Chapter 1358: The Immortal Puppet is Finally Born
The sudden burst of light was so dazzling that Li Fan instinctively narrowed his eyes.
What he sensed within it was not merely its own brilliance, but a mystical resonance that had inexplicably descended upon this place, converging on the silver eye.
Li Fan had encountered a similar resonance during his reincarnations.
It was identical to the one that emerged from the celestial vortex when a small world underwent an ascension.
However, the resonance now appearing on the silver eye was far more powerful, more unfathomable.
Even with Li Fan’s current cultivation and understanding of the Great Dao, he could not begin to fathom its true nature.
Under the shroud of this resonance, it was as if an invisible brush was rapidly painting upon the silver eye, adding countless new details.
Though the eye itself remained unchanged in form, to Li Fan, the observer, it grew increasingly "alive."
In the end, even Li Fan, the eye's creator, felt a sense of unfamiliarity toward his own creation.
Like a spring breeze sweeping over the land, a soft clap of thunder followed by a gentle rain, it nourished all things in silence.
This "ascendant" power quietly nurtured every inch of the Great Qi's small world.
Even after Li Fan had already used "Creation" and the power of world transformation to catalyze this small world's evolution, this new force was still capable of elevating it further.
"This is the true power of Creation. Not driven by the 'Creation' True Immortal Script, but a natural phenomenon, a consequence of the Great Dao's flow."
"It is the very principle that the 'Creation' script describes."
"Or rather, just a fraction of it... This will be immensely useful for my efforts to elevate the Xuanhuang Realm in this life!"
Li Fan stared intently at the events unfolding in the Great Qi's small world, trying to etch every single detail into his mind.
From its descent to its disappearance, the resonance of Creation lasted less than ten breaths.
Within the small world, only Li Fan was capable of perceiving this cosmic shift.
When the surging resonance subsided, the changes it brought continued unabated, unfolding across the world in successive waves, unnoticed by its inhabitants.
Li Fan remained immersed in the scene he had just witnessed, savoring the profound experience.
Once he had calmed down, he turned his attention back to the Fabricated Heaven Personality of the silver eye and immediately noticed its transformation.
Unlike before, when it would occasionally gaze at him with a fawning expression, the eye now remained closed for most of the time. When it did open, its target was not Li Fan, but the various happenings in the Great Qi's small world below.
It seemed as though Li Fan, its creator, was no longer of much importance to it.
"Interesting..."
Such a defiant and untamed nature, paradoxically, piqued Li Fan's interest. After a careful inspection, he confirmed that this Fabricated Heaven Personality was still completely under his control.
However, perhaps due to having devoured the Heavenly Personalities of so many other small worlds, the eye had acquired a new "mission."
A mission to maintain the normal operation of the small world.
The priority of fulfilling this mission was second only to Li Fan's direct commands.
Therefore, when Li Fan issued no orders, the silver eye would instinctively operate in the mode of a "Worldly Heavenly Dao."
This was far closer to a naturally born Worldly Heavenly Dao than the previous "Fabricated Heaven Personality."
In fact, one could say that the current silver eye was, in truth, the Heavenly Dao of the small world.
It had completed the transition from "fabricated" to "real."
Moreover, the echelon of Heavenly Dao to which the silver eye now belonged surpassed that of an ordinary small world. Consequently, it had also brought about changes to the world itself.
"If my previous use of the Creation script and immortal spiritual energy to elevate the world was a crude, external-to-internal transformation..."
"Then the change happening to the silver eye now is an internal-to-external one, a gradual evolution that nourishes all things in silence."
"Both can achieve the same goal, but the latter is clearly more sophisticated."
Li Fan's eyes revealed a look of deep contemplation.
As he comprehended the entire process, he began to deduce and refine his plan for elevating the world in this lifetime.
"World ascension can be broadly seen as the process of climbing to a higher state of being."
"The external-to-internal method is like being forcibly dragged up by an outside force. Once that force disappears, there's a risk of a sudden fall. Without an anchoring mechanism, the entire world would shatter into pieces upon impact."
"The internal-to-external method relies on one's own foundation, pushing forward slowly. It's a step-by-step process with no risk of falling. But the disadvantage is that the process is far too slow! It could take millions of years, and I cannot wait that long!"
