Chapter 908: The Tribulation Body Stores Votive Power
The most intense feedback he received was from Su Yuqing in the Li Realm.
Perhaps because she had genuinely benefited in her cultivation, her faith in the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal was the purest and most fervent.
While before he could only observe her surroundings, now he could even occasionally perceive her innermost thoughts.
"It is only thanks to the True Immortal's grace that I was able to lead everyone back safely from the campaign against the Fire World."
"I would never dare break my vow. From this day forward, I pledge to serve you for the rest of my life, unswerving until death."
Su Yuqing bowed reverently, her forehead touching the ground several times before the faceless stone statue she had carved with her own hands.
Just then, Li Fan felt a mysterious power transcend the bounds of time and space to descend upon him.
It was a mere wisp of energy, almost negligible when compared to his own vast, ocean-like power.
Once inside his body, this power remained distinctly separate from his own spiritual energy, refusing to mix.
Instead of flowing toward his dantian, it crept insidiously toward his sea of consciousness.
Li Fan, ever wary of the Faceless Immortal, would never allow it to succeed.
A seven-colored divine light surged forth, forming layer upon layer of a luminous cocoon that completely enveloped the foreign energy.
Once sealed away, the energy's reaction was rather unexpected.
It didn't struggle violently; instead, it simply settled down, becoming quiescent.
Unlike Li Fan's own spiritual energy, which radiated a soft white glow, this wisp of power, though faint, shone with the brilliance of gold.
Its quality seemed to be of a higher order than even spiritual energy.
Li Fan observed the golden energy intently, remaining silent for a long time.
He knew this was a product of the Faceless Immortal statue, which had transformed Su Yuqing's gratitude and faith into this tangible form.
"The legendary power of faith? Or is it the votive power of all living beings?"
"Or something else entirely?"
"Hmm, I have too little information. For now, I'll refer to it as votive power."
Li Fan's expression turned grave.
He knew this golden votive power was a poisoned sweet, but at this moment, he had no choice but to swallow it.
The connection to the statue had been forged. Unless he immediately used Return to True, this golden votive power would continue to manifest inside him, no matter how far he was from the statue.
Moreover, this was not a one-time occurrence.
As Su Yuqing continued her devout prayers, it wasn't long before another wisp of golden votive power formed.
Following the same trajectory, it surged toward his sea of consciousness.
"Killing Su Yuqing would be useless."
"All the cultivators who swore an oath before the statue have effectively become generators for this golden votive power."
"Even if they can't produce it with the same purity as Su Yuqing yet, the statue's subtle influence on them will only deepen over time."
"One day, they will all be the same."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. He was alarmed but remained composed, already contemplating his next move.
Meanwhile, he continued to use his seven-colored divine light to precisely isolate each new wisp of golden energy, gathering it all in one place with the energy he had collected before.
It turned out that Li Fan's efforts across countless lifetimes, collecting all manner of secrets and esoteric knowledge, had not been in vain.
Soon enough, a solution came to mind.
After a brief experiment, the results proved to be outstanding.
Li Fan released the seven-colored divine light's seal on the golden votive power. He then forcefully guided the foreign energy, making it slowly congregate within his dantian.
Just as the energy grew restless, stirring to move toward his sea of consciousness once more, an ethereal silhouette suddenly formed within his dantian.
Acting like a vortex, it drew in the golden votive power that was just beginning to drift away.
"It works," Li Fan thought, a flicker of joy sparking within him.
This ethereal silhouette was the [Tribulation Body], a technique he had previously used to store excess cultivation base whenever he hit a bottleneck.
He hadn't been stuck at a bottleneck for a very long time, meaning there was no overflowing cultivation feedback to waste. Consequently, he hadn't needed to use the Tribulation Body technique in ages.
He never expected it to be the perfect solution for dealing with this troublesome golden votive power.
The secret art of the Tribulation Body originated from the *Tai Shang Primordial Scripture*.
In the ancient cultivation world, it wasn't uncommon for cultivators to advance so rapidly that their foundations became unstable.
When this happened, a cultivator would need to intentionally suppress their realm and solidify their foundation.
Different sects had different methods for achieving this.
The method of the Tai Shang Sect was to form an ethereal figure within the dantian to contain this excess cultivation base.
Because the Tai Shang Sect viewed an unstable foundation as a type of cultivation tribulation, this ethereal figure used to overcome it was known as the [Tribulation Body].
"The true teachings of the Tai Shang Sect originate from the Tiandu Grandmaster."
"And the Tiandu Grandmaster, much like the Xuantian King, possessed the body of a half-immortal. It's highly likely he also obtained numerous legacies from the Immortal World during the calamity of that era."
"It's no surprise, then, that this technique can handle the golden votive power, which is clearly a tier above spiritual energy."
Li Fan mused to himself.
With the [Tribulation Body] to contain it, the golden votive power seemed to have found its proper home.
From then on, it flowed toward the golden Tribulation Body in his dantian without any need for Li Fan's guidance.
Seeing this, Li Fan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"The crisis is resolved, for now."
"This Tribulation Body is a separate entity. I can discard it at any time without any repercussions to my true self."
"Even in a worst-case scenario, where the Tribulation Body develops into a separate individual like Xu Bai from my 115th life, it would be much easier to handle without a mind of its own."
"For now, it's merely a crystallization of energy, with no other anomalies."
After another careful observation to confirm his findings, Li Fan nodded slightly.
He had a feeling that as it absorbed more and more of the golden votive power, this Tribulation Body could even be detonated on command.
Li Fan wasn't sure how powerful the resulting explosion would be, but he understood that simple detonation was likely the most rudimentary use for this golden votive power.
"I'm walking a knife's edge..."
Li Fan's eyes grew deep as he murmured to himself.
He was all too aware of the potential risks hidden within this golden votive power.
But with [Truth] as his ultimate safety net, he didn't need to be timid about everything.
Just as Li Fan was pondering how to deal with this golden votive power in the future, he suddenly felt another disturbance within his body!
And the source of this anomaly was...
...the dark gold skull and the gray mold residing within it, both heavily sealed by the seven-colored divine light inside his Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven!
Perhaps the votive power accumulated within the golden Tribulation Body had reached a certain threshold, for even sealed away inside the cave-heaven, the gray mold sensed its presence.
It was like a starved beast suddenly catching the thick scent of blood.
For the first time, the gray mold surged out from within the skull, frantically battering against the surrounding walls of seven-colored divine light.
The divine light was being consumed at a terrifying rate.
Li Fan's expression darkened. Spiritual energy surged within the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, quickly generating a continuous stream of support to reinforce the seal.
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