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However, the affairs of the world are always difficult to predict.
During the year that Li Fan patiently waited for changes in the Xuanhuang World and for his avatar to successfully acquire the Black Sword,
an unexpected event took place—one that he could never have anticipated and had never occurred in his previous experiences of Reincarnation.
One day, as Tianyang was lying in the Spirit Tree Realm, idly gazing into space, he suddenly rose to his feet.
He looked in a certain direction of the Xuanhuang World with a solemn expression.
Tianyang’s unusual behavior immediately alerted Li Fan.
He knew his junior brother’s temperament well; apart from himself and Li Fan, his senior brother, Tianyang was almost indifferent to anything else.
The seriousness of his expression at this moment meant that the matter must be far from simple.
"Junior brother, what’s wrong?" Li Fan flashed to Tianyang’s side and casually asked.
"I sensed an extremely strong space fluctuation descending upon the Xuanhuang World. It vanished in an instant, and I couldn’t pinpoint the other party’s location,"
"But I’m certain there was no mistake," Tianyang spoke more fluently than before, getting straight to the point.
Upon hearing this, Li Fan’s heart skipped a beat, "Extremely strong space fluctuations? What does that mean?"
"If it were simply spatial teleportation within the Xuanhuang World, it wouldn’t cause such intense fluctuations. This indicates that the Xuanhuang World..."
"Has been visited by someone from beyond the heavens?" Li Fan interjected.
Tianyang nodded slightly.
Li Fan’s expression immediately became extremely somber.
"Someone else has managed to survive in this Abyss Star Ocean?"
"Or could it be that this person came from outside the High Wall?"
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Fan’s mind in an instant.
His emotions surged, and even with his composure, he struggled to calm down.
Apart from the shock of an outsider visiting from beyond the heavens, the key reason for his unease was that this event seemed to have never occurred in any of his past Reincarnations.
What change had occurred that led to the arrival of this visitor from beyond the heavens?
"Perhaps there’s another possibility."
A thought suddenly struck Li Fan: "Maybe this event had happened in previous lifetimes, but with the strength I possessed at those times, I was unable to perceive it."
After much contemplation, Li Fan finally regained his composure.
Such a major event would definitely have been sensed by the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals and the Five Elders Organization as well.
He decided to wait and see their reaction.
"Junior brother, work a little harder and see if you can try to track that space fluctuation," Li Fan instructed.
Tianyang nodded and accepted the task.
As it turned out, although the arrival of the visitor from beyond the heavens wasn’t known to the general public,
it indeed had a significant impact on the overt rulers of the Xuanhuang World.
The most obvious sign was that the previously tense situation suddenly relaxed by mutual unspoken agreement.
For over thirty consecutive days, the Heavenly Venerable Law Phases of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals stopped appearing.
It was unnaturally quiet at the Five Elders Organization as well.
This situation was as though both parties had simultaneously stopped their activities to attend to something else.
Li Fan also sent a message to the Five Elders Organization inquiring about the strong space fluctuation.
While they confirmed his suspicions, they also indicated that they were investigating the cause of the space fluctuation,
and said if the United Federation of All Realms had any discoveries, they must notify them as soon as possible.
…
"This level of seriousness is too rare," Li Fan muttered, stroking his chin and frowning slightly.
"What’s crucial is that, after so many days of searching together, the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals and the Five Elders Organization haven’t found that visitor from beyond the heavens?"
Anxiety began to rise in Li Fan’s heart.
After pacing back and forth, he finally made up his mind.
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Heading to a dilapidated temple in Yong Yun Province, he arrived before Elder Stone Plate.
"Are you talking about the fluctuations from not long ago?" Elder Stone Plate seemed to have truly grasped The Way of Fishing, with an aura that was bright one moment and dim the next. Like the tide, its rise and fall exerted a deterring influence on the surroundings.
Even with Li Fan’s current strength, when attempting to get close, he would be forcefully repelled by this unconsciously emitted power. Li Fan couldn’t help but feel secretly alarmed.
"Yes. The intensity of those space fluctuations clearly exceeded the standard of spatial transmission within the Xuanhuang World. If it were a person from the Outer World, I fear..." Li Fan said with a look of hidden worry.
"The Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Organization have joined forces to search, but so far there are no results. Therefore, for the sake of the safety of the Xuanhuang World, I had no choice but to seek Elder’s assistance."
Elder Stone Plate remained silent for a long time.
However, it wasn’t that he was unwilling to answer, but rather, he seemed to have fallen asleep.
After a while, once he became clear-headed again, he shook his head with a smile, "Although I have grown weary of life, I still carry the Tablet of Creation. If the Xuanhuang World really were to fall into a life or death predicament, how could I just sit by and do nothing?"
"This matter is actually a misunderstanding. It’s not about any visitors from beyond the heavens..."
"Anyway, if you truly want to know the ins and outs of this matter, go to this place and find this person."
As Elder Stone Plate said this, he lightly pointed at Li Fan.
The corresponding information then surfaced within Li Fan’s Spirit Consciousness.
Elder Stone Plate once again immersed himself in the enlightenment of The Way of Fishing, while Li Fan bowed respectfully and departed.
"Qinghuang State, Han Zhong?"
Li Fan examined the information transmitted by Elder Stone Plate, his brow furrowing.
He had been to Qinghuang State before as well.
Located in the southwest corner of the Immortal Alliance, it was desolate and remote, sparse in population.
Even more backward than the Misthaven Ocean, it was considered the very end of the line in the entire Immortal Alliance.
"Could it be that it is exactly because of this that it’s more suitable for hiding?"
Thinking thus, Li Fan transformed into a beam of light and headed towards Qinghuang State.
After putting in some effort, when he arrived at his destination and came before Han Zhong’s residence.
Before even entering, Li Fan could smell the scent of alcohol.
"Why does no one believe me?"
"Good wine!"
"Hehe, none of it’s real, it’s all just a dream! Hic..."
Li Fan frowned even more deeply.
Entering the room, Li Fan saw a cultivator with a beard-stubbled face and tattered clothes, lying on the ground without any semblance of dignity.
Clasping a jar of wine tightly in hand, his expression was bleary.
Li Fan’s divine consciousness instantly swept over Han Zhong and detected no danger.
The man was nothing more than a Mid Stage Golden Core Cultivator, posing no threat whatsoever.
"Are you Han Zhong?" Li Fan asked coldly.
Han Zhong looked at Li Fan with a bewildered gaze, remaining blank for a moment.
Then, as if he hadn’t seen Li Fan at all, he picked up the jar and continued to drink on his own.
Li Fan snorted coldly, intending to use the Secret Techniques to search the soul and extract the secrets from this drunkard’s mind.
However, just as Li Fan’s right hand had touched Han Zhong’s head.
As if burned by fire, Li Fan’s hands recoiled instantly.
"Hmm?"
Li Fan stared at his own hand, somewhat dazed.
While the flesh on the surface appeared unharmed, Li Fan clearly sensed that his Divine Soul withered at the moment of contact!
Not injured, but withering as if a cultivator was nearing death, the exhaustion of the Divine Soul!
Li Fan was inwardly shocked.
One must know that at this point, the strength of his Divine Soul was unparalleled even among Integration Cultivators.
But now, he had been harmed by a mere Golden Core Cultivator?