A flash of realization lit up Li Fan's eyes. "However, I might be able to use both methods simultaneously."
His consciousness delved into the silver eye, and the entire process of the Fabricated Heaven Personality's evolution appeared in his mind.
He cross-referenced it with his external observations, reaping substantial rewards in a short amount of time.
"It seems the optimal solution for elevating the Xuanhuang Realm is to create a new Heavenly Personality and replace the old one."
"But with my current abilities, while I can still manage to fabricate the Heavenly Personality of a small world, creating one for the entire Xuanhuang Realm..."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
It wasn't just because the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao had devoured countless other cultivation worlds over the millennia.
It was also because the Dharma Spreader's New Method of reversing logic had bound Longevity cultivators to the Xuanhuang world itself.
To destroy the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao and replace it with a fabricated one, he would have to eliminate all of those Longevity cultivators at the same time.
Setting aside the Dharma Spreader, just the fact that the Carefree Heavenly Sovereign, master of the Land of Carefree Joy, could survive the world-ending immortal array was enough to prove he was not someone Li Fan could currently eliminate.
"However, in reality, the Heaven Doctor and the Dharma Spreader have been using the corpses of other worlds to patch up the Xuanhuang Realm for the past ten thousand years. This is precisely the second method, the internal-to-external approach."
"They are feeding other worlds to the Xuanhuang."
"As expected, what the Heaven Doctor seeks is not just to resurrect the Tianfa Realm by borrowing a corpse. He wants to go a step further, to directly push the resurrected Tianfa Realm towards becoming an Immortal Realm."
"This is what was mentioned in the 'Heaven Mending Record': breaking out of the cocoon to be reborn, ascending and taking flight!"
"It's a pity..."
A cold glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "All of this is destined to be for my benefit, dressing for someone else's wedding!"
His consciousness instantly locked onto the fragment of the Immortal Realm hidden deep within his body, formed by the fusion of six chess pieces.
"In terms of sheer substance to be devoured, thousands of lower worlds probably can't compare to a single complete Immortal Realm."
"I just need to wait for the final chess piece to return from beyond the stars, and I should be able to piece it together. Then, when the Xuanhuang Realm ascends, I will integrate it..."
"And I will be the one in control!"
His thoughts churned as he deduced all possible interference factors that might arise.
"The preparations are, in fact, nearly complete."
"The next thing to consider is how to prevent the ascension process from being interrupted."
"The Heaven Doctor and the Dharma Spreader will surely return from the Star Sea. That True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins might also be awakened."
"And then there's..."
"The Tiandu Grandmaster, the Faceless Immortal..."
In the past, each of these names would have forced Li Fan to immediately use [Truth] to reset.
But now, Li Fan could actually scheme on how to hold them off.
...
Half a month later.
A strange stir from the Xuanhuang Realm jolted Li Fan from his planning.
It was a reaction from the mark he had left on Tianyang's puppet body.
In this life, because he had been secretly promoting the ascension of the Xuanhuang Realm, certain things hidden within it had also been quietly transforming along with the world's expansion.
For instance, the primordial mutated Immortal-Mortal Miasma hidden in the underground cavern of Qiling Prefecture.
And also Tianyang, who was tempering his puppet body deep beneath the Cong Yun Sea with the Ground Fire Return to Origin Array.
The power of the earth fire was far more turbulent and immense than in the previous life.
This caused Tianyang to show faint signs of awakening ahead of schedule.
Li Fan teleported, arriving at the bottom of the Cong Yun Sea.
He gazed at the puppet body beneath the earth, his mind recalling the scene from his past life where Tianyang's puppet had single-handedly stood against the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate.
Although it had been virtually powerless to fight back, it had stubbornly blocked the Dharma Spreader's path.
He mused silently, "Tianyang is indeed a good ally."
"He was beaten so miserably by the Dharma Spreader in the last life..."
"This time, I will help you get your revenge!"
Li Fan's divine sense instantly pierced through the scorching earth fire, making contact with the puppet body buried deep underground.
