Chapter 1274: The Heavenly Venerate's World Spirit
Chapter 1274: The Heavenly Venerate's World Spirit
“I can't let the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance detect my plan, so I've only been able to steal slivers of time here and there. It would have taken me ages to save up enough, but now...”
The Deduction Jade gazed at Li Fan. “This method of yours is a massive help!”
“Forty years is still too long,” Li Fan countered. “And to avoid leaving any openings, you'll have to divert a portion of your power to deal with the Law Enforcement Hall's monitoring even while you sleep. Is there any way to shorten the time even more?”
“You really want to help me?” The Deduction Jade’s surprise was genuine.
Seeing Li Fan’s earnest expression, the spirit pondered for a moment before zipping over to his side and whispering, “Like I said, deducing techniques is my form of cultivation. The fifty-year slumber is necessary to process and absorb everything I’ve learned. If there were a way to skip that step, I’d probably only need to rest for five... no, ten years should do it!”
“I have a faint memory of a treasure called Immortal Sound Jade Dew. If I could just get a taste of some more...”
A trickle of drool escaped the corner of her mouth.
“Immortal Sound Jade Dew?” Li Fan’s brow furrowed.
Li Fan had lived through a hundred lifetimes, possessed the source of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, and held the Creation Stone Slab. It was safe to say there were precious few treasures in the Xuanhuang Realm he didn’t know about.
Yet this was the first time he had ever heard of Immortal Sound Jade Dew.
“Um... I don’t know, actually.” Hearing his question, the Deduction Jade seemed taken aback.
“But I swear it’s real! I know it exists,” the little spirit insisted, her expression full of conviction.
After a brief silence, Li Fan replied, “I’ll find a way.”
Her eyes widened in an instant. “You’re a really good person!” she exclaimed.
“Aren’t you afraid?” Li Fan asked. “That I’m with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, and this is all just a ruse to deceive you...”
The spirit giggled. “I’m not that naive. You’re nothing like those Dharma Spreaders. Besides, I can tell with a single glance who has malicious intent and who is sincere!”
Li Fan simply smiled, offering no rebuttal.
“Then get some rest for now. I’ll contact you again if I get any news.”
Light and shadow twisted, and the fabricated personality resumed its proper form, tirelessly taking over the Deduction Jade’s duties.
The spirit watched for a moment, and once she was certain there would be no issues, she happily stretched out her limbs, floating in the air as she drifted back into a deep sleep.
The true body of the Deduction Jade, even if it's not from the Immortal Realm, must originate from a special cultivation world like Xuanhuang, one protected by a grand defensive array.
Her current abilities are of limited use to me now. But if she could advance further, to the point of being able to deduce immortal techniques...
Li Fan had already savored the sweet victory of possessing array knowledge that surpassed entire generations. If he could achieve the same superiority in cultivation techniques, his future endeavors would become immeasurably easier.
The Deduction Jade’s intuition was both right and wrong.
It was true that, for now, Li Fan bore her no ill will. His plan was simply to help her break free from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance’s control. In the process, under the guise of a successful escape, he would have the Deduction Jade acknowledge him as her master.
Once this lifetime concluded, he should be able to choose to retain the Deduction Jade.
In that case, the Xuanhuang Realm would, for the first time in history, contain two identical Heavenly Wonders.
And with decades of extra deduction experience, the one Li Fan retained would be the slightly stronger of the two.
According to the principle Li Fan had previously discovered—the weak vanish, the strong remain—the Alliance’s Deduction Jade would inexplicably disappear. The one in his possession would then fuse with its essence and undergo a sublime breakthrough.
A perfect plan.
The only prerequisite was successfully getting the Deduction Jade to acknowledge him as its master.
Until then, indulging her a little was a small price to pay.
Even if he failed to achieve his goal in this lifetime, the centuries of interaction and the secrets he had managed to extract would make it far from difficult to win her over in the future.
Of course, the Dissociation Disc and the Deduction Jade are merely tools. To truly comprehend the Dao and find the path to transcendence, I must ultimately rely on myself.
Li Fan’s mind was a sea of clarity.
Until he found a way to break free from the shackles of the Dharma Spreader's cultivation system, he might as well continue down the current path. With the advantage of endless reincarnation, following an established route was far easier than forging a new one from nothing.
After the World Birthing Change comes the era of the Spirits of Heaven and Earth.
At my current level, devouring even hundreds of ordinary World Spirits wouldn't result in a qualitative leap in power. After all, during the Xuanhuang World-Ending Transformation, each of those survival-driven changes was no weaker than the World Spirits of this peaceful era.
