Chapter 694: Immortal Alliance's Concealment Intent

Huangfu Song clutched the World-Measuring Mirror tightly, his eyes wide with disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost. Dongfang Yao, who usually appeared open-minded, also instantly turned crimson-eyed after connecting his divine sense to the World-Measuring Mirror. He watched as the over 30,000 Azure Profound Points, earned by him and his companions at great risk, vanished to zero in an instant.

"Huangfu! Is this thing reliable? How did it swallow all our contributions?" Veins bulged on his neck, and his face contorted in a grimace.

Li Fan, in contrast, remained much calmer. He checked and confirmed that the large number of Azure Profound Points they had accumulated from exploring the Life-Death Maze during the period when the World-Measuring Mirror was disconnected from the Heaven-Profound Mirror had indeed become empty.

"The change happened after we left the maze and connected with the Heaven-Profound Mirror..." Li Fan mused, then summoned the Samantabhadra True Boat, pulling Huangfu and Dongfang, who were exposed to the Soul-Devouring White Mist, into the cabin.

"Brothers, calm down. It's already a great fortune that we've preserved our lives this time. If the Azure Profound Points are gone, we can earn them again later," Li Fan said, comforting them from the prow of the Samantabhadra True Boat, while gazing into the white mist nearby. In the thick white mist, beyond the reach of their sight, some kind of change seemed to be subtly occurring.

"No, we absolutely cannot let this go. Either something went wrong with the Heaven-Profound Mirror, or our contributions were swallowed by someone. I must get an explanation!" Huangfu Song gnashed his teeth.

"Damn it, they're messing with me! If I find out who stole our Azure Profound Points..." Dongfang Yao's eyes blazed with fury. His chest heaved, clearly enraged to the extreme.

Seeing this, Li Fan stopped trying to persuade them. After such an incident, none of them had any further interest in exploring. Moreover, their supplies had been significantly depleted, so resuming the adventure would not have been wise. Thus, they hurried back to Tianyu City.

"Brothers, wait for my news. I'm going to find Dean Ji now," Huangfu Song said impatiently, heading off to find Ji Hongdao as soon as they returned to the city.

Dongfang Yao, however, could not suppress his anger. Even in the private room at the Dao Discussion Pavilion, he didn't sit down. Instead, he paced back and forth, stretching his body, his bones cracking audibly. Li Fan said little. He ordered a cup of spiritual tea, drank it, and then closed his eyes to wait.

After a short while, Huangfu Song walked in, looking utterly distraught. He plopped onto the ground, his eyes vacant.

"Huangfu, what did they say?" Dongfang Yao sensed something was wrong, yet couldn't hold back, pressing for an answer.

"It doesn't exist, it's gone..." Huangfu Song murmured softly.

"What doesn't exist?! Explain yourself clearly! You're going to drive me crazy!" Dongfang Yao roared.

"Dean Ji said that the Life-Death Maze we reported..." Roused by Dongfang Yao's shout, Huangfu Song regained some composure. He spoke haltingly, "That place simply doesn't exist."

Dongfang Yao first froze, then erupted in fury: "How dare they talk nonsense in broad daylight? We experienced it firsthand, and that broken mirror proves it..."

"That's what I told Dean Ji. But..." Huangfu Song's face turned ashen. "He asked me to take him back to the Life-Death Maze. But when I went there based on my memory, the Life-Death Maze had vanished."

"What?!" Dongfang Yao was stunned on the spot.

"There was only pure Soul-Devouring White Mist. The Great Array of Reversing Life and Death, the Sea of Deathly Silence, the Sea of Vitality – it all seemed like an illusion we experienced..." A hint of confusion appeared in Huangfu Song's eyes. "Did we truly experience all that? Or were we influenced by some bizarre entity in the white mist and fell into an illusion?" He looked so disoriented that he himself couldn't tell.

Dongfang Yao opened his mouth, full of things he wanted to say. But in the end, he slumped down next to Huangfu Song, grabbed a cup of spiritual tea in frustration, and gulped it down.

"An illusion? Humph..." In Li Fan's mind, the Dao Transformation Stone emitted a brilliant blue light, and the image of the Great Array of Reversing Life and Death instantly appeared. "What kind of illusion could create such an array?"

Li Fan was certain that their experiences in the Life-Death Maze were completely real. However, for some reason, the Myriad Immortals Alliance officially refused to acknowledge the existence of such a place.

"It seems the high-level officials of the Immortal Alliance, or perhaps the Heaven-Profound Mirror itself, know the true identity of this Life-Death Reversal Celestial Venerable. Furthermore, their connection appears to be significant. Since the Venerable currently has no desire to reveal themselves to the world, the Immortal Alliance has taken the initiative to conceal their traces."

Li Fan noticed faint fluctuations emanating from the location of the maze after they left it and the World-Measuring Mirror connected with the Heaven-Profound Mirror. It was likely at that moment that the maze was transferred elsewhere.

"Such means...""Interesting."

Although over 30,000 Azure Profound Points had vanished without a trace, Li Fan was not distraught like Huangfu and Dongfang. "If I'm not mistaken, compensation from the Myriad Immortals Alliance is already on its way."

"After all, they need to downplay major issues and resolve minor ones. Otherwise, if Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao were too upset and spoke of this to everyone they met, it would be difficult to manage the situation."

Having understood the crux of the matter, Li Fan was at ease. He calmly drank his spiritual tea, quietly waiting for someone to arrive.

Sure enough, a short while later, a knock sounded from outside the private room. "Who's there?" A flicker of vigilance appeared in Huangfu's and Dongfang's eyes.

Before they could react, the door opened on its own. A black-clad cultivator, whose face was indistinct, suddenly stood before Li Fan and the other two.

"You..." Dongfang Yao's expression changed dramatically, his muscles tensed, and he instantly entered a combat stance. Just as he was about to make a move, he felt a shock in his heart and was forced to stop. This was because Dongfang Yao saw the World-Measuring Mirror automatically fly out from Huangfu Song's embrace and float before the black-clad cultivator.

The black-clad cultivator lightly tapped the World-Measuring Mirror, then said coldly, "The maps of the areas already explored within the white mist barrier are all here. If you wish to explore more efficiently, you can go to the areas that are still blank. Remember, do not speak of what should not be spoken. Otherwise, no one can protect you. Take care of yourselves!"

With a flick of his finger, a ball of light flew towards Huangfu Song. Then, the black-clad cultivator's figure gradually distorted, slowly vanishing into thin air.

Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao stared blankly at the ball of light before them. After a long while, they seemed to finally understand something. Cold sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably. It took a long time for the two of them to recover. They exchanged a profound glance, both refraining from mentioning the matter again.

As his divine sense probed the ball of light, a hint of joy appeared on Huangfu Song's pale face: "Exemption Talismans!" Saying this, he took out three talismans, shimmering with a seven-colored radiance, from within it.