Chapter 1618: Li Fan Meets His True Self
The Saint Creation Project: The Twenty-First Life!
Foundation Establishment Through Oneself, the Mixed Origin Golden Core, the Spirit Mirror Nascent Soul...
Merely deducing this newest cultivation method to the Nascent Soul realm seemed to have completely drained Rinsing Moon Bai of her spiritual energy. So much so that even after a rebirth, she still felt utterly exhausted, as if she hadn't rested at all.
Consequently, in a rare occurrence, Rinsing Moon Bai spent several consecutive days resting in bed.
"Auntie, are you all right?" Li Fan asked, his eyes filled with worry as he brought her a bowl of hot congee he had prepared himself.
Rinsing Moon Bai’s spirits lifted. She drank the congee and replied, "Do not worry, Fan'er. Your aunt is merely a bit weary. A few days of rest will be enough."
Li Fan paused, a strange look crossing his face. "Why has Auntie's way of speaking become so... formal?"
A jolt went through Rinsing Moon Bai. She let out a dry laugh and quickly brushed it off.
"It seems that what's changing with me isn't just my Spirituality, but also many other subtle, imperceptible things. Fortunately, the concept of constant reincarnation and rebirth is so utterly fantastic that my nephew would never think of it..."
Looking at the bowl of talisman water the witch handed her and the hopeful expression in Li Fan’s eyes, Rinsing Moon Bai felt a touch of helplessness. In the end, she drank it down.
After the fuss, she settled Li Fan down. Instead of immediately entering the Xuanhuang Realm, she made her way to the nearest spirit mountain.
She sat down to comprehend the Dao.
On the peak of Jieli Mountain!
"To see the heart is to understand one's nature—Foundation Establishment Through Oneself. With this new life, I am once again different from my past..."
Rinsing Moon Bai sat cross-legged on the cliff's edge, gazing at the vast, boundless sea of clouds before her as she looked inward.
As if a divine sculptor wielded an invisible blade, a formless tool carved impossibly profound lines into the void. A statue of Rinsing Moon Bai herself slowly took shape in the darkness.
Compared to the end of her previous life, this self-sculpture resembled her even more closely.
Within a few breaths, Rinsing Moon Bai had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment!
"This is the superiority of the newest method. If I were still cultivating the Heavenly Venerate's law, I would have to painstakingly search for Heaven and Earth Wonders. While the convenience of endless rebirth would allow me to find treasures of increasingly higher quality, Earthly Treasures are the limit. Most of them are controlled by the Dharma Spreaders anyway. As for Heavenly Treasures, I couldn't even dream of them..."
"Besides, even a Heavenly Treasure might not compare to 'Foundation Establishment Through Oneself'."
Rinsing Moon Bai looked at the self-sculpture within her with deep satisfaction, took a deep breath, and clenched the supreme-grade spirit stone in her hand.
In her sea of consciousness, countless seven-colored beams of light shifted and intertwined, soon forming a Mixed Origin Golden Core.
The supreme-grade spirit stone instantly shrank by more than half.
"Though this is an Immortal Severing Land, it's not entirely devoid of spiritual energy. The amount is just too small, almost negligible," Rinsing Moon Bai remarked, her gaze sweeping across the entire Great Xuan small world from her mountain perch.
"Oh? There are still a few places with spiritual energy fluctuations?"
Her figure flickered, and in an instant, she had investigated all these locations.
"The tomb of Yi Xing, a disciple of the Taiyan Sect."
"The tomb of Qian Hong."
...
"They are all burial sites of cultivators who fell here."
"Aside from this, nothing else is of any value," Rinsing Moon Bai said, shaking the Heaven Lock Treasure Box in her hand.
"I wonder what's hidden inside."
As a former Dao Integration cultivator, Rinsing Moon Bai had exceptionally high standards; ordinary treasures no longer caught her eye. But after using the Tianxuan Mirror to unlock the Heaven Lock Treasure Box and discovering the Dao Transformation Stone inside, she still felt a surge of excitement.
"To think my homeland held such a treasure."
She had long heard of the wonders of the Dao Transformation Stone. Even as a Dao Integration cultivator in the Immortal Alliance, she had no way of acquiring one. "The Dao Transformation Stone can increase one's deductive power several times over. If I use it to help create my Spirit Mirror Nascent Soul..."
"The effect will be extraordinary!"
Inside Rinsing Moon Bai's middle dantian, the mirror-like body of her Nascent Soul seemed to have been polished, becoming several times clearer in an instant. Furthermore, the world it reflected now showed far more detail.
The clouds in the sky, the blades of grass on the ground—everything moved with the wind, as if real.
Immersed in this state, Rinsing Moon Bai felt that the world had never been so bright.
"If I'd had this in my last life, I wouldn't have died from mental exhaustion," she sighed after a long while.
