Chapter 1039: Renegade Preacher

“Spending two hundred thousand contribution points to buy her statue… it seems this Jia Yiyuan was also rescued by this ‘Calamity-Rescuing Immortal’.”

“And his strength is quite good; he’s very confident. He’s not afraid of any tricks hidden in the statue…”

“Too bad he met me.”

Li Fan noticed that the methods he had left on the statue were gradually being removed, and the sensory image slowly became blurry.

However, these methods were merely superficial.

His true connection with the statue was still through the essence of the Faceless True Immortal’s source power.

That was a power beyond the mortal realm; Li Fan was not afraid that anyone could remove it.

Although the image was somewhat blurry, Li Fan could still vaguely perceive the situation near the statue.

He watched as Jia Yiyuan arrived at a cave dwelling in Jiushan State and sat cross-legged in a secret room.

His expression was solemn, and he mumbled something.

Then, an invisible fluctuation appeared out of thin air, tearing open a rift in space, and Jia Yiyuan stepped into it.

The connection instantly grew weaker.

Only faint shadows and intermittent voices could be perceived.

“Senior Zhou’s identity has somehow been exposed. Go investigate.”

“That shop seems a bit strange.”

“Senior Zhou has recently rescued dozens more people. I can’t believe that after so many years, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance still hasn’t given up pursuing us.”

“Undeserved calamity? What’s the point of saying that now? No matter what, we are now irreconcilable enemies with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance!”

His tone carried deep-seated hatred, eliciting a chorus of agreement.

“They so disregard the lives of cultivators like us, treating us like weeds to be casually cleared away. They don’t care about truth or falsehood… Those people are completely unworthy of the title of Inheritor!”

“Exactly! Only figures like Senior Zhou are true Inheritors!”

“’Inheritor Zhou?’” The information received from the statue surprised Li Fan.

According to the information Mo Rubin had originally provided, there didn’t seem to be such a figure among the Inheritors in power within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

“No wonder Senior Zhou chose to part ways with them back then because she couldn’t stand their actions.”

“Sigh, actually, if she hadn’t left the Immortal Alliance back then, perhaps she could have argued more forcefully and changed the Immortal Alliance’s massacre orders.”

Many voices discussed the matter intermittently, and Li Fan, while eavesdropping, learned the full story.

It turned out that five hundred years ago, Inheritor Zhou voluntarily left the Inheritor Council due to ideological differences with Inheritor Jiang and others who held power in the Immortal Alliance.

Although she had left the highest echelons of Immortal Alliance power, she was still an Inheritor after all.

She still commanded resources unimaginable to ordinary people.

The refuge for these survivors was Inheritor Zhou’s personal minor realm.

“No wonder the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance pursued them so relentlessly, almost scouring every inch of land, yet still couldn’t find any trace of the survivors.”

“Even if they wanted to investigate an Inheritor’s private realm, they’d probably be powerless to do so.”

Li Fan pondered for a moment, deciding not to alert the enemy immediately.

Although he had found clues about the survivors, the involvement of an Inheritor-level existence made Li Fan more cautious.

After suffering a hidden loss from Mo Rubin, Li Fan deeply understood that no one who had survived for thousands of years in the Xuanhuang Realm was easy to deal with.

This was especially true for an Inheritor, who stood at the pinnacle of Immortal Alliance power.

“However, if she truly is as she appears…”

“Then our positions might be aligned. I could try to contact her privately first.”

Based on the results of his investigations over the past five years, Li Fan was almost certain that Mo Rubin had escaped with the Heavenly Profound Mirror that day.

This wasn’t just due to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance’s extremely bloody retaliation afterward, but also because the Heavenly Profound Mirror had developed many problems over these five years.

Initially, the transaction module inexplicably malfunctioned, leading to abnormal transaction amounts for millions of cultivators.

The cultivators’ demands for an explanation were fruitless, as the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance directly announced the closure of the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s transaction module.

Recently, rumors had also circulated among the populace that the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s cultivator living spaces were to be abolished.

This caused widespread panic among Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, who frantically snatched up idle cave dwellings in various states.

The price of cave dwellings in ordinary states had nearly doubled within three months, even in remote corners like the Congyun Sea.

Not to mention the Central Four States.

Although the Immortal Alliance officially stepped in to debunk the rumors, the Alliance had issued similar announcements when the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s transaction function was previously shut down.

This only made the rumors seem more substantiated.

The price of cave dwellings continued to soar, seemingly without end.

“The Heavenly Profound Mirror’s clone once said that after its escape, it would leave behind a sub-entity capable of performing most of the main body’s work.”

“It seems now that it still can’t compare to a true immortal artifact. Over time, all sorts of problems will arise.”

Li Fan mused to himself.

“Or, has something happened to the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s main body, thereby affecting this replica?”

Li Fan quickly dismissed this speculation.

Because the Disc of Ultimate Disintegration in his spiritual sea had not been affected in any way.

“Mo Rubin and the Heavenly Profound Mirror seem to have vanished from the Xuanhuang Realm over the past five years, leaving no trace.”

“Not only me, but the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has also been investigating their whereabouts.”

“Yet, they remain untraceable.”

A hint of doubt couldn’t help but arise in Li Fan’s heart.

He even wondered if they had already left the Xuanhuang Realm.

“Their goal is to find King Xuantian.”

“If they are already in King Xuantian’s hiding place, then perhaps it makes sense.”

“King Xuantian has been missing for so many years without being discovered. If he truly is still alive, then he must be in an extremely secluded location.”

The Dao Transformation Stone crystal in Li Fan’s mind rapidly operated, synthesizing all the clues gathered over the past five years.

He attempted to find some discernible traces.

“Everything that exists leaves a trace. I refuse to believe you can hide forever.”

“If that doesn’t work…”

A glint of ferocity flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.

The illusory image of the Book of Crossing Tribulations slowly emerged in the empty space before him, following his thoughts.

Beyond the countless shifting silhouettes, tiny, multicolored light clusters floated.

Inside the light clusters, an unknown yellow substance seemed to flow slowly.

The Book of Crossing Tribulations seemed to sense danger; its speed of flipping and transforming had already reached its peak.

“My young friend, let’s talk this through. Why are you contemplating killing again?”

A paper figure suddenly floated out from the Book of Crossing Tribulations, glancing at the multicolored light clusters with great apprehension, and slowly advised him.

Li Fan smiled faintly, ignoring him.

The paper figure sighed, a pained expression on its face, seemingly having grown accustomed to this.