Two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences had inexplicably vanished.
It sounded like something from a fantasy tale. Yet this bizarre event had actually occurred.
Ever since the fall of Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu, these two had met annually at the Heavenly Capital Dueling Arena to compete for the right to inherit the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique.
All these years had passed, yet neither side had achieved a decisive victory.
Each confrontation attracted countless cultivators to witness the spectacle, and it had almost become a staple event in Yuandao Province, with many cultivators from other provinces traveling great distances just to catch a glimpse of the two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences in battle.
However, when the appointed day for this year's duel arrived, not a single soul could be seen within the Heavenly Capital Dueling Arena.
The crowd waited for a long time, but neither Dugu Xi nor Dugu Shi appeared.
Assuming the duel had been rescheduled, none of the cultivators thought much of it at the time.
That was, until several days later, when shocking news arrived.
Friends, family, and subordinates of both men had tried every method possible, yet couldn't contact either of them.
They even petitioned the Heavenly Mechanism Hall to perform divinations, but not a single trace of the two could be found.
It was as if they had vanished into thin air!
The Lan Yu lineage was the most shaken by this development.
With their two top combatants missing, unease spread through their ranks.
Nerves were frayed, and everyone viewed each other with suspicion, wondering who might be the mastermind behind the disappearances.
After the initial shock, the other powers gradually began to assess the situation.
The Lan Yu lineage was massive, seemingly unshakable. But that was in the past.
First came years of internal strife that had depleted their forces and weakened their foundation.
Now, two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences had mysteriously disappeared.
Just how much strength did the Lan Yu lineage truly have left?
Greed began to take root in the hearts of many powers.
A covert Feather-Burning Alliance quietly formed.[1]
It started with small-scale skirmishes. Then, with the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique as the catalyst, large-scale slaughter erupted.
This Dao Unity technique had been divided into five parts by Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu before his fall, each encrypted within separate jade slips.
Four were entrusted to his most loyal followers for safekeeping.
The remaining one was given to the mysterious and reclusive Enforcer Hall within the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
Only by combining all five jade slips could the complete Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique be restored.
After the mysterious disappearance of the Dugu brothers attracted circling predators, the Lan Yu lineage's seemingly most loyal member actually betrayed them, taking another one-fifth of the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique with him. He was the Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence who had served Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu the longest and held the most seniority, Wei Xutuo.
Under the pretense of discussing countermeasures against their enemies, he lured another jade slip holder, Immortal Eminence Wu Tongtian, into a trap laid by the Feather-Burning Alliance.
Wu Tongtian died with bitter hatred, Wei Xutuo obtained two portions of the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique, and the Feather-Burning Alliance seized the opportunity to aggressively annex the Lan Yu lineage’s territory.
When news reached the Lan Yu lineage, their initial shock quickly turned to overwhelming fury.
A centipede may die, but it never stiffens.[2]
And so, a bloody counterattack began.
War ignited, then swept across all of Yuandao Province.
Countless Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation cultivators were caught in the conflict.
The death phenomena of cultivators appeared continuously in the skies above like an unending procession.
Only the plentiful Qi Refinement cultivators, whose combat power was too weak to even serve as cannon fodder, remained largely unaffected.
***
Brightmoon Palace.
Now, who's playing a grand game of chess?
Having observed all the major and minor events in Yuandao Province recently, Li Fan's eyes flickered. The thick scent of conspiracy behind it all was far too obvious.
Anyone with clear eyes can see the strangeness of this situation. Unfortunately, we're already deeply entangled in this chess game, unable to extricate ourselves.
Qi Refinement cultivators don't even qualify to be chess pieces.
No matter. You may look down on them, but I certainly won't disdain them.
Li Fan immediately gathered the members of Brightmoon Palace and issued the order for strategic expansion.
Though Su Xiaomei and the others didn't fully understand this command, they resolutely carried it out. By the end of Anchor Year 43, the technique transmission enterprise, which had been dormant for nearly half a year, began operating anew.
This time, they were even more aggressive than before. Under Li Fan's direction, Brightmoon Palace kept only thirty thousand contribution points in reserve, lending out all the rest.
The news of Brightmoon Palace's resumed operations spread instantly among Qi Refinement cultivators. Having waited bitterly for half a year, they were overjoyed, swarming to Brightmoon Lake in numbers that even exceeded Li Fan's expectations.
However, Li Fan didn't release all the technique transmission slots at once. He continued to select one “fated” cultivator every three days, fully whetting the appetites of the masses. It took nearly a month to lend out all the planned contribution points.
