Chapter 1025: The Missing Transformation Dao Stone
Chapter 1025: The Missing Transformation Dao Stone
Li Fan required a vast supply of pills capable of directly boosting a cultivator's power, all of which were destined for the inhabitants of his small worlds.
Some time had passed since they had begun their collective practice of the Common Lives Spirit Essence Art, but their overall progress could only be described as underwhelming.
Li Fan, therefore, resolved to spur their growth.
The exploration of the crimson river, a vessel holding the entire history of the Xuanhuang Realm, had yet to begin in this life. And in the days to come, Li Fan would likely face a counterattack from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerable, the immortals from the Immortal Ruins, the Faceless Immortal, and a host of other powerful entities.
When clashing with enemies of this caliber, one could never be too careful.
With his own power still limited, Li Fan had to rely on leverage and cunning, leaving absolutely no room for error.
He would have to concentrate all his energy on this endeavor; once it began, he could not afford to divide his attention.
However, the formation of the crimson river in this lifetime had been a matter of pure chance.
Missing the opportunity to uncover the secrets hidden within it would be a profound regret.
Therefore, Li Fan's current priority was to accelerate the pace of exploration by any means necessary.
In fact, under the direction of his clone, Li Qing, the small worlds had already dispatched a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators to begin the exploration.
Without exception, every one of them had grown old and died before the crimson river, failing to return with a single piece of useful information.
Fortunately, the region housing the crimson river was exceptionally unique, being the location of the supreme treasure known as the Fishing Pool. As a result, the telltale phenomena of a cultivator's demise were completely masked, remaining imperceptible to the outside world.
Otherwise, the river's secrets would have undoubtedly been exposed.
"At a minimum, we need to raise a great number of them to the Golden Core realm for there to be any chance of success," Li Qing had concluded. "Otherwise, the time they have is too short. It would just be a futile sacrifice."
And so it came to be that Li Fan intimidated the entire Medicine King Sect, commanding them to focus on refining pills in peace.
After the tour of the wood-attribute grotto-heaven concluded, Li Fan ushered them all out from his inner world, taking only a supply of herbs sufficient for their alchemy.
With these minor affairs settled, Li Fan returned to his secret underground chamber in the Spirit Wood Realm and produced a list, which he began to study.
It contained the results of the investigation he had previously entrusted to Mo Rubin: a list of cultivators suspected of possessing a Transformation Dao Stone.
Mo Rubin's work had helped Li Fan eliminate the vast majority of unlikely candidates.
As Li Fan gazed at the names and the dense web of connections behind each, he sighed in admiration. "Having someone at the highest level of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance certainly makes things easy. Otherwise, it would have taken me years just to compile such a clear and detailed list."
"And yet, Mo Rubin merely had to give a simple command, and his subordinates handled everything flawlessly."
As he studied the names, a thought struck Li Fan. He retrieved the Heaven Measuring Ruler, a gift he had received from the Tianxuan Mirror's clone.
Without a specific target, Li Fan's current data-processing abilities were insufficient to handle the sheer volume of information from an omniscient view.
But what if he searched with a specific purpose in mind?
Li Fan submerged his divine sense once again into the infinite world of mirrors.
This time, he set the suspects on his list as the search parameters, instantly filtering out a flood of useless information.
As expected, the pressure eased in an instant.
Countless scenes flickered before his eyes. Li Fan waited patiently as the results began to materialize.
Several hours later...
Dozens of mirror surfaces materialized before Li Fan, shimmering like ethereal screens.
"Hmm, some still haven't yielded any results. It's likely not an oversight on my part, but a limitation of the Tianxuan Mirror's own reach. Much like how the Creation Stone Slab only records the native history of the Xuanhuang Realm, with no mention of outside cultivation worlds."
Li Fan's gaze was fixed, spying on all forty-five cultivators.
Some were cultivating within the Tianxuan Mirror itself; others were exploring the ruins of ancient sects.
Still others were experimenting with their divine abilities or discussing cultivation bottlenecks with their companions.
Without exception, all had long since passed the initial stages of cultivation where one had to worry about earning contribution points.
None of them were toiling away on missions to earn their keep.
He watched for three whole days, yet not one of the cultivators slipped up.
Yet Li Fan was not concerned. He simply continued his vigil, his patience unwavering.
As a bearer of a Transformation Dao Stone himself, Li Fan knew all too well how easy it was to become reliant on it once you grew accustomed to its power.
When faced with a problem the stone could solve, there was little reason not to use it.
After all, it was an extension of one's own power.
Li Fan's wait soon paid off.
Seven days later, his patience was rewarded. A Soul Transformation cultivator named Lu Chengxue, while casually conversing with a friend, brought up an old expedition they had undertaken together many years prior.
So much time had passed that their recollections of the details differed, leading to a minor argument.
After pausing for a brief moment, Lu Chengxue recounted the events of that day with perfect clarity.
His account was so thorough it convinced his friend.
"It's you!" A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
He was all too familiar with such a scene.
This was, without a doubt, someone searching for a memory within the scenes recorded by a Transformation Dao Stone!
Having found his target, Li Fan did not act immediately.
Instead, he remained before the mirror, continuing his observation.
His watch continued for more than a month and a half, yet he felt no trace of boredom.
In the end, he locked onto three targets, including Lu Chengxue.
The other two had also exposed themselves by displaying inhuman feats of memory and data processing.
"That should be all of them," Li Fan reasoned. "If anyone managed to resist using the Transformation Dao Stone for this long, it means one of two things: either they sensed my observation and are deliberately concealing their abilities, or they've completely lost their drive and no longer care about cultivation."
Li Fan rose to his feet, departed the Spirit Wood Realm, and set out directly for his targets.
It was time, he thought, to upgrade his Transformation Dao Stone once more.
The first target was Lu Chengxue.
This man was a core member of the Lu family from Tianquan Province.
While the Lu family boasted no supreme powerhouses, they were widely lauded for one thing: their benevolence and public spirit.
Anyone on good terms with the Lu family who found themselves in trouble could be certain that the family would step in to help.
Even when facing circumstances that prevented them from intervening formally, a member of the Lu family would invariably offer aid in a private capacity.
In this Xuanhuang Realm full of mutual deception and treacherous hearts, the Lu family was truly a breath of fresh air.
Countless cultivators had received the Lu family's aid over the years.
Even ordinary cultivators were generally friendly toward the Lu family, who were known for their constant good deeds.
After all, who could guarantee that they would never encounter trouble in the future?
A good relationship with the Lu family was another potential lifeline.
And yet, it was against a core disciple of this very same, widely acclaimed family...
that Li Fan was about to act with utter ruthlessness.
After cultivating the Secret Art of the Transformation Dao, the stone fuses completely with the cultivator's soul.
The only way to retrieve the Transformation Dao Stone...
was to annihilate the soul of its bearer.
Yet Li Fan would not hesitate for a single moment.
In fact, it was not just for this lifetime.
For all his lives to come, he would do the same.
Until the day the Transformation Dao Stone was no longer of any use to him.
...
Within Tianquan City, Li Fan observed Lu Chengxue, whom he had already located, and studied his warm, sincere face.
He offered him a moment of silent mourning in advance.
(End of this chapter)
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