Chapter 530: Chapter 502: First Investigation into the Five Elders Organization
The Five Elders’ Territory is known to consist of four major territories: The Joyous Land, The Kingdom of Reality, Unity of the Immortal Sects, and Human Dao Sky Realm.
As for the last one, nothing is known about it yet.
The tutor never mentioned it in his lessons, and it remains quite a mystery.
From what can be observed now, exploring The Kingdom of Reality and the Unity of Immortal Sects carries the highest risk.
The Human Dao Sky Realm and Joyous Land pose no such threat.
However, Li Fan knowingly headed towards danger, most likely because he had long harboured feelings for Sister Zhao…
Alright, the actual reason was that Li Fan saw an opportunity to explore the territory of the Immortal Sovereign while controlling the puppet body with a strand of his consciousness.
From his experience in his previous life, Li Fan learned that under the control of Sister Zhao, individual entities connected to form a whole.
This is referred to as “Unity of Thousands”.
Without a doubt, once individual entities are enveloped, or even devoured and absorbed into “Sister Zhao”, their past experiences and memories would be shared among the group.
This is something that Li Fan, who harbors the “Real” within him, definitely can’t accept.
Hence, to him, the risk posed by the Unity of Immortal Sects is even greater than in The Kingdom of Reality.
However, by using puppet body of Jiao Xiuyuan for exploration, the risk would significantly decrease.
Several factors were considered: According to the tutor, not all the cultivators in “Unity of Immortal Sects” became part of Sister Zhao. As one of the strongest hunters in the world, Sister Zhao is quite “picky”. Only the most elite cultivators who pass several selections earn the privilege to enter the rumored “Immortal Sect”. Even normal cultivators aren’t willingly accepted by the Sovereign, let alone a puppet body carved out of wood. Hence, the chances of Li Fan being targeted are minimal.
Secondly, this puppet is one of Jiao Xiuyuan’s avatars and has a built-in self-destruction mechanism. Even if Sister Zhao gets fed up with her usual delicacies and wants to occasionally have something light, like devouring this puppet body, what she would ultimately get would probably only be a dry piece of wood. The consciousness attached to it would already have dispersed.
Of course, one must not underestimate the terrifying power of the Immortal Sovereign.
As Li Fan dashed northward, he deliberately “trimmed” his consciousness along the way, wiping away all past memories and only retaining the idea of “heading to Unity of Immortal Sects”.
Of course, the side effect was very clear. With the further weakening of his already fragile consciousness, his control became less coordinated and made the “Jiao Xiuyuan” body seem quite dull and unintelligent.
However, as long as he could relay what he saw and felt to his true body, that was enough.
Li Fan continued to control the puppet body, rushing towards the Unity of Immortal Sects.
“Daoist Jiao, wait for me.” It wasn’t long before Lu Fan managed to catch up, panting heavily. “I’ve thought about it, I’ll go with you.”
“Although Joyous Land has a lot of rare things, getting a chance to meet the glamorous Sister Zhao in person seems pleasant too.” A hint of longing flashed in Lu Fan’s eyes.
Li Fan turned his head and glanced at him, asking indifferently, “And who are you, Daoist?”
Lu Fan was stumped for a moment.
However, seeing that Li Fan didn’t seem to be joking, Lu Fan carefully observed him, assuming that there was some issue with this puppet of Jiao Xiuyuan.
So, he found himself having to reintroduce himself.
Li Fan didn’t say much, just nodded slightly and continued to move at the same speed.
Lu Fan was a bit upset, but since he had already made the decision, he was too embarrassed to back down.
The two moved towards the territory of “Unity of Immortal Sects” in silence.
Within the territory of the Five Elders, there did exist Teleportation Arrays, but they were all set up within the towns and cities of each province. Cultivators like them who had not yet been assimilated into Alliance of Thousands of Immortals, had no permission to use them.
Unlike the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals, none of the provinces under the control of the Five Elders Organization had a central Immortal City. Instead, there were numerous large towns scattered throughout the area where mortals and cultivators coexisted.
The cities were divided into two areas. A circular wall separated the inner and outer parts; cultivators resided in the inner city, while mortals were in the outer city, each group not disturbing the other.
Apart from the towns, there were also cave mansions and mountain gates built by various cultivators in the mountains and wilderness.
The overall structure closely resembled the Immortal Cultivation World of the ancient times.
The customs were quite different, with the only similarity being the White Mist Barrier that served as the boundary line between the provinces.
At present, Li Fan was located in the Human Dao Sky Realm, of the Undefined Province.
And beyond the Element Devouring White Fog Barrier in front of him, he could go to the neighboring Mystic Yin Province.
What surprised Li Fan was that a large number of people were gathered near the White Mist Barrier, much like mortal vendors, hawking various items.
“Universal Leisure True Boat, thirty thousand Divine Soul Points each, buy two get one free, hefty discounts for bulk purchases!”
“Attention everyone wanting to cross the Foggy Barrier, for just a hundred Divine Soul Points you can board the Universal Leisure True Boat and save fifteen days of your lifespan! Spend a hundred Divine Soul Points, no losses, no regrets!”
“Providing boat rental services, interested parties please contact!”
…
The clamour was incessant, like a bustling mortal market, full of vitality.
Their sales pitch caught Lu Fan’s attention.
“Daoist Jiao, come and see! These are flying boats constructed entirely out of Universal Leisure True Leaf!” After a quick inspection, Lu Fan exclaimed in surprise.
Seeing Li Fan appearing to not understand, he had to patiently explain, “The price of Universal Leisure True Leaf didn’t drop drastically after the previous incident because it was revealed that magical tools crafted from this material could decrease the lifespan consumed by the Foggy Barrier.”
“However, this was just a rumour. I have never seen a real magical tool that had the said effect. I didn’t expect to see them in abundance here in the Five Elders’ Territory…”
He was expecting Li Fan to respond, but he looked just as lost as before.
Realizing his words fell on deaf ears, Lu Fan sighed and stopped talking. Instead, he began to inquire with the vendor cultivators by the roadside.
The so-called Divine Soul Points are the common currency within the Five Elders Organization.
It’s similar to the contribution points in the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals.
Once you join the Five Elders’ Organization, you can obtain free Techniques but must sign a Soul Contract in return.
It is said that once you have accumulated enough Divine Soul Points, you can remove the Soul Contract and redeem yourself.
However, very few cultivators can achieve this.
Most cultivators choose to exchange their Divine Soul Points for higher-level Techniques, thereby increasing their ability to earn more Divine Soul Points.
Not only is it a way to sell their freedom, every transaction in the Five Elders’ territory, and even various aspects of daily life, revolve around contracts.