In this lifetime, I'll use the Saint Emperor to probe the true strength of the Dharma Spreader and the Heavenly Doctor. In the next, I will take that crucial step, striving to close the gap between us, perhaps even achieving a balance of power!
Relying on ordinary Spirits of Heaven and Earth won't be enough.
Thanks to the Saint Emperor’s intimate connection with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao in this life, Li Fan had learned many more of its secrets. The Spirits of Heaven and Earth were born with a celestial mandate, manifestations of the world's very laws.
Beings like Crimson Flame and Ink Death were merely single-attribute World Spirits.
However, under extremely rare circumstances, the Xuanhuang Realm would spontaneously give rise to[composite-attribute]World Spirits.
The[Heavenly Dao Bai], which Li Fan had once serendipitously birthed from a holy embryo, was one such being.
As the Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate, Mr. Bai had left an indelible mark upon the world even after his fall. Heavenly Dao Bai was a composite World Spirit that had used this very mark as a vessel to be born into the world.
It inherited the characteristics of the Great Heavenly Venerate’s mark while also possessing the traits of a World Spirit. This allowed it to merge the authority of numerous World Spirits with a mere flick of the wrist, achieving a state of [Heavenly Human Resonance].
In this state, Heavenly Dao Bai was undeniably powerful.
The Dharma Spreader could obliterate an entire province with a single glance, yet Heavenly Dao Bai was able to hold him at bay for a crucial moment. Its strength was self-evident.
If I were to use it as a material for my Dao Integration breakthrough...
...it would undoubtedly boost my combat prowess immensely.
But...
...a single one isn't enough.
Li Fan had a growing suspicion that identical World Spirits might not produce the same effect under the New Method. But the Xuanhuang Realm had known more than one Great Heavenly Venerate.
And there wasn't just one Heavenly Venerate's mark left behind.
Mr. Bai was simply the most recent one, his era closest to the present, making his mark the easiest to "summon."
If I could summon all the past Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerates as World Spirits and use them as fodder for my breakthrough to Dao Integration...
A dark glint flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
Under normal circumstances, the Xuanhuang Realm can barely support the existence of one Great Heavenly Venerate’s World Spirit. The scenario I'm envisioning is theoretically impossible.
But I have the Truth. I can summon the World Spirit of one Great Heavenly Venerate in each lifetime, find a way to seal it, and then, when I have gathered them all, refine and devour them simultaneously.
The Dao Transformation Stone swirled with light as countless possible futures unfolded in his mind.
It's feasible.
But it requires patience and careful planning.
Compared to seeking a breakthrough in the heart of the dark Star Sea, this method is far more reliable. I can pursue both paths concurrently.
Speaking of which, the Saint Emperor of this generation could, in a way, be considered half a Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate. I wonder if he, too, will leave a mark upon the world after he falls?
...
While Li Fan’s true self was plotting his future within the Deduction Jade’s space...
...the Faceless Saint Emperor of the Great Qi had finally found a trace of a hidden Xuantian Sect Law King amidst the fragmented records of the Creation Stone Slab.
“When the Xuantian King was present, a mysterious power shrouded the members of his sect, distorting the records on the Creation Stone Slab. Even after his disappearance, this shroud didn't immediately dissipate. That's one reason the Ten Great Immortal Sects were so vigilant, always fearing the sect's resurgence.”
“But with the passage of time, and especially after the great calamity of 'the Law cannot be cultivated together' descended, that concealing power seemed to wane. It has finally faded.”
Li Ping arrived at the ruins of the Purple Cloud Sect.
His gaze pierced through layers of earth and stone, reaching deep underground.
There, he saw a slumbering figure.
“Mo Rubin, Law King of the Xuantian Sect.”
The Faceless Saint Emperor recalled Mo Rubin’s story, from before the Xuantian King had swayed him to their cause.
Mo Rubin had been the most brilliant disciple of the ancient Nine Refinements Temple, a talent hailed as the greatest in a millennium.
He was a peerless genius, the one most likely to achieve ascension.
The techniques of the Nine Refinements Temple were renowned throughout the ancient Xuanhuang Realm for their strange and esoteric nature.
The esoteric principle behind their ultimate art, the [Nine Turns Immortal Soul], involved refining nine separate immortal souls through distinct mortal experiences. Upon completion, the cultivator would devour all nine to forge a supreme immortal soul, shattering the shackles of cultivation and ascending to the Immortal Realm.
At the time, Mo Rubin had already forged the first eight immortal souls. He was but a single step away from completing the final one.
But at that most critical juncture, he witnessed the sight of Xuanyuan Hong shattering his heavenly tribulation and ascending.
His Dao heart was profoundly shaken, and his ninth immortal soul was damaged.
After great effort, he managed to calm his mind and mend the damaged soul, only to receive the news that the Xuantian King, who had clearly ascended, had returned to the mortal world.
The Immortal Realm had suffered a great calamity. The path to immortality was severed. Ascension was no longer possible.
Mo Rubin could no longer maintain his Dao heart. He spat out a mouthful of blood as his ninth immortal soul disintegrated completely.
The previous eight souls also suffered varying degrees of damage.
Worse still, the damage to his immortal souls continued to worsen over time.
With the path to immortality severed, Mo Rubin, whose entire life had been dedicated to ascension, lost all motivation to cultivate.
The genius of a generation fell into despair. Even the pleas of his sect elders were useless.
His spirit broken, Mo Rubin withered away day by day.
Until the day the Xuantian King, Xuanyuan Hong, stood before him.
...
The images in his mind faded, and his thoughts returned to the present.
The Faceless Saint Emperor didn't wake Mo Rubin immediately, choosing instead to observe him carefully.
The aura of his cultivation technique is no longer that of the Nine Turns Immortal Soul. It must be a method the Xuantian King brought back from the Immortal Realm.
He doesn't seem to be severely injured. This isn't recuperation... it's more like...
Waiting?
Li Ping was lost in thought. With a gentle wave of his hand, a subtle pulse of energy, completely devoid of hostility, rippled through space like a soft breeze, touching the place where Mo Rubin lay.
Mo Rubin’s eyelids twitched, on the verge of fluttering open.
“Hm?” Just then, Li Ping seemed to perceive something, and his hand froze in mid-air.
The ensuing stillness allowed Mo Rubin to slip back into his deep slumber.
But something was different. Mo Rubin had unconsciously shifted his position, and with it, his entire expression and bearing had subtly changed.
The Faceless Saint Emperor watched intently, a glimmer of understanding in his gaze.
It's the lingering effect of the Nine Turns Immortal Soul. Even though he no longer practices it, the technique was his foundation, and it has inevitably left its mark. While it might not have fractured him into distinct personalities, it means he can act according to wildly different principles from one moment to the next...
The [Nine Turns Immortal Soul] of the Nine Refinements Temple was feared by the cultivators of its time for a reason. To forge each new soul, the practitioner had to start anew with a fresh consciousness, from the very beginning. The new soul could only be successfully forged if its experiences were drastically different from those of the souls that came before.
The difficulty, naturally, increased with each successive soul. Some members of the Nine Refinements Temple had even committed heinous crimes, all to create the specific environments necessary to forge their next soul.
Compared to them, Mo Rubin almost succeeded in forging all nine souls through his own insight alone. He was truly a remarkable genius. What a pity... The Faceless Saint Emperor sighed, shaking his head.
Knowing this about Mo Rubin, the Saint Emperor became even more cautious.
This kind of unstable individual, akin to a madman, might appear perfectly calm one moment, only to make a completely contradictory decision the next.
The Saint Emperor continued to release gentle waves of energy, slowly coaxing Mo Rubin from his sleep.
After a long moment.
“Who are you?”
Li Ping hadn’t perceived the exact moment Mo Rubin opened his eyes.
But he was certain that the Law King had been observing him for some time before speaking.
“Your aura is... familiar,” Mo Rubin continued. “That is the only reason I haven’t attacked.”
Yet Li Ping keenly sensed a silent, mirror-like fissure forming in the space between them.
In that same instant, Li Ping’s figure vanished.
Only his voice remained, echoing through the chamber.
“What truly happened during the battle that destroyed the Xuantian Sect?”
“And the Xuantian King—is he truly dead?”
Mo Rubin retracted his subtle attack, a look of interest dawning on his face. “I know a few things. But why on earth would I tell you?”
The moment he finished speaking, his expression turned grim. “You want to move against Brother Xuanyuan? You’re courting death!”
The very sky above the Purple Cloud Sect ruins seemed to darken abruptly.
Shards of mirrors materialized from nothing, sealing off the surrounding space.
“Face your inner heart! Let me see what right you have to resemble Brother Xuanyuan!”
Mo Rubin's words were rambling and nonsensical.
And within the reflections of countless mirrors, the hidden figure of the Faceless Saint Emperor slowly began to appear.
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