Long before Li Fan released his restraint over that Foundation Establishment cultivator, Jiang Nian'er had already awakened early from his cultivation.
His mind was on high alert, running through the array formation process again and again in his head.
Having now become a Qi Condensation cultivator, he was acutely aware that before an opponent of the Foundation Establishment realm, he would not last even a single exchange.
Either the opponent would kill him in one strike, or...
He would have to deploy the array before the opponent could strike!
Faced with life and death, Jiang Nian'er pushed his potential to the absolute limit.
Though this was his first time laying out an array, it was as if he had been tempered a thousand times over, completing it in an instant.
Watching his opponent search desperately and aimlessly for a way out inside the Bamboo Sea Dragon-Trapping Array, Jiang Nian'er knew he had already won half the battle.
From here, it would come down to who could outlast the other.
A glint of resolve flashed through Jiang Nian'er's eyes as he squeezed his potential once more.
The speed at which he absorbed the surrounding worldly spiritual energy grew noticeably faster.
*Out of more than a hundred thousand people on the island, I was the only one who survived! How could I possibly die here?!*
*Even if you're a Foundation Establishment cultivator, don't think you can defeat me!*
A ruthless ferocity surged in Jiang Nian'er's heart.
In response, the world inside the Bamboo Sea Dragon-Trapping Array changed color. Countless bamboo leaves whistled through the air like jade-green throwing daggers, howling as they assaulted the Foundation Establishment cultivator.
***
*It seems winning this battle won't be much of an issue for him.*
Every minute change in Jiang Nian'er played out with crystal clarity in Li Fan's eyes.
While reshaping Jiang Nian'er's body, Li Fan had also planted eyes and ears all throughout it.
After all, if he was to observe the anomaly's devouring process in detail, how could he proceed without prior preparations?
This fair duel did not last very long.
The opponent was merely an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator; merely scrounging up enough to exchange for a Foundation Establishment cultivation technique had likely exhausted all his strength.
It was clear he knew nothing about formations. After venting his helpless fury inside the Dragon-Trapping Array for half the day, he was ultimately beaten thoroughly.
His breath grew faint as a thread, not far from death.
Jiang Nian'er did not get overconfident and dismiss the array right away.
Instead, he stood outside the formation, watching his opponent quietly. "This duel... is my win."
*Here it comes...* Li Fan's spirits jolted.
Through his heaven-and-earth perspective, he clearly saw that as soon as Jiang Nian'er spoke those words, the formerly dormant gloom boiled over in an instant.
Like an expanding beast of shadow, it enveloped the Foundation Establishment cultivator.
And then swallowed him whole.
Jiang Nian'er's original body grew slightly blurred in turn.
The bizarre, shadowy power linked him and the Foundation Establishment cultivator completely together.
It was like a pair of giant hands, forcibly kneading them into one.
A moment later...
Jiang Nian'er vanished from where he stood.
The dying Foundation Establishment cultivator in the array suddenly had a sharp gleam flash through his eyes.
Like a withered tree greeting spring, the aura around him surged and blossomed a thousandfold.
He stood stunned on the spot for quite a while before finally digesting all the memories in the Foundation Establishment cultivator's head.
"The weak are prey to the strong; such is the way of heaven and earth. Who told you to lose..." he murmured under his breath, his gaze shifting from confusion to steady resolve.
Li Fan, meanwhile, could see that within Jiang Nian'er's sea of consciousness, the awareness belonging to the original Foundation Establishment cultivator wailed in bitter despair like a wandering ghost.
Beyond that, however, it had no other means of resistance. It was easily suppressed by Jiang Nian'er.
After familiarizing himself with his new body, Jiang Nian'er slowly rose, waved a hand to dismiss the Dragon-Trapping Array,
and then slowly bowed before Li Fan.
"How does the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator feel?" Li Fan asked with a smile.
"Very strong. But compared to Senior..." Jiang Nian'er did not dare raise his head.
"Heh. With this ability of yours, as long as you devour your way forward step by step, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, and then to Nascent Soul..."
"Won't there come a day when you surpass me?"
The moment Li Fan uttered those words, Jiang Nian'er was struck as if by lightning, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Because those words were the exact thought buried deep within his heart just moments ago!
Instead of offering hollow excuses like 'this junior wouldn't dare,' Jiang Nian'er felt an icy chill grip his heart.
He knew his life rested entirely on the other's whim. Keeping his forehead pressed to the dirt, he did not dare twitch a muscle.
He had no idea how much time passed before Jiang Nian'er felt his clothes thoroughly soaked through with cold sweat.
Only then did Li Fan's voice ring out.
"Get up."
Only then did Jiang Nian'er relax, breathing a sigh of relief as though a crushing weight had been lifted.
"The higher a cultivator climbs, the wider the gap between realms becomes."
"There are countless in this world who can defeat a Golden Core from the Foundation Establishment realm. But those who can defeat a Longevity realm cultivator from Dao Integration..."
"Have never existed since ancient times."
"If you wish to seek vengeance against me, then reach the Longevity realm first."
Jiang Nian'er felt plunged into an ice cellar. The joy from his recent victory vanished entirely in an instant.
"The Longevity realm..."
Those words weighed on him like mountains and seas, suffocating him.
After waiting for a solid half-day without hearing another sound from the other party,
Jiang Nian'er finally summoned the courage to look up.
He saw that at some point, the mysterious figure had already disappeared without a trace.
Jiang Nian'er froze, looking around. He truly was the only one left on Fanyong Island.
His strength gave out, and he collapsed onto his backside.
Everything that had happened since the outbreak of the anomaly flooded his mind like rising and falling tides,
before finally settling into silence.
"Wen Nianyu..."
"From this day forth, I am Wen Nianyu."
Jiang Nian'er first checked the belongings on his person, and then flew off toward Wanxian Island.
At first, his flight path was somewhat wobbly, but soon it straightened into a direct line, growing faster and faster.
***
Li Fan's figure slowly manifested.
*This boy's adaptability isn't bad.*
*I'll let him return to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals first and see whether possessing anomalous power will actually be noticed by the alliance authorities.*
Li Fan had already observed the process of fusion and devouring with utter clarity.
In truth, Jiang Nian'er was no longer of much use to him.
Yet Li Fan had a vague feeling that perhaps, with Jiang Nian'er's methods and disposition, he might bring him a pleasant surprise down the road.
*The power of an anomaly is in fact also a law of heaven and earth, and can likewise be utilized.*
*Previously, there was the method of crafting it into Heaven-Rousing Arrows, which could even exert a massive influence on the Profound Net that had usurped Heaven.*
*If mapped onto the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm, that would mean chaotic cosmic principles and rampant anomalies across several provinces.*
Having found and concluded one research objective, Li Fan did not leave the Congyun Sea right away. Instead, he continued wandering among the various sites where anomalies had broken out.
Occasionally, he spotted cultivators from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Heavenly Secret Hall and Martial Practice Hall dealing with them, but the vast majority had already fallen into dead silence.
Faced with an anomaly outbreak on such a massive scale, the Congyun Sea region was clearly overwhelmed.
However, this state of affairs began to improve with the return of Gongsun Qixuan.
Gongsun Qixuan, the head of the Heavenly Secret Hall in the Congyun Sea.
Frail, sickly, and bearing the air of a scholar,
he had always been responsible for monitoring the condition of anomalies within the Congyun Sea.
Chapter 1034