The ground shook with increasing violence until it was nearly impossible to stand.
Before their eyes, the vast Myriad Immortals Island tore free from the earth and began to rise slowly into the sky.
Some desperate cultivators tried to make a break for it, charging through the light threads surrounding the island.
They all met the same fate.
The moment they left the confines of Myriad Immortals Island, beams of light descended from the heavens and cut them down where they flew.
The screams and wails of cultivators rose without end.
The surrounding space seemed completely sealed. Even the phenomena accompanying the cultivators' deaths appeared warped and distorted, crammed together in the sky above.
The Five Elders Council's fierce attacks forced the panicked, directionless cultivators to calm down, if only for a moment.
They realized that as long as they remained on Myriad Immortals Island, the Five Elders Council had no immediate intention of attacking them.
So they could only tremble, watching the purple gate draw closer and closer overhead.
Did the Five Elders Council mount such a grand operation just for me?
Witnessing the scene, Li Fan recalled the last time a group of Nascent Soul cultivators had tried to capture him.
That territory of theirs is not a friendly place. If I were taken to the Land of Truth, where lying is impossible, and someone were to ask the wrong questions, the secrets of my transmigration and Return to Truth would be exposed immediately.
Li Fan had a clear understanding of his current strength. He likely still couldn't resist the Axiom of a Heavenly Venerable.
Should I Return to Truth? A flicker of hesitation passed through him.
After a moment, he decided to wait and see.
The situation had not yet deteriorated to the point of threatening his life.
The distant horizon, where sky and sea had once met, had vanished from sight. Myriad Immortals Island hung suspended in mid-air, and the faces of the Five Elders Council cultivators above were clearly visible.
Just then, another commotion erupted on the island.
A massive crowd of cultivators had appeared out of thin air.
Their numbers were immense, and Myriad Immortals Island could barely contain them all. A cacophony of voices rose from their midst.
"What's happening? Where is this?"
"I was in seclusion inside the Tianxuan Mirror. How did I suddenly end up here?"
"Look! The Tianxuan Mirror has turned into a stone!"
Listening to their cries of shock, Jiao Xiuyuan muttered under his breath, "This is bad. Even the Tianxuan Mirror has withdrawn its Empowerment. Looks like we can't count on reinforcement."
Only then did Li Fan understand. These were cultivators who had been in secluded cultivation within the Tianxuan Mirror's space on Myriad Immortals Island.
Now that the island was about to be captured by the Five Elders Council, the Tianxuan Mirror had revoked its so-called Empowerment to preserve itself, reducing the incredibly useful avatar mirror on the island to an ordinary stone.
The cultivators roused from their seclusion finally grasped their predicament as they looked at the enemies filling the sky.
"Fellow Daoists, I've heard the Five Elders Council has something called a Soul Contract. Once signed, one's very soul falls completely under their control. To lose one's freedom like that... it would be a fate worse than death!"
"Exactly! They want to capture us alive and force us to sign these Soul Contracts!"
"Better to fight to the death than live under another's thumb. With so many of us, we might still have a chance!"
Past the initial shock, someone quickly raised their voice and rallied the crowd to break out of the prison together.
There was strength in numbers. With this sudden influx of fresh forces, the courage of the Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators on the island grew. Soon, led by one or two cultivators, they launched a desperate charge.
Li Fan did not blindly follow. Watching Jiao Xiuyuan's eyes dart about shrewdly, he tugged the man's sleeve and transmitted a message: "Fellow Daoist Jiao, do you have a way to escape?"
Jiao Xiuyuan gave a low chuckle and extended his hand, spreading five fingers.
"Easy! Just fifty thousand contribution points? I'll transfer them now!" Li Fan nodded.
Jiao Xiuyuan's face darkened. "Is your life worth so little, Master Li Fan?
"Five hundred thousand contribution points. And that's only because we're friends."
Li Fan looked at him and smiled slightly. Without haggling, he transferred the five hundred thousand on the spot.
"Brother, I'm not trying to be greedy. Business is business. Even blood brothers must settle accounts clearly." Jiao Xiuyuan offered by way of explanation.
Then he lowered his voice. "Right now, the only possible way off Myriad Immortals Island is through that ancient tree in Breeze Hall."
Breeze Hall. Li Fan's eyes gleamed.
In his 113th lifetime, he had come into contact with Breeze Hall, a loan organization hidden on Myriad Immortals Island, through He Zhenghao. The ancient tree with a human face had left a deep impression on him. The space where it stood seemed to exist independently from the island itself, and its ability to gather a significant quantity of Spirit Mist Grass in an instant made it clear that, like the Tianxuan Mirror, it was connected to other spaces beyond.
"Thank you for the guidance, Fellow Daoist Jiao!"
Li Fan cupped his hands and turned to go, then stopped. After a brief pause, he turned back.
He stared at Jiao Xiuyuan with such unblinking intensity that Jiao Xiuyuan grew thoroughly uneasy.
"Fellow Daoist Li Fan, instead of running for your life, why are you staring at me?" Jiao Xiuyuan asked, baffled.
"Fellow Daoist Jiao, I was wondering—is this body of yours for sale?" Li Fan's tone was eerily calm.
Jiao Xiuyuan instantly flashed backward, putting distance between them.
"You..." He stared at Li Fan with open disbelief, as though seeing his true nature for the first time.
Ignoring whatever conclusions Jiao Xiuyuan was drawing, Li Fan continued calmly. "Since I awakened, I've spent my time within the territory of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. By now, I have a reasonable understanding of the Alliance as a whole. But I've never had the chance to explore the Five Elders Council, the only force that can stand toe-to-toe with the Alliance, and the information about them available within the Alliance is pitifully scarce. I am intensely curious about them."
His gaze swept up and down Jiao Xiuyuan's puppet body.
"My true self intends to escape, naturally. But I also wouldn't mind seizing this opportunity to see what lies on the other side. I wonder, Fellow Daoist, whether you possess some method that would allow me to temporarily control this puppet body of yours?"
Only then did Jiao Xiuyuan grasp Li Fan's intention.
He was quiet for a moment, then muttered, "You should have said so earlier. You scared me.
"If the price is right, it's not impossible."
Li Fan's heart leapt.
"Excellent! Name your price, Fellow Daoist!"
Jiao Xiuyuan held up five fingers again, but this time he spoke at the same moment, giving Li Fan no chance to misinterpret. "Having someone else ride my body... that's a first for me.
"Five hundred thousand contribution points. Not a single point less."
"Five hundred thousand it is. I, Li Fan, am not a stingy man."