Two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences had inexplicably vanished.
It sounded like something from a fantasy tale. Yet this bizarre event had actually occurred.
Ever since the fall of Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu, these two had met annually at the Heavenly Capital Dueling Arena to compete for the right to inherit the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique.
All these years had passed, yet neither side had achieved a decisive victory.
Each confrontation attracted countless cultivators to witness the spectacle, and it had almost become a staple event in Yuandao Province, with many cultivators from other provinces traveling great distances just to catch a glimpse of the two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences in battle.
However, when the appointed day for this year's duel arrived, not a single soul could be seen within the Heavenly Capital Dueling Arena.
The crowd waited for a long time, but neither Dugu Xi nor Dugu Shi appeared.
Assuming the duel had been rescheduled, none of the cultivators thought much of it at the time.
That was, until several days later, when shocking news arrived.
Friends, family, and subordinates of both men had tried every method possible, yet couldn't contact either of them.
They even petitioned the Heavenly Mechanism Hall to perform divinations, but not a single trace of the two could be found.
It was as if they had vanished into thin air!
The Lan Yu lineage was the most shaken by this development.
With their two top combatants missing, unease spread through their ranks.
Nerves were frayed, and everyone viewed each other with suspicion, wondering who might be the mastermind behind the disappearances.
After the initial shock, the other powers gradually began to assess the situation.
The Lan Yu lineage was massive, seemingly unshakable. But that was in the past.
First came years of internal strife that had depleted their forces and weakened their foundation.
Now, two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences had mysteriously disappeared.
Just how much strength did the Lan Yu lineage truly have left?
Greed began to take root in the hearts of many powers.
A covert Feather-Burning Alliance quietly formed.[1]
It started with small-scale skirmishes. Then, with the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique as the catalyst, large-scale slaughter erupted.
This Dao Unity technique had been divided into five parts by Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu before his fall, each encrypted within separate jade slips.
Four were entrusted to his most loyal followers for safekeeping.
The remaining one was given to the mysterious and reclusive Enforcer Hall within the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
Only by combining all five jade slips could the complete Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique be restored.
After the mysterious disappearance of the Dugu brothers attracted circling predators, the Lan Yu lineage's seemingly most loyal member actually betrayed them, taking another one-fifth of the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique with him. He was the Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence who had served Heavenly Venerable Lan Yu the longest and held the most seniority, Wei Xutuo.
Under the pretense of discussing countermeasures against their enemies, he lured another jade slip holder, Immortal Eminence Wu Tongtian, into a trap laid by the Feather-Burning Alliance.
Wu Tongtian died with bitter hatred, Wei Xutuo obtained two portions of the Heavenly Capital Feather Transformation Technique, and the Feather-Burning Alliance seized the opportunity to aggressively annex the Lan Yu lineage’s territory.
When news reached the Lan Yu lineage, their initial shock quickly turned to overwhelming fury.
A centipede may die, but it never stiffens.[2]
And so, a bloody counterattack began.
War ignited, then swept across all of Yuandao Province.
Countless Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation cultivators were caught in the conflict.
The death phenomena of cultivators appeared continuously in the skies above like an unending procession.
Only the plentiful Qi Refinement cultivators, whose combat power was too weak to even serve as cannon fodder, remained largely unaffected.
***
Brightmoon Palace.
Now, who's playing a grand game of chess?
Having observed all the major and minor events in Yuandao Province recently, Li Fan's eyes flickered. The thick scent of conspiracy behind it all was far too obvious.
Anyone with clear eyes can see the strangeness of this situation. Unfortunately, we're already deeply entangled in this chess game, unable to extricate ourselves.
Qi Refinement cultivators don't even qualify to be chess pieces.
No matter. You may look down on them, but I certainly won't disdain them.
Li Fan immediately gathered the members of Brightmoon Palace and issued the order for strategic expansion.
Though Su Xiaomei and the others didn't fully understand this command, they resolutely carried it out. By the end of Anchor Year 43, the technique transmission enterprise, which had been dormant for nearly half a year, began operating anew.
This time, they were even more aggressive than before. Under Li Fan's direction, Brightmoon Palace kept only thirty thousand contribution points in reserve, lending out all the rest.
The news of Brightmoon Palace's resumed operations spread instantly among Qi Refinement cultivators. Having waited bitterly for half a year, they were overjoyed, swarming to Brightmoon Lake in numbers that even exceeded Li Fan's expectations.
However, Li Fan didn't release all the technique transmission slots at once. He continued to select one “fated” cultivator every three days, fully whetting the appetites of the masses. It took nearly a month to lend out all the planned contribution points.
At this point, the debts owed to Brightmoon Palace amounted to nearly 220,000 contribution points. They had thirty thousand contribution points in reserve. Zhang Zhiliang's Posthumous Bequest still held 320,000 contribution points. The total came to 570,000 contribution points—a sum that would make even Spirit Transformation cultivators covetous.