Li Fan's expression twisted with fury as he gritted his teeth and said, "Do you have any idea what kind of horrifying ordeal it is to be trapped in the exact same nightmare your entire life?
"It was all caused by this bizarre figurine! I wanted to rid myself of these nightmares once and for all, which is why I came to your Thousand Li Hall.
"Yet, after all, it is an ancestral heirloom. My forebears left strict instructions that it must be properly guarded..." A look of deep internal conflict appeared on Li Fan's face.
Hearing this, Jiao Xiuyuan frowned and followed his lead, saying, "Ancestral instructions carry weight, but one's own life matters far more.
"This object is indeed extraordinarily wicked and ominous. But don't you worry, friend. Thousand Li Hall has always conducted business fairly; I won't use that as an excuse to depress the price."
Li Fan hesitated for a moment before speaking slowly. "Sell it, I can. But it would be best if we could first uncover what secret lies behind this figurine. Otherwise, I will have a hard time answering to my family."
"Could you let me examine it closely?" Jiao Xiuyuan asked tentatively.
Li Fan hesitated, but in the end handed the mechanical figurine over.
Its prior searching had utterly exhausted the figurine's energy. Thus, even as it settled into Jiao Xiuyuan's grasp, it produced no reaction whatsoever.
Jiao Xiuyuan looked it up and down, his brows furrowing from time to time.
"Can you make anything of it?" Li Fan asked.
"Judging by its appearance, it seems to resemble someone from the ancient cultivation realm of 'Chenyuan.' It is said that the cultivators of that realm all possessed True Immortal bloodlines, were born with three eyes, and came into the world endowed with manifold divine abilities...
"What is strange, however, is that I have never seen the material of this figurine before." An intrigued expression showed on Jiao Xiuyuan's face.
"The Chenyuan Realm?" Li Fan pretended never to have heard of it.
"It is an ancient secret, and that realm perished long ago. It is only natural that you wouldn't know of it." Jiao Xiuyuan waved his hand, having no intention of elaborating, his attention remaining fixed on the mechanical figurine.
At that moment, Li Fan secretly manipulated the shifts within the illusory array.
The mechanical figurine seemed to abruptly open its third eye, shooting forth a direct beam of piercing light aimed straight at Jiao Xiuyuan.
Both Jiao Xiuyuan and Li Fan cried out in alarm at the same time.
By the time they reacted, the golden light had already vanished, as though it were merely an illusion.
"F-Friend, are you all right? That golden light just now wasn't an illusion, was it?" Li Fan asked, filled with shock and doubt.
Jiao Xiuyuan nodded with a grave expression. "I saw it as well. Was it actually coming for me...?"
Jiao Xiuyuan's words seemed to trigger something.
Li Fan suddenly appeared to recall an important detail. "That's right! Whenever I previously entertained the thought of selling this mechanical figurine, I would be overcome with unease and find it impossible to make up my mind. Only when I walked near your Thousand Li Hall did my resolve finally firm up!"
Li Fan's expression grew somewhat horrified. "Could it be that you truly have some inexplicable connection to this mechanical figurine, Daoist Jiao?"
Jiao Xiuyuan did not answer this time. Instead, he meticulously felt over the three-eyed puppet.
Whatever he discovered, his expression grew increasingly grim.
"This thing... might be alive."
After a long silence, Jiao Xiuyuan suddenly spoke, dropping an earth-shattering revelation.
"What?" Li Fan appeared startled, staring at the puppet in disbelief.
"It seems that through some unimaginable, transcendent means, a living cultivator of the Chenyuan Realm was sealed and forged into an object.
"Though transformed into an object, it still retains all the Dharmic powers and divine abilities it possessed as a mighty cultivator endowed with a True Immortal bloodline!" Jiao Xiuyuan deduced.
"T-That can't be possible, right? Turning living beings into objects—even the venerable Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable probably couldn't achieve such a feat. Besides, didn't you say the Chenyuan Realm has long perished?" Li Fan sounded skeptical.
"Beyond Xuanhuang, perhaps?" Jiao Xiuyuan first muttered under his breath.
Then, as if to verify his conjecture, he produced a green vial from who-knew-where.
With great reluctance and heartache, he poured out a single drop of thick green liquid and fed it to the mechanical figurine.
"What is contained in this vial is pure life essence. If this were a dead object, it would certainly show no response.
"But if it still possesses the attribute of 'life,' it will instinctively absorb it."
As if confirming Jiao Xiuyuan's words, the moment the green liquid drew near, the figurine's normal two eyes snapped wide open. It swiftly absorbed the liquid.
Li Fan still did not sense the slightest aura of a living being from it, yet he watched with his own eyes as the figurine came to life step by step.
The target it locked onto was indeed still Jiao Xiuyuan.
Its third eye shot forth a golden light. Resembling chains, it wrapped tightly around Jiao Xiuyuan.
