Chapter 561: Flower Blooms In Tianling
Li Fan's expression remained unchanged. "Fellow Daoist, you jest.
"From what you just said, the newly appointed Secretary-Envoy also happens to be named Li Fan.
"If I were truly a spy for the Five Elders Council, why would I choose such a conspicuous name and invite that kind of attention?"
Huang Ranqi considered this and found the reasoning sound. He gave a slight nod.
Li Fan continued, "I've also heard that all cultivators must undergo identity verification before joining the Alliance. Given the Myriad Immortals Alliance's methods, any irregularity on my part would be exposed on the spot. In that case, you'd be the one credited with capturing a spy, earning quite a remarkable merit.
"With that in mind, what is there for you to worry about?"
After a moment's reflection, Huang Ranqi let himself be persuaded.
He went ahead and applied for a passage talisman on Li Fan's behalf, then returned and led him through the island's teleportation array up to Congyun Immortal City above.
Gazing at the city floating amidst the clouds, Li Fan allowed a trace of surprise to show. "I heard the Myriad Immortals Alliance's outpost in the Congyun Sea was supposed to be an island. Why have we arrived at a floating city?"
"That's old news. If you're curious, ask around after you've joined," Huang Ranqi replied, clearly unwilling to elaborate.
Li Fan pressed no further.
Before long, the two arrived at the entrance to the Tianxuan Mirror.
"This is the Tianxuan Mirror..." Huang Ranqi began to explain.
Li Fan feigned close attention while quietly bracing himself. He activated the A Single Hand Veils the Heavens technique in secret, already poised to flee with Return to Truth the instant things went wrong.
Drawing on his experience from the past life spent embodying an object, he knew that A Single Hand Veils the Heavens, refined through countless cycles of struggle between the Celestial Alliance and the Xuan Net, was capable of deceiving the Tianxuan Mirror's perception.
Paired with Arcana True Spirit Transformation derived by the Derivation Jade—a profound technique that could wholly reshape one's energy mechanisms, fate, flesh and blood, divine sense, and even soul—it was unlikely the Tianxuan Mirror would recognize him as the same person as Secretary-Envoy Li Fan of Congyun City.
But nothing was absolute. Caution came first.
Thoughts racing, Li Fan followed Huang Ranqi into the Tianxuan Mirror.
The crisis he had braced for never came.
The mirror did not identify him as Secretary-Envoy Li Fan of Congyun City. Instead, it granted him an entirely new identity. The referral reward Huang Ranqi received also fell within the normal range for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, so he harbored no suspicion toward Li Fan.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Huang Ranqi took his leave.
And so Li Fan rejoined the Myriad Immortals Alliance under his original identity.
It seems my guess was correct. The power of a Tianxuan Mirror avatar created through Empowerment is completely incomparable to the original. Part of it is that A Single Hand Veils the Heavens is a generation ahead of its time, but even so, it was far too easy to slip through. No wonder the Myriad Immortals Alliance is teeming with Five Elders Council spies.
Li Fan felt a wave of speechlessness.
The day the Five Elders Council attacked Myriad Immortals Island, the Tianxuan Mirror had suddenly ceased to function and became nothing but a stone.
That incident had inspired Li Fan, leading to this bold attempt. The result was just as he anticipated.
He didn't linger within the Tianxuan Mirror. Using the contribution points he'd been gifted, he purchased a storage ring, then took a teleportation array to Tianling Province.
He didn't leave Tianling City. Instead, he settled within its walls to wait.
If the Five Elders Council truly launched a surprise assault on the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, then based on what he'd witnessed in his past life, at least one Dao Unity cultivator would fall in the ensuing conflict.
The phenomena accompanying the death of a Dao Unity cultivator would be vast enough to blanket an entire province. The moment it happened, Li Fan would know.
Of course, to avoid raising suspicion, Li Fan wasn’t foolish enough to stand around doing nothing. He passed the time browsing the shops of Tianling City.
"Tianling Flowers? Of course, of course! Fellow Daoist, come and have a look at these."
The moment Li Fan made his request, the shopkeeper brightened at once. He swept an arm toward several potted blooms and began presenting them with evident enthusiasm.
The Tianling Flower was a specialty of the province, and its blossoms were unique, no two petals were alike. At full bloom, each petal conjured its own living scene: verdant mountain ranges, surging rivers, or snow falling from a pale sky. A single flower gathered the beautiful vistas of the entire world within itself, touched by the very spirit of heaven, and the sight was breathtaking.
As for practical use, there was essentially none. Its sole purpose was to be admired.
The flower's lifecycle, however, was brief. After blooming, it typically lasted only seven days. Even stored in a specially crafted wooden case, it could be preserved for a month at most.
More troublesome still, the flower was extraordinarily sensitive to energy. A stray fluctuation of spiritual power, or the transit of spatial teleportation, was enough to affect the scenes on its petals. At best, they might blur; at worst, they would vanish entirely.
Without those scenes, the Tianling Flower was worthless, so any cultivator who wished to see one had to make the journey to Tianling Province in person. For this reason, Tianling Flowers were exceedingly rare outside the province.
In his past life, the great war that swept through Tianling Province had nearly driven the flowers to extinction. At the time, everyone's attention was fixed on the monumental conflict; no one had spared a thought for their price.
Only after the war ended and the province slowly recovered did the flowers begin to flourish once more.
Yet by then, cultivators discovered that the land where they grew had been soaked in too much blood. The scenes appearing on the petals were no longer beautiful landscapes. They were visions of cultivators slaughtering one another, a sight that thoroughly ruined the mood.
People yearned for the exquisite Tianling Flowers of old, but the scenes on the petals could not be controlled. Attempts to transplant the plants to other provinces caused them to wither immediately.
Thus, the former unique wonder of Tianling was forever lost to the world. Cultivators could only sigh, helpless to recover it. From then on, the Tianling Flower became a true rarity, a vanished swan song of the world.
That old anecdote, half-remembered from his past life, passed through Li Fan's mind as he browsed the shop. He settled on a Tianling Flower with seventeen petals.
"This one."
"Just the one? Fellow Daoist, won’t you select a few more?" The shopkeeper sounded faintly disappointed.
"No. One is enough." Li Fan smiled.
Seeing his resolve, the shopkeeper abandoned further persuasion. "Three hundred contribution points."
Li Fan paid without hesitation and carefully accepted the sealed wooden box.
Inside, the Tianling Flower bloomed in full glory. With special treatment, it would hold that state of perfect blossom for roughly thirty days.