Spirit Wood Realm.
"Hmm? Why hasn't the gray mold erupted yet?" Having waited nearly an entire month without hearing any news whatsoever, Li Fan could not help feeling somewhat bewildered.
"It doesn't make sense."
Thinking it over and carefully reviewing the situation, Li Fan felt that the issue could only lie with that Dharma Transmitter.
*He truly lives up to his standing as one of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' supreme rulers, an entity who has survived from the ancient cataclysm to this day.*
*Though it still falls short of the word "Hunger" above the Immortal Ruins, the destructive power of the gray mold should surpass an ordinary Longevity realm cultivator...*
*To think he could resolve it so easily and without making a sound...*
*Hmm, perhaps the proper way to use the gray mold is to secretly nibble away across various parts of the Xuanhuang Realm first, then detonate at multiple points simultaneously...*
While Li Fan, well-versed in pharmacopeia, was pondering in secret, the only thought god-demon he had left behind—the one possessed by Mo Rubin—finally sent a delayed transmission.
"Brother Xingwang, is all well?"
"Who? What scoundrel dares intrude!" Li Fan feigned having forgotten him entirely.
Without another word, he moved to attack.
Yet without the support of the myriad god-demons, in terms of sheer divine sense power, Li Fan was clearly no match for Mo Rubin at the moment.
Mo Rubin parried while trying to awaken "Sun Xingwang's" memories.
After putting on a show for a while, a faceless stone statue slowly emerged within the empty sea of consciousness, radiating a faint golden light.
Li Fan also gradually halted his attacks.
He stared at Mo Rubin for a good while, his expression inscrutable as he said, "You're finally here."
"Hmph. The two of us brothers almost never saw each other again."
Li Fan spoke with a hostile tone, glaring furiously. "Didn't we agree that when the time came, you would step forward in person to take on the mission of purging the god-demons? Why was it some scheming young boy who showed up?"
"If not for the protection of the Supreme Compassionate True Immortal of the Mortal Realm at the critical moment, I would have fallen into his trap and leaked every last secret!"
"Or was this the outcome you wanted all along? Murder by a borrowed blade?"
Traces of killing intent surfaced on Li Fan's face.
Mo Rubin looked shaken. "Brother Xingwang, don't misunderstand! I never expected Dharma Transmitter Jiang to intervene personally either!"
"The commotion you caused was simply too massive, bordering on overturning Xuanhuang itself."
"To be honest, even I was startled at the time."
There was a hint of helplessness in Mo Rubin's voice.
"Oh? So you're saying it's my fault?"
Though the sea of consciousness was bathed in bright light, after those words were spoken, Mo Rubin suddenly felt a chill creep over him.
To prevent the other man from losing his mind, he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Brother Xingwang, how exactly did you repel him? Judging by his subsequent actions, he seems to have returned empty-handed, without gaining anything."
Li Fan said with some impatience, "I already told you, it was the protection of the Supreme Compassionate True Immortal of the Mortal Realm! Otherwise, I'd still be foolishly thinking I was him and he was me!"
At this, Mo Rubin finally confirmed that "Sun Xingwang" truly had escaped Dharma Transmitter Jiang's clutches.
After all, Dharma Transmitter Jiang's innate trait was known only to the other Dharma Transmitters.
Mo Rubin glanced casually at the fading stone statue above, thoughtful.
"Nevertheless, our ultimate goal has been achieved. Having resolved this crisis of rampaging god-demons, by convention, I will oversee the Alliance's key affairs for the coming period."
"So it is time to press the Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror once more," Mo Rubin said.
Li Fan waved a hand. "Same as before—you come up with the plan, and don't hesitate to tell me if you need me to do anything!"
Mo Rubin smiled. "There will be no need for you to take action this time, Brother Xingwang. Just wait patiently. When there is progress, I will contact you again."
"This time, my main purpose was to check on your condition. After all, Dharma Transmitter Jiang is truly difficult to deal with. I have always avoided direct confrontation with him..." Mo Rubin's tone turned somewhat grave.
"Tell me about this Dharma Transmitter in detail, so I won't be caught off guard if I run into him again in the future," Li Fan said, going along with the conversation.
"Originally, on the day he made his move, I wanted to warn you. But the Council of Dharma Transmitters happened to be in session; sending out a warning was the best I could manage."
"Dharma Transmitter Jiang is the foremost among the Dharma Transmitters. He possesses the supreme trait [All Things Are As Me]..."
"That Guixu Realm was left behind by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, capable of boundless [Reversion to Origin]..."
"Besides Dharma Transmitter Jiang, Dharma Transmitter Jiāng is also an exceptionally formidable adversary."
This time, Mo Rubin held nothing back, recounting in detail everything he knew about the various Dharma Transmitters.
"What you must keep in mind is that, unlike Dharma Transmitter Jiang who has always laid everything bare, the other Dharma Transmitters more or less harbor secrets of their own."
"After all, having wielded supreme authority over the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals for so many years, they command virtually limitless resources..."
"Who knows what bizarre things they have developed in secret? For instance, the earlier Sky-Patrolling Arrows—their mature manufacturing plan was provided by Dharma Transmitter Zhao."
...
Through this conversation, Li Fan not only learned why the gray mold had failed to erupt, but also obtained a substantial amount of intelligence for the first time regarding the Dharma Transmitters who had always remained behind the scenes.
Every Dharma Transmitter belonged to the true privileged class of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. Their annual quota of contribution points was virtually limitless, and their merit rank stood at the supreme level of Yan Forty-Nine.
Entering the contribution point and merit ranking system was merely a formality to uphold the Alliance's institutional structure.
The Dharma Transmitters existed by attaching themselves to the Xuanhuang Realm and the Dao established by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable. Though this permanently barred them from attaining Longevity, they still shared longevity with heaven and earth, immortal and ageless.
Furthermore, it was said that even if they perished due to some circumstance, they could descend upon the world anew through a method akin to restoring a "backup."
Of course, an occurrence such as a Dharma Transmitter being attacked and perishing had never once happened since the Alliance's founding.
Thus, Mo Rubin did not know whether it was true.
There were eighteen seats in total for the Dharma Transmitters, unchanged since the founding of the Alliance.
Nor would they ever change in the future.
They were the true upper echelon of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals; any so-called regulations or decrees of the Alliance held no sway over them.
Only resolutions passed within the Council of Dharma Transmitters could affect them.
They also possessed privileges ordinary cultivators could not even fathom.
For example: requisition.
Within the territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, if a Dharma Transmitter took an interest in any cultivator, for whatever reason, they held the authority to conscript that cultivator into their pocket world.
And the chosen cultivators vanished as though evaporating into thin air.
No records of them would be preserved.
For thousands of years, the Dharma Transmitters had operated this way.
Chapter 973