"A pity it's only a low-grade one. If it were high-grade, or even the legendary Transformation Dao Stone Mother, I can't imagine how much it would help me."
"Still, it's a good reminder. In the Xuanhuang Realm, there are many treasures like the Dao Transformation Stone that can enhance comprehension, such as the Enlightenment Pills of the Tai Shang Sect or the Tianxuan Spirit Awakening. Appropriately using external aid might make my efforts twice as effective."
Rinsing Moon Bai lingered in the Great Xuan small world, mapping out every corner of this land with her new perception. Finding nothing else of value, she leisurely made her way to the Xuanhuang Realm.
Not long after she departed, not far from where she had been meditating on the peak...
A figure abruptly appeared!
It was Li Fan.
"The Spirit Mirror Nascent Soul..."
"The accumulated Spirituality of twenty lifetimes is truly extraordinary. She has forged a path completely different from the ones deduced by Su Bai or the Saint Emperor."
"Su Bai only provided a vague framework, so we can set him aside. The Saint Emperor's deductions were likely influenced by the Tai Wei Saint Emperor. The Sacred Dynasty's weight rests entirely on one person. Thus, the new method he deduced gave no consideration to its potential for being spread. But my aunt... for my sake, she has truly exhausted her heart and mind..."
Li Fan chuckled softly and flicked a finger into the void before him.
A phantom of Li Fan appeared, mimicking Rinsing Moon Bai's earlier posture, sitting cross-legged and facing the sea of clouds.
Though it was a phantom, with a flicker of light and shadow, it became indistinguishable from a body of flesh and blood.
The phantom closed its eyes, its chest rising and falling with each breath, just like another Li Fan!
"Truth and falsehood in a single thought, illusions changing with the heart~"
Li Fan murmured, quite pleased with his creation.
In twenty lifetimes of reincarnation, his aunt had transformed from a mere mortal into a great Dao Integration cultivator and had even deduced three levels of the newest method.
Naturally, Li Fan hadn't been idle either.
The body before him, a blend of reality and illusion, was a creation of his True-False Transformation ability.
"My body in its mortal state."
"Ignoring the existence of [Truth]."
Li Fan circled the corporeal phantom several times, nodding continuously.
"Aside from the influence of infinite Spirituality, it's almost identical to the real me."
"Even if I placed it before my aunt, she wouldn't recognize it as a mere creation of mine."
"My understanding of Spirituality is still too shallow. I'll set that aside for now."
"Using this body as an experiment, everything that occurs within it can be perfectly replicated inside my own body without any loss."
"Foundation Establishment Through Oneself..."
A faint light gleamed in Li Fan's eyes. An invisible blade swiftly began to carve within the fabricated Li Fan.
Carving a statue of himself inside a fabricated version of himself.
It seemed a bit strange, but with every cut, Li Fan felt his understanding of himself deepen.
"The me who laughs and rages is me; the me who clings to life and fears death is also me."
"The me who worries for the world is me; the me who is indifferent to all living beings is also me."
"The me who indulges in every luxury is me; the me obsessed with longevity is also me."
...
"[Truth], in essence, is merely an amplifier. It focuses on certain aspects of my character and magnifies them infinitely, but it doesn't fundamentally change me."
Scenes from his past reincarnations flashed before Li Fan's eyes.
His statue grew more defined, more complex.
While Rinsing Moon Bai could complete her Foundation Establishment Through Oneself in a single thought, this first step would take Li Fan at least a hundred years.
But Li Fan was very patient.
...
After returning to the Xuanhuang Realm, Rinsing Moon Bai, as usual, first sought out Yin Shangren.
Though she didn't mention her rebirth, she unreservedly shared the cultivation method she had newly comprehended. Yin Shangren was so excited he practically danced with joy.
Having immersed himself in the newest method for many years, he was only a hair's breadth away from a breakthrough. With Rinsing Moon Bai's guidance, Yin Shangren experienced an epiphany on the spot.
In just a few days, he, like Rinsing Moon Bai, advanced to the Nascent Soul realm. The hidden injuries from his Foundation Establishment were healed in the process, and his voice no longer had its overlapping echo.
"This Dao Transformation Stone you speak of... I might have a clue."
"I vaguely recall that the Taiyan Sect of old is still hidden somewhere in this world. But the specific location..." Yin Shangren scratched his head, unable to remember.
Rinsing Moon Bai comforted him, "It's fine. The fact that they're still alive is good news. As long as they're around, we'll find them with a little time. It's said the deductive power of the Transformation Dao Stone Mother is hundreds of millions of times greater than an ordinary Dao Transformation Stone. If we could get its help, we could probably deduce the newest method to completion with ease."
Yin Shangren deeply agreed.
"Besides the Transformation Dao Stone Mother, we could try other possible methods."
"Like the Understanding Dao Infinite Wall, or the Mortal Spirit Transformation Wall..." Yin Shangren offered various suggestions.
