Chapter 143: The Appearance of Crimson Flame
"That's a pity," Yuwen Xing said with regret as he looked at Li Fan.
Li Fan was about to leave but suddenly thought of something.
He asked, "Fellow Daoist Yuwen, I wonder, what is the cultivation level of the guardian of Tai'an Island?"
Yuwen Xing was a bit puzzled about why Li Fan would ask such a question, but it wasn't a secret, so he answered, "Fellow Daoist Zhou Qingang is at the mid Foundation Establishment level. It hasn't been long since he broke through from the early Foundation Establishment stage, only about twenty or thirty years. It's unexpected that he's about to break through again so soon. Truly enviable!"
Li Fan nodded thoughtfully and said, "I see. This Zhou Qingang seems to have some issues..."
However, since Li Fan was planning to slip away, this matter had nothing to do with him. He just kept it in mind.
After bidding farewell to Yuwen Xing, Li Fan hurried to Night Island.
Su Xiaomei and the others had already gathered.
In the six years that had passed, everyone had undergone earth-shaking changes.
Su Changyu had successfully entered the Qi Condensation stage, practicing the "Concealed Jade Art" that Xiao Heng had exchanged for him.
Xiao Heng, unable to contact Li Fan for years, joined the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance through the introduction of Zhao Erbao. They undertook various tasks to accumulate contribution points. Both of them were now at the late Qi Condensation stage, preparing for Foundation Establishment.
As for Yin Yueting and Yin Yuzhen, they had successfully removed the miasma from their bodies, although they had not yet succeeded in condensing Qi into their bodies.
Although he was at the late Qi Condensation stage as well, Li Fan activated the Concealing Form Talisman on his body, and Su Xiaomei and the others couldn't see his true cultivation level.
Li Fan asked Zhao Erbao, "How is the collection of Dao resonance antiques going?"
In recent years, Zhao Erbao has been very obedient, having experienced hardships under Li Fan. Later, seeing the several juniors brought by Li Fan rapidly surpassing him in cultivation, he became even more docile.
He honestly confessed, "We're still a few artifacts short, but it should be enough to reproduce the Dao resonance soon. It should take another year or two."
Li Fan shook his head. "There's no time. Let's get ready to leave."
"Leave? Where are we going?" Zhao Erbao looked a bit confused.
"Yuandao Prefecture," Li Fan answered without explaining why.
Then, Li Fan looked at Su Xiaomei and the others. "Are you willing to go with me?"
"Master, wherever you go, I will follow," Su Xiaomei said with a cheerful smile, not asking why they suddenly had to leave.
Although so much time had passed, for some reason, she still looked like a seven or eight-year-old child.
Seeing Li Fan asking, she immediately expressed her loyalty.
"We will naturally go with Xiaomei." Xiao Heng and Su Changyu had no objections.
Yin Yueting, however, looked hesitant, apparently reluctant to leave the foundation they had built for Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
In the midst of her hesitation, her sister Yin Yuzhen kicked her right leg forcefully.
Looking back at her sister, Yin Yueting said, "We will go together."
Li Fan nodded, making the final decision, "Pack up, we will set off in seven days."
The reason for such a long preparation time was because the transfer of Dao resonance antiques was somewhat troublesome. They couldn't use spatial storage equipment, so they had to move each item one by one.
Fortunately, with everyone working together, they finally managed to move all the Dao resonance antiques into the Tai Yan Boat within the specified time.
As for the assets of Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, Yin Yueting only took half of it with her. The rest was left to the elders who had been following her and working together.
Everyone boarded the Tai Yan Boat, ready to leave.
At this moment, a person suddenly rushed out from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion crowd, crying and kowtowing while shouting, "Manager Yin!"
It turned out to be someone Yin Yueting had treated with great kindness, reluctant to see her leave.
Li Fan recognized him as Sun Zhang, who had been at Heavenly Treasure Pavilion on Liuli Island in the previous life.
After thinking about it, Li Fan brought him onto the Tai Yan Boat.
Apart from him, no one else from Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was willing to leave.
Li Fan also inquired about a fatty named Ye Feipeng.
Amidst the various responses, Li Fan learned that Ye Feipeng had been noticed by Wu Xingzou of the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce a few years ago. Following Wu Xingzou, Ye Feipeng left the Cong Yun Sea, and no one knew where he had gone.
Nodding, Li Fan didn't ask further.
Then, flying the Tai Yan Boat, they headed towards Yuandao Prefecture.
This route had been traveled by Li Fan before, and this time, there were no major obstacles.
After more than a month of traveling, they arrived at Zhuo Ling City.
However, Li Fan hadn't anticipated bringing so many Dao resonance antiques.
The courtyard he had prepared as a temporary residence turned out to be too small.
It couldn't accommodate all the items.
So, Li Fan left the Tai Yan Boat outside Zhuo Ling City, used formations to conceal its presence, and instructed Su Xiaomei and others to guard it.
Afterward, Li Fan met with the guardian of Zhuo Ling City and inquired if there were suitable places nearby to open a cultivation cave.
"Cultivation cave?" The guardian of Zhuo Ling City, Fei Nan, was a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator. At this moment, he was somewhat surprised by Li Fan's question.
Because generally, cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance would either settle directly in Yuandao Heavenly City or stay in the Tianxuan Mirror.
Only those eccentric cultivators who liked solitude would go through the trouble of opening cultivation caves in the wilderness.
Fei Nan didn't inquire further, especially since Li Fan generously offered a consultation fee of one hundred contribution points. Fei Nan immediately warmly provided Li Fan with several locations to choose from.
The first location was a gorge more than two thousand miles north of Zhuo Ling City.
Looking down from the sky, the mountain peaks on both sides were like natural barriers, protecting the gorge in the center. The gorge was abundant in spiritual energy, and it wasn't too far from Yuandao Heavenly City.
The second location was to the south of Zhuo Ling City, more than three thousand miles away, where there was a continuous mountain range called the Daoling Mountains.
Legend had it that it used to be the site of a certain sect before the great calamity. In the Daoling Mountain range, there were several suitable peaks for opening cultivation caves. The downside was that occasionally, cultivators would come to explore the remnants of the sect.
The third location was relatively remote.
More than five thousand miles west of Zhuo Ling City, near Shilin Prefecture, there was a vast lake called Mingyue Lake, several hundred miles in diameter.
The lake itself had no valuable resources, and there were no ancient relics nearby. The density of spiritual energy in the vicinity was also ordinary.
So, few cultivators ventured there.
After listening, Li Fan thanked Fei Nan and left.
Among these places, it seemed that Mingyue Lake was most suitable as a cultivation cave.
However, Li Fan wasn't in a hurry to make a decision; he believed seeing was believing.
He rejoined Su Xiaomei and the others, lifted the Tai Yan Boat, and headed towards Mingyue Lake.
Meanwhile, as Li Fan and his group were looking for a future residence, a grand drama quietly unfolded over the Cong Yun Sea.
It was already midnight.
No stars or moon were visible, making it pitch dark.
On Ten Thousand Immortals Island, everything was silent.
Suddenly, without warning, a huge sun appeared in the sky.
The sunlight was intense, illuminating everything.
Under this artificial daylight, the Cong Yun Sea, which was shrouded in darkness, became as bright as day.
And beneath the great sun, in the high sky, a red, transparent figure suddenly appeared.