"Collecting more merely provides an extra layer of assurance."
"The most crucial factor remains the quantity of offerings for the Equalize Heaven ritual..." Zhong Daogong emphasized once more, his gaze burning bright.
"If you feel too much pressure, you may also select elders to assist you."
Li Fan pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "Great Qi's world-protecting immortal artifact oversees heaven and earth. If outsiders intrude recklessly, it will inevitably raise an alarm, which would work against our plan.
"I am sufficient on my own! The optimal window will arrive within thirty years..."
"It will not take that long! If all goes smoothly, I can succeed within three to five years." Li Fan was brimming with confidence.
"However..." Li Fan suddenly furrowed his brows.
"Speak freely. Whatever assistance you need, just ask! The elders will cooperate fully." Having received Li Fan's guarantee, Zhong Daogong spoke with immense generosity.
Li Fan nodded. "I set out under the pretext of searching for treasures in the Star Sea ruins. If I return empty-handed, it might arouse suspicion. I need to select a few items from the Celestial Vessel's secret vault to bring back. Of course, merely to go through the motions, items from the first floor of the vault will suffice."
Hearing this, Jian Daosheng suddenly asked, "If the items you bring back are of higher value, would that be even more conducive to arranging the upcoming ritual?"
Li Fan answered instinctively, "Naturally... However, truth be told, the benefit is quite limited. Great Qi's scholastic oligarchy is even more entrenched than our Celestial Vessel's Council of Elders. Relying solely on a few treasures is far from enough. In the end, one still has to grind through the years and accumulate seniority."
The elders exchanged glances, and in the end, Zhong Daogong spoke up: "Even an extra sliver of certainty is worthwhile. You may go to the second floor of the treasure vault to make your selection. Kept there are items of extraordinary value that do not affect the survival and continuation of the Celestial Vessel."
Li Fan did not make polite pretenses, cupping his hands. "That works as well."
Flanked by the elders, Li Fan arrived once more at the second floor of the Celestial Vessel's secret vault.
He looked over the rare and precious treasures sealed within spheres of light from the Celestial Star Light Lotuses. The Celestial Vessel's Council of Elders had agreed to let him pick two items here, and then choose three more on the first floor.
With five treasures in hand, he could dispel Great Qi's suspicions while smoothly advancing the Equalize Heaven ritual.
Li Fan browsed the area and first selected a piece of Yin-Yang Jade from the second floor. It was formed from astronomical amounts of Yin and Yang Qi achieving a delicate balance and condensing into physical substance.
Li Fan had a premonition that if he incorporated this Yin and Yang Qi into the process of sublimating Xuanhuang, it might yield unexpected results.
As for the second treasure he selected... it was naturally one of the three relics left behind by Sun Piaomiao that had triggered an anomalous reaction from Revert to the True—the three-pronged divine tree!
The Celestial Vessel elders had used the "Manifest" formula to inspect Sun Piaomiao's relics. Neither the broken-winged gray bird nor the three-pronged tree possessed a faint link to the outside world like the Medicine King Cauldron did.
Having ruled out the possibility that they were gray Go stones, the elders concluded they were mere diversionary tactics left by Sun Piaomiao.
Li Fan explained, "Though this item has little practical value, it was likewise left behind by Sun Piaomiao and shares the same origin as the hanging-arm figurine that spared my life before. My teacher will certainly be interested in it."
The elders hesitated briefly before ultimately granting Li Fan's request.
Afterward, Li Fan went to the first floor of the vault and took a black starstone, an odd bronze mirror, and a liquid longsword.
Only then did he bid farewell to the Celestial Vessel. With a flash of sword phantoms, he vanished into the pitch-black Star Sea.
After Li Fan departed, the Celestial Vessel elders gathered together.
"Although he gave his word, we cannot pin all our hopes on him," Zhong Daogong said in a deep voice.
"Indeed. We must still prepare alternative methods to mitigate the Star Sea's backlash."
"Perhaps... it is time to open the third level of the Hundred Inquiries Immortal Record..."
As soon as those words fell, absolute silence descended upon the hall.
It was as though within this third level of the secret vault lay something everyone feared intensely. The elders wore varying expressions, yet no one voiced agreement for a long time.
"Let us wait a little longer. With five years as our limit, let everyone think whether there is any better alternative."
"If he can successfully return during this period, so much the better."
"Otherwise..." A shadow flickered across Zhong Daogong's eyes as his gaze drifted toward the sealed Hundred Inquiries Vault.