Rinsing Moon Bai sighed with emotion. "To think a single Xuanhuang Realm holds so many incredible wonders. It's truly hard to imagine what a magnificent sight the vast Star Sea beyond it must be..."
Yin Shangren shook his head. "I'm afraid the entire Star Sea combined might not compare to a single corner of the Xuanhuang Realm."
Rinsing Moon Bai was stunned by his words.
Yin Shangren then told her about the great calamity that had descended, the cataclysm that had shattered the Star Sea.
Rinsing Moon Bai's mind reeled. "I had heard of the ancient calamity before, but I always thought that after so many years, life would have revived beyond the Xuanhuang Realm. I never imagined..."
"And on top of that, there's the Dharma Spreader, gathering realm fragments to mend the Xuanhuang Realm."
The true face of the Xuanhuang Realm began to reveal itself, just a sliver, before Rinsing Moon Bai.
She knew the Xuanhuang Realm held too many secrets. But she also firmly believed that with her ability of infinite rebirth, these secrets would become a tool to help her break the shackles of the Dharma Spreader.
"One step at a time."
Within the eyes of her Spirit Mirror Nascent Soul, a miniature, mist-shrouded vision of the Xuanhuang Realm appeared.
Rinsing Moon Bai's first destination was the Understanding Dao Infinite Wall in Tianliang Province.
"It is said that those who seek enlightenment before this wall have a chance of being drawn inside. Although time flows differently, posing the risk of dying of old age within, the enlightenment effect surpasses even the Tianxuan Spirit Awakening by several times..."
"This is perfect for me!"
Rinsing Moon Bai stared intently at the smooth stone wall before her. In a daze, she could almost feel the wall's heartbeat.
"It's not my imagination."
She reached out and gently touched it.
In the next moment, the scene before her changed, and she found herself inside the Infinite Wall.
Just as the rumors described, the moment she entered, she felt as if she had received some kind of blessing. Her mind became a thousand times more active.
Her accumulated knowledge and experiences were reorganized and re-categorized, converging toward the primordial Great Dao of heaven and earth.
But the price was the rapid consumption of her life force.
As the saying goes, "to hear the Dao in the morning is to die content in the evening." It was clear the cultivators here, lost in enlightenment, cared not for this. They allowed their vitality to drain away, completely immersed in comprehending the Dao.
This place was useful for Rinsing Moon Bai, of course.
But she saw something that others could not.
Above each cultivator's head, an invisible tentacle seemed to extend from the void. It plunged deep into the cultivator's mind, twitching occasionally.
Coupled with the entranced expressions of the absorbed cultivators, the scene was exceptionally bizarre.
It seemed it was these tentacles that were helping the cultivators within the Infinite Wall achieve enlightenment.
"Hmm? You can see me?"
A soft whisper sounded by Rinsing Moon Bai's ear.
Rinsing Moon Bai wasn't startled. She simply nodded.
"Then what do I look like in your eyes?"
Rinsing Moon Bai answered truthfully.
"Tentacles, huh..."
The voice sounded a little disappointed, then added, "That's not bad, I suppose."
Hearing these words, which seemed meant to comfort her, Rinsing Moon Bai grew curious. "Is this not your original form?"
The voice chuckled. "A frog in a well sees the square patch of sky above and assumes that is all the sky is. A bird in the air, though it sees the boundless dome, also believes that to be the sky's true form."
"And what is the reality?"
"There are heavens beyond the heavens. The Mountain and Sea is infinite, beyond what mortals can perceive..."
Though she was scorned as a frog in a well, Rinsing Moon Bai was not angered. "From your words, senior, you seem to be immensely knowledgeable, having seen landscapes we cannot. Why, then, are you trapped here?"
"Trapped? What makes you say that? I am merely eating. Ever since I was thrown here many years ago, cultivators have continuously entered my belly. Food from the heavens, delivered without me having to move. With such a good deal, why should I exert myself?" the voice said, gloating.
"Eating?" Rinsing Moon Bai mused.
"That's right, just like you are now. Do you think your enlightenment is sparked by me? In truth, I am merely accelerating the flow of your life, concentrating all the thoughts of a lifetime into this single moment!"
"A lifetime—hundreds, or even thousands of years—of what should have been, is being spent in advance. That is the truth of this place."
"You cultivators are mostly an impatient lot. You always want to rely on external forces for what you could eventually achieve on your own. It suits me perfectly!"
The voice chattered on, having seemingly not spoken to anyone for a long time.
All the while, the tentacle inserted into Rinsing Moon Bai's head was continuously drawing out her life force.
"Hmm? You've listened to all this, yet your heart remains completely unshaken?" the voice asked, surprised.
Rinsing Moon Bai stared at the tentacle above her, which seemed to be changing shape, and suddenly smiled.
"It seems your knowledge is not so great after all."
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