Unlike Li Fan, who had been trapped alone in Ningyuan City, other cultivators could form alliances to explore the Fallen Immortal Realm together.
By using an appropriate medium during the ritual, they could reach a peculiar space between reality and illusion before entering the Fallen Immortal Realm.
In this space, cultivators could exchange information and even trade items. Generally, this space would also be equipped with a special formation.
This formation, a fusion of ritual-stabilizing formations and mental connection-amplifying formations, allowed up to four cultivators to form a team to explore the Fallen Immortal Realm.
Cultivators referred to such spaces as "pre-expedition realms."
It was said that the earliest pre-expedition realm was created by a powerful Dao Integration stage cultivator for the convenience of inviting friends to explore the Fallen Immortal Realm together. Due to its great convenience, other cultivators gradually followed suit.
After thousands of years of development, numerous pre-expedition realms had emerged. Some were open to the public, accommodating tens of thousands of cultivators simultaneously. For a small fee, anyone could enter.
On the other hand, some pre-expedition realms were private. Only the owner of the pre-expedition realm knew the medium, and outsiders couldn't enter without permission.
The essence of a pre-expedition realm was to open a spatial rift connecting the Fallen Immortal Realm and the real world for transit.
However, these spatial rifts were unstable, so every few decades, pre-expedition realms needed maintenance and reinforcement, incurring considerable costs. Only truly great cultivators had the ability and willingness to maintain a pre-expedition realm.
Over the course of thousands of years, many of these cultivators had fallen, and the pre-expedition realms they opened were mostly abandoned.
Some individuals seized the opportunity, searching for these ownerless pre-expedition realms, refurbishing and redecorating them, and then selling them at high prices.
While the prices were steep, often requiring hundreds of thousands of contribution points, purchasing one was still more cost-effective than building a new one. Therefore, some cultivators were willing to buy.
However, if one had many pre-expedition realms and couldn't sell them, it could become a burden or even lead to losses. To address this, some individuals engaged in leasing unused pre-expedition realms.
Instead of paying a large sum of contribution points upfront, cultivators could pay a modest annual contribution to gain the right to use a pre-expedition realm. There were few cultivators willing to rent pre-expedition realms, especially for the low-priced public ones.
To attract customers, they posted numerous promotional messages on the Seeking Immortals board. Li Fan was drawn in by these messages.
"Pre-expedition realms, interesting." Li Fan thought for a moment, applied for a fake account, "Mingyue Palace Master," to conceal his identity, and then contacted one of the information providers.
This person was named "Violet Mist Immortal Sage." It was unclear if they truly had Dao Integration stage cultivation or if, like Li Fan, they were also using a false identity.
"Fellow Daoist Violet Mist, what is the specific price for leasing a pre-expedition realm?" Li Fan inquired.
Not long after, the reply came. "The price varies depending on the size of the pre-expedition realm. The lowest is eight thousand contribution points per year, and the highest goes up to over ten thousand."
The tone was indifferent, lacking any emotional expression.
Li Fan asked again, "Only the spiritual consciousness intensity of the Golden Core realm can support exploration of the Fallen Immortal Realm. Does this apply to pre-expedition realms as well? Can Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators enter?"
"It's for the convenience of your juniors, right? Rest assured, the pre-expedition realm is not part of the Fallen Immortal Realm but an independent spatial rift. There are no requirements for spiritual consciousness. As long as you have spiritual consciousness, you can enter through the ritual."
Perhaps seeing that Li Fan genuinely seemed to have leasing needs, the tone of the Violet Mist Immortal Sage became slightly warmer.
He explained, "If holding the ritual involves forcibly transporting a portion of our spiritual consciousness into the Fallen Immortal Realm using its power, then the pre-expedition realm is created by setting up a space in advance during transit, disrupting this process. Different media correspond to different spatial coordinates."
"Is it only possible to enter the pre-expedition realm while in the Xuanhuang Realm? What about the small worlds and caves affiliated with the Xuanhuang Realm within the effective range?"
"As long as they haven't separated from the Xuanhuang Realm, they are under the cover of the Fallen Immortal Realm, so there is no problem."
After getting confirmation from the other party, Li Fan felt somewhat tempted.
However, he didn't reply hastily; instead, he inquired with two other cultivators who were advertising leasing.
The answers he received were consistent. Eight thousand contribution points per year was the lowest price.
"It seems they have reached a consensus."
Li Fan then contacted Violet Mist Immortal Sage again, saying, "Kindly send me the information about these pre-expedition realms."
This time, the response was much quicker. As soon as the message was sent, a detailed introduction to hundreds of pre-expedition realms with various sceneries appeared in front of Li Fan.
To maximize the leasing and selling of these pre-expedition realms, Violet Mist Immortal Sage had put considerable effort into it. Every single one of these spatial rifts had a different scenery.
There were scenes of mountains in a vast sea of clouds, islands in a vast ocean, and ancient sect ruins with a mysterious atmosphere.
"If you fancy a particular pre-expedition realm but aren't satisfied with the scenery, I can also remodel it for you."
"Of course, the price will be a bit higher."
Violet Mist Immortal Sage added.
"After leasing a pre-expedition realm, can it be ensured that no outsiders will intrude?" Li Fan chose one without rushing to make a decision and asked carefully.
"The ritual medium is like an encrypted spatial coordinate. Generally speaking, without the guidance of the medium, any consciousness entering the Fallen Immortal Realm cannot intrude into a private pre-expedition realm."
"Of course, nothing is absolute. In the long years, there has been one such mishap."
"But it happened only once, so there's no need to worry," explained Violet Mist Immortal Sage.
"For each pre-expedition realm, we provide at least ten media. If it's not enough, you can purchase more at any time."
Hearing this, Li Fan nodded slowly.
He then sent over the details of the selected pre-expedition realm.
"I want to lease this one."
"Rent starts from one year, with a three-month deposit. If you need to renew the lease, you must pay the rent again at the same time each year."
"Full-year rental is required before cancellation, and the deposit will be refunded after cancellation," Violet Mist Immortal Sage skillfully explained.
Li Fan asked, "Is there a discount for long-term leasing?"
Violet Mist Immortal Sage paused and said, "Negotiable."
"If you rent for ten years, I can offer you a 5% discount."
"If you rent for twenty years, I can offer you a 10% discount."
"For twenty years and above, I can offer a 20% discount!"
"Then I'll rent it for thirty years," Li Fan said straightforwardly.