Aside from comprehending the Great Dao, an exceptionally difficult aspect of cultivating the Great Dao Body Descent Art lay in striking a delicate balance between tempering the flesh through dao comprehension and ensuring the body remained unharmed.
Before the towering Great Dao, a mortal frame was an existence far more insignificant than an ant.
One could certainly temper the body with the crushing pressure of the Great Dao. Yet with the slightest carelessness, one equally ran the risk of being ground into fine dust by it.
This was why Nangong Hongzhao had repeatedly warned before transmitting the technique that practicing this art required extreme caution and gradual, step-by-step progress.
In truth, for an ordinary person without the experience and insights of a mortal starting from scratch and feeling their way forward step by step, even the initial entry into this art was fraught with immense difficulty.
However...
Li Fan was by no means an ordinary person.
Though the path of body refinement had vanished from Xuanhuang, Li Fan had explored it long ago.
At the very beginning, after obtaining the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture and synthesizing numerous ancient texts, he had devised on his own a technique to harness the human body's secret treasure and temper the flesh. He named it the Creation Furnace Art.
As Li Fan's experience broadened, this technique had been continuously upgraded.
Incorporating the demonic beast crucible, the flesh factory, the Record of Mending the Heavens, and other elements, the Creation Furnace Art had undergone several iterations.
Yet due to the constraints of the Xuanhuang Realm's heaven and earth, attaining the Dao through this path was ultimately an insurmountable hurdle.
Thus, Li Fan eventually turned to ordinary methods of ascending to immortality.
This Creation Furnace Art, bearing such an overbearing name, had consequently ground to a halt.
"Back then, in the Beast Taming Sect scenario within the Fallen Immortal Realm, using the body of Xiao Hei, the Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird, I received guidance from Mr. Bai."
"The perfected version of the Creation Furnace Art."
"However, due to the memory restrictions of the Fallen Immortal Realm, I was never able to bring this perfected method back. And once my strength swelled rapidly, even surpassing Mr. Bai—whom I had believed to be merely in the Longevity realm—I grew indifferent toward this art. But now, I know the secret history: Mr. Bai was once infected by Evil Su Bai from outside other possibilities."
"Having obtained Evil Su Bai's memories, Mr. Bai's cultivation might still have been in the Longevity realm, but his breadth of vision is something no one trapped within the 'Origin' possibility could possibly match. The fact that a mere projected imprint left behind in heaven and earth could deduce the general outline of the new new method corroborates this. In that case..."
"When I first laid eyes on the perfected version of the Creation Furnace Art, I was shaken to the core, as if I had truly glimpsed the secrets of the Great Dao. That wasn't just shallow ignorance from when my cultivation was low; rather, this technique truly is that wondrous."
"It seems I must make another trip to investigate thoroughly and use it as a reference."
Five years had passed in the Shuoxing Sea.
In the Xuanhuang Realm, merely a dozen or so days had elapsed.
Li Fan's true self was still pondering deeply, seeking a method to prevent his Mind Soul Formation from reflecting the Nameless True Immortals and making eye contact with them.
Sensing the experiences of his split soul, his eyes suddenly gleamed, and an intrigued expression crossed his face.
The Creation Furnace Art was, to Li Fan, a memory from long ago.
He had never expected that after reaching the half-immortal realm, there would come a day when he would pursue it once more.
"This also proves that my choice to let it go back then without stubbornly insisting on securing it first was actually the right one. In the Fallen Immortal Realm, the greater an item's value, the harder it is to bring back to reality. If that Creation Furnace Art truly is as miraculous as I now believe, then even with my current standing, bringing it out would be no simple feat."
"I just wonder whether this Mind Soul Formation technique of mine can bypass the memory-erasure restriction of the Fallen Immortal Realm?"
People viewed the exact same thing under different circumstances and arrived at completely different conclusions.
Li Fan intended to investigate the perfected version—the true Creation Furnace Art—once more.
Yet knowing the extraordinary nature of Mr. Bai and the master of the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan naturally needed to make some preparations.
For a long time, Li Fan had been unwilling to set foot in the Fallen Immortal Realm in person. He had even had others stand in for him during the trial illusion to inherit the mantle of Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang.
This was because he carried the supreme treasure Trueness, while figures from the Immortal Realm seemed to have been waiting here long beforehand.
However, in this lifetime, after Li Fan grasped the Mind Soul Formation technique, things had changed once again.
"At the very beginning, I rashly stepped into the Fallen Immortal Realm out of ignorant fearlessness. Now, however, I possess sufficient power to protect myself."
His mind contracted, receding entirely into the miniature Dao Net.
Then, the Dao Net burst forth with myriad rays of radiance, and a new wisp of divine sense actually overflowed from within.
However, everything contained in this wisp of divine sense was entirely fabricated by Li Fan for disguise.
