"Master, does this 'Eternal Immortal Wall' truly exist in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals? Isn't that a bit too appalling?" After quite a while, Sun Tianci still asked in disbelief.
"The brutal deeds of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals go far beyond just this," Li Fan sneered.
Li Fan had first learned of the Eternal Immortal Wall in the 114th cycle, when Tianxuan locked spiritual energies and the Profound Net blanketed Xuanhuang.
At the time, he had assumed it was an artifact unique to the Alliance of that particular lifetime.
Yet later, during the 119th cycle, he had impersonated Sun Xingwang, Dharma King of the Profound Heaven Sect, and used the Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Bright God Method to refine countless thought demon-gods inside tens of thousands of cultivators. The method the Alliance ultimately used to dispose of those cultivators had been remarkably similar to the Eternal Immortal Wall. From the intelligence Mo Rubin disclosed after possessing a Dharma Transmitter, Li Fan learned that the Alliance indeed secretly sealed away large numbers of cultivators to sustain and guarantee the stability of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Furthermore, they were stored in more than one location.
Li Fan transmitted a hazy set of images to Sun Tianci. The Sun Clan's prodigy was instantly horrified by the grim scene.
"Master, what should we do?"
Before long, he recovered from the shock and asked with determination in his voice.
"The speed at which you cast the Xuanming Art is still too slow. Even if we successfully sneak into the immortal wall, we won't have much time to act."
"First, you must become faster!"
The Xuanming Art was, of course, the marvelous art Li Fan had imparted to him—one that dissolved a cultivator's cultivation and returned it to the Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth.
Li Fan's divine clone flew out from Sun Tianci's sea of consciousness, manifesting as an illusory silhouette.
Looking up toward the heavens, Li Fan's clone murmured slowly, "Falsifying transposition of the principles of Heaven and Earth..."
As he recited in a low voice, a scene unfolded that made Sun Tianci's scalp tingle.
An invisible vortex instantly appeared above Li Fan's head.
A deeply familiar aura belonging to an anima of Heaven and Earth seemed to be brewing within the swirl.
Watching a hazy humanoid figure gradually stretch its arms out from the vortex, Sun Tianci grew even more certain of his suspicion.
*Summoning an anima of Heaven and Earth with a single word? Just what is Master's true identity...?*
Just as Sun Tianci stood dazed by the sight before him, Li Fan's reprimand rang in his ears. "What are you spacing out for? Do you really intend to wait until the anima descends into this world?"
Sun Tianci snapped back to his senses immediately, unleashing a strike of the Xuanming Art straight at the half-formed silhouette within the vortex.
As though the descent had encountered an obstacle, a gust of wind blew past, and the anima summoned through Li Fan's falsifying transposition returned once more to Heaven and Earth.
During this process, Sun Tianci did not feel his connection with Xuanhuang deepen. This was clearly because the anima still belonged to Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth, never having been refined and claimed by any cultivator.
And because the "erroneous descent of the anima of Heaven and Earth" was aborted just as it was about to occur, the vigilance stirred in Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth remained negligible.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, feeling the ambient ripples before casting another falsifying transposition.
Sun Tianci reacted far faster this time; the moment the hazy figure began to take shape, it was dismissed once more.
They repeated this well over a hundred times until they were on the verge of drawing the notice of Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth, at which point Li Fan finally called a halt.
Sun Tianci exhaled a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from his pale forehead.
Continuously executing the Xuanming Art to "decompose" over a hundred animas of Heaven and Earth—even half-formed ones—had placed a heavy burden on him.
"We change locations and continue," Li Fan said coldly.
Ever since the day he defeated the Martial Fanatic and demonstrated his true combat prowess, Sun Tianci was no longer restricted in his freedom by the Sun Clan, even though his actual age was barely over five years old.
Sun Luyuan merely reminded him repeatedly that safety came first in all things, bestowing numerous defensive Dharma treasures upon him.
The special training lasted fifteen days in total, leaving footprints in every corner of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. Aside from traveling, almost all their remaining time was spent dissolving animas of Heaven and Earth. Sun Tianci's progress was astonishing.
