Secret of the Book of Crossing Adversity

High above in the gloomy hall, several thin threads crisscrossed back and forth. One after another, paper men—seemingly identical at a glance, yet bearing subtly different expressions upon closer inspection—hung in neat rows from these thin threads. The passage of time had faded these paper figures into a ghastly, withered pale yellow. With Li Fan's sudden intrusion, countless paper figures began to flutter eerily, stirring without any wind. In that instant, Li Fan felt the gaze of every single paper man lock onto him. As if bound tight by chains, Li Fan's divine soul instantly lost the ability to move freely. Fortunately, the swaying paper figures gradually fell still once more, and the pressure weighing upon Li Fan diminished accordingly. Once everything returned to normal, Li Fan did not act rashly. He faintly sensed that another gaze in the hall remained fixed upon him. Following the sensation, Li Fan looked ahead. Something seemed to lurk within the shadows before him, like a venomous snake fixated on its prey, ready to strike at any moment, slowly creeping closer. Still, Li Fan chose not to make a reckless move. He simply waited in silence as the shadow drew nearer. Meeting shifting circumstances with stillness. With every inch the shadow advanced, the pressure bearing down on Li Fan mounted. Faint whispers echoing in his ears also seemed to urge Li Fan to strike immediately. Yet Li Fan, fully aware of every subtle change around him, sneered inwardly. During his quiet observation, he had already seen through the secret behind it. The approaching shadow and the life-or-death pressure it exerted were entirely an illusion, meant solely to compel anyone who entered the hall to attack it. And the true nature of that shadow was... The vision before Li Fan's eyes abruptly shifted. The shadows dispersed, revealing what truly lay beneath: a rope riddled with holes. The aura emanating from it was something Li Fan knew intimately. It was the restriction of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable! "The Crossing Adversity Sect is truly remarkable. To think even the restriction left behind by Chuanfa has been corroded to such an extent. "No wonder I encountered the Crossing Adversity Sect's trials along the mountain path and in the courtyard." Li Fan narrowed his eyes, sweeping his gaze across the countless paper figures filling the hall. At this moment, bizarre smiles seemed to surface across all their faces. Then, they shifted into expressions of utter innocence. "From the glimpse of those visions earlier, could it be that all these paper men were formed from Crossing Adversity Sect cultivators? "Still, the sheer number of them is rather excessive." Musing to himself, Li Fan released a thread of spiritual energy, attempting to pluck one of the paper men hanging from the threads. As expected, the spiritual energy caught only empty air. The paper figures in the hall seemed completely illusory, lacking any physical substance. Li Fan sent out a wisp of divine sense to make contact, yet he still could not touch them. "It seems one must use the secret techniques of the Crossing Adversity Sect to control these paper figures. "Destroy the restriction here...?" Li Fan's eyes flickered, and in an instant, he changed his mind. "I won't destroy it. Instead, I'll repair the restriction here!" The Crossing Adversity Sect's conduct genuinely disgusted Li Fan. Like a turtle retracting its head into its shell, they had chosen to merge themselves into the world of Xuanhuang just to evade calamity, placing all their hopes on an eventual savior. Effective though it might be, it was utterly unworthy of the grandeur expected from the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao. More importantly, within the Crossing Adversity Sect, Li Fan felt deeply uncomfortable at every moment. It was as though they were inherently at odds, making him restless and filled with unease. While the soul clone stood motionless in the hall, his true body outside the Crossing Adversity Sect began using the Dissociation Disc to reverse-deduce the array. Drawing on prior experience, it took him a mere seven days to successfully deduce a formation meant to repair the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's restriction. Inside the gloomy hall, Li Fan immediately sprang into motion. "Creation and destruction lead to the same destination by different paths. If I can successfully restore Chuanfa's restriction, it will prove that my deductions regarding it are flawless—and that I can just as easily destroy it." As though wielding a multicolored brush, his hand began tracing strokes in midair. In response, the rope in the center of the hall, which had decayed with age, gradually grew vivid once more. Light bathed the gloomy hall anew. Yet Li Fan's actions seemed to infuriate the countless suspended paper men. They swayed violently once more, their expressions contorting in fury as they glared intently at Li Fan. In an instant, wails like weeping ghosts and howling gods echoed around Li Fan's ears. "Silence!" Li Fan barked coldly, entirely unmoved. Instead, he accelerated the restoration process. The roars of the paper men could not hinder him in the least. The rope representing the restriction reformed from the center of the hall, spreading all the way to the entrance. Boom! After a violent jolt, Li Fan found himself back outside the hall. He was still in the empty courtyard, except that the grand hall had now shrunk to the size of a toy, fastened to the open ground in the center by restriction ropes. Only then did Li Fan discern the traces of damaged restrictions that had been concealed in the shadows. The hall trembled ceaselessly, still trying to struggle. With a cold gaze, Li Fan continued his restoration work. Once the restrictions in the courtyard were fully repaired, the scene shifted, and Li Fan returned to the stone steps leading up the mountain. The restriction here was the most complex. Fortunately, the vast majority remained relatively intact; this lone mountain path was merely a breach caused by the eroding power of the Crossing Adversity Sect. Once Li Fan mended the gaps in the restriction, the mountain path naturally vanished without a trace. The scene before him shrank once more. The so-called Crossing Adversity Sect finally revealed its true form. Beneath layers of sealing restrictions lay a book spread open from the middle. There were no words inside the book, only relief-like depictions of mountain peaks and cultivators. As the pages turned naturally, the images displayed within shifted accordingly. Yet they were all silhouettes, appearing both comical and eerie. Looking at the book before him, Li Fan studied it carefully for a long time, thoughtful. "The Crossing Adversity Sect truly was wiped out by Chuanfa back then. "Yet this was precisely what they sought. Seeking life through death, the entire sect transformed into an entirely different state of existence. "This book... "It carries a bit of the flavor of the Creation Slate. However, the Creation Slate records everything in the Xuanhuang Realm, whereas this Book of Crossing Adversity records only the affairs of the Crossing Adversity Sect. "Originally, that was true. But the people of the Crossing Adversity Sect have already turned into paper figures scattered throughout Xuanhuang. Thus, through the eyes of these paper figures, one can likewise glimpse all things across Xuanhuang from this Book of Crossing Adversity." Amidst the fleeting silhouettes flipping by page after page, Li Fan occasionally caught sight of familiar scenes from Xuanhuang, musing silently to himself. At this point, Li Fan had essentially achieved the purpose of his journey: he had confirmed that his formation targeting Chuanfa's restrictions worked without issue. Yet gazing upon the Book of Crossing Adversity, once again suppressed by the power of Chuanfa's restriction, Li Fan could not help but feel new ideas stirring in his mind.