Chapter 622: White Mist Defying Life and Death

Liu San did not immediately reply. Instead, after a moment of thought, he posed a question.

"Young Master, do you know if the Myriad Immortals Alliance has any similar strongholds within the White Mist Barrier?"

Li Fan was slightly taken aback. "Elder Liu, why do you ask?"

Liu San stroked his beard and slowly replied, "Previously, while I was navigating the vast White Mist in the Samantabhadra True Vessel, I occasionally glimpsed a group of strange-acting cultivators from afar."

"They had no protection whatsoever, simply exposed to the Essence-Devouring White Mist. They moved slowly, as if searching for something."

"Even stranger, I couldn't sense any life force from them at all. I initially thought they had perished and were merely corpses acting on instinct. Just as I was about to approach to investigate, one of them seemed to notice my presence, turned their head, and simultaneously sent out a divine sense probe."

"My main task at the time was to find the Valley of Longevity. To avoid unnecessary trouble, I sent out a divine thought indicating I had no ill intentions, and then proactively retreated."

"The Valley of Longevity is hidden within the White Mist. In the future, when our Medicine King Sect travels in and out, we might encounter that group again. It would be wise to make preparations early."

As Liu San recounted his story, Li Fan's expression gradually grew serious.

"Cultivators in the White Mist, with no life force, yet still acting like normal cultivators?"

Almost instantly, Li Fan recalled the Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators from his previous life who, over four hundred years after being anchored, emerged from the White Mist, appearing alive despite being dead.

"Has the principle of reversing life and death already succeeded?"

Li Fan immediately questioned Liu San in detail about the state of that group of cultivators.

A moment later, Li Fan felt somewhat settled.

"They were dazed and muddled, like walking corpses. They were still far from true resurrection, but indeed, characteristics of life had been reborn from their corpses."

This Longevity Celestial Venerable, who had secretly achieved enlightenment by reversing the principle of life and death without the world's knowledge, had an extremely mysterious identity.

In his previous life, even until the unification of Xuanhuang and the Heavenly Alliance's rule, this entity had never revealed itself.

Clearly, this entity was deliberately hiding its identity. Whatever the purpose, it definitely did not want to be disturbed.

"This matter is indeed very strange. However, it has nothing to do with our Medicine King Sect. If the sky falls, the Myriad Immortals Alliance will bear the brunt. In the future, if we encounter them again, we'll simply steer clear," Li Fan feigned contemplation for a moment before instructing.

Liu San also felt Li Fan's words made sense, so he nodded and no longer dwelled on it.

"The current location of the Valley of Longevity is within the White Mist Barrier at the border of Luoyan State and Lueying State." Liu San took out a map and marked the location.

"It's roughly here. In the White Mist, the perception of distance seems to be slightly off. However, the general direction should be correct."

Li Fan glanced at it and committed it to memory.

"It's not too far from Congyun Sea, so we can move there at any time. Moreover, Luoyan State is much more prosperous than Congyun Sea, making it more suitable as the first springboard for our Medicine King Sect's rise."

"However, to avoid arousing Zhou Qing'ang's suspicion, we need to gradually disengage from the affairs here in Congyun Sea," Li Fan explained.

"Young Master, you can decide. So many years have passed, so a little more time won't matter. Besides, I have already re-sealed the entrance to the Valley of Longevity with a secret method, making it absolutely impossible for outsiders to detect," Liu San nodded.

With this matter settled, Li Fan returned to the main topic and suggested a sparring match.

Liu San immediately became interested. "It seems the Young Master has made some gains cultivating a new method?"

"Indeed. Elder Liu, you might not know, but the Myriad Immortals Alliance's Sky Profound Mirror is truly an unparalleled divine artifact. It possesses all sorts of incredible powers, even helping me deduce divine abilities. It's a pity your cultivation is too high, Elder Liu, and your origin cannot be concealed, otherwise you could experience it for yourself," Li Fan said with a sigh, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Heh heh, even with more benefits, my life has run its course. As long as you, the Sect Master, can enjoy them, that's enough!" Liu San said dismissively.

Next, the two went to the training room within the Medicine King Sect Cauldron and had a match.

It was called sparring, but it was merely Liu San acting as a training partner.

No matter how extraordinary the Heaven-Shattering Heart Sword was, trying to cross two major cultivation realms and injure Liu San, who was at the Dao Integration stage, was still a bit difficult.

Nevertheless, Liu San highly praised this divine ability.

"As expected of the Sect Master's chosen successor, Young Master. To be able to comprehend such an artistic conception divine ability."

"One palm shatters the sky, the sword moves as one desires. The damage is astonishing and hard to guard against. If you, Young Master, break through to the Soul Transformation realm, facing this divine ability, I might truly find it a bit troublesome."

Liu San extended his left index finger, looking at a shallow bloodstain on it as he spoke.

Li Fan looked at his "achievement" and roughly gauged the power of the Heaven-Shattering Heart Sword.

He hadn't actually used his full strength, only employing the power of one Cavern Heaven Law Domain.

If the full power of the Five Elements Cavern Heaven circulated, the destructive force unleashed in an instant would likely be more than ten times stronger.

In that case, it wouldn't be as simple as a mere scratch.

"Able to wound but not kill. After all, the power gap between Dao Integration and Nascent Soul is not as small as that between Foundation Establishment and Nascent Soul."

Li Fan understood this clearly.

For the next period, Li Fan instructed Liu San to select some trustworthy individuals from the still-slumbering Medicine King Sect cultivators and awaken them first.

Soon, the Scarlet Flame Burning Sea and the Great Tribulation would descend, and Li Fan's foundation here would be buried along with them.

It wouldn't be easy to clean his identity again.

Therefore, he needed to seize this final opportunity to quickly advance the Medicine King Sect cultivators' integration into the alliance.

Liu San also deeply understood how difficult it was to acquire cultivation methods in the current environment where different laws could not be cultivated simultaneously, especially higher-level ones. Thus, he was exceptionally cautious when selecting personnel. However, in his early years, he had not been obsessed with power, merely following Liu Ruchen, focusing primarily on cultivation and alchemy.

As a result, he had no confidants and only knew the general character of the various Medicine King Sect disciples.

After careful consideration, he even secretly approached Li Fan and proactively suggested "forced control."

Although this was exactly what Li Fan wanted, he still had to maintain appearances.

He pretended to hesitate, lowering his head without a word.

Seeing this, Liu San couldn't help but advise, "Young Master, remember that compassion does not lead an army. The current situation is special and allows for no mistakes. The human heart has many facets, and one cannot know all of them. We cannot demand that everyone, like us, fight with all their might for the revival of the Medicine King Sect until death."

As if recalling something, Liu San sneered, "There are quite a few traitors in the Medicine King Sect."

"Back then..."

Liu San paused. "Now, the Myriad Immortals Alliance is powerful, even surpassing the Ten Immortal Sects. It's uncertain if they will awaken and, upon seeing the might of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, develop intentions to defect."