Since he was slowly awakening naturally in a state of perfection, Tianyang's lingering consciousness was not as irritable as when it had been disturbed before.
There was no declaration of "In all his life, Tianyang has been second to none."
There was only the confusion of crossing ten thousand years to arrive in a new era.
"Even after absorbing the power of the earth fire for ten thousand years, this body is still too weak."
"At best, it's at the peak of Soul Transformation..."
"Is that truly worthy of the phrase 'second to none'?"
Li Fan's words instantly appeared in Tianyang's sea of consciousness.
Gradually waking from his slumber, Tianyang was immediately incensed by these words.
The earth rumbled, and the ground fire erupted.
The enormous puppet body was about to leap up from the seabed.
"In all his life, Tianyang..."
Tianyang's muffled voice roared low, proclaiming his eternal, unwavering conviction that had spanned millennia.
However, this ferocious emotion, like a volcano on the verge of eruption, was instantly quelled by Li Fan's light, airy follow-up: "Little Junior Brother."
This address made him feel an instinctive sense of intimacy, grief, and guilt.
His anger vanished, replaced by a desire to confirm the identity of the speaker.
"As your Senior Brother, I shall lend you a hand!"
Li Fan's blurry figure suddenly descended.
"From the nine heavens..."
"The Descending Dust Finger!"
As Li Fan whispered, the entire Cong Yun Sea seemed to quiet down in an instant. It became a perfect mirror, without a single ripple disturbing its surface.
A single finger slowly pressed down from the heavens above.
Though it was just one finger, it possessed the might to blot out the sky.
It precisely covered and pressed down upon Tianyang's massive puppet body.
Tianyang's puppet body had been forged in earth fire for ten thousand years.
It had already transcended the realm of ordinary heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Yet now, under Li Fan's single finger, all the puppet's components were effortlessly crushed into fine powder!
Tianyang was stunned.
His indomitable will froze, then began to dissipate into the world.
At that moment, a voice that sounded like his master, Guang Yangzi, slowly resounded in Tianyang's fading consciousness.
"Become one with creation, and traverse the ages!"
Along with this voice, a body bound by heavy golden chains appeared.
Tianyang looked at that body and saw what seemed to be a reflection of his former self.
"Go, Tianyang."
"Go and become the strongest in this world!"
The aged voice of his master, Guang Yangzi, echoed continuously.
Tianyang's remaining consciousness instinctively drifted toward that body.
At the same time, he began to circulate the technique that was already etched into the depths of his being, the "Transforming Self into Other" art.
With almost no resistance, Tianyang successfully attached himself to the body.
He also discovered that within this body existed a will that shared his origin but lacked self-awareness.
Without any need for his control, that cluster of will proactively came over, nourishing his own nearly shattered consciousness.
In a trance, Tianyang seemed to witness everything that had happened at the Body Transformation Dao back then.
Sealed memories flooded his mind.
An unnamed fire was reborn from the ashes.
Tianyang once again roared out those words.
"In all his life, Tianyang!"
"Has been second to none!"
Mind and will became one, and Tianyang's remnant consciousness completely settled into this body.
Tianyang discovered that this body was less a vessel of flesh and more a puppet.
A puppet forged from a strange metal and flesh that contained a terrifying, unknown energy.
"Master was right. This puppet body is far stronger than the one I forged in the earth fire."
"Master, I am still as useless as ever."
A flicker of guilt passed, and Tianyang's final wisp of consciousness focused on merging with this flesh-and-blood puppet.
...
The moment he transferred Tianyang's consciousness into the flesh puppet, Li Fan had already moved them both into the Great Qi's small world.
The ascended Fabricated Heaven Personality, along with layers of immortal arrays cast in an instant, sealed the flesh puppet.
The churning aura erupting from the puppet's body forced even Li Fan to temporarily keep his distance.
It was the terrifying power originating from the flesh of a True Immortal, far surpassing anything mortal!
This puppet was precisely the one Li Fan had crafted earlier, using the copper-cast immortal crane as its skeleton, attaching the flesh of a True Immortal to it, and then fusing it with Tianyang's eternal remnant will.
It possessed flesh but no life or soul, waiting all this time for Tianyang to awaken.
