There was no more resentment, no more indignation.
Whether Dao Integration, Soul Formation, or Nascent Soul, under the grand formation of "Immortal Descent, All Things Return to Emptiness," everyone in the Medicine King Sect reacted the same way.
Fear—only boundless fear filled their hearts.
Only when Li Fan reined in the might of the world-annihilating grand formation did the people of the Medicine King Sect slowly begin to pull themselves out of that extreme state of mind.
Yet because Li Fan remained silent, none of them dared to move even an inch.
The immortal formation's power circulated, restrained but unscattered, forming an isolated domain that enveloped the entirety of the Medicine King Sect.
While intimidating the crowd, it also shielded them from the Xuanhuang Realm's rule that dharmas cannot be practiced concurrently, preventing this newly awakened group of Medicine King Sect cultivators from descending into fratricidal slaughter.
Li Fan then acted as if they did not exist, watching the finest dust of the True Medicine King Cauldron converge into the shape of a chess piece, precisely as he had anticipated.
However, this chess piece was not shrouded in a coat of gray like those Li Fan had gathered before.
Instead, it was distinctly, undeniably...
White.
Around its white edge was even a rim of iridescent color, strikingly similar to the fused piece.
Li Fan extended a hand and drew the white piece to his palm. Looking closely at the tiny piece, boundless vitality seemed to be gestating within it.
Inside his body, the pieces he had previously subjugated, including the Immortal Domain fragment he had already merged, all trembled faintly.
As though greeting their guiding pillar, bursts of cheer erupted from within.
Urgent promptings, several times stronger than before, emanated from the pieces inside him.
They seemed impatient to merge with this white chess piece without delay.
This prompting gradually even transformed into Li Fan's own desire.
The craving was so intense that even when he circulated the Immortal Heart Incantation, it was difficult to resist.
Yet Li Fan possessed extraordinary willpower after all.
With great fortitude, he forcibly suppressed the restless stirrings of the chess pieces in his body.
Calming his mind, he was able to scrutinize the white piece in his hand once more and compare it with the six pieces sealed within him.
Inside Li Fan were one large and five small. The large one displayed seven vibrant colors, formed by merging six ordinary gray pieces. The five smaller ones revolved around the iridescent piece.
Yet the white piece before him, despite being a single piece, gave Li Fan a sensation similar to the fused seven-colored piece.
'It seems the one Sun Piaomiao left in the Xuanhuang Realm is the most critical of them all.'
'A complete Immortal Domain...'
'The only one left now is the one aboard the Xuan Celestial Vessel.'
At the thought that some years hence, he would be able to witness a corner of the ruined Immortal Realm, even someone as composed as Li Fan could not help feeling a surge of excitement.
'Does this fused Immortal Domain harbor immortal spiritual qi?'
'Can one use it to ascend to immortality?'
'Are there relics left behind by the True Immortals who forged these pieces back then inside the domain?'
'Could there even be a True Immortal inside, waiting to be reborn alongside this Immortal Domain?'
Innumerable questions surged into Li Fan's mind like a tide.
Any ordinary cultivator, even with an Immortal Domain in hand, would hesitate endlessly and never dare activate it lightly when faced with such complete unknowns and immense risks.
But with True Reversion in his grasp, Li Fan had no such worries.
Especially in this life, now that his immortal formation had taken preliminary shape and True Reversion's charge-based protection had doubled, he possessed ample safeguards.
...
The white chess piece formed from the Medicine King Cauldron seemed to possess boundless enchantment, drawing the gaze of every cultivator present.
They could faintly sense that a monumental secret surely lay behind this piece. Yet intimidated by the terrifying might Li Fan had just displayed, they only dared watch from afar.
In the end, Liu Ruchen, having gathered his wits, summoned his courage and asked, "Dare I ask, Senior, is this piece a relic of Patriarch Sun Piaomiao?"
The reason Liu Ruchen dared speak up was that before Li Fan destroyed the Medicine King Cauldron, he had deliberately released the Medicine King Sect cultivators from within, displaying sufficient goodwill.
Li Fan stored the white chess piece inside his body, sealing and suppressing it separately from the other pieces, then sneered. "Sun Piaomiao entrusted this to you disciples and grand-disciples for so long, and even left countless hints both overtly and covertly, yet not a single one of you could see through its true nature..."
"A bunch of useless trash, truly!"
Li Fan's merciless reprimand was also an indirect answer to Liu Ruchen's question.
Hearing this, ashamed looks flitted across the faces of most Medicine King Sect disciples.
Liu Ruchen offered an awkward smile and wanted to inquire further, but Li Fan cut him short: "This matter is no longer something you can involve yourselves in."
Narrowing his eyes, Li Fan sized up Liu Ruchen and remarked, "Though you violated the creed of the Medicine King Sect, by leading the entire sect to flee Xuanhuang, you unwittingly did a good deed!"
With a flick of his finger, countless images instantly flashed across the space.
They depicted the drastic upheavals that had occurred across the Xuanhuang Realm and even the Sea of Stars during the ten thousand years the Medicine King Cauldron had been trapped by the Immortal Ruins.
An uproar immediately broke out among the Medicine King Sect crowd.
When Li Fan slightly loosened the immortal formation's protection, they felt a boundless killing intent surge abruptly from their hearts—directed toward the close friends, family, mentors, and brothers around them.
Only then did they confirm that Li Fan had not fabricated any of it. Pale-faced, they stood lost in shock and despair.
Li Fan paid them no further heed, merely summoning the seven Dao Integration cultivators of the Medicine King Sect, including Liu Ruchen.
"Do you know what this chess piece formed from the Medicine King Cauldron is?"
"It is precisely one of the fragments of the former Immortal Realm left behind by Sun Piaomiao!"
Li Fan's opening words left the Dao Integration cultivators dizzy with shock.
He then exerted control, releasing a faint trace of the aura exuded by the seven-colored piece sealed within him.
A fragment of the Immortal Realm's laws, even if only revealing the tip of the iceberg, was enough to leave these Dao Integration cultivators utterly enraptured.
"There were portents of the catastrophe that befell the Immortal Realm long beforehand. Back then, Sun Piaomiao received an immortal decree and prepared contingencies to revive the Immortal Realm..."
Li Fan spoke with easy confidence, stating what he surmised to be the "facts."
"Now that Sun Piaomiao's whereabouts are unknown, since you are his disciples, it is only right that you assist this deity in completing the great undertaking of restoring the Immortal Realm!" Li Fan looked down upon them, speaking as though it were only natural.
Liu Ruchen and the others had still been immersed in the wonders of the Immortal Realm's laws.
Hearing Li Fan's words, they froze in shock.
They all turned to Li Fan, their faces filled with utter disbelief. "Revive the Immortal Realm? Us?"
"This deity has already finished collecting the fragments of the Immortal Realm. All that remains is to await an opportunity."
"When the time comes, you need only assist from the side," Li Fan said indifferently.
Facing a request from someone who was likely a True Immortal-level expert, how could the Medicine King Sect's Dao Integration cultivators dare refuse?
They only felt drums beating in their hearts—an expert like this could annihilate their entire sect with a mere wave of his hand, so why would he ever need their help?
Yet if Li Fan did not explain, they dared not ask.
Were these people from the Medicine King Sect useful?
To Li Fan, they naturally were.
However, it was not for reshaping any Immortal Realm. Rather, it was to serve as a catalyst for harmonizing diverse forces when sublimating the Xuanhuang Realm.
Chapter 1360