"Friend, are you all right!" Li Fan asked in extreme nervousness, yet he showed no intention of stepping forward to help, merely watching from a distance.
Bound by the golden chains, Jiao Xiuyuan's body was immobilized, and his expression seemed frozen. He gave no response.
"No need to worry. How could such a petty trick possibly harm me!" It was still Jiao Xiuyuan speaking, but the voice came from another corner of the room.
Li Fan looked in the direction of the voice, only to see that at some point, a withered yellow branch had sprouted from the floor in that corner.
The branch continually extended and morphed.
Shortly after, another Jiao Xiuyuan strode forth from it!
"Y-You... are you a man or a ghost!" Li Fan trembled in terror, fright written across his face.
"Hehehe, it's merely a modest avatar technique," Jiao Xiuyuan said reassuringly.
No sooner had he spoken those words than the mechanical figurine of the Chenyuan Realm shot another golden beam from its third eye.
It locked onto Jiao Xiuyuan.
Still without any power to resist, Jiao Xiuyuan was captured once again.
"Daoist Jiao!" Li Fan cried in a trembling voice, his legs shaking as if ready to flee at any moment.
"Don't panic!" Yet another voice rang out.
A third Jiao Xiuyuan manifested within Thousand Li Hall.
His fate remained the same, bound in turn by golden chains.
"Let's see just how many times you can shoot!"
Laced with irritation, ten voices rang out simultaneously.
Branches sprouted everywhere across the floor of Thousand Li Hall. Ten identical Jiao Xiuyuans appeared one after another.
Faced with such a bizarre spectacle, the three-eyed figurine seemed momentarily dazed.
Only after a brief pause did it violently shoot out golden chains to ensnare its foes.
Yet releasing three at once appeared to be its limit.
As if drained dry, it reverted back to its previous dormant state.
"Thinking you can catch your Master Jiao? You're still too green!" Jiao Xiuyuan snorted with smug satisfaction.
Seven voices rose and fell in succession.
Once they finished speaking, six of them turned back into withered branches, shriveling and shrinking back into the ground.
Only one remained, staring at the six versions of himself bound in the center of the hall.
He slowly drew close and touched the golden chains.
"This stuff..."
It felt entirely like an illusion; the hand Jiao Xiuyuan reached out passed right through them.
Seeing this, Li Fan curiously followed suit and reached out to test it.
He was similarly unable to make contact with anything solid.
"It seems to be formed from the innate divine ability of a Chenyuan Realm cultivator.
"Quite remarkable indeed."
After testing it for a long while without ever managing to touch a physical form, Jiao Xiuyuan could not help but marvel.
"D-Daoist Jiao. It seems... could the target of this mechanical figurine truly be you?
"Could it be that the infant who appeared in the dreams of our ancestors across generations was actually you? Did this mechanical figurine come to our world just to hunt you down, Daoist Jiao?" Li Fan wore a look of lingering dread, his tone growing increasingly terrified.
"But that doesn't make sense either. You don't look very old, Daoist Jiao. The timeline doesn't line up. Could you be a descendant of that infant?" Li Fan scrutinized Jiao Xiuyuan with suspicion and shock.
"I should be that infant himself," Jiao Xiuyuan stated quite frankly.
"What?" Li Fan's eyes widened in an instant.
"Old Jiao here has lived far longer than ordinary people. It's just that for the vast majority of that time, I was in an unconscious, ignorant state, acting solely on instinct," Jiao Xiuyuan said nonchalantly.
"In fact, I still retain some hazy memories of my early years. They were simply buried deep within my mind, almost completely forgotten. After going through this ordeal today, some of it has actually come back to me." Jiao Xiuyuan's tone became somewhat distant and elusive.
"Daoist Jiao, are you truly a cultivator from beyond our realm?" Li Fan stared intently at Jiao Xiuyuan as if trying to see right through him, his expression a mix of curiosity and excitement.
"I should... be." Jiao Xiuyuan hesitated before finally nodding.
"I have no recollection whatsoever of what happened before I climbed out of that sphere. But since the puppet tracking me hails from beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, I suppose my homeland must be the same.
"No wonder my instinct drove me to cultivate techniques that divide into ten thousand forms. Was it all just to evade capture?" Jiao Xiuyuan remarked with an enigmatic sigh.
Li Fan marveled, staring at him in utter disbelief. "It is truly unimaginable how you survived all on your own from infancy to this day, and even went on to build an enterprise like Thousand Li Hall."
Jiao Xiuyuan waved his hand. "Actually, there wasn't much to it. In truth, as far back as my memory goes, as long as I acted according to my whims, I hardly encountered any hardships. All troubles resolved themselves naturally. Well, doing business was the sole exception.
"Trying to make money is truly hard!" Jiao Xiuyuan suddenly sighed, somewhat out of place.
"I originally sought to resolve my own misfortune, never expecting it would implicate you, Daoist Jiao. If not for me, this puppet would have run out of power and likely never found its way to your doorstep." Li Fan looked contrite.
