Ever since Tianyang appeared before him, Layman Qiaogong's gaze had not shifted away for a single moment.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Layman Qiaogong looked him up and down, marveling in wonder.
"Wondrous, truly wondrous.
"To think person and object could merge so seamlessly...
"Back then, the chief elder of our Tianji Realm, Shangguan Tuo, once sought total control over Ancestor. He took a perilous gamble and merged his own divine soul into Ancestor's shattered core.
"Naturally, it failed, and nearly brought about the destruction of the Tianji Realm. Ever since, similar attempts were strictly forbidden. Though our Tianji Realm's crafting arts are quite miraculous, to achieve a state so close to nature, so utterly seamless..."
Delight gleamed repeatedly in Layman Qiaogong's eyes, gradually giving way to an obsessive fervor.
Tianyang was stolid by nature, but he had long emerged from his muddle-headed state. He sized up Layman Qiaogong warily and quietly shifted his steps until he stood beside Li Fan.
"Haha, this is simply the wonder of the myriad cultivation worlds, each with its own marvels. This technique is known as the Path of Bodily Transformation—turning one's body into an object, uniting subject and object as one. Fellow Daoist Qiaogong, after observing for so long, do you have any ideas on how to enhance Tianyang?" Li Fan asked with a smile.
"Ideas? Oh, I have ideas, more than enough! I'm practically..." Layman Qiaogong flushed red with excitement, like a child discovering a wondrous new toy. "If Fellow Daoist Tianyang had appeared in our Tianji Realm back in the day, he would have caused an enormous sensation! It might have completely altered the course of our realm's history!
"Our replica Tianji puppets still have a substantial gap between them and their prototype, Ancestor. The most crucial reason is our limited materials and resources; every time, we had to craft them to completion before we could make comparisons. Because there was no way to communicate with a puppet. But if we have Fellow Daoist Tianyang's help...
"Ancestor's many functions might actually be realized one by one...
"Of course, I might need the aid of the power from Fellow Daoist's Dao Flowers." Layman Qiaogong turned to look at Li Fan.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Qiaogong, go right ahead and do what you must," Li Fan gave his generous assurance.
Sensing Tianyang sending an inquiry asking whether Layman Qiaogong was trustworthy, Li Fan quietly comforted him, finally putting Tianyang's doubts to rest.
Watching Layman Qiaogong and Tianyang disappear together, Li Fan flickered away and arrived in the central underground secret chamber.
"Source Power can act upon and elevate dharma treasures?"
Li Fan summoned the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
After a moment of contemplation, he chose not to use the Source Power essence produced by the faceless stone statue, nor did he use the Source Power gathered by the Common People Lingyuan Technique.
Instead, he used only the cultivation feedback obtained from his practice of the Immortal-Sitting Art.
Inside his dantian, a calamity body shattered.
Guided by Li Fan, the vast reservoir of stored cultivation washed toward the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
Upon close observation, Li Fan discovered that the vast majority of the Source Power was not absorbed by it.
Instead, it bounced back completely intact.
If a cultivator did not gather it, it would eventually disperse slowly into heaven and earth.
Yet Li Fan also keenly perceived that an infinitesimal portion of the Source Power had vanished into thin air upon contact with the Terminal Dissociation Disc!
Li Fan narrowed his eyes. While forming a new calamity body to gather the scattered Source Power, he continued washing the Terminal Dissociation Disc with it.
Like panning for gold from vast sands, slowly, a change finally occurred within the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
From an external look alone, it was difficult to tell that any change had taken place. However, the increase in the Dissociation Disc's speed at deducing formations could not be faked.
"Some dharma treasures, after a cultivator uses them for a long time, gradually develop spirituality, obeying their master's every whim like an extension of their own arm and yielding greater efficacy. In truth, that process is quite similar to this."
Sensing the increasingly deep and distinct bond between himself and the Terminal Dissociation Disc, Li Fan gained a flash of insight.
Unfortunately, every object had its limits.
Through this tempering with Source Power, the Terminal Dissociation Disc's capability ultimately increased by roughly a fifth.
After that point, Source Power had no effect on it.
"Better than nothing, I suppose. I only wonder whether, once the disc absorbs the nine discs of this era and undergoes a qualitative leap, it can be tempered again using this method," Li Fan mused to himself.
Speak of the devil.
Three days later, Li Fan finally received a transmission from Mo Rubin.
The meeting place was still that concealed grotto-heaven; the nine Dissociation Discs were already in hand.
When Li Fan met Mo Rubin again, he noticed a subtle change about the man.
"Hmm? You seem a bit different?" Li Fan asked directly and bluntly.
Mo Rubin laughed, making no attempt to hide it. "Hahaha, as expected, nothing escapes Brother Xingwang's discerning eye!
"I've toiled tirelessly for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, settling trouble after trouble. My contributions are plain for all to see, so the Council of Dharma Transmitters naturally bestowed a reward," Mo Rubin said, not without smugness on his face.
"Doesn't the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals belong to you Dharma Transmitters anyway? If you want something, just take it. Why do you even need a reward?" Li Fan said with a half-smile, his tone tinged with mockery.
"You can't put it that way. The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals will always belong to the venerable Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable himself. We Dharma Transmitters, along with the Mirror Keepers and the Illusion-Reality Sages, merely manage it on his behalf," Mo Rubin said solemnly and with a semblance of righteous decorum.
Then he burst into loud laughter.
"Still, the items in the Myriad Realms Treasury are truly extraordinary, none of them ordinary goods. Coming away with a great harvest this time was quite an unexpected pleasant surprise." Mo Rubin did not specify what exactly he had obtained, instead launching into an introduction of the Myriad Realms Treasury.
As it turned out, the contents of the Myriad Realms Treasury were treasures gathered by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable from scouring the corpses of the cultivation worlds that had merged with the Xuanhuang Realm.
In the Pitch-Black Star Sea, only the Xuanhuang Realm survived.
Other cultivation worlds had either fallen into the Immortal Ruins or been devoured by the Xuanhuang Realm.
The treasures of all those worlds were gathered in full within this treasury.
The name "Myriad Realms" was truly well-deserved.
To catch the eye of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable and be pocketed by him, their value was naturally immense.
In Li Fan's mind's eye, an image even surfaced: the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable conscientiously hauling fragments of cultivation worlds through the starry sky, first collecting all the treasures within, and only then fusing the remnants into Xuanhuang.
"Unfortunately, the Myriad Realms Treasury can only be opened by a joint resolution of the Council of Dharma Transmitters. Even if I wanted to pocket something extra, I couldn't. Otherwise, I would have let you share in the windfall, Brother Xingwang," Mo Rubin said with a chuckle.
Li Fan gave him a cold look. "They are merely external objects. Just like these nine Dissociation Discs or whatever they are, they're nothing more than tools. In the end, we still have to rely on ourselves."
Hearing this, Mo Rubin's expression shifted.
He then said solemnly, "Brother Xingwang speaks the truth. My mindset had grown a bit too smug."
Li Fan gave a cold snort and said no more.
He simply watched as Mo Rubin casually handed over the nine Dissociation Discs, drifting near yet apart, glowing with a crystalline white light.
Li Fan forcibly suppressed the surging desire that abruptly erupted from the Terminal Dissociation Disc within his sea of consciousness.
Chapter 1015