Before handing it over to Tianyang this time, Li Fan had mixed in a large amount of black starstone powder.
One could say that in terms of sheer durability, this puppet was likely tough enough to ignore the terrifying pull of the Immortal Ruins and walk upon its surface with its physical body!
Tianyang's consciousness slowly merged with the True Immortal flesh puppet.
Li Fan observed the puppet's ever-changing expression from afar.
"With the eternal remnant will to support it, he should be able to hold on and not be completely corroded by the power contained within the True Immortal's flesh."
"But he is, after all, just a mortal. In the struggle against immortal power, not much of his will can be preserved."
"Just like the previous Tianyang puppet, he will act vaguely on instinct..."
"With my prior impersonation of Guang Yangzi, it should be enough to make him obey my every command."
"But this puppet is far, far stronger than the original Tianyang puppet."
Li Fan was quite satisfied, carefully observing the changes occurring in the immortal puppet.
The copper-cast immortal crane came from the treasure vault of the Immortal Boat. According to records, it was forged from the fragments of an immortal artifact.
The True Immortal's flesh was something Li Fan had regrown from the True Immortal's bone hand using the ancient script technique.
The black starstone powder was world debris, the finest particles left after being cut by the world-ending immortal array.
All three were existences capable of contending with immortal power.
And then fused with Tianyang's eternal remnant will...
The puppet before him could truly be called an "Immortal Puppet"!
The True Immortal's flesh, originally just clinging to the copper bones, seemed to have found a backbone after merging with Tianyang's will. It even sprouted dense, root-like tendrils that bored into the copper skeleton.
Bone and flesh became one.
Tianyang's eternal remnant will shone in his sea of consciousness like a brilliant, indestructible diamond.
The puppet's features grew more vivid and clear.
The surging aura gradually calmed, and the newborn Tianyang stood quietly.
His eyes were tightly shut.
Without removing the protective immortal arrays, Li Fan attempted to issue a command to Tianyang in the guise of Guang Yangzi of the Body Transformation Dao.
Tianyang was indeed very obedient.
Unfortunately, just as Li Fan had predicted, in the process of merging with and resisting the True Immortal's flesh, Tianyang's independent will had been too severely depleted.
The degree of instinct that remained was even less than expected.
"A pity."
"But with the experience gained this time, I can appropriately increase the strength of Tianyang's will before completing the fusion next time."
Taking the Tianyang Immortal Puppet, he traveled to the depths of the Star Sea.
Li Fan began to test the strength of this immortal puppet's body.
First, he launched a Five Elements Annihilation Sword strike.
It was a divine ability he had comprehended himself, but one he had not used for a long time as he gradually came into contact with near-immortal power.
The black light, which once seemed capable of annihilating everything, struck the Tianyang Immortal Puppet but failed to leave even the faintest scratch!
Li Fan raised an eyebrow, and then thousands of black sword lights rained down, surrounding the Tianyang Immortal Puppet.
However, this seemingly fierce and imposing attack failed to even trigger Tianyang's instinctual self-defense.
Tianyang stood motionless, allowing the black sword lights to bombard his body.
It was as if he were facing not a killing move, but a gentle breeze.
After a long while, Li Fan nodded in satisfaction and stopped unleashing the Five Elements Annihilation Sword.
"The immortal puppet's body has truly achieved a state of invulnerability to all mortal powers."
"But..."
"This doesn't mean my Five Elements Annihilation Sword is now useless."
"The cycle of the five elements, ever-advancing, annihilating all. The artistic conception of this divine ability is not inferior. It's just that when facing an immortal-level existence, relying solely on the core of the five elements' power to execute annihilation is simply too low-level," Li Fan mused.
"But if I could integrate the 'Fantasy Becomes Truth' transformation..."
Li Fan raised a finger, intending to slash a sword strike toward the distant starry sky.
But as he pondered, he hesitated, unable to let it fall.
"My level of comprehension is still too low. Integrating it into an escape art is already my limit."
"To use it for slaughter..."
"Perhaps it will take another two or three reincarnations. Or, the help of that strange item that can make [Truth] simulate reincarnations on its own."
