Inside Brightmoon Palace, everyone paled from the sudden upheaval.
The moment they sensed something wrong, they had immediately prepared to activate their random teleportation necklaces as Li Fan had instructed. Yet to their horror, they discovered their lifeline had failed them.
When the entire Brightmoon Lake was lifted skyward like a toy, Su Xiaomei and Xiao Heng’s expressions grew even more grim.
This level of power... it’s a Dao Unity Immortal Venerable!
Instantly, their hearts flooded with terror and confusion. Was this really necessary? All they did was earn some contribution points.
Their insignificant Brightmoon Palace couldn’t even withstand an assault from a Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence—why would a Dao Unity Immortal Venerable personally come after them?
Yet no matter how they felt, they were ants before a Dao Unity powerhouse, utterly powerless to resist. They could only watch helplessly as Brightmoon Palace rose higher from the ground, trapped like turtles in a jar with nowhere to flee.
"Little Sis, is this what you mean by Great Auspiciousness?" Yin Yueting’s face was deathly pale as she stared incredulously at her sister.
Yin Yuzhen looked utterly bewildered, momentarily at a loss for words. Then, she remembered something and quickly said, "Don’t worry, Senior will definitely intervene! He’ll turn misfortune into—"
Before she could finish, a tremendous explosion erupted outside Brightmoon Palace.
Everyone looked out to see a massive mushroom cloud blooming from the center of Brightmoon Palace, expanding rapidly until it enveloped all of Brightmoon Lake.
High above, Li Fan, who had triggered the explosion, wore a pained expression.
His original plan for the Lifespan-Devouring Spirit-Startling Array had been to buy a few moments of time when the powerful enemy descended, thus it was only intended to cover Brightmoon Palace’s vicinity.
He never expected that this unknown Dao Unity powerhouse wouldn’t attack directly, but instead ensnare the entire Brightmoon Lake, apparently intending to transport them elsewhere.
Li Fan had no choice but to pay several times the cost to expand the Lifespan-Devouring Spirit-Startling Array’s scale of self-destruction.
It’s fine. As long as we escape this, we’ll still turn a profit.
Having chosen to act, Li Fan didn’t hesitate. Carefully, he drew a black spike from his robes, aimed it at the silver thread in the sky, and hurled it violently.
As the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist detonated, the silver thread recoiled instinctively as if encountering its natural predator.
But then it ignored the mist entirely, instead tightening its grip on Brightmoon Lake.
A thunderous voice rumbled across the heavens: "Lifespan-Devouring White Mist? Hmph. Your Brightmoon Palace is the worst of all evils. How dare you ruin my grand design? Even at the cost of my own lifespan, I will capture you all.
"Only by refining you properly can I vent the hatred in my heart!"
Before the voice faded, a black light pierced the silver thread.
"World-Sundering Spike? Interesting."
The silver thread’s glow dimmed slightly, then another black radiance shot skyward.
"Go!" Li Fan’s voice rang out at precisely the right moment.
No reminder was needed—the instant the black World-Sundering Spike appeared, Su Xiaomei and the others felt their random teleportation necklaces reactivate. They immediately triggered their teleportation arrays.
Light flashed repeatedly as the Brightmoon Palace members vanished one by one.
Explosions rang out continuously from below, and Brightmoon Palace was reduced to ruins in the blink of an eye.
Above the rubble, a dark silhouette slowly materialized.
His face showed no trace of frustration, instead bearing the teasing expression of a cat toying with a mouse.
"Escape? And where exactly can you flee to?"
The black-robed cultivator lightly flicked his horsetail whisk, and several thin threads suddenly appeared in the air before him, extending in different directions.
"Just a lowly late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. You clearly have no regard for your own life. I'll capture you first."
The black-robed cultivator extended his right hand, pinched one of the silver threads, and slowly applied pressure.
Where the silver thread disappeared, space instantly fractured and blurred.
Li Fan's silhouette gradually emerged. He was looking upward, as if gazing at the sky. A stunned expression was frozen on his face, as though even his thoughts had been halted at that moment.
His body, along with the surrounding scenery, was gradually being pulled back toward the black-robed cultivator.
Just as Li Fan was about to be captured for good, the black-robed cultivator's movements suddenly halted.
The mockery vanished from his face, replaced by a gradually intensifying seriousness as he stared at the ground below.
The massive amounts of Lifespan-Devouring White Mist that had been detonated hadn't returned to the White Mist Barriers separating the provinces as it should have.
Instead, it drifted down to the earth. Then, like flowing water, it seeped continuously into the ground.
Within moments, vast quantities of Lifespan-Devouring White Mist were swallowed by the earth.
This unexpected scene made the black-robed cultivator, who had lived for thousands of years, frown uneasily.
“What is this?”
A sudden wave of unease surged within him. His left hand moved through one calculation gesture after another, his expression changing with each shift.
Clearly, deducing the cause of this bizarre situation was extremely strenuous for the black-robed cultivator.
His aura fluctuated unpredictably, and fine wrinkles slowly appeared on his face. Streaks of white began to show in his hair, and blood trickled from his eyes.
After a long moment, the black-robed cultivator violently spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he cried out in disbelief, "The Lifespan-Devouring Rebirth Array?
"Lan Yu, you old fool! You still seek to attain the Dao and eternal life after death!?"
A shuddering fear rose from the depths of his soul, and the black-robed cultivator instinctively felt the urge to flee.
But then, he turned in the direction of Yuandao Sky City.
"No wonder in these past years, the usually peaceful Yuandao Province has been plagued by endless slaughter, with countless cultivators lying dead...
"My plan with Lan Yu's legacy treasure also proceeded unusually smoothly. So I was also part of your scheme.
"Too much! This is too much!"
The black-robed cultivator gritted his teeth. "I'll never let you have your way!"
He immediately abandoned all concern for the insignificant Brightmoon Palace.
Releasing the silver thread, he rushed frantically toward Yuandao Sky City.
***
Return to...
His frozen, stagnant thoughts gradually recovered. Li Fan nearly let the word "Truth" escape his lips.
But the pulling force from the other side of space had already vanished. Now safe again, Li Fan forcibly swallowed the word back.
So this is a Dao Unity Immortal Venerable...
Li Fan's face darkened. All his so-called preparations seemed utterly insignificant before such an absolute difference in power. That had undoubtedly been the most dangerous moment since his transmigration.
He could perceive everything happening around him, yet his very soul felt frozen, unable to muster any effective response or coherent thought.
Had that black-robed cultivator not abruptly fled in alarm, Li Fan would likely have met his permanent end.
Just causing five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators to appear ahead of schedule attracted a powerhouse of that level...
No wait, many others were captured alongside Brightmoon Palace just now. Those are probably imitators of my technique transmission enterprise.
So the real issue was the sudden, explosive growth in Foundation Establishment cultivators.