Chapter 1033: A Duel of Justice
Chapter 1033: A Duel of Justice
With tears streaming from his eyes, the spherical figure struggled to prostrate himself on the ground.
He implored the immortal master to spare his life.
Only then did Li Fan reveal his form.
"It seems outside interference nullifies the rules," Li Fan mused. "He has to win the trial entirely on his own for it to count."
He thought this to himself.
Wasting no words on the sphere-like man, Li Fan fixed his gaze upon him, and an invisible force descended.
It tore through the more than one hundred thousand wailing consciousnesses crammed into the man's mind, pulverizing them into raw psychic nourishment.
Simultaneously, he performed what amounted to a spiritual liposuction.
"Jiang Nian'er, the people of Fanyong Island occupied a land blessed by the heavens, yet you squandered your days in indolence, scorning this divine grace. For this, the heavens sent down a tribulation as punishment."
"However, the heavens also cherish life. Seeing your pitiable state, I chose to intervene."
Li Fan's voice boomed like thunder, and his divine sense poured directly into the man's mind.
It branded every word deep into his consciousness.
"Thank you for your grace, Immortal Master! Thank you for your grace..."
A moment later, the now-normal Jiang Nian'er was weeping profusely, kowtowing repeatedly on the ground.
"I wish only to follow you from this day forward, to serve you as a loyal beast of burden, to repay you for giving me a new life..."
Even as the amalgamation of over a hundred thousand mortal minds, Jiang Nian'er had been effortlessly brainwashed by Li Fan, and his words were utterly sincere.
Li Fan did not reply directly, instead stating gravely, "This was a tribulation, but it is also a tremendous opportunity."
"You wish to become my disciple..."
"You are not yet worthy. For now, you may follow me as an acolyte. We shall see how you conduct yourself. If your performance pleases me..."
Li Fan declared with an air of indifference.
Jiang Nian'er kowtowed again in gratitude, not daring to lift his head.
"He," Li Fan declared, pointing to the immobilized Foundation Establishment cultivator nearby, "is your test!"
"The cultivators of this world are divided into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and so on..."
After a brief overview of the cultivation system in the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan continued, "This man is a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"You are to defeat him using your own power."
"My patience is limited. I will give you only fifteen days."
Jiang Nian'er's body went rigid.
He didn't know what "late-stage Foundation Establishment" truly meant, but he had seen the immortal masters who soared through the skies.
Their power to command the wind and rain, to fly through the heavens and burrow into the earth—how could a mere mortal like him possibly triumph over such a being?
And what could he possibly accomplish in just fifteen days?
Li Fan saw the terror in Jiang Nian'er's heart and smiled. "Rest assured, I would not ask you to undertake a meaningless suicide mission."
With a light tap of his finger on Jiang Nian'er's forehead, Li Fan transmitted a Golden Core cultivation technique and an introductory manual on simple formations directly into his mind.
"What I have given you is more than enough to deal with him."
"Of course, if you fail to grasp a sufficient amount of this knowledge within fifteen days..."
"...then he will be the lucky one," Li Fan said, smiling as he glanced at the nameless Foundation Establishment cultivator.
A knot of anxiety tightened in Jiang Nian'er's chest. He immediately sat down on the spot and began to absorb the knowledge Li Fan had bestowed upon him.
"Absorb the spirit of heaven and earth, command its qi..."
He began with the most fundamental principles of cultivation, and a vast, new world slowly unfurled before his eyes.
Though his spiritual consciousness was nearly as strong as a Nascent Soul cultivator's, Jiang Nian'er had not yet learned how to wield such power.
He read slowly, word by word, like a common mortal, terrified of missing a single detail.
He didn't stir until nightfall, when he awoke with a jolt.
Half a day had already passed?
The thought of the fifteen-day deadline descended upon him, an immense, crushing weight.
"No, no. I have to be faster. Much faster."
But Jiang Nian'er was, after all, the one who had triumphed over a hundred thousand others.
He quickly learned not only to read at an incredible speed but also to multitask.
While studying the fundamentals of the cultivation technique, he began to delve into the principles of formations.
Three days passed.
Li Fan sensed a fluctuation of spiritual energy from Jiang Nian'er.
"Qi Refining in three days," Li Fan noted. "Mediocre aptitude."
The strange, dark power that had previously consumed him had also purged nearly all traces of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma from his body.
Even without the need to expel the miasma, achieving Qi induction in three days was by no means a poor result.
But Li Fan had witnessed countless geniuses, so his standards were naturally high.
Besides, aptitude was not what interested him about Jiang Nian'er. He paid it little mind.
He was far more interested in observing the young man's choices.
He did not disappoint. After successfully entering the Qi Refining stage, Jiang Nian'er practiced for a short while before realizing he could never break through to the next stage in the remaining twelve days.
Consequently, he dedicated nearly all his remaining energy to studying the introductory formations Li Fan had given him.
In terms of sheer power, the introductory formation Li Fan had taught was more than enough to trap and kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He had also specially simplified it, allowing it to be wielded even by someone at the Qi Refining stage.
"As long as you aren't foolish enough to forget to accumulate the spiritual energy needed to maintain it."
Li Fan wore a faint, inscrutable smile.
In truth, it mattered little to him which of the two emerged victorious.
The winner would inherit that strange power regardless, and either way, they would not escape his grasp. They would become a tool for his use.
What Li Fan truly wanted was to observe the specific changes that occurred when one identity was consumed by another under the influence of those bizarre rules.
"These strange rules can be seen as another form of the world's principles," he mused.
"Principles born from the transitional phase of worlds merging—ones not yet acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Any cultivator who harbors such strangeness is destined to face heavenly retribution."
"But heavenly retribution..."
Li Fan shook his head inwardly. He had never been afraid of such things!
The fifteen days passed in a flash.
"The time is up. Begin."
On the final day, Li Fan's voice shattered the island's tranquility.
As he spoke, he released the restriction binding the Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator had been conscious the entire time, listening to every word exchanged between Li Fan and Jiang Nian'er.
"A piddling Qi Refining brat who's only been cultivating for a dozen days thinks he can defeat me?"
"This is the ultimate humiliation! I will wash it away with your blood!"
His eyes turned crimson. The instant he was free, he summoned his Foundation Establishment Wonder.
A perfectly straight wooden staff materialized in the air, instantly locking onto Jiang Nian'er.
It prepared to strike, to utterly pulverize him.
And yet...
His vision suddenly blurred, and his opponent vanished without a trace.
"What?" The cultivator was stunned.
He glanced around and realized that he was no longer on the island but standing in the middle of a vast bamboo forest.
The encounter on the barren island felt like nothing more than a bad dream.
Outside the formation, Jiang Nian'er struggled to maintain the Bamboo Sea Trapping Dragon Array, letting out a sigh of relief.
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