"How could this be?" Li Fan was a bit surprised and asked.
"Wasn't it supposed to be just the cave mansion of a Golden Core cultivator? How did even a Nascent Soul expert fall?"
Yu Wenxing shook his head, "No one knows the exact situation right now. The entrance to that cave mansion has been temporarily sealed off to prevent more unaware people from going in and getting themselves killed."
After saying that, Yu Wenxing sighed, "On the entire Ten Thousand Immortals Island, there are only about a dozen Nascent Soul cultivators. Losing one suddenly is a huge blow."
"Not to mention the four Golden Core and thirteen Foundation Establishment cultivators who died in the two explorations."
"The island is not peaceful now. With so many cultivators gone, their positions have all opened up. All the different factions are secretly competing for these lucrative spots."
"The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has also restarted the investigation on Zheng Xiaoyun. This time, Elder Gongsun from the Heavenly Secrets Hall is personally involved. Who knows if they can find anything out."
"It's a turbulent time..."
Li Fan noticed that Yu Wenxing seemed to have other reasons for his worry, but since he didn't mention it, Li Fan didn't ask further.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Li Fan returned to Ten Thousand Immortals Island through the teleportation array.
The atmosphere on the island had become much more serious, and the faces of the passing cultivators no longer showed the usual relaxed expressions.
After some inquiries, Li Fan learned the reason behind Yu Wenxing's worried look.
It turned out that Yu Wenxing's backer was the fallen Gou Xuan True Monarch.
It was thanks to this connection that he managed to beat many competitors and become the guardian of Glass Island.
Now, before he even got comfortable in his position, his backer was gone.
No wonder he looked so troubled.
"A Nascent Soul expert has fallen; that cave mansion must be extremely dangerous."
"It seems that retrieving Friend He's remains won't be possible anytime soon."
That was what Li Fan initially thought.
However, a few days later, things seemed to take a turn.
The investigation results from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals came out.
The Golden Core cultivator named Zheng Xiaoyun was not at fault.
The reason why he, with just Golden Core cultivation, managed to escape during the first exploration, while a Nascent Soul expert died in the second, was due to a peculiar trait of the mechanical puppets in Sunlight True Immortal's cave mansion:
They become as weak as their opponent or as strong as their opponent.
During the first exploration led by Zheng Xiaoyun, those mechanical puppets only displayed the power of the Golden Core stage.
Zheng Xiaoyun's own strength was decent, and with five other Foundation Establishment cultivators drawing the fire, he barely managed to survive.
But when Gou Xuan True Monarch led the team, those mechanical puppets' power surged to the Nascent Soul stage.
With over a dozen Nascent Soul-level puppets suddenly attacking, the second exploration team was wiped out in an instant.
Of course, the mechanical puppets' ability to match strength must have a limit.
But currently, it's hard to say what the upper limit of these puppets' strength is.
Although Sunlight True Immortal was only at the Golden Core stage during his lifetime, he set up his cave mansion inside an underwater volcano before his death.
For thousands of years, those mechanical puppets have been continuously absorbing the energy of the earth's fire.
This turned the underwater active volcano into a dormant one.
Now that the earth's fire is active again, it might mean that over the years, the mechanical puppets have grown to their limit.
Ancient mechanical techniques have been lost for a long time, and it's unknown how strong these puppets have become at their peak.
But considering that in the era before the great calamity, when Nascent Soul cultivators were common, mechanical techniques still held a place, these puppets must not be weak.
At the very least, they might be at the Nascent Soul level, possibly even at the Soul Transformation stage.
So...
Gou Xuan True Monarch's death wasn't unjust.
After all, who would have thought that a small Golden Core cultivator's cave mansion would hide such terrifying power?
Once the official announcement from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was released, the gloom over Ten Thousand Immortals Island lifted.
People generally trusted the investigation results.
Because Elder Gongsun from the Heavenly Secrets Hall was well-known for his ability to predict events and discern causes.
His conclusions from investigations were usually quite accurate.
As a result, the numerous Qi Refining cultivators in the Congyun Sea became excited.
Over a dozen Nascent Soul-level mechanical puppets were indeed terrifying.
But over a dozen Qi Refining-level puppets...
They posed no threat at all.
If someone could bring back even one puppet...
Countless Qi Refining cultivators were instantly filled with imagination and excitement.
They all clamored to form teams to explore Sunlight True Immortal's cave mansion for a third time.
Even Li Fan couldn't help but feel tempted when he heard the news.
In the Qi Refining stage, wasn't he nearly unbeatable?
He could capture those with lower cultivation using the Insect Binding Divine Ability.
Against those in the late Qi Refining stage, he had numerous methods like the Formless Killing Intent, Cloud Water Dream Technique, and Blue Flame Phantom Spirit.
Li Fan didn't believe there was anyone stronger than him in the Congyun Sea.
Why not explore this cave mansion?
Li Fan was tempted for a moment, but then he thought it over and felt something was off.
If these mechanical puppets really only matched strength with their opponents, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals could have secretly gathered a group of late Qi Refining cultivators to break into the cave mansion and bring all the puppets back.
Gaining over a dozen puppets with at least Nascent Soul-level power at once—how could the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals pass up such a good opportunity and instead foolishly make this information public?
The only explanation was that there must be other strange things about the puppets in the cave mansion.
Even the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals wasn't sure.
So they chose to let the numerous Qi Refining cultivators risk their lives to explore.
Li Fan had also heard of Elder Gongsun.
When he completed the bounty task involving the Dragon Whale, Elder Gongsun had investigated.
He only found out the direct cause of the Dragon Whale's death: being surrounded and exhausted by several deep-sea beasts.
But he couldn't discover the real cause: Li Fan's use of the Formless Killing Intent.
So Li Fan believed that while Elder Gongsun could indeed investigate the future, he could only see part of the picture, not the whole.
This reasoning wasn't something only Li Fan understood.
Once the initial excitement passed, everyone calmed down.
But there were still some who, holding onto a fluke mentality, believed they were destined to succeed.
They banded together, about thirty people in total, to explore Sunlight True Immortal's cave mansion for the third time.
Li Fan merely reposted the bounty for retrieving He Zhenghao's remains and sat back to watch the show.
Ten days later, the exploration team returned in a sorry state.
More than half of the thirty or so people made it back.
Through their tearful recounting, the onlookers learned what had happened inside the cave mansion.
These seventeen puppets were just too strong!
Their bodies, made of some unknown material, were incredibly tough.
No spell had any effect on them.
Not even a scratch could be left behind.
(End of Chapter)