"And then there is Su Bai..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, turning his gaze toward the distance.
Su Bai had still been reborn in response to destiny after all.
Only, without the inducement of Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang, his fate had also undergone a tremendous shift.
Before the cataclysmic sublimation of Xuanhuang, he had likewise remained in Ningyuan City all along, looking after the orphans in the ruined temple.
Except that the battle between Zhang Qianmo and the new cultivation method cultivators that had once destroyed Ningyuan City never took place, so Su Bai had continued living as an ordinary mortal. That was until the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm descended, placing every living being between heaven and earth back on the same starting line.
Su Bai's aptitude was beyond question.
Even with Xuanhuang transformed into a new world, he still possessed the natural capital to attain enlightenment in a single day.
To protect the orphans of the ruined temple amidst the upheaval of heaven and earth, Su Bai—who originally held no desire to pursue cultivation—began attempting to cultivate of his own accord, as if guided by destiny.
And his speed in adapting to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was far beyond that of ordinary people.
Had Li Fan not intentionally suppressed him, Su Bai might already have reached the Nascent Soul realm by now.
It should be known that a "Nascent Soul" in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was by no means comparable to a Nascent Soul of the old Xuanhuang Realm.
At present, no truly great cultivator had yet emerged in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. Even Li Fan, the father of Xuanhuang, still had no clear idea what kind of might the peak powerhouses born of this realm would eventually achieve.
"Theoretically speaking, a Dao Integrator in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm would, in a sense, be a weakened version of a 'Nameless True Immortal.'
"And within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, anyone capable of Qi Refining and cultivating is in truth an immortal seed. As long as I confer the title upon them, they could become immortals on the spot! The progression from Qi Refining to Dao Integration is merely a process of comprehending the Dao and proving the Dao of the Nameless."
Less than half a year had passed since the inception of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, yet Su Bai had already traversed nearly half the journey—and that was under deliberate suppression. How could Li Fan not marvel at him?
"Keep growing like this. The day you integrate with the Dao will be when my new experiment begins," Li Fan smiled faintly.
The Xuanhuang Realm truly lived up to being one of the core testing grounds of the Rotten Axe Dao Arena; besides Su Bai pulling far ahead in the lead, the rate of advancement among the other cultivators had also somewhat exceeded Li Fan's expectations.
With a shift in thought, Li Fan decided to loosen some of the restrictions on the nature spirits of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm to put a bit more pressure on them.
"Cultivating fast alone isn't enough. Only those who can survive the tempering of life and death are truly fit for use."
Not long after, Li Fan nodded with satisfaction as he watched invisible souls drift upward into the sky of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm one after another.
The metamorphosis and sublimation of the Xuanhuang Realm was comprehensive.
The process following a cultivator's demise was something Li Fan had personally participated in designing and modifying. It could be said that during his century of pill-refining and tempering, at least a tenth of his energy had been spent on this.
Drawing reference from the bizarre changes of the future Xuanhuang Realm's "Returning the Dao to Heaven," he had taken it a step further on that foundation.
Only Li Fan could perceive that these invisible souls of fallen cultivators were all slowly drifting and gathering into a transparent great net high above the nine heavens.
Scenes experienced by the cultivators during their lives flickered within the great net. Even their insights and thoughts were absorbed by it.
All these lifetime thoughts were sorted and organized, then transmitted through the great net into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.
"It is not just living beings that are slowly adapting to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. At the same time, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm is also adapting to the beings beneath heaven and earth.
"Wrestling with each other, competing against one another—only thus can I forge the imperishable celestial vessel of my ideals."
Predictably, cultivators of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm would find cultivation increasingly difficult.
The world's Heavenly Dao was not static, but constantly in flux. The conventional method of following established routines based on predecessors' summarized experiences would become completely useless.
To make progress, one could only slowly grope forward on one's own.
Beyond spurring the mutual transformation of heaven, earth, and living beings, this transparent net above the nine heavens served another purpose.
The cornerstone of the Primordial Immortal Realm had been the scattered points occupied on Mount Shangfang by the Immortal Ruins and immortal domain chess pieces. Yet, as Li Fan nourished it with essence blood imbued with the Great Dao of Longevity, the colossus of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm that grew out of the ruins had long since exceeded the former "foundation" upon Mount Shangfang.
Thus, though the Primordial Immortal Realm seemed to have formed its grand momentum, it was actually teetering on the edge, facing the risk of overturning at any moment.
This transparent great net, however, served as a temporary stabilizer.
"Even if an accident causes the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm to fall from Mount Shangfang, with the great net acting as a buffer, it won't directly disintegrate. Of course, in the end, a foundation must still be reestablished upon Mount Shangfang to secure it completely.
"Only, that will have to wait until the Mo Sha dark cloud has fully matured.
"Beyond Mount Shangfang lies the Boundless Sea."
