Regardless, the Myriad Immortals Alliance's plan had ultimately succeeded.
Not only had they eliminated several Dao Unity cultivators from the Five Elders Council, but they had also successfully exposed the spy, Immortal Venerable Ziqiong.
It could be said they had thoroughly vented their pent-up fury.
Faced with this bloody reality, the Five Elders Council could only admit defeat.
The great battle of Tianling Province, the ambush in Tianyu Province.
Each side had lost one engagement.
It would take time to recover from the loss of Dao Unity powerhouses.
With both the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council wounded, a prolonged period of peace was foreseeable.
For the vast majority of cultivators, this was excellent news.
As the shadow of war gradually receded, the Mini Medicine King Cauldron auction hosted by Jiao Xiuyuan was finally held at the end of Anchor Year 23.
Li Fan didn't join the fun.
However, the results were reportedly somewhat disappointing.
Only four cauldrons were sold in the first batch. The selling price of each cauldron hovered around a hundred thousand contribution points.
Clearly, doubts about whether the meteor was truly the Medicine King Cauldron remained.
Even though Jiao Xiuyuan had followed Li Fan's advice and campaigned extensively, the results were minimal.
Only a minority of cultivators were willing to spend a fortune betting on possible future riches.
"Not releasing the hawk until the rabbit is in sight" was the principle most cultivators lived by.
Despite the initial setback, Jiao Xiuyuan wasn't discouraged.
For one, he still had plenty of inventory remaining.
Secondly, even if all subsequent cauldrons sold at this price, he would still turn a solid profit.
"I'm not greedy when doing business. As long as there's profit to be made, it's enough." Those were Jiao Xiuyuan's exact words.
Li Fan just chuckled inwardly at this, offering no comment.
Then, he shifted his attention back to his true self.
The members of the Li World, who had lived peacefully on the deserted island for over a decade, had now grown into adults.
They were slowly growing restless.
Su Xiaomei, in particular, would frequently sneak out alone to wander.
However, Ye Feipeng's mysterious disappearance remained a shadow over their hearts.
This fear kept them from venturing too far from the island, wary of being detected by cultivators of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and meeting misfortune.
Li Fan checked their cultivation levels.
Su Xiaomei, Xiao Heng, and Zhang Haobo had all reached the final-stage Foundation Establishment realm. But they still seemed some distance away from breaking through to the Golden Core realm.
The Yin sisters' cultivation aptitudes weren't particularly strong; they remained at the final-stage Qi Refinement realm, yet to establish their Dao Foundations.
Su Changyu's cultivation progress was the slowest. He had barely reached the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm. Yet his mindset remained steady, neither impatient nor arrogant.
As for the unconscious Ye Feipeng... Li Fan found him increasingly difficult to read.
Over the years, not only had the young fatty completely absorbed the stormflood energy he had devoured, but he had also been unconsciously carried by the underwater currents of the Congyun Sea, nearly traversing the entire sea.
His aura had steadily intensified throughout this process. Theoretically, it had long surpassed the limits of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Li Fan estimated that if Ye Feipeng unleashed his full power, ordinary Golden Core cultivators would be no match for him.
It seemed the Congyun Sea was "nurturing" Ye Feipeng in this unique manner.
Through sheer "quantity," his power had reached a level where the gap between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core became irrelevant.
The phantom beast that appeared behind Ye Feipeng seemed to grow more vivid and robust, circling around him and occasionally letting out a long cry, as if it might come alive at any moment.
Li Fan suddenly had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before Ye Feipeng woke up.
Thus, time flowed slowly by.
In the blink of an eye, Anchor Year 24 arrived.
One day, while Li Fan was in secluded cultivation, he suddenly received a notification from the Tianxuan Mirror:
In the Seated Dao Discourse sector, Zhang Qianmo had finally suffered his first defeat!
Has I Am Invincible finally grasped a method to defeat him? Li Fan wondered, unable to suppress a surge of excitement.
But when he opened the Seated Dao Discourse sector, the result surprised him.
The one who defeated Zhang Qianmo was not I Am Invincible, but someone else entirely—a cultivator named Zhong Shentong.
Moreover, this Zhong Shentong was not a fictional creation but a real cultivator in the Xuanhuang World.
Zhong Shentong...
Li Fan found it unbelievable.
He knew all too well the extent of Senior Brother Zhang’s abilities.
In his Purple Core state, slaying Golden Core cultivators was as effortless as slaughtering chickens or cattle.
How could Zhong Shentong, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, defeat Zhang Qianmo?
Driven by this question, Li Fan opened the battle replay.
In the void, Senior Brother Zhang stood with a cold expression, hands clasped behind his back.
Not far away, a white-haired elderly man, dressed in Daoist robes, smiled amiably at him.
“I seek your guidance, young friend!”
As soon as Zhong Shentong finished his greetings, his expression abruptly shifted.
Pointing with his right finger, azure light suddenly filled the sky above Senior Brother Zhang’s head.
Each beam of light was as sharp as a flying sword, stabbing toward Zhang Qianmo.
Senior Brother Zhang snorted coldly, and Purple Firmament Divine Lightning materialized around him, striking directly at the onslaught of azure light beams.
Azure and purple clashed, mutually annihilating each other into nothingness.
Zhong Shentong’s fingers danced without pause.
Blue, purple, crimson, scarlet...
In an instant, a kaleidoscope of multicolored light beams surged forth like an unending river, an onslaught that showed no sign of stopping.
The sheer density of the attack forced Zhang Qianmo into a desperate defense.
Most terrifyingly, it was unclear whether these multicolored lights originated from a divine ability or an artifact. They appeared to require no expenditure of energy whatsoever, showing no signs of weakening from the moment the attack began.
In fact, the light beams rained down even more heavily with time.
Gradually, wounds began to appear on Senior Brother Zhang’s body.
Though they healed almost instantly, he still appeared thoroughly disheveled.
In contrast, Zhong Shentong remained relaxed and composed from start to finish.
These multicolored divine lights are truly extraordinary.
Li Fan mused to himself as he watched. Could it be that Zhong Shentong relied on these to defeat Senior Brother Zhang?
No... Though the multicolored lights possess astonishing destructive power, they are only effective on those at the same cultivation realm. If Senior Brother Zhang were to assume his Purple Core form, they likely wouldn’t even breach his defenses...
Suddenly, Li Fan seemed to realize something, and his expression turned grave.
So that’s how it is...
He fixed his gaze on Zhang Qianmo in the midst of the battle.
Wounds bloomed across his body like flowers, only to be instantly healed by the power surging within Senior Brother Zhang.
As the battle continued, this process repeated endlessly, as if it would never cease.
But a Foundation Establishment cultivator's power had its limits.
Though Senior Brother Zhang's spiritual qi reserves far surpassed those of ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were far from infinite.
When the battle stretched into its first day, then second, then third... his original reserves finally began to run dry.
Thus, Zhang Qianmo was forced to begin drawing upon the energy stored within his Purple Core.
Back when Li Fan was cultivating the Tribulation Body, he had suspected that the Purple Core within Zhang Qianmo was the Purple Firmament Sect's method for containing and suppressing one's cultivation.
Now, it appeared his suspicions were correct.