Chapter 1008: The Secret of the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art
Chapter 1008: The Secret of the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art
"The myriad forms of sentient life..."
Countless real, distinct individuals came flooding into Li Fan's mind.
Like tiny sparks, they slowly began to melt the glacial ice that had formed around Li Fan's heart over countless reincarnations.
To be clear, Li Fan wasn't an utterly heartless man.
It was simply that after endless cycles of reincarnation, every joy and sorrow, every laugh and tear, every life and death he witnessed felt as fleeting as a dream, as fragile as a bubble.
Once Li Fan activated [Truth], everything they had experienced would be rendered meaningless in an instant, reverting to the initial anchor point.
Since it was all an illusion, how could he take any of it seriously? And so, over time, Li Fan had developed his current detached demeanor, indifferent to all life in the world.
But now, through the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan saw that even without his attention, the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm continued to live out their lives, following the tracks of their own destinies.
Their existence, in and of itself, was not illusory or meaningless.
The more Li Fan saw, the more he was affected by the feedback from these lives. In turn, the desire to witness the fates of even more beings grew ever stronger.
Gradually, his utterly indifferent eyes seemed to be on the verge of changing.
...
At that very moment.
A sudden jolt of alarm shot through Li Fan, snapping him out of his obsessive epiphany.
His gaze once again became like unyielding ice, shielding him from any external influence.
When Li Fan looked again at the countless vibrant cultivators in the Tianxuan Mirror, a trace of wariness had already formed in his heart.
Reflecting on what had just happened, Li Fan knew he hadn't fallen into anyone's trap.
He had simply lost himself, however briefly, in the profoundly real lives of those cultivators.
"No wonder the gods and immortals of legend always sat high above the clouds, viewing entanglement in the mortal world as a tribulation."
"Even with my current state of mind, I almost drowned in it, changing without even realizing..."
Li Fan suddenly recalled the first scene in the Fallen Immortal Realm, in Ningyuan City, where Song Hesong had sacrificed tens of thousands of mortals to unleash the [Sentient Soul Refinement Formation], forcing Zhang Qianmo to reveal the true power of his purple core.
"Although by my current standards, that formation was far too crude and had a name grander than its actual power, my recent experience suggests I might be able to draw some inspiration from it..."
"I will use all living beings to refine the gods."
At Li Fan's command, the Final Dissociation Disc—which had been continuously studying the [Myriad Spirits Return to Number Array] and whose deductive abilities in the dao of formations were improving by leaps and bounds—began its first deduction since its horizons had been broadened.
But soon, Li Fan noticed something was amiss.
Unlike before, when deducing formations was as easy as moving his own limbs and the target was completed almost instantaneously.
This time, the Final Dissociation Disc's deduction task would stutter involuntarily every few moments.
It was as if its processing load had reached some kind of limit, making it struggle to operate.
After a moment of observation, Li Fan understood the reason for this.
"It's a mismatch between the Final Dissociation Disc's own capabilities and the plan I've set for it."
"I'm no longer satisfied with deducing ordinary formations; the goal is to create an immortal-grade array, or something infinitely close to the power of one."
"But it is, after all, only a secondary body derived from the Tianxuan Mirror. Accomplishing such a task is proving to be a strain."
Li Fan sighed inwardly and temporarily halted the task.
He had the Dissociation Disc continue its analysis of the Myriad Spirits Return to Number Array for the time being.
"It seems that if I want to break the restrictions left by the Dharma Transmission Heavenly Lord, I'll probably have to upgrade the Dissociation Disc first."
"I wonder how things are going on Mo Rubin's end."
Li Fan was hesitating, wondering whether he should take the initiative to ask.
Just then, however, he suddenly sensed what was happening to his clone, Li Qing, and his expression shifted slightly.
In a flash, he appeared by the clone's side.
The heavy stench of blood lingered in the air, and the faint traces of an explosion of flesh and gore were still visible.
His body had vanished. Li Qing had manifested the [Black Sword] Grotto-Heaven and seemed to be struggling against some kind of force.
It was as if it were being crushed by some invisible behemoth; rumbling sounds of immense strain echoed from every corner of the Grotto-Heaven.
If not for its quality as a [Heaven's Wonder], a physical manifestation of the world's laws, the Grotto-Heaven would likely be shattering inch by inch at this very moment!
"What happened?"
Li Fan instantly reviewed his clone's experiences.
It turned out that, for some time now, with the widespread use of countless [Heaven and Earth Furnaces], the spiritual energy in those small worlds had gradually grown richer, making them suitable for cultivation.
And Li Qing had begun organizing large-scale lessons in these small worlds, teaching the [Common Lives Spirit Essence Art].
He even occasionally raided the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's territory in the Xuanhuang Realm, plundering several cities' worth of mortals to supplement the sparse populations of the small worlds.
Now, the number of beings cultivating the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art had already surpassed one million.
The technique's unique trait—that the more people who cultivated it, the faster the cultivation speed—had been pushed to its absolute limit.
Not only did it suppress the restriction that a Law cannot be cultivated together, but it was also easier and faster to practice than ordinary techniques.
Not long ago, Li Qing, who was in charge of managing and coordinating everything, was suddenly struck by an idea.
He decided to personally cultivate the technique himself, hoping to unravel the secrets of the [Common Lives Spirit Essence Art].
It wasn't that he was bored with nothing better to do; he was preparing for future reincarnations. After all, the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art actually had a master. It was only by a twist of fate in this world that the master had been eliminated by the Heavenly Venerate's manifestation.
The Spirit Element Sect's influence spread throughout the Nine Mountains Prefecture; trying to eradicate them would inevitably cause a significant disturbance.
It would be far better if he could develop his own version of the "Common Lives Spirit Essence Art".
His initial cultivation and comprehension went quite smoothly.
The clone Li Qing's aptitude and comprehension were far superior to that of an ordinary person. Without much effort, he cultivated the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art to the Nascent Soul stage.
At the same time, Li Qing suddenly sensed over a million portions of cultivation base flowing in from all corners of the world, like a surging river.
They poured violently into his body.
It was clear they had been accumulating for a long time, as each portion was incredibly rich.
A million of these portions, stacked together, appeared inside Li Qing's body all at once.
The clone's body couldn't withstand such pressure and instantly exploded.
Even his Black Sword Grotto-Heaven nearly failed to bear the strain.
"So this is a qualitative change brought on by a quantitative one. Speaking of which, where did this cultivation base come from...?"
"From every single person practicing the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art?"
A glint appeared in Li Fan's eyes.
"Isn't this just like the cultivation-draining chapter of the [Tai Shang Primordial Scripture]? It steals a small amount from each person."
"But the beneficiary of this Common Lives Spirit Essence Art is simply whoever has the highest cultivation level in the technique?"
"Was the leader of the Spirit Element Sect that confident in himself?"
"Or is there some other special aspect to this that I've missed?"
Li Fan's brows furrowed slightly.
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