Chapter 960: The Twice-Born Heavenly Venerate
"The first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma... was also the one who created it."
...
Li Fan's voice echoed faintly.
Master Yin offered no rebuttal. He just gripped his hair tightly, clearly tormented by this revelation.
"Impossible... how could it be..." he muttered, his face a mask of bewilderment and sorrow.
After a long silence, Li Fan continued, his voice slow and deliberate. "The Immortal-Mortal Miasma... it was created by reversing the principles of Heaven and Earth."
"And the only one capable of creating such a thing..."
"...is a Longevity Celestial Venerable! This means the remains before us belong to a Celestial Venerable of the New Method."
"The very instant the Immortal-Mortal Miasma was born within him, according to the rules of the New Method, he achieved the state of Longevity. But at that same moment..."
"'Even a mortal can slay an immortal.' The power of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma is known to all in the Xuanhuang Realm. I believe that if that Longevity Celestial Venerable had wanted to save himself, he could have. But he deliberately chose not to."
"Because if he had, he would have been destroying the very law he had just created. While it might not have been enough to nullify his achievement..."
Li Fan paused, his mind clearly working through the deductions.
A moment later, he declared, his voice firm, "...it would have very likely created a loophole: that Longevity Celestial Venerables are immune to the Immortal-Mortal Miasma."
"To prevent that from happening, he allowed the miasma to consume him. In essence, he buried himself with his own hands..."
"And all he achieved was a single outcome: that no cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm, regardless of their power—from the lowly Qi Refining stage to the supreme Longevity Celestial Venerables—could escape the effects of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma."
Li Fan's expression grew solemn. "But..."
"...what was the point of it all?"
"A few thousand years later, the Immortal-Mortal Miasma is a shadow of its former self. With a little caution, cultivators can still slaughter mortals as they please, can't they?"
"So what was this Longevity Celestial Venerable's goal? Why would he sacrifice his own life to create such a thing?"
Profound confusion clouded Li Fan's features.
It was no act; his confusion was genuine.
Master Yin remained silent.
With a light wave of his hand, the transparent barrier before him vanished. He carefully picked up the white rib from the floor, caressing it as if it were the rarest of treasures.
"The first time I laid eyes on this rib," he began, "it was as if I could see its owner as he was in life."
"Such a perfect visage! All the flowery words in the world could not describe even a fraction of his beauty."
"And yet, this perfect being died, infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma. Back then, I swore an oath to find the culprit who created this plague, the one responsible for the fall of this perfect man, and then..."
Master Yin let out a wretched laugh. "I never imagined... after all these years of searching... that the murderer I sought was right here before me the whole time."
"And I never knew. All this time, I never knew!"
His spirit shattered by the revelation, Master Yin suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He wiped his lips, his grip on the rib bone tightening until the veins on his hand bulged.
Watching him, Li Fan's mind suddenly flashed back to the first time he had met Master Yin.
He had been just as he was now, disheveled and unkempt.
He had been muttering to himself, over and over, "I will find you... I must find you..."
And now, he had finally found his murderer.
But the truth was not something he could easily accept.
To spend half a lifetime on a bitter quest, only to find the killer was the victim himself.
The irony was devastating.
No wonder he burned himself to death every time, shortly after discovering the truth, Li Fan thought grimly.
Li Fan then recalled a past life where Su Changyu, by a stroke of fortune, had arrived on this very island—Yinyin Island—and had been taught the "Foundation Establishment Through Oneself" technique.
The reason Master Yin had taught him was because Su Changyu had tried to save the island's mortals.
Back then, Master Yin had asked him, "Why? Why would a cultivator like you try to save these mortals?"
Looking back, Li Fan realized he probably wasn't just questioning Su Changyu.
He was also voicing his own bewilderment at the actions of the Longevity Celestial Venerable who had created the miasma.
And it wasn't just Master Yin; Li Fan couldn't comprehend such an act either.
Even supposing, for the sake of argument, that someone could be so noble as to sacrifice their life to protect mortals...
...shouldn't the sacrifice at least be effective? Otherwise, what's the point?
Judging by the current state of the Xuanhuang Realm, the lot of mortals had only improved marginally. They were still slaughtered at will by cultivators, utterly unable to defend themselves.