With effortless ease, he could continuously return the half-descended animas summoned through falsifying transposition back to the world.
"Mm, that should do."
Watching Sun Tianci's performance, Li Fan nodded slightly.
"What are you thinking about?" Li Fan asked, noticing that Sun Tianci seemed lost in thought.
"Uh, Master, we came here ten days ago. Back then, the spiritual energy concentration seemed a bit lower than it is now?" Sun Tianci asked uncertainly.
Li Fan smiled. "The world's spiritual energy moves like surging tides, ebbing and flowing. Is that not normal? How could it remain constant forever like the cave abode you grew up in?"
Hearing Li Fan's explanation, Sun Tianci nodded slightly. Yet deep within his eyes as he surveyed the surroundings, a flicker of doubt lingered.
*This little fellow has remarkably sharp perception.*
Li Fan had naturally noticed the abnormality in the world as well. He had even detected a familiar scent within the permeating spiritual energy.
*Dao-One Worms. It seems the Holy Emperor avatar has made his move. The source should be the Five Elements Great Grotto Heaven. Returning the grotto-heaven to the Xuanhuang Realm to create a battlefield suited for Great Qi's soldiers? Perhaps he also plans to use the insectified spiritual energy to deliver a lethal blow...*
The Holy Emperor avatar's arrangements almost entirely stemmed from the original body's explorations in past cycles. With just a brief moment of thought, Li Fan saw through the underlying scheme.
Yet Li Fan did not point it out, feigning ignorance.
Returning to Sun Tianci's sea of consciousness, he guided him toward one of the Alliance's Eternal Immortal Walls.
Tongyan Prefecture, inside a cavern nested among jagged cliffs and encircling mountains.
"This place..."
Gazing from a distance, Sun Tianci sensed something extraordinary. "If Master hadn't pointed it out, even if I saw this cavern, I would have subconsciously overlooked it. I wouldn't have felt the slightest urge to go inside and investigate..."
"Hmph, this is what legends call a blessed land accessible only to the fated. A wondrous natural creation of Xuanhuang, capable of warding off the prying eyes of the vast majority without needing concealing formations. The Alliance hides quite a few such concealed grotto-heavens, almost all divided up among the Dharma Transmitters as their personal abodes." A memory of the hidden grotto-heaven where he had met Mo Rubin after infiltrating the Alliance headquarters in the 119th cycle flashed through Li Fan's mind.
It was identical to this place.
"Due to its natural properties, the guarding cultivators won't be overly alert. Even so, proceed with caution..." Li Fan's divine clone laid down a series of concealment formations around Sun Tianci, and the two flew into the cavern.
Passing through a narrow, downward-sloping tunnel, they arrived before a deep vertical shaft barely as wide as a person's waist.
Pitch-black, plunging straight down, seemingly bottomless.
"Do not probe with divine sense; it will trigger an alarm."
Li Fan saw through the shaft's mechanisms at a glance.
Leaping into the chasm, they plummeted downward at high speed.
It took the span of a cup of tea—as though they had bored through the crust of Xuanhuang into the subterranean depths of the Nine Netherworlds—before the cramped shaft began to widen.
Passing through another horizontal corridor, an immense underground cavern shaped like an inverted cone suddenly appeared before Sun Tianci.
The cliff walls of the chasm were densely pitted with square recesses.
Looking closer, every single recess held an amber-colored crystal.
And inside each crystal, without exception, slept a cultivator.
Guards from the Alliance patrolled midair from time to time. Sun Tianci dared not extend his divine sense, but by a rough visual estimate, this subterranean cavern imprisoned and sealed at least a hundred thousand cultivators.
Their complexions were ruddy, and smiles even rested on their faces. None of them had any inkling that they had fallen into an eternal slumber.
"Master said this is merely a fraction of the Alliance's Eternal Immortal Wall..." A chill crept into Sun Tianci's heart, and his fists clenched subconsciously.
