“How could this be?" Li Fan blinked, a note of genuine surprise in his voice. "Wasn't it said to be the cave dwelling of a Golden Core cultivator? How could even a Nascent Soul powerhouse have fallen?"
Yuwen Xing shook his head. "No one knows the specifics right now. The entrance to that cave dwelling has been temporarily sealed off, precisely to prevent more uninformed people from blundering into their deaths."
With that, Yuwen Xing sighed again. "There are only a dozen or so Nascent Soul powerhouses in the entire Myriad Immortals Island. To suddenly lose one is no small loss.
"Not to mention the four Golden Core and thirteen Foundation Establishment cultivators who died in the two successive expeditions.
"The island is restless now. With these cultivators gone, their positions on the island are now vacant. Various factions have begun maneuvering in the shadows, vying for these lucrative posts.
"The Myriad Immortals Alliance has also reopened the investigation into Zheng Xiaoyun. This time, Elder Gongsun from the Heavenly Mechanism Hall is leading it personally. Who knows if they'll actually manage to uncover anything.
"Troubling times ahead indeed..."
Li Fan sensed that Yuwen Xing's worry seemed to stem from another, deeper reason, but since the man hadn't volunteered it, Li Fan didn't feel it was his place to pry.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he returned to Myriad Immortals Island via teleportation array.
The atmosphere on the island had grown noticeably more solemn. The faces of the cultivators coming and going no longer held their previous ease.
After some inquiries, Li Fan learned the reason for Yuwen Xing's anxious demeanor.
It turned out that Yuwen Xing's backer had been none other than the fallen Eminence Gou Xuan.
It was only through this connection that he had managed to secure the position of guardian of Liuli Island among numerous competitors.
Now, before he could even get settled into his new post, his backing had crumbled.
No wonder he looked so thoroughly worried.
If even a Nascent Soul powerhouse fell, that cave dwelling must be unimaginably dangerous.
It seems retrieving Fellow Daoist He's remains will have to wait.
That was what he initially believed.
However, a few days later, the situation appeared to take an unexpected turn.
The results of the Myriad Immortals Alliance's investigation were released.
The Golden Core cultivator named Zheng Xiaoyun was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The reason he, a mere Golden Core cultivator, had survived the first expedition, while a Nascent Soul powerhouse had died in the second, was due to a peculiar trait of the mechanical puppets within Tian Yang's cave dwelling:
They grew weaker when facing the weak, and stronger when facing the strong.
During the first expedition led by Zheng Xiaoyun, the mechanical puppets had only exhibited combat power at the Golden Core level.
Zheng Xiaoyun had considerable personal strength, and with five other Foundation Establishment cultivators drawing the puppets’ attacks, he had barely managed to preserve his life.
But when Eminence Gou Xuan led the team, the combat power of those mechanical puppets had unexpectedly surged to the Nascent Soul level.
A dozen or more Nascent Soul-level attacks descended in an instant.
Caught off guard, the second expedition team was annihilated in a flash.
Of course, the so-called "stronger when facing the strong" nature of the mechanical puppets undoubtedly had an upper limit.
But it was truly difficult to say just where that limit currently lay.
Although Tian Yang had been only a Golden Core cultivator in life, he had chosen to build his cave dwelling within an underwater volcano.
For thousands of years after his death, the mechanical puppets he left behind tirelessly drew on the earthfire’s energy, until the once-active volcano finally fell dormant.
Now that the earthfire was stirring again, it likely meant those puppets had reached their limit of growth.
The art of mechanical constructs had long been lost, and no one knew just how powerful such creations could become at their peak.
But given that mechanical construct techniques still commanded respect even in the age before the Great Reformation, a time when Nascent Soul cultivators were as common as dogs, there was no way these puppets were anything less than formidable.
At the very least, they could exhibit power at the Nascent Soul level, and reaching the Spirit Transformation level was also entirely possible.
So Eminence Gou Xuan’s death really wasn’t foul play. After all, who could have imagined that such terrifying puppets lay in ambush within the cave dwelling of a Golden Core cultivator?
Once the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s official announcement was released, the gloom hanging over Myriad Immortals Island immediately lifted.
Most people found the investigation results quite convincing.
Elder Gongsun of the Heavenly Mechanism Hall was widely known for his expertise in divining heaven’s mechanisms and determining causality.
His investigative conclusions were generally very close to the truth.
As a result, the Qi Refinement cultivators, who made up the largest group in Congyun Sea, grew excited.
A dozen or so Nascent Soul-level mechanical puppets were indeed terrifying. But a dozen or so Qi Refinement realm puppets...
Well, they hardly posed a threat.
If they could bring even one of these puppets back...
Countless Qi Refinement cultivators began to fantasize about it, their hearts stirring with desire.
Soon, many were clamoring to form teams for a third expedition into Tian Yang’s cave dwelling.
When Li Fan heard this news, even he felt tempted.
Within the Qi Refinement realm, wasn’t he practically invincible?
Against those at a lower stage, his Insect Binding divine ability could easily restrain them.
Against fellow late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, he possessed multiple techniques like Formless Killing Mechanism, Cloudwater Illusion, and the Blue Flame phantom spirit.
Li Fan refused to believe anyone in the Congyun Sea could surpass him.
Should he explore the cave dwelling?
Li Fan felt tempted for a moment, but then sensed something amiss.
If these mechanical puppets truly grew weaker against the weak and stronger against the strong, then the Myriad Immortals Alliance could have secretly gathered a group of late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators to secure the cave dwelling and retrieve all the puppets.
Gaining over a dozen puppets with Nascent Soul-level combat power at minimum—such a windfall was too good for the Alliance to pass up. Why would they foolishly publicize this information instead?
The only explanation was that the puppets in the cave dwelling must have other peculiarities that even the Myriad Immortals Alliance couldn’t be certain of.
So, they chose to let the vast number of Qi Refinement cultivators risk their lives to test the waters.
Li Fan had also heard of Elder Gongsun.
Back when Li Fan completed the bounty on the Dracowhale exotic beast, Elder Gongsun had investigated the matter.
All he could determine was the direct cause of the Dracowhale’s death: it had been besieged by several deep-sea leviathans until its vitality was spent.
He failed to uncover the root cause: Formless Killing Mechanism, which was activated by Li Fan.
So, Li Fan believed that while Elder Gongsun could indeed discern heaven’s mechanisms, his methods were like a blind man touching an elephant, grasping only one part, never the whole.
Li Fan wasn’t the only one to find the Alliance’s actions strange.
After the initial wave of excitement passed, most people quickly calmed down.
But there were always those who clung to wishful thinking, believing themselves chosen by heaven’s will.
About thirty-some of these individuals banded together for the third expedition into Tian Yang’s cave dwelling.
Li Fan simply re-listed the bounty mission for He Zhenghao’s remains and settled in to watch the spectacle.
Ten days later, the group returned battered and broken.
More than half of the thirty-odd cultivators managed to flee back.
Through their tearful, choked sobs, the gathered spectators learned what had transpired within the cave dwelling.
Those seventeen puppets were simply too powerful!
Their bodies, forged from some unknown material, were impossibly durable.
Every arcane art cast on them was utterly useless; they couldn't even leave a scratch.