed out from his armor.
It expanded into the surroundings, forming a circular barrier that enclosed them both.
Cutting off inside from out, the scenery beyond the barrier instantly blurred.
"There, it's safe here. What is this important intelligence you mentioned?" The middle-aged man asked nervously, staring at Li Qing.
Li Qing sneered. "I told you, it is heavyweight intelligence capable of turning the tide of the war. How could I share it so easily?"
The middle-aged cultivator grew flustered. "Then what do you want?"
"At the very least, I won't speak until I see someone who can call the shots," Li Qing said unequivocally.
"If you don't speak, how do I know if you're lying? At such a sensitive juncture, I should bring an unidentified person to see the leadership? Do I have a death wish?" The middle-aged cultivator had clearly not handled intelligence or spy work in the past.
Virtually devoid of cunning or composure, he snapped in anger.
Seeing this, Li Qing didn't bother to keep wrangling with him and got straight to the point: "We, the Myriad Realms Association, know how to break the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Heavenly Venerable dharma manifestation. What do you say to that?"
"What?" The middle-aged cultivator was momentarily stunned before blurting out in disbelief.
"Is that true?" His voice trembled slightly.
"I'll wait right here for someone with actual authority to arrive," Li Qing said coolly.
The middle-aged cultivator lowered his head in thought for a moment, then ultimately gritted his teeth.
Without any perceptible divine sense fluctuation, he sent out the alert.
In the face of such heavyweight intelligence, the Five Elders Association finally demonstrated a glimmer of its due efficiency.
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, over a hundred black streaks of light flew to the site in unison.
All clad in metallic armor, they encircled Li Qing tightly.
Their leader was surprisingly a female cultivator. She walked directly up to Li Qing: "Fellow Daoist of the Myriad Realms Association?"
Li Qing nodded, confirming his identity.
"I am Qing Yang, in charge of rebuilding the postwar intelligence network. Follow me."
Surrounded by over a hundred cultivators, Li Qing arrived at an underground fortress.
His expression remained unperturbed throughout.
This earned him a great deal of credibility among the Five Elders Association cultivators.
This underground fortress was clearly newly built to deal with the offensive of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Reaching a secret chamber in its deepest recess, Qing Yang ordered the others out and faced Li Qing alone.
"Whatever you have to say, you may speak now," Qing Yang said without any emotion in her voice.
"When Miss Qing Yang doesn't even dare show her face, it's hard to earn my trust," Li Qing said with a chuckle, shaking his head.
After a brief silence, the black metal armor receded, revealing Qing Yang's true appearance.
Her features were not remarkable—the sort that would blend completely into a crowd.
Yet Li Qing keenly noticed a dispassionate indifference toward life in her eyes.
Li Qing scrutinized her for a long while before speaking slowly: "We exchange intelligence on the Immortal Chosen for the intelligence we want."
"Agreed," Qing Yang nodded.
"What do you want?" Qing Yang asked decisively.
"What exactly is the Immortal Alliance secret treasure demanded by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals?"
"Hm?" Seemingly taken aback by this question, Qing Yang froze on the spot.
"This... I do not know either. But it shouldn't be any state secret. Let me ask."
Metallic light once again veiled Qing Yang's face.
When her face was revealed once more, it was full of shock and uncertainty.
"The intelligence exceeds my clearance level..."
Now she was no longer so composed.
"Excuse me, wait here a moment." Qing Yang hurriedly left the secret chamber.
Li Qing, meanwhile, sank into thought.
*Sure enough, this Immortal Alliance relic, which seemed like a mere pretext, is actually a real thing.*
*What treasure did the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals have back then that was worth longing for over thousands of years?*
While Li Qing was pondering, Qing Yang returned quickly.
The expression on her face was rather strange.
She gave the answer straight out: "The so-called Immortal Alliance relic is actually some remnant souls and skeletal remains of the Immortal Alliance's founding members."
"Back when the immortal sects besieged the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, in order to make an example of them, they extracted the souls of those defeated, obstinate Dharma Transmitters and tortured them day and night."
"Back then, it was commonplace and proclaimed to all the world. Today, looking back, it seems rather unseemly, so it has been kept confidential."
In the Spirit Wood Realm, sensing the answer his clone had heard, Li Fan could not help narrowing his eyes.
He recalled that in his 115th lifetime, when the Five Elders Association launched a surprise raid on Wanxian Island, it seemed to have also been to exhume the remains of the first-generation Dharma Transmitters.
Chapter 937