The Changes in Trueness

Li Fan was never supposed to have set foot on the path of cultivation. Back when he journeyed from Daxuan to Glass Island, the single hurdle of purging the immortal-mortal miasma from his body had nearly severed his path completely. Fortunately, under the dual blessings of the Xuanhuang Heart-Clearing Incantation and the Body-Cleansing Spirit Pool, he had managed to formally begin cultivating. And as he shed every trace of the miasma, the Xuanhuang Heart-Clearing Incantation formally transformed into the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation. The Xuanhuang Incantation consequently became his unorthodox Dao foundation, accompanying him throughout his life of cultivation. The higher Li Fan's cultivation rose, the more his Xuanhuang Incantation Dao foundation expanded alongside it, resembling pillars that served as essential supports upholding his power. Yet in the previous life, when Li Fan disseminated the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation on a massive scale, the consequence was that these supporting pillars of his Dao foundation... had grown fragile due to extensive fragmentation. The Dao foundation of his true body was not merely the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation; it also included Trueness as well as the insights and experiences accumulated across a hundred cycles of reincarnation. Hence, the impact on him was negligible. However, the negative repercussions of this extraction were naturally amplified in his clones and fragmented spirits. The weaker the separated entity, the more severe it became. Nor was he the only one affected by the widespread dissemination of the Immortal Heart Incantation. Even the incantation itself had lost more than a fraction of its efficacy because of this spread. Clues of this could be seen in the battlefield performance of the Qingxuan Army and the Daqi Imperial Guard, who had practiced the Immortal Heart Incantation in the previous life. They had barely managed to remain calm in the face of peril, but that was a far cry from the authentic incantation's ability to "endure a thousand cycles of calamity while the immortal heart remains unchanged"! The disparity became all the more apparent to Li Fan after he returned to this life through Trueness and monopolized the Immortal Heart Incantation once more. "The same law cannot be shared in cultivation..." "It seems this wasn't merely the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm attempting to curb the abrupt divergence of cultivators. Rather, it was deeply etched into the depths of the Xuanhuang Realm long ago, originating from some tradition of the Immortal Realm." "Hmm, perhaps it isn't only connected to the principle that laws cannot be shared. It likely also has an inextricable link to the office of Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang." Without question, the Immortal Heart Incantation taught to the mortal world by Mr. Bai to counteract and reverse the aberrant principles of Xuanhuang had its roots in the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang. The Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang was ordained by the Immortal Realm, commanding immortal artifacts and overseeing Xuanhuang. Within the Xuanhuang Realm, that position possessed supreme authority. Yet serving as the Immortal Realm's Great Heavenly Venerable was by no means an easy task. Not only was there a peer in the shadows—the "Watcher"—acting as a check and balance, but inheriting the office of Great Heavenly Venerable also meant inheriting the Immortal Realm's constraints and punishments upon the post. Only after returning to this life through Trueness and reviewing the past cycle did Li Fan recall Sun Tianci, who had been incinerated to nothingness by the heart-burning fire. "Even though the immortal path is severed today, the Immortal Realm's countermeasures remain effective." "The inability to disseminate the Immortal Heart Incantation on a massive scale is likely one of the many restrictions placed by the Immortal Realm upon the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang." Li Fan also recalled the events following Sun Tianci's successful succession in the previous life. "The Great Sun Golden Bell, the Taixu Azure Nether Lamp, the Purple Qi Dream-Weaving Shuttle, and the Hunyuan Five Elements Roulette." These four were the only immortal artifacts remaining among the heritage of the Xuanhuang Realm's Great Heavenly Venerable. In addition, there was a condensed mass of immortal spiritual energy, originating from the immortal artifacts Mr. Bai had detonated. "After passing the trials of the Fallen Immortal Realm, there is still a probationary period before one truly becomes the Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang." "Before the immortal path was severed, this trial period was essentially the time spent awaiting the Immortal Realm's review and formal investiture." "After the path was severed, formal investiture from the Immortal Realm became an empty phrase. However, according to the procedures established by the Immortal Realm back then, if there was no response within three years, the review was automatically deemed approved. Generally speaking, so