Chapter 1102: The Essence of Many, United as One
The Tianji Realm's research into the power of gloom was proving more difficult than expected.
It made sense, of course. They were dealing with a power comparable to Source Power Essence. No matter how gifted the researchers, pioneering a field from nothing was bound to take an immense amount of time. Fortunately, Master Qiaogong and his colleagues were fanatics, utterly engrossed in their work with unwavering focus since the project began.
All Li Fan had to do was wait patiently and then reap the rewards of their labor.
In the meantime, Li Fan had already begun to quietly set his plans in motion against the two immortals.
In an underground chamber within the Spirit Wood Realm.
Over a hundred strangely shaped puppets stood in silent, motionless rows.
Li Fan, his expression grave, was personally engraving formations onto their bodies.
"These are 'bait puppets,' seventy-two pairs in total. One from each pair will be sent into the Immortal Ruins, while the other will be strategically placed at key nodes of the Xuanhuang Realm's earth veins. When the seventy-two puppets fly toward the Immortal Ruins, the grand formations inscribed on them will activate, drawing the attention of the immortals within."
"Around the bait puppets remaining in the Xuanhuang Realm, I will use the Source Power Essence of the Faceless Immortal to create a tripwire network. The moment the power of the immortals from the Immortal Ruins triggers it, it will draw the gaze of the Faceless Immortal."
"If everything goes according to plan..."
"The instant those two unimaginable powers touch, the Xuanhuang Realm will likely be reduced to dust. Therefore, my operation to 'Falsely Claim the Heavenly Dao' and extract the 'World Birthing Change' must be prepared in advance."
The Dao Transformation Stone in his mind pulsed with a soft, blue light.
The refined Dao Transformation Stone's deductive power had been greatly enhanced. This plan to pit a tiger against a wolf was incredibly complex, involving countless factors and variables. Yet, even with all its intricacies, the Dao Transformation Stone handled the calculations without strain.
Of course, this was only because the Faceless Immortal and the immortals from the Immortal Ruins were limited to the abilities Li Fan had pre-programmed into the simulation.
Li Fan was under no illusions. With his current power, attempting to truly deduce the actions of a True Immortal was a fool's errand. The best he could do was base his strategy on what he had already experienced in reality and hope to find a sliver of opportunity.
"The immortals of the Immortal Ruins will shake the True Immortal's net."
"I will seize that moment to activate [Truth] and escape my predicament."
"That is the best-case scenario, naturally. But one must always plan for failure before victory. I have to consider what will happen if the plan fails—if the power gap between the immortals of the Immortal Ruins and the Faceless Immortal is too vast to truly disturb the shackles of the True Immortal's net..."
"...then I will have to retreat immediately to the depths of the Gloomy Realm, activate [Truth], and escape the danger."
"I now possess a few assets that could, at the very least, momentarily influence a True Immortal. Buying a few seconds should be possible."
Li Fan inspected the layers of power surrounding his soul.
The silver radiance of the protection gifted by the Heavenly Doctor, the golden shimmer of the Source Power Essence, and the seven-colored divine light that contained the patches of gray mold...
All these disparate forces maintained a delicate equilibrium.
Perhaps only a person like Li Fan could remain perfectly composed in such a state, even finding a faint sense of comfort in the precarious balance.
"Leveraging external forces, playing one power against another... At the end of the day, it all stemmed from his own weakness. But the threshold to true immortality was not a barrier so easily crossed."
"Geniuses like the Xuantian King, the Dharma Propagator, and the Heavenly Doctor had all been stopped at its gates, unable to advance another step."
"What chance did I have? If it weren't for [Truth], I would have abandoned this seemingly impossible dream long ago," Li Fan mused with a self-deprecating smile.
"But since I was fortunate enough to possess a marvel like [Truth], then no one can stand in the way of my ascent to immortality..." A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
Li Fan knew that the True Immortal Scripts he had encountered—be it [Chaos], [Hunger], or [Submerge]—were not the original versions.
They were crude imitations, crafted by those who came after.
That was why, for the longest time, Li Fan had never ceased his in-depth study of these three True Immortal Scripts.
Even if they were mere copies of copies, the closer he could get to the original, the more potent they would become.
Even a true immortal could achieve enlightenment by studying a single one of these characters. For Li Fan, fully comprehending even one of them seemed like a task that would take more than a lifetime.
Li Fan's own aptitude was limited, but he could borrow from external sources.
Beyond the peerless talent of his clone, Li Qing, the prodigies of the Xuanhuang Realm who had recently been lured and turned to his side in the Mountain River Pavilion had also become fodder for his advancement.
The Xuantian Sect technique he had acquired from Senior Sister Zhao, the Heaven and Earth Mutual Arising Ode, could equalize and share the talent and comprehension of any target.
After his clone, Li Qing, had achieved a rudimentary mastery of the technique, she began to select suitable targets.
Publicly, it was claimed they were being sent on secret missions for the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal, but in truth, they were being covertly controlled, their innate talents siphoned away.
Of course, because of the technique's equalizing nature, these prodigies also gained half of Li Qing's talent in return.
Li Qing's own talent was in no way inferior to theirs, so none of the Mountain River Pavilion prodigies, including Shang Tianci, noticed anything amiss. They were simply in awe of the miraculous power of the [Foundation Establishment Through Oneself] method.
Bolstered by the talents of more than a dozen prodigies, Li Qing's aptitude for comprehension had reached an absolutely astonishing level.
She had even become faintly aware that Li Fan's original self had erased portions of her own memories.
But she was a clone, after all; there was no sense of 'self' separate from her original body. She simply continued to steadfastly execute her mission: to comprehend the True Immortal Scripts.
The three True Immortal Scripts swirled through her mind, seeming almost alive.
It was as if she could see it—a hazy figure, transforming the very Dao into written characters.
"The Dao of Inscription..."
"An existence even more formidable than the Faceless Immortal. Perhaps that is my ultimate goal."
...
While Li Fan was covertly making preparations for his final gambit in this life.
The Heavenly Venerate of Reversed Life and Death, who had emerged from nowhere, finally began to reveal His influence upon the Xuanhuang Realm.
People began to notice that ever since this Heavenly Venerate's arrival, the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm had ceased to have children.
In fact, the same was true for the entire human race.
At first, no one could be certain that the Heavenly Venerate was the cause.
But when a cultivator who had previously died returned to the world of the living in a manner no one could have possibly imagined, everyone suddenly connected the dots.
The Lancang River, the largest river on the southwestern frontier of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
One day, a cultivator named Chang Ji suddenly emerged from its waters, completely naked.
This bizarre spectacle naturally drew a crowd of onlookers.
But Chang Ji paid them no mind. He stared at his own body, ecstatic and incredulous, muttering to himself, "I'm alive again?"
"Reversing life and death... Reversing life and death! The Heavenly Venerate did not lie!"
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