"Go. What comes next is up to you," Li Fan said calmly, seemingly perceiving the anger simmering within Sun Tianci.
At the same time, he transmitted the method to unravel the sealing formations around the cultivators.
"Master, what do you think would happen if we woke all these cultivators?" Sun Tianci suddenly asked.
"I advise you to discard that thought entirely. Since the Alliance dared to do this openly, they have certainly prepared precautions. Believe me, the speed at which you awaken them could never keep pace with the speed at which the Alliance disposes of them. You must understand that the Alliance possesses means to extract and preserve a cultivator's Dao foundation..." Li Fan said coldly.
Sun Tianci's eyes flickered, but in the end, he abandoned the notion.
Slipping past the patrolling cultivators, he darted swiftly past the sleeping wretches. Stirring an imperceptible breeze, he dissolved every trace of their Dao foundations.
"Without their cultivation, they won't survive long in their slumber... It's as though I killed them with my own hands..." Sun Tianci's body trembled slightly as he flew.
"Killing? Or saving? Look at how they live now—is it not worse than death? If they could clearly perceive their surroundings, they would surely beg you to grant them release," Li Fan comforted.
After another round of counseling, Sun Tianci's hesitant motions turned firm once more.
For over five years, Li Fan had raised Sun Tianci according to his ideal image of the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang.
As a result, though compassionate, Sun Tianci was not dogmatic. Once his mind was made up, he became exceptionally decisive.
The Xuanhuang worldly power gathered from dissolving thousands of cultivators was compressed by Li Fan into a brilliant pearl of light.
When the merciful release reached one-fifth of the total, Li Fan said, "That's enough. If we continue, even I won't be able to conceal such intense energy fluctuations."
Sun Tianci looked at the remaining crystals with a trace of regret.
Even so, he obeyed his master's order, quietly flying toward the exit.
"Master, is something wrong?" As they reached the very top of the cavern, Sun Tianci noticed that his master still seemed to be staring down at a certain spot, and he couldn't help asking.
"It is nothing. Just leave."
Only after a brief silence did Li Fan respond.
Sun Tianci pressed no further, rushing upward all the way. After escaping the horrifying prison, Sun Tianci took the pearl of light containing the numerous Dao foundations and crushed it gently.
Countless rays of light and shadow erupted in an instant. In a daze, Sun Tianci seemed to witness worldly wonders, Xuanhuang grotto-heavens, and mountains and rivers shifting across the land.
The sky roiled with shifting clouds. A groaning sound, like that of an immense millstone grinding overhead, echoed above the cloud layers.
The entire Xuanhuang Realm shuddered faintly for a fleeting moment.
Though the tremor was imperceptible to most, Sun Tianci felt it clearly.
"Someone from the Alliance is likely coming to investigate. Move!" Li Fan commanded.
Without needing the reminder, Sun Tianci had already flown far from the scene the instant he shattered the orb.
At this moment, he was immersed in the rapid surge of his Xuanhuang heavenly favor.
Meanwhile, once certain no one was following them, Li Fan recalled the scene he had witnessed in the cavern.
Several faces flashed before his mind. Though he did not know their names, he was certain he had seen them before.
Not in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, but...
In the territory of the Five Elders Association.
Within the Dharma Derivation Jade space, the Dao Assimilation Stone inside his true body's sea of consciousness glowed faintly, pulling up memories from past lifetimes.
In the 119th cycle, after the Alliance used the Immortal Chosen to activate the power within the Dharma Transmission Statues and pin down the five Longevity Heavenly Venerables, they launched a ferocious assault on the Five Elders Association.
Driven to apparent desperation, the Five Elders Association finally revealed its hidden trump cards.
Ancient sects that had long gone extinct reappeared in the world. Even cultivators from Carefree Paradise fought back with reckless disregard for death, wielding strange Dharma artifacts in a desperate counteroffensive.
Li Fan compared several faces from that subjugation war with the sleeping cultivators he had just seen in the underground cavern.
They matched perfectly.
