Chapter 1156: The Truth of Foundation Establishment
The moment Li Ping heard Master Yin's insights on Foundation Establishment, the knowledge flowed instantly to Li Fan's main body.
“Bury everything of my past to forge an infinite path for the future?”
Li Fan grew quiet, lost in thought.
His thoughts suddenly turned to his own unique treasure, [Truth Realization].
He recalled his "hundred-life foundation," the time he had successfully forged a part of [Truth Realization] into the very bedrock of the New Method. That act alone suggested that the treasure had already fused with him, becoming an inseparable part of his being.
“In other words, if I want to achieve 'Foundation Establishment Through Oneself,' I would have to encompass the entirety of [Truth Realization] within it...”
The moment the thought surfaced, even Li Fan himself found it absurd.
When [Truth Realization] activates, the entire world dissolves from reality into illusion, snapping back to a previously set anchor point.
Not even True Immortals were an exception.
“I would no longer need to rely on [Truth Realization]. All its limitations—anchor points, recharging, and so on—would vanish. With a single thought, I could create and destroy worlds, and I could return to any point in time I wished, whenever I wished...”
“That kind of power.”
“What Foundation Establishment cultivator could possibly be more powerful?”
Li Fan shook his head to himself.
“This creates a paradox.”
“If I already possessed that kind of power, what would be the point of pursuing some new cultivation method? Overpowering the Dharma Spreader and crushing the Faceless Immortal would be child's play.”
“Without some special method to help me understand and analyze the fundamental nature of [Truth Realization] beforehand, this path is nothing but a dead end for me.”
“Sometimes, having a foundation that's too powerful isn't necessarily a good thing.”
Li Fan glanced casually in the direction of the Museum of Divine Treasures.
During a previous discussion with Master Yin, he had proposed a feasible method for stealing Mr. Bai's skull.
Lure the tiger from the mountain—trick Emperor Sanmo into leaving the Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters.
Then, use a forged skull to replace the original.
“After Mr. Bai reversed heaven and earth at the cost of his own life, all the spirituality in his body dissipated. His remains became indistinguishable from the bones of an ordinary mortal.”
“Uh... aside from being a bit tougher.”
“So, as long as we forge an identical skull and swap it without disturbing the restrictive seals, it might be possible to retrieve Mr. Bai's skull without anyone noticing.”
“That's the theory, at least. But in practice...”
Master Yin had shaken his head and never mentioned the matter again.
But Li Fan had never forgotten.
He was also quite certain that there was nothing unusual about Mr. Bai's remains.
It wasn't just that Master Yin, a Remnant Realm Ghost, couldn't detect anything amiss.
Even the Heavenly Profound Mirror, after appraising one of Mr. Bai's ribs, had assigned it the lowest possible value: a single contribution point.
“But the skull is an exception.”
“With Mr. Bai's Eternal Remembrance existing within it, it could not possibly be ordinary.”
“While using the Eternal Remembrance, I can't activate the regression. And the Eternal Remembrance itself can't be brought back to be used in the next life. So...”
A dark glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
“The best method is still the same one I used in the last life to steal the World Birthing Change: create a relatively safe environment, a situation where everyone else is too distracted to interfere.”
“As for the 'luring the tiger' part, what does Emperor Sanmo truly care about? Perhaps the answer can be found in the Fallen Immortal Realm.”
“And as for a situation where the Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters could be robbed without anyone having the time to deal with it...”
“The Dharma Spreader's conspiracy would have to be exposed, forcing him out into the open and capturing the attention of the entire Xuanhuang Realm.”
The rough outline of a plot instantly took shape, adding a new layer to his original plan.
“With the Dharma Spreader's overwhelming and unpredictable power, forcing him to show himself and explain things through sheer strength is unrealistic. The only way is to threaten the one thing he cares about: the Xuanhuang Realm...”
“Only this time, I won't have to be the villain.”
On the grand chessboard, all the pieces were in position. All that remained was for Li Fan to slowly make his move.
...
While Li Fan was hiding in the shadows, hatching all manner of unspeakable plots...
The wisp of his divine sense that he had split off and attached to Wu Ninglu discovered something rather interesting.
This Wu Ninglu was pregnant!
During a break in her focused cultivation, Li Fan's divine sense performed a detailed examination of the fetus in her womb and confirmed that it was, indeed, the child of Sun Ang of the Sun family—the identity Li Fan was currently inhabiting.
“However, she had used a secret technique to seal it, halting its growth.”
“This woman is certainly interesting.”
After observing her for some time, Li Fan realized that Wu Ninglu was not as simple and thoughtless as Sun Ang had believed her to be.
It seemed she had married into the Sun family with ulterior motives.
She had previously "accidentally" leaked the news of Sun Ang's breakthrough to the Dao Integration realm, which led to him being forced into a five-hundred-year mission to guard the Deduction Jade. It was all a ploy to get him out of the way.
And all the benefits that Sun Ang had obtained through his sacrifice had fallen right into this woman's lap.
She used these precious resources to cultivate with all her might.
Her progress in a single month surpassed that of the previous three years.
Li Fan's divine sense even faintly detected that it wouldn't be long before she broke through to the peak of the Soul Transformation realm.
Then one day, Wu Ninglu, who had been in secluded cultivation at home, finally slipped up.
As if she had suddenly become a different person, Wu Ninglu walked to a mirror in the room, her slender fingers stroking her own face.
Her gaze was distant, yet a flash of viciousness would flicker through it from time to time.
“My dear sister, you're living quite well, aren't you? Your cultivation speed is even faster than mine...”
Wu Ninglu's expression changed again, her smile vanishing. "Wu Ningjiu, are you mad?! Possessing my body at a time like this? Aren't you afraid the Sun family will find out!"
She did her best to keep her voice down, but her trembling body betrayed the fury in her heart.
Wu Ningjiu regained control of the body, her voice still dripping with amusement. "Sister, I'm not as reckless as you think. Do you really believe I would dare contact you so easily without the elder's instructions?"
"Listen carefully. We've received the latest intelligence: within three months, that treasure will be returned to the Sun family. When that happens, you need to find out its hiding place."
Wu Ningjiu's voice trailed off, eventually becoming inaudible.
Once she was back to normal, Wu Ninglu's expression flickered uncertainly. Finally, she stomped her foot hard, as if she had made a decision.
Li Fan's divine sense, having witnessed the entire scene from start to finish, was suddenly intrigued.
“A Sun family treasure? I've never heard of them possessing anything remarkable.”
The divine sense transformed into a gossamer thread and infiltrated Wu Ninglu's sea of consciousness.
Although she had been trained and possessed strong defenses against invasions of divine sense, how could she possibly withstand a deliberate assault from Li Fan?
Before long, Li Fan had found the answers he was looking for.
What he discovered transformed his idle curiosity into grave seriousness.
“It's like the Qiankun Bone Hand—a suspected living immortal artifact?”
“Interesting.”
(End of this chapter)
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