Chapter 984: The Seeker of the Dao Must Be Slain
Chapter 984: The Seeker of the Dao Must Be Slain
"The Xuanhuang Realm..."
"It is truly a place fraught with peril. Back then, the survivors from our worlds clashed with the Xuanhuang Realm. Now that I've returned to this old place alone, I must naturally be even more cautious," Daoist Baihua explained.
"Oh? You clashed in the past? What do you mean by that? When calamity strikes, shouldn't we cultivators stand united and overcome the hardship together?" Li Fan asked, though a moment's thought was all it took for him to guess the likely reason for the conflict.
A group of homeless survivors stumbling upon a rich and prosperous cultivation world like the Xuanhuang Realm would inevitably breed all sorts of avarice. At that time, Xuantian King was likely still around, and he would have surely barred the gate to anyone with ulterior motives.
But Li Fan feigned ignorance.
Daoist Baihua's answer was largely consistent with his speculation. "That half-immortal... he was quite imperious. He flatly rejected our proposal to join forces and face the calamity together. And then he tried to drive us away on the spot."
"Heh, naturally, that didn't sit well with some among us. So, we... exchanged a few blows."
A golden light flickered around Daoist Baihua's form, a clear sign that the "exchange" she spoke of had been far more than a friendly spar.
"It seems that while Xuantian King cared for the people of the Xuanhuang Realm, he was no naive do-gooder. He was highly wary of outsiders, especially those arriving amidst a raging calamity. Still, he was ultimately a bit too merciful. If it had been me, I would have slaughtered every last one of them and plundered all their resources. In an apocalyptic world, every extra resource is another sliver of hope for survival. Releasing a tiger back into the mountains only invites greater disaster down the road..." In that instant, a cascade of thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind.
He concealed the faint glint of killing intent perfectly, yet it did not escape the perception of Daoist Baihua's Glazed Body.
Daoist Baihua paused mid-sentence, wondering at the sudden, inexplicable surge of murderous intent from the man before her.
"Could it be... that this man has some connection to the half-immortal from all those years ago?" A jolt of alarm shot through her heart.
After some thought, Daoist Baihua took the initiative to change the subject, shifting from past events back to the disappearance of the Fishing Pool. "After arriving in the Xuanhuang Realm, I remained attached to little Liuli. Firstly, because I sensed that the Xuanhuang Realm had become even more dangerous than before, and secondly, because the Glazed Wisdom Fruit is of great benefit to my cultivation..."
"Life was peaceful enough, until the arrival of you and that Stone Slab cultivator."
"If all he did was fish for treasures from the Fishing Pool, it would have been fine. But he... he just had to try and comprehend the so-called Dao of Fishing..."
As she spoke, Daoist Baihua shot a sidelong glance at Li Fan.
The Stone Slab cultivator's decision had not been made without a little prodding from Li Fan himself.
"This supreme treasure, the Fishing Pool, was clearly the work of a Nameless True Immortal who had already established their own Dao. How could they possibly allow another to meddle with it?"
"His attempt to comprehend the Dao of Fishing was bound to provoke a backlash. As for where he and the Fishing Pool have gone, I'm afraid that is beyond our ability to discover," Daoist Baihua said, shaking her head with a faint sigh.
Li Fan remained silent.
There were no flaws in Daoist Baihua's explanation. He had to admit, if someone tried to comprehend the principles of turning illusion into reality or reversing the flow of time through [Truth], he too would fight them to the death.
But soon, another thought struck him, and he frowned slightly. "If a True Immortal's Dao cannot be touched by others, then why did the Inscription Immortal leave behind several True Immortal Scripts? And why did the Immortal Ruins Immortal spend thousands of years comprehending one without attracting the Inscription Immortal's attention?"
Daoist Baihua paused for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts. "I'm afraid you've misunderstood, fellow Daoist. The Dao that the Immortal Ruins Immortal was comprehending has nothing to do with the Dao of the Inscription Immortal."
"The Inscription Immortal's Dao is to inscribe the Dao into characters. The Immortal Ruins Immortal, however, used the 'Hunger' character to comprehend his own Dao..."
"The path he pursued may be 'Hunger' itself, or something related to 'Hunger.' But it would never be the Dao of 'Inscription'..."
"Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Daoist Baihua asked, looking at Li Fan.
Li Fan mulled it over for a moment before nodding slightly.
It wasn't that he was too slow to grasp such a simple point. Rather, a new idea had suddenly surfaced in his mind, one that he needed to confirm with her.
"I once saw the Immortal Ruins Immortal bound by chains. I originally assumed they were a form of suppression imposed by an external force."
"Thinking about it now, it's more likely that he bound himself. The purpose... perhaps it was to prevent himself from losing control while comprehending the 'Hunger' character. No, that's not right. An immortal is indifferent to the lives of mortals; it's unlikely he'd do it simply to avoid harming the innocent. It's far more probable that he was worried losing control would affect his own path of cultivation..."
"So that's how it is. The Dao he was cultivating... it might be related to resisting the very instinct of hunger."
Li Fan was adept at projecting his own logic onto others, and in an instant, he had deduced a great deal.
Seeing Li Fan lost in thought, Daoist Baihua maintained her silence.
After a long while, Li Fan spoke again. "Although you have explained much, there is no concrete proof. Those who are not our own kind... they cannot be trusted. For the sake of the people of the Xuanhuang Realm, I'm afraid I must still inconvenience you."
Li Fan's reaction seemed to be within Daoist Baihua's expectations. She showed no agitation, but said in a low voice, "What if I am now a cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm?"
Li Fan was taken aback. "What do you mean by that?"
"I used Liuli's body to reconstruct my own. And Liuli herself took form within the Xuanhuang Realm, aided by the power of its heaven and earth..."
"In a sense, you could say that I too was born and nurtured by the heaven and earth of the Xuanhuang Realm," Daoist Baihua said with a faint smile.
"If you do not believe me, you can return with me to the Xuanhuang Realm and feel the will of heaven and earth for yourself. With my level of strength, if I were an outsider, the world would surely show an instinctive revulsion. Every cultivator in the mortal realm would be able to see it at a glance; it is impossible to conceal."
To verify her words, Li Fan brought Daoist Baihua back to the main Xuanhuang Realm.
He instantly shifted his perspective to that of heaven and earth.
Sure enough, Li Fan could sense no malice from the world towards Daoist Baihua.
In fact, there was a faint sense of affinity, even an intention to welcome her.
A strange feeling crept into Li Fan's heart.
"What is your current cultivation level?" he asked.
"Well, in the Wansheng Realm, after I had perfected my technique and transformed into the Glazed Body, the next step would have been to face the heavenly tribulation and ascend to immortality."
"Although the path to immortality is severed and I cannot ascend, my strength has still been increasing over these many years, especially after absorbing the Glazed Wisdom Fruit..."
"If I were to use the realms of the Xuanhuang Realm as a measure, I suppose I would be considered at the Longevity stage."
(End of Chapter)
Comments