Chapter 345: Demon Lord Changes, Thousand Faces

Li Fan sensed his surroundings once more.

"The Fallen Immortal Realm can be entered again. While there is still some time, I can explore it once more."

"However, before that, I should first check what major events have occurred in the last six months."

Foresight is his greatest advantage; every piece of valuable information could mean a massive Opportunity in the next life.

Li Fan naturally would not overlook this, and immediately began searching within the tianxuan mirror.

Countless strange tales and anecdotes flashed before his eyes.

However, two events drew his attention the most.

First, the Old Fisherman, who had not appeared for a long time, had resurfaced. This time, he was lingering in Tianchen Province.

But unlike in the past when he was alone, the Old Fisherman was surprisingly accompanied by a seven or eight-year-old girl.

She was dressed just like the Old Fisherman, wearing a straw raincoat. She carried the fish basket that the Old Fisherman always kept with him on her back, which was almost as big as she was. It looked quite comical.

Some bold Cultivators tried to strike up a conversation with this little fisher-girl, only to be lectured by her in an old-fashioned, haughty tone.

Although she appeared to have only Foundation Establishment cultivation, she spoke to Nascent Soul Cultivators with the tone of a senior lecturing a junior.

One must know that the Old Fisherman had been wandering for a long time, appearing and disappearing like a ghost, and no one had ever managed to follow by his side.

This little girl immediately aroused the curiosity of many Cultivators.

The Cultivators speculated about the identity of this little fisher-girl, but there was no consensus, and opinions varied.

When Li Fan saw this news, for some reason, he suddenly thought of the heaven stealing sun switching token he had traded to the Old Fisherman back then.

"Sikong Yue?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes, guessing in his heart.

When he first obtained the heaven stealing sun switching token and learned of the token's origin, he had already had vague suspicions.

The forger of this token, the thirty-eighth generation successor of the Stealing the Sky Changing the Sun Sect, was Sikong Yue.

Perhaps through some secret technique, she had turned herself into the token, thereby seeking to survive in that incredibly bloody Great Dark Era.

When future Cultivators tried to use the token to Cultivate the Heaven Stealing Sun Switching Art, and both their body and Divine Soul merged with the token.

She would be able to secretly absorb power and eventually achieve a resurrection by "stealing the sky and changing the sun."

Therefore, Li Fan had always held deep caution regarding this token.

After obtaining it, he had always left it in a corner of his storage ring, never messing with it.

When the Fisherman asked for it, he handed it over without the slightest hesitation.

Now it seemed his premonition might have been correct.

"I just don't know what method the Old Fisherman used to awaken her. However, having slumbered for thousands of years and finally resurrecting, only to be forced to act as a follower fisher-girl, I imagine the feeling wouldn't be very pleasant." Li Fan thought to himself, and then began to ponder the second matter that greatly concerned him.

Over the past year, rumors had been spreading everywhere in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

It was said that the Five Old Men Association, which had been silent for a long time, was making moves again.

A Cultivator skilled in the path of the Divine Soul was said to have already quietly infiltrated the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

This Cultivator's cultivation was unfathomable, and it was said that a thousand years ago, he was already in the Dao Comprehension Realm.

Furthermore, he had abandoned his body and existed only as a Divine Soul.

His Divine Soul was so powerful that it was no different from a normal physical entity.

He could even freely infiltrate the bodies of other Cultivators, perform Possession, and take their place.

Not long ago, a tragedy occurred in Lietu Province.

The town guardian of Zhubi suddenly had a drastic change in personality and slaughtered all the Mortals under his jurisdiction.

He even lied, claiming "spies have invaded and committed a bloody crime," and under the pretext of "investigating the details of the scene," lured dozens of Yanwu Hall Cultivators from Lietu Province into Zhubi City.

Then, he unleashed strength completely inconsistent with his true self, instantly wiping out the Yanwu Hall squad led by a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Before the Cultivators of Lietu Province could react, he made his escape.

Leaving behind a city of blood, which shocked and angered the Cultivators who arrived later.

Since then, there had been more than a dozen similar incidents where Cultivators suddenly had drastic personality changes and then went on a killing spree, not even sparing their own kin.

Yet, the culprit was never found.

People connected these tragedies with the earlier news of the Five Old Men Association's Combined Dao Immortal infiltrating.

Almost everyone believed that the reason those Cultivators had such drastic personality changes was because they had been subjected to Possession by the Combined Dao Immortal of the Five Old Men Association.

And as the massacres continued to occur, the Cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance gradually developed a sense of fear.

After all, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't be the next target for Possession.

They also had to worry about their close friends suddenly stabbing them in the back at any moment.

As negative emotions accumulated, the consequence was that the voices criticizing the incompetence of the Yanwu Hall grew louder and louder.

And the calls for the rapid popularization of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array became increasingly strong.

The effectiveness of the Lock Spirit Array had already been clearly demonstrated in Nine Mountains Province.

Although the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance issued a rare announcement explaining that the light beam lock of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array was only applicable to those below the Combined Dao Cultivators.

Once a Dao Comprehension Realm individual was locked for a period of time, they could break free by relying on their own strength.

But in the eyes of the Cultivators, having some effect was better than having no countermeasures at all and waiting passively to be slaughtered.

Besides, Formations could be improved and strengthened.

If it couldn't deal with Combined Dao Cultivators now, surely it could after continuous improvements, right?

In short, due to the existence of this Five Old Men Association spy, whom the Cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance called the "Thousand-Faced Demon Lord," public attitude towards the popularization of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array had shifted from initial opposition to later acquiescence, and now to hope and support.

The popularization of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array had now become an unstoppable trend.

Not only was the official stance firm, but the public also eagerly welcomed it.

Although there were some discordant voices of opposition in the face of this overwhelming tide, they were decisively suppressed before they could attract any attention.

At the same time, the Yanwu Hall's incompetence in facing the invasion of the Thousand-Faced Demon Lord had also aroused significant dissatisfaction among many Cultivators.

Some Cultivators believed that the current Yanwu Hall could no longer adapt to the increasingly fierce struggle against the Five Old Men Association.

It would be better to emulate the existence of the Garrison Academy in the central hinterland and reorganize a brand new military organization to protect the safety within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

The calls in support of this idea were also quite strong.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance officials also issued a statement, indicating that they would fully consider and respect the opinions of the vast number of Cultivators.

Relevant matters were under negotiation, and specific measures would be announced in the coming days.

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's rare positive response left many Cultivators feeling extremely excited.

They believed that this shift might be a sign that better days were coming.

But those Cultivators who had truly glimpsed some of the clues, like Li Fan at this moment, could only remain silent with a cold heart.

"Truly a brilliant move."

"The appearance of the Thousand-Faced Demon Lord has not only greatly accelerated the popularization of the Tianxuan Locking Spirit Array."

"But even after the Formation is fully established, it will have infinite wonderful uses."

"Spies will always be caught eventually."

"But the Thousand-Faced Demon Lord is very cunning; no matter how they try, they just can't catch him."