*How intriguing.* Li Fan turned his gaze toward the direction of Carefree Paradise in the Five Elders Association.
*It seems this paradise contains more than just cultivators of the Five Elders Association. But is their presence in Carefree Paradise the result of cooperation between the Alliance and the Five Elders Association, or a unilateral capture by the Carefree Heavenly Venerable?*
*If the latter, then this Heavenly Venerable's strength might be even greater than I imagined.*
The image of the infant Carefree Heavenly Venerable surfaced unbidden in Li Fan's mind.
He recalled Dharma Transmitter Zhou, whom he had met during the Dharma Transmission Council's inquiry in the 119th cycle.
Zhou had manifested a modern metropolis under a neon-lit rainy night, mentioning that he had replicated it verbatim after vacationing in Carefree Paradise.
*A partnership between the Alliance and Carefree Paradise is not impossible either.*
*Carefree Paradise does not necessarily represent the Five Elders Association entirely. They only intervene when the Five Elders Association faces total destruction.*
*A dreamland paradise...*
A question suddenly crossed Li Fan's mind: *If these cultivators die in reality, can they still exist in the paradise? And if the Xuanhuang Realm ceases to be, can Carefree Paradise endure?*
While his thoughts surged, Sun Tianci finished absorbing the harvest.
With a mentor like Li Fan strategizing for him, his speed in accumulating Xuanhuang heavenly favor was unrivaled.
It was far faster than even the Holy Emperor avatar's early progress.
Unfortunately, perhaps because an ordained Holy Emperor capable of communicating with the Heavenly Dao's consciousness at any time already existed, Sun Tianci still could not speak directly to the Heavenly Dao, despite clearly feeling Xuanhuang's deep affinity toward him.
He merely sensed an omnipresent "convenience."
Sun Tianci cast a spell on the spot. With the ambient empowerment of Heaven and Earth, its power was indeed drastically magnified.
Yet he remained somewhat downcast.
"No matter. Reaching this stage is already enough."
Li Fan's voice sounded by Sun Tianci's ear.
The intensely mysterious master, who had never revealed his true appearance, now unveiled his true countenance.
Sun Tianci was momentarily stunned.
He had never imagined his master would possess such breathtaking grace.
Clad in white robes, his peerless countenance seemed to gather all the spiritual essence of Heaven and Earth, while an enduring compassion flickered within his eyes...
For a moment, Sun Tianci was utterly mesmerized.
"Follow me."
Master and disciple descended into the deep underground.
After carving out a secret chamber, Li Fan had Sun Tianci retrieve four items that had been prepared long ago.
A plain piece of linen clothing.
A plump ear of rice.
A miniature, exquisitely crafted model of a house.
A lifelike miniature donkey cart.
Li Fan placed the four items in four separate corners, then turned to Sun Tianci.
With a warm, kindly expression, he said, "You may begin. Do not forget the stories I have told you since the day you were born."
Sun Tianci seemed to grasp the meaning. He said solemnly, "I understand, Master. I will not fail your trust."
Li Fan nodded with deep gratification, shifted back into his previous blurred form, and withdrew beyond the array.
Taking a deep breath, Sun Tianci began his movements.
Taking his first step, he faced the donkey cart and chanted softly:
"Immortal Venerable of Fortune and Xuanhuang."
Taking a second step, he turned toward the house representing shelter for mortal folk, silently intoning with sincerity:
"Heavenly Monarch of Fortune and Xuanhuang."
Taking a third step, he looked at the plump ear of rice, holding his breath as he whispered:
"Sovereign of Fortune and Xuanhuang."
Taking a fourth step, he gazed at the linen clothing, finally reciting in his heart: "Heavenly Venerable of Fortune and Xuanhuang."
This was the ritual reversed from the ordinary entrance to the Fallen Immortal Realm, designed to access the special illusion trial for succeeding as the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang!
The instant the ritual was completed, a consciousness descending from the high heavens locked onto Sun Tianci.
Eyes gently closed, Sun Tianci sat cross-legged at the center of the four objects, appearing to drift into deep slumber.
