Chapter 15: Building Foundation Now a Skeleton
This little wooden boat was the flying boat that Li Fan had been longing for.
From a message inscribed on the wall of the tomb by the tomb's owner before his death, Li Fan finally understood the whole story.
It turns out, the tomb's owner was named Qian Hong, a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivist. More than 3,000 years ago, he was pursued and killed by his enemies, and he had no choice but to hide in this Immortal Realm.
He planned to hide for a while and then leave, but there was no spiritual energy in this Immortal Realm. Unfortunately, he was a poor cultivator and didn't have many Spirit Stones on him. Not long after, the Spirit Stones were depleted. With no Spirit Stones to replenish his spiritual energy, his cultivation started declining.
After failing to break through the Immortal Forbiddance Formation and suffering severe injuries, Qian Hong realized he was trapped here.
But he was an indefatigable person and didn't give up.
He speculated that when the mortals were exiled to this place thousands of years ago, they might have left a flying boat or two behind.
So, he explored in various ways and after spending decades, he finally found the tomb of Yi Xing.
Indeed, there was a flying boat in the tomb, but what made him despair was that the power core array in the flying boat was damaged. He was not skilled in the art of refining tools and couldn't repair it.
Moreover, even if the flying boat was repaired, without Spirit Stones, he didn't have enough power supply based on his cultivation level at that time.
At this point, Qian Hong finally gave up the idea of leaving this place, the Immortal Realm. Thereafter, he arose under an assumed name and lived an ordinary life as a mortal.
Before he died, he carved his life story onto the tomb wall, hoping that if any cultivator entered his tomb in the future, they could take his bones back to the Immortal Cultivation World. The few items he left in the tomb could be considered as his advance payment.
The first item is the power source that guarded Qian Hong's grave and caused the death of dozens of former visitors. It's also why Qian Hong firmly believed that any who could break in would certainly be cultivators.
The Heavenly Wonder: Stop Step Remnant Stele.
A broken stele with a faintly visible "Stop" character on it.
Li Fan touched the stele and [Real] didn't get any reaction, feeling somewhat regretful. Earlier, as he forced his way into the tomb, he had used a lot of Immortal-Ordinary Miasma. Now the Stop Step Remnant Stele had been influenced by the Immortal-Ordinary Miasma and had become an ordinary stone.
However, Li Fan didn't care too much. Knowing the location of Qian Hong's tomb, he can come to fetch it in the next life.
The second item Qian Hong left behind was two jade scrolls. The scrolls recorded the Techniques he had painstakingly exchanged from the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals.
"The Minor True Restoration Technique, Energy Refining Stage Technique, current number of practitioners: 1."
"The Record of Clouds and Water, Foundation Establishment Stage Technique, current number of practitioners: 1."
Li Fan picked up the jade scrolls. Realizing from the information passed by them that the number of practitioners was one, his heart jumped. He thought that Qian Hong was still alive and this place was a trap set by him.
But in a moment, Li Fan came to his senses. More than 3,000 years have passed, even if it was a Golden Core Cultivator, they would have been returned to ashes by now.
As for why someone is currently cultivating these techniques, Li Fan figured it out after thinking a little.
The Alliance of Thousands of Immortals certainly has the original archives of the Techniques. If they saw the number of practitioners of a Technique drop to zero, they would know that the cultivator who had previously exchanged and cultivated this Technique has already died.
After this, they can certainly bring these Techniques out again for exchange.
You could say that over these 3,000 years, these two Techniques probably have changed many masters.
"Dark... So dark..." Li Fan was speechless.
After sighing for a while, Li Fan turned his eyes to the third item, the Tai Yan Boat.
This was the tool used by the Taiyan Sect to migrate mortals.
Perhaps it was abandoned because this flying boat was broken.
But after thousands of years, it had fallen into Li Fan's hands and became his hope to escape from this Immortal Realm.
Holding the Tai Yan Boat in his hand, Li Fan was filled with excitement. The hope of hundreds of years had finally come true.
As for the fact that the Tai Yan Boat was broken, Li Fan was not worried at all.
Qian Hong couldn't fix it, he, Li Fan, couldn't fix it either, but someone could!
...
Fifteen years later, with an anchor of fifty years, Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi appeared in Xuanjing City again.
"Dao Xuanzi! Don't push it too far!"
"Kou Hong! Do you think if you flee to the Immortal Realm, I will let you go? Hand over the Technique you obtained that day, or I swear I will haunt you until the end!"
"What a joke! It's precisely because I lacked the Golden Core Technique that I've been trapped at the Foundation Establishment Stage for nearly a hundred years. Now that I see death approaching, I will turn into bones. But having obtained this Golden Core Technique, how could I possibly hand it over to others!"
"Indeed! There's only room for me, and not others on the Golden Core Path. There might be numerous Golden Core Techniques in this world, but there are even more cultivators trapped at the Foundation Establishment Stage! So, now that the path to longevity is right before me, how could I let you go?!
"Let it be over! It's ridiculous that we, brothers of a hundred years, are now drawing swords against each other for a glimmer of hope!"
...
As the two were preparing to fight to the death, they heard hearty laughter from below in Xuanjing City.
"You're willing to kill each other for a mere Golden Core Technique?!"
Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi both changed color and looked down.
"Who is that? Such arrogance!"
"Arrogant!"
Both of them said this but their expressions became alert.
"You two might as well come down and have a talk!"
Below, within the Grand Master Mansion, an old man with silver hair shouted.
Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi looked at each other, kept a distance, and landed in the Grand Master Mansion while being on guard.
"Hahaha, please!" The old man with silver hair seemed very pleased. He led them both to sit down in the main hall.
After ordering his servants to prepare food and drinks for the guests, he began to speak nostalgically: "My ancestor once said on his deathbed that the day two people came from the ruined abyss, stepping into the Capital City, it would be an opportunity for our clan to escape this place."
"For thousands of years, the people of my clan have been half-doubtful. Today, seeing it for ourselves, it's indeed as prophesied!" The old man laughed loudly and drained his cup of wine.
Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi exchanged puzzled looks.
"May I know your name, sir?" Kou Hong was the first to ask. His tone had become much more polite.
"I'm Li Fan," Li Fan replied with a smile.
"Judging by your words, did your ancestor foresee thousands of years ago that we would come here? What do you mean by 'an opportunity to escape from this place'?" Dao Xuanzi asked, studying Li Fan and furrowing his brow.
Li Fan seemed a bit displeased: "What, you don't believe it?"
Kou Hong laughed and shook his head: "This matter is too marvelous. We've been adventuring in the Immortal Cultivation World for a hundred years, and we've never heard of a deduction technique that could predict things a thousand years in advance."
Dao Xuanzi also shook his head in agreement.
Li Fan straightened up and asked disdainfully: "Have you two ever heard of the Taiyan Sect?"
Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi exchanged glances, both somewhat shocked: "You mean the ancient sect that was famous for its Art of Deduction?"
Li Fan quietly let out a sigh of relief and nodded faintly: "My ancestor was a member of the Taiyan Sect."