Li Fan examined the cavern carefully.

Above, numerous structures hung inverted from the stone ceiling, as though they had grown directly from it.

Li Fan also saw stone statues in the likeness of cultivators.

They too hung upside down overhead, feet fused with the architecture, arms stretched out in a desperate, helpless plea for aid. But their bodies were forever frozen in that moment, faces etched with terror. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This should be one of the mountain peaks of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect, swallowed by this Origin-Returning Toad through some twist of fate.

Judging by the look of it, the entire place was petrified first, then consumed.

Li Fan raised his guard and flew into the upper space of the cavern.

Ignoring the petrified cultivators, he wove through the ruins, heading straight for the most conspicuous stone pagoda.

The Heaven-Peering Pagoda, a crucial site from which the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect observed the heavenly mechanisms.

Li Fan arrived before the stone pagoda and found that even after thousands of years, a faint glimmer of light still shone upon it.

The protective arrays remain, but unfortunately, they are nothing more than hollow shells now.

Li Fan entered the interior of the Heaven-Peering Pagoda, encountering no resistance at all.

Hmm?

The instant he stepped inside, Li Fan's expression changed.

He felt a vicious and hateful gaze lock onto him.

Following the direction of the stare, Li Fan saw a cultivator with disheveled hair standing ahead.

His face was contorted, one eyeball bulging as if trying to escape its socket. Its single pupil was fixed unwaveringly on Li Fan.

The lower half of the cultivator's body had turned to stone, much like the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect disciples outside. His upper torso, however, appeared caught mid-transformation—a grotesque amalgam of flesh, blood, and stone intermingled.

Is it dead or alive?

Li Fan did not dare let his guard down. He immediately unleashed a Five Elements Annihilation Sword strike.

Thump!

The black sword light struck the cultivator squarely, piercing through its chest and shattering the body into pieces that scattered across the floor.

Only that half-petrified eyeball remained, floating in the air, its pupil still tightly focused on Li Fan.

As Li Fan slowly approached, he constantly shifted his position, yet the eyeball seemed able to sense his presence, tracking his location unerringly.

Finally, he stood before the eyeball and waited. But it showed no other reaction.

Li Fan held it in his hand, examining it closely.

So it's not a real eyeball, but something this long-dead cultivator implanted in his body while alive.

Strange, I don't recall Xiao Heng and the others finding this among their spoils...

Did they not discover it? Or did that Linghu Chang secretly keep it for himself?

Li Fan toyed with the eyeball for a while but couldn't discern any use for it.

Tucking it into his robes for now, Li Fan made his way deeper into the Heaven-Peering Pagoda.

The pagoda had nine levels.

From the second to the fifth floor, the ground was littered with jade slips and artifacts, though most were damaged.

After finding a storage ring among the debris, Li Fan happily collected the still-intact items.

Taiwei Celestial Calculus, Nine Heavens Single Qi Art, Heaven's Will Descent Technique, Thousand Mechanisms Enigma Record...

There were cultivation techniques and scholarly works on the study of heavenly mechanisms.

In the end, Li Fan gathered a total of twenty-six techniques and forty-eight books. Among them were seventeen Golden Core techniques and nine Nascent Soul techniques.

What a windfall. I wonder how many of these are unique copies.

Still, among these techniques, only two show signs of being actively cultivated. I suppose the proportion of cultivators possessing these techniques within the Myriad Immortals Alliance can't be too high.

Stowing his delight, Li Fan continued his ascent.

The sixth to eighth floors held various peculiar objects.

A lotus flower with a human face nestled within its petals.

An unknown fruit shaped like a flood dragon.

A rectangular stone slab bearing patterns that seemed to have formed naturally...

These objects seemed to have once been enveloped by a peculiar power. But with the passage of time, that power had completely dissipated. Now, they just looked like strange objects.

These must have been the objects used by the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect to sense the heavenly mechanisms. Li Fan thought, a flicker of understanding crossing his mind.

