“This simulation has ended.”
…
In the familiar yet foreign study, Li Fan stood motionless, still immersed in the lingering essence of the Heaven-Upending Palm.
Only after a long while did he take a deep breath.
Although he had slain a Nascent Soul cultivator with only late Foundation Establishment cultivation, there was little pride in Li Fan’s heart.
One reason was that the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator’s own cultivation had not been particularly formidable.
More importantly, Li Fan had not relied entirely on his own power.
He had used the Dharma-Exploding God-Startling Formation to forcefully elevate the might of his techniques to the Golden Core realm, followed by activating a barrage of auxiliary formations.
In the end, he had unleashed both of his ultimate techniques—the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords and the Heaven-Upending Palm.
Even so, he had only managed to drag his foe down with him in mutual destruction.
Were it not for True Reversion, he would probably be dead and his Dao dispersed by now.
Then again, if he had not possessed True Reversion to fall back on, Li Fan’s character would never have allowed him to throw caution to the wind and ultimately comprehend that table-turning Heaven-Upending Palm.
Gazing at the options presented by True Reversion, Li Fan naturally chose the second without hesitation: retain cultivation.
As he confirmed his choice, he focused his mind, paying close attention to the impending changes within his body.
Back when he had inherited late Qi Condensation cultivation, the immortal-mortal miasma within him had dissolved and vanished silently as the cultivation descended.
Li Fan was curious how True Reversion would handle the law of this world that Foundation Establishment must borrow a wonder of heaven and earth.
Holding his breath and focusing his spirit, late Foundation Establishment cultivation surged abruptly from within his body.
The immortal-mortal miasma vanished without a trace, like snow melting into water.
Spiritual energy welled up mysteriously inside him, and his aura climbed steadily.
In an instant, it reached late Qi Condensation.
Then, in his dantian, an azure little bead suddenly appeared without warning.
It was none other than the Vast Sea Pearl, which was not yet supposed to have appeared in this world!
The Root of Heaven and Earth attached itself to the Vast Sea Pearl, converting the laws within it into Li Fan’s Dao Foundation.
Only, this Foundation Establishment process was a hundred, a thousand times faster than when Li Fan had undergone it himself!
In a mere instant, the Vast Sea Pearl vanished.
A hazy blue projection of an ocean settled within Li Fan’s dantian.
In the blink of an eye, Li Fan completed the process of Foundation Establishment.
Following that, the aura on him rose continuously, stopping only when it reached the late Foundation Establishment stage.
*It seems that even when raising my cultivation through the power of True Reversion, in this world, one must still follow the cultivation laws and ordinances laid down by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable step by step.*
*Is this the power of “inverting the principles of heaven and earth”?*
*The fundamental rules of cultivation have been completely altered. To play this game of immortal cultivation, one must follow the established rules.*
Li Fan pondered for a moment. Recalling scene after scene from his previous life, he felt a spark of comprehension.
*After Longevity Heavenly Venerable inverted the principles of heaven and earth, he ceased appearing in the mortal world.*
*Dao Integration experts suppress an entire province, standing openly as the peak combat power.*
*Beneath Dao Integration…*
Recalling the clash of Soul Formation cultivators across Yuandao Province, which had only served as sacrificial offerings for Heavenly Venerable Blue Feather’s attainment of the Dao, Li Fan could not help sighing, *Beneath Dao Integration, all are ants.*
*Soul Formation, Nascent Soul, Golden Core, Foundation Establishment.*
*There is no fundamental difference.*
*Only after sacrificing the anima of Heaven and Earth to achieve Dao Integration can one barely catch the eye of Longevity Heavenly Venerable.*
*Yet…*
*Without proving longevity, all is fleeting vