“They sealed off the ruins, drove out the cultivators inside, and even inspected their storage rings.”

“It’s as if there’s some incredible treasure hidden in there.”

Jiao Xiuyuan’s eyes gleamed as he whispered.

“Although I’m not afraid of them, harmony brings wealth, so I didn’t start any conflict and obediently left.”

Upon hearing this, Li Fan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“The Protectorate institute...”

As an elite armed organization that only operates in a few states within the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance's core territory, it’s truly unusual for them to seal off and excavate the ruins of the Medicine King Sect.

Could it be that the phrase I mentioned back then, ‘The Tianxuan Lock union of Xuanhuang Realm,’ has caused the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance to compete in deducing the future, thereby foreseeing the imminent return of the True Cauldron of Medicine King to the Xuanhuang Realm?

“What do you think, Fellow Daoist Jiao? Does this have anything to do with my earlier prediction and the possible opportunity related to the Small Medicine King Cauldron?” After pondering for a moment, Li Fan looked at Jiao Xiuyuan and asked.

To Li Fan's surprise, Jiao Xiuyuan shook his head in denial.

“After returning, I made some inquiries. It’s not just the ruins of the Medicine King Sect. The same goes for the ruins of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Taishang Sect, and other ancient sects within the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s territory. All of them have been sealed off by the Protectorate institute cultivators.”

“They’re not allowing anyone to approach, but they themselves are vigorously searching for something inside.”

Jiao Xiuyuan’s tone was filled with some resentment.

“I lost several puppets sneaking in, and discovered that they weren’t so much searching for objects as they were looking for someone!”

“Looking for someone?” Li Fan was stunned. “How can you tell?”

“All the cultivators inside the ruins are holding [Spirit-Sensing Beads]. This type of artifact is extremely sensitive to the breath of life. Even if a cultivator is in deep slumber with only a sliver of life remaining, it can still detect them.” Saying this, Jiao Xiuyuan couldn’t help but glance at Li Fan.

Li Fan’s expression grew thoughtful: “So, you’re saying they might be searching for an ancient cultivator who, like me, fell into deep slumber thousands of years ago?”

“There’s a ninety percent chance,” Jiao Xiuyuan asserted.

“That’s quite odd…” Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.

The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance wouldn’t do something meaningless.

This large-scale operation clearly has a specific purpose.

“So, they’re certain that there’s such a dormant ancient cultivator, but they’re unsure of their exact location.”

“They’ve determined only that the person is within the ruins of various ancient sects, so they’re using this needle-in-a-haystack method to search.”

“This person must be extremely important to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, and…”

“The reason they’re looking for him is definitely related to my phrase, ‘The Tianxuan Lock.’”

Li Fan thought for a while but couldn’t figure out anything.

“Fellow Daoist Jiao, you really didn’t unearth a Small Medicine King Cauldron?” He glanced at Jiao Xiuyuan and abruptly asked.

Jiao Xiuyuan hesitated for a moment and then chuckled awkwardly: “It seems I can’t fool your discerning eyes, Fellow Daoist. It’s true that I didn’t come away empty-handed.”

“Unfortunately, my luck wasn’t great. Just as I unearthed one, the cultivators of the Protectorate institute showed up.”

“And due to this incident, all the items recently excavated from sect ruins have skyrocketed in price.”

“Quite a few cultivators have come to inquire about that Small Medicine King Cauldron, so…”

Jiao Xiuyuan looked at Li Fan, his eyes practically spelling out “higher price.”

However, Li Fan just waved his hand: “Since this item is so sought-after, let’s just forget about it. You, Fellow Daoist, can decide when to sell it!”

Without waiting for Li Fan to haggle, he directly gave up.

Jiao Xiuyuan was completely stunned by this response.

“Um, Fellow Daoist Li, aren’t you going to reconsider...”

“A gentleman helps others achieve their goals without coveting their treasures! It’s just a minor opportunity, how could I possibly be lacking?” Li Fan dismissively refused, clearly uninterested.

