Chapter 1009: The Secret Trove of Nine Mountains Prefecture
With Li Fan's help, the clone's grotto-heaven, which had been perpetually on the verge of collapse, finally began to stabilize.
After consuming the vast amount of cultivation that had accumulated from being unclaimed, the cultivation that followed was not nearly as torrential or overwhelming.
The clone, Li Qing, had received a massive infusion of power, and his realm was now infinitesimally close to that of the main body.
But his face showed no trace of joy, only immense gravity. "It's too much, too fast," he said, his expression grim.
"At this relentless rate of accumulation, even if I use the Tribulation Body method to store the excess, I probably won't be able to last much longer."
"Without being able to break through to the next realm and expand my cultivation reservoir, I'm afraid I'll still end up being torn apart by the energy."
Li Fan, however, was lost in thought. "Logically speaking, the scale and quality of the cultivators practicing the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art under our guidance should be nowhere near that of the former Spirit Element Sect."
"And it's impossible that the leader of the Spirit Element Sect was constantly breaking through realms."
Li Qing continued Li Fan's line of thought. "The way I see it, this technique is probably just a machine for extracting and purifying a cultivator's cultivation base. It seems to operate automatically, even after the cultivator dies..."
Li Fan fell silent, pondering inwardly, "To require so much cultivation, it clearly wasn't for personal training. It seems the Spirit Element Sect had grand ambitions."
"A pity their scheme was reduced to dust before it could even take shape."
After a moment, Li Fan instructed, "Don't worry about this problem. I'll handle the excess cultivation."
With the aid of the Faceless Immortal Statue, Li Fan could seamlessly transfer his cultivation to the followers of the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal. There was no need to worry about his body exploding from the excess power.
"Unconsciously, I've already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. Between the Sitting Immortal Technique and the network connection from the Faceless Statue, cultivation comes far too quickly."
"However, this kind of progress within a minor realm has little impact on my actual combat strength anymore."
"Even ascending to the Soul Transformation realm would have a negligible effect."
"Unless I can find a [World Birthing Change] comparable to the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven."
In fact, the answer to this question had already been tested for Li Fan by the Heavenly Dao's Mr. Bai.
That answer was the [Xuanhuang World-Birthing Change].
To extract all the impending transformations of the Xuanhuang Realm into one's own grotto-heaven.
To "recreate the Xuanhuang" within one's own body.
If successful, one could wield the power of the Xuanhuang Realm's [Transformation] for a period of time.
The power to drive the rotation of a world—especially a behemoth like the Xuanhuang, which had assimilated the corpses of countless cultivation realms.
One could only imagine what an unbelievably potent force that would be.
At that point, Li Fan could capture Dao Integration cultivators with a mere wave of his hand.
He could even stand undefeated against ordinary Longevity cultivators.
The prospect was infinitely beautiful, but the problem was...
Such a large-scale extraction of the Xuanhuang's birthing changes would likely cause the Xuanhuang Realm to stagnate for a very long time.
Given such severe negative consequences, the Xuanhuang Realm had only allowed Mr. Bai to proceed because he was an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao during the 115th life.
How could Li Fan possibly expect such treatment?
Extracting one or two might be fine, but overdoing it would likely trigger the murderous intent of heaven and earth, and might even attract the attention of the Xuanhuang Realm's Longevity Celestial Venerables.
After all, attaining Longevity was equivalent to becoming a part of the Xuanhuang prison.
Li Fan's action would be akin to tearing down its walls.
If he made too much of a commotion, it would be a miracle if he didn't draw unwanted attention.
"Unless... there's an even bigger commotion to cover everything up."
"A commotion capable of annihilating the entire Xuanhuang Realm..."
A glint appeared in Li Fan's eyes.
"The moment I sever the True Immortal's web and escape from [Truth] might also be my opportunity to break through to the Soul Transformation realm."
"Even if I can't accomplish it all in one fell swoop, I can significantly reduce the difficulty of reaching Soul Transformation later."
Li Fan nodded slightly, once again making subtle adjustments to his plans.
As for other methods of reaching Soul Transformation...
They were too weak, utterly meaningless for someone like him.
Li Fan hadn't even considered them.
Just as he was deep in thought, Li Qing's voice interrupted his musings.
"I think... I can faintly sense where the Spirit Element Sect stored its cultivation," Li Qing said, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"Oh?" A flicker of light crossed Li Fan's eyes, and in an instant, he too sensed the location within his sea of consciousness.
Nine Mountains Prefecture, deep, deep underground.
"It seems we might just be able to find some of the Spirit Element Sect's legacy," Li Fan said, his eyes narrowing.
Not long after, Li Fan arrived at the target location.
The surface above was already covered with a continuous stretch of newly built cave residences.
They seemed to have been just completed, however, as they were all empty and uninhabited.
This was considered a relatively remote area of Nine Mountains Prefecture, yet it was still packed with buildings of all sizes.
Li Fan gazed into the distance; the cave residences stretched all the way to the center of Nine Mountains Prefecture.
It was as if the land had been plastered with medicinal patches—utterly lacking in aesthetic appeal, built only to maximize the number of structures.
"It seems the reputation of a trade prefecture is quite the draw."
"Building so many... they must not be worried about selling them!"
Li Fan shook his head and said no more.
He slipped silently into the earth.
Following the sensation, he descended deeper and deeper.
Before the large-scale construction of the cave residences, the underground here had actually been explored.
Yet the Spirit Element Sect's secret trove had remained undiscovered, a testament to how well it was hidden.
Li Fan estimated that he had descended nearly one hundred kilometers deep when the pressure around him grew immense.
Even with his current power, movement became increasingly difficult.
Fortunately, he finally found his target.
Not far away, a glowing cube was buried deep within the earth.
It was a square over thirty meters to a side, a strikingly conspicuous sight in the pitch-black depths.
Yet Li Fan could not perceive it with his divine sense.
If not for the fact that his clone had reached the highest contemporary realm in the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art and developed a positional sense for it, finding this place beneath Nine Mountains Prefecture would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.
Li Fan approached the glowing cube and reached out to touch it.
It felt like a solid wall, blocking his entry.
"This is..."
But Li Fan instantly realized what the glowing wall before him was.
"Cultivation?"
A strange expression crossed Li Fan's face.
After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan began to absorb the solidified cultivation he was touching into his body.
The amount of cultivation condensed into this glowing wall was simply astonishing.
Li Fan absorbed it for a good while but still couldn't chisel an opening large enough to enter.
He had to fill nine of his stored Tribulation Bodies to capacity before he finally carved out an entrance.
Taking protective measures, Li Fan squeezed through.
The opening was quickly repaired by the cultivation overflowing from the glowing cube.
Inside was not a solid mass of cultivation, but a small space, roughly fifteen meters square.
It held a number of miscellaneous items.
But the most conspicuous among them were three bodies, gleaming with golden light.
They just stood there, without any sign of life.
But Li Fan felt a faint sense of danger.
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