Chapter 778: A Thousand Desires Stirring Chaos
Chapter 778: A Thousand Desires Stirring Chaos
"Foundation Establishment Through Oneself..."
Liu San gave a wry smile. "I don't know where the Young Master heard of such a fantastical idea."
"The difficulty is truly immense. That group of youngsters could all be called prodigies of their generation."
"They've all reached the peak of Qi Refining, yet they're completely stuck on this Foundation Establishment method."
Liu San shook his head. "In my opinion, it will be incredibly difficult for them to succeed with Foundation Establishment Through Oneself."
"We only came up with this method out of necessity to deceive the Tianxuan Mirror. Now that we're planning to join the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, should we continue? Perhaps we could..." Liu San asked tentatively.
"As the saying goes, you can never be too careful," Xu Bai said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "Joining the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance might not pose any immediate danger, but we can't rule out the possibility of a future falling out."
"It's always good to have a trump card to save our lives. Let's continue with the plan," Xu Bai declared in a low voice.
"The Sect Master is indeed thorough in his considerations," Fang Zaiji chimed in, readily agreeing.
Xu Bai then turned to Jiang Yushan. "Elder Jiang, I hear you're still brooding over your narrow defeat at the hands of a female Dao Integration cultivator from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance?"
Jiang Yushan frowned and nodded. "Dao Integration through the New Method steals power from heaven and earth. In a duel, it is indeed a bit superior to the old way. However, I have already devised a countermeasure. In our next match, I will be sure to teach her a lesson."
A cold glint flashed in Jiang Yushan's eyes.
Xu Bai didn't press further. Instead, he took out a cyan fruit from his storage ring that seemed to hover between the states of real and illusory.
"This item contains the principles of heaven and earth. It's an exceptionally rare treasure in this age. Perhaps it can be of some help to you, Elder Jiang."
Xu Bai didn't need to say more.
The moment the Truth Inducing Fruit appeared, the aura it emanated instantly captured the attention of the three Dao Integration cultivators present.
Although they didn't know the fruit's true purpose, the faint fluctuations of natural law it emitted were enough to prove its extraordinary nature.
Fang Zaiji practically started drooling. "Sect Master, you're so biased," he muttered. "Giving such a wonderful thing only to Yushan."
"Do you have any more? Let me have a taste."
Xu Bai chuckled derisively. "You think these grow on trees, that I can just pull out several at will? It took me a long time to save up enough to barely afford this one. If I hadn't seen Elder Jiang so troubled by her defeat, I wouldn't have taken it out so readily. To be honest, it pains me a little to part with it."
Xu Bai laughed heartily.
Seeing this, Jiang Yushan was about to return the Truth Inducing Fruit.
But Xu Bai refused with righteous conviction. "How can I take back something I've already given away? Please, Elder Jiang, just accept it."
"After all, the stronger you are, the safer our Medicine King Sect will be."
Hearing this, Jiang Yushan nodded and accepted the Truth Inducing Fruit.
She then took her leave to enter secluded cultivation.
"Yushan..." Liu San watched her departing figure, looking as if he wanted to say something but held back.
But Jiang Yushan didn't even turn her head, ignoring him completely.
At this point, Xu Bai turned back to Fang Zaiji. "Since your research on the Terminal Disc has been fruitless, and you're idle anyway..."
"Why don't you take this opportunity to help me reinforce the Medicine King True Cauldron?"
Fang Zaiji's face fell.
"If your work satisfies me, it wouldn't be out of the question for me to find someone and buy another 'Great Dao Fruit'."
Great Dao Fruit was the name Xu Bai had fabricated for the Truth Inducing Fruit.
Fang Zaiji's eyes lit up. "Don't you worry, Sect Master, you can count on old Fang! Actually, when you first mentioned it, I already had a preliminary plan for reinforcing the Medicine King True Cauldron. I just haven't acted on it due to time and material constraints..."
Xu Bai smiled. "Well, Elder Fang, you can set your mind at ease. Just tell me whatever materials you need."
He held out his palm, and the Medicine King True Cauldron spun continuously above it.
"After all, the disciples of our Medicine King Sect are still inside. We must, of course, consider their safety," Xu Bai said, his words carrying a deeper implication.
Liu San's gaze lingered on the Medicine King True Cauldron for a long time.
He only retracted it reluctantly when Xu Bai followed Fang Zaiji to the refining chamber.
His expression was inscrutable, his thoughts hidden.
---
Tianquan Province.
After a long period of data processing, Li Fan had completely deciphered the contents of the [Limitless Fullness and Emptiness] technique.
After trying to activate the divine ability, Li Fan wondered if he could use it to eliminate Mr. Bai's influence over him.
Unfortunately, whether because the technique's power had its limits or because he was already tainted by Mr. Bai and the damage was irreversible...
...when Li Fan called upon [Truth], the same feelings of reluctance and attachment swept over him once again.
The overwhelming eruption of emotions forced him to quickly close the [Truth] interface.
"It seems I was overthinking things."
Having failed several times already, Li Fan wasn't particularly bothered.
After committing the [Limitless Fullness and Emptiness] to memory, he didn't continue practicing it.
Instead, he set it aside for the time being.
He took out the Dissociation Disc.
The disc was now even more translucent and crystalline than before.
"Nine discs contended for supremacy, and seven have already fallen."
"Now, it's just me and one other unknown competitor."
Li Fan mused to himself as he toyed with the Dissociation Disc, which felt as warm and smooth as jade.
In his spare time, he had already fed it every formation he knew, with the exception of the [Reversing Life and Death Grand Array] and the [Tianxuan Spirit Lock Formation].
He could sense that the Dissociation Disc in his hand was now significantly stronger than the remaining one.
Even if he stopped feeding it formation data and simply let it iterate naturally, it would still win the final victory.
"My opponent seems to have accepted their fate and given up the struggle."
"Unfortunately, I'm out of time."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
He chose not to feed it the final sets of formation data.
"If this secondary body of the Tianxuan Mirror is still within the main mirror's perception range..."
"...then this can be another one of my trump cards."
"I wonder, between an upgraded Tianxuan Mirror and a revived Mr. Bai, who would be stronger?"
A cold glint flickered in Li Fan's eyes.
If he wanted to find a path to survival in the face of certain death, he would have to create and exploit chaos.
It was just like when the Crimson Flame burned the seas and Ink Death descended in this world; to prevent anyone from deducing his true self through his clone and to utterly confirm the clone's death...
...the more chaos, the better!
There were too many hidden entities lurking in the shadows of the Xuanhuang Realm. Only by making them fight amongst themselves could he hope to obscure their vision, even for a moment.
"Actually, there is another way to escape Mr. Bai's influence."
"And that is to directly eliminate the cause of my 'attachment'."
"For example, if my heart covets the completed Dissociation Disc, then I just need to unlock its final form."
"If I'm reluctant to part with the Terminal Disc that can completely block the Tianxuan Mirror, then I must find a way to complete my research on it as soon as possible."
"Unfortunately..."
"That's only possible in theory."
"As they say, the abyss of desire is impossible to fill."
(End of Chapter)
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