Assuming the guise of Sun Ang and infiltrating the Protector Hall headquarters was not primarily for the Yanfa Jade.
It was truly and genuinely to hide.
From the intelligence gathered so far, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals exercised extremely strict oversight over the cultivators garrisoning the Yanfa Jade.
Not only did their backgrounds have to be pristine—almost all being selected from families with hereditary lineages in the Protector Hall—they also had to undergo rigorous vetting before taking up the post.
Furthermore, the most critical point was that once chosen to garrison the Yanfa Jade, one was forbidden from taking even half a step outside the Protector Hall headquarters for three hundred years.
While keeping watch, one effectively became a prisoner as well.
Therefore, among the prominent hereditary families of the Protector Hall, virtually no one was willing to take on this thankless chore voluntarily.
No matter how generous the rewards for the mission might be, this held true.
After all, once reaching Dao Integration, immortality was hopeless.
All that remained to pursue were power and pleasure.
Sitting in prison for three hundred years was not something just anyone could endure.
Yet these peculiar conditions made it the ideal hiding place for Li Fan.
The Protector Hall headquarters was itself situated within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters.
The pocket space housing the Yanfa Jade was fortified with numerous formations and restrictions.
There might even be contingency measures left behind by Chuanfa.
Even Li Fan today did not possess absolute certainty that he could force his way in and out.
Assuming an identity and concealing himself inside meant that when the outside world was eventually thrown into utter chaos, no one would ever imagine that the true culprit behind it all had hidden away in such a vital stronghold of the Alliance centuries before.
"Actually, the Yanfa Jade is no longer of much use to me.
"If I wish to take another step forward now, unless it is an immortal method of profound compatibility, I must rely on my own comprehension of the Dao and the principles of the world.
"The ordinary cultivation techniques deduced by the Yanfa Jade..."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
After all, it was merely a Xuanhuang wonder of Heaven. From Li Fan's current vantage point, if he wished to contend against the Heavenly Physician, Chuanfa, or even True Immortals, the assistance the Yanfa Jade could provide was exceedingly limited.
Having cycled through multiple lifetimes of reincarnation, Li Fan had surveyed ancient and modern secrets alike.
After obtaining the origin authority of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, the myriad secrets of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals were fully laid bare before him.
And with guidance from the legacy of the Heavenly Physician...
Li Fan's current insight and caliber placed him firmly among the topmost echelon in the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
Take the Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation, for instance: the version originally deduced with the Yanfa Jade was applicable only up to the Nascent Soul realm.
Yet after breaking through to Soul Formation in this lifetime, during the eight years he waited in the pocket world, he had deduced and elevated it to the Soul Formation realm entirely on his own without much effort.
In a sense, when it came to deducing the cultivation methods best suited to himself, Li Fan was faintly superior to the Yanfa Jade.
After all, Li Fan possessed True Reversion—something he would never let the Yanfa Jade discover under any circumstances.
"Unless...
"Just like with the Terminal Dissociation Disc, I help it complete a sublimation and transformation."
Li Fan's eyes flickered.
Pondering this, he flew out of the underground karst cave in Mount Luojia.
The anima of Heaven and Earth, Zilong, was an existence even weaker than the first-generation Crimson Flame; Li Fan had no interest in consuming it.
As for how he would disguise himself as having reached Dao Integration without consuming it...
Among the Xuanhuang World-Extinguishing Transformations he had absorbed, several possessed power no weaker than an anima of Heaven and Earth.
Moreover, their outward manifestations of power were nearly identical to an anima of Heaven and Earth, virtually indistinguishable.
In the final analysis, an anima of Heaven and Earth was the manifestation of a law of the Xuanhuang Realm.
At the moment of impending destruction, there was naturally no time to manifest a corresponding anima of Heaven and Earth, so it manifested directly as world power.
As he flew back toward the Sun family, Li Fan's clothing and appearance quietly changed.
His eyebrows and hair turned snow-white, and his robes appeared dusted with frost.
In the space he passed through while flying, tiny ice crystals formed due to the frigid temperature.
"'Heat Death of Heaven and Earth, Absolute Freezing of All Things,' one of the evolutions born of the Xuanhuang Realm in its attempt to cope with mortal peril.
"Plunging all things between heaven and earth into absolute darkness and stillness in hopes of evading the cataclysm. Theoretically, it was indeed feasible.
"Unfortunately, the external force was simply too overwhelming, instantly obliterating the entire system.
"This Heat Death and Freezing Transformation is virtually indistinguishable from an ice-attribute anima of Heaven and Earth. The occasional leakage of energy fluctuations I deliberately counterfeit perfectly simulates the appearance of having just broken through with an unstable cultivation level."
As Li Fan pondered, Tianyu Sky City came into view.
Without the slightest hesitation, he flew straight into the Sun family residence within the city.
Although members of their family had held key posts in the Protector Hall for generations, and the clan currently boasted three Dao Integration cultivators, the Sun family kept an exceptionally low profile.
In Tianyu Sky City, they had purchased only two adjoining cave abodes that appeared utterly unassuming from the outside.
Only upon stepping inside would one discover the vast realm concealed within these two interconnected dwellings.
"Sun Ang? You actually remembered to come back?"
As soon as Li Fan flew inside, an indignant voice rang out.
It was none other than the Dao companion of the body he occupied, Wu Ninglu.
Wu Ninglu's cultivation was similar to Sun Ang's previous level, both being late Soul Formation.
However, their relationship was hardly affectionate; they had become Dao companions back then under pressure from their respective families.
Over the years, they had never had any children.
"Huh? What happened to..." Wu Ninglu had charged in aggressively, ready to demand an explanation.
Yet when she clearly saw Li Fan's current appearance, she was caught completely off guard.
Li Fan merely glanced at Wu Ninglu, not deigning to answer her.
"I'm tired," he said coldly, then flew toward Sun Ang's residence.
Within the Sun family cave abodes lay a circular valley.
Important structures such as the family council hall and treasury were situated in the valley's center, while the individual clansmen's quarters were distributed along the surrounding ridge.
Wu Ninglu had long been seething with anger over Sun Ang leaving without saying goodbye and then inexplicably losing contact.
Seeing him return home only to treat her with that same dismissive, indifferent attitude, her fury reached a boiling point.
Yet somehow, just as she was about to lash out, catching that icy gaze of his snuffed out her fiery rage in an instant.
She opened her mouth, but lacked even the courage to call after him.
This inexplicable dread faded only after Sun Ang's departing silhouette completely disappeared from view.
"I was actually frightened by him?!" Incredulous, Wu Ninglu was both shocked and furious.
However, recalling Sun Ang's demeanor just now, a bold speculation surfaced in her mind.
"Did Sun Ang break through?"
When facing Sun Ang a moment ago, she had indeed felt a sense of trepidation and unease that usually only arose when confronting clan elders.
At this thought, all the anger and resentment in her heart vanished completely.
Filled with disbelief and delight, she hurried after him, flying back to their dwelling.
"Sun Lang?"
As if reverting to when they had first met, Wu Ninglu called out gingerly.
Chapter 1138