***
Far away from the Celestial Vessel, Li Fan did not return to the Xuanhuang Realm immediately. Instead, he headed toward the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds, where Master Yin and Baihua were located.
En route, Li Fan took out the three-pronged tree. Right on cue, the anomaly within Revert to the True flared up. Suppressing the surging craving within his heart for the time being, Li Fan first examined the artifact before him.
The tree was forged from an unknown material, resembling bronze yet not bronze, wood yet not wood. It possessed both the hard, icy texture of metal and the vitality and ancient antiquity of primeval trees.
At each fork, what grew out was not ordinary branches, but an entirely new tree. And upon those secondary branches, new three-pronged forks branched out once more.
Endless and boundless, it seemed to go on forever. With Li Fan's current divine sense, tracking and observing it continuously, he was unable to determine in short order just how many branches existed within this three-pronged tree.
"Exquisite indeed." Li Fan nodded slightly, then ceased suppressing Revert to the True's hunger. An inexplicable force enveloped the three-pronged tree, and the ancient relic became draped in a faint glow.
It gradually turned illusory, then vanished completely into thin air. Li Fan stared intently at the changes on the panel of Revert to the True.
Yet after waiting for a long time, the kind of windfall from last time—where the reversion charging progress surged directly to 400%—did not occur.
In fact... Li Fan could find no tangible change whatsoever.
*Could it be that Revert to the True devoured it for nothing?* Such a thought flashed through Li Fan's mind. But very quickly, he dismissed that hypothesis.
Given his understanding of Revert to the True, it was exceedingly particular about its diet. Every time it fed, a substantial change was guaranteed.
This time was no exception. Abandoning his inspection of the panel, Li Fan focused his attention entirely on Revert to the True itself.
He even halted the wooden sword escape technique carrying him through the void. Standing silently in the empty expanse, Li Fan calmed his mind to perceive.
After nearly half a day, Li Fan abruptly opened his eyes. "Indeed, this change in Revert to the True isn't directly reflected on the panel.
"However..." Li Fan cast forth another wooden sword phantom. An outsider would be unable to tell the difference, but as the caster of the divine ability, only Li Fan could discern that this phantom escape technique was distinctly superior to before.
To achieve such marked progress in so short a time was entirely thanks to his comprehension of the transformation of true and false advancing by another step.
*It can actually help me comprehend the transformation of true and false, the very essence of Revert to the True?* Li Fan felt considerable shock.
The transformation of true and false was the highest-level power Li Fan had encountered across all his continuous cycles of reincarnation. Without exception.
For Li Fan, comprehending and utilizing it was extraordinarily difficult. He had relied entirely on his connection to Revert to the True, slowly meditating and comprehending through his own innate insight by using the scenes of the world blurring into illusion and reappearing each time Revert to the True was activated.
There had been no shortcuts whatsoever. Yet now, this three-pronged tree left by Sun Piaomiao could actually aid in comprehending the Dao!
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, carefully relishing how this unbelievable phenomenon had transpired. After a long while, an inkling surfaced in Li Fan's mind. *The Dao of True and False is like the supreme principle of Heaven, reigning high above.*
*Only when I activate Revert to the True can my body soar into the firmament to observe its transformations up close.*
*And absorbing this three-pronged tree was...* Li Fan fell silent for a moment. Then, a sharp gleam suddenly erupted in his eyes. *Revert to the True initiated a 'simulation' without my participation?*
*The generation and disillusion of a world of true and false occurred in a single instant. It did not even affect the current world, but existed solely within Revert to the True!*
*Unnoticed by anyone in the world, another transformation between true and false was realized. Only I, through the inexplicable deepening of my comprehension of the transformation of true and false, happened to discover it...*
Becoming the sole enlightened being in the world brought Li Fan not the slightest thrill.
Instead, a heaviness settled over him unlike anything he had felt before—so much so that his earlier plan to rendezvous with Master Yin was temporarily shelved.
*Revert to the True...* Li Fan chanted silently in his mind. His surroundings dimmed in an instant, taking on a gray gloom even more pronounced than the already dead, pitch-black Star Sea.
"When the true is taken for false, the false becomes true as well"—the seven luminous words emerged one after another. Just as always. The ability of Revert to the True remained unaffected, ready to be activated at any moment.
Yet for some reason, an uneasy apprehension lingered in Li Fan's heart, refusing to subside for a long time. In Li Fan's view, all matters under heaven fell into two categories.
One category comprised things covered by the capability of Revert to the True. The other comprised Revert to the True itself and anything capable of affecting it.
