248: Spirit World Anchor, Letter from the Netherworld

The alliance with Yue Xi had allowed Lin Fan to obtain intelligence far more precious than a massive amount of resources.

The Era Calamity.

These words weighed on his heart like a heavy mountain.

He urgently needed an absolutely safe rear base.

An ultimate lair where he could recklessly court death to grind rewards and research his own secrets without worrying about being peered at by any old monsters.

The solution provided by the System perfectly matched all his needs.

“Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein nodes...”

Lin Fan sat cross-legged in the quiet room, a map of the Star Domain that Yue Xi had privately provided to him surfacing in his mind.

This map detailed the distribution of most known Spiritual Veins within the Tianxuan Starfield, as well as some secret ones known only to the Lunar Divine Palace.

Combining this with the System's scanning function, he quickly locked onto the best target.

On the edge of the Tianxuan Starfield lay a lawless zone known as the 'Luan Shi Zang'.

The environment in that starry sky was harsh, filled with meteorite turbulence and spatial rifts; ordinary Cultivators wouldn't dare approach. In the deepest part of that area lay an ancient Spiritual Vein that had long been abandoned and almost forgotten by the world.

To others, it was a useless piece of trash, but to Lin Fan, who possessed the World Core Fragment, it was the perfect nursery.

With a flicker of his body, Lin Fan's figure silently left the spirit boat fleet, turning into an imperceptible shadow that merged into the cold starry sky... A few days later, deep within the Luan Shi Zang.

Upon a barren, giant planet, mountain ranges stretched continuously, and not a single blade of grass grew.

Lin Fan's figure appeared like a ghost within an inconspicuous valley.

According to the System's guidance, the node of that abandoned Spiritual Vein was deep beneath the ground of this valley.

However, he did not act immediately.

His brow furrowed slightly.

From the moment he stepped into this area, he had sensed at least three faint Divine Thoughts following him from a distance, like maggots on a bone.

The owners of these Divine Thoughts had cultivation levels ranging from the Soul Transformation Early Stage to the Soul Transformation Late Stage.

Clearly, his stunning appearance on the white jade platform had attracted secret prying, even though he had rejected all overt attempts to recruit him.

One of the Divine Thoughts was especially professional.

It was hidden extremely deep; had Lin Fan not reached a new height in his comprehension of the Law of Space after his Breakthrough to Void Refining, he would have been almost unable to detect it.

The person behind this Divine Thought had no trace of malice or greed.

There was only pure calmness and scrutiny, like a hunter observing its prey.

“Myriad Visions Pavilion.”

Information about this organization surfaced in Lin Fan's mind from the intelligence Yue Xi had given him.

It was a neutral organization spread across the entire Tianxuan Starfield that made its living by selling intelligence.

Rumor had it that as long as you could afford the price, you could even buy the secret whereabouts of a Body Integration Stage expert.

Being targeted by such professional paparazzi was not a good thing.

A flash of impatience crossed Lin Fan's heart.

He didn't have time to play hide-and-seek with these flies.

He had to strike them hard and scare them once and for all.

Lin Fan pretended to be unaware and continued to survey the valley, seemingly searching for something.

He deliberately stayed in front of a mountain wall for a long time and even set up a simple illusion array, appearing as if he were preparing to open an Immortal Cave there.

The moment he turned to enter the array.

In the shadows, that most professional Divine Thought fluctuated for a moment.

A figure in black, almost merging with the shadows, silently approached the mountain wall, holding a peculiar compass in his hand, seemingly wanting to probe the reality inside the array.

He was the gold-medal scout of the Myriad Visions Pavilion, 'Ghost Shadow' Shen Tu.

In his three hundred years of work, he had never failed.

But just a moment before his hand could touch the array's light screen.

A hand, without any warning, lightly rested on his shoulder.

Shen Tu's body stiffened to the extreme in an instant.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

A chill capable of freezing the Divine Soul rushed from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head.

How is this possible!

He hadn't even sensed any spatial fluctuations or any aura of magic power.

This person was like... he had grown out of thin air.

“Your Excellency has followed me for so long, aren't you tired?”

A flat voice sounded behind his ear.

Shen Tu's heart almost jumped out of his throat.

Without thinking, the Soul Transformation magic power in his body erupted, and his body was about to turn into a shadow to flee into the void.

This was his life-saving Divine Ability, the 'Shadow Escape Technique'.

However, the Divine Ability he took pride in completely failed at this moment.

He felt as if the space around him had turned into a block of solidified ten-thousand-year profound ice.

Forget fleeing into the void, he couldn't even move a single finger.

Spatial Imprisonment.

