Chapter 944: A Single Thought, a Myriad Ghosts
Chapter 944: A Single Thought, a Myriad Ghosts
Within the skull's hollow eye sockets, a faint, dark light shimmered.
It seemed to pierce through layers of unseen barriers, meeting the gaze of Li Fan's Sacred Embryo.
Yet, Li Fan felt not the slightest chill of dread or fear. Instead, a strange sense of warmth and kinship washed over him.
It was as if...
...he and the owner of this skull were old acquaintances.
"How strange, this feeling..."
The Sacred Embryo stared at the skull for a long time, making no move to leave.
Unlike the other exhibits in the Museum of Divine Treasures, this skull came with no detailed explanation.
And perhaps because of that affliction, it appeared no different from the skeletal remains of any mortal.
Compared to the bones of some powerful cultivators, which shimmered with a faint, pearlescent light even after their demise, the difference was stark and immediate.
According to the guide, it was possible that no one besides the museum's director knew why this particular item was placed at the very heart of the collection.
But its position in the center of the entire Museum of Divine Treasures was proof enough of its significance.
Whether that value was practical or purely commemorative, it was clearly immense.
From the subtle emotional ripples he sensed from his main body, the Sacred Embryo knew that this skull was of profound importance to him as well.
However, it was clear that the time to take it had not yet come.
After taking one last, deep look at the skull, the Sacred Embryo turned to depart, only to be struck by a sudden thought.
He turned back, carefully committing every contour and feature of the skull to memory.
"Perhaps I can reconstruct the cultivator's appearance from the shape of the skull."
This very idea was the reason his main body had issued the directive.
Although Li Fan himself had not mastered such a technique, he knew that in a world as vast as the Xuanhuang Realm, there was sure to be a cultivator who could.
Following this, the Sacred Embryo wandered through the Museum of Divine Treasures for a good while longer.
Only after confirming that his main body had fully absorbed and mastered the contents of the [Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Mind God Technique] did he finally leave the museum, feigning a lingering, insatiable curiosity.
The guide was still waiting dutifully outside the entrance.
He escorted the Sacred Embryo all the way out of the Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters before vanishing in a flicker of movement.
Li Fan's Sacred Embryo sensed the faint, almost imperceptible presence of a cultivator tailing him from the shadows and sneered inwardly.
Without a moment's hesitation, he chose to self-destruct.
With a tremendous roar, his Nascent Soul grotto-heaven exploded, blooming outward like a blazing ball of light.
By the time the pursuing cultivator sensed something was wrong and rushed forward, it was too late.
Li Fan's Sacred Embryo had been utterly annihilated, leaving not even a trace of bone or ash!
The pursuer, clad in black robes with the character for "Law" etched upon his forehead, stared at the sky, his face a mask of frustration.
There had been no celestial phenomenon that typically accompanied the death of a cultivator.
"Elder Zhen was right. It really was a clone!"
"Damn it! Who would have thought he'd be so decisive and cautious? The trail's gone cold!"
"It seems the only option left is to investigate that Audience Jade Token."
A flicker of unwillingness crossed the black-robed cultivator's eyes, but after repeatedly scouring the scene and finding no other clues, he had no choice but to depart in vexation.
...
Within the Spirit Wood Realm.
Li Fan was in his private chamber, meticulously studying the [Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Mind God Technique].
He had already issued a "divine decree" through the faceless statues, tasking the cultivators of the Federation of All Worlds with finding someone capable of reconstructing a person's appearance from their skull.
He believed it wouldn't be long before he had an answer.
"If I can confirm the person's identity, I might finally understand the nature of that eternal, lingering thought that holds such a powerful attraction for [Truth]."
Setting the matter aside for the moment, Li Fan focused all his attention on the technique before him.
Since the template for its derivation was the [Three Perils of Ghosts and Spirits], and Li Fan had specifically requested that its effects and characteristics be similar, the resulting [Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Mind God Technique] was, for all intents and purposes, a low-grade imitation of the original.
The Three Perils of Ghosts and Spirits involved cultivating one's innumerable thoughts into ghost-god-like entities within the body. Each of these ghost-gods could be seen as an independent individual, though they were created by and bound to the will of the main body.
After mastering the Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Mind God Technique, one's body would similarly house countless "ghost-gods."
However, instead of severing one's thoughts to form separate individuals, this technique created them as thought-constructs, forged and nurtured through mental tempering.
Strictly speaking, these ghost-gods remained a part of Li Fan's own consciousness.
They were simply unique, tangible manifestations of his will.
Though the upper limit of its power was lower, it came with no risk of losing control.
On the contrary, by converting stray thoughts into conscious creations, it could further purify his Dao heart.
Of course, for Li Fan, who possessed the [Xuanhuang Heart Refining Mantra], stray thoughts were a rarity.
Therefore, to practice this technique, Li Fan needed to deliberately generate a multitude of new thoughts.
Half a month later.
Before Li Fan, a grotesque, transparent creation, neither human nor beast, with two heads and seven arms, flickered into existence.
He studied the thought-construct for a moment, feeling that something wasn't quite right.
Though it was a product of his consciousness, it seemed vastly different from the creations born of the [Three Perils of Ghosts and Spirits].
After long contemplation, enlightenment dawned on Li Fan.
"My mind is too focused. The thought-constructs I generate are inevitably a bit too noble and righteous."
"They lack the eerie, sinister quality of the original technique."
Once Li Fan identified the source of the discrepancy, his mind began to conjure dark, shadowy thoughts.
Consequently, the thought-constructs he created took on a distinctly malevolent aura.
And so, Li Fan followed this new method.
Normally, generating thought-constructs was not a task accomplished overnight.
It required a cultivator to draw upon the insights gained from their personal trials and tribulations, slowly nurturing each creation.
Only through the accumulation of time and experience could one cultivate an army of thought-constructs.
But Li Fan was no ordinary man.
He had experienced far too much across his countless reincarnations.
The histories of the Xuanhuang Realm's many branching timelines, and all the knowledge he had gathered within them, became fodder for building his mental army.
He even drew upon the memory of witnessing the Xuanhuang Realm's destruction from the gaze of a True Immortal. The final, terrified despair of countless cultivators in that moment of annihilation allowed Li Fan to create thought-constructs of such exceptional horror that a single glance could chill one to the bone.
Furthermore, with the aid of the [Limitless Fullness and Emptiness] technique, his willpower was incomparably resilient.
In just over ten days, a ferocious army of "ghost-gods," seething with malevolence and resentment, had taken root within him.
Gazing upon his masterpiece, even Li Fan couldn't help but furrow his brow.
"I fear if I were to unleash this with a single thought, a ghostly realm would truly descend upon the world."
With a flicker of an idea, Li Fan appeared within an empty, featureless space.
It was the strengthened Two Dimensions Formation, the very prison holding Yan Fangzhou!
At this moment, Yan Fangzhou seemed to have finally broken under the inhuman torment.
His eyes were vacant, staring blankly as he sat on the ground. He was like a walking corpse, utterly devoid of life.
He was a universe away from the spirited, majestic figure who had first arrived.
(End of this chapter)
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