Chapter 174: Dream Return to Zixiao Sect

“Junior brother? Junior brother?”

Everything around him seemed to be separated by a layer of viscous, transparent substance.

When sounds reached his ears, they were distorted and strange.

The person seemed to wave a hand.

As the scene registered in Li Fan's eyes, it felt like a ferocious beast launching an attack.

Startled, Li Fan instinctively tried to counterattack.

But he suddenly found that he couldn't use his divine abilities, such as the Cloud Sword or Sky-Overturning Palm.

Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.

Then, words like "Fallen Immortal Realm," "ritual," and "first exploration" suddenly appeared in his mind.

As if surfacing from underwater, the surrounding scene gradually became clear and bright.

Light and sound returned to normal.

“Junior brother? What are you thinking about? You’ve been spacing out for so long.”

A young cultivator, dressed in a purple and white Daoist robe with a purple lightning mark between his brows, was looking over at him.

“It’s your first time descending the mountain in eighteen years, aren't you perhaps thinking about all the fun places your senior brother told you about?”

“Don’t worry, once our task is done. Whether it’s the Red Dust District or Drunken Immortal Tower, your senior brother will make sure you have a good experience!”

The young cultivator winked and made a face; despite being a senior brother, he wasn't very serious.

Li Fan slowly came back to his senses at this moment.

“Purple Cloud Sect, Li Chen.”

“Accompanied by Senior Brother Zhang Qianmo, descending the mountain to Ningyuan City to collect longevity fruits.”

In an instant, several pieces of information appeared in Li Fan's mind.

“Senior brother is jesting. It’s important to focus on the task at hand!” Li Fan replied indifferently, mimicking Li Chen’s usual personality from the memories in his mind.

“Ugh, how boring!” Zhang Qianmo rolled his eyes and sighed.

Then he lazily lay back, no longer paying attention to Li Fan.

Li Fan, meanwhile, took the opportunity to observe his surroundings.

He seemed to be currently on a purple cloud.

This purple cloud appeared to be a flying magic artifact, soaring rapidly through the high altitude.

The outer perimeter of the purple cloud seemed to have a protective formation, warding off the fierce winds.

Sitting on the purple cloud was quiet and comfortable.

“Is this the Fallen Immortal Realm…”

Li Fan sensed carefully, a strange look in his eyes.

“It's actually a world derived from the thoughts of a fallen immortal before their demise? So real…”

Li Fan stroked the purple cloud beneath him, feeling the ubiquitous spiritual energy in the air.

“If it weren’t for my previous memories, I would almost think I had transmigrated again.”

After a long while, Li Fan finally suppressed the shock in his heart.

“First entry, good luck. I have an original identity.”

Li Fan recalled the precautions Chen Ying had given him.

After entering the Fallen Immortal Realm, one could either form a divine consciousness avatar and explore independently.

Or, one could directly inhabit the body of an original inhabitant of the Fallen Immortal Realm and acquire their identity.

Both situations had their pros and cons.

A divine consciousness avatar could fully exert one’s original strength and abilities, but without an identity, one would be a complete outsider.

Knowing nothing about the surroundings, it would be much harder to explore and acquire opportunities.

Furthermore, a divine consciousness avatar would be corroded much faster.

With an original identity, having a “body” as a shield significantly slowed down the rate of corrosion.

This also meant being able to stay in the Fallen Immortal Realm for much longer.

Moreover, one could easily participate in certain specific events.

The downside was that the strength exerted could only be that of the occupied being.

Also, one had to be careful not to let familiar people around them notice.

Otherwise, they would be seen as having “seized the body” and would face relentless pursuit.

Li Fan scrolled through the memories in Li Chen’s mind, adapting to this identity as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he sensed the consumption of his divine consciousness.

Indeed, even with the protection of the body, Li Fan could clearly sense that his divine consciousness was constantly being corroded.

The intensity hadn't changed, but the total amount was slowly decreasing.

“When my divine consciousness is completely eroded, I will be forced to exit the Fallen Immortal Realm.”

“At this rate, I should only be able to last for about half a month?”

Li Fan couldn't help but frown secretly.

“No wonder Chen Ying said that Golden Core cultivators can only barely operate here. And I even have an original identity.”

“If a divine consciousness avatar were to descend directly, I'm afraid it would only be able to stay in the Fallen Immortal Realm for about seven or eight days.”

“Never mind, I didn't expect much good fortune from my first exploration anyway. Consider it a learning experience.”

Thinking this, Li Fan began to examine the details of Li Chen from the Purple Cloud Sect.

“It's unclear where this area is located. The Purple Cloud Sect is the largest cultivation sect within a ten-thousand-mile radius.”

“Li Chen and Zhang Qianmo are both inner disciples of the Purple Cloud Sect. Their master is Nascent Soul True Monarch Lingyunzi.”

“They cultivate the ‘Purple Cloud Thunder Control True Art.’ Their cultivation level is late Foundation Establishment.”

Li Fan searched through the memories in his mind regarding the ‘Purple Cloud Thunder Control True Art,’ but found them to be completely blank.

Although he was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, there were no traces of heavenly treasures within his body.

The great tribulation had not yet arrived, and immortal arts could still be cultivated concurrently.

The Immortal-Mortal Miasma had not yet appeared.

“So I'm at this point in time…” According to Chen Ying, different areas within the Fallen Immortal Realm could be at different time points.

The time span was also extremely long.

And at the current time point Li Fan was in, the cultivation world was relatively peaceful.

From this perspective, Li Fan's start this time was quite smooth.

With his thoughts churning, he rested on the purple cloud for most of the day.

Li Fan and Zhang Qianmo were finally nearing their destination for this trip: Ningyuan City.

Zhang Qianmo yawned and got to his feet.

“Junior brother, I need to discuss something with you.” Zhang Qianmo said with a playful grin, looking at Li Fan, “I haven't seen my beloved Chixia in years, and my heart is itching with impatience; I can't wait a moment longer!”

“So…”

He winked at Li Fan.

“I’ll leave the minor task of collecting the longevity fruits to you.”

He patted Li Fan’s shoulder, and without waiting for a reply, transformed into a streak of purple light and darted downwards.

“Separate actions are good. It prevents any flaws from being exposed.”

Li Fan was more than happy to oblige, controlling the Purple Cloud Flying Vehicle and slowly descending.

“Which senior brother has arrived this time?” Before he even landed, another streak of purple light slowly approached.

The fluctuations of cultivation aura emanating from it were extremely similar to the ‘Purple Cloud Thunder Control True Art.’

Only it was more than a little weaker.

The figure stopped, and Li Fan looked over, seeing a middle-aged man dressed in a gray Daoist robe, seemingly only at the late Qi Refinement stage of cultivation.

He seemed to recognize Li Fan; after seeing his face clearly, he cupped his hands and said, “So it is Senior Brother Li himself. Forgive me for not coming out to greet you sooner!”

At this moment, information about this person also flashed in Li Fan's mind.

“Song Hesong, outer disciple of the Purple Cloud Sect, administrator of Ningyuan City.”

“No need for pleasantries, the task at hand is important. Take me to collect the longevity fruits.” Li Fan said with a cold, arrogant expression, adhering to the mannerisms from the memories.

Song Hesong didn't take offense, as there was a vast difference in status between outer and inner disciples.

Moreover, this person was at the late Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation.

Song Hesong being able to call him “Senior Brother” was already thanks to his position as the administrator of Ningyuan City.

He dared not delay and led Li Fan into Ningyuan City.

An invisible barrier seemed to envelop Ningyuan City.

After passing through it, Li Fan's gaze sharpened, staring at the sky.