Though called a fabrication, it was actually a nearly authentic worldline deduced by the Dao Assimilation Stone.
Aside from the fact that no such person existed in the world, everything else was indistinguishable from reality.
Draping an additional layer of skin over his own identity.
This was the interim measure Li Fan had devised to reduce the likelihood of being detected by the True Immortals within the Great Dao of heaven and earth.
Sure enough, as soon as this disguised divine sense emerged, Li Fan distinctly felt that within his miniature Dao Net, the gazes from the reflected projections of the Nameless True Immortals had drastically diminished for no apparent reason.
The pressing sense of crisis receded. Feeling as if he were hidden behind the curtains and concealed in darkness, Li Fan instantly relaxed.
Of course, this treated the symptoms rather than the root cause.
This layer of skin could serve as a disguise for now, but as Li Fan's Mind Soul Formation continued to grow in the future, it would inevitably attract the scrutiny of the Nameless True Immortals in the Great Dao once again.
If one day the scale of the Great Dao projections in Li Fan's mind were to surpass even the Dao Net of the Shuoxing Sea, stepping from behind the curtains to the center stage would unquestionably draw the eyes of every surviving Nameless True Immortal.
With Li Fan's characteristic prudence, he would never take that step before possessing absolute certainty in weathering such a crisis.
But that was a matter for later. For now, having applied a layer of disguise over his mind, Li Fan had already entered the Fallen Immortal Realm.
It went just as he had expected.
Because this fictional life he concocted had not practiced the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, upon entering the Fallen Immortal Realm, the scene before his eyes was not Retrieving Longevity Fruits in Ningyuan.
Li Fan promptly committed suicide and exited the Fallen Immortal Realm.
Then, he modified the persona of his disguised skin.
Aside from shifting the fabricated life once more, he appended the experience belonging to Li Fan himself: "by a stroke of serendipity, comprehending the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation in the Spirit Cleansing Pool."
In the Fallen Immortal Realm's perception, this disguised persona truly appeared to be a different person.
Free from the entry cooldown interval of the Fallen Immortal Realm, he entered the realm once more.
What was more, the scene he experienced was none other than Retrieving Longevity Fruits in Ningyuan!
Having ample experience clearing it, Li Fan resolved it in the swiftest manner possible.
With plenty of time remaining for his stay in the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan proceeded straight to the Beast Taming Sect scenario.
Repeating his old trick, as he awaited Mr. Bai's arrival, the Heavenly Destiny Profound Bird soared into the sky and came before him.
The scene from back then replayed itself once more.
Mr. Bai appraised him, shaking his head slightly. "You child, why are you practicing blindly on your own?"
He then imparted the true Creation Furnace Art in its entirety.
Time seemed to freeze. Though Li Fan had already attained the half-immortal realm, he remained deeply captivated by the mysteries of this wondrous art of creation.
"My initial intuition was right. Even a mortal devoid of any cultivation aptitude could transform step by step, advance, and ultimately set foot into the immortal realm by practicing this method!"
"Provided, of course, that heaven and earth were free of numerous shackles and the Immortal Realm still existed."
"As for now..."
Li Fan was no longer the Li Fan of the past.
Amid his marvel and fascination, he occasionally offered his own critiques.
Meanwhile.
Outside the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan's true divine sense, concealed behind the miniature Dao Net, was attempting to peer into the true Creation Furnace Art through the Dao Net's synchronized reflection.
One had to admit that the Fallen Immortal Realm was truly an extraordinary creation.
Existing in the rift between reality and illusion, even though Li Fan could cross countless high walls and the vast expanse of the starry sea via the miniature Dao Net, sensing the scenes unfolding within the Fallen Immortal Realm was like looking through a warped mirror.
Everything seen and felt underwent a degree of distortion.
Certain parts were even completely deformed.
Yet, after all was said and done, it truly breached the boundary between the Fallen Immortal Realm and reality.
One could gaze into the illusion from within reality.
"Were it not for my heaven-defying method of Mind Soul Formation, I would probably need to surpass the master who created the Fallen Immortal Realm before I could bypass such restrictions."
"Reflecting Xuanhuang with a single thought, and having it undergo infinite derivations across countless years to come..."
"The present me is still incapable of this."
Li Fan even strongly suspected that this True Immortal back then must have possessed a supreme treasure like the Dao Transformation Mother Stone to achieve such a feat.
In the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan's disguised divine sense practiced the perfected Creation Furnace Art firsthand.
Meanwhile, in reality, Li Fan attempted to correct and reconstruct the warped, distorted portions he had glimpsed based on his insights.
Then, his own body began cultivating the furnace art.
By comparing the varying sensations transmitted from his body during cultivation, he calibrated it once more.