Yet Jiao Xiuyuan was quite philosophical about it. "What is fated cannot be avoided in the end. Besides, this might very well be a blessing in disguise for me."
Li Fan seemed surprised. "How so?"
"I have lived in the Xuanhuang Realm for too long. Through constant immersion, I inevitably ended up walking the path of defying the principles of Heaven and Earth.
"It truly was of immense help. In fact, if not for the Heavenly Venerable's new method, I likely would have lost my life back when I was still young.
"Yet because of it, certain techniques of my homeland were sealed away, becoming nearly impossible to recall.
"If not for today's events..."
Jiao Xiuyuan's expression grew somewhat dazed.
As if trying to recall crucial pieces of information buried in the depths of his mind, his brow furrowed from time to time.
His eyes grew increasingly bright.
Li Fan also faintly sensed an extraordinarily profound, mystical aura welling up from Jiao Xiuyuan, fluctuating erratically.
Jiao Xiuyuan seemed to notice something and looked left and right.
A trace of bewilderment gradually flashed across his eyes.
"Freeze!"
Just as Jiao Xiuyuan was on the verge of seeing through the illusory array, Li Fan uttered a cold command.
The scene before Jiao Xiuyuan's eyes shattered with a resounding crash.
"Daoist Jiao! Daoist Jiao!
"Why are you daydreaming! Are you selling these Small Medicine King Cauldrons as promised or not!"
An impatient urging came from beside his ear.
Jiao Xiuyuan started slightly, a torrent of information instantly flooding into his mind.
As it turned out, he had gone through immense trouble to excavate several Small Medicine King Cauldrons of exceptional quality from the ancient ruins of the Medicine King Sect.
Not only could they serve as spatial storage treasures, but they also possessed internal spiritual spaces capable of cultivating all kinds of spiritual herbs and flora, making them remarkably valuable.
"I'm selling, of course I'm selling..." Jiao Xiuyuan responded instinctively.
Right at that moment, he suddenly remembered that he had learned from a cultivator highly skilled in divination that before long, a falling meteor would crash back into Xuanhuang.
The true nature of that meteor was very likely the genuine Medicine King Cauldron that had once carried the entire Medicine King Sect away.
When that time came, the surviving Small Medicine King Cauldrons in the world would serve as keys to enter the genuine cauldron. Inside the Medicine King Cauldron lay all the finest treasures and heritage taken away by the Medicine King Sect of old.
As keys, the value of the Small Medicine King Cauldrons was bound to skyrocket!
"Not selling!" At the thought of the astronomical profits he would reap in the near future, Jiao Xiuyuan's heart pounded violently, and he changed his tune in an instant.
"Daoist Jiao, how can you go back on your word?" The cultivator opposite him grew frantic.
Jiao Xiuyuan simply swept all the Small Medicine King Cauldrons into his storage in one go and shut his doors to guests without another word.
His mind was entirely consumed with calculating how to drive the price of the Small Medicine King Cauldrons as high as possible.
"Hmm?"
Jiao Xiuyuan vaguely felt as though he had forgotten something of utmost importance.
Yet in the face of immense commercial profit, he decided to toss it to the back of his mind for the time being.
...
Outside the illusory array, back in the reality of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Li Fan gazed at the several golden chains before him, his expression profound and quiet.
Though everything that had just transpired took place within the illusory array, truth and falsehood were intertwined; for the three-eyed figurine, its changes had been entirely real.
It had indeed received an infusion of vast life force, briefly coming back to life as a result. That life force, however, had not come from the green vial Jiao Xiuyuan took out, but had been manifested through the power of the immortal array.
Since the stimulation it received was real, the golden chains spewed forth by the three-eyed puppet were naturally real as well.
Currently frozen in midair, they appeared somewhat similar to the golden threads employed by the Heavenly Physician.
In truth, there was an essential difference.
The Heavenly Physician's golden threads were a 'power to drive and alter the laws,' cultivated from the Heavenly Physician's profound comprehension and mastery of the laws of Heaven and Earth.
Whereas the golden light shot from the puppet's third eye...
"Is a certain law itself.
"It seems it truly originates from the divine ability of a Chenyuan Realm cultivator."
Li Fan held little interest in this mysterious three-eyed race.
No matter how formidable they might have been in the past, they had now been reduced to being forged into puppets.
Li Fan was far more intrigued by the heaven-defying method that turned living beings into objects, as well as the faction behind it.
"Cat Treasure, Descend into the Mortal Dust, and now this three-eyed puppet.
"Beyond the Wall, living beings are turned into objects, laws are turned into objects...
"They truly have pushed the path of external objects to its absolute limit." Li Fan felt a heavy weight in his heart, yet he was also filled with deep awe toward the unknown civilization beyond the Wall.
"Compared to the white circle, the craftsmanship used to forge this puppet is relatively crude. Perhaps it could serve as a breakthrough point."
Chapter 1390