Chapter 765 |
There is no doubt that Mr. Bai is deeply connected to the Fallen Immortal Realm.
If Xu Bai were to enter using a clone, it might draw the attention of Mr. Bai, who resides within the Fallen Immortal Realm...
However, the outcome remains uncertain—whether it will bring fortune or disaster.
Since transmigrating to this world, Li Fan has experienced countless events and has long since stopped blindly trusting anything, even what he sees with his own eyes—especially when it concerns his own life and safety.
After pondering for a long time, Xu Bai finally suppressed the sudden impulse to explore the Fallen Immortal Realm.
"This situation is too strange; I must remain cautious," Xu Bai murmured, his expression unreadable.
This body was refined using Xu Ke's essence blood, combined with the spiritual demeanor of Mr. Bai.
Just by being slightly infused with his spiritual demeanor, Xu Bai began to exhibit several peculiar phenomena, including but not limited to:
Being favored by the heavens, possessing extraordinary talent.
Occasionally having uncontrollable thoughts arise in his mind.
These phenomena alone were enough to prove the formidable power of Mr. Bai, causing Li Fan to become even more vigilant.
If the influence were limited to the clone, it would be manageable.
What Li Fan truly feared was that this transformation might subtly seep through the connection between the clone and his true self, ultimately affecting his true body.
By then, would he still be himself?
Even if he remained authentic, could he free himself from this kind of "contamination"?
Yes, in Li Fan’s eyes, this strange change that alters his original nature is undoubtedly a form of contamination—something he absolutely cannot tolerate.
"If I notice even the slightest sign of my true body being affected, I must immediately dispel it," Xu Bai resolved inwardly.
After calming his emotions, Xu Bai returned to his usual demeanor and left the Longevity Valley.
He traveled back to Tianliang Prefecture and continued to handle various matters as the liaison envoy.
Since the large-scale campaign to conquer the small worlds began, he had taken on a new responsibility—monitoring the number of discovered Cave-Heaven and small worlds within the territory and coordinating cultivators to lead expeditions against them.
The core reason behind this responsibility is that every unknown small world holds immense merit and contributions for cultivators.
Unless under special circumstances, cultivators are reluctant to share such discoveries with others.
Usually, they would first share the opportunity with close friends and family.
Only when the power of a small world is overwhelmingly strong and their small group is powerless to resolve it would they reluctantly consider joining forces with others.
The envisioned scenario by the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance—where the entrance to a small world is openly shared with other alliance cultivators—is exceedingly rare.
As time passed, cultivators gradually realized that conquering small worlds is essentially a non-renewable resource.
It might even be the only chance in their lifetime to rapidly accumulate merit and contributions.
Thus, naturally, they strategize and maximize their gains.
Consequently, after the initial phase of rapid expansion, the process of conquering the myriad realms suddenly slowed down.
The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is well aware of the reasons behind this phenomenon.
Therefore, they assigned Xu Bai with this new responsibility.
Although no mandatory measures were imposed, his official status as an envoy of the alliance made it easier for him to facilitate cooperation between small groups.
Surprisingly, instead of encountering resistance, his reputation grew, and cultivators proactively sought his assistance.
After frequent interactions with them, Xu Bai gradually understood their needs and intentions.
First, they can share the entrance information of the small worlds they hold with others. However, in return, any cultivator who gains benefits from this must also give priority to helping them when discovering other small worlds in the future.
This is what is known as mutual assistance.
Second, conquering a small world is not as simple as eating or drinking. It requires constantly facing bloody battles, where the slightest mistake could lead to instant death. Therefore, fellow cultivators who embark on such journeys must be trustworthy. Though it may not be necessary to share life and death, at the very least, one must not stab others in the back.
Third, as the saying goes, "Don’t let fertile water flow into others' fields." If possible, the small worlds within Tianliang Prefecture should be managed and absorbed solely by the local cultivators of Tianliang Prefecture.
Xu Bai, having experienced a hundred reincarnations and priding himself on his deep understanding of human nature, still felt a slight headache when dealing with these cultivators harboring hidden agendas.
Often, the harmonious-looking teams he introduced would return with only a few survivors.
They would remain silent about the fallen comrades, only to start blaming one another.
Yet, when contacted again to form another expedition team, most of them—eight or nine out of ten—would still agree.
This was because, despite being aware of each other’s dark behavior, they at least knew some details about one another.
Compared to completely unfamiliar partners, those with some background knowledge were ironically more trustworthy.
"Human nature is truly unfathomable and hard to predict," Xu Bai sighed, shaking his head.
In his mind, the names of numerous cultivators resembled chess pieces, each positioned differently according to their personalities and abilities.
Xu Bai was trying to find a way to maximize the power of the cultivators in Tianliang Prefecture.
In a way, it was also a unique form of cultivation.
Xu Bai thought to himself.
"At present, Tianling Prefecture has already discovered thirteen small worlds. Among them, one is extremely dangerous—numerous expeditions have failed with no survivors—so it has been temporarily set aside. Of the remaining twelve, half have been completely cleared..."
After the cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance completely annihilated the resistance within the small worlds and scanned them with the Tianxuan Treasure Record, a team of black-robed cultivators from the alliance headquarters would take over.
They would drive out unrelated individuals and seal the entrances, conducting unknown activities within.
Even after inquiring with Nangong Shirong, Xu Bai could not uncover any secrets.
However, based on feedback from the cultivators under his command, he deduced that shortly after the black-robed cultivators took over, the entrances to these small worlds inexplicably disappeared.
Although the marked locations remained on the Tianxuan Treasure Record map, no matter how hard one searched, the actual entrances could not be found.
"It’s not that the entrances were concealed by some method—they fundamentally changed."
"In fact, the entrances still exist, but it seems they’ve undergone some kind of encryption, making it impossible to find them through conventional means."
This was the conclusion Xu Bai reached after conducting on-site explorations.
While Xu Bai was busy in Tianliang Prefecture...
The original body of Li Fan finally bid farewell to the enthusiastic Shuo Feng, leaving his residence.
During the days of being entangled in duels, although Li Fan himself benefited greatly, he was even more astonished by Shuo Feng's rapid progress.
From the very beginning, when Shuo Feng was utterly helpless against the Extracting Threads, Cutting Life, merely enduring with his peculiar constitution...
To later on, when Shuo Feng gradually adapted to the life-severing effects...
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