Li Fan shook his head slightly, calmed his thoughts, and slowly lowered his finger.
He once again began testing the Tianyang Immortal Puppet.
Next came the powers of various True Immortal Scripts.
Chaos, Town, Submerge...
Using Source Power Essence as ink, Li Fan unleashed everything he had learned.
Immortal arrays sealed off the surrounding area, preventing the energy fluctuations from leaking out.
Layer upon layer of True Immortal power descended upon the Tianyang Immortal Puppet.
Faced with this pseudo-immortal level of destructive power, the Tianyang Immortal Puppet finally showed a slight reaction.
The True Immortal's flesh pulsed like a bellows, emitting a force field.
It isolated all the effects brought by the True Immortal Scripts.
This was not an action ordered by Li Fan.
It was a purely instinctual reaction of the Tianyang Immortal Puppet in the face of a threat.
Li Fan sensed this invisible force field, his pupils contracting sharply.
But his hands did not stop channeling the True Immortal Scripts.
One after another, the powers of the True Immortal rules were absorbed and neutralized as they approached the force field.
The storm of True Immortal Scripts was like a fierce gale.
It merely caused the Tianyang Immortal Puppet's clothes to flutter.
It failed to harm him in the slightest.
"Is this... the power of a True Immortal?"
"And this is just the spontaneous defense of a True Immortal's flesh..."
Li Fan's eyes gleamed; he wanted to comprehend and study this True Immortal's invisible force field.
But to his disappointment, this field was just like the flaw in the high wall.
It was clearly right before his eyes, clearly existed.
Yet he was still unable to touch it, unable to see or know it.
A scene suddenly flashed before Li Fan's eyes.
An eagle in the sky looked down at its prey on the ground. Then, extending its sharp talons, it swooped down.
Just as it was about to capture its prey, it slammed headfirst into a transparent protective barrier.
The eagle was dizzy, struggling to stabilize itself.
It beat against the barrier before it, unable to understand why it couldn't advance an inch when its prey was right there.
It couldn't comprehend the existence of the barrier.
Just as the current Li Fan could not comprehend the existence of the high wall or the force field.
"The power of a True Immortal is not something I can touch at my current level."
"But a wise man is not born different, he merely excels at using the tools at his disposal. Being able to wield it temporarily through the Tianyang Immortal Puppet is enough."
"This way, even when facing the Immortal Boat, I'll have the capital to flip the table."
Li Fan stopped his futile efforts.
He began his final test.
With a solemn expression, he softly chanted, "With the soaring will of the nine heavens, a True Immortal descends to the mortal dust!"
He once again executed the Nine Heavens Descending Dust Finger.
Only this time, he used his full power.
Burning a mass of True Immortal flesh and with the aid of an ascension array, Li Fan's perspective rapidly soared.
In an instant, it was as if he was standing at the pinnacle of the Star Sea, with the high wall distantly visible in the opposite direction.
And the Tianyang Immortal Puppet before him, though bearing the word "immortal," possessed only flesh, not immortal spiritual power.
Therefore, it remained beneath the mortal dust.
From this elevated perspective, the Tianyang Immortal Puppet was as small as an ant.
The gravity and caution he had felt when facing it earlier all vanished.
A feeling suddenly arose in Li Fan's heart, that of a True Immortal seated high in the heavens, looking down upon the myriad beings below.
He locked onto the Tianyang Immortal Puppet, his expression proud, and pressed a finger down.
Boom!
Within the sealing immortal array, a violent storm erupted.
The soaring will that could crush all living beings, mixed with the might of falling from the high heavens, manifested as a forefinger that grew from the size of a soybean to the size of a collapsing sky in an instant.
Like the collapsing firmament, it pressed down fiercely!
Faced with such a mighty divine ability, the Tianyang Immortal Puppet finally sensed a hint of crisis instinctively.
A bloody light shone from its eyes as the Tianyang Immortal Puppet raised its hand to hold up the sky!
Li Fan let out a muffled grunt; his finger felt as if it had pressed against a hard boulder.
It trembled, ultimately unable to advance another inch!
Fortunately, the Tianyang Immortal Puppet was only defending instinctively and did not take the opportunity to counterattack.
