Li Fan maintained a calm expression and said, "Friend, you must be joking."
"I just heard you mention that the newly appointed Secret Envoy is also named Li Fan."
"If I were truly a spy for the Five Elders Association, why would I choose such a conspicuous name and draw unnecessary attention?"
Huang Ranqi thought this made some sense and nodded slightly.
Li Fan continued, "I also heard that before a cultivator joins the alliance, their identity is thoroughly verified. With the extraordinary abilities of the Immortal Alliance, if anything were amiss with me, it would surely be detected on the spot. In that case, you'd be the hero who exposes a spy and earns great merit."
"So, why worry?"
After some consideration, Huang Ranqi was finally convinced by Li Fan’s words. He took the lead in applying for a talisman of passage on Li Fan's behalf and then escorted him through the teleportation formation on the island, arriving at Congyun Immortal City.
Seeing the city floating amidst the clouds, Li Fan showed a hint of surprise. "I heard that the Immortal Alliance's base in the Congyun Sea was an island. Why is it now a floating city?"
"That's ancient history. If you're interested, you can ask around once you join the alliance," Huang Ranqi replied, clearly unwilling to elaborate.
Li Fan didn’t pursue the matter further.
Soon, the two arrived at the entrance of the Tianxuan Mirror.
"This is the Tianxuan Mirror," Huang Ranqi introduced.
Li Fan appeared to listen attentively, but he was actually tense inside. As he pretended to focus, he secretly activated the "Sky-Shrouding Palm" Secret technique and prepared his [Truth] to make a swift escape if necessary.
Based on his past-life experience of merging with objects and traversing countless eras, Li Fan knew that the Sky-Shrouding Hand Technique, which had been refined repeatedly in the struggle between the Covering Heaven Alliance and the Mysterious Net, could evade the Tianxuan Mirror's perception.
In addition, the 'Mysterious Transformation of True Spirit'—derived from the Derivation Law Jade—was a mystical technique capable of altering one's aura, fate, blood, spiritual consciousness, and soul essence.
Thus, the Tianxuan Mirror shouldn't detect that he and the Secret Envoy Li Fan of Congyun Immortal City were actually the same person.
Still, one could never be too cautious.
Its only use was ornamental. Unfortunately, the flower had a short lifespan; once in bloom, it only lasted seven days, or about a month if stored in a specially crafted wooden box.
Moreover, it was extremely sensitive to any form of energy. Exposure to spiritual energy fluctuations or spatial teleportation could blur or even erase the scenes on its petals, rendering it worthless.
Thus, cultivators who wished to admire the Heavenly Spirit Flower had no choice but to come to Tianling Prefecture to see it in its prime.
This rarity made the Heavenly Spirit Flower even more precious outside of Tianling Prefecture.
In his past life, during the great battle in Tianling Prefecture, the Heavenly Spirit Flower almost went extinct. But with everyone’s attention on the unprecedented conflict, no one cared to speculate about its price. Once the war ended and Tianling Prefecture began to recover, the flower gradually returned.
However, cultivators later discovered that due to the lingering bloodshed in its growth environment, the scenes on the flower’s petals no longer depicted natural beauty but rather horrifying images of cultivators slaughtering one another—a truly tragic sight.
People longed for the once-beautiful Heavenly Spirit Flower, but the scenes on the petals were beyond control. Attempts to transplant the flower to other regions failed, as it would instantly wither.
Thus, the Heavenly Spirit Flower, once a unique spectacle of Tianling, vanished from the world.
Recalling this past-life anecdote, Li Fan carefully selected a seventeen-petaled Heavenly Spirit Flower in the shop.
"This one."
"Just one? Won’t you choose more?" The shopkeeper seemed disappointed.
"One is enough," Li Fan said with a smile.
"Three hundred contribution points," the shopkeeper replied, quoting the price.
Li Fan paid gladly and carefully took the sealed wooden box containing the Heavenly Spirit Flower.
In the box, the Heavenly Spirit Flower bloomed vibrantly. With special treatment, it would stay in bloom for about thirty days.
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