Chapter 1105: Xuanhuang Life and Death Transformation
Doubts were one thing, but their faith in Zhang Haobo was another. He had guided them through tempestuous seas and snatched them from the jaws of death time and again.
Not a soul turned back. They all followed him without question, stepping forward into an unknown future.
Watching the group recede into the distance, Li Fan, hidden from view, sank into deep contemplation.
“Even among mortals, there are those like Zhang Haobo who can sense a coming calamity.”
“And that was to say nothing of the countless cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm.”
“Perhaps I've been too optimistic. My arrangements are discreet, but I can't guarantee that someone favored by fate won't stumble upon some anomaly through a twist of chance.”
“If you want to conceal something, the best method is to create a distraction, something else to capture everyone's attention.”
A glint appeared in Li Fan's eyes as an idea instantly took shape in his mind.
For now, however, he would quietly watch the spectacle of Red Flame's searing of the sea play out to its conclusion.
The flame dragon coiled around its body seemed to grin with excitement before erupting into countless streams of crimson fire, which then surged violently toward every corner of the Cong Yun Sea.
The sea began to boil at a terrifying rate, and fear spread like a contagion through the hearts of every living being that had not yet fled the Cong Yun Sea.
Faced with utter despair, some cultivators rallied to fight back.
But with the strongest among them only at the Soul Transformation realm, what hope did they have against an augmented Red Flame?
Li Fan, however, did not focus on the lives being rapidly extinguished.
Instead, he silently observed the changes taking place in the world itself.
“From destruction, new life.”
“From ruin, rebirth.”
Red Flame's scorching of the sea lasted for three full months.
The ocean evaporated, leaving behind a scorched earth stretching for thousands of miles. The once vast sea had become a deep, barren valley.
But as Li Fan witnessed this entire transformation from beginning to end, he faintly sensed a hidden vitality stirring within the devastation.
“This is the Xuanhuang Life and Death Transformation.”
“Having observed and grasped this principle, I can now ascend to the Soul Transformation realm whenever I wish. And just as the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven made me supreme in the Nascent Soul realm, this understanding ensures that upon ascension, I will be the absolute strongest among all Soul Transformation cultivators.”
“A pity...”
“My ambitions lie far beyond this.”
Li Fan took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the restless spiritual energy stirring within him.
“How can the cycle of life and death in one small region of the Xuanhuang Realm compare to the instinctive, world-spanning response to an extinction-level crisis?”
Li Fan's mind turned to the countless insights he had gained over the years from studying the *Heaven Mending Record*.
A world is much like a person.
When faced with a life-or-death crisis, a person can often unleash strength far beyond their normal limits.
So too can a world.
The very moment an extinction-level crisis descends, the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm will undergo all manner of profound and mysterious self-evolutions, all in a desperate bid for survival.
The changes born of that moment will far surpass anything that occurs during times of stability.
“If I succeed, my power after ascending to Soul Transformation will be even greater than I anticipate.”
“Therefore...”
“No one can stand in my way!”
His eyes filled with an icy resolve, Li Fan turned and departed.
...
In the Spirit Wood Realm.
Ou Daozi was carefully scrutinizing the corpse before him.
“Incredible... truly incredible,” Ou Daozi murmured. “Are you certain you forged this, Lord Emissary? If you hadn't told me yourself, I would have sworn it was the genuine remains of an immortal.”
“The aura it radiates... it's nearly identical to the feeling I get when Ou Shangtian is near.”
A corpse, shimmering with a faint golden light, floated horizontally in mid-air.
Its features were obscured by the golden radiance.
But the sacred aura it emanated filled Ou Daozi with a conflicting mixture of reverence and greed.
Li Fan nodded in satisfaction upon hearing Ou Daozi's assessment.
This forged immortal corpse was the key to his plan to stir chaos throughout the Xuanhuang Realm.
The body itself, purchased for a great sum, was the impeccably preserved remains of a Dao Integration cultivator from several millennia ago.
He had then meticulously treated it with golden source power essence, imbuing it with an aura of power that transcended the mortal plane.
Furthermore, to make the forgery even more convincing, Li Fan had extracted the abilities of several exotic treasures he had acquired from the Fishing Pool and embedded them within the corpse.
For instance, any cultivator who drew near would find their emotions amplified to an unbearable degree, driving them to the brink of madness.
Moreover, if attacked, the corpse would automatically tear through the void and escape.
And should anyone manage to touch it, a torrent of pure, mutated spiritual energy hidden within would surge into their body, granting them an instantaneous leap in cultivation.
...
Every detail was designed to make the deception as convincing as possible.
“Even the Longevity Heavenly Venerates will surely be interested in the legendary remains of a True Immortal,” Li Fan thought. “In that case, let's make a real spectacle of it.”
Beyond these tangible rewards, Li Fan had also planted a few hidden tricks within the so-called immortal remains.
He guaranteed that whoever ultimately claimed the prize would be in for a very big surprise.
The power of the Faceless Immortal served as a cloak, preventing any cultivators skilled in divination from deducing the corpse's true origins.
After a few final touches, two jet-black puppets entered the room and hoisted the “immortal remains” onto their shoulders.
They departed to carry out Li Fan's mission.
They moved in absolute silence, from their appearance to their departure. Had Li Fan not been their master, even he would have struggled to detect their presence.
These two puppets were the culmination of years of work by Master Qiaogong and his peers from the Heavenly Mechanism Realm.
As expected of the most brilliant minds from the Heavenly Mechanism Realm. Through tireless research, while they still hadn't unraveled the true nature of the gloomy power, they had successfully managed to apply it to a certain degree without issue.
The jet-black puppets perfectly embodied the characteristics of this gloomy power.
They could vanish and reappear from the “cracks” in the world, just like the gloom itself.
Spiritual sense could neither lock onto them nor even perceive their presence.
Furthermore, they possessed a powerful suppressive effect on spiritual energy, and ordinary attacks were almost completely ineffective against them.
Their only drawback was their limited destructive capability, restricting them to missions of stealth and infiltration.
Additionally, the inherent nature of the gloom to recede from the Immortal Ruins meant the puppets could not operate in the field for extended periods.
Periodically, they had to return to the Gloomy Realm to replenish their reserves of gloomy power.
Regardless, Li Fan was extremely pleased with his new jet-black puppets.
Entrusting this mission to them, he was confident it would be executed flawlessly.
After dismissing Ou Daozi, Li Fan retreated to a sealed chamber, alone.
On a glowing screen before him, the faces of young children flashed one after another.
Below each image was a long, detailed description of the child's personality.
“There are countless mortals across the small worlds, but finding one with a pure heart and absolute sincerity, like Mr. Bai, is proving quite difficult.”
“Worse, the power of the Rebirth Heavenly Venerate has already begun to affect many of the small worlds.”
“The birth rates have dropped significantly in recent years.”
“There's no other choice. I'll have to take a step back and settle for the next best thing.”
“If they don't possess these qualities innately, then I will cultivate them through education and upbringing.”
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