Chapter 1306: The World's New Soul
Chapter 1306: The World's New Soul
This life's primary mission was to achieve Dao Integration with the celestial soul of the Super Xuanhuang Realm.
Until that goal was met, it would be wise to avoid those two for now.
"The Soul Sealing World Replacement technique is also mentioned in the Heavenly Doctor's 'Heaven Mending Record'," Li Fan mused.
"A world is like a person. Just as a person can be possessed, so too can a world."
"However, there are two prerequisites for successfully replacing a world's soul. First, the divine consciousness acting as the 'world soul' must be immensely powerful. At the very least, it cannot be significantly weaker than the world's own nascent consciousness. Otherwise, during the brief process of replacement, the world itself will collapse from the inside out. It would be a catastrophe on par with world annihilation."
An image of the transparent figure within the Dharma Spreader's body flashed through Li Fan's mind, and his eyes flickered with understanding.
"Second, the practitioner must be able to completely suppress the world. The world's consciousness must be forced into a deep slumber. If two consciousnesses exist simultaneously, it could very well lead to the world splitting apart..."
"The Heavenly Doctor, the Dharma Spreader, and the five Heavenly Venerates of the Five Elders Council working together... they could indeed achieve this."
"Soul Sealing World Replacement, Soul Sealing World Replacement..."
"The Heavenly Dao consciousness of the Great Xuan small world has just been born. This is the perfect opportunity for me to test my hand."
Li Fan looked up, his gaze piercing through the earth, straight to the sky above the Great Xuan Kingdom.
As if struck by a sharp arrow, a seven-colored vortex appeared in the firmament. No living being in the Great Xuan, save for Li Fan, could perceive it.
And within that seven-colored vortex, a world consciousness, like a newborn infant, lay sleeping.
Wary of startling it with any rough movements, Li Fan carefully separated a wisp of his divine sense, allowing it to sneak in and draw near.
Then, he began to perceive with utmost focus.
In an instant, the surging winds and rising tides, the falling and blooming of flowers—all the myriad phenomena of the Great Xuan world—materialized before his eyes.
It was as if these changes were happening within his own body.
As his perception deepened, beyond the natural scenery, the joys, sorrows, fears, births, aging, sicknesses, and deaths of the Great Xuan's living beings also began to surface in his mind.
He felt what the Heavenly Dao felt.
For the vast majority of cultivators in the world, this was a rare and precious opportunity. Immersing oneself in it, meditating peacefully, and comprehending a world-shaking divine ability or two would be entirely possible.
Yet, Li Fan actively pulled himself away from this state of epiphany.
He maintained a state of being half-awake, half-enlightened.
"Fabrication—The Hundred States of Sentient Beings!"
With a single thought, a translucent figure of Li Fan materialized within the starry vortex of the Great Xuan's sky.
He poured all the insights gained from the Great Xuan's Heavenly Dao into it.
The translucent figure gradually transformed, as if regressing in age, changing from the form of a middle-aged man into a wailing, newborn infant!
The infant's actions, however, remained as practiced as an adult's.
It approached the slumbering consciousness of the Great Xuan's Heavenly Dao, lunged forward, and abruptly overlaid it...
Taking its place!
The Great Xuan small world was instantly plunged into a violent tremor.
The earth shook and the mountains swayed. In the sky, fissures like scars spread out from the central starry vortex.
"Dissociation Disc! Deduce!"
In Li Fan's sea of consciousness, the Final Dissociation Disc temporarily halted its deduction of the immortal array's downgrade, instead focusing all its power on calculating the compatibility of the Great Xuan's fabricated personality.
After continuous refinement by the "Fabrication: The Hundred States of Sentient Beings" grand array, the flickering, translucent infant finally stabilized.
"Replace the world!"
Deep beneath the ground, Li Fan's hand converged into a golden needle. He then shot it towards the sky, at the fabricated Great Xuan Heavenly Dao.
It struck true, right in the center of its brow.
The translucent infant instinctively let out a soft cry. It was the first sound of a new heaven and earth, a soundless call of the Great Dao. No one in the world could hear it, yet in an instant, it spread throughout the entire Great Xuan small world.