Everything in the Star Sea, and even the High Wall, True Immortals, and Cat Treasure, all belonged to the first category. So long as Revert to the True was in his grasp, Li Fan would eventually trample them all underfoot.
The other category, however... was beyond Li Fan's control. Anything capable of affecting Revert to the True meant that Li Fan's ultimate trump card could lose its efficacy.
Although this occurrence appeared entirely beneficial and harmless to him, the fact that an uncontrolled event had happened was an absolute warning sign to Li Fan.
In the future, when Revert to the True experienced anomalies and felt an urge to devour... should it be satisfied every time? And what did this devouring by Revert to the True truly signify?
These were questions placed before Li Fan that he had to weigh with utmost caution.
Revert to the True was a supreme treasure that had awakened mysteriously after Li Fan transmigrated, seeming completely integrated with his very self.
To say he had no fear of losing it one day was an outright lie. But his smooth journey through samsara, and his successful foundation establishment in the Xuanhuang Realm using the portion of Revert to the True across a hundred lifetimes, had caused him to gradually forget that former anxiety over gains and losses. Now, with the changes after Revert to the True swallowed the three-pronged divine tree, Li Fan was jolted awake once more.
Only after a long while did Li Fan regain his calm.
*From the looks of it, this isn't a bad thing for me at present.*
*However, I must find out as soon as possible what this three-pronged tree truly is. Why did it cause Revert to the True to enact the birth and destruction of a world without my participation?*
*What took place in that world born and destroyed in a split second?*
*What special qualities did it possess to bring about such a change in Revert to the True?* A flood of questions rushed into Li Fan's mind.
*Sun Piaomiao...* By now, Li Fan was certain that this three-pronged tree also originated from the Immortal Realm.
*Its value might be even greater than that of the gray Go stones.*
*Yet even Sun Piaomiao might not have understood the secret behind it.* Li Fan contemplated ways to study the tree.
He could not be sure whether Revert to the True would still harbor the urge to devour it upon seeing the tree in the next lifetime.
Based on past experience, Revert to the True would not swallow again something it had already consumed. Yet perhaps this bizarre three-pronged tree was an exception.
Then the question arose: if an anomaly in Revert to the True occurred again in the next lifetime, should Li Fan let it continue to devour the tree?
For the first time, Li Fan, who was always decisive, fell into a lingering hesitation. This indecision persisted even after he located Master Yin and Baihua at the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds.
While continuing to ponder cautiously, Li Fan cast his wooden sword phantom escape technique, shielding the two who were struggling under the influence of the Reverberating Astral Force.
Their current location was a "node" that Master Yin had mentioned earlier, formed by the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds to maintain its own stability.
Here, the Reverberating Astral Force crashed like colossal waves against reefs; the violent fluctuations of energy were unmatched anywhere on the Star Sea's fringes, rivaling even the foot of the High Wall. With their cultivation, exploring this place was indeed fraught with hardship.
"How is it? Any clues regarding Xu Ke?" Li Fan asked.
Master Yin regulated the slightly disordered aura of life and death within him before replying, "It is essentially confirmed that Xu Ke was swept into this place. We discovered the final marker he left behind. Though extremely faint, it matches what we agreed upon beforehand."
Hearing this, Li Fan directed a portion of his attention to inspect their surroundings.
His vision shifted abruptly from an ordinary perspective to a higher-dimensional one. Li Fan was astonished to discover that this node was not an elevated platform on the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds.
Instead, it was a depression! The towering, unbroken Great Wall abruptly fractured here. Yet this fracture did not actually sever the connection of the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds.
It was as though... within this depression, an inexplicable, invisible force held the continuous Great Wall of Remnant Worlds together!
"Interesting." Li Fan finally pulled his thoughts together. In the physical Star Sea, this depression covered only a tiny area, barely enough for a single person to stand. Drifting into it by chance amid the violent energy surges would be exceedingly difficult.
*Only Xu Ke, a chosen one of destiny, could possess such luck,* Li Fan thought as the wooden sword phantom, like a skiff on a river, surged toward the depression.
The closer it drew to the fracture zone of the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds, the stronger the external interference on the wooden sword phantom became. Its light flickered uncertainly, seemingly on the verge of popping like a bubble at any second.
Li Fan frowned slightly, focusing his mind to maintain the escape technique. *Boom!* The instant the phantom left the normal region of the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds and plummeted into the fractured depression, it felt like plunging off a sheer precipice ten thousand fathoms high.
Under the tremendous impact, the wooden sword phantom nearly collapsed on the spot!
Chapter 1349