long as one doesn't encounter a catastrophe like the destruction of the Xuanhuang Realm as Sun Tianci did, merely waiting out the time in silence would grant the full authority of the Great Heavenly Venerable." "And prior to that..." One could not deploy the immortal artifacts of the Great Heavenly Venerable's heritage at all. This was also one of the reasons Sun Tianci had been so easily swayed by Li Fan's fragmented spirit in the previous life. Confronted by Heavenly Venerable Chuanfa's pressure, the newly instated Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang simply lacked the power to contend with him. "According to Sun Tianci, none of these immortal artifacts bestowed by the upper realm possessed an artifact spirit. Without immortal spiritual energy, a mortal-realm Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable could only rely on the restrictions left behind by the Immortal Realm, driving the artifacts by expending their intrinsic power." "In a sense, they are outright consumables. When Mr. Bai gathered them one by one all those years ago, who knew how many times these immortal artifacts had already been used? How much of their original might remains is truly hard to say." "Still, they are immortal artifacts after all. Leaving them unused in the depths of the Fallen Immortal Realm is no different from letting treasures gather dust. In this life, I must still retrieve them. Not to mention that mass of pure immortal spiritual energy." Only after laying down a world-destroying immortal array with immortal spiritual energy with his own hands did Li Fan truly understand the immense power and transcendence of an "Immortal." Within his sea of consciousness, the Terminal Dissociation Disc radiated an extraordinary seven-colored brilliance. Amidst the radiance, a genuine "immortal array" was being deduced without a single moment's pause. The genesis of an immortal array, the operation of an immortal array, the collapse of an immortal array. During the previous life's destruction of the world by the All Things Return to Void Array, the Terminal Dissociation Disc had collected an abundance of array data. As if it had truly undergone a metamorphosis transcending the divide between mortal and immortal, it was now capable of spontaneously deducing immortal arrays according to Li Fan's requirements, just as it once deduced mundane arrays. Even though the speed of deduction was extremely slow and placed a tremendous load upon the disc, under the orderly orchestration of its simulated persona, it did not interfere with Li Fan's ordinary cultivation. Currently, the main direction of the Terminal Dissociation Disc's immortal array deduction was array downgrading. The goal was to trade a slight reduction in the array's might for the ability to power it with a slightly inferior energy source. Immortal and mortal were distinct; Li Fan had no means of producing immortal spiritual energy on a massive scale. Even if he could harvest some from the Great Heavenly Venerable's heritage, it would not be enough to sustain his plans for this life. However, source power essence, which was infinitely close to immortal spiritual energy, was virtually inexhaustible for him. If he could drive an immortal array using source power essence, it would undoubtedly save an immense amount of trouble. Even if Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, he could handle them with ease. He would no longer need to exhaust himself creating a Holy Emperor clone just to match them in battle. In the previous life's world-destroying immortal array, Li Fan had seen the true strength of Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician with absolute clarity. With that benchmark of their established strength, he knew precisely what was required when creating the immortal array. "So long as I don't back them into a corner, relying on the immortal array should be more than enough to invite them to sit down and have a proper talk." Before Li Fan's eyes flashed the transparent silhouette that had appeared after Chuanfa's physical body was annihilated. Back then, amidst the world-destroying tempest, everything had been utter chaos. He had not been able to see it clearly. Yet from that transparent silhouette, he had faintly sensed a familiar aura. "If an opportunity arises in this life, perhaps I can verify it." When a True Immortal descended into the world, everything in the Xuanhuang Realm was reduced to mere ants. Yet with a single leap, Cat Treasure had made even the phantom of a True Immortal its meal. The gulf between the Xuanhuang Realm and what lay beyond the High Wall was readily apparent. Yet that did not mean everything within the Xuanhuang Realm had lost its value. Back when Li Fan was a mortal Grand Preceptor, the chasm between him and the Xuanhuang Longevity cultivators had been just as vast as the divide between the Xuanhuang Realm and the world beyond the High Wall today. Yet across a mere one hundred and twenty-six cycles of reincarnation, the former mortal Grand Preceptor had already become capable of treating Xuanhuang Longevity cultivators as chess pieces. So what if entities beyond the High Wall could hunt True Immortals? Given another one hundred and twenty-six lives, Li Fan might well treat True Immortals as chess pieces too! It was just that, for now, the world beyond the High Wall remained an absolute unknown to him. With his current strength, he was not yet equipped to venture past it. Therefore, everything still had to proceed step by step, following the plan. ... Contemplating this, Li Fan completed yet another carving of Cat Treasure. Sweeping his divine sense across the room, he saw that over the course of three years, he had carved nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine wooden sculptures. They filled the wooden hut, further crowding the already cramped space. A wisp of flame suddenly flickered on Li Fan's fingertip, and he cast it toward the pile of Cat Treasure sculptures. *Whoosh!