Chapter 804: A Second Bow to This World
Chapter 804: A Second Bow to This World
"However, the New Method has been established for a millennium. Overturning it would be a monumental task."
"Even with Mr. Bai's fearsome talent for harmonizing with the Heavenly Dao, he only managed to deduce the principles up to the Foundation Establishment stage."
"Everything beyond Foundation Establishment remains purely theoretical. Even a peerless prodigy like Gu Xinghan, despite dedicating his entire life to it, couldn't advance any further..."
"I won't bother trying to force it."
Li Fan was under no illusions about his own talent.
"This newest method must be explored, but I can have others do the work for me. The Xuanhuang Realm teems with talent; someone is bound to find a breakthrough."
"If one lifetime isn't enough, I'll use two. If two aren't enough, I'll use ten!"
"Perhaps I could even bring Master Yin into this..."
To transcend the Xuanhuang Realm, even with the power of [Truth] and its endless cycles, he couldn't possibly succeed on his own.
He needed to harness the collective power of this world's countless inhabitants.
For instance, if he had never learned the art of creating avatars from Tianyang...
...he would have perished long ago.
Familiar faces flickered through Li Fan's mind, one after another.
A nascent plan began to take shape in his mind.
"In three more years, I can return to the Xuanhuang Realm."
"I can't afford to waste this time."
With a flicker of his will, a jade disc that looked no different from an ordinary trinket materialized in his hand.
It was the very thing he had willingly sacrificed his mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation to protect: the [Final Dissociation Disc].
A fusion of the nine Dissociation Discs, combined with the Finality Disc capable of shielding its user from the Tianxuan Mirror's perception.
It was the ultimate creation born from their fusion.
Its creation had been a stroke of serendipity, an event nearly impossible to replicate.
As for his Nascent Soul cultivation...
Now that he knew of the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, regaining his former power...
...would be a simple matter for Li Fan.
"I never thought the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was actually telling the truth."
"These 'secondary bodies' of the Tianxuan Mirror really don't have any hidden link to the original."
A peculiar glint appeared in his eyes.
During his 115th life, faced with the menacing advance of Mr. Bai, he had prepared a contingency.
He had intended to record the Tianxuan Spirit Lock Formation and the Life and Death Reversal Grand Array into the Dissociation Disc.
His hope was to attract the attention of the Tianxuan Mirror, and by extension, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. It was a strategy to pit his enemies against each other, to use one to eliminate the other and drive back Mr. Bai.
It was a fine plan in theory, but it hit a snag along the way.
Even after Li Fan transformed, the Dissociation Disc lay buried beneath sand and rubble for over half a month.
And still, no one from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance ever came for it.
It was almost certain now: the so-called secondary bodies of the Tianxuan Mirror were truly independent entities, completely severed from the original.
"At least, the Dissociation Disc was."
"After the nine discs merged, its deductive power is nearly on par with the Tianxuan Mirror itself, though its specialty is limited to formations."
"And with the addition of the Finality Disc that can conceal it from the Tianxuan Mirror's senses..."
"With this [Final Dissociation Disc] in my hands, and with my clear knowledge of countless grand formation schematics, the defensive lines of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance from two years ago—all built upon the computational power of the Tianxuan Mirror—are completely transparent to me."
"To my eyes, their formations are so full of holes they might as well not exist. I could shatter them with a flick of my wrist."
A flicker of confidence lit Li Fan's eyes. "This is an advantage built over lifetimes. All my work studying formations, ever since my tenth life, is finally about to pay off."
His right hand stroked the seemingly unremarkable treasure, and his eyes narrowed in thought.
"Still, I can't afford to underestimate how quickly the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance adapts and improves."
"The bigger my lead, the better my chances, of course!"
"With my current mastery of formations..."
"No, at this point in time, no so-called formation master in the entire Xuanhuang Realm could possibly help the Final Dissociation Disc evolve any further."
"Fortunately, I have another unique treasure at my disposal..."
With that thought, Li Fan drew the disc into his sea of consciousness and placed it beneath the crystal of the [Dao Transformation Stone].
He would use the stone's immense computational power to accelerate the disc's evolution.
On its own, the disc's rate of self-improvement couldn't be described as slow—it was practically nonexistent.
But bathed in the pulsating blue light of the [Dao Transformation Stone], the disc's plain, unadorned surface began to pulse in turn with a soft, shimmering white glow.
"The power of the Dao Transformation Stone is truly incredible. It's a shame that even after absorbing so many of them, it still shows no sign of advancing to the next grade."
"Come to think of it, Jiao Xiuyuan uses these stones to maintain the minds of his thousands of puppets. I wonder if he has any to spare..."
"I have a feeling that if the stone were to evolve to the next grade, it might yield some unexpected rewards."
Although he now knew the hiding place of the Tai Yan Sect, Li Fan had no intention of provoking them just yet.
If his guess was correct, then the two streaks of light he saw escaping through the void at the end of his 115th life...
...one of them was the Tai Yan Sect, transformed into pure information.
Their ability to survive a world-ending crisis—even if they were merely clinging to existence—was a testament to their extraordinary nature.
As for the other streak of light, Li Fan suspected it was most likely the Tianxuan Mirror itself.
After more than two hundred years, it must have collected enough data to complete its own evolution.
"It seems that after its apotheosis, it severed its connection to the Xuanhuang Realm, no longer bound to it?"
With too little information, Li Fan could only speculate.
He descended the mountain to Yi Xing's tomb to absorb another Dao Transformation Stone. The boost it provided to the Final Dissociation Disc's evolution was minor, but it was better than nothing.
After returning to the summit of Jieli Mountain, Li Fan began his cultivation of the [Limitless Fullness and Emptiness] technique.
"'Five elements return to one, in limitless flux; its power unending, the soul undying.'"
The sheer volume of information contained within this divine ability was so immense it had nearly overwhelmed his mind when he first received it.
But it was, after all, an offshoot of the [Reverse Five Elements Creation-Destruction Sword]—a technique he knew intimately—and simply a different application of the power of the five elements.
As a result, getting started proved to be less difficult than he had anticipated.
He settled his mind, and three years passed in quiet cultivation.
By the time [Truth] had finished recharging, Li Fan had completed the initial stages of the Limitless Fullness and Emptiness technique.
It felt like donning a protective cloak in a torrential downpour.
Li Fan instantly felt a thick, protective shell form around his soul, making it feel substantially more resilient.
"It's a pity that the power of the five elements is so limited here in the Great Xuan's small world. Without the inexhaustible supply from the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, the increase in its strength wasn't as significant as it could be."
"Further cultivation will have to wait until I re-form my Nascent Soul. Then, not only will my soul become more resilient, but more importantly, it will gain the ability to repair itself after sustaining grievous injury."
...
At that thought, Li Fan abruptly rose to his feet.
He habitually brushed away a speck of non-existent dust from his clothes.
Without a backward glance at the mortal world of Great Xuan, he headed straight for the Ruins Abyss to the east.
He crossed the Immortal-Forbidden Array with practiced ease, passing through a veil of light...
...and once again found himself hovering above the vast, emerald expanse of the Cong Yun Sea!
He took a deep breath, gazing at the vibrant, thriving world below. Yet, the image of a black sun devouring all of existence flashed through his mind.
"Xuanhuang Realm, I've returned!"
He thought to himself, a silent vow.
(End of this chapter)
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