At the four corners of the transparent net stood four Immortal Ascension Terraces.
Though they had been prepared long ago, they had yet to be activated.
"I must take into account that the moment the mountains and seas resonate together and True Immortals are forged anew, it will inevitably draw the gaze of certain powerhouses.
"The Three Sages: Lianshan, Guihai, and Taiyi...
"And even other detached powerhouses."
Strictly speaking, the pill that was the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm had not yet been truly completed, for it had not yet formally connected with the mountains and seas.
It was still in an isolated, enclosed phase. That was why Li Fan's earlier act of stripping away Tianyi's spirituality had gone unnoticed by Black Heavenly Physician outside the Original Possibility.
But once the first True Immortal was born in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm and connected it to the mountains and seas,
it would be like cracking open an eggshell—the isolation would cease to exist.
All potential dangers would come flooding in.
This was precisely why Li Fan hoped Su Bai would grow quickly to serve as experimental consumable material, yet still had to suppress his speed of growth.
The four Immortal Ascension Terraces stood loftily at the four corners of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, resembling the heavenly gates of legend. Once those heavenly gates swung open, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm would usher in tremendous, unknown transformations.
Even Li Fan could hardly foresee how much would unfold.
"However, what is certain is that the vast majority of powerhouses should be like the Mound-Guarding Lord, residing within the Ever-Silent Void Realm. Even if drawn by the disturbances in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, as long as it does not endanger the mountains and seas, those powerhouses likely won't bother paying attention.
"After all, it does not concern the endgame.
"Therefore, what I need to guard against are still those tied inextricably to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, such as Black Heavenly Physician and Sinister Su Bai."
Having forged the creation of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm with his own hands, even when anticipating clashes with these detached powerhouses in the future, Li Fan felt not the slightest fear.
The countless overlapping shadows of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm generated by the Sitting upon Heaven Art within his body, along with the divine ability of the transformation of true and false, were the source of his greatest confidence.
"The transformation of true and false carries the risk of being seen through by other powerhouses; it cannot be used lightly.
"Yet what I have learned and mastered in the past is extraordinarily vast and diverse. Any one of them, paired with this incomparably profound feedback power, would suffice to contend against them," Li Fan said proudly.
During the century spent refining the Xuanhuang Great Pill, Li Fan had simultaneously conducted a comprehensive review of the many divine abilities and Great Daos he had learned, known, and comprehended in the past.
His ultimate goal was to forge a path of crossing over unique to himself.
"Theoretically, the transformation of true and false suits me best. However, the Great Dao of True and False shares the same rank as the mountains and seas. Now that Trueness has fallen into slumber, without its guidance, relying merely on what little I comprehended in the past to cross over is simply not enough.
"Therefore, I still need to find 'stepping stones.' The Great Dao of True and False encompasses everything in the mortal world. The more I understand about all things, the closer I come to the Great Dao of True and False."
As Li Fan pondered, the divine abilities he had mastered across past cycles that could serve as references for comprehending the Great Dao of True and False surfaced in his mind one by one.
"First is the Dao of Formations. Originally, I had looked down on it somewhat, but Chengdao's pointers altered my perspective. The Three Sages opened the mountains and seas and forged the Immortal Realm using the Great Array of Primordial Spirit of Profound Origin. Its ability to reshape the mountains and seas alone proves the extraordinary nature of formation arts. Alas, the Immortal Array Dissolving Disc was unfortunately lost during the fusion of the three Daos. Although a few flecks of its spirituality seemed to merge into my body at the same time, my talent in formations ultimately cannot compare to that immortal relic specifically designed to analyze formations.
"Still, with my methods, recreating the Immortal Array Dissolving Disc is not an impossibility.
"Second is profound sound. A system entirely different from True Immortal seal characters, using musical pitch to decipher the mortal world's Great Dao. Xuanyuan Hong and Archmage Tiandu: one could travel backward along the river of time to alter the past and influence the future, while the other evaded calamities and disasters. The profound sounds from these two were like stepping stones. Through them, even more Dao principles related to musical tones could be deduced. Yet without more profound sounds for reference, deducing them will require a vast amount of time." Li Fan shook his head slightly.
Though immensely confident, he possessed a clear awareness of his own comprehension. Relying solely on himself to deduce unknown profound sounds from scratch was a thankless, grueling task.
Fortunately, he had laid hidden moves long ago. Guiding Chuanfa to seek out Xuanyuan Hong was one of them.
"Third is the power of Mo Sha and the Myriad Manifestation Dao Net. Once the new Mo Sha is fully nurtured, it will be able to analyze all reachable Great Dao laws through direct devouring. The efficiency of this method ranks among the very best of all means of Dao comprehension. The only flaw is..."