* The flame surged, instantly turning into a roaring blaze. Yet it burned only the wooden sculptures of Cat Treasure, without spreading to the rest of the hut. The wooden carvings perished within the flames, leaving behind no black smoke, not even ashes. In the blink of an eye, the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine sculptures were consumed by the blaze, vanishing completely from the world. It was as though they had never existed. Li Fan watched quietly as the fire slowly burned out. The countless images of Cat Treasure reflected in his eyes gradually faded alongside the dying embers. After standing silently for a long time, Li Fan shifted his gaze. He looked toward the Trueness panel. Light jumped and flickered, reflecting characters that were intimately familiar. ... [This simulation has concluded.] [You may choose one of the following options to retain: 1. An item in your possession during this simulation. 2. Your cultivation realm from this simulation. 3. The simulation memories of an individual closely associated with you during this simulation. These memories may be inherited by that individual. 4. Forfeit the above options to accelerate the recharge progress.] Beneath this passage of text, which he had read countless times before, there was now a brand-new prompt. Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. [New variable interference detected. An additional option may be selected for retention from this simulation.] Compared to the previous text, these words were slightly different. Instead, they resembled the final scene witnessed through Trueness in the previous life. Flickering irregularly, their frequency was far faster than the normal Trueness notifications. And being able to select two options for retention was entirely unprecedented. "New variable interference..." Having already waited three years, he was in no hurry for the moment. Just as before, Li Fan did not make his choice immediately. Instead, he pondered with utmost prudence, carefully savoring this prompt from Trueness. From the moment he discovered that devouring worldly wonders and grotto-heavens could advance Trueness's anchor recharge progress, Li Fan had understood that Trueness seemed to "feed," growing by consuming things beneficial to itself. Worldly wonders, grotto-heaven worlds, eternal lingering wills, and even Li Fan's own experiences... All of them were on the list of things Trueness found interesting. Naturally, once Trueness had devoured something, it would never show interest in it again. Thus, Li Fan was certain that even if he encountered the factions beyond the High Wall again in this life, without any other substantive gains, an extra reward from Trueness would not appear a second time. Li Fan did not care much about having one extra choice. As long as he desired it, it was merely a matter of undergoing another cycle to obtain it. What Li Fan truly cared about was the attitude of Trueness. Previously, without exception, Trueness had only granted returns when it had received tangible benefits. Yet this time, merely sensing a so-called new interfering variable had caused Trueness to generously grant an additional reward... In Li Fan's eyes, this sudden generosity was nothing less than outright temptation. It was guiding and enticing him to explore beyond the High Wall. It unequivocally signaled that beyond the High Wall, there definitely existed things that Trueness found profoundly interesting, or even immensely useful. As the fundamental trump card that had allowed him to grow to this day, if Trueness were to undergo any transformation, Li Fan would undoubtedly be the greatest beneficiary. Thus, he could not help but feel his heart race. Yet just as he had decided earlier, beyond the High Wall lay danger at every step, requiring thorough and careful deliberation. "Venturing beyond the High Wall all on my own would be excessively difficult." "Yet the Xuanhuang Realm has already proven its potential across multiple cycles of reincarnation." "With the assistance of the myriad living beings of the Xuanhuang Realm, my task will undoubtedly be much easier." The very first step to leaving the Pitch-Black Star Sea was the ability to cross the High Wall. Even for this prerequisite alone, Li Fan would likely need to undergo numerous attempts to achieve it. After all, the High Wall had imprisoned the living beings of the Pitch-Black Star Sea for ten thousand years. Mr. Bai's plan to detonate immortal spiritual energy to breach