The four items representing clothing, food, shelter, and travel flickered with shifting light and shadow, as if slipping into the seam between illusion and reality.
...
*The fallen thoughts of a True Immortal... No matter how many times I behold them, they never cease to feel wondrous.*
Li Fan's divine clone thought silently.
During the brief moments he had assumed Mr. Bai's appearance to mesmerize Sun Tianci, even beneath layers of underground concealing arrays, he had sensed the stirrings of Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth attempting to resonate with him.
Fortunately, he was no longer inexperienced. Before the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao could locate him, he had already shifted back. Otherwise, another scene of 'Returning to Truth, yet unwilling' might have unfolded.
*Such an intimate bond is something even this lifetime's Holy Emperor avatar cannot match.*
*It seems this is indeed the effect of the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang...*
*Let us see whether this boy has the fortune to inherit it.*
Li Fan watched the sleeping Sun Tianci with these thoughts in mind.
Time within the Fallen Immortal Realm trial of the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang flowed at virtually the same pace as reality.
Back then, even when he knew all the correct answers and cleared the trial via the optimal route, it had taken him the better part of a year.
Li Fan had not told Sun Tianci the direct solution.
This was to prevent triggering any potential anti-cheating mechanisms within the trial.
Instead, he had planted the solutions into Sun Tianci's subconscious through childhood bedtime stories.
With Sun Tianci's talent, cracking the trial might take a few detours, but succeeding shouldn't be difficult.
*It should coincide just in time with the outbreak of the war between the Sacred Dynasty and the Alliance.*
As for the risk of Sun Tianci spiraling out of control...
Li Fan glanced at the core of his clone, where the remnant soul of Sun Tianci's birth mother was wrapped.
After a period of discipline and moulding, her outward malice had vanished, leaving behind the complete demeanor of a loving mother.
*Born into Dao Integration, yet in reality born by consuming his own mother's life. That is his greatest vulnerability!*
*Soon. Let me see just what kind of might the contemporary Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang will possess.*
Beneath the flickering light of the trial ritual, Li Fan's divine clone drifted in and out of sight like a phantom.
...
Great Qi Sacred Dynasty.
Ling Prefecture, Dujiang County, Xixi Village.
The grim, murderous atmosphere preceding the great war had drifted even into this tranquil hamlet.
The vast majority of able-bodied youths had enlisted in the sacred army, prepared to march into battle at any moment.
Only the elderly, weak, women, and children remained to scratch out a living, visiting the Sacred Heart Hall daily to pray for their loved ones and their great Holy Emperor.
A woman in her forties, having just returned from the Sacred Heart Hall, found a young man standing before her courtyard gate.
An inexplicable sense of kinship rose within her. Just as she was about to speak, a sudden chill struck her heart.
As if guided by some unseen force, she swallowed the words back down.
"You are..."
"Auntie, may I ask, have you seen me before?"
In the end, it was the young man who spoke.
His question was rather peculiar.
The woman was bewildered.
Yet his warm and gentle demeanor gradually put her at ease, and she slowly opened up.
"Young man, I understand what you mean."
"You're here looking for kin, aren't you?"
"Come to think of it, you really do look a bit like my husband's younger brother. It's just that he ran away from home years ago, and I haven't seen him since." Tears flickered in the woman's eyes as she spoke softly.
The young man nodded.
"Aside from him, is there anyone else in the family?" he asked again.
"My husband died early, so he and I depended on each other since he was small. Though they called me his aunt, in truth I was like his real mother," the woman said with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Still, over the years, I've come to terms with it. How does the saying go? The departed are gone. I took in two orphans, a boy and a girl. They're very well-behaved, so the Li family line hasn't died out."
"It's just that the Sacred Dynasty seems about to go to war, and both little ones volunteered to join the army. Sigh... I don't know if they'll come back alive. Everything was peaceful, so why must there be a war?" The woman rambled on, full of worry.
Soon, however, she realized her words skirted taboo and hurriedly closed her mouth.
