Looking closely, those specks of starlight resembled minuscule windows.
Through them, scenes of varying detail were reflected.
Countless characters fluttered about, clearly forming cultivation manuals one after another.
Beneath the dome, no Protector Hall cultivators were to be seen; only streaks of flowing light crisscrossed through the space continuously.
The Sun Clan Head, Sun Xingyao, seemed to be reporting the situation to someone. Before long, a figure flew down from the dome and landed before Li Fan and him.
It was an avatar formed entirely of flowing characters, not a flesh-and-blood person.
He looked Li Fan up and down and nodded slightly. "I saw this little fellow once over a hundred years ago, back when he was still a Golden Core cultivator. In the blink of an eye, he has grown this much... Follow me."
With that, the characters paved a path leading straight up to the dome.
Li Fan followed Sun Xingyao onto this path of characters. Moments later, his body felt as though it, too, had dissolved into countless characters, on the verge of scattering across the road into a sprawling essay.
A sudden sense of crisis rose in his heart.
Li Fan realized that under the influence of the surrounding characters, the memories in his divine soul seemed poised to spill out involuntarily, penning the chapters of his past life.
'Is this a method of prying into an entrant's past experiences by sensing the memories of their divine soul?'
Li Fan pondered for an instant, then immediately re-created within his divine soul the memories of the first half of Sun Ang's life—the body he had taken over. He then released them, letting the surrounding road of characters sense them.
The characters that formed bore a distinct individual mark, completely distinct from the path beneath his feet.
As for Sun Xingyao, he appeared not to be subjected to any scrutiny.
The path of characters soon came to an end, bringing Li Fan and Sun Xingyao inside a window of starlight atop the dome.
His form transformed from characters back into a human body, but Li Fan's experiences had coalesced into a separate booklet.
The cultivator leading the way now revealed his true appearance.
He looked even younger than "Sun Ang," appearing like a youth of seventeen or eighteen.
With long hair falling to his shoulders and a dot of cinnabar between his brows, he appeared delicate and quiet.
"This is Elder Nangong of the Protector Hall," Sun Xingyao introduced to Li Fan.
Nangong looked through the booklet in his hand and nodded slightly. "No issues. Consider the first test passed."
With a casual toss, the booklet recording "Sun Ang's" life turned into a streak of light and flew off to who knew where.
Li Fan, meanwhile, observed his surroundings.
It felt as if they were in the void outside the Xuanhuang Realm, with a giant orb of light floating before them.
It was identical to the miniature model of the Xuanhuang Realm Li Fan had once seen inside the ultra-long-distance teleportation array.
"Pass through the Xuanhuang Realm. If you do not cause the orb of light to fluctuate, you will have passed the second test," Nangong said, flying ahead in an escape light.
Li Fan did not hesitate, following closely behind.
The yellow glow was dreamlike and ethereal, even imparting an inexplicable warmth, like returning to a mother's womb. Without encountering any mishap, Li Fan swiftly flew out from the orb of light.
As he departed, a faint sense of reluctance even arose within him.
Li Fan also keenly noticed that the circulation speed of his Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation had accelerated by several times compared to usual!
'Is this to verify whether one is a native cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm?'
Understanding dawned in Li Fan's mind.
The third test was to verify whether one was a cultivator of the Five Elders Association.
In the void, five statues with indistinct features stood in a circle.
Li Fan needed to stand quietly within the ring of statues for half an hour.
Only if not the slightest anomaly occurred during this period would he be considered to have passed.
In this life, Li Fan was completely clean. He had not yet formed any ties with the Five Elders Association.
Thus, he naturally passed with ease.
'These statues are quite remarkable. They actually seem imbued with a sliver of the power of the Five Heavenly Venerables' Inverse Principles...'
While being scrutinized by the statues of the Five Elders Association, Li Fan was also observing these five Heavenly Venerables.
At the same time, he reflected: 'Even if the Heavenly Venerables are not here in person, it is not far off. If I had come here after experiencing Senior Sister Zhao's illusion—even if only a clone had experienced it—I am afraid it would have triggered a reaction from the statues.'
The five statues dispersed, and Li Fan faced the final test before taking up his post.
His surroundings suddenly fell into sheer nothingness.
Sun Xingyao and Elder Nangong, who had been right beside him just moments before, abruptly vanished without a trace.
Li Fan frowned slightly, glancing left and right.
He detected nothing out of the ordinary.
It was no trap, nor was there any conspiracy.
This place was purely a void of nothingness.
Apart from Li Fan, there was nothing else.
'What is this testing now?'
Understanding what was happening, Li Fan was in no hurry.
Standing in the void, he waited to see what tricks the Protector Hall was playing.
In the void, even time seemed to have lost all meaning.
He did not know how long had passed, but even with Li Fan's patience, he began to feel somewhat irritable.
It felt as if he had been forgotten by the entire world; apart from himself, everything else in existence had vanished.
Elder Nangong still showed no sign of appearing.
'Could they really have just left me stranded here?'
Born from his innate distrust of others, this thought could not help but arise in Li Fan's mind.
The thought of revealing his true cultivation, shattering the mechanism here, and departing directly even surfaced.
Yet in an instant, Li Fan suppressed it.
Calming himself, Li Fan opened the True Reversion panel.
Confirming that it was still Anchor Year 8, all his unease and restlessness completely vanished in an instant.
In the void, he continued to wait.
After what felt like hundreds or thousands of years had passed, Li Fan suddenly thought of something.
He began to act somewhat impatient.
No longer standing quietly in place, he flew around, searching and exploring, putting on the appearance of desperately trying to find an exit.
Then, Li Fan gradually amplified the emotions he displayed.
Yet he never showed signs of losing control, merely letting some negative emotions show.
Like this, what seemed like centuries or millennia passed once more...
Finally, light returned to the dark void.
Elder Nangong and Sun Xingyao reappeared.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, putting on an expression as if a lifetime had passed. He even looked closely at the two, seeming to ponder who they were.
"This final test has also been passed," Elder Nangong said, a faint smile finally gracing his face.
Looking at Li Fan, he praised, "Your state of mind is quite good. A full two hundred years passed in the time gap before you showed faint signs of losing control, and even then, you remained rational. Among past tests, this result is quite remarkable."
Hearing this, Li Fan remained silent for a long time.
He seemed to be digesting the news.
Elder Nangong continued to explain, "This test is to examine a cultivator's mental stability. After all, you will have to accompany the Yanfa Jade for over three hundred years, during which you cannot leave for any reason. If you were unable to endure such torment and went mad, it would be troublesome."
Li Fan suddenly asked, "Has there ever been a cultivator who remained calm from beginning to end, without showing the slightest sign of agitation?"
Chapter 1141