It was just as it had been for Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi.
A single Foundation Establishment cultivator could still level an entire mortal city with ease.
Compared to the time before the miasma's creation, nothing had fundamentally changed.
If this was all he had wanted to achieve...
...then his act wasn't noble. It was simply foolish.
Li Fan refused to believe that a cultivator capable of reversing the principles of Heaven and Earth could be such a fool.
So, what was his true purpose?
As Li Fan was lost in thought, Master Yin staggered to his feet. He pressed the white rib to his chest before carefully tucking it away.
After a moment's consideration, Li Fan decided to voice his own questions.
Master Yin gave a wretched smile. "Have you still not understood, fellow Daoist? He did it not only for the mortals of this world, but for its cultivators as well."
"For the cultivators?" Li Fan jolted, a sudden realization dawning on him.
"After the Dharma Spreader reversed the principles of Heaven and Earth and established the New Method, all cultivators had to follow it. In theory, no matter how brilliant or talented a cultivator might be, they could never break free from the framework the Dharma Spreader had built."
"They were destined to be forever suppressed by him. In a sense, to all cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Dharma Spreader was an invincible being," Master Yin said, his voice halting, his state of mind clearly unstable.
A scene suddenly flashed through Li Fan's mind.
A figure in white robes, sighing to the heavens: "The path to immortality is barred, with the Dharma Spreader looming above!"
"But *he*," Master Yin said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "at the cost of his own life, created a possibility for the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm. A way to threaten the Dharma Spreader himself."
"They are both Longevity Celestial Venerables. Although the Dharma Spreader is far more powerful, their fundamental status is the same. And if the Immortal-Mortal Miasma could fatally harm its creator, then by the same logic..."
"...the Immortal-Mortal Miasma could also cripple, or even kill, the Dharma Spreader!" Master Yin's voice suddenly rose, sharp with excitement.
"Ever since the Great Calamity, the Dharma Spreader has all but vanished. Even after re-establishing the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, he has rarely appeared. Who's to say this isn't the reason? He's afraid, too! Ha!"
Master Yin's expression grew wild, almost unhinged.
"He didn't just find a way to kill the Dharma Spreader; he showed them the path to utterly dismantle his entire system! After all, trying to kill a Celestial Venerable with the miasma alone..."
"...the odds of success are far too low."
"But the path he laid out, the way to shatter the Dharma Spreader's order—that is absolutely achievable!" The emotional turmoil was too much, and Master Yin coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"If the miasma could become one flaw in the Dharma Spreader's system, why not create more? If there were other powerhouses who reached the Longevity stage and were willing to sacrifice themselves..."
"...the flaws in his system would multiply. Eventually, it would be riddled with so many holes that it would shatter at the slightest touch!"
Master Yin's eyes were wide with fervor.
"If only someone else was willing to make the same sacrifice..."
Li Fan listened in silence.
To expect others to have such conviction...
...was asking the impossible.
On one hand, the carefree freedom of eternal life. On the other, sacrificing that life for a faint, uncertain future...
Any rational person would know which to choose.
But this man had not been ordinary.
Master Yin laughed bitterly. "In thousands of years, not a single other cultivator has followed his path."
"Damned cowards! They all deserve to die..."
Li Fan tried to placate him. "Master Yin, don't be so extreme."
But Master Yin ignored him completely. His gaze on Li Fan slowly turned hostile. "What could you possibly understand?"
He pulled out the white rib, his voice dripping with contempt. "I know what cultivators are like. They all cherish their own lives. How many of you walk this path precisely because you fear death?"
"But how could any of your lives ever compare to his?"
"He... he..."
Thin trickles of blood seeped from the corners of Master Yin's eyes. "He... he was already a Longevity Celestial Venerable to begin with!"
The words struck Li Fan's soul like a bolt of lightning.
Even with his immense self-control, he couldn't stop himself from blurting out, "What?"
"He was already a Longevity Celestial Venerable? What do you mean?"
Li Fan pressed him urgently.
"What do I mean? Exactly what I said. Before the ancient methods vanished, he was the last of them—the last Ancient Law Longevity Celestial Venerable to achieve his station through the power of Heaven and Earth itself!" Master Yin enunciated every word.