Seeing Jiao Xiuyuan’s dumbfounded expression, Li Fan added, “Instead, I’m much more interested in what you said about the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance searching for an ancient cultivator.”

“Maybe, this person is an old acquaintance of mine.”

“I know your information network is extensive, so please investigate this matter for me!” Li Fan’s gaze turned sharp as he looked at Jiao Xiuyuan.

“As for the small Medicine King Cauldron, forget about it. You won’t keep any secrets from me about this, will you?”

Li Fan’s gaze swept over the three characters “Qianli Hall” hanging outside the room as he spoke in an eerie tone.

“Rest assured, rest assured! I, Jiao Xiuyuan, would never ruin my own reputation!” Jiao Xiuyuan hurriedly promised, knowing he was in the wrong.

“Well then…”

Just as Li Fan was about to nod and continue speaking, a commotion suddenly erupted outside.

The two exchanged a glance, sensing that something unusual was happening, and tacitly stopped their conversation to step outside.

On Ten Thousand Immortal Island, the towering statue of the Immortal Venerable of Dao Transmission was emitting beams of light that shot straight into the sky.

The island’s protective formation had been activated at some point.

Beyond the protective barrier, a massive purple door stood tall.

Numerous cultivators were constantly flying out of the door.

“The Five Elders Association?”

Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan exclaimed in surprise simultaneously.

“Are they insane? Are they declaring an all-out war against the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance?” Jiao Xiuyuan’s voice was full of shock.

It was clear that this surprise attack by the Five Elders Association had been extremely secretive, catching even Jiao Xiuyuan, whose ears and eyes were spread throughout the entire cultivation world, off guard.

What has happened?

Why has the Five Elders Association suddenly initiated a war?

And the target isn’t the Grand Cave-Heaven of the Five Elements, but instead, this Ten Thousand Immortal Island?

Li Fan’s thoughts raced.

“Fellow Daoist Jiao, have other cities and states been attacked by the Five Elders Association as well?” After a moment, Li Fan asked in a deep voice.

“No. Only Ten Thousand Immortal Island in the Congyun Sea is the target of the Five Elders Association’s strike this time.” After pausing for a moment, Jiao Xiuyuan replied, still filled with confusion.

Li Fan frowned slightly, feeling somewhat puzzled as well.

The two fell silent, simply raising their heads to watch the battle in the sky.

The two True Monarch of the Soul Transformation stage on the island had been deployed to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s headquarters, leaving the island’s defense forces clearly insufficient.

They didn’t dare engage in a direct confrontation, relying only on the formation to hold on bitterly, while hoping for reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible.

But it was clear that the Five Elders Association had come well-prepared. Not only had they rendered the teleportation formation useless, but even communication seemed to be blocked, making it impossible to send messages.

Ten Thousand Immortal Island was gradually losing ground, and the faces of the many cultivators watching the battle on the island turned pale.

Having lived in peace for so long, they had never seen such a scene.

As time slowly passed, to everyone’s surprise, when the Five Elders Association finally gained an absolute advantage and broke the protective barrier, they did not choose to attack the island directly.

Instead, they began setting up a formation in the sky above Ten Thousand Immortal Island.

Threads of light descended from the central formation above and shot towards the edges of the island.

“The Heaven and Earth Displacement Formation?”

Li Fan and Jiao Xiuyuan exclaimed in unison once more.

“Is the Five Elders Association planning to move the entire Ten Thousand Immortal Island away?”

The doubt in their eyes grew stronger.

The formation was completed in no time, and the threads emitted a faint white light.

The ground of Ten Thousand Immortal Island began to shake violently.

TL : Is the name "Immortal Venerable" good here? Because his literal translation should've been (Heavenly Sovereign Of Dao Transmission→ chuán fǎ tiān zūn) The "tian zun" here is important because it's also used in later cultivation realm which I decided to translate as "Heavenly Sovereign" So, should I keep it as "Immortal Venerable" as it sounds more appropriate given the character's background or should I go with the literal term.