Growing from weak to strong, its pitch rose higher and higher, until it finally became inaudible.
And amidst the cries of this fabricated Great Xuan personality, the world's strange phenomena slowly faded, returning to their original tranquility.
The wounds and the vortex in the sky healed, but Li Fan could now sense the fabricated personality that had replaced the nascent Heavenly Dao of the Great Xuan.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a fabricated heaven personality.
The nascent Heavenly Dao consciousness of the Great Xuan had not been destroyed by Li Fan; rather, he had forcibly suppressed and sealed it into slumber.
All the slow growth of the Heavenly Dao consciousness would be absorbed and synchronized with the fabricated heaven personality, ensuring the correct operation of the Great Xuan's Heavenly Dao.
It was like nourishment to strengthen the fabricated heaven personality. Once it was fully capable of managing the operations of the Great Xuan small world, it would completely devour the original Heavenly Dao consciousness that had been sleeping since its birth.
A true transformation would then be complete.
Li Fan carefully perceived the workings of the Great Xuan's fabricated heaven personality.
The fabricated heaven personality was his creation, so he could naturally sense all the information it received. The current situation was like having a Heavenly Dao clone constantly helping him comprehend the Dao.
Although it was just the Heavenly Dao of a small world, the continuous accumulation would eventually amount to something significant.
And also...
"My first attempt was a bit crude. If it weren't for the Final Dissociation Disc making timely adjustments, the Great Xuan world might have been destroyed at my hand." Li Fan looked at the great rift valley on the surface, a scar from the world's violent reaction, and shook his head slightly.
"But with this experience, the 'Soul Sealing World Replacement' for the other small worlds should go much more smoothly."
Compared to the traditional replacement technique from the Heavenly Doctor's 'Heaven Mending Record', Li Fan's improved version used a 'fabricated heaven personality'.
Derived from his insights into "Fantasy Becomes Truth" and the ancient Great Xuan's world-protecting immortal array, the 'Nine Stars Red Pearl', this fabrication technique was something perhaps only Li Fan in the entire world could perform.
The fabricated heaven personality did not truly possess its own thoughts; it was a purely mechanical entity that completely obeyed its creator. This made it much easier to control.
More importantly, there were thousands of small worlds in the Xuanhuang Realm. With the original Soul Sealing World Replacement technique, just finding cultivator souls powerful enough to rival the consciousness of each world's Heavenly Dao would have been a monumental task. Now, Li Fan could solve this problem all by himself.
Furthermore, no matter how many small worlds he controlled, he wouldn't have to worry about the risk of losing control.
"After all the realms return to the Xuanhuang, the small worlds' Heavenly Daos will merge with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. Although their individual sizes are not comparable, even an army of ants can take down an elephant. And with my other methods working in concert..."
A brilliant and insidious plan instantly formed in Li Fan's mind.
"My strength is limited right now, so I can only create fabricated heaven personalities on the scale of small worlds. But after I advance, in the future, it might not be impossible to create a fabricated Xuanhuang, or even a fabricated Star Sea..."
As he increasingly tasted the benefits of comprehending "Fantasy Becomes Truth," Li Fan felt more and more that this transformation between truth and falsehood, even more than specific cultivation methods, was the fundamental source of his power.
"It's a shame this Dao is too profound. Even after a hundred reincarnations, I've only grasped a tiny fraction of it. Moreover, this Dao of 'Fantasy Becomes Truth' can only be comprehended by me, the bearer of [Truth], so I can't even learn from others."
Li Fan also faintly sensed that for comprehending "Fantasy Becomes Truth," the so-called talent and perception commonly discussed in the cultivation world were useless.
To delve deeper into its true mysteries, the most important thing was actually...
Opportunity.
Or, to put it more colloquially, it depended on the mood of [Truth].
In the previous life, after [Truth] encountered the so-called "new interference variable," Li Fan found that his comprehension of the "Fantasy Becomes Truth" transformation had become significantly easier.
