"The changes of heaven and earth, the transformations of yin and yang, abide in the single mind..."
Li Fan's true self hovered high above Mount Jieli, looking down upon the mortal realm of Great Xuan. Sensing the nascent changes within him intertwining with the heaven and earth of the external world, he could not help but sigh inwardly.
"I suspect that when the Heavenly Physician dismembered and transformed the Xuanhuang Realm back then, he must have used a method similar to what I am doing right now.
"Had he not taken the first step, then with my current strength, I could actually carry out regional modifications upon the Xuanhuang Realm myself."
It was still Anchored Year 1.
His avatar, Li Ping, proceeded according to plan, heading to Xuanjing. With thunderous speed, he executed the corrupt sovereign, complied with the mandate of heaven, and founded a new dynasty.
In this lifetime, the imperial court was not an instrument hastily thrown together merely to evade the Faceless True Immortal.
Instead, it was to serve as preparation for probing Chuanfa's true identity.
Naturally, things had to be conducted with greater propriety; they could no longer keep the old dynasty's name.
Thus, seven days later, Li Ping used divine techniques to proclaim to the world that the new dynasty was named "Qi."
As Sacred Emperor Thrones rose from the earth across the territories of Great Xuan, the absolute authority of the Qi Dynasty was swiftly established among the populace.
In particular, after the Heaven and Earth Furnaces were forged and installed within the Sacred Emperor Thrones, the spiritual energy density of Great Qi mounted day by day.
Meanwhile, Li Fan's true self quietly used his own vast, peerless spiritual energy during this revival of spiritual energy to accelerate and reshape the process.
"What I have unleashed upon Great Qi is one of the natural changes born in the previous lifetime after the Xuanhuang Realm faced its apocalyptic crisis."
At this moment, within Li Fan's vision, the pocket world of Great Qi was like a block of unworked stone, its form constantly being remodeled beneath his hands.
"As the saying goes, when heaven and earth shift, heroes emerge. Because heroes are born in alignment with heaven's mandate and blessed by heaven, their aptitudes and natural talents far surpass ordinary mortals. In mortal folklore, it is often said that heroes of chaotic times are heavenly constellations descended to the mortal realm. The underlying principle is precisely the same.
"This transformation is known as 'Heaven Bestows Its Favor, All Stars Descend to the World.'"
As the power of the nascent world-changes within his body radiated outward, Li Fan could distinctly feel the transformations occurring within the world of Great Qi under its influence.
Over the coming decades, true children of destiny like Mr. Bai and Su Yuqing would spring up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
The actual natural gifts of a child of destiny were intimately tied to the strength of the world itself.
Though both were chosen ones of destiny, Mr. Bai naturally far outshone Su Yuqing from the mortal Li Realm.
This crop of destiny's children born in Great Qi might initially be somewhat weaker than the prodigies of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Yet as Li Fan continuously remade Great Qi and gradually elevated the pocket world,
the quality of Great Qi's geniuses would steadily catch up to, and eventually surpass, that of the Xuanhuang Realm!
"This is the transformation of mutual resonance between heaven and man—the Dao of nourishing humanity through heaven."
Li Fan carefully contemplated the subtle shifts as the world was slowly sculpted beneath his hands, an innate sense of pride and transcendence welling within his heart.
"This is what it truly means to turn heaven and earth upside down with a single gesture.
"What I am altering now is merely a mortal pocket world. I wonder what it felt like for someone like the Heavenly Physician, who kneaded the Xuanhuang Realm at his whim..."
World and man.
The immense and the minuscule.
Yet now, a minuscule human was in turn shaping the world.
The pleasure brought by this fierce contrast surpassed even breakthroughs in cultivation and realm.
It left Li Fan nearly enraptured, struggling to pull himself away.
Fortunately, the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation operated on its own, snapping Li Fan awake before long.
"Mm... this is the natural mental delusion that arises after grasping power that does not yet belong to one's realm.
"If I were to remain indulged, I could very well be assimilated by the world's Heavenly Dao instead—losing my self-awareness and becoming a part of the Heavenly Dao."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, pondering in silence.
During the process of sculpting this brand-new mortal world of Great Qi, he had also realized that the power of nascent world-changes would not persist indefinitely.
"When a world operates in accordance with a transformation, it depletes this energy. Take 'Heaven Bestows Its Favor, All Stars Descend to the World,' which I catalyzed: without subsequent reinforcement, relying solely on the initial driving force, it will likely last only about fifty years. It might become even shorter due to unforeseen variables."
...
During the period spent waiting for True Reversion to finish recharging, Li Fan continually contemplated and grasped the principles of the world's Heavenly Dao, as well as his own future path.
Meanwhile, within the Great Qi Dynasty, terrifying, earth-shattering changes were unfolding at every moment.
In Anchored Year 1, Purifying Spirit Pools were constructed in every region. Complementing them was a method called the Heart-Clearing Incantation.
The common folk everywhere could enter the pools and, with the aid of the Heart-Clearing Incantation's power, purge the mortal miasma from their bodies.
By Anchored Year 2, the spiritual energy density of Great Qi had already reached the average level of the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Sacred Emperor of Destiny manifested in the sky, personally conferring an immortal art upon all living beings.
It was called the Wisdom-Enlightening Lingyuan Technique.
Any citizen of Great Qi who shed their mortal body was permitted to cultivate it.
All who achieved minor success in the technique could journey to Shengjing to behold the Sacred Emperor of Destiny and receive his personal guidance.
At the same time, in a secret underground facility within Shengjing, tens of thousands of robust soldiers began tempering their physical bodies and absorbing the power of anomalous beasts through the Creation Furnace Technique.
In Anchored Year 3, the Sacred Emperor of Destiny issued policies encouraging childbirth.
