Chapter 1074: A Marvel of Creation
Chapter 1074: A Marvel of Creation
Li Fan himself was only at the Nascent Soul stage.
However, from the very beginning of the Spirit Wood Realm's development and ascension, he had continuously used [Array Refining] to deepen his control over the small world.
Now, after absorbing and integrating the Empire and other small worlds, the Spirit Wood Realm was not much smaller than what would have been considered a standard 'cultivation world' in ancient times.
And Li Fan, this 'Nascent Soul cultivator,' still held an iron grip on the Spirit Wood Realm.
To him, it was like a refined magic treasure; the world's life and death hinged on a single thought.
In a sense, possessing this absolute control over a world made him the de facto 'Spirit Wood Heavenly Venerate'.
This comparison made it much easier to understand the nature of the [Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate].
The only difference was that Li Fan had taken an opportunistic route, seizing control while the world was still weak and nascent.
"One with Heaven's will." The thought immediately brought Mr. Bai to Li Fan's mind.
The scene in the Fallen Immortal Realm, at the Heavenly Sword Sect's sword forging.
When Mr. Bai revealed his true power at the Heavenly Sword Sect, the eldest senior brother had gasped in shock, "You are..."
Afterward, his attitude became exceptionally respectful, and all hostility toward Mr. Bai vanished.
Situ Yao was the strongest cultivator in the Heavenly Sword Sect, a being at the Longevity stage.
For him to show such reverence, it was likely that identity, even more than raw power, was the decisive factor.
Moreover, nearly every scene Li Fan had experienced in the Fallen Immortal Realm seemed subtly connected to Mr. Bai, as if following some form of guidance or direction.
It had reached a point where he now hesitated to explore the Fallen Immortal Realm too deeply.
If someone claimed Mr. Bai had no connection to that Fallen Immortal, Li Fan would be the first to call it a lie.
...
While Li Fan was lost in thought, Transmitter Zhou continued his explanation.
"The Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate is not the same as an ordinary Longevity Heavenly Venerate."
"There can be many who achieve Longevity through the ancient methods. But there can only ever be one Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate in existence at any given time."
"Cultivators of the ancient Longevity path seize authority over a single long-lived aspect of the world. The Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate, however, embodies the authority of all Heavenly Principles. The gap between them is immeasurable."
"In fact, previous records in the Immortal Alliance have subtly mentioned that the operations of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao show traces of personification. For example, the Spirits of Heaven and Earth are all humanoid. The Heavenly Dao itself also displays emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and hate, which can be glimpsed in the strange phenomena that occur when a cultivator falls."
"This is, in truth, the lingering influence of the [Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate] on the Heavenly Dao. Even though the Heavenly Venerate is no longer present, this influence persists."
Hearing this, Li Fan instantly recalled Heavenly Dao Bai, whom he had coincidentally 'revived' once before.
He also thought of the divine ability he had recently comprehended: False Claiming Heavenly Dao.
"Heaven's heart, man's will. The principles of heaven and man..."
Li Fan grew thoughtful.
But his contemplation was soon interrupted by Zhou's next words.
"You must understand, in a typical cultivation world, a situation where a person commands the heavens would never occur."
"At most, a cultivator might receive a boon from the heavens and gain authority over a certain Heavenly Principle."
"The Xuanhuang Realm is highly unusual..."
"And from the results of the Tianxuan Mirror's recent deduction, we know that this peculiar mode of the Heavenly Dao's operation might originate from the very first Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate."
"He made certain... modifications to the Xuanhuang Realm."
"It's even possible that the entire Xuanhuang Realm was created by this Heavenly Venerate!"
Li Fan was stunned by this revelation.
He had originally assumed that the first Heavenly Venerate Transmitter Zhou mentioned might have been the Xuantian King.
But to create an entire world...
That was clearly beyond the Xuantian King's capabilities.
Li Fan immediately pressed, "Create the Xuanhuang Realm? What exactly does that mean?"
"The entire Xuanhuang Realm is like a perfect creation. Despite millennia of annexing other worlds, its core remains the original Xuanhuang Realm from ages past. The reason the Tianxuan Mirror damaged its own origin was because it was trying to deduce the location of the [Heart of Xuanhuang], the very thing that governs this world."
"There, a method to inherit the mantle of the [Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate] might exist!" Transmitter Zhou whispered.
"This is something even the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate of old could not accomplish. If that Law King of the Xuantian Sect succeeds..."
"The consequences would be unimaginable!"
Li Fan organized his thoughts.
From the clues available, the Xuanhuang Realm might be the creation of some great power from the past.
After this great power ascended, they did not take the Xuanhuang Realm with them.
They only left behind a method, a role called the [Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate], which allows one to, in a sense, completely command the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Xuantian King. Mr. Bai.
Both of them must have been Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerates.
From this, it seemed that to become the Great Heavenly Venerate who ruled a world, one had to meet certain conditions and pass a selection process by the Heavenly Dao.
After Mr. Bai's fall, the position of Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate had remained vacant.
Yet, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao continued to maintain the world's operation according to the principles left behind by the former Heavenly Venerates.
For instance, when Li Fan had used the [Devouring Heaven and Earth Great Technique] to devour earth veins and frantically raise his cultivation. He had broken through the bottleneck of the Heavenly Disaster, only to be suppressed by the Palm of Xuanhuang Heaven. This was a clear sign of the Heavenly Dao operating autonomously according to its established rules.
And now, Mo Rubin was using the formidable computational power of the Tianxuan Mirror to analyze the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
He was attempting to find the so-called [Heart of Xuanhuang] and become the next [Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate].
"By becoming the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate, he could likely inherit the memories of his predecessors and finally uncover what truly happened to the Xuantian King all those years ago..." At this point, Li Fan had fully grasped Mo Rubin's motive for going to such great lengths.
"So, this Heart of Xuanhuang, where is it?" Li Fan asked immediately.
Transmitter Zhou raised a finger and pointed to the sky.
Then, he gestured to their surroundings.
"It is here. Or rather, it is everywhere."
"As long as certain conditions are met, one should be able to enter the Heart of Xuanhuang and participate in some kind of trial."
"If you pass, you will emerge as the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate," Transmitter Zhou said with a shrug.
Li Fan, however, keenly perceived a critical point. "After the Dharma Spreader created the New Law, achieving Longevity requires reversing the principles of heaven and earth. In that case, what about this Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate..."
A shadow crossed Transmitter Zhou's eyes. "That is our greatest concern. Theoretically, due to the influence of the Heavenly Venerate's New Law, the process of succeeding the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate should fail."
"But..."
"We can't rule out the possibility that ascending to the position of Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate might directly bypass the rule he established."
"After all, a common Longevity cultivator reverses and occupies a single principle of heaven and earth. The Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerate, on the other hand, ascends to the heavens in a single step, directly gaining control over *all* the principles of heaven and earth."
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