it was ultimately just a hypothesis. Within the sea of stars, the rumors that the Tianjian Sect, the demon race, or even the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao had once crossed over and departed possessed no substantive evidence proving they had succeeded. If, during the ten thousand years of severed immortal paths and towering High Walls, any faction within the Pitch-Black Star Sea had genuinely breached the High Wall... then it was likely none other than... the Shang Celestial Boat. Before Li Fan's eyes flashed the look of shock on the Holy Embryo's face when he had learned of this from Ai Tianjue in the previous life. "They intended to pilot the Xuan-Shang Celestial Boat to ram the High Wall, delusionally attempting to break out of this star sea," Ai Tianjue had said in an indecipherable tone. After his shock, the Holy Embryo had been unable to resist asking, "Did the Shang Celestial Boat succeed, then?" Ai Tianjue had fallen silent for a long time before speaking with a complicated expression: "If they hadn't succeeded, why would the Xuan Celestial Boat have treated the name 'Shang Celestial Boat' as a taboo for thousands of years?" "It... it succeeded?" The Holy Embryo had been stunned, his heart shaken beyond measure. "The Xuan and Shang Celestial Boats were originally one entity. As to whether they were utterly annihilated in the impact or managed to escape successfully, a mutual resonance remains." "The Shang Celestial Boat still exists, and it is beyond the High Wall," Ai Tianjue had sighed. "Precisely because of the Shang Celestial Boat's success, we on the Xuan Celestial Boat clearly realized that the power of an 'Immortal' might be the sole way to escape this Pitch-Black Star Sea. Yet during the zenith of the star sea, searching for immortal artifacts was already difficult beyond measure, to say nothing of after the star sea's ruin." "Fortunately, after the great calamity, the entire ruined star sea was permeated with remnants of True Immortal seal characters. Only then did our Xuan Celestial Boat begin researching that power." ... Everything regarding the Xuan Celestial Boat flashed through Li Fan's mind. "The Shang Celestial Boat still exists, and it lies beyond the High Wall." Li Fan turned those words over in his mind. He did not believe that under such a dire, life-and-death situation in the previous life, Ai Tianjue would have lied to him. Therefore, the Shang Celestial Boat's escape was likely genuine. "A mutual resonance still exists between the Xuan and Shang Celestial Boats." "If I find a way to breach the High Wall, I can use that resonance to make my way to the Shang Celestial Boat." "With the Shang Celestial Boat as a bridgehead, gaining a foothold beyond the High Wall should be far easier." Due to the original schism, the Xuan Celestial Boat possessed no records that could aid in traversing the High Wall. What was of value within the Xuan Celestial Boat was likely that hidden repository known as the Immortal Record of a Hundred Lore, alongside their research into True Immortal seal characters. "Xuanhuang and the Celestial Boat." "Using the power of these two realms, I shall forge a bridge over the High Wall." "And then drive the myriad beings of Xuanhuang to scout the path ahead for me." A plan gradually formed in Li Fan's mind. With that objective as an intermediate milestone, there was still much Li Fan needed to do at present. First, increase his own strength. Even if he had an immortal array to protect himself in the future, the Soul Formation realm attained through the about-to-be-born changes of the Xuanhuang Realm was still somewhat inadequate. Li Fan urgently needed to elevate his personal might to face Chuanfa, the Heavenly Physician, True Immortals, and even the factions beyond the High Wall. The battle between the Holy Emperor, Chuanfa, and the Heavenly Physician in the previous life had already revealed his future path to him. Relying on the Sacred Dynasty's providence and the favor of the Heavenly Dao, as the Holy Emperor had, ultimately fell short of having supreme power gathered within oneself, like Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician. Although both sides had reached the upper limit this star sea could endure, Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician's actual combat prowess had clearly surpassed the Holy Emperor's by more than a measure. "I am still constrained by Chuanfa's new method. Cultivating within the star sea may not necessarily suit me either." "The most practical method..." Li Fan's eyes flickered. "Immortal power disperses, and Xuanhuang elevates. The Immortal Essence of Heaven and Earth merges into my soul and flesh." In the previous life, when the Holy Emperor took Heaven and Earth as his model and taught the new method to the masses, it had indeed seemed to point straight toward the Great Dao. Foundation Establishment with the Self, Hunyuan Golden Core, Physical Body Nascent Soul, Mind Soul Formation, Star Sea Dao Integration... And finally, Dao-Resonating Longevity. Contemplating it truly set one's blood surging. Over the past three years of this life, every time Li Fan reflected on it, he sensed its boundless profundity. Yet the same problem remained. As wonderful