NOVPUB"Jiushan cannot be flown over, cultivators look to the sky and sigh. It truly is a rare and wondrous sight to behold!"
"Such majestic mountain ranges, one in an ordinary state region would be famous throughout the world. And here, there are actually nine!"
The young man in white slowly walked to the base of Heavenly Prison Mountain, repeatedly expressing his amazement.
The youth had fair skin and was quite handsome, but from time to time, a firmness that was not common in his peers flickered in his eyes. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Around his neck hung a rope fashioned from green vine.
A Qing-colored gourd was attached to the rope at the front.
The young man shook the gourd, then pulled the stopper, aiming its mouth at the towering Heavenly Prison Mountain range ahead.
After adjusting the position slightly, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Capture!"
With a light shout, a shadowy image seemed to be drawn from the distant Heavenly Prison Mountain and sucked into the Qing gourd.
The young man moved his nose close to the mouth of the gourd and took a careful whiff.
"Indeed, a view most exquisite!"
His face was full of intoxicated delight.
However, in the next instant, his expression suddenly stiffened, and his body became immobile.
A figure slowly appeared behind him, reaching out to take the Qing gourd from his hands.
"Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd, this thing is indeed not bad," the person cackled strangely.
A flash of terror passed through the young man’s eyes.
Li Fan ordered Tianyang to grab the young man while he himself stowed away the treasure gourd.
"Shang Tianci, a member of the Immortal League [Mountain River Pavilion]. Achieving Golden Core at eighteen, truly a talent once in a generation."
"Born with the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd, capable of capturing the Xuan Huang mountain and river sceneries within. It creates almost identical replicas inside the gourd, just slightly reduced in size."
"Moreover, it can travel instantly to any recorded location within the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd. If not for my Insect Binding Power, even at the God Transformation Realm, I might not have been able to catch him so easily."
Li Fan’s Divine Sense peered into the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd, only to see a misty fog with dots of distinct mountain and river sceneries scattered within it.
Some were not unfamiliar to Li Fan.
Like the Taihua Ten Veins, Heavenly Spirit Thousand Water, and others.
And the recently captured Heavenly Prison Mountain by Shang Tianci was also among them!
"Just entering the Golden Core stage, he dares to venture alone into the extremely chaotic Jiushan Province. Truly, a calf not afraid of tigers because of its innocence."
"However, if not for me, the events that were about to transpire indeed had him holding the leading role’s script."
"By chance, he would encounter the sudden attack by the Five Elders Organization."
"With the Elemental Spirit Sect colluding from within and without, the Five Elders Organization had long since sent heavy troops to seal off Jiushan Province, allowing entry but not exit, and had blocked communications; ordinary means could not get the message out. They were only trying to buy as much time as possible. A swift action is the key to military success—to take down Jiushan Province before the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals could react."
"Who would have thought that his luck would be so bad as to run into an anomaly like Shang Tianci? He was able to instantly teleport within Jiushan Province, where space transportation is impossible, by relying on his companion object."
"Thus the message leaked out, and their plan fell short."
Li Fan’s thoughts revolved, recalling the official stance of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals regarding this matter from his previous life.
"But one cannot be certain that this is the entire truth of the matter."
"Further observation is necessary."
"As for this lad..."
Li Fan turned his head to look at Shang Tianci, who was immobilized.
Tianyang gestured and knocked him out with a slap. Then Li Fan flicked his finger lightly, and a red orb containing his own Blood Essence instantly flew into the other person’s body.
It was the [Transfer Blood Lineage] technique, capable of influencing the mind and spirit.
"The United Federation of All Realms, being the only one is not sufficient. Such a talent, serving as a figurehead, would indeed be most appropriate."
Standing upon Tianyang, Li Fan flew to the summit of Heavenly Prison Mountain.
Effortlessly, he set up an Array Technique to conceal his breath around him, then looked into the distance, waiting for the approaching army of the Five Elders Organization.
"It should be soon."
While waiting, Li Fan began to study the Heavenly Scenery Treasure Gourd he had just acquired.
Although this was Shang Tianci’s natal object, for some reason, he himself did not know why, he had not used it to establish his Tao Foundation.
Instead, he treated it like an ordinary treasure, merely carrying it with him.
Li Fan’s divine sense penetrated into the Qing Hu, attempting to make contact with the mountain and water scenery within. He wanted to see if he could, like Shang Tianci, freely traverse these scenes at will.
However, they completely ignored Li Fan, without the slightest response.
"Spiritual Energy cannot refine it. Even the Even True cannot sense or absorb it..."
"It seems it really is this guy’s exclusive treasure."
After trying in vain, Li Fan shook his head slightly and gave up.
"Such treasures are not used for Foundation Establishment. What then could his Foundation Establishment Strange Object be?"
Li Fan approached the unconscious Shang Tianci to carefully examine him.
"Hmm?" A moment later, Li Fan’s eyes revealed a hint of surprise.
On the surface of Shang Tianci’s Gold Core was an engraving of a purple-gold gourd pattern.
It looked exactly like the Heavenly Scenery Gourd, but its aura was even more mystical and regal.
"Twin Birth Gourd? Interesting."
Li Fan’s eyes flickered.
However, he had no immediate thoughts of forcibly taking it.
Firstly, Shang Tianci was somewhat useful to keep around.
Secondly, this natal strange object, like the Heavenly Scenery Gourd, was probably exclusive to the individual, unstealable.
"Perhaps an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao like Mr. Bai could use it without any obstacles. Not me though."
The treasure was within sight, but out of reach.
Yet there was not the slightest urgency in Li Fan’s heart.
He simply narrowed his eyes and silently felt the progress of the Bloodline Transition Rite within Shang Tianci’s body.
When Shang Tianci gradually awoke, his gaze towards the mysterious person who had captured him contained no fear.
Instead, there was a sense of closeness and trust.
"Young man, what do you think of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals?" Li Fan asked in a strange voice.
"Ah?" Shang Tianci was slightly taken aback, not expecting such a random question from the other party.
He answered subconsciously, "The Alliance of Thousands of Immortals is very good ah! Everyone has Techniques to practice, and there’s no need to worry about life safety..."
Li Fan let out a cold snort, interrupting him, "Good? Can’t you see how many cultivators toil away their lives laboriously? All for a single Technique? If it were a true Technique, it would be fine."
"But they even tear these Techniques apart to sell them. One for Foundation Establishment, and then you have to exchange again once reaching Gold Core. Nascent Soul, God Transformation are the same!"
"All to treat us cultivators like beasts of burden!"
Shang Tianci was about to retort, but Li Fan pointed a finger at his forehead.
In an instant, countless scenes of lower-level cultivators struggling for a bit of contribution points appeared in his mind.
As a once chosen talent, Shang Tianci naturally did not understand how difficult it was for cultivators with average aptitude to step by step progress from Mortal to Refining Energy, Foundation Establishment, Gold Core...
Many people were even stuck within realms he could easily break through for their entire lives, making no progress.
Experiencing this for the first time, Shang Tianci’s psyche was severely shaken and indescribably troubled.
Li Fan continued to confound him with words.
Slowly, Shang Tianci’s gaze began to change.
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Making up for yesterday’s.
