Chapter 1308: The First Change of the Xuanhuang Realm
"But how, exactly, are we to do it?" Yin Shangren’s gaze was sharp as he pointed out the crucial question.
In terms of power, they were all more or less equals.
The old path to longevity barely gave them enough power to save themselves, let alone revive the entire Star Sea. They couldn't even reverse the dire crisis facing the Xuanhuang Realm.
It was like being doused with cold water. The group quickly sobered up, their eyes turning in unison to Li Fan.
Li Fan, seated on the Lecture Stage, seemed to have anticipated Yin Shangren's question. He answered in a calm, unhurried tone, "Do you all understand that a world is like a person? The same holds true for the Star Sea."
"If a person falls ill, you treat the symptoms with the right medicine, then supplement the recovery by stimulating their acupoints and meridians."
"When a world or the Star Sea suffers a catastrophe, the same principle applies..."
As Li Fan spoke, a glowing, humanoid figure slowly materialized before them.
Key acupoints and meridians were clearly marked on the figure.
Having just returned from the void beyond, they immediately recognized the nebula as a representation of the Xuanhuang Realm. As they stared in concentration, Li Fan pointed a finger again.
The nebula swelled again, a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.
A magnificent vista instantly enveloped them, and they found themselves lost within its splendor.
They were in the midst of a brilliant star sea.
They vaguely perceived that the points of light glittering with a unique radiance throughout the cosmos corresponded to the acupoints and meridians of the human and world figures they had just seen.
"From the body to the world, from the world to the cosmos. This is the natural order," Yin Shangren murmured, deep in thought.
The others wore similar expressions of profound understanding.
Before they could examine it further, Li Fan waved his hand again. The star sea shrank in an instant, reverting to the image of the Xuanhuang Realm.
"To revive the Star Sea, we must first revive the Xuanhuang Realm. And to revive the Xuanhuang Realm, we must begin with these places."
On the miniature projection of the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan highlighted one location after another.
"The Xuanhuang Realm has been plundered by cultivators for millennia and should have been utterly depleted long ago. Fortunately, the Dharma Spreader has been tirelessly gathering world fragments from the Star Sea to nourish it. These fragments are like medicine. The Xuanhuang Realm has consumed them, but it has yet to fully absorb their essence..."
The marked points pulsed with a crystalline, rosy light, seemingly brimming with infinite vitality and energy.
From Li Fan's explanation, his intention became clear to everyone.
Simply put, their task was to help the Xuanhuang Realm digest the medicine.
Li Fan continued, "The Xuanhuang Realm has been weakened for so long that it's in danger of rejecting potent nourishment. We must therefore guide the process gently, using these key points to stimulate the larger channels, letting the effect spread from a single point to the whole."
His lecture continued for seven days and seven nights.
Even after Li Fan's image faded, the others remained lost in the profound principles he had revealed—the unity of humanity, the heavens, and the art of healing—their minds reeling with the implications.
Yin Shangren was the first to recover his composure. "Remnant realms as medicine... an absolutely brilliant analogy," he mused. "Absorb, digest, integrate. And what cannot be absorbed is simply discarded. The dregs of the medicine, so to speak..."
Qiaogong, his mind clearly elsewhere, mumbled a few distracted words before excusing himself and departing.
Bai Hua, however, frowned. "Guiding the Xuanhuang Realm to digest these fragments won't be simple. Its cultivators have been at odds with the Heavenly Dao for ages. Any move involving the power of these remnant realms could be seen as hostile by the world's consciousness, even if our intentions are good."
"Which is why we must first resolve that misunderstanding and earn the trust of the Heavenly Dao," Yin Shangren said, his gaze fixed on the spot where Li Fan had vanished.
Li Fan had said before he left that he would help handle this very issue before their next meeting.
But he had not specified what method he would use.
As a Remnant Realm Ghost himself, Yin Shangren understood better than anyone just how deep the Xuanhuang Realm's malice ran, and how difficult it would be to dissolve.
Seven days later, Li Fan reappeared and summoned them to the skies above the small world of the Great Xuan.
Upon arriving, Yin Shangren felt as though he were mired in a swamp. Every movement was met with immense resistance. His nature as a World Ghost offered no advantage against this oppressive force; he couldn't even identify its source.
The grave expressions on the faces of Bai Hua and Qiaogong showed they felt it too—this place was anything but ordinary.
"Everyone," Li Fan said with a smile, "allow me to introduce someone."
A stooped, white-haired old man materialized before them.
The old man's power was unremarkable, but the coffin strapped to his back immediately drew their gazes.
