216: Intelligence transaction, the legend of the Broken Immortal Battlefield

The Cuiyun Sect Master looked at Lin Fan, who had returned. The slight smugness and relief that had just risen in his heart were instantly replaced by an inexplicable tension.

He hurriedly rose from his seat.

"Elder Lin, are there any further instructions?"

Lin Fan's gaze no longer held the previous politeness and humility.

He looked at the Sect Master with an unprecedentedly serious expression.

"Sect Master, I want to ask you something."

"Please speak, Elder. I will tell you everything I know."

The Sect Master bowed, keeping his posture extremely low.

Lin Fan spoke word by word, his voice echoing clearly in the hall.

"In the Spirit Realm, where is the most dangerous place?"

He paused and added a condition that made the Sect Master's heart stop.

"The kind of... absolute dead zone where even a powerful Body Integration Stage Cultivator might not make it out."

As the words fell.

The air in the hall seemed to be sucked out in an instant.

The Sect Master's face turned pale at a visible rate.

The color drained completely from his face, his lips trembled slightly, and the look he gave Lin Fan was filled with incomprehensible shock and fear.

This question, more than anything Lin Fan had done before, made him feel heart-stricken with terror.

"El... Elder Lin... why... why do you want to ask about such a place?"

His voice was trembling.

That wasn't just testing the waters.

That was a true Forbidden Ground.

It was a synonym for horror that all living beings should spend their lives avoiding.

Lin Fan saw his intense reaction and understood.

It seemed he had asked the right person.

An unfathomable expression appeared on his face as he explained calmly.

"The Cultivation Technique I practice is somewhat special."

"It requires the help of some external forces."

He didn't go into detail, but simply stated facts in a tone that slowly spoke words enough to overturn common sense.

"I need to absorb the unyielding will left behind after the fall of powerful beings, or the overwhelming Killing Intent that remains in the world."

"The more people who died, and the stronger they were..."

"...the greater the benefit to my Cultivation Technique."

Hearing this, the Sect Master felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

He subconsciously took a step back, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

Absorbing... the will and Killing Intent of the dead to Cultivate?

How domineering, how terrifying, how... close to a Demonic Path technique.

No.

That's not right.

Behind Elder Lin is such a heaven-defying existence; how could the cultivation method be a mere Demonic Technique?

This must be some kind of supreme Dao that he couldn't understand, transcending both Immortals and Demons.

His brain was working overtime, filling in the blanks.

Imagining a Divine Being standing above a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, inhaling the breath of billions of fallen beings to use for himself—what a majestic sight that would be.

In an instant, the way he looked at Lin Fan completely changed.

It was a sense of awe and trembling from the depths of his Soul when facing the unknown and a higher level of life.

He took a deep breath, forcing down his racing heart.

"I... I understand."

The Sect Master's voice was dry and raspy as he bowed deeply to Lin Fan once again.

"Elder Lin, please follow me."

This time, he didn't take any ordinary path.

Instead, he led Lin Fan through the back hall of the Sect Master's palace, opened one hidden Restriction after another, and entered a dark secret passage leading deep underground.

On the walls of the secret passage, the light of the Spirit Stone lamps flickered.

The further down they went, the thicker the Spiritual Qi became, mixed with an ancient aura accumulated over time.

Finally, the two arrived before a secret chamber door constructed entirely of obsidian.

With unprecedented solemnity, the Sect Master bit his fingertip and drew an extremely complex rune on the stone door with his own essence blood.

Rumble.

The heavy stone door slowly opened.

A desolate aura, sealed for countless years, rushed toward them.

In the center of the secret chamber, there was only a simple stone platform.

The Sect Master performed several more hand seals, and the stone platform split down the middle. A primitive box made of unknown beast bones slowly rose.

The moment the box opened, there was no treasure light or exotic fragrance.

Only a bone-chilling Killing Intent that seemed capable of piercing the Divine Soul flashed by.

The Sect Master pointed to the yellowed beast-hide scroll in the box and spoke with a strained voice.

"In the Spirit Realm, there is only one place that meets the Elder's requirements."