Although his own aptitude and perception hadn't changed, it was as if he was closer to it, able to touch it more easily. Its mystery was truly profound.
"Resonating Dao, projection..." Li Fan recalled the Sage Emperor's teachings from the last life and the various statements from the little loli of the Deduction Jade. He narrowed his eyes as countless speculations flooded his mind.
...
The strange transformation between heaven and earth in the Great Xuan did not have much of an impact on its inhabitants. Soon, people's attention returned to the 'Saint Teacher' who was endlessly preaching the Dao.
For five years, the Saint Teacher's sermon never ceased.
In a flash, it was the eighth year of the anchor. The Lecture Stage had expanded from its initial size to a radius of over two hundred and fifty kilometers. Even so, people from all over the world continued to flock to it, seeking the Dao and the Teacher.
On this day, the Saint Teacher's phantom held a horsetail whisk and gently waved it.
Under the watchful eyes of the masses, the hundred-kilometer-wide Lecture Stage seemed to become the center of the world. The surrounding mountains, plains, rivers, and seas all began to revolve and flow around it.
The countless beings on the Lecture Stage sat still, yet traveled thousands of kilometers a day.
In just half a day, the Lecture Stage, carrying millions of disciples, had become the center of the Great Xuan world.
At this moment, the highest tier of the Lecture Stage already represented the realm of Golden Core perfection.
Three figures sat on that platform, looking down at the masses of the Great Xuan, who were growing ever more distant below them.
They were Sun Erlang, Wang Xuanba, and Yue Zhenwei.
Yue Zhenwei had caught up from behind, a testament to his extraordinary talent.
All three were disciples of the 'Saint Teacher' and addressed each other as martial brothers.
"Senior Brother Sun, the upcoming Nascent Soul realm requires devouring a grotto-heaven. It seems we'll have to leave the Great Xuan for a time," Yue Zhenwei asked respectfully, despite being much older than the other.
The Saint Teacher not only taught the mysteries of the Dao but also mentioned common knowledge of cultivation and the specific situation in the cultivation world. Thus, the cultivators of the Great Xuan were not entirely ignorant of the world beyond.
Sun Erlang did not put on airs. "Brother Yue, there's no need for such formalities. You are older than me; I should be the one calling you Senior Brother."
Without waiting for a response, Sun Erlang went straight to the point. "We are fellow disciples. The main Xuanhuang Realm is fraught with crisis. On this journey, we should travel together and look out for one another."
"As the Saint Teacher's first disciples, we already know the locations of the grotto-heavens our master has marked for us. But..."
Sun Erlang's tone was proud, a trace of confidence flashing in his eyes. "Those are merely the most ordinary grotto-heavens. They are sufficient for reaching the Nascent Soul realm, but if we are ambitious and wish to one day glimpse the realm of Soul Transformation, they are far from enough!"
"I want to find a grotto-heaven that is truly suited for me," Sun Erlang declared resolutely.
Yue Zhenwei's face lit up with joy. "Senior Brother Sun, your thoughts are exactly the same as mine!"
"In the territory of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, most of the grotto-heavens have been monopolized by the Alliance and its powerful clans. In contrast, there might be more opportunities on the side of the Five Elders Council. Especially in the Land of Carefree Joy, it's said that all the cultivators there are immersed in a dream world, leaving reality virtually unguarded..."
The three discussed and reached a consensus.
Then, they took their leave of the Saint Teacher, left the Great Xuan, and headed towards the Land of Carefree Joy.
Li Fan's phantom on the Lecture Stage gave them a fleeting, almost imperceptible glance.
The words of his sermon continued uninterrupted.
The Lecture Stage was now the heart of the Great Xuan.
Over the past few years, under the control of the fabricated heaven personality, the power of arrays had been quietly circulating without pause. Like a giant crucible, it reflected and engraved all the beings listening to the sermon onto a silver-white pearl.
The principle was based on the Xuanhuang's 'Nine Stars Red Pearl' that Li Fan had seen before. Although it couldn't yet record all of a being's information, it could already project and record all of their experiences into the silver pearl for preservation.
