Chapter 1059: A King Like a Lackey
"If we're lucky, we might even find the Saint Emperor tomorrow," the Emperor's Daughter said, her voice holding a faint tremor of excitement.
"After you find the Saint Emperor, do not make contact rashly," Li Fan cautioned, his voice grave. "His sudden departure back then must have been for a hidden reason. First, report to the Federation. I will make the final decision."
The Emperor's Daughter nodded in understanding.
Over the past five years, Li Fan had provided the Empire with information on every known grotto-heaven and small world within the Xuanhuang Realm.
With the help of a unique beast capable of traversing space at will, the Empire had systematically screened each of these small worlds, their sole purpose to pinpoint Xu Ke's hiding place.
Back in his 115th life, just before the entity known as Heavenly Dao Bai faced the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate in their final battle...
...the figure who had appeared at Heavenly Dao Bai's side, a coffin strapped to his back, had to be Xu Ke.
As for what lay inside that coffin, and why he had so abruptly abandoned the very empire he had built from the ground up—so hastily that he left even his beloved pets behind...
All these questions would be answered once they found him.
Since he had dangled the prospect of finding Xu Ke, the Empire's allegiance had become absolute, and their efficiency had more than doubled, all without any need for Li Fan's supervision or prompting.
Having given his instructions, Li Fan made his way to the deepest recesses of the dome laboratory.
There, in the pitch-black chamber, a crimson thread drifted and swayed like a serpent gliding through water.
This was the red string, the very one Mr. Bai had left with the Empire, a gift entrusted to Xu Ke for his protection.
A single thread had been enough to slay a pinnacle expert of the demon race, its power nearly rivaling a full-force strike from a New Law Longevity cultivator of the current era.
Wary of Mr. Bai, Li Fan had avoided direct contact with the string in this lifetime.
Instead, he had tasked the people of the Empire with studying it.
On the surface, the red string appeared to be a manifestation of some form of the Dao of the Sword.
But after years of relentless experimentation, the Empire's researchers discovered it behaved more like a living entity, possessing a spirit of its own.
It couldn't be driven by spiritual energy. Instead, it fed on a creature's very essence—its vitality and spirit—that most esoteric of energies. Or, to put it simply, it consumed a creature's lifespan.
Moreover, the red string was selective. It disdained ordinary beings, showing interest only in consuming the life force of those individuals within a species who were full of vigor and ambition.
After being nurtured with a vast number of strange beasts, the once-gossamer thread had thickened in the dome laboratory, now resembling a slender red snake.
Even with several layers of protective arrays separating it from an observer, its presence was profoundly intimidating.
Since his clone had used the Black Sword, a Heavenly Wonder, for his Foundation Establishment, Li Fan was reasonably familiar with the sword Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm.
After a careful study, Li Fan discovered that the string contained more than just the Dao of the Sword. At its core lay the [Dao of Balance].
To harm another, one must pay a price. Therefore, one must first harm oneself.
In the eyes of Heaven and Earth, all living beings are equal.
A mortal and a Dao Integration cultivator are one and the same.
Thus, by wielding this sharp blade, a mortal could slay a being at the Dao Integration stage.
It was a classic theory of the ancient cultivation methods, one he had encountered in similar records across numerous ancient texts.
Mr. Bai was the last Longevity Heavenly Venerate of the old ways in the Xuanhuang Realm, so it was hardly surprising that a divine ability he imparted would possess such a characteristic.
But times had changed. In the current era, even in the eyes of Heaven and Earth, not all beings were equal.
The higher a cultivator's realm, the greater the weight they imposed upon the world, and the more they were despised by it.
An ordinary person could no longer hope for a "one-for-one" exchange.
Consequently, the red string's practical effectiveness had been greatly diminished.
Li Fan calculated that the power unleashed by a single thread was enough to annihilate the physical body of a Soul Transformation cultivator. However, a Soul Transformation cultivator of the New Method, whose existence was intertwined with the world itself, would not perish from such an attack. They would only be grievously wounded. As for a Dao Integration expert, they could effortlessly parry the string's assault.
Of course, that was for but a single, minuscule thread.
If the full power of the crimson cord before him—now as thick as a bowl's rim—was unleashed all at once...
Even Li Fan had no confidence he could survive it, not without the protection of his Tianyang puppet.
At present, the red string seemed to have reached its limit, refusing to feed any further.
Li Fan gazed at the red string writhing in the darkness, lost in thought.
"The essence of the red string is to leverage the power of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao against one's foes. It's not an abuse of power, but an exchange conducted within the bounds of established rules."
"Using its power still consumes the cultivator's own lifespan."
"But to defeat, or even kill, a Soul Transformation cultivator at the cost of only a fraction of one's life..."
"If word of this got out, people would flock to it in droves."
"Perhaps this could be the signature weapon of the Federation of All Worlds."
"And their name..."
"The Swordbearers."
A glint in his eye, Li Fan ordered his subordinates to separate nearly a hundred threads from the main cord, each to be sealed individually within a container of seven-colored divine light.
"Join the Federation of All Worlds, and you can wield this blade to slay Soul Transformation cultivators."
"Who would dare say our Federation lacks depth then?"
"Besides, killing cultivators of the New Method aligns with the will of Heaven. We won't have to worry about backlash from the world, no matter how great the slaughter."
"Truly brilliant!"
Even after having a portion of it drawn away, the writhing red cord did not resume feeding.
It seemed the total amount of the red string within the Xuanhuang Realm was fixed; some had to be consumed before more could be generated.
As wondrous as the red string was, Li Fan had no intention of using it himself.
He would entrust it only to the members of the Federation of All Worlds, as a treasure for their protection.
"As it happens, some of the sacrificial explorers sent into the bloody river have returned alive. I can grant them this treasure, then formally bestow upon them immortal techniques as a sign of encouragement," Li Fan mused, departing from the Empire's small world.
He arrived in the [Seeking the Obscure] sector.
Amidst countless empty pedestals, the first monument had silently been set in place.
Etched upon the stone was the name and likeness of the cultivator who had retrieved a piece of lost history from the bloody river.
And the fragment of history itself could be viewed through this very monument.
The first recovery was, in truth, a rather inconsequential scene.
It dated back to a time before the path to the Immortal Realm was severed.
Visitors from other cultivation worlds had arrived in a grand procession of more than ten immortal boats.
The various sects of the Xuanhuang Realm dispatched delegations to welcome them, holding a grand conference for cultural and martial exchange.
The scene was bustling with life and vibrant energy.
A stark contrast to the deathly quiet Xuanhuang Realm of today.
Every cultivator who witnessed this scene couldn't help but feel a pang of loss and sorrow.
The scene also held a particularly interesting detail.
Amidst the festivities, Li Fan spotted the figure of none other than the Xuantian King, Xuanyuan Hong.
At that time, however, he was merely one of the many junior cultivators tasked with hosting the guests.
He stood among them like a lackey, his face a mixture of tension and excitement as he watched the senior cultivators.
No one present could possibly have imagined that this unremarkable young cultivator would one day become the last person to ascend from the Xuanhuang Realm and shoulder the monumental task of saving the world.
(This chapter is complete)
Comments