Chapter 955: The Wanderer of the Tianfa Realm
One after the other, the appearances and auras of the two Heavenly Doctors were identical to the one Li Fan had encountered in this lifetime.
However, the first Heavenly Doctor, the one who had personally orchestrated the boundless tragedy of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, remained utterly impassive throughout the entire ordeal.
There was even a hint of enjoyment deep within his eyes.
His depravity was such that even Li Fan felt he couldn't compare.
But the Heavenly Doctor who arrived later could not conceal the fury and anguish in his eyes.
The slight trembling of his body spoke volumes about his state of mind.
The Heavenly Doctor’s lips parted slightly, as if he had said something.
But that was where the replayed scene came to an end.
...
"Someone disguised themselves as the Heavenly Doctor and slaughtered everyone in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace?"
"And the real Heavenly Doctor arrived too late, powerless to change anything?"
He recalled what the Heavenly Doctor had previously told Tian Yu and Tian Jue—that what one sees is not always the truth.
He also thought about the Heavenly Doctor’s actions: healing Tian Jue and sealing the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
Li Fan couldn't help but arrive at this conclusion.
"But a simple case of being framed isn't enough to explain it. Why was the misunderstanding never cleared up? Why did it only deepen as the people of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace suffered through thousands of years of torment?"
A new wave of confusion washed over him.
"Perhaps the answer to this question can be found in Han Hai."
After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan made his decision.
As he experienced the nightmarish cycle once more, just as the fake Heavenly Doctor shrouded Han Hai’s perception in darkness, Li Fan manifested like a ray of light, faintly illuminating the gloom.
He continuously replayed the vision he had just restored, attempting to awaken Han Hai's slumbering consciousness.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
"The killer was not the Heavenly Doctor!"
"The culprit is someone else! Someone impersonated the Heavenly Doctor to sow discord!"
...
The waves of his divine sense rippled through the darkness.
Gradually, they swelled into a great tide, causing the surrounding space and the images within it to tremble and grow unstable.
"Silence! Be silent!"
"You cannot deceive me!"
"A Venerable enforces the heavens' decree! How could anyone possibly impersonate one?"
"Their appearance, their aura—those could be faked! But the authority they wield over the Tianfa Realm, how could that possibly be forged!"
It seemed Li Fan's persistent whispers had driven Han Hai into a rage.
An azure face materialized within the surrounding spherical space.
Han Hai glared at Li Fan, this well-meaning person trying to awaken him, with the venomous hatred one would reserve for a mortal enemy.
"You fiend! Still trying to beguile me!"
"Even if it wasn't the Heavenly Doctor, it was one of the other Venerables!"
"They all deserve to die!"
"And so do you!"
His voice thundered as streams of black light surged from his vast, illusory face.
Then, tens of thousands of colossal azure palms struck out in unison, crushing the divine sense of Li Fan, who was trapped in the center!
...
"Hmph."
Back in the real Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Li Fan, his connection to the wisp of divine sense severed, let out a muffled grunt.
But such a minor injury was swiftly repaired by the natural circulation of the Limitless Fullness and Emptiness technique.
"The authority of the Tianfa Realm, a ruling Venerable..."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed as he mulled over the words Han Hai had spoken in his fury.
"No wonder they've been driven to the brink of madness by this memory, yet still firmly believe they haven't mistaken their killer."
"It seems that beyond physical appearance, what truly identified them was the authority of the Heavenly Dao."
"Tian Jue must represent the Dao of Slaughter."
"Tian Yu, the Dao of Enlightenment and Education."
"And the Heavenly Doctor, clearly, is the Dao of Healing."
Li Fan's mind drifted back to his first encounter with Tian Yu.
The blue ox-drawn cart, the two guardians, "Do not speak of marvels, violence, chaos, or spirits," standing at the door.
Tian Yu, like a great teacher, imparted knowledge to any cultivator who entered his small hut.
This was their very essence, something that hadn't changed even after Tian Yu had become a weirdness.
"The Heavenly Law is solemn; the Venerables follow its rules."
"I have now received the Law and shall spread it to all beings."
"The Heavenly Law cannot be defied."
...
Li Fan recalled the faint sounds of chanting he had heard outside the hut.
"It seems the Tianfa Realm is the name of the small world where the Heavenly Doctor and the others came from."
"Unlike the Xuanhuang Realm, where everyone schemes to seize Heaven and replace it, in the Tianfa Realm, the status of the Heavenly Dao appears to be supreme."
"Tian Jue, Tian Yu, and the Heavenly Doctor are less like powerful Longevity cultivators and more like representatives of the Heavenly Dao itself."
"Cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm stole the power of longevity from heaven and earth through the Ruomu fruit. But perhaps because no such thing exists in the Tianfa Realm, the only path to longevity for its cultivators is to become wielders of the Heavenly Dao's authority."
The various clues from the past suddenly clicked into place, and a thoughtful expression crossed Li Fan's face.
As he pieced them together, the secrets of the Heavenly Doctor's past gradually began to surface.
Li Fan also recalled how the sword hilt that Zhang Haobo had trapped with the Green Wind's aid had manifested a heavenly curtain upon his death, showing that he had established his foundation with the Heavenly Calamity Sword Intent.
Yet, the survivors of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, after encountering Tian Jue, all referred to the sword he wielded as the Heavenly Killing Sword.
Li Fan had always suspected that this might be different evolutions of the same sword in different worlds.
Now, his suspicion was confirmed.
"Heavenly Killing, like Heavenly Absolute and Heavenly Decree, is likely another form of heavenly authority."
"Tian Jue wielded two authorities. Perhaps that is why he was able to preserve his life and only descend into madness, rather than becoming a weirdness."
"Only the Heavenly Doctor, who was away for some reason, was spared."
"By the time he returned, it was already too late. The Tianfa Realm had long become a land of death..."
Although he had unraveled some of the mystery, the number of unknowns had not diminished in the slightest. Instead, they loomed larger, shrouded in an even denser fog.
Who was the person who had impersonated the Heavenly Doctor and committed these atrocities?
According to Han Hai, it was far more than a simple change of appearance.
The impostor had genuinely wielded the heavenly authority of the Tianfa Realm, which was why the people of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had accepted him as a Venerable.
He could even switch freely between the forms of the Heavenly Doctor and Tian Jue...
The power of this individual was truly beyond imagination.
Even more perplexing was what kind of grudge someone of that caliber could hold against the Tianfa Realm.
Not only did they annihilate the entire sect, but they also ensured that even in its ruin, the Tianfa Realm would be trapped in an endless cycle of self-slaughter.
...
Outside Han Hai's residence, Li Fan's brow was tightly furrowed.
"Did the Heavenly Doctor send me here so I would uncover the truth of what happened back then?"
"The dark resentment entangling Han Hai is the product of millennia of accumulation. With my current mastery of the healing arts, I may not be able to resolve it."
"However, I can see that this is the result of being purified more than once. It's clear that over these years, the Heavenly Doctor has not abandoned the people of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace."
"Even after they transformed into weirdnesses, he did not give up on them."
"Hmm..."
Judging by actions rather than intentions, this conduct caused Li Fan's internal threat assessment of the Heavenly Doctor to drop slightly.
"So be it. Since I am here, I might as well lend a hand. It will also serve as a report for the Heavenly Doctor."
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