And so Li Fan and Senior Sister Zhao received their orders and descended the mountain.
The mass deaths of mortals had sent the concentration of Immortal Plague in the environment soaring.
In response, Sect Leader Ji had bestowed generous supplies upon them before their departure, including items like the Creation Violet-Gold Pill.
Even so, it was not enough to lift the heaviness from their hearts.
They had now confirmed that the Immortal Plague could infect a person multiple times, which meant that no matter how thorough their preparations or how careful their defenses, constant exposure would inevitably lead to contracting that strange disease again.
The agony of their infection a month prior was still vivid in their minds.
As cultivators, they had not tasted such suffering in a very long time.
If it were to happen again, over and over... that would likely be worse than death.
Of course, they were only venting. Both Senior Sister Zhao and Li Fan had devoted themselves to the Dao and the pursuit of eternal life; neither would throw their lives away so easily. But a master's command was not easily refused, and even Senior Sister Zhao, now the esteemed Dao Heir of the Great Dao Sect, had no choice but to comply.
"There's something strange about all this," Li Fan said, shaking his head, his eyes clouded with confusion. "I've made inquiries. The other nine sects have also dispatched disciples into the world, but at most they've sent hereditary disciples. I haven't heard of a single other sect sending someone of the Dao Heir's rank. Only ours.
"Senior Sister, you are the candidate for the next sect leader, a position of the highest honor. In times like these, what you should be doing is remaining behind closed doors, focusing on your own cultivation. Not running errands like this. What if, by some misfortune..." He glanced at her. "I'm only saying: if something were to happen to you, if you were to fall, the cost of cultivating another Dao Heir from scratch would be enormous. All the resources already invested in you... wouldn't they simply be wasted?
"Sect Leader Ji's decision this time is truly hard to understand. And for some reason, not a single elder seems to have objected..."
Senior Sister Zhao looked at him calmly. "Junior Brother, you're overthinking it. As the foremost immortal sect in the world, sending our Dao Heir only demonstrates how seriously we take this matter."
She lowered her voice slightly. "Besides... in the past, your suspicions might have had merit. But times have changed."
The chill of understanding struck Li Fan at once.
He had still been thinking in the terms of that bygone, flourishing Great Cultivation Era. His mindset had not kept pace with the times.
The cultivation world today operated on a different logic entirely.
Dao Heir? The faster one cultivated, the greater a threat one posed in the eyes of the sect's elders.
In the old days, techniques could be shared freely. If you no longer wanted to be sect leader, you could become a Grand Elder and step aside early.
But now? If you didn't want to be sect leader, fine. But then surely you couldn't go on holding the Heaven-Slaying Great Dao Scripture, could you? You'd have to change techniques.
No one could tolerate that.
So suppressing the Dao Heir had become the only sensible course.
Having grasped the crux of it, Li Fan fell silent.
The two of them followed the spreading crimson light in the sky until they arrived above a stretch of ruins.
They remembered this place. Just a few years ago it had been an exceptionally prosperous mortal city, home to at least half a million souls.
Who could have imagined that now not a single trace of life would remain?
Li Fan swept his divine sense over the ruins. Mortal corpses lay scattered everywhere. There were men and women, old and young, not one spared. The sight was worse than any nightmare.
"Utterly depraved."
Murderous intent flickered in Senior Sister Zhao's eyes. She maintained her defenses against the Immortal Plague rising from below while simultaneously casting arcane arts to trace the perpetrator's trail.
"Let's go!"
A moment later, with the trail found, Senior Sister Zhao transformed into a streak of light and shot forward at tremendous speed.
Li Fan hurried after her.
When he arrived, he found Senior Sister Zhao standing motionless, her face a mask of bewilderment.
The cultivator responsible for the massacre had already contracted the Immortal Plague and succumbed to it. The perpetrator was dead, beyond saving.
With nowhere to direct her rage, Senior Sister Zhao stood utterly still.
"Were they wrong?" she murmured, almost to herself. "If we hadn't had so many life-preserving elixirs, would we have done the same when faced with death?"
Before Li Fan could answer, a strange phenomenon erupted in the sky above.
"Cultivator Qu Xinfeng practiced the Dao for fifty-six years, establishing his Dao Foundation with the Curio, Mountain Stone Sword..."
"Now, his body perishes and his Dao disperses, returning to heaven!"
The words appeared fully formed in Li Fan's mind the instant he witnessed the spectacle overhead.
What is this?
"Hmm?" Senior Sister Zhao had noticed it too. She looked up, and her expression hardened.
She slashed out with sword qi, attempting to shatter the phenomenon. Her attack struck home and accomplished nothing. The vision seemed etched into the fabric of the sky itself.
"What is this supposed to be? Heaven's mockery?"
Li Fan said nothing.
The Exclusivity of Techniques. The Immortal Plague. And now this eerie announcement of death broadcast across the heavens. Who knew what else lay ahead?
He let out a quiet breath. "Let's go, Senior Sister. There's nothing for us here. The sooner we finish our task, the sooner we can return to the mountain."
Silence stretched between them for a long moment.
Then Senior Sister Zhao raised one hand and reduced the corpse of Qu Xinfeng, the man who had authored so much slaughter, to dust and ash.
Only after that did she transform into a streak of light and fly away.
For the next two full years, the two of them traversed the entire Xuanhuang World, preventing tragedy wherever they could. They cut down many cultivators who had lost their reason and saved the lives of countless mortals in the process. Word of the Great Migration Plan gradually spread among the remaining cultivators, and the indiscriminate slaughter began to subside.
Of course, isolated incidents could not be entirely prevented. They lacked the power to be everywhere at once.
Having completed the sect leader's assignment, they were preparing to return to the sect as originally planned when a new order arrived and overturned everything.
Ji Changxi had declared the Great Migration formally underway. They were to remain in the Xuanhuang World and assist in coordinating the sects, large and small, seeing this plan through to completion.
Senior Sister Zhao's face went dark as a stormcloud. Li Fan dared not speak.
He had no idea how to comfort her, so he simply stood quietly at her side.
After a long while, her expression eased.
She smiled, sudden and radiant. "Let's go, Junior Brother. A master's command is hard to defy."
For reasons he could not name, the sight of that smile sent an indescribable fear uncoiling in Li Fan's chest.
"Ah, yes, Senior Sister," he replied carefully and quickly.
A century passed in the blink of an eye.
Through the united efforts of the cultivators, the Great Migration was completed. All mortals had been relocated into grotto-heavens and minor worlds, and the Xuanhuang World was cleansed at last.
Senior Sister Zhao and Li Fan, who had not set foot in their sect for over a hundred years, were finally permitted to return home.