Chapter 1035: The Xuanhuang Self-Contained Cycle
Li Fan had met Gongsun Qixuan long ago.
In several lifetimes since, this man's shadow seemed to loom behind the mutations of the Mysterious Net.
This included his current life, where he had been inexplicably transferred to the headquarters of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's Array Strategy Hall to participate in the development of the Heavenly Profound Spirit Locking Array...
All of this pointed to the fact that Gongsun Qixuan was anything but ordinary.
After several conversations with the Tianxuan Mirror's avatar, Li Fan had gained some understanding of Gongsun Qixuan's identity.
He was the subject of observation, the human template, that the Tianxuan Mirror had used when creating its own human avatar.
As for why Gongsun Qixuan was chosen from among the countless cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Tianxuan Mirror's avatar claimed it was a random choice, a matter of luck.
Li Fan, of course, didn't believe a word of it.
From his memories and observations, the man's aura did bear a certain resemblance to that of the Tianxuan Mirror's avatar.
Searching for information about him in the Tianxuan Mirror revealed a seemingly normal background. But digging just a little deeper showed that all the intelligence had been fabricated.
Before his assignment in the Cong Yun Sea, his whereabouts were a complete mystery, known to no one.
As if sensing Li Fan's clandestine observation, Gongsun Qixuan cast an almost imperceptible glance toward the sky.
But he quickly looked away, gave a soft cough, and began directing his subordinates in handling the strange incident.
His method of dealing with it was also peculiar. He took out a small figurine woven from dried grass.
He tossed it into the air.
Then, his subordinates from the Heavenly Secrets Hall, with practiced coordination, placed even smaller straw dolls in every corner of the area where the anomaly had erupted.
Under Li Fan's scrutiny, he noticed that the eerie, dark power of the anomaly did not corrode the Heavenly Secrets Hall cultivators who had brazenly entered the area.
Instead, it was irresistibly drawn to the little straw dolls they held.
Like long dragons, it was siphoned into the straw figures' bodies.
"Hmm?"
Li Fan's interest was instantly piqued.
Upon closer inspection, Li Fan discovered that each of the straw dolls seemed to have a life of its own. As the dark power surged into them, their faces twisted into expressions of grotesque laughter, agony, rage, and more.
He could even hear a faint rustling sound coming from them.
These straw dolls acted like nodes, absorbing the dark power and then channeling it into the largest straw figure floating in mid-air.
The operation to clear the anomaly lasted for three days.
In the end, the anomaly that had spread throughout the area vanished completely, and the normal Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm once again held sway.
The moment Gongsun Qixuan retrieved the straw doll from the air, something happened that made Li Fan's pupils contract.
On the surface, it looked as if Gongsun Qixuan simply tucked the straw doll back into his robes.
But in reality...
...it was more like he had opened a massive maw and violently swallowed the figurine whole.
In that instant, Li Fan felt a layer of shadow fall over Gongsun Qixuan.
And his coughing grew more frequent.
It only subsided slightly when he was on his way to the next anomalous outbreak.
Of course, Gongsun Qixuan didn't use the straw dolls for every anomaly.
For the vast majority, after a thorough investigation determined there was no risk of them spreading, he would simply order his men to seal off the area and leave it at that.
From his vantage point in the clouds, Li Fan watched this and thought, "The minor ones, he leaves for the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao to digest naturally. But the ones that would fester and grow if left unchecked... he uses those dolls to absorb them into his own body."
In Li Fan's eyes, Gongsun Qixuan had become a living vessel for numerous anomalies.
A multitude of twisted, chaotic principles were interwoven within him, a thought that was chilling to the bone.
If he were to die suddenly for some reason, and this collection of anomalies were to erupt all at once, several provinces would likely be devastated in an instant, their inhabitants annihilated.
"No wonder I always get a strange feeling whenever I see this guy."
"To contain the Dao within one's own body..."
"That's probably not something a cultivator's body can withstand."
A flicker of apprehension crossed Li Fan's eyes, and he increased the distance between them.
He then recalled how Gongsun Qixuan had managed to genuinely deduce the future based on nothing more than Li Fan's fabricated phrase: "The Heavenly Profound locks the spirit, unifying the Xuanhuang."
A theory about Gongsun Qixuan's true identity instantly formed in Li Fan's mind.
"The Tianxuan Mirror wanted to create a human avatar. With its arrogant mindset as a high and mighty immortal artifact, how could it possibly deign to observe and learn from ordinary humans?"
"And the easiest way to accomplish something is to look for precedents, to learn from those who have gone before..."
"So..."
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes as numerous clues instantly clicked into place.
"The subject an immortal artifact would choose to learn from would naturally be another immortal artifact that had already succeeded in taking human form!"
"Gongsun Qixuan... he must be one of the immortal artifacts that disappeared from the Xuanhuang Realm long ago, now in human form!"
Considering that the Heaven and Earth Bone Hand possessed by Ou Shangtian might have been the skeletal remains of an immortal, it seemed that everything within the Xuanhuang Realm was part of the Heavenly Dao's operation, the world's great cycle.
It was highly likely that the same was true for the vanished immortal artifacts.
"Taking human form, or becoming a Heavenly Treasure, or perhaps..."
Li Fan suddenly had an inkling of where Dharma Transmitter Jiang's almost heaven-defying abilities came from.
"Perhaps they also stem from the transformation of an immortal artifact..."
Having figured out the connection, Li Fan's gaze upon Gongsun Qixuan was now completely different.
Beneath his apprehension lay a sliver of greed, mixed with a healthy dose of caution and vigilance.
Immortal artifacts—anything bearing the word 'immortal'—were existences that could never be underestimated.
Not to mention, Gongsun Qixuan was already on the Tianxuan Mirror's radar, and he was burdened with countless anomalies, like a ticking time bomb ready to detonate at any moment.
"He's a rare treasure, to be sure, but one I can see and not touch."
Li Fan stared intently for a long time before finally sighing softly and slowly withdrawing his gaze.
"Besides, in this life, I'm still cooperating with the Tianxuan Mirror. The main mission is to sever the True Immortal's web first."
"No need to rush. Now that I've discovered his true identity, there will be plenty of opportunities later..."
The desire in Li Fan's eyes slowly faded.
Down below, however, Gongsun Qixuan's brows furrowed slightly, as if he had sensed something.
He pinched his fingers together, performing a quick divination.
But he couldn't divine anything concrete.
Scenes of his past encounters with Gongsun Qixuan flashed through Li Fan's mind again.
"It seems his original form might have been an immortal artifact related to deduction."
"But judging by his current state, it seems his power has diminished considerably since he took human form."
Li Fan stroked his chin.
"Still, this has given me an idea."
"There are still many secrets waiting to be unearthed in the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Back in the day, the Xuanhuang Realm had quite a few existences that were close to the level of immortal artifacts. And that's not even counting the numerous cultivation worlds it has merged with. Among so many worlds, could there really be no other beings of the same caliber?"
"Even if the Dharma Spreader collected some of them, there must be some that slipped through the net."
"I was too narrow-minded before. The treasures aren't limited to objects... people themselves can be the greatest treasures of all."
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