Mind Soul Formation, drawing upon the omnipresent power of the Great Dao, reflected illusory things existing within the Fallen Immortal Realm into reality.
Through Li Fan's unremitting efforts, he finally restored the Creation Furnace Art in reality!
However, Li Fan did not have the divine sense in the Fallen Immortal Realm withdraw immediately.
He recalled that in the subsequent scene involving sword refinement at the Tianjian Sect, Mr. Bai would make another appearance. Perhaps more secrets could be pried from him.
Moreover, the Tianjian Sect was closely tied to the present Sword Domain of the Shuoxing Sea, making an inquiry well worthwhile.
The true body synchronized the calibrated furnace art to "Ma Tiande" in the Shuoxing Sea.
Because that wisp of divine sense had ventured deep alone, and there were suspected to be numerous Nameless True Immortals in the Shuoxing Sea, Li Fan placed slight restrictions upon it.
The divine sense could not fully perceive what occurred on the true body's side.
Nor would the divine sense actively peer into events in the Xuanhuang Realm through the miniature Dao Net.
This was to ensure that if things went awry, Li Fan's true body would have ample time to activate Trueness.
Although there was a 120-fold time difference between the Shuoxing Sea and the Xuanhuang Realm, the flow of time within the Fallen Immortal Realm also differed from reality in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Thus, when Li Fan completed the calibration of the Creation Furnace Art, only less than half a day had passed in Xuanhuang.
In the Shuoxing Sea, less than a month had elapsed.
Everyone's vacation had not even ended yet.
Even without the Creation Furnace Art as a reference, Li Fan's Great Dao Body Descent Art had already attained basic entry.
Within his divine sense, the strings of the Dao Net were thin as cicada wings.
Emitting a lustrous, pure white glow, they shone upon this body.
Li Fan sat as if at the very center of the Dao Net, bearing immense, incomparable pressure.
If one magnified mental perception to the limit, one could see every piece of flesh and blood in this body turning into flying ash under the crushing force of the Dao Net.
Yet almost the instant they were destroyed, they derived anew from the miniature Dao Net.
This was Li Fan combining the transformation of true and false with the Dao Net's capability of creation, continuously generating and reconstituting all the bodily tissues of this frame.
"If not for my wealth of experience, I wouldn't have been able to sustain this body's vitality either."
"This body refinement art has only just reached basic entry. While it doesn't compare to bearing the Immortal Domain fragment back then, the pressure is barely any different from shouldering an entire cultivation realm."
"Never mind cultivating it, ordinary people would probably be crushed to death on the spot!"
Li Fan knew that his "basic entry" differed vastly from a standard one.
However, with the foundation amassed over a hundred reincarnations, there was no need for him to cultivate slowly from the most rudimentary level.
"The normal cultivation method ought to be step by step, progressing gradually. If one wished to speed it up, it would at least require pairing with numerous heavenly materials and earthly treasures. A method like mine—crude and violent—is something an ordinary person could never replicate."
Having caught an initial glimpse into the threshold of the Great Dao Body Descent Art, this body was completely transformed.
Li Fan finally understood why factions within the Shuoxing Sea placed such high importance on body refinement.
Taking this body as an example:
Compared to the frail body of before, when issuing the same number of Dao Net commands, this new body could mobilize more than double the Dao Net's power.
"In the circulation of the Dao Net, it takes into account the limit of what an operator can endure."
"Those with stronger bodies can naturally withstand more."
For the same weapon, as the body grew increasingly robust, wielding it became ever smoother.
"Moreover, this feeling..."
Li Fan loosened his stiff body and temporarily halted the projection of the miniature Dao Net.
Pacing back and forth, he appeared to be walking in the courtyard, but in truth, he was drifting within the Dao Net of the Shuoxing Sea.
"It actually feels somewhat familiar."
Li Fan frowned slightly, closed his eyes again, and sensed carefully.
After a few breaths, he finally realized where this inexplicable sense of familiarity had come from.
The Great Dao crushed down, relentlessly shattering and reconstructing flesh and blood.
And in this process, the body's flesh and blood naturally retained the imprint of the Great Dao.
Both the miniature Dao Net within Li Fan's divine sense and the Dao Net of the Shuoxing Sea were projections of the Great Dao.
They originated from the same source.
Hence, the familiarity Li Fan fostered while cultivating the Great Dao Body Descent Art was naturally carried over into the Dao Net.
"So this is an acquired sacred physique."
"If tempered to the ultimate limit according to this method..."
Li Fan's expression shifted slightly all of a sudden.
"Mind Soul Formation is a projection of the Dao Net."
"While the flesh and blood of the entire body serve as the mold shaped by the relentless crushing and hammering of the Dao Net."
"The theoretical ultimate limit... is to duplicate all Great Daos between heaven and earth using the physical body."
Chapter 1451