It was like a giant eye, fixed upon the beings on the Lecture Stage. No matter how far they ran, they could not escape its gaze.
This surveillance acted only on the living beings themselves, so it would not be detected by any external forces. It was not limited to their experiences in reality; even their dreams and illusions could not escape its reflection.
"The myriad beings of the mortal world, once seen, can never escape."
"Teacher of Heaven and Earth, Teacher of all spirits."
The phantom's sermon echoed throughout the Great Xuan small world, lingering long after.
...
Meanwhile.
Li Fan's true self had come alone to the small world where the You Clan gathered.
Instead of capturing them directly, he concealed himself in the shadows, observing the lives of the You people.
It was very regular, and very simple.
Eating, praying, martial training, procreating, sleeping.
"The bloodline of the first Great Heavenly Venerate. Even though the Xuantian Sect was destroyed long ago, the shackles placed upon them have never changed," Li Fan remarked with a sigh.
Under the constant pursuit of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the number of surviving You people was dwindling daily. Without external intervention, they would likely face extinction.
Li Fan's appearance here this time was not to farm them with a flesh factory as he had in the previous life. He had other plans.
Flesh factorization could certainly provide a large number of You people and a massive amount of Source Power Essence.
But Li Fan was more curious about the reason for the creation of 'Source Power Essence'.
They were all living beings of the Xuanhuang Realm, so why did the prayers of the You Clan generate Source Power Essence, a force close to immortal power, while the prayers of mortals, and even cultivators, could at most condense into forces like luck and faith?
What exactly was this so-called 'Great Heavenly Venerate' bloodline?
In the last life, Wang Xuanba had failed to purify this special bloodline from tens of thousands of You Clan members. Li Fan knew then that he had used the wrong method.
If purification didn't work...
Then it was time to try atavism!
Li Fan split off a wisp of his divine sense and, using the Immortal Boat's 'Dao Pill' technique, possessed the body of the man with the most powerful physique among the current group of You Clan members.
After a brief period of adaptation, an examination revealed nothing unusual within the body.
This, however, was within Li Fan's expectations.
He simply used this You Clan body to perceive the generation and destination of Source Power Essence during the daily prayers.
An ordinary You Clan member would certainly not be able to do this. Even if they could briefly call upon the power of the Gloomy Darkness, it was only due to bloodline instinct and millennia of tradition.
But Li Fan was different.
After living as a You Clan member for over half a year, and patiently and meticulously monitoring over a hundred prayers, Li Fan finally discovered the method by which the power of the Gloomy Darkness was generated.
At a certain moment during the prayer, a part of the body and soul triggered a formation-like existence within them.
Through its transformation, a metamorphosis was completed.
That trace was fleeting. After completing the transformation, it completely concealed itself within the flesh and blood of the You Clan member. If not for Li Fan's special sensitivity to this subtle energy, he might have missed it too!
The trace that generated the golden Source Power Essence actually felt very similar to the sensation he experienced when using abilities related to "Fantasy Becomes Truth"!
"It's not the transformation of truth and falsehood. But it's the remnant of a power with an extremely similar fluctuation!"
Discovering this secret, Li Fan was deeply shaken.
Forcibly suppressing his astonishment, Li Fan conducted several more verifications.
His intuition was correct.
The thing within the You Clan's bodies that created Source Power Essence was indeed a trace of a great power similar to [Truth]'s "True False Transformation"!
After the initial shock, Li Fan gradually calmed down.
His thoughts raced, analyzing strip by strip: "When truth becomes false, the false is also true. The reason [Truth] can return to truth, allowing me to return to the first year of the anchor no matter how events unfold, is because it involves..."
"The Dao of Truth and Falsehood."
"With a single thought, countless worlds are born and destroyed. This Dao of Truth and Falsehood is clearly far above any Dao I have encountered so far."
"And the trace within the You Clan's bodies can turn the mortal into the immortal..."
"Although it might not be qualified to stand against [Truth], the entity that created the special nature of the You Clan... or rather, the first Great Heavenly Venerate of the Xuanhuang, must also be an extraordinary existence."
