Chapter 977: The Secret of the Spirit Element Sect
At present, Li Fan's greatest asset, beyond the vast experience, power, and wisdom accumulated through countless cycles with [Truth], was the innumerable mortals residing within his small worlds.
Under the ceaseless transformations wrought by the Heaven and Earth Furnace, every one of these mortals was a potential cultivator of the future.
More importantly, they were cultivators who would serve him.
He was now just a single step away from forging a true Federation of All Worlds. The sole remaining obstacle was the scarcity of cultivation techniques, a direct consequence of the principle that a single law cannot be cultivated by many.
Until he could manage to lure the Deduction Jade into his possession, Li Fan had already devised a temporary alternative.
This solution was the *Common Lives Spirit Essence Art* of the former Spirit Element Sect.
The more people who practiced this art simultaneously, the faster their cultivation progressed, a unique property sufficient to counteract the detrimental effects of the Law of Incompatible Cultivation.
Previously, the manifestation of the Dharma Transmitter Heavenly Venerate had descended upon Nine Mountains Prefecture, leveling the nine mountains with a single glance.
The headquarters of the Spirit Element Sect was annihilated in the process.
With the drastic reduction in the number of its practitioners, the art's amplifying effect could no longer offset the negative impact of the Law of Incompatible Cultivation. Consequently, all the remaining followers had abandoned it for other techniques.
The followers of the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal had to expend considerable effort just to track down one of these hidden members.
His clone, Li Qing, had already been dispatched to quietly retrieve this person and bring them back to the Spirit Wood Realm for interrogation.
"Even if ordinary people can't last long in that blood-red river, if I have cultivators from the small worlds throw their lives into it, one after another..."
"...it should be possible to reveal all of its hidden history."
As thoughts swirled in his mind, Li Fan's gaze fell once more upon the Creation History Book.
"Of course, to make them risk their lives for me, simple coercion won't be enough. I'll have to entice them with rewards..."
With this in mind, Li Fan began forming a series of hand seals, reconstructing the protective array that enveloped the small mountain temple.
Previously, because the supreme treasure known as the Fishing Pool was completely immovable, Li Fan had only set up a simple formation here.
Now, although the Creation History Book also concealed itself, its metaphysical rank was a tier below that of the Fishing Pool.
Furthermore, he couldn't rule out the possibility that if discovered, some of the old monsters in the Xuanhuang Realm might be powerful enough to forcibly relocate it.
Li Fan, who already considered it his, would certainly not allow such a thing to happen.
The Final Dissociation Disc in his mind emitted a soft white glow as Li Fan began to set up the latest iteration of its array.
"Without new formation data, the Dissociation Disc's deductive evolution has hit a bottleneck."
"I either need to find completely new arrays, or wait for news from Mo Rubin about this world's nine Dissociation Discs."
As the materials stored in his grotto-heaven were slowly consumed, the highest-level formation that the Final Dissociation Disc could currently deduce gradually took form in the world.
Its sophistication surpassed the current arrays of the Xuanhuang Realm by two entire generations; compared to it, the great protective formation of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance seemed as crude as a child's toy fortress.
"This array... I'll call it the [Terminal Void Array]," Li Fan declared, taking a deep breath after completing his work.
Terminal, as the name implied, because it pushed the Dao of formations to its absolute limit.
And Void, representing the nature of the array itself.
Drawing inspiration from the 'World-Hiding Void-Concealment' restriction technique taught by the Heavenly Doctor, and combining it with countless other concealment arrays, the Terminal Void Array's cloaking ability had likely reached the pinnacle of what was possible in the Xuanhuang Realm. The area it enveloped was, for all intents and purposes, a world unto itself.
Even a Dao Integration cultivator who came to investigate meticulously might not detect anything amiss.
If a Longevity realm expert were to only give the area a cursory scan with their divine sense, without careful inspection, the result would likely be the same.
Beyond its concealment function, the Terminal Void Array also possessed basic defensive and retaliatory capabilities. However, they were a tier weaker than its cloaking abilities, and thus not worth elaborating on.
"All followers of the Compassionate Immortal of the Red Dust may face the River of Time. Those who return with even the smallest fragment of time's history will receive a gift from the True Immortal..."
In an instant, Li Fan had already fabricated the perfect narrative in his mind.
"The Heaven and Earth Furnaces in the Empire and the Li Realm are now in place. I can begin to test this plan soon."
As the saying goes, those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed. With a better, more efficient method at his disposal, Li Fan had no intention of personally wading into the treacherous blood-red river. Dispatching the cultivators of his myriad worlds to risk their lives for him was the proper path.
"To brave the blood-red river and restore lost history... This I shall call... [Mending the Heavens]."
Li Fan was quite pleased with himself for coming up with such an imposing name.
But this was the land for Mending the Heavens, and Li Fan didn't feel at ease with only a peerless array guarding it.
He summoned Tianyang and ordered him to stand watch before finally departing.
Of course, before leaving, he didn't forget to warn Tianyang not to attempt to gaze into the blood-red river.
Perhaps only someone like Tianyang wouldn't be overcome with curiosity and court death by trying anyway.
Tianyang simply sat quietly on the ground, watching over the Creation History Book as if in a daze.
He showed no interest whatsoever in the treasure that recorded the entire history of the Xuanhuang Realm.
...
Back in the Spirit Wood Realm, the newcomers Zhong Shentong and the Daoist child Liuli were stunned by the magnificent scenery of the Federation of All Worlds headquarters.
Lin Ling, who had been away for a long time, was also greatly surprised by the changes in the Spirit Wood Realm.
When the treant matriarch, Lin Xin, appeared before her in human form, Lin Ling's expression faltered, a complex look flashing in her eyes.
None of these subtle changes escaped the notice of Li Fan, whose consciousness was one with the Spirit Wood Realm.
"I was right. The little one has started to have ideas of her own."
Li Fan sneered.
Rebellion wasn't quite the right word for it; it was more a nascent unwillingness to submit to his authority.
After all, when Li Fan had first awakened her and she willingly acknowledged him as her master, her consciousness had just begun to form. She was innocent and ignorant, with no clear understanding of the world.
At the time, Li Fan's strength was far beneath her own, yet she had submitted with all sincerity.
But over the years, she had been in constant communication with the ancient earth-vein tree, and her mind had matured rapidly.
Moreover, Li Fan had never revealed his true strength to her. In her eyes, he was merely a somewhat powerful Nascent Soul cultivator.
It was only natural that she would start to have some second thoughts.
Li Fan had noticed this long ago, which was why he hadn't immediately gone to her when he received her message.
However, Li Fan didn't particularly care what Lin Ling was thinking.
As long as she committed no act of betrayal and continued to faithfully carry out his orders, all would be well.
Otherwise...
Li Fan sneered inwardly as his figure flickered, reappearing in the central underground chamber.
"Haven't you gotten it out of him yet?"
His clone, Li Qing, wore a serious expression. "I've gotten the information, but there's something strange."
"This *Common Lives Spirit Essence Art*... I can't cultivate it at all."
"It's not that it has no effect—I can't even take the first step to begin practicing it," Li Qing emphasized.
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