Chapter 1133: The Power of Gloomy Faith
To reach the pinnacle of the Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon and become an unparalleled emperor with power comparable to a Longevity cultivator, Li Fan estimated he would have to forge a vast dynasty whose influence stretched across the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
"Hmph," he snorted. "If I had that kind of power, why would I even need to practice the Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon?"
But since it was merely a temporary measure to anchor himself, Li Fan didn't harbor any grand illusions about it.
In fact, his objective had already been met.
As the Great Xuan Dynasty grew increasingly prosperous, the bizarre phenomenon of his body flickering in and out of existence had almost completely vanished.
Even his once-lost face was showing signs of reappearing.
"The Faceless Immortal... Its power seems to sever all connections with the world."
"And yet, as the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor of the Great Xuan, with the lives of hundreds of millions bound to me, I have somehow managed to influence the power of that True Immortal's web."
"The correct way to use the Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits Array... perhaps it isn't simple obstruction. Instead, it's..."
"To take the lingering will of those billions of souls and just throw it at the target, like splashing a bucket of blood."
"To put it more plainly, it's to forcibly create a connection between those billions of lingering thoughts and the Faceless Immortal."
"For example, by making those souls who died unjustly believe that the Faceless Immortal was the true culprit."
Li Fan's thoughts raced. After a round of deductions with the Final Dissociation Disc, he quickly made some fine adjustments to the Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits Array.
He then summoned Lin Ling.
"Master."
Soon, Lin Ling appeared before him, clad in battle armor, her bearing sharp and heroic.
Unlike her experience in the previous life, in this one, Lin Ling had shouldered the heavy responsibility of leading the Great Xuan Forbidden Army to conquer myriad realms ever since her consciousness awakened.
She was always traveling, and, especially on Li Fan's strict orders, had never established any contact with the ancient earth-vein tree.
Her personality had also changed, becoming as bold and straightforward as a career soldier, unconcerned with minor details.
After Li Fan told her about the minor modifications to the Myriad Spirits Array, Lin Ling was about to leave to carry out her task when she suddenly remembered something.
"Hmm?" Li Fan looked at Lin Ling.
"Master, while I was flying through the Xuanhuang main realm, a consciousness discovered me and has been trying to communicate with me."
"The ancient earth-vein tree?" Li Fan frowned slightly.
"No. But it felt very similar..." Lin Ling replied honestly.
Seeing the expression on her master's face, she quickly added, "But I have followed your instructions to the letter and have ignored it."
"The consciousness seemed... unhinged. It wouldn't even identify itself, just kept asking me to go meet it..."
The moment Li Fan heard this, he immediately knew what was going on.
He just didn't know why Ruomu had been able to find Lin Ling.
After asking for the exact location of the encounter, Li Fan designed a set of formations for Lin Ling to shield her from outside perception.
Only then did he dismiss her.
He considered it for a moment. The main objective of this life was still to escape the influence of the Faceless Immortal.
Li Fan simply noted down the time and location of Ruomu's appearance, with no intention of making further contact with it for now.
"I can give the ancient earth-vein tree a surprise later."
Li Fan snorted coldly.
With a flicker, Li Fan appeared in the secret chamber beneath the Sage Emperor's throne.
The chamber was pitch-black and held a dozen or so members of the You Clan.
After the Great Xuan had established some military strength, Li Fan had ordered Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba to launch an attack on the You Clan.
Even with the help of the Sky Patrolling Arrow, their success was mixed, with as many victories as defeats.
The Great Xuan Forbidden Army suffered over a hundred casualties, but they managed to capture some members of the You Clan alive.
After some... persuasion, they recognized the reality of their situation and agreed to open a passage to the Gloomy Realm for Li Fan.
But at this moment, [Truth] had not yet finished recharging, so Li Fan was in no hurry to enter.
Seeing Li Fan arrive, the You Clan members hastily fell to their knees.
Li Fan, however, stood motionless, sensing one of his own statues not far away in the darkness.
After becoming the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor of the Great Xuan, Li Fan had tried to reproduce a power similar to the Source Power Essence.
Because it was somewhat similar to the power of faith, Li Fan had ordered his statues to be built and erected throughout the land, hoping that the sheer number of people would allow the Source Power Essence to coalesce.
But it was clear that he had been a bit naive.
Although the Source Power Essence was said to be something discarded by True Immortals, it was subtly a tier higher than ordinary spiritual energy.
Without some special method, it was obviously impossible to gather and condense it through the pure, collective prayer of mortals alone.
However, things began to change after these members of the You Clan were captured and brought back.
Perhaps it was because the You Clan possessed an innately strong faith in the Gloomy Realm; the very moment they submitted, Li Fan faintly sensed a peculiar energy appear within his body.
It was crimson, like the national fortune of the Great Xuan Dynasty, and the feeling it gave Li Fan...
Was extremely similar to the golden Source Power Essence of the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal from his previous life!
Later, Li Fan simply moved one of his statues into this dungeon and ordered the dozen or so You Clan members to pray day and night.
The effect was remarkable.
The Source Power Essence produced by these few You Clan members was actually greater than that of the hundreds of millions of citizens of the Great Xuan combined!
Li Fan studied their method of prayer and had the Great Xuan Forbidden Army learn and imitate it.
But they failed without exception.
After much thought, Li Fan could only attribute it to the unique constitution of the You Clan.
"It seems this is related to the power of the Gloomy Darkness from the Gloomy Realm. Xuantian King..."
The Gloomy Realm, capable of interfering with the True Immortal's web to some extent, clearly still held many secrets.
But they were not secrets he could explore in this lifetime.
"It's just a pity that the You Clan's reproductive rate isn't very high."
"Otherwise, I could weave my own web of faith without relying on the Faceless Immortal's stone statue."
That ability to freely bestow, revoke, and even transmit power over vast distances was simply too powerful and convenient.
Having tasted its sweetness, Li Fan would naturally find it difficult to part with it.
Therefore, even though the return via [Truth] was imminent, Li Fan still hadn't given up his research into this power.
Clearly, Li Fan did not possess any talent in this area.
"I'll have to wait until I'm completely safe and let those other guys research it."
Li Fan sighed softly.
"Great Sage Emperor..." Just then, one of the kowtowing, praying You Clan members suddenly spoke, his voice trembling as if he had something to say.
"Oh?" Li Fan was instantly intrigued.
This was the first time they had ever tried to communicate with him proactively.
After receiving Li Fan's permission, the You Clan member tremblingly continued, "During my prayers, I discovered that the master I previously served..."
He glanced cautiously at Li Fan. "...that is, the Gloomy Realm... it doesn't seem to be very angry about our rebellion."
He swallowed hard. "For generations, our clan's ancestral teachings have warned us never to betray the Gloomy Darkness. Otherwise, we would surely face divine punishment."
"But I've tested it now, and it's all completely untrue."
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