At this point, the debts owed to Brightmoon Palace amounted to nearly 220,000 contribution points. They had thirty thousand contribution points in reserve. Zhang Zhiliang's Posthumous Bequest still held 320,000 contribution points. The total came to 570,000 contribution points—a sum that would make even Spirit Transformation cultivators covetous.
Yet, the chaotic battles in Yuandao Province provided the perfect breeding ground for Li Fan to lie low and develop the enterprise. Through this unchecked growth, the terrifying power of compound interest was finally revealed.
By the end of Anchor Year 44, the debts owed to Brightmoon Palace had soared to 310,000 contribution points.
By Anchor Year 45, it was 450,000.
By Anchor Year 46, it was 630,000.
By mid Anchor Year 50, the debts owed to Brightmoon Palace had reached the astronomical figure of 2,200,000 contribution points.
In seven years, Brightmoon Palace had successfully helped over five hundred Qi Refinement cultivators achieve Foundation Establishment through paid technique transmission.
For each cultivator who successfully established their Dao Foundation, the Mountain-Sitting Art fed back nearly six months worth of cultivation progress to Li Fan. The accumulated feedback of nearly 250 years of cultivation had long since pushed Li Fan to the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
Under the surveillance of Formless Killing Mechanism, Li Fan personally witnessed over five hundred Foundation Establishment processes. By now, his understanding of establishing a Dao Foundation likely surpassed that of any other Foundation Establishment cultivator in this world.
At this time, the prodigiously talented Su Xiaomei had just broken through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm, while Xiao Heng still lingered at the early-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
Such terrifying cultivation speed made Li Fan feel as if he were in a dream. And the enormous amount of contribution points in his hands gave him the sense that he was treading on thin ice. Instead of feeling joy from his rapidly rising cultivation level, his heart grew increasingly uneasy.
He ordered the Brightmoon Palace members to cease the technique transmission operations and quickly reclaim the contribution points.
Li Fan also began studying methods to break through to the Golden Core realm in the Tianxuan Mirror while heightening his mental vigilance, ready to flee at any moment.
***
Somewhere in Yuandao Province, within an unknown space, a black-robed cultivator awoke from secluded meditation.
Out of habit, he formed a hand seal.
Before him, a golden ginkgo tree abruptly materialized.
The black-robed cultivator lightly swept his horsetail whisk.
Suddenly, the ginkgo tree, which had seemed frozen in time, began to transform. The tree swayed, and five golden leaves drifted downward.
A pleased expression crossed the black-robed cultivator’s face. “How is it that five Spirit Transformation cultivators died while I was just in seclusion?”
His hands moved, abruptly forming another hand seal.
Beside the golden ginkgo, another identical tree appeared. But this one glowed with a soft silver light.
As his whisk swept past, twenty-three silver leaves slowly fluttered down.
The black-robed cultivator could barely contain his delight. With a quick calculation, he understood the reason.
“So it was internal strife—what an unexpected surprise.
“Strange, whose scheme is this? I actually can’t deduce it?
“Hmph, no matter. The more deaths, the better.
“My strategy of using Lan Yu’s death to execute my brilliant plan already greatly reduced the number of cultivators.
“Now with this additional development, it looks like I’ll exceed the quota of my assigned task.”
The black-robed cultivator murmured to himself, unable to hide his pleasant surprise.
“Yuandao Province has been peaceful for too long, with far too many cultivators. They should have been pruned back long ago, but that old fool Lan Yu always protected them...
“Hmph, now that you’re dead and your Dao extinguished, you can’t show off anymore.”
A blue ginkgo appeared, this time shedding even more leaves.
The black-robed cultivator’s expression brightened instantly. “Now, the Heavenly Venerable’s assignment is almost as good as done.”
Next, out of habit, he summoned one last tree—a green ginkgo.
To his astonishment, the green ginkgo swelled with the wind. In the space of a single breath, it grew an entire circle larger. Vibrant with life, it swayed gracefully.
The black-robed cultivator shot to his feet, exclaiming in disbelief, “How can this be?
“The number of Foundation Establishment cultivators has tripled in ten years?”
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he urgently performed calculations.
“Brightmoon Palace’s technique transmission...”
After a long while, he gritted his teeth and spat out hatefully.
“And all those imitators...
“You will all die!”
Boom!
The gold, silver, blue, and green ginkgo trees before him instantly turned to dust.
Horsetail whisk in hand, the black-robed cultivator took one step forward and vanished.
1. 蓝羽(Lan Yu) means blue feather. ☜
2. 百足之虫，死而不僵. A powerful entity (like a dynasty, organization, or influential family) may be defeated or appear dead, but its remaining influence, connections, and structural power remain active and can still exert force long after its formal demise. ☜