"The Shattered Immortal Battlefield."

"It is the core site of the final battle between Immortals and Demons in the ancient era."

"Legend has it that true Immortals fell there, and Supreme Demon Sovereigns shed their blood."

"To this day, the core area of the battlefield is still shrouded by the Laws that collapsed when the Immortals fell, and is occupied by a killing will that hasn't dissipated for billions of years, transforming into all sorts of indescribable horrors."

"Never mind the Body Integration Stage."

"Even a Mahayana Stage Old Ancestor who breaks into the inner perimeter would face a slim chance of survival, with no return."

He looked at Lin Fan, his eyes full of wariness.

Lin Fan's heart, however, began to beat violently at this moment.

A place where Immortals fell.

Where even the Mahayana Stage has a slim chance of survival.

This was... practically a paradise tailor-made for him.

The Sect Master saw the hint of yearning in Lin Fan's eyes and became even more certain of his guess.

He held up the beast-hide map and presented it to Lin Fan with both hands.

"This map is a partial regional map brought back from the outer perimeter of the battlefield by an ancestor of the Cuiyun Sect at the risk of his life."

"It records some relatively safe routes, as well as several known opportunities and dead zones."

"This is the greatest secret since the founding of my Cuiyun Sect, and the hope for the Sect's future."

Having said this, his tone shifted and became incredibly sincere.

"I am willing to gift this map to the Elder."

Lin Fan was already overjoyed in his heart.

There's such a good thing?

On the surface, however, he remained calm and didn't immediately take it.

Seeing this, the Sect Master gritted his teeth, as if he had made the biggest decision of his life.

From his storage ring, he took out another warm green jade pendant.

The word "Cuiyun" was carved on the jade pendant, which emitted a faint spiritual light. Inside, there seemed to be a very subtle, almost imperceptible Divine Soul fluctuation.

"I have only one request."

The Sect Master held up the map and the jade pendant together, bowing even lower.

"When the Elder enters the battlefield, please take this Sect token with you."

"If you are fortunate enough in the future... to meet the seniors of your master's Sect, I hope... I hope you can put in a good word for my Cuiyun Sect for the sake of this small gift, and remember this bit of goodwill today."

"The entire Cuiyun Sect would be eternally grateful and never forget it."

He lowered his posture to the dust.

This was no longer an investment.

This was gambling the entire future of the Sect to exchange for a vague Opportunity to have their name remembered by a "Great Power."

Lin Fan laughed inwardly.

This deal was a massive profit.

On his face, however, he showed a solemn expression, as if considering the weight of the request.

After a moment, he slowly reached out and took the map and the jade pendant.

"I understand the Sect Master's intentions."

"I will remember this goodwill."

Having obtained what he wanted, Lin Fan didn't stay long. He turned and walked toward his Immortal Cave.

With the top-tier death-seeking map in hand, the next step was to plan the itinerary.

However, just as he walked out of the area of the Sect Master's palace.

An urgent cry with a sob came from not far away.

"Elder Lin, please wait."

Lin Fan looked toward the sound.

He saw a familiar figure stumbling toward him.

It was Liu Qingqing.

At this moment, she had completely lost her usual quietness and composure. Her pretty face was stained with tears, and her beautiful eyes were red and swollen from crying, filled with anxiety and pleading.

Under the startled gazes of the surrounding Disciples, she ran to Lin Fan.

With a thud.

She actually knelt straight down.

"Elder Lin."

Liu Qingqing's voice carried an uncontrollable tremble.

"I... I heard from my father..."

"Are you going to the Shattered Immortal Battlefield?"

In her eyes, a light of hope erupted, like someone grasping at the last straw.

"I beg of you."

"I beg of you, please take me with you."

She kowtowed heavily, her voice filled with desperate pleading.

"Legend has it that only the Immortal treasures remaining in the Shattered Immortal Battlefield have a slight possibility of curing the Bloodline Curse that has been part of my Family's Legacy for ten thousand years."

"This is my last chance."

"I beg the Elder to grant my request."