as the new method was, it was only theoretically viable. Not a single cultivator in the world had truly cultivated all the way to a Hunyuan Golden Core according to it... Li Fan possessed the extraordinary treasure Trueness, making even the first step of Foundation Establishment with the Self as difficult as scaling the heavens. To say nothing of the higher realms that followed. By comparison, Chuanfa's method remained more suited to him. Previously, practitioners of the new method lamented that "the immortal path ahead cannot be trodden, with Heavenly Venerable Chuanfa looming above," because back then, the upper limit for new-method cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm was fixed and unyielding. Even the Longevity realm could hardly stir up any real waves when looking across the entire Pitch-Black Star Sea. Yet times had changed. After thousands of years of ceaseless, diligent labor by Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician—the two Star Sea Supremes—the present Xuanhuang Realm had gathered virtually all the remaining essence of the ruined realms in the star sea. Not only had its scale expanded dozens of times over, but in the previous life, under the impetus of immortal spiritual energy, Li Fan had also witnessed the vast, untapped vitality hidden deep within each province, held in abeyance. As the future homeland in the Heavenly Physician's grand design, the potential of the Xuanhuang Realm had never truly been unleashed. Dao Integration in the current Xuanhuang Realm was indeed limited in power, but that would not necessarily be true for a sublimated Xuanhuang Realm in the future. "Indigo blue comes from indigo, yet is bluer than the plant; ice is made of water, yet is colder than water," Li Fan chanted softly. "Who is to say a Grand Preceptor's authority must be inferior to an emperor's?" Once the Xuanhuang Realm was nourished by the power of a True Immortal, as it elevated itself, the laws of heaven and earth—and indeed everything nurtured within the realm—would undergo a metamorphosis. In the previous life, Li Fan had witnessed that process with absolute clarity. "And that was with the vast majority of the immortal power channeled into the All Things Return to Void Array. If that immortal power were entirely directed back into catalyzing the Xuanhuang Realm, the resulting Essence of Heaven and Earth would surely be unprecedentedly formidable..." "Integrating with the Dao through that might even allow me to grasp immortal power," Li Fan deduced silently. Prior to Li Fan, all cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm—save for Heavenly Venerable Chuanfa—had merely sucked the flesh and blood of the Xuanhuang Realm. Their cultivation and foundations were entirely built upon it. No matter how they tempered the principles of Heaven and Earth, they could never surpass the upper limit of power that the Xuanhuang Realm itself could provide. What Li Fan intended to do was first drive the Xuanhuang Realm's ceiling to skyrocket, and only then proceed with Dao Integration. "Furthermore, an uncontrolled elevation of the Xuanhuang Realm might even shake Chuanfa's foundation..." Li Fan's eyes flickered as he worked through the deduction. It returned to that earlier metaphor of the prison cell. The Longevity cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm dismantled the crossbeams of the cell and inserted themselves in their place, merging into the prison. What Li Fan intended to do was expand the prison cell itself. Once its scale expanded manifold, he would carry out the substitution. Chuanfa indeed possessed near-total mastery over the old prison. But if the area of the cell abruptly multiplied several times over... he would face the risk of losing control over the Xuanhuang Realm. "There is another advantage to this plan." "Given my understanding of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, as long as I do not reveal any intention of taking the Essence of Heaven and Earth for Dao Integration, It will bear no hostility toward me. In fact, It will even assist me in secret." "After all, I will be helping It achieve sublimation." "And only with the assistance of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao can I conceal this from Chuanfa and the Heavenly Physician beyond the starry expanse, completely undetected." "By the time they realize something is wrong and try to return, an immortal array laid down in advance will be sufficient to bar their way." ... Li Fan pondered the plan and nodded slightly. Beyond elevating his own realm, enhancing his combat prowess could also be achieved through external power. For instance: True Immortal seal characters. In the previous life on the Xuan Celestial Boat, Li Fan had attained full comprehension of five brand-new True Immortal seal characters. Although they were not complete characters, but rather reproductions reconstructed by the boat's cultivators, they were still sufficient to deal with the Star Sea Supremes. In truth, Li Fan's greatest gain regarding True Immortal seal characters in the previous life had not come from the Xuan Celestial Boat, but from the Dharma Formulation Jade. The True Immortal seal character held within the Dharma Formulation Jade's