Chapter 571: A Pact To Bind Heavenly Venerables
"How long until you can get the array diagram?" the Five Elders Council spy pressed, not even waiting for Li Fan to speak.
Li Fan considered for a moment. "A minimum of twenty days."
The man on the other side grew agitated at once. "Too slow! On the battlefield, everything changes in the blink of an eye. Over twenty days? Who knows what could—" He cut himself off and stated bluntly, "We cannot wait that long!"
Li Fan narrowed his eyes and snorted. "It seems your Five Elders Council is truly desperate. Even if it's only the initial version of the array diagram, stealing it is far from easy. It requires careful planning. You can't just snap your fingers and have it appear."
The spy's expression darkened.
"However," Li Fan said, his tone shifting, "there are slow methods, and there are fast methods. If you want the diagram as soon as possible, it depends on your sincerity."
Watching Li Fan gouge the price on the spot, the spy exclaimed, "What more do you want?"
Li Fan gave him a displeased look. "What we just agreed upon was the price for the array diagram. What we're discussing now is the price for making an exception and expediting the process. Is there a problem? If you're unwilling to make the trade, then forget it."
He rose and turned to leave without a second thought.
"Wait! Let's talk this through!" The spy panicked, darting forward to usher Li Fan back. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, don't be so impulsive," he said through gritted teeth, forcing a smile. "As I said, everything is negotiable."
Li Fan sat back down. "Agreeing to this trade carries significant risk for our organization. Naturally, we must receive sufficient compensation."
Using his finger as a brush, he wrote several lines of small characters on the stone table. "Forget the contribution points. Some of the Five Elders Council's special products are in very tight supply and quite popular among us. They can serve as bargaining chips."
The spy focused on the table. Written there were: Dao Comprehension Pills, Samantabhadra True Boats, Bliss Crystals, Man's Dao Stardust, Truth-Binding Fruits.
His eyelids twitched.
Previously, Li Fan had traveled to the Five Elders Council using Jiao Xiuyuan's puppet body. What he had gained was not just the warmth of Senior Sister Zhao's illusion—he had also come away with a broad understanding of the Council's territory, its customs, and its local conditions.
The Dao Comprehension Pill, Samantabhadra True Boat, and Bliss Crystals needed no explanation.
Man's Dao Stardust was a specialty of the Celestial Realm of Man's Dao, born from cultivators who had become stars in the sky. Within that Celestial Realm, a cultivator could only ascend to the heavens and transform into starlight after overturning heaven and earth. By absorbing the stardust, one could clearly comprehend the process of that transformation.
Overturning heaven and earth within the Celestial Realm of Man's Dao was, in reality, a lower-level version of defying the principles of heaven and earth, one that operated within the system created by Heavenly Venerable Man's Dao. Its level was inferior to the genuine defiance of heaven and earth found in the Xuanhuang World, but it was ideal for cultivation insights.
The ability to study changes in laws made it precious not only for Dao Unity cultivators, but for cultivators of any realm.
As for the Truth-Binding Fruit, it was a unique product of the Land of Truth. One could pre-set the information contained within the fruit before administering it; once ingested, it would twist a cultivator's thoughts, making them wholeheartedly believe in whatever they had previously deemed false.
Turning falsehood into truth—its applications were profound and boundless. Below the Eternal Life realm, not even a Dao Unity cultivator who consumed it could escape its influence.
The spy's gaze drifted from the stone table. He looked up at Li Fan, who sat with eyes closed and said nothing, and felt his mouth go dry.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, please wait a moment."
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he turned away again.
This time, it took even longer than before. When he finally returned, his entire body was trembling, as though he had been dealt a tremendous blow.
Only when the sky had darkened did his efforts bear results.
Like a man who had just survived a great battle, the spy was utterly drained, barely steady on his feet. He drew a deep breath and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "It can be done. But the quantities of each item will require more careful negotiation."
Li Fan, who had been feigning sleep all this while, opened his eyes. A smile spread across his face.
"Excellent."
What followed was a prolonged back-and-forth between the two parties. A long time later, they finally reached an agreement.
The spy fixed Li Fan with a long, penetrating look. "Now it is time to sign the Contract."
What happened next gave Li Fan a jolt.
A brilliant golden light surged from deep within the other man's body. It engulfed him entirely and, in the same instant, condensed into a Contract Document that floated quietly before Li Fan. As for the spy himself, he seemed to dissolve within the golden light and vanish without a trace.
Suppressing his unease, Li Fan took the golden contract and examined it closely.
The script was written in a pale, dark gold. The terms of the transaction matched exactly what the two of them had agreed upon.
What caught his attention was the structure of the document: one party to the transaction had been left blank, reserved for Li Fan's signature. The other party, however, was already engraved upon the contract—five mysterious, arcane symbols that flickered and surfaced in a constant cycle.
He did not understand their specific meaning, but the moment he saw them, he knew. They represented the five Eternal Heavenly Venerables of the Five Elders Council.
He recalled what the scholar in charge of indoctrination had explained back in the valley, and a flash of clarity cut through his mind.
This contract seems somewhat similar to the Five Elders Council's Soul Contract. One party is always the Eternal Heavenly Venerables; only the content of the transaction differs.
As Li Fan's hand touched the contract and he hesitated over which name to sign, a strange, sourceless sensation suddenly flooded into his mind.
Confirm.
He replied inwardly.
The sensation did not fade. It surged again, stronger than before.
Li Fan confirmed once more.
After the third repetition, a strand of golden light plunged into the depths of his soul while the remainder tore through the void and vanished to parts unknown.
The contract was now formed. Those whose names were upon it could not defy it.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, sensing it faintly.
Not even an Eternal Heavenly Venerable.
The only being capable of compelling a powerhouse like Senior Sister Zhao, whose thoughts were as inscrutable as the heavens, to submit was likely someone of the same realm, another Eternal Heavenly Venerable. Perhaps one whose cultivation was a step beyond the rest.
With this, Li Fan had finally confirmed his conjecture about the last, unidentified Eternal Heavenly Venerable of the Five Elders Council. It was precisely that being's power over contracts that allowed the Council to hold its order together.
Tens of thousands of li away, Li Fan's true self closed his eyes and turned his focus inward, carefully examining the anomaly that had taken root within his body after his avatar Zhou Qing'ang signed the contract.
On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed.
But a quiet certainty had settled in his chest: if he ever broke the contract, the punishment would not end with his avatar's death. It would only end with the death of his true self.