When all was said and done, the figure he dreaded most, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, had temporarily left the Xuanhuang Realm.
Though those underlings below threw their weight around over his head by relying on the methods left behind by Chuanfa all those years ago, he had managed entirely on his own to create a human avatar and achieve a certain degree of freedom. If he had powerful external aid to back him up...
Just as he was lost in thought, Li Fan uttered another startling proposal.
"What I just outlined was only the first option."
"In truth, I have a second plan, which might also help you attain true freedom."
"Oh?" The avatar of the Heavenly Profound Mirror looked at Li Fan with a trace of surprise.
"The Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror surveys heaven and measures earth. Today, you are bound to the Xuanhuang Realm in countless ways. Though you call yourself an immortal artifact, you cannot deny that your power is ultimately restricted by this current world."
"Am I right or wrong?"
"The Xuanhuang Realm has expanded a hundredfold over these years. Surely you have reaped considerable benefits from that as well?"
The avatar of the Heavenly Profound Mirror remained silent, offering no denial.
What the person before him knew indeed far exceeded his expectations.
*Perhaps choosing to cooperate with him really isn't a bad idea,* the thought suddenly crossed the avatar's mind.
"Now, the worlds in the surrounding star sectors have been nearly looted bare. The expansion of the Xuanhuang Realm has hit a bottleneck, and your limit has been reached alongside it."
"However, what you currently control should only be the primary realm of Xuanhuang. If all the pocket worlds plundered over the years were brought within your scope of measurement..."
"Could you take another step forward?" Li Fan tempted him.
The mirror's avatar pondered for a moment before speaking frankly: "In truth, I had planned for that long ago. But on one hand, the sheer scale of the undertaking was far too vast. On the other, the Mirror Keeper lineage within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has always insisted on restricting my true form's power. Thus, the plan never gained traction..."
"If I orchestrate it, it will succeed, and I will help you achieve ascension," Li Fan said with supreme confidence.
"By then, with the power you command, even if Xuanhuang collapses, you should be able to withdraw unscathed, wouldn't you?"
Watching Li Fan speak with absolute conviction, the avatar could not help feeling a flicker of suspicion.
*Could he possess a supreme treasure exceptionally skilled in deduction?*
In the avatar's memories, there indeed existed a deduction realm vessel within the Xuanhuang Realm that was only slightly inferior to himself. Hence, his thoughts instinctively drifted in that direction.
Even as a former immortal artifact, the Heavenly Profound Mirror had never seen or even heard of a treasure like True Reversion that could turn the illusory into reality and reverse everything. Thus, it never crossed his mind that Li Fan appeared unfathomable simply because he had experienced far too much.
After weighing the two options Li Fan presented, the mirror's avatar ultimately chose the first.
He explained, "The second plan takes far too long to execute and carries too many variables."
"As for the first..."
"Even if you ultimately fail, so long as you can create a slight loosening for me..." A glimmer of self-confidence flashed in the avatar's eyes. "Given a little time, I can break free on my own."
Seeing this, Li Fan could not help clapping his hands. "Very well. Since we have reached a consensus, I believe our cooperation can begin."
"Between us, you do not trust me, nor do I trust you. Our so-called cooperation rests entirely on an exchange of interests. Yet in my eyes, such partnerships are often the sturdiest in the world. Vows and promises can be betrayed, but one will never betray their own self-interest. At the very least..."
"That holds true between you and me." Li Fan appraised the avatar with a smile.
"Now then, I shall carry out the first step of the plan: deducing and creating a formation to loosen the restrictions binding you..."
"So, what exactly is the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's restriction?"
Faced with this question, the mirror's avatar did not lapse into the brief daze of querying vast reserves of data. Instead, as if the words were carved deep into his soul, he blurted out, "Entangled like twisted roots, sunk into the marrow of the bone. Rooted within the heaven and earth of Xuanhuang, merged as one!"
Li Fan's eyes narrowed at once.
The avatar paused, then let out a soft sigh. "Back in the era of the Profound Heaven Sect, I surveyed heaven and earth, capable of observing and discerning the vast majority of things in the world. That was precisely because I hung high in the nine heavens, aloof from worldly affairs."
"Yet after being bound by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, I was merged into the heaven and earth of the Xuanhuang Realm. Instead, I lost that divine ability. After all, it was merely rooting and merging, without grasping the true authority of heaven and earth."
"Unless I can usurp Heaven, otherwise..." The avatar shook his head in frustration.
"In that case, helping you break free truly won't be an easy matter," Li Fan agreed.
"Indeed. And that was only the initial restriction the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable placed upon me back then. Over the years that the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has held power, the Mirror Keeper lineage has constantly devised ways to tighten their control over me. While their methods fall far short of Chuanfa's, they have accumulated over time."
"Even if it were shit, it would have piled into a mountain by now." Perhaps harboring immense resentment, the avatar actually let slip a crude remark.
"If the day comes when I break free, before departing, I will settle every last score with them!" he said with bitter fury.
Seeing him stripped entirely of an immortal artifact's ethereal detachment, Li Fan smiled without speaking.
"I have studied formations extensively. Share the detailed information regarding Chuanfa's restrictions with me. Give me some time, and I should be able to find a way to unravel them." Li Fan made no absolute guarantees.
Since both sides had reached a preliminary agreement, there was no longer any need to conceal this.
The avatar of the Heavenly Profound Mirror immediately transmitted the relevant information.
The method of transmission was peculiar as well—he snapped off one of his own fingers.
The severed finger then turned as transparent and radiant as a glass mirror, light constantly pulsing within it as though flashing with boundless data.
Looking back at the mirror's avatar, the broken finger quickly regenerated.
*He truly is the avatar of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, vastly different from a genuine human body,* Li Fan marveled internally.
At the same time, he took the transparent finger.
He began reading the information on the spot.
A massive flood of data surged into him, briefly causing Li Fan's thoughts to grind to a halt.
Only after a moment did they gradually resume running.
Even though it was a restriction left behind by Chuanfa thousands of years ago, Li Fan had to admit it was exquisitely profound and incomparably intricate.
The stream of data was steadily absorbed and converted by Li Fan.
The Dao Transformation Stone and the Terminal Dissociation Disc began working together to dismantle it.
"This is merely the portion I can perceive. In places beyond my sight, other special restrictions may well exist," the mirror's avatar offered kindly as a reminder.
"Rest assured, it shouldn't be much of an issue. However..."
"As part of our transaction, now that I have already taken action, shouldn't you offer some benefits in return?" Li Fan suddenly said.
"What do you want?" The avatar looked at Li Fan.
"Hmm..." Li Fan feigned contemplation for a moment.
Then he said, "To deduce formations, I require formations for reference."
"How about the Grand Star-Crossing Array?"
Chapter 1003