Seeing that the young man's expression remained serene, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Rest assured, they will return home safely," the young man said gently.
The woman smiled. "Then I'll take your blessing, young man. By the way, have you eaten? Why not share a meal at my home?"
"Seeing as you haven't been conscripted, you must not be a cultivator, so you still need to eat, right?"
"Ah, blame me—seeing you just reminded me of that missing brother-in-law of mine..."
The woman offered hurriedly.
The young man nodded and gladly accepted.
He ate quietly in the woman's home before taking his leave.
For some reason, though the woman had merely watched without eating a bite, she felt as if she had consumed a hearty feast; warmth coursed through her whole body, and she felt brimming with inexhaustible vigor.
Looking into the bronze mirror in her room, she was shocked to discover that the wrinkles on her face had vanished unnoticed.
By this point, how could she fail to realize she had encountered a benefactor of noble stature?
Yet no matter how hard she wracked her brain, she could not fathom who this benefactor was.
Were it not for their different appearances, she would have almost believed her brother-in-law had returned.
"Fan'er, are you truly dead?"
The woman stood dazed in the room.
After departing Ling Prefecture, the young man visited several other places across Great Qi.
Including the foot of Mount Jieli.
Finally, he ascended to the summit of Mount Jieli and sat down slowly inside a thatched cottage.
This young man was, of course, the Holy Emperor of Great Qi.
Ever since comprehending the Dao in the sea of stars and developing facial features, he had felt uneasy about his appearance.
Yet for certain reasons, he had chosen not to delve too deeply into it.
Until the eve of the decisive battle arrived...
The appearances of all Great Qi's citizens existed within a single thought of his.
Based on his current likeness, tracing potential bloodline connections was not difficult.
However, the sources appeared tangled and diverse, not belonging to a single family.
It had even led the Holy Emperor to wonder if he had made a mistake.
Yet when standing before those who truly shared a bloodline connection and feeling that instinctive stir in his heart, he finally confirmed the truth.
Arriving at the summit of Mount Jieli, certain suspicions were settled at last.
Yet the ultimate truth still seemed veiled in dense fog, impossible to penetrate.
*Was it an ancestor, or that person who vanished without a trace?*
*The moment he disappeared coincided precisely with the day my consciousness was born.*
*Body possession? Awakening of consciousness?*
...
The Holy Emperor's thoughts grew tangled, an exceedingly rare occurrence for him.
A rustling on his shoulder broke his reverie.
The sleeping Maobao woke, rubbing affectionately against the Holy Emperor's cheek.
The Holy Emperor stepped out of the small wooden hut, gazing toward the distant sea of clouds.
The clouds unrolled and drifted across the sky under a gentle breeze.
They shifted into various shapes, only to disperse in the blink of an eye.
The Holy Emperor's mind regained its calm.
"Whatever my origin, I am always myself."
"Avatar of the Heavenly Dao, Holy Emperor of Great Qi."
"When truth is taken for fiction..."
"Fiction becomes truth."
The Holy Emperor's eyes turned serene.
The aura around him surged like the sea of clouds,
harmonizing with the Heavenly Dao of the Great Qi world.
"Meow~"
Maobao let out a contented purr and curled up to sleep soundly once more.
"My imperial mandate does not change with my identity."
The simple white clothes upon him slowly transformed into a starlit sacred robe.
His frame expanded from that of an ordinary man to thirty-three feet tall.
Holy Emperor Li Ping took a single step off the summit of Mount Jieli, stepping into the void beyond the cliff.
The next instant, his figure vanished,
reappearing upon the Holy Emperor Throne.
The fleeting confusion had passed; from this moment onward, he was thoroughly the Holy Emperor of Great Qi.
What he carried on his shoulders was not just himself,
but the lives of countless Great Qi soldiers and the future of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Just as the Holy Emperor pondered in silence, his heart stirred suddenly.
He felt an intention transmitted from the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao.
It carried an urgent edge, tinged with bewilderment.
Chapter 1290