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind in an instant.
"[Truth] is within me, one with me."
"But this other treasure has probably been lost for ages, along with the disappearance of the Immortal World." Glimpsing the trace of a supreme treasure yet only being able to imagine it, Li Fan couldn't help but feel a sense of endless regret.
"It seems the birth of the first Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate likely involved some kind of mission, or perhaps a conspiracy."
Now that he understood the reason for the birth of the Source Power Essence, Li Fan next attempted to replicate it.
Admittedly, this trace of a supreme treasure that transcended all current mortal means could not be replicated by ordinary methods.
Otherwise, neither the Xuantian King of the past nor the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance of the present would have to rely on these You Clan members to obtain the power of the Gloomy Darkness.
The Xuantian King was a genius of his era, and the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance inherited the legacy of the Xuanhuang Realm's tens of thousands of years.
Yet they were both helpless in this regard...
But Li Fan was different.
He possessed a means that surpassed that inexplicable trace.
Fantasy Becomes Truth!
This top-down authority made its replication possible.
Even though he failed in every one of his initial attempts.
But Li Fan could still sense the difference between an impassable road and a lack of strength.
There was no frustration, only the excitement of a warrior growing stronger with each battle.
If he could realize his hypothesis, then the uses of this "Fantasy Becomes Truth" ability could be expanded infinitely!
Replicating that unknown supreme treasure's trace was far more difficult than creating a fabricated heaven personality for a small world!
The only comforting fact, the reason Li Fan persisted without giving up, was that the trace was fixed and unchanging.
Unlike the Heavenly Dao of a world, which was in a constant state of change and flow.
Every failure brought him one step closer to success.
To have more chances of success, the body Li Fan possessed spent far more time in prayer than any other You Clan member.
This, naturally, was seen by the You Clan chief, whose eyes showed a look of gratification.
On this day, it was already Li Fan's five millionth-plus failure.
By constantly using the power of Fantasy Becomes Truth, Li Fan discovered that [Truth]'s recharge progress had, for the first time ever, dropped from one hundred percent to eighty percent!
Slightly alarmed, Li Fan decided to temporarily stop his attempts and wait for [Truth] to finish recharging.
Fortunately, the small world where the You Clan resided was in no danger at this point in time.
Just as Li Fan was pondering this, a summons came from the You Clan chief.
The You people did not use names to address each other. They simply used code numbers to distinguish individuals based on their ranking in prayer.
Li Fan arrived at the cave where the chief resided.
After some words of encouragement, the chief said that the great Gloomy Sea of Darkness had seen Li Fan's efforts during this period and had decided to bestow a blessing upon him.
Li Fan feigned fervent excitement, awaiting the so-called blessing.
Inwardly, however, he was already prepared to sever the connection with his divine sense at a moment's notice.
The anticipated danger did not occur.
When the You Clan chief's blessing ritual was halfway through, in Li Fan's perception, the Gloomy Sea of Darkness suddenly descended.
It fell from the sky, pouring endless gloomy power into his body.
The infusion process lasted only an instant.
A moment later, "light" returned, and the Gloomy Sea of Darkness vanished.
Even the gloomy power that had been infused into his body seemed like an illusion, disappearing without a trace.
The You Clan chief, however, looked haggard, as if he had aged a great deal. He earnestly entrusted him: "From this day forward, you shall bear the mission of the You Clan. Continue to maintain a devout heart, and do not betray the trust of the great Gloomy Sea of Darkness!"
With a mix of gestures and grunts, he conveyed this message.
Li Fan nodded in understanding and waited until the next day for his body to adapt to the blessing. During his prayer to the Gloomy Sea of Darkness, he once again began his minute observations.
Buzz...
The power of the Gloomy Darkness was born from nothingness. It tore through space, flying towards the Gloomy Sea of Darkness.
This time, Li Fan discovered that the life and spiritual sense power disappearing from his body had increased slightly.
And, as a result, that trace appeared even more profoundly!
Millions of observations allowed Li Fan to lock onto the change instantly!
"This is it!"
