Chapter 776: A Glimmer of Hope in Desperation
Though the Saint Embryo Xu Bai had already departed, the clone Xu Bai remained completely immersed in the memory of his counterpart reaching Golden Core perfection in a mere half-day.
"No wonder," he mused. "Just being tinged with a sliver of Mr. Bai's essence has granted the clone such terrifying cultivation talent."
"My will is the will of Heaven; my heart is the heart of Heaven." Xu Bai murmured the phrase again, a profound understanding dawning upon him.
"Mr. Bai might well be something akin to an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao itself. Without the shackles of the New Method, reaching Soul Transformation in a single step would likely be no difficult feat for him."
Drawing upon the memories transmitted from the Saint Embryo, the clone could fully experience the sensation of "oneness with Heaven" and what it truly meant.
The relationship between the original Li Fan, the clone Xu Bai, and the Saint Embryo Xu Bai was now wonderfully complex.
For the moment, they were all governed by a single consciousness, but because the aptitudes of the three bodies were so different, they would arrive at different insights even when contemplating the same thing.
The clone Xu Bai's talent far surpassed Li Fan's.
And the Saint Embryo Xu Bai's talent, in turn, was far beyond that of the clone.
It was like walking down a road and inexplicably tripping. There had to be some external force at play.
But as of now, neither the clone nor the Saint Embryo had any knowledge of this external force, nor could they resist it. They could only allow the changes to occur, silently observing them happen to themselves.
The only certainty was that while the final outcome was already set in stone and could not be defied, the Saint Embryo Xu Bai had not yet developed its own independent consciousness.
His actions and behavior were still under Li Fan's control.
This was precisely why Li Fan, upon realizing he was already under Mr. Bai's influence and could no longer voluntarily activate [Truth], had proactively birthed the Saint Embryo.
Since he could no longer prevent it, he might as well take the initiative to facilitate it, seizing control of the process for himself!
He could even plant a hidden thorn in his side while he was at it.
For instance...
If Mr. Bai were to awaken on his own, possessing all of Li Fan's memories, he might attempt the path of "Foundation Establishment Through Oneself."
This would allow him to break free from the constraints of the Dharma Spreader's system and forge an entirely new path of cultivation.
If such a path were theoretically viable, Mr. Bai would be the one most likely to make it a reality.
But Li Fan wouldn't let him do that.
Instead, he manipulated the Saint Embryo Xu Bai to establish his foundation with the "Heaven's Will Sword," forcing him to continue down the path of the New Method.
"After Mr. Bai is reborn, he might end up in a fight with the Dharma Spreader," Li Fan thought.
"This will just add a bit more of a challenge for him."
Li Fan felt no goodwill toward this entity attempting to use his body for its own rebirth.
However, what was far more likely was that the moment the entity awakened its consciousness, its very first act would be to find Li Fan's original body and seize the [Truth] artifact. After all, it would possess all of Li Fan's memories.
At that point, Li Fan would truly be a lamb to the slaughter, utterly powerless to resist.
"I must make preparations before that happens."
"I don't have much time left."
Xu Bai's expression grew unusually grave.
Given the Saint Embryo's cultivation speed, by the time Mr. Bai finally awakened, his cultivation level would surely far exceed Li Fan's.
On top of that, he would have a perfect copy of Li Fan's memories, making him aware of any and all preparations Li Fan might make in advance.
Under such circumstances, escaping from his grasp would be nearly impossible.
The only possible glimmer of hope lay in the "Incarnation" function of [Truth].
"To persist beyond death, the true spirit unquenched. To become one with an object, and traverse the ages."
"Little Junior Brother Tianyang, whether I can survive this calamity is all up to you now."
"If there truly is a next life, I will be sure to treat you well!" Xu Bai vowed silently.
By activating the Incarnation function, he could abandon his physical body and entrust his true spirit to an object.
Once the duration of his existence in that form reached its limit, [Truth] would automatically activate.
This was the only method Li Fan could conceive of to escape Mr. Bai's mental control.
However, if he were to hastily use "Incarnation" now, Mr. Bai's awakened consciousness would also have the memory of it. There would still be a high probability that he could find the object Li Fan was possessing.
If that happened, Li Fan's fate would be even more miserable.
"To deceive Mr. Bai, I must first deceive myself."
"I cannot determine the target object before activating the Incarnation function."
"And I must use the 'Chaos' character to interfere with the process."
...
Xu Bai's mind raced, searching for a way to break the deadlock.
Seven days later.
Xu Bai emerged from his secret chamber. He first returned to Tianliang City and resigned from his position as Liaison.
This move left Nangong Shirong utterly bewildered.
"If you have some grievance, you can just say so. Why must you throw it all away and quit?"
"Is it because the position is too low? I can promote you. With all the contributions you've made over the years, it would be more than enough to silence any dissenters," he urged, trying to persuade him.
Xu Bai shook his head slightly. "Thank you for your kindness, my lord. But just the other day, I had a sudden epiphany. I realized that these worldly affairs, as busy as they are, are of little use to me."
"No matter how high the office or how abundant the resources, they are meaningless without a focus on cultivation itself. They have become nothing more than a burden."
Xu Bai adopted the air of one who had seen through the vanities of the world. Paired with his transcendent, otherworldly appearance, it was convincing enough to fool Nangong Shirong.
"It's just such a pity. In a few decades, or perhaps a century, when I'm promoted to the Alliance headquarters, I was planning to hand over Tianliang Province to you. Among all my subordinates, you're the only one I can truly rely on." Seeing that Xu Bai's mind was made up and this wasn't some kind of act, Nangong Shirong shook his head with a sigh, making one last attempt to retain him.
After Xu Bai politely but firmly refused, he added, "There will always be a place for you in Tianliang Province. If you change your mind in the future, you can come back to me at any time."
"Then I thank you in advance, my lord!" Xu Bai bowed and departed with an ethereal grace.
Nangong Shirong watched his retreating figure, his face a mask of confusion.
Xu Bai's resignation indeed caused quite a stir.
After all, every position in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was spoken for. The sudden vacancy of a lucrative post like Liaison naturally drew the attention of various factions, all scrambling to claim it.
But soon, another event occurred that easily overshadowed the commotion caused by Xu Bai's departure.
During the Immortal Alliance's campaign to conquer the small worlds, a major, unforeseen development finally took place.
The Tai Yan Sect, a renowned immortal sect from ancient times, had not been destroyed.
On the contrary, it was thriving within one of the small worlds.
A team of cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had stumbled into their domain, only to be effortlessly defeated.
However, the Tai Yan Sect did them no harm, simply sending them all back.
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