"Only the bones of an ancient Celestial Venerable could be so perfect, as if crafted by Heaven and Earth itself..."
Master Yin spoke as he stroked the rib, his touch full of obsession.
Then, his eyes suddenly turned sinister as he stared at Li Fan.
After a tense moment, Master Yin suddenly looked up at the sky, his expression shifting to one of bewildered uncertainty.
He began to mutter, "And he wasn't like those thieves... His longevity was a gift, freely given by the world itself."
"He could have just left this place..."
Li Fan didn't interrupt, silently committing every word Master Yin spoke to memory.
Ancient Law Longevity? And a unique form of it, at that.
No wonder he was so peerless, whether with the Imperial Beast Sect or the Heavenly Sword Sect.
But how did he reach the Longevity stage in the first place?
Or perhaps... when he ascended in a single step all those years ago, he didn't just go from mortal to Soul Transformation.
He went all the way... from mortal to Longevity Celestial Venerable in a single breath?
The thought was absurd, and Li Fan almost dismissed it.
A rate of progress like that was completely unprecedented!
If that's true, it's just too outrageous.
No matter how favored he was by the Heavenly Dao, this level of treatment is unheard of.
He wasn't just a favorite child of heaven; he was treated like its sole heir.
Could it be... that he saved the Xuanhuang Realm in a past life?
As he thought this, a strange idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.
He froze.
No... could it be?
He quickly pieced his thoughts together, and the suspicion in his mind grew ever clearer.
Both were perfect beings.
Both cared deeply for all life in the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Xuantian King vanished without a trace.
Years later, another mortal appeared in the world.
Beloved by the Heavenly Dao, favored to an outrageous degree.
When connected, all these points led to one conclusion.
Li Fan couldn't help but think, Could it be...
...that Mr. Bai is the reincarnation of the Xuantian King?
Yes, the face Li Fan had seen reconstructed from the skull was identical to Mr. Bai's.
And as for the rumors that the first cultivator infected with the miasma was named Su...
...that was because...
Li Fan couldn't help but remember a scene from his time in the Fallen Immortal Realm.
"'Gouzi was just a discarded reject. If it weren't for Xiao Bai...'"
The yellow-haired Lu Ya had been explaining, only to be kicked sharply from behind.
He rubbed his backside, looking embarrassed.
Lu Ya quickly corrected himself. "'If *Mr. Bai* hadn't healed him, Gouzi would have been dead long ago.'"
...
That was it. The reason he was called Mr. Bai was because the orphans of Ningyuan City had heard him being called 'Xiao Bai' and had turned it into a title of respect.
They probably didn't even know the real name of the kindest man in the world.
And given Mr. Bai's nature, even if he knew the children had misunderstood, he would never have corrected them.
As long as it made the children happy.
Besides, 'Mr. Bai' was a fine name.
Su Bai...
So that was his name.
Achieving Longevity through the Ancient Law, then reversing the principles of Heaven and Earth to achieve Longevity again through the New Method.
I never thought anyone could do such a thing, and yet...
Li Fan then remembered the conversation he had overheard between Sun Qi and Sun Liancheng.
"The more favored one is by Heaven and Earth, the harder it is to reverse its principles."
"The backlash one suffers will be all the more severe."
And yet, under those circumstances, he still managed to do it...
Li Fan fell deeper into silent contemplation.
His mind churned with these thoughts for what felt like an eternity.
A sudden disturbance snapped Li Fan back to the present.
A bizarre energy was fluctuating around Master Yin.
Li Fan could see that Master Yin's condition was far from normal.
He looked as if he might fly into a frenzy at any moment.
Yet, in this state, he also seemed capable of perceiving the great mysteries of the universe, as if he could see the entire past and present of the rib's owner laid bare.
"Why? Why?"
Master Yin clutched his head in agony as a faint vertical line began to appear down the center of his body.
It looked as if he might split in two at any moment.
Li Fan cautiously took a few steps back.
As Master Yin writhed on the ground in pain, Li Fan could faintly hear the sound of explosions coming from the secret chamber beneath Yinyin Island, the chamber filled with Master Yin's countless previous bodies.
The ground trembled, and a low hum filled the air.
After what seemed an age, Master Yin suddenly leaped to his feet, his face alight with excitement. "I know!"
(End of this chapter)
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