Li Fan had spoken those words as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yet he also knew that the sole reason he could upgrade the Xuantian Nether-Locking Array so effortlessly was entirely thanks to the Dissociation Disc—to say nothing of the fact that it was now a super-version merged across two lifetimes. Left to an ordinary Dao Integration array master, they might truly have struggled even to comprehend such an ancient grand array.
With these thoughts, Li Fan withdrew his gaze from the Nether-Passage Tunnel Mouth.
The frequent outbreaks of anomalies across the Xuanhuang Realm should have been an affair belonging to five hundred years in the future. In this lifetime, the Xuanhuang Realm clearly would not survive that long.
"Let me test the power of falsifying the Heavenly Dao."
Li Fan focused his spirit, locking onto the slender thread linked to the anima of Heaven and Earth, Golden Seal.
Exerting a subtle force, he borrowed the majesty of Heaven and Earth to transmit a false command, ordering Golden Seal to return to Heaven and Earth.
Down within the Nether-Passage Tunnel Mouth, Golden Seal seemed somewhat perplexed by this inexplicable decree.
If it departed now, there was an obvious risk that anomalies would erupt on a massive scale within a short period. Yet an anima of Heaven and Earth was the manifestation of Heaven and Earth's will; naturally, there was no such thing as it defying its own intent.
After a moment's hesitation, Golden Seal shifted from the form of a golden chain back into a human shape, then slowly faded, ultimately dissolving into Heaven and Earth.
The instant Golden Seal vanished, Li Fan saw an immense surge of gloom erupt violently from that murky, unobservable black abyss below.
It was formless and shapeless, yet moved like a living creature, spreading outward of its own accord.
Heaven and Earth reacted swiftly to this dark substance. A sudden premonition of imminent discovery surged in Li Fan's heart; acting decisively, he severed his connection to the cosmic web of Heaven and Earth at once and fled far from the Congyun Sea.
Perhaps occupied with responding to the crisis of anomalies, Heaven and Earth failed to detect Li Fan, who had falsely proclaimed the heavenly mandate and meddled from the shadows.
From a great distance, Li Fan observed that with Golden Seal's dispersal, two new animas of Heaven and Earth were already on the verge of forming in the Congyun Sea.
Having tested his blade on a small scale, Li Fan was thoroughly pleased with his divine ability, Falsifying the Heavenly Dao.
An anima of Heaven and Earth was on a level even higher than an Imminent Transformation of Heaven and Earth. Since he could borrow the mandate of heaven to mobilize an anima, commandeering Imminent Transformations within a certain range would naturally pose little trouble.
"I could even use this method to first stir up chaos within the Xuanhuang Realm, and then guide circumstances to 'manufacture' the animas of Heaven and Earth needed to resolve the issues," Li Fan mused, his thoughts branching in many directions.
"Yet if I do that, Heaven and Earth will inevitably notice the anomaly. It can be done once, but not repeatedly; its utility is limited."
Though far from the Congyun Sea, Li Fan used the Heavenly Profound Mirror to constantly monitor the aftermath of the leak at the Nether-Passage Tunnel Mouth.
On the surface, all seemed serene and utterly peaceful, without the slightest abnormal occurrence. Yet before the cultivators could sense anything amiss, bizarre and anomalous events were already beginning to unfold on Wanxian Island.
***
Thousand Li Hall.
"What in the world? How can this month's accounts not balance?"
Jiao Xiuyuan's brows knit tight as he recalculated his profits for the month, only to discover that he had actually run a deficit.
His blood churned; at any moment, a mouthful of old blood threatened to spray from his lips.
Suppressing the irritation in his chest, Jiao Xiuyuan combed through the ledgers meticulously once more. The result was unchanged.
"That makes no sense. I clearly remember I should have made a modest profit this month. How could I have lost money?" Jiao Xiuyuan was baffled.
Halting all business with customers, he barred the main doors shut. He then pulled up every transaction record that had taken place on Wanxian Island that month, examining each in detail.
In the end, he finally pinpointed the problem.
"Right! There is an outstanding balance that hasn't been collected."
"Who was the debtor again?"
Jiao Xiuyuan muttered under his breath, his expression growing graver as he searched. For he realized that the person who owed him the debt had vanished into thin air without explanation.
Not only was there not a shred of memory left in his own mind, but even the Heavenly Profound Mirror contained no trace of this person's information. It was as if this individual had never existed in the world at all.
"This..."
Jiao Xiuyuan's first instinct was that he had crossed paths with some supreme expert.
"Which friend is playing a practical joke on me, Old Jiao?"
A flicker of anger surfaced on his dark face. Yet soon, confusion crept in.
"At most, it's just ten thousand contribution points. Is that worth the trouble?"
Having cooled his head, Jiao Xiuyuan sensed that something was deeply wrong. Going outside to make inquiries confirmed his suspicions.
"It really isn't just one person who vanished for no reason."
His eyes darting rapidly, Jiao Xiuyuan took out a jade slip and carved his findings into it on the spot.
The anomaly that erupted in the Congyun Sea was far from the only one.
On a certain island, the inhabitants turned into faceless monsters overnight. When looking into a mirror, each saw their own reflection as normal, but looking at anyone else, there was only a blank, faceless visage. Furthermore, none of them could comprehend what the others were saying. Driven by sheer terror, the island's residents slaughtered one another until only a single survivor remained.
Elsewhere, a fishing vessel went out to sea; when it finally drifted back to the island, no crew members emerged for a long time. Curious islanders boarded the ship to look, only to discover that every sailor aboard had been reduced to dry skeletons. The interior of the hull looked as though centuries had passed, thoroughly decayed and decrepit.
...
All manner of grotesque, bizarre phenomena took place, leaving even Li Fan, the instigator behind it all, clicking his tongue in wonder.
"Every anomaly should correspond to a specific set of rules. If one can decipher the secret of those rules during an outbreak, not only can they survive, but perhaps they can even grasp a portion of the new rule's power.
"If cultivators are the embodiments of the power of Heaven and Earth's old laws, then these new laws... might well give birth to an entirely new system of power."
Having communed with Heaven and Earth, Li Fan's comprehension seemed to have sharpened considerably. In an instant, countless possibilities crossed his mind.
"However, these so-called new laws are merely temporary existences during the merging process. Once the Xuanhuang Realm finishes devouring and integrating, the old laws will be restored.
"Naturally, these new laws will become heresies marked for eradication.
"What is more, neither the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable nor the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals would ever permit such power to exist in this world.
"Yet I hope the more of them exist, the better."
Observing from the shadows, Li Fan perceived the potential profit to be gained from this catastrophe. He departed at once, heading back toward the Congyun Sea to search for any living beings who had survived the anomalies and grasped their power.
From the perspective of Heaven and Earth, the writhing dark masses—squirming like bookworms—were starkly visible, leaving no risk of him being caught unawares.
At each site he visited, Li Fan observed only from the perimeter. It had to be said that for ordinary mortals and beasts, surviving an anomaly was extraordinarily difficult.
Li Fan passed over a dozen anomaly outbreak locations without finding a single survivor.
Yet perseverance bore fruit in the end. On an island named Fanyong, he finally located his target.
Chapter 1031