Any household that had a third child would have their taxes halved.
If they had more, the imperial court bestowed additional rewards.
To coordinate with this policy, Sacred Medical Clinics were established across Great Qi.
The physicians within were all practitioners who had set foot upon the immortal path. Personally instructed in the medical arts by the Sacred Emperor of Destiny, each possessed exceptional skill. While they could not claim to raise the dead or bring flesh to withered bones,
the illnesses of ordinary life and the various perils of childbirth were challenges they could easily resolve.
Beyond Sacred Medical Clinics, institutions like Sacred Academies and Sacred Heart Halls were gradually erected.
True to their name, Sacred Academies were places of education.
Through synchronized image projection, citizens across Great Qi could receive personal instruction from celebrated masters in Shengjing directly from the Sacred Academies in their own cities.
The great Sacred Emperor of Destiny would even lecture them from time to time.
The Sacred Emperor's gaze seemed capable of taking in all living beings under heaven at once.
When he lectured, he would also pose questions to students from various regions.
If a student failed to answer due to overwhelming nerves, the Sacred Emperor would never reprimand them; instead, he would offer gentle encouragement.
With the passage of time, the Sacred Emperor of Destiny's stature in the hearts of the people grew increasingly sublime and unshakable.
As a result, more and more people visited the Sacred Heart Halls daily to pray.
Inside the Sacred Heart Halls stood towering statues of the Sacred Emperor of Destiny.
His features could not be seen clearly, but his aura was divine and inviolable.
Whether citizens of Great Qi carried worries, sought blessings, or wished to confess...
There was nothing they could not speak of to the Sacred Emperor.
The Sacred Emperor embraced all things and held no grievances.
It was even said that he would occasionally bestow divine grace, quietly resolving the burdens weighing on devout believers' hearts.
Alongside the dynasty's measures of sacred favor, the necessary punitive institutions were by no means absent.
The Sacred Surveillance Court monitored the realm; any act disrupting dynastic law was met with the most severe punishment.
The most terrifying penalty was not death, but having one's consciousness extracted and imprisoned within a Sacred Heart Hall,
forced to endure the rebukes and curses of Great Qi's citizens for all eternity.
...
The entire Great Qi Dynasty was like a flying boat surging forward with ever-increasing thrust, its strength skyrocketing with each passing day.
Yet it never waged war against external realms, choosing instead to steadily accumulate its power.
Early in Anchored Year 8.
Looking at True Reversion, which had finished recharging, Li Fan rose abruptly.
He stretched his limbs, then set out toward the Eastern Abyss.
Remaining behind the scenes did not mean staying confined to the mortal pocket world of Great Qi forever.
Just as he had concealed himself within the Nether Prison at the end of the 119th lifetime,
the enemy's heartland—the blind spot right beneath their noses—might very well be the safest and most unexpected hiding place of all.
Upon arriving in the familiar Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan did not linger. He transformed into a blur of light and headed straight for Tianyu Province.
According to the confidential intelligence he had previously gleaned from the Heavenly Profound Mirror, there was an identity in Tianyu Province that was perfectly suited for his disguise.
Central Tianyu, the Luojia Mountains.
Inside a subterranean karst cave.
Li Fan slipped inside silently, like a phantom.
After sensing the fluctuations of the surrounding aura, a faint smile surfaced on his face.
"The Soul Formation cultivator Sun Ang discovered an anima of Heaven and Earth here.
"He sealed the underground cave with formations and spent three full years wearing the anima of Heaven and Earth down all by himself.
"Ultimately, he attained Dao Integration and became an Immortal Venerable.
"For generations, members of Sun Ang's clan held key positions in the Protector Hall. Shortly after he became a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable, he was selected to enter the Protector Hall headquarters to garrison Yanfa Jue. He was one of the elders I encountered back when I was granted an audience with Yanfa Jue.
"The anima of Heaven and Earth that this Sun Ang refined was extraordinarily mysterious. After achieving Dao Integration, he never made another move, so even I do not know his true depths.
"Not that it matters..."
As Li Fan's thoughts turned, he had already spotted his target.
The pitch-black cavern suddenly grew resplendent with iridescent light.
Sun Ang sat cross-legged, his expression solemn as his hands formed hand seals in rapid succession.
He sent out beams of rainbow light, carefully binding the ethereal silhouette before him.
For some reason, that anima of Heaven and Earth was fast asleep.
It was entirely oblivious to Sun Ang's actions, allowing him to do as he pleased.
"The anima of Heaven and Earth, Zilong.
"Conferred with a heavenly office: to catalyze the Luojia Thousand Crystals and Hundred Blossoms..."
The moment Li Fan laid eyes on the silhouette of the anima of Heaven and Earth, he understood its true nature.
"The Luojia Thousand Crystals and Hundred Blossoms are a renowned wonder of Mount Luojia. Appearing once every five hundred years, they sprout from the earth and carpet the mountains like fresh flowers, though in truth they are special crystals akin to spirit stones..." All manner of records instantly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
"One of the orders of heaven and earth. It has little to do with me."
In truth, Li Fan had no intention of making a move against this anima of Heaven and Earth.
He turned his gaze toward Sun Ang, who was wholly engrossed in casting the spell to imprison Zilong, and his eyes flashed.
In an instant, he laid down layer upon layer of formations, trapping Sun Ang in the center.
Only then did Sun Ang snap out of his concentration.
"Who—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
Li Fan wandered through the man's sea of consciousness, thoroughly inspecting his memories.
Then, he extracted a sliver of the man's bloodline essence and casually suppressed him within his internal pocket world.
Immediately afterward, Li Fan activated the Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation, shifting into Sun Ang's likeness.
Chapter 1137