Li Fan sighed softly in his heart. "The Original Possibility is inherently an abandoned world from which countless powerhouses fled, leaving its Great Dao broken and incomplete. Even if the entirety of the Original Possibility were devoured and analyzed, the scope of knowledge gained would remain extremely limited. Inevitably, I will have to journey to other possibilities to seek scripture.
"The best course would be to follow Black Heavenly Physician into the grand world on the other shore." A dangerous glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
After pondering for a long while, he continued.
"Fourth is the Mound-Guarding Lord's legacy. Sitting upon the mountain and gazing at the sea, remaining unmoved by mountains and seas. Though more than a notch below the Great Dao of Longevity, it already possesses the strength to smile upon the mountains and seas. I received the personal inheritance of the Mound-Guarding phantom and exchanged detailed insights with Chengdao; in this path, I am reasonably capable.
"Fifth is the Great Dao of Retrograde. Ever since absorbing the power of the Heavenly Demon, I have felt further progress in this path. This is my sole life-preserving measure after losing Trueness; the priority of comprehending this Dao must be at the very top. After all, the affairs of the world are fickle; no matter how countless one's schemes, accidents cannot be entirely avoided." Before Li Fan's eyes, the surging river of time seemed to appear once more, and an instinctive sense of his own insignificance welled up inside him.
Being in the river of time felt different from witnessing the mountains and seas.
Though both evoked a sense of one's own insignificance, within the river of time, one's heart was filled more with a helpless weakness, constantly tossed by wind and waves with life and death hanging in the balance.
Facing the mountains and seas, on the other hand, meant being silently submerged and assimilated.
"Sixth is the Dao Embodiment Art that I learned in the Shuoxing Sea during my previous life. Though merely proposed by a True Immortal, its conceptual level is by no means low. All Daos return to oneself, allowing the physical body to attain sanctification. It can complement the Creation Furnace Art. Using oneself to carry the Great Dao, its theoretical pinnacle could even allow one to transform into the mountains and seas... Moreover, it forms an exquisite synergy with my Myriad Manifestation Dao Net.
"Seventh is Sun Piaomiao's Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining. While this divine ability is exceptionally profound and ranks near the top among all I have learned, Sun Piaomiao himself is far too enigmatic. One must remain guarded against methods he left behind in secret, so there is no need to explore it too deeply. It is more suited as a mere tool."
Li Fan felt neither sorrow nor joy. Unhurriedly, he sorted through the many divine abilities he had encountered in the past:
The Heavenly Profound Mirror's establishing the Dao within oneself and practicing the Dao in the world outside;
Dharma Transmitter Jiang's "The Great Dao Resembles Me";
The healers' Dao of the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture and the Mending Heaven Record;
Situ Xing's Dao of Inscription;
The Giant Rat Immortal's Devouring and Imperial Law Great Dao;
The Heaven-Reaching Crossing Path demonstrated by Ziyi;
The paper-folding and rubbing art of the woman who was likely Xuanyuan Hong's childhood sweetheart...
And many others.
No matter where these divine abilities originated, as long as they offered Li Fan inspiration, he refused none of them.
Like a grand hodgepodge: as long as the culinary skill was sufficient, it too could be crafted into a peerless delicacy.
"In the end, all Great Daos pale before the single phrase: 'When the true is taken for false, the false becomes true.'
"The transformation of true and false may well be the path of crossing over that I have bitterly sought and that suits me best.
"Only..."
Thinking up to this point, a faint hesitation surfaced in Li Fan's heart.
Because of Trueness's sudden slumber.
Because at certain critical moments in the past, Trueness had lost connection, whatever the reason might be.
And even more because...
"Even if I master the transformation of true and false, will it truly resolve the crisis of the fusion of the mountains and seas once and for all?
"After all, even Trueness itself seems to be gathering more potential answers to save the world. If Trueness's transformation of true and false alone were enough to turn the tide,
"the mortal world of mountains and seas would never have fallen into its current state."
Thinking along these lines, Li Fan's thoughts naturally converged once more upon the fusion of the three Daos: Mountain and Sea, Longevity, and Trueness.
Following that, his personal experience of the three-Dao fusion surfaced in his mind once again.
Within his body, the power of Longevity—which had gradually dissipated over a century of pill refining and the ceaseless draining of essence blood until it had grown extremely faint—actually showed signs of surging and thickening once more!
Fortunately, Li Fan snapped awake in time, instantly breaking free from the immersion.
"Truly a lingering ghost that refuses to disperse!" A haze of gloom flitted across Li Fan's brow.
Without the slightest hesitation, he spat out mouthful after mouthful of fresh blood, showering it toward Xuanhuang.
Only then did the resurgence subside once more.
"Suppressing the fusion of the three Daos truly isn't that simple.
"Yet at its core lies the uncertainty in my own heart.
"Other than the method of three-Dao fusion, there seems to be no better path." Li Fan understood in his heart.
Chapter 1560