A first look at the Five Elders

The Five Old Men Association's territory, currently known, consists of four major regions: Worry-Free Paradise, Kingdom of Truth, Single Heart Immortal Sect, and Humanity Heaven Realm.

As for the last location, it remains unknown for now.

The scholar never mentioned it during his lectures, keeping it quite mysterious.

Currently, exploring the Kingdom of Truth and the Single Heart Immortal Sect carries the highest risk.

The Humanity Heaven Realm and Worry-Free Paradise, however, pose no threat.

And Li Fan, knowing full well the danger, still chose to brave it, naturally because he had long admired Zhao Shijie…

Well, the real reason was that Li Fan wanted to take advantage of the rare opportunity to control a Puppet with a wisp of consciousness and explore the territory of Celestial Venerable Yixin.

From his experiences in his previous life, Li Fan learned that under the control of Zhao Shijie's power, individual entities were connected to form a whole.

This is what is called Ten Thousand Hearts United as One.

There is no doubt that when individual entities are absorbed, or rather, devoured and join Zhao Shijie, their past experiences and memories will be shared by the entire collective.

This was certainly unacceptable for Li Fan, who possessed Huan Zhen.

Therefore, for his true self, the Single Heart Immortal Sect was actually more dangerous than the Kingdom of Truth.

However, if he used this Puppet body of Jiao Xiuyuan to explore, the risk would be greatly reduced.

This was based on several considerations: According to the scholar's account, not all Cultivators within the Single Heart Immortal Sect had become part of Zhao Shijie. As one of the most formidable hunters in the world, Zhao Shijie was also extremely “picky.” Only the most elite Cultivators within her territory, after layers of selection, were qualified to enter the legendary “Immortal Sect.” Even ordinary Cultivators, this Celestial Venerable was unwilling to easily absorb, let alone a Puppet body made of wood. Therefore, the possibility of Li Fan being targeted was extremely small.

Secondly, this Puppet was one of Jiao Xiuyuan’s Clones, and it had a self-destruct mechanism. Even if Zhao Shijie grew tired of delicacies and occasionally wanted something plain, and intended to devour this Puppet body, what she would ultimately get would likely only be a piece of withered wood. The wisp of consciousness attached to it would have long since dissipated.

Of course, one still could not underestimate the terrifying power of Chang Sheng Tian Zun.

Li Fan sped northward, actively “reducing” this wisp of his consciousness along the way. He removed all past memories from his consciousness, retaining only the thought of “heading to the Single Heart Immortal Sect.”

Of course, the side effects were also very obvious. Originally, he was barely controlling the body with just a wisp of consciousness, and after continuous weakening, his consciousness became even more fragile. The control became uncoordinated, and the apparent consequence was that this “Jiao Xiuyuan” became very dull, looking somewhat unintelligent.

However, as long as he could transmit what he saw, heard, and felt to his true self, that was enough.

Li Fan controlled the Puppet body, constantly rushing towards the Single Heart Immortal Sect.

“Fellow Daoist Jiao, wait for me.” Before long, Lu Fan finally caught up, panting.

“I thought about it, and I’ll still go with you.”

“Although there are many rare items in Worry-Free Paradise, it would also be nice to personally see the peerlessly beautiful Zhao Shijie.” A hint of longing flashed in Lu Fan’s eyes.

Li Fan turned his head, glanced at him, and asked indifferently, “Fellow Daoist, who are you?”

Lu Fan was stunned.

However, seeing that Li Fan didn't seem to be joking, Lu Fan observed carefully, only thinking that something was wrong with Jiao Xiuyuan's Puppet.

So he had no choice but to reintroduce himself.

Li Fan said nothing, just nodded slightly, without slowing his pace.

Lu Fan felt a bit depressed, but since he had already spoken, it was awkward to directly go back on his word.

The two traveled in silence, constantly approaching the Single Heart Immortal Sect territory.

Within the Five Old Men Association's territory, there were naturally also teleportation arrays. However, they were all set up within the towns of the prefectures, and Cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance who had not yet been naturalized did not have the right to use them.

Unlike the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Five Old Men Association did not have a central Immortal City within each prefecture. Instead, there were large towns scattered like stars, where Mortals and Cultivators coexisted.

The cities were divided into two areas, inner and outer. A circular High Wall separated the inner and outer, with Cultivators living in the inner city and Mortals living in the outer city, not disturbing each other.

In addition to the towns, there were also various Immortal Caves and mountain gates built by Cultivators themselves in the wilderness.

The overall layout was very similar to the Cultivation World of ancient times.

The customs were vastly different, the only similarity being the White Mist Barrier that spanned heaven and earth, serving as the dividing line between the prefectures.

Li Fan’s current location was in the Humanity Heaven Realm, Wuding Prefecture.

And passing through the Devouring Yuan White Mist Barrier ahead would lead to the adjacent Xuanyin Prefecture.

What surprised Li Fan was that quite a few people had gathered by the White Mist Barrier. They were shouting and selling something, just like Mortal vendors.

“Puxian True Ark, 30,000 soul points per vessel, buy two get one free, bulk orders discounted!”

“Those who want to pass through the White Mist Barrier, come and see! For only one hundred soul points, you can ride the Puxian True Ark and save fifteen days of Lifespan! One hundred soul points, no loss, no scam!”

“Providing a large number of Puxian Ark rental services, interested parties contact quickly!”

…

The shouts rose and fell, like a Mortal market, bustling with activity.

And what they said caught Lu Fan’s attention.

“Fellow Daoist Jiao, come and see! It’s a flying ark built entirely from a large amount of puxian true leaf as Materials!” Lu Fan went forward to inspect for a while, and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Seeing Li Fan, who had lost his memories, looking puzzled, he had to patiently explain: “After the previous puxian true leaf incident, it was precisely because news spread that Magical Artifacts made from this Material could reduce the Lifespan devoured by the Devouring Yuan White Mist that its price didn’t completely collapse.”

“However, it had only been a rumor circulating, and I had never seen a real Magical Artifact that actually worked. I didn't expect them to be everywhere here in the Five Old Men Association…”

He had hoped Li Fan would respond, but to his surprise, he still looked dazed.

Lu Fan, feeling like he was talking to a brick wall, sighed and said no more, turning instead to inquire with the vendor Cultivator by the roadside.

The so-called soul points were the universal currency of the Five Old Men Association.

It was essentially the same as the contribution points of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

As long as one joined the Five Old Men Association, they could obtain free Cultivation Techniques, but as a price, they had to sign a Soul Contract.

It was said that after accumulating a certain amount of soul points, one could lift the Soul Contract and redeem themselves.

However, very few Cultivators were able to do so.

The vast majority of Cultivators chose to exchange soul points for higher-grade Cultivation Techniques to enhance their ability to earn soul points.

Not just selling oneself, but daily transactions and even all aspects of life in the Five Old Men Association were inseparable from contracts.

I'm stuck, so only one chapter today. Teary-eyed.