This was a method that only a Void Refining expert could master!

Shen Tu's heart sank into a bottomless abyss.

He finally understood that he had kicked an incredibly terrifying steel plate this time.

Lin Fan's figure slowly circled from behind him to stand in front of him.

“A scout from the Myriad Visions Pavilion?”

Lin Fan's tone remained flat.

Cold sweat rolled down Shen Tu's forehead like a waterfall; he nodded with difficulty, not even having the courage to speak.

“Go back and tell your pavilion master.”

“I came here only to find a quiet place for closed-door cultivation and do not wish to be disturbed by anyone.”

“This is the first and final warning.”

As the words fell, the suffocating power of imprisonment quietly vanished.

Shen Tu felt his body lighten, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.

When he looked up, Lin Fan had already disappeared without a trace.

As if he had never appeared.

Along with him, the other prying Divine Thoughts that had been lurking around also retreated in a panic like a ebbing tide... Half an hour later.

Inside a secret stronghold of the Myriad Visions Pavilion.

An old man with white hair and beard and an unfathomable aura listened to Shen Tu's trembling report, a thick sense of shock flashing through his eyes that seemed capable of seeing through everything.

“Appearing and disappearing like a god, words carrying the weight of Law, imprisoning space as easily as looking at the lines on one's palm...”

The old man murmured to himself.

“Pass down my order.”

“Immediately raise the danger level of this person, 'Lin Fan', to the highest Heaven-tier 'Do Not Provoke'.”

“Seal all intelligence regarding him. Stop all surveillance immediately.”

“From now on, all members of the Myriad Visions Pavilion must treat this person as if they were seeing the Pavilion Master himself; they must yield and show no negligence whatsoever!”

...Having dealt with all the peepers, absolute peace finally returned to the valley.

Lin Fan's figure emerged once again.

He came directly above the node of the abandoned Spiritual Vein and spread his right hand.

That crystal-clear World Core Fragment, which looked as if billions of stars were being born and extinguished within it, floated quietly in his palm.

Without any hesitation.

He channeled the magic power in his body and slammed the fragment deep into the ground.

“System, begin construction!”

【Ding!】

【Construction of 'True · Absolutely Safe Resurrection Anchor' has begun...】

【Detected that the World Core Fragment is in place...】

【Detected that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Vein node is in place...】

【Beginning consumption of gou dao points... 100,000... 300,000... 1,000,000!】

Almost all the points Lin Fan had accumulated in the Myriad Realms Small World were consumed at this moment like flowing water.

Rumble—

A dull, massive sound came from deep beneath the entire mountain range.

Under the stimulation of the World Core Fragment, the long-withered Spiritual Vein seemed to experience a second spring, beginning to frantically draw in the stray energy from the void.

A majestic power of creation erupted from the fragment as its center, spreading outward.

Beneath the ground, a brand new miniature space, completely isolated from the main space of the Spirit Realm, was rapidly taking shape.

Inside the space, the Laws formed their own System, completely controlled by Lin Fan's will.

With a thought, he firmly nailed his resurrection anchor right in the center of this "Mustard Seed World."

【Ding! 'True · Absolutely Safe Resurrection Anchor' construction successful!】

【Anchor Effect: Can isolate the Divine Thought probes and heavenly secret deductions of all Cultivators at the Mahayana Stage and below, truly achieving absolute safety!】

It's done!

The moment the anchor was established, an unprecedented sense of security that reached deep into his Soul spread through Lin Fan's entire body.

From this moment on, he could be considered to truly have a home where he could settle down in this dangerous Spirit Realm.

In a great mood, Lin Fan took out a plain-looking transmission jade talisman covered in cracks from his storage space.

This was a specially made cross-realm transmission talisman he had left for Fatty Zhang years ago, which could only receive a message one-way once.

He prepared to send word of his safety to his old friend far away in the Lower Realm.

However, the moment he injected a trace of magic power into the jade talisman.

Buzz—!

The jade talisman did not emit a soft light; instead, it suddenly vibrated violently, its surface instantly igniting with eye-piercing blood-colored flames.

This was the highest level of emergency warning!

A roar filled with sobbing and boundless terror exploded from the flames, rushing directly into Lin Fan's mind.

“Brother Lin! Help!!”

“The people from the Netherworld Palace have slaughtered their way down! They said they want revenge for the Blood Shadow Sect, and they are massacring the mountain!!”

“The Qingyun Sect... the Qingyun Sect is going to be gone! They are looking for you everywhere! Everyone related to you is going to die—!”

The voice stopped abruptly.

The transmission talisman turned into flying ash in Lin Fan's hand.