Otherwise, Li Fan would have surely been severely injured by this blow!
Li Fan was not having an easy time, but the Tianyang Immortal Puppet, taking Li Fan's strongest divine ability head-on, was not faring much better.
After all, it was not a true immortal puppet, but a fusion of several near-immortal materials.
The momentum of falling from a great height directly caused parts of the immortal puppet's flesh to crumble.
The copper bones emitted a sizzling sound, clearly having suffered a massive impact.
The purpose was only to test the actual combat strength of the Tianyang Immortal Puppet, not to destroy it.
Seeing that it had nearly reached its limit, Li Fan finally withdrew his divine ability.
Deactivating the ascension array, Li Fan slowly descended from the pinnacle of the Star Sea back to the mortal world.
He slowly regulated his breathing, eliminating the abnormalities in his body.
Looking at the Tianyang Immortal Puppet, Li Fan frowned slightly. "It is just a puppet, after all, not a true living being. It doesn't have the ability to self-repair."
"The True Immortal's flesh consumed during battle cannot be restored on its own..."
As Li Fan was thinking this, it seemed Tianyang sensed his thoughts.
Driven by the core of its eternal remnant will, the True Immortal's flesh attached to the copper bones suddenly began to churn again.
As if one gives birth to two, two to three, and three to all things.
The wounds on the immortal puppet from the previous test were healed in an instant.
The battered immortal puppet was restored to its peak condition once more.
Seeing this, Li Fan couldn't help but be stunned.
He was suddenly reminded of the time he had used the ancient script technique to grow the True Immortal's flesh, and how the flesh, when stimulated, had continuously proliferated out of thin air.
He was speechless for a long time.
After a while, he finally sighed with heartfelt admiration, "The divine might of a True Immortal is truly mysterious and profound, not to be underestimated."
He then frowned. "If not for Tianyang's eternal remnant will acting as a core to suppress this mass of True Immortal's flesh, I'm afraid this immortal puppet would lose control at the slightest mishap."
At the same time, Li Fan understood that it wasn't that the immortal puppet lacked the ability to repair itself.
Rather, the puppet's autonomy was too poor, and it had no desire to actively repair itself.
Only when Li Fan reminded or controlled it would it perform this action.
"It's still because Tianyang's will was too severely worn down."
"Its durability is sufficient. But expecting it to do its utmost to tie down the Dharma Spreader, the Heaven Doctor, or even the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins is a bit of a stretch."
"It seems that to maximize its combat effectiveness, I still need to enhance its subjective performance."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. "I remember, the Artificer still has the combat experience of the Tianji Realm's immortal puppet 'Ancestor'..."
"But that fellow, just like Xu Ke, should have been swept into a crevice in the Star Sea."
Li Fan turned his head, facing the edge of the Star Sea, and distantly sensed the mark he had left on the Artificer.
Just like before, the Artificer's aura was very stable, not as erratic as Xu Ke's.
And compared to before, it seemed to be a little closer.
"Interesting."
"Looks like I won't have to go find him; he'll be able to come back on his own."
"That's for the best!"
Li Fan's gaze swept around, and the sealing immortal array abruptly transformed, becoming the All Things Return to Void Array, whipping up a howling storm.
It erased all traces of the battle.
"Downgraded immortal arrays are indeed useful."
After doing all this, Li Fan did not leave in a hurry.
Instead, he stood quietly, as if waiting for something.
In the Star Sea, there was only eternal darkness and silence.
Li Fan waited patiently for more than half a month.
But what he was waiting for never came.
"It seems my guess was correct. The fall after an ordinary individual's ascension does not attract the black qi."
"Only the weight of an entire world, or a fall occurring in a special region like the center of the Star Sea, will trigger the black qi."
"This is the observed phenomenon. But what is the reason for this phenomenon?"
"The Dao Annihilation Calamity..."
Li Fan murmured to himself as he returned to the Xuanhuang Realm with the Tianyang Immortal Puppet.
Although the eagle could not understand the existence of the glass at first, once it began to try to touch and study the properties of the glass, a change would eventually occur.
That's 7,000 words for today, I'm out of time. The missing 1,000 words will be made up tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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