Chapter 701: The Alliance’s Concealment

Huangfu Song clutched the Heaven-Measuring Mirror, his eyes filled with disbelief, as if he'd seen a ghost.

Dongfang Yao, who was usually so carefree, established a divine sense connection to the Heaven-Measuring Mirror. He watched the thirty thousand plus Qingxuan Points they had risked life and limb to earn vanish to zero in an instant, and his face twisted into a snarl.

"Huangfu! Is this thing of yours even reliable? Why did it swallow up all our points?" Dongfang Yao roared, veins bulging on his neck.

Li Fan, in contrast, remained far more composed.

He examined the Heaven-Measuring Mirror. The massive number of Qingxuan Points they'd accumulated while exploring the Life-Death Reversal Lost Domain had indeed vanished into thin air.

The change happened after we left the Lost Domain, when it resynchronized with the Tianxuan Mirror... Li Fan summoned the Samantabhadra True Boat and pulled Huangfu and Dongfang, still exposed to the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist, into the cabin.

"Calm down, brothers. Just surviving this ordeal is already a stroke of luck. If the Qingxuan Points are gone, we can earn them back later." Standing at the bow of the Samantabhadra True Boat, Li Fan spoke gently, gazing into the nearby White Mist.

There, in that thick, milky whiteness, beyond the reach of sight, something seemed to be shifting.

"No. We can't just let this go. Either the Tianxuan Mirror made a mistake, or someone stole our points. I'm going to demand an explanation!" Huangfu Song ground his teeth.

"Damn it all, they're messing with us. If I catch whoever stole our Qingxuan Points..." Dongfang Yao's eyes blazed with fury, his chest heaving. He was clearly at the end of his rope.

Seeing this, Li Fan stopped trying to dissuade them.

None of them had the heart to continue exploring after this. Their supplies were mostly gone anyway, so setting out again would have been foolish. They hurried back to Tianyu City.

"Brothers, wait for my news. I'm going straight to Dean Ji." As soon as they entered the city, Huangfu Song rushed off to find Ji Hongdao.

Dongfang Yao, unable to contain his rage, paced back and forth in the private room of the Dao Discourse Tower. He refused to sit, stretching and working his joints until his bones popped like firecrackers.

Li Fan said little. He ordered a cup of spirit tea, drank it, then closed his eyes and waited.

After more than half a day, Huangfu Song stumbled back in, looking utterly deflated.

He collapsed onto the floor, his eyes empty.

"Huangfu, what did he say?" Dongfang Yao saw that something was wrong, but couldn't help pushing for an answer.

"It doesn't exist... it doesn't exist anymore..." Huangfu Song muttered.

"What doesn't exist!? Speak clearly! You're driving me insane!" Dongfang Yao shouted.

Jolted by the shout, Huangfu Song regained some composure and spoke in halting fragments. "Dean Ji said... the Life-Death Reversal Lost Domain we reported... that place doesn't exist at all."

Dongfang Yao froze, then exploded. "How dare they spout such nonsense? We explored it ourselves, and that bloody mirror proves it—"

"That's what I told Dean Ji. But..." Huangfu Song's face turned ashen. "He asked me to take him back to the Life-Death Reversal Lost Domain. When we reached the spot from my memories, the place was gone."

"What?" Dongfang Yao stared, dumbstruck.

"There was only the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist. The Life-Death Reversal Grand Array, the Sea of Deathly Stillness, the Sea of Vitality. All of it felt like a collective delusion we experienced." Bewilderment showed in Huangfu Song's eyes.

"Did we truly experience any of that? Or were we influenced by something within the White Mist, trapped in an illusion?" Even he sounded uncertain of his own words.

Dongfang Yao opened his mouth, a bellyful of words ready to spill out. But in the end he slumped down beside Huangfu Song, grabbed a cup of spirit tea in frustration, and downed it in one gulp.

An illusion? Hmph. In Li Fan's mind, the Dao Transformation Stone emitted a deep blue light, and the image of the Life-Death Reversal Grand Array appeared instantly. What kind of illusion could create an array like that?

Li Fan was certain their experiences within the Life-Death Reversal Lost Domain had been entirely real. But for some reason, the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s officials refused to acknowledge that the domain existed at all.

It seems the upper echelons of the Immortal Alliance, or perhaps the Tianxuan Mirror, know the true identity of the Heavenly Venerable who reversed life and death. Their connection must run deep. Now that He has no wish to reveal Himself to the world, the Immortal Alliance is actively covering His tracks.

Li Fan had noticed something after they left the Lost Domain: when the Heaven-Measuring Mirror and the Tianxuan Mirror reestablished their connection, subtle ripples had emanated from the location of the Lost Domain. That must have been when the domain was relocated elsewhere.

Such methods... Interesting.

Thirty thousand Qingxuan Points had vanished without a trace, yet Li Fan did not wear the same look of despair as Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao.

If my guess is right, compensation from the Myriad Immortals Alliance is already on its way. They need to smooth this over. Otherwise, if Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao can't swallow their anger and start talking, it won't end well.

Having worked through the key points, Li Fan sat back, calm and composed, sipping his spirit tea as he waited for their visitor.

Sure enough, half a day later, someone knocked on the door of their private room.

"Who is it?" Both Huangfu and Dongfang's eyes flashed with caution.

Before they could react, the door swung open on its own. A black-robed cultivator, his features impossible to discern, stood abruptly before Li Fan and his two companions.

"You...!" Dongfang Yao's face contorted in shock, every muscle in his body tensing as he snapped into a combat stance.

He was about to strike when his heart seized, forcing him to stop.

The Heaven-Measuring Mirror had flown from Huangfu Song's embrace of its own accord, arriving before the black-robed cultivator.

The black-robed cultivator tapped the Heaven-Measuring Mirror lightly, then spoke in a cold voice. "All regions within the White Mist Barrier that have been mapped as of now have been recorded within this mirror."

He flicked his finger, and a small sphere of light flew over to Huangfu Song. "If you wish to explore more efficiently, head for the still-blank areas. Remember: do not, under any circumstances, speak of things you shouldn't. Otherwise, no one will be able to protect you. Act wisely."

His figure gradually distorted, then slowly vanished into thin air.

Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao stared blankly at the sphere of light before them. After a long moment, understanding seemed to settle over them.

Cold sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably. It took a long while before the two of them composed themselves. They exchanged a look of deep, unspoken understanding, and neither brought up the matter again.

Probing the light sphere with their divine sense, Huangfu Song's pallid face flickered with a trace of joy. "Exemption Talisman!" he exclaimed.

From it, he drew three talismans that shimmered with prismatic radiance.

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