What was cultivation base?
It was something rather abstract, yet undeniably real.
Every cultivator practiced different techniques, but what they ultimately attained led to the same destination, merely tinged with the unique imprint of their respective arts.
The three golden figures before Li Fan were the size of ordinary mortals. Like the glowing cube he had encountered earlier, they were creations forged entirely of materialized cultivation base.
Furthermore, each was the unfathomable sum of cultivation condensed to the absolute extreme.
Not only that, but Li Fan keenly perceived a distinctive aura lingering within each of the three golden figures.
Each differed, yet all shared a prominent characteristic—they resembled intricate mechanical constructs arranged into unique internal structures.
Li Fan was certain that if one were slightly careless and tripped the mechanisms within them, they would execute some predetermined task in an established manner.
"There isn't the slightest trace of spiritual energy circulating within them. It relies entirely on the stacking of the cultivation base itself.
"Was it done to achieve absolute concealment?
"To apply it with such exquisite ingenuity is truly unimaginable."
After a moment's contemplation, Li Fan projected a sliver of spiritual energy across the air, then retreated to a safe distance.
Manipulating that sliver of energy like a fuse, he drove it forcefully into one of the golden figures.
Like a cache of powder kegs abruptly detonated, a violent and unstable aura erupted with a roar.
The golden radiance then pulled back swiftly inside, with uncontrollable light leaking only from its eyes.
Li Fan was thus able to see the golden figure's appearance clearly.
To his surprise, this figure composed purely of condensed cultivation looked nearly identical to the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable!
Or rather, it was modeled directly on the statues of the Heavenly Venerable scattered across the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals!
Upon awakening, the golden figure showed not a moment of disorientation. As though following preprogrammed steps, its gaze swept across the supplies stored within the chamber.
It tapped its hands through the air, and beams of golden light detached from its body, darting onto various objects. Once imbued with the golden light of cultivation base, those previously inanimate objects seemed to suddenly gain sentience.
They rapidly assembled themselves into a rough humanoid form.
Having done all this, Golden Figure One looked toward its two still-slumbering companions. Its left and right eyes each beamed a ray of light onto them.
Golden Figures Two and Three were thus activated one after the other.
Golden Figure Two's form shattered, turning into a viscous golden sludge that flowed into the vague humanoid figure assembled by Golden Figure One.
Golden Figure Three transformed into a streak of radiance, burrowing up from the underground to fly off toward an unknown destination.
After absorbing the golden sludge, the humanoid figure became far more lifelike.
However, it did not seem to have birthed a consciousness of its own.
It was not until a short while later, when Golden Figure Three returned and thrust an unknown, constantly pulsing black object into it, that the breath of life abruptly descended.
*Is this the Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect's contingency for resurrection?* Li Fan could not help thinking as he peered from afar.
And as if to confirm Li Fan's suspicion...
Following an eerie writhing, the golden sludge gradually solidified into a physical form.
A strange, rasping voice like scraping metal echoed underground. "Am I... dead?"
There was confusion in the tone, as well as an edge of grievance.
The Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect looked at the two golden figures guarding his sides and actually appeared somewhat astonished. "Creation Golden Men? I really managed to develop these things? Damn it..."
Having returned from the dead, he showed no joy, only an irritable unease.
"According to the progress in my memory, it should have taken at least another century of research to achieve a qualitative breakthrough.
"Right, there should be a coronal chronometer here."
After rummaging around, the Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect indeed found what he was looking for in a corner.
Yet when he checked it, his face drained of color. "Three hundred and twenty-eight years later?! After so much time has passed, how could this memory backup of mine possibly be restored?"
After a brief panic, the young Cult Master quickly regained his composure.
"Given how cautious I am, there's no way I went over three centuries without backing up my memories. Yet my resurrection still had to rely on this one...
"The only plausible explanation is that an unforeseen catastrophe occurred, destroying all subsequent memory backups.
"*Hiss...*"
The Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect sucked in a cold breath.
"It seems the Lingyuan Sect must have been destroyed along with me. As expected, trying to accomplish great things with a rabble of fools is simply too difficult."
Saying so, as if to test his conclusion, the Cult Master began attempting to circulate the Common People Lingyuan Technique.
To his shock, his cultivation proceeded completely unhindered and with extraordinary smoothness.
At the same time, he hazily sensed that as many as a million people were practicing the Common People Lingyuan Technique at that very moment!
"What is going on?" The Cult Master was instantly unsettled.
With his brows knitted tight, he paced back and forth.
In the end, he deduced a possibility: a traitor had emerged within the sect who not only executed him, but also wiped out all of his memory backups.
Only the most primitive one had been safely preserved, perhaps because it was from so long ago.
Yet this deduction only left him more bewildered.
"What on earth did I go through to trust an outsider so deeply?
"To the point of leaking even my most deeply concealed secret... and in the end, trusting the wrong person and being murdered directly..."
The Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect wracked his brains, but could not fathom a reason.
Finally, he let out a long sigh. "Before figuring out what actually happened, I can only keep my head down and lie low.
"Well, I got through the past by doing that anyway, so I'm used to it.
"I went through so much trouble to escape to a cultivation world that was spared from calamity, yet it turned out to be this wretched place. Curse it all..."
Muttering complaints, the Cult Master's body—composed of mechanical parts and physical cultivation—began to transform.
His arm shifted into a long pipe, piercing into the cube wall beneath his feet.
From the golden light flickering continuously through the pipe, it was clear he was absorbing the cultivation base stored within the cube.
His aura and cultivation realm skyrocketed from the early Qi Refining stage of his fresh resurrection, climbing ceaselessly.
"Fortunately, after so many years, I've amassed a sizable reserve of cultivation base.
"I should be able to recover my original strength before long," the Cult Master murmured to himself.
Just then, he discovered to his shock that he had suddenly lost control of his body.
Realizing he was under attack, he moved to immediately order the two golden figures to protect him.
Yet before he could issue the command, he saw a stone statue radiating a sacred, merciful aura seize control of his mind.
"Compassion of the Red Dust..."
His mind ensnared, all his thoughts were severed in an instant.
By the time he came back to his senses, he had no idea where he was.
When he tried to contact the two guardian golden figures, he found the connection completely severed.
The Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect felt his heart sink.
Chapter 1010