memory was entirely different from the power of pure destruction permeating the star sea. With a shift of thought, Li Fan vanished and reappeared outside Mount Jieli, high above the sea of clouds. Though he possessed only a Foundation Establishment cultivation, he gathered his spiritual energy. Using his hand as a brush, he executed a stroke in a single flourish. A profoundly esoteric character dissolved the very instant it manifested. This was because a Foundation Establishment cultivation was insufficient to support the revelation of its true might. Yet in that brief moment the True Immortal seal character appeared in the world, a sudden clap of thunder rolled across the Daxuan pocket world. No dark clouds gathered, yet a gentle rain fell, blanketing the entire pocket world. The bitter midwinter chill gradually gave way under the rain's nourishment, turning as warm as spring. Li Fan even sensed wisps of spiritual energy emerging from the world, though from where, none could tell. Unlike the spiritual energy artificially generated through Daoyi Insects, though thin, this spiritual energy was spontaneously birthed by the pocket world itself. Suspended high in the heavens, Li Fan watched the stirring vitality of the Daxuan pocket world amidst the rain. What astonished him even more was that the world consciousness of the Daxuan pocket world seemed to be germinating. Because of the lack of spiritual energy, no Heavenly Dao consciousness had previously existed in Daxuan. Or rather, Daxuan's Heavenly Dao consciousness had been so feeble that even Li Fan could not perceive it. Yet under this single True Immortal seal character that Li Fan had casually traced, the Daxuan pocket world had undergone a transformation in a matter of days that might otherwise have required thousands, or tens of thousands, of years to accumulate. "Where did this transformative power truly come from?" Li Fan's gaze swept across the heavens and earth of Daxuan, yet he could not find its source. "It wasn't forced growth, nor did it overdraw the pocket world's potential." "It appeared as if from nothing..." "Perhaps this can be called 'Creation.'" Li Fan paused slightly. That True Immortal seal character surfaced in his mind once more. "Creation..." He repeated the word over and over in his heart. In a daze, the True Immortal seal character seemed to come alive, wandering and shifting on its own accord. It became subtly different from how it appeared in his memory. Yet it remained far from its true, complete form. "Creation!" A brilliant light flashed in Li Fan's eyes. An irresistible urge surged within him, driving him to probe deeper into the mysteries of Creation. Yet very quickly, Li Fan recalled something, and clarity returned to his eyes. He suppressed that greed immediately. "Using it is fine." "Yet delusionally attempting to comprehend it..." "might invite unknown perils." A trace of enlightenment flickered in Li Fan's heart. This True Immortal seal character, likely named "Creation," was clearly far more precious than characters like "Chaos" or "Famine." In the memories of the Dharma Formulation Jade, even True Immortals had vied fiercely for it. Even though the immortal path was severed, Li Fan could not guarantee whether somewhere in the star sea, a True Immortal was currently comprehending this Dao. Whoever had managed to seize the Dao of Creation and claim it as their own in the ancient war of True Immortals must possess unimaginable strength. A mere High Wall might not necessarily be able to keep them at bay. Having witnessed the great terror beyond the High Wall, Li Fan had grown increasingly cautious and circumspect. Even if it were merely an imaginary foe that might not exist, Li Fan refused to take any chances. "If, when the Xuanhuang Realm undergoes its metamorphosis, it is further assisted by the power of Creation..." Li Fan looked down upon the Daxuan pocket world, currently undergoing a dramatic upheaval, and before his eyes seemed to float the future Xuanhuang. If True Immortal seal characters were the pinnacle of external power Li Fan could harness, then the ultimate limit of his own divine abilities still rested upon Trueness. "When the real is made false, the false is also real." Aside from creating an all-purpose artifact spirit like the simulated persona through this principle, what moved Li Fan even more was the "transition between the true and the false." At this moment, he had not yet inherited his past cultivation. Yet within Li Fan's sea of consciousness surfaced the Soul Formation cultivation he had once possessed—cultivated using the cataclysms of the Xuanhuang Realm's destruction as his medium. He quietly recalled and comprehended it. It felt as though that cultivation had never truly vanished with the activation of Trueness. Standing motionless in midair, he knew not how much time had passed. Suddenly, Li Fan opened his eyes. An immensely powerful aura abruptly descended upon his person. The Daxuan pocket world seemed to sense something, and heaven and earth trembled. Yet the anomaly lasted for only a single instant. Very quickly, it vanished. The clouds were pale and the breeze gentle; everything was as though it had never appeared. Li Fan, however, revealed a faint smile.