An overwhelming aura of resentment radiated from the coffin, so potent that it made Yin Shangren and the others narrow their eyes.
"This is fellow Daoist Xu Ke, once a disciple of the Imperial Beast Sect," Li Fan explained. "Bound by a sacred mission, he has remained hidden in this small world, in silent vigil for millennia..." After this brief introduction, Li Fan gave a slight nod, and Xu Ke unstrapped the coffin from his back.
He let it hang suspended high in the air.
Seemingly sensing its guardian's release, the entity sealed within the coffin grew more violent. The lid rattled and jumped, as if the prisoner inside might burst free at any moment.
"Do you know what is sealed within this coffin?" Li Fan asked.
He didn't wait for an answer. "It is a sliver of the Xuanhuang Realm's own consciousness."
"But this consciousness has become saturated with resentment, madness, paranoia, and other dark emotions. It has transformed into the pure, malevolent will of the Xuanhuang Realm!"
"Today," Li Fan declared, his voice grave, "we will purify this malevolence and return it to the Xuanhuang Realm."
Xu Ke cleared his throat and added, "When this piece of will broke away from the Heavenly Dao, it intended the separation to be absolute. For the Heavenly Dao, this was more than just losing a piece of itself. It was akin to severing an avatar."
"If we can return it, restoring what was lost, we will surely earn the Heavenly Grace of the Xuanhuang Realm..."
"Assuming, of course," Xu Ke added, looking at Li Fan, "that we can truly purify the malevolence within."
Li Fan appeared perfectly confident. "It is merely malevolence. With all of us working together, how could we fail?"
Qiaogong, having listened this whole time, grew impatient upon learning the coffin's true secret. "So, what's the plan? I'll give it everything I've got!"
"Its hatred stems from its failure to escape all those years ago. Very well. Let us grant its wish. Let it cross the High Wall!" As he spoke, a horsetail whisk materialized in Li Fan's hand.
He raised it high and swept it down sharply toward the coffin.
The whisk's thousands of white strands shot out like a meteor shower, piercing deep into the coffin.
The violently trembling coffin shot upward, then froze, suspended and motionless in mid-air.
The white strands began to glow with a dreamy, silver light, within which countless different images flickered into existence.
These were dreamscapes, all conjured by Li Fan.
Though each dream was unique, they all depicted the same thing: the great terror and absolute desolation that lay beyond the High Wall.
In these dreams, the malevolent will, riding upon Mr. Bai, would successfully cross the High Wall and escape the Darkest Star Sea.
And every single time, it would perish within three breaths, annihilated by some nameless, unimaginable catastrophe.
In the blink of an eye, the malevolent will experienced death ten thousand times over within the illusion.
Qiaogong watched this and muttered to himself, "Isn't this a bit far-fetched? We don't know what's beyond the High Wall, but surely it can't be like *that*. An ordinary-looking cat swallowed it whole? In terms of raw power, that malevolent will is probably on par with an ancient Longevity immortal. Can it really be fooled so easily?"
But Xu Ke, who had spent millennia in the presence of the malevolent will, keenly sensed a change. The struggles from within the coffin had indeed lessened. A look of delight crossed his face. "It's working!"
Just then, Li Fan's voice floated down from above. "All of you can contribute to the dreamscapes as well. No matter how bizarre or terrifying, it doesn't matter. The only requirement is that the malevolent will perishes in the end."
The light from the whisk flared, expanding until it was before them. A faint vortex appeared at the end of the handle.
Yin Shangren and the others understood at once. Focusing their minds, they each poured the most terrifying nightmares they could conjure into the swirling vortex.
Yin Shangren's contributions were by far the most bizarre and horrifying.
Even Li Fan, with all he had witnessed, felt a chill crawl down his spine as he observed them.
By comparison, the illusions woven by Qiaogong, Bai Hua, and Xu Ke were far more conventional.
Qiaogong's dreams often depicted worlds shattering, or one's body turning into a puppet, unable to tell true from false.
Bai Hua's nightmares centered on the decay of all life, a universe falling into a frozen, silent slumber.
Under this relentless barrage of horrors, the malevolent will began to undergo a fundamental transformation.
"The world beyond the High Wall... it's truly that terrifying?"
"If I'd known, I never would have wanted to leave. A miserable life inside is better than instant death outside!"
Thoughts like these accumulated within the malevolent will after every death in the dreamscape.
Each instance was like a tiny, almost negligible scratch upon its consciousness, but the dreams cycled with incredible speed.
Hundreds of thousands of dreams rose and fell with every passing moment.
