To reach the highest realm of the Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon and become a peerless emperor rivaling Longevity realm powerhouses, Li Fan estimated that he would likely need to forge an immense dynasty whose sphere of influence enveloped the entire Great Xuanhuang World at the very least.
"Hmph. If I had that kind of power, why would I even bother cultivating the Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon?"
Still, it was ultimately just an expedient measure to anchor himself, so Li Fan had never harbored grand illusions about it.
In truth, his objective had already been achieved.
With the Great Xuan Dynasty growing ever more prosperous, the bizarre phenomenon of his body flickering in and out of existence had ceased almost entirely.
Even his face, which had been lost, showed signs of re-emerging.
"The Faceless True Immortal... His power seems to sever all connections with the mortal world.
"Yet as the Great Xuan's Destiny Holy Emperor, hundreds of millions of living beings are tied to my person. This has actually, to some extent, interfered with the power of the True Immortal's Web."
Pondering the entanglement of these two forces within himself, Li Fan suddenly had an epiphany.
"The correct way to use the Grand Formation of Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits might not be simple resistance. Rather...
"It's to splash the residual thoughts of those billions of souls like a basin of dog blood right across it.
"In plain terms, forcibly tying those billions of lingering grievances to the Faceless True Immortal.
"For instance, making those wrongfully slain souls believe the Faceless True Immortal was the chief culprit behind it all."
Li Fan's thoughts raced. After the Terminal Dissociation Disc ran several deductions, he quickly made fine adjustments to the Grand Formation of Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits.
He then summoned Lin Ling.
"Master."
Soon, clad in armor and brimming with martial vigor, Lin Ling appeared before him.
Unlike her experience in the previous life, ever since her consciousness awakened this time, Lin Ling had borne the heavy burden of leading the Great Xuan Imperial Guard to conquer the myriad worlds.
Rushing from one battlefront to another, and particularly under Li Fan's instructions, she had never established a connection with the Earth Vein Ancient Tree.
Her temperament had consequently grown bold and unconstrained, like that of a seasoned warrior.
After Li Fan explained the subtle revisions to the Myriad Spirits Formation, Lin Ling was about to depart and carry out her orders when she suddenly remembered something.
"Hmm?" Li Fan looked at her.
"Master, while flying through the Xuanhuang Realm proper, a consciousness noticed me and kept trying to communicate."
"The Earth Vein Ancient Tree?" Li Fan frowned slightly.
"No. But very similar..." Lin Ling answered truthfully.
Observing Li Fan's expression, she quickly added, "However, I adhered strictly to your teachings and paid it no heed.
"That consciousness was raving mad and didn't even say who it was. It only kept asking me to go see it..."
Hearing this, Li Fan immediately understood.
He just didn't know why Ruomu would have discovered Lin Ling's trail.
After questioning her thoroughly about where the encounter occurred, Li Fan designed an array for Lin Ling to shield her from outside perception.
Only then did he dismiss her.
Considering the situation, his main task in this life remained breaking free from the Faceless True Immortal's influence.
Li Fan merely recorded the time and location of Ruomu's appearance, with no intention of pursuing further contact.
"Later on, I can give the Earth Vein Ancient Tree quite a surprise."
Li Fan gave a cold snort.
Flickering, Li Fan arrived in a secret chamber beneath the Holy Emperor Throne.
Pitch black, this place held over a dozen You people prisoner.
Once the Great Xuan possessed initial combat capability, Li Fan had ordered Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba to launch an attack against the You people.
Even with the assistance of the Sky-Patrolling Arrows, victory and defeat had been an even split.
The Great Xuan Imperial Guard suffered over a hundred casualties, but they had managed to capture some You people alive.
After being subjected to various methods, they had come to terms with reality and agreed to open a passage to the You Realm for Li Fan.
However, Truth-Reverting had not finished charging yet, so Li Fan was in no hurry to enter.
Seeing Li Fan arrive, the You people fell to their knees in a flustered heap.
Li Fan stood motionless, sensing a statue of himself not far off in the darkness.
After becoming the Destiny Holy Emperor of the Great Xuan, Li Fan had also contemplated recreating a power akin to Source Power Essence.
Because of its resemblance to the power of faith, Li Fan had ordered statues of himself erected across the lands, hoping the sheer number of subjects would allow the condensation of Source Power Essence.
Clearly, he had been somewhat naive.
Though Source Power Essence was something abandoned by true immortals, it was faintly a tier higher than ordinary spiritual energy.
Without specialized techniques, relying solely on mortals' collective prayers was clearly insufficient to collect and refine it.
Yet things changed after these You people were brought back as captives.
Perhaps because these You people naturally possessed an extremely intense faith in the You Realm, almost the instant they submitted, Li Fan faintly detected a bizarre aura appearing within his body.
It was as crimson as the Great Xuan Dynasty's national fortune, and the sensation it gave Li Fan...
...bore an uncanny resemblance to the golden Source Power Essence of the Red Dust Compassionate Immortal from his previous life!
Later, Li Fan simply moved a statue of himself into this dungeon and ordered the dozen or so You people to pray day and night.
The results were remarkably pronounced.
The Source Power Essence produced by these You people actually exceeded what all the hundreds of millions of Great Xuan subjects generated combined!
Li Fan had studied their prayer methods and had the Great Xuan Imperial Guard learn and emulate them.
Yet without exception, all attempts ended in failure.
After turning it over in his mind, Li Fan could only attribute it to the special constitution of the You people.
"It seems it's still related to the gloomy dark power of the You Realm. Xuanyuan Hong..."
The You Realm, capable of interfering to some degree with the True Immortal's Web, evidently harbored many more secrets.
Yet that was not something to be explored in this lifetime.
"It's a pity the reproductive capability of the You people isn't very high.
"Otherwise, even without relying on the Faceless True Immortal stone statue, I could weave a faith network of my own."
That power to bestow, revoke, or even transmit across space at will was simply too potent and convenient.
Having tasted its benefits, Li Fan naturally found it hard to part with.
Thus, even though he was not far from Truth-Reverting, Li Fan still had not abandoned his study of this force.
Evidently, Li Fan lacked talent in this field.
"I'll just have to wait until I'm completely safe, then leave it to those fellows to study."
Li Fan sighed softly.
"Great Holy Emperor..." Right then, one of the You people who had been kowtowing in prayer suddenly spoke in a trembling voice, seemingly having something to say.
"Hmm?" Li Fan's interest was piqued at once.
This was the first time they had taken the initiative to communicate with him.
After receiving Li Fan's permission, the You man continued tremulously, "During prayer, I discovered that the master I previously served..."
He cast a cautious glance at Li Fan. "...which is to say, the You Realm, does not seem particularly angered by our rebellion."
He swallowed hard. "Our clan's ancestral teachings for generations all said that we must never betray the gloom, or divine punishment would surely follow.
"Yet now that I have tested it, that turns out to be entirely unfounded."
Chapter 1133