The Heavenly Mechanisms Sect believed the energy mechanisms of heaven and earth interacted and resonated, manifesting in the mortal realm.

Things that defied common sense were the results of intense interactions between these energy mechanisms.

By using these objects, one could gain a profound understanding of the world's energy mechanisms.

It’s the same principle as me using the Deepsea Pearl to perceive the world. Regardless of their current usefulness, Li Fan collected them all.

Finally, he reached the ninth floor of the Heaven-Peering Pagoda.

Upon opening it, he found it utterly empty.

Just as Xiao Heng said.

It was expected, so Li Fan felt no disappointment.

He conducted a thorough search, but finding nothing, he turned to leave.

Suddenly, an intuition struck him. He turned back.

He stared at the empty ninth floor.

Judging by the state of the ruins outside, the calamity that befell this mountain of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect struck without warning.

They had no time to react before meeting their tragic end.

Survival was the immediate concern, let alone moving treasures.

So then, why is the ninth floor of this Heaven-Peering Pagoda empty?

Doubt sprouted in Li Fan's mind. The more he pondered, the more suspicious this space seemed.

Yet, no matter how meticulously he searched, he found nothing of value.

Perhaps it was indeed his own wishful thinking.

After a moment's consideration, Li Fan activated his Five Elements Annihilation Sword and cleanly sliced off the ninth floor of the stone tower.

The black light shattered the tower's remaining, millennia-old restrictions as if they were rotten wood.

Amidst a tremendous roar, the topmost floor of the Heaven-Peering Pagoda was stored away in Li Fan's storage ring.

Better to take it and be wrong than to leave it and regret it.

Li Fan nodded in satisfaction.

He then proceeded to scour the entire ruin, inside and out.

Finally, he found four more techniques in separate cave dwellings on the periphery—three at the Golden Core level, one at the Nascent Soul level.

And this Nascent Soul technique was none other than the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture.

This cave dwelling on the edge of the ruins must have been exposed by accident decades later, which is how the two brothers found it.

But their luck was truly abysmal. If they had just searched a little more diligently, they would have discovered the true ruins of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect not far away.

Instead, the moment Kou Hong saw that it was a Nascent Soul technique, greed blinded him. And thus, they missed the real treasure.

Upon understanding the chain of events, Li Fan couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and pity.

Having reaped a bountiful harvest, Li Fan lingered no longer.

He transformed once more into a Stone Spirit Insect and carved a passage through the stone wall that had already been resealed.

Exiting the Hundred Stones Grotto-Heaven, he headed in the direction of the Congyun Sea.

***

Liuli Island.

He Zhenghao had been troubled, unsettled, and anxious lately.

To go, or not to go?

He Zhenghao wore a pained expression and let out a long sigh.

While cultivating the Mountain-Sitting Art some time ago, he had suddenly sensed something incomprehensible.

There was now, bafflingly, another person in the world cultivating the Mountain-Sitting Art too!

The Mountain-Sitting Art was already agonizingly slow when he cultivated it by himself. Now, with another person practicing it simultaneously... it essentially meant cultivation was impossible.

This sudden, unforeseen change to his primary cultivation technique left He Zhenghao at a loss.

He had obtained the Mountain-Sitting Art by chance in his youth while exploring a cave dwelling and had never revealed it to anyone. How had this person learned of it?

The strangeness of the situation, coupled with his naturally cautious nature, made He Zhenghao afraid to investigate, fearing it would lead to misfortune. He could only hide within the island protection array day after day, tangled in indecision.

It was at this moment that a voice boomed across the skies above Liuli Island, echoing without end.

"Who is the petty thief that dares to steal my sect's technique?!

"Show yourself!"

He Zhenghao was stunned for a moment, about to go out and see what was happening. Then he immediately realized something.

Are they here for me?

Sensing the powerful aura radiating from the visitor, He Zhenghao's face instantly turned ashen.

The Golden Core realm?