Chapter 298: The Body Dies, Dao Becomes Empty

"Why am I called back again? Could there be a turning point in the situation?" Li Fan, with a hint of doubt in his heart, returned to Tianyu City.

After some thought, instead of going directly to the Universal Mansion, Li Fan first went to the Heavenly Profound Mirror in Tianyu City.

After entering his exclusive space within the Heavenly Profound Mirror.

At this moment, his clone in the Congyun Sea paused the cultivation of the Creation Oven Technique and began searching for extraordinary items in the world that could enhance spiritual awareness and affinity.

Piece by piece, information about various items appeared.

Li Fan browsed through them and selected the high-grade item, "Ghost Soul Hairpin."

He then sent the Ghost Soul Hairpin into the White Bone Pioneer Realm.

The main body immediately initiated the ritual, absorbing the extraordinary item in the Pioneer Mirror.

Within the dantian, the "True Self" slowly transformed, eventually becoming a half Lustrous Heart with seven orifices and half Ghost Soul Hairpin.

After completing all this, Li Fan returned to reality and headed towards the Universal Mansion.

Transforming into the Ghost Soul Hairpin, Li Fan naturally hoped to increase the chances of discerning Soul Contracts.

The reason he didn't do this during the closed training was for his own safety.

Who knows, the Universal Mansion might be under someone's constant surveillance.

His original achievements were mediocre, but after exchanging for extraordinary items, his results gradually improved...

The difference was obvious, and it might attract attention.

There was no need to take such risks.

Outside the mansion, in the Heavenly Profound Mirror, there were fewer concerns.

At least, from the current situation, the Heavenly Profound Mirror was still temporarily reliable.

When Li Fan entered the Universal Mansion again, there was no test of the formation, and he appeared directly in front of Ji Hongdao.

"Respected senior!" Li Fan bowed.

"Hmm, so fast?" Ji Hongdao was somewhat surprised. "Well, it saves any unexpected situations."

He sighed, and his expression seemed a bit tired.

"May I ask what has happened, senior?" Li Fan asked.

"Ah, it's a long story." Ji Hongdao redistributed a Universal Token to Li Fan and explained the reason for suddenly summoning him back on the way to see Huangfu Song.

"What? Dantai Tao and the others, a dozen people went out to relax, encountered an accident, and unfortunately died?" Li Fan thought he had misheard, staring at Ji Hongdao in amazement.

It wasn't surprising that Li Fan was so shocked because it was somewhat absurd.

Dantai Tao was the most outstanding among all the cultivators in this training session.

As early as the first assessment, he received the highest rating twice.

Moreover, his rate of discerning Soul Contracts reached an astonishing one hundred percent.

Anyone with discerning eyes could see that such a character would undoubtedly achieve extraordinary accomplishments in the future.

Therefore, it was inevitable that some cultivators would intentionally chat and make friends with him during the training.

Dantai Tao appeared polite on the surface, treating everyone with courtesy.

In reality, his vision was extremely high, and he only wanted to befriend those who excelled in the assessment like him.

In this way, over the course of nearly half a year, a group led by Dantai Tao gradually formed.

The members, all of them had extraordinary talents in Array Dao.

Their cultivation levels were not weak, at the very least, all of them were Core Formation cultivators.

Dantai Tao himself was still young, but he had already reached the Nascent Soul realm.

These people were appropriately called the "Pride of Heaven" among cultivators.

However, such a group of people unexpectedly met with a mishap in the heartland of the Wan Xian Alliance, Tianyu Province?

Looking at Li Fan's expression, Ji Hongdao's words were full of regret. "Dantai Tao and the others said that they've been suffocating for half a year. They took advantage of the time before the start of the second phase of the closed training to go out and relax, to ease and organize their minds."

"They were already a strong group, each with protective measures bestowed by their seniors. Moreover, this is Tianyu Province, and there shouldn't be any danger."

"I thought about it and agreed to their request."

"Who would have thought..."

"Sigh, a slight misjudgment! A slight misjudgment!"

Ji Hongdao sighed repeatedly.

"With more than a dozen people suddenly dying, the previously determined spots for the second phase are now suddenly vacant."

"To avoid wasting, we had to extend the list based on the results of the first round of assessments and select replacement members."

"This is also the reason why I urgently called you back."

Li Fan didn't feel embarrassed to be a replacement.

Compared to those genius cultivators who died inexplicably, his luck was much better.

After hesitating for a while, Li Fan couldn't help but ask, "Senior Ji, I wonder what exactly happened..."

Ji Hongdao waved his hand, interrupting Li Fan's question. "This matter is quite complicated. The more you know, the more it might harm you."

Li Fan nodded and said nothing more.

After a while, Li Fan once again met Huangfu Song.

Looking at Li Fan, Huangfu Song smiled and said, "How about it, kid? My intuition is quite accurate, right? I said we would meet again soon, and not long after, you come back again."

"Senior, your intuition is mighty!" Li Fan arched his hand.

"Could it be that Dantai Tao and the others had an accident, and it was senior..."

Li Fan hadn't finished speaking when Huangfu Song's expression suddenly changed upon hearing his words.

A slap landed on Li Fan, lifting the seal on his memories while interrupting his words.

"Kid, you can't talk nonsense." Huangfu Song looked at Li Fan with a fake smile, his eyes unfriendly.

"It doesn't matter if you talk nonsense, but if someone takes it seriously..."

"These young folks all have their connections, and some of them have great influence."

"Even the Chief Commander Guanxing was suspended from duty, and I can't afford to get into more trouble."

Ji Hongdao impatiently said, "Enough of your chatter."

He put an end to their conversation.

Ji Hongdao's status was obviously higher than Huangfu Song's, and when he spoke, Huangfu Song wisely kept quiet.

"You should go back to the mansion and wait."

"In the Universal Token, a Soul Gathering Pearl has been prepared for you. Don't slack off during this time; focus on your comprehension," Ji Hongdao instructed Li Fan again.

"Thank you, senior."

Li Fan thanked him aloud.

Ji Hongdao waved his hand, and Li Fan returned to the familiar mansion.

However, it was uncertain if it was the same room he lived in before.

"Guanxing."

Recalling Huangfu Song's words, Li Fan's heart stirred, and he began searching for information about Guanxing.

"Commander of the Tianyu Province Garrison..."

"One of the candidates for the next Garrison Commander."

Li Fan squinted his eyes, contemplating.

The so-called accident was likely just an excuse.

No matter how you looked at it, there was a sense of conspiracy in this matter.

"Jicheng Tiantun steps down as the Garrison Commander."

"I'm afraid the competition for this position has reached a white-hot stage."

"At this critical moment, a major incident occurred in Guanxing Xie's jurisdiction, causing him to be suspended..."

"It seems that some people have become a bit crazy for this Garrison Commander position."

"Hmm... No, that's not right."

"The method used to frame him is too low-level; it can be seen at a glance. So, it might be Guanxing Xie himself playing a trick."

"First, withdraw from the center of the vortex, fade from sight. Then, catch the opponent off guard and win with a surprise attack."

"Of course, it's also possible that the opponent is using this psychological tactic, blatantly framing and slandering."

...

"Regardless of the truth, these so-called geniuses like Dantai Tao, in front of the real wielders of power in the Wan Xian Alliance, were easily crushed without clear reasons, becoming tools to attack political enemies."

"No matter how high their talents are..."

"Once they die suddenly, it's all in vain."

Li Fan sighed inwardly, took out the golden Soul Gathering Pearl, and skillfully extracted a strand of divine soul.

(End of this chapter)