More importantly, these were no ordinary dreams. They formed a world-class illusion array, imbued with a sliver of Li Fan's insight into [Fantasy Becomes Truth].
An outside observer might wonder how the target could fail to distinguish dream from reality. But only by being trapped within could one truly experience the terrifying power of the [Fantasy Becomes Truth] illusion.
Li Fan observed his handiwork with an undeniable flicker of pride. "It was born from the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Art," he thought, "but it is far, far more potent than the original."
"With the amplification of the illusion array... it might not be an immortal-grade formation, but its effects surpass one."
With each iteration of the dreamscape, the malevolent will's descent into despair accelerated.
At first, it had occasionally shown signs of doubt and resistance.
Now, all questions had vanished.
All that remained was bottomless regret and terror.
Seeing the malevolent will finally reduced to a trembling wreck within the formation, Li Fan knew it was time for the final step.
"Rise!"
Li Fan reached forward, his hand closing around the enormous whisk in mid-air.
Then, he gave it a gentle stir.
The thousands of silver-white strands churned within the coffin's confines.
Like a thousand sharp blades, they sliced through the will—which had now completely abandoned all resistance—dicing it into innumerable fragments.
As the malevolence disintegrated, the coffin that contained it began to turn translucent.
Li Fan waved the whisk gently. A cluster of strands coiled around a fragment of the shattered will and floated over to Yin Shangren.
"For you, fellow Daoist," Li Fan offered. Yin Shangren first bowed to Li Fan in thanks.
Then he solemnly accepted the fragment of consciousness.
Li Fan then separated another portion and presented it to Qiaogong.
In short order, like a master carving a feast, Li Fan finished apportioning the malevolent will.
Everyone present received a share.
Li Fan kept a portion for himself as well—a slightly larger one than the others, in fact.
But of course, Yin Shangren and the others had no objection.
"Go!"
With a solemn expression, Li Fan commanded the great whisk, sending it hurtling toward the heavens.
It ripped a hole in the firmament, opening a channel to the Xuanhuang Realm.
"Across the vast darkness, O soul, return!"
Li Fan chanted.
Li Fan needed to do little else. The moment the channel opened, the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm sensed the presence of its long-lost will within the Great Xuan.
A great rumbling echoed from the channel, as if the world's consciousness itself was about to descend.
"Return, O soul!"
Li Fan pointed into the sky.
His share of the purified, fragmented will shot toward the channel.
It accelerated, vanishing from sight in an instant.
Yin Shangren and the others followed his example.
Within a few hours, the malevolent will, separated for untold years, had at last fully returned to the Xuanhuang Realm.
The channel sealed itself, and all unusual phenomena vanished.
Xu Ke watched as the coffin faded completely from existence, a feeling of poignant loss washing over him.
Qiaogong, however, was worried. "Is that it? I hope this wasn't all for nothing."
Li Fan smiled faintly. "Rest assured. The Xuanhuang Realm does not forget those who serve it well."
"We must give it time to digest what it has regained. Before we reap the rewards, we must simply be patient."
With those words, Li Fan's figure faded away.
He left the others behind, each wearing a different expression.
Yin Shangren turned to Xu Ke and began asking about Mr. Bai.
Xu Ke, who had seemed somewhat lost just a moment before, instantly brightened.
The two fell into an animated conversation, getting along as if they were old friends.
Bai Hua and Qiaogong, who still seemed at odds, went their separate ways.
They were all waiting for the boon from the Xuanhuang Realm that Li Fan had promised.
Meanwhile.
Within the Xuanhuang Realm.
Li Fan's true self remained hidden, silently observing the changes unfolding across the realm.
If absorbing immortal spiritual energy had brought changes to the mountains and rivers on the surface of the Xuanhuang Realm...
...then absorbing its own lost consciousness was now bringing about a silent transformation deep within the world itself.
It was a change that only those intimately familiar with the workings of the Heavenly Dao could perceive.
"For a cultivator," Li Fan mused, "it would be like having one's soul and spiritual sense fortified."
"The first to benefit from this will be the Longevity immortals of this realm..."
Li Fan sensed several immense consciousnesses sweep across heaven and earth.
A few of them felt quite familiar.
"Hmph. Let them have a little taste for now," he sneered inwardly. "They'll have to spit it all back out eventually."
The great wills searched again and again, but they could not find the source of the inexplicable change in the world.
In the end, they had to give up.
Li Fan sneered to himself and paid them no mind.
He returned his focus to carefully observing the transformation of the Xuanhuang Realm.
A transformation utterly different from the world-ending one he had come to understand.
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