Chapter 948: Gods and Demons Manifest in the World
Chapter 948: Gods and Demons Manifest in the World
To so easily obtain the projection of a demonic god, one even stronger than yourself? Who could possibly refuse such an offer?
Xin Hongzhang was on the verge of agreeing when, in a moment of sudden clarity, he turned his gaze back to Li Fan.
"Then what," he asked, "is the price?"
"Nothing this good ever comes for free."
Li Fan watched him put up his last bit of resistance and smiled, his voice laced with temptation. "The price? That great, compassionate Saint could have achieved a state of transcendence beyond even the immortals. Instead, he chose to transform his very body into a prison to suppress thousands of gods and demons..."
"Is that not a price? The Saint, in his mercy, simply bore the full weight of that calamity for us. If those gods and demons were still running rampant, summoning them would surely require the sacrifice of one's own soul."
"If you truly feel gratitude, then all that is asked is that you praise the Saint's grace each day."
With Li Fan's explanation, everything fell into place.
"Learn the Divine Advent, and you will know," Li Fan said, pointing a finger gently at Xin Hongzhang.
In that instant, the contents of this unfathomable secret art flooded into Xin Hongzhang's mind like a tidal wave.
"Truly a supreme art! Utterly extraordinary!"
Just from reading between the lines, Xin Hongzhang could glimpse the profound mysteries of the Divine Advent. Compared to any technique he had ever practiced, the difference was like that between the heavens and the earth, as vast as clouds from mud.
He became completely immersed in the wondrous technique, unable to pull himself away.
By the time Xin Hongzhang came to his senses, Li Fan had vanished without a trace.
"Deliverer from suffering, compassion in the mortal world," Xin Hongzhang whispered to himself.
Having acquired the secret art, his first priority was naturally to find a place to practice it.
Suppressing the excitement bubbling within him, Xin Hongzhang returned to the protective fortress in Nine Mountains Province.
After paying a hefty sum to rent a cultivation chamber with the highest level of privacy, Xin Hongzhang sat cross-legged and began to practice according to the method described in the Divine Advent.
Darkness quietly descended upon the chamber.
Xin Hongzhang felt as if he had returned to that boundless, ghostly domain, home to the thousands of demonic gods.
But unlike the horrifying scene he had witnessed before—of sinister winds and the wails of ghosts and gods—this ghostly domain was now submerged in absolute stillness.
High above the thousands of gods and demons, he could faintly discern a blurred figure, a being of profound compassion, radiating streams of warm light.
The fear in Xin Hongzhang's heart gradually faded, replaced by excitement and reverence. He bowed respectfully toward the figure in the sky.
Then, he let his spiritual sense drift among the thousands of gods and demons, probing and sensing each one.
As his consciousness drifted past one of the demonic effigies, he felt a sudden pull.
He muttered an incantation, and in the next moment, the demonic statue's eyes snapped open.
The still, ghostly domain shattered. Back in reality, a majestic demonic god with eight heads and eight arms materialized before Xin Hongzhang.
"It's Shetuoluo!"
A thrill of excitement shot through Xin Hongzhang.
According to the records of the secret art, Shetuoluo ranked among the top one hundred most powerful of the thousands of demonic gods! He couldn't believe his incredible luck!
Xin Hongzhang attempted to communicate with the projection using his spiritual sense. A dark, viscous feeling traveled along the connection, seeping into his sea of consciousness.
A jolt of alarm went through him, but it was quickly replaced by relief as he felt Shetuoluo respond to his thoughts with the ease of a limb, perfectly under his command.
He commanded Shetuoluo to perform an attack, and a look of unconcealed delight spread across his face.
Xin Hongzhang was instantly lost in a reverie.
"No mediocrities, no arrogant fools, no one without a conscience..."
Recalling the selection criteria Fan Li had mentioned to him, Xin Hongzhang began to consider suitable candidates.
Meanwhile.
Hundreds of miles away, Li Fan watched Xin Hongzhang’s expression through Shetuoluo’s eyes, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
The so-called thousands of gods and demons were, of course, nothing more than the thought-form incarnations Li Fan had created by cultivating the Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Mind God Technique.
The Divine Advent secret art was, in reality, a method that used the cultivator's own body as an incubator, summoning Li Fan's thought-form incarnations to reside within them.
What seemed like perfect control, as easy as moving one's own limbs, was in fact the thought-form incarnation reading the cultivator's mind and acting accordingly on its own.
It was tantamount to Li Fan planting a part of his own consciousness to be fostered within other cultivators.
He would use their spiritual sense to nourish and strengthen his own.
They were dressing for someone else's wedding, all without a clue. Such was the fate of those who practiced the Divine Advent.
"My spiritual sense is already stronger than that of a Dao Integration master," he mused. "If I use this method, with thousands upon thousands of cultivators becoming incubators for my thoughts..."
"...its power will swell a thousandfold. A truly unexpected harvest."
"And what's more," he thought, "my thought-form incarnations, residing in their seas of consciousness, can subtly influence and alter their minds, making them completely subservient to my will."
"Heh, heh, heh..." A dark, low chuckle escaped Li Fan's lips.
He could already envision countless cultivators from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance falling prey to the Divine Advent.
"Widespread proliferation will undoubtedly attract the attention of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance."
"The characteristics are so obvious that as long as Mo Rubin learns of this, he will surely recognize it as the handiwork of a former comrade from the Xuantian Sect..."
"All I need to do now is sow a few more seeds."
With a flicker of movement, Li Fan teleported away from Nine Mountains Province.
Over the following days, he returned to the various provinces of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. After quietly tempting a total of eighty cultivators into practicing the Divine Advent, he finally ceased his efforts.
Including the first, Xin Hongzhang, the initial batch of cultivators now numbered eighty-one.
"Hmm? The boy is moving quickly. There's already a second generation of practitioners," Li Fan noted after a moment of sensing, quite pleased with Xin Hongzhang's efficiency.
"In half a year at most, their numbers will be quite substantial."
"Soon, very soon," Li Fan thought, returning to his base, thoroughly satisfied.
And during the time he was so diligently sowing his seeds, events unfolded just as Xin Hongzhang had predicted: the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance officially announced its plan to establish the first free-trade province in Nine Mountains.
The announcement sent shockwaves across the land. Countless cultivators—those who secretly yearned for the ways of the Five Elders Council and those simply hoping to strike it rich and change their fortunes—flocked to Nine Mountains Province.
Along with the main announcement, a host of specific regulations were also released.
These included the hundred-year development plan for Nine Mountains Province, rules for the allocation of resources and authority, and much more.
The most eye-catching regulation, however, was this: ordinary cultivators would not be permitted to purchase residences or land in Nine Mountains Province. Only those who made outstanding contributions to the province's development would earn that right. Furthermore, to prevent the wealthy and powerful from using underhanded methods, every land transaction had to be publicly announced via the Tianxuan Mirror.
If any corruption was suspected, any cultivator could report it.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance would investigate every claim to the fullest and show absolutely no mercy to the guilty!
(End of this chapter)
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