Li Fan disregarded the toll the prayer took on this body.
He threw himself wholeheartedly into the process of praying, observing, and attempting to replicate.
Another half a year passed. He had transformed from a strapping young man into a trembling old man.
The rate at which his life was draining away was several times faster than that of other You Clan members.
The You people were not frightened by the strange changes happening to Li Fan.
On the contrary, they all showed immense reverence.
Li Fan paid no mind to this group of You people.
He barely even heeded the words of the You Clan chief anymore.
He had a faint feeling in his heart that the mission for which he had possessed this You Clan member was about to be completed.
Nearing the end of his life, Li Fan took trembling steps and walked into the prayer cave one last time.
He knelt with absolute sincerity and prayed from the bottom of his heart.
Perhaps sensing that the flame of life in this body was about to be extinguished.
This time, when the inexplicable trace extracted his life force, it did not follow its usual fixed quota.
Instead, it swept up every last bit of energy remaining in the husk, transforming it all into the power of the Gloomy Darkness.
However...
It was precisely because of this extra sliver that when the trace appeared, it was more profound than ever before!
From Li Fan's withered and utterly spent body, an aura suddenly erupted, soaring into the sky.
Like a roaring flame abruptly ignited, it radiated an intensely powerful presence.
"I've found you!"
His eyes shone brightly, and though his body quickly melted away like a candle, his focus did not waver in the slightest.
"This trace..."
This wisp of Li Fan's divine sense dissipated along with the You Clan body.
It had completed its mission.
Not far away, the hidden Li Fan used his hand as a brush, moving it rapidly through the air.
Where his fingertips passed, it seemed as if no trace was left behind.
And yet, it was also like a sharp blade had sliced through, cutting fine lines into space itself.
His hand moved like a dancing dragon, flowing without pause.
The symbol Li Fan was drawing grew increasingly complex.
Its scale seemed to surpass even that of the immortal array the Final Dissociation Disc was currently deducing.
Beads of sweat began to form on Li Fan's forehead.
A look of awe flashed in his eyes.
He had only grasped a fleeting moment of inspiration and was writing continuously.
He never expected this unknown symbol to be seemingly infinite, as if it contained all the great principles of the entire world.
It was simply impossible to write it all down!
Li Fan faintly felt the illusion of seeing a mountain up close, only to run his horse to death trying to reach it.
His current action was like making a rubbing of an unknown existence based on the traces he had observed.
Even if he couldn't restore the original object, he could at least glimpse its imprinted reflection.
However...
The scale of this unknown supreme treasure clearly exceeded the limits of Li Fan's capabilities.
Feeling a slight tremor within his true body, Li Fan finally let out a long sigh and abruptly released his hand.
The nearly formed symbol immediately dissipated completely into the world.
When Li Fan tried to lift his hand and write it again, he found that the residue of the trace had also vanished from his mind.
"An opportunity missed is an opportunity lost forever."
Li Fan faintly knew that in this life, he had only this one chance.
Once lost, it was gone forever.
Even if he possessed another You Clan member and repeated the process of praying, observing, and replicating, he would never again see any clue of that mysterious character.
"Fortunately, I can try again in the next life."
"I just don't know if [Truth] can restore this forgotten memory."
Li Fan looked at the fully recharged progress bar of [Truth], pondered for a moment, and shook his head slightly.
Even if he could retain the memory of the mysterious symbol, if his strength was insufficient, he still wouldn't be able to even imprint a copy of it.
"Dao Integration. After I achieve Dao Integration with the celestial soul of the Super Xuanhuang Realm in this life, I should have enough power to succeed."
Recalling the feeling of being just one step away from success, Li Fan thought to himself.
Although this attempt had failed, Li Fan had not come away empty-handed.
He couldn't remember the complete symbol, but he had some impression of its fine structure.
"Whether applied to immortal arrays or True Immortal Scripts, it seems it could bring about some improvements."
"What in the world is this mysterious symbol?"
Li Fan's expression was somewhat dazed.
This time, his contact with a power above that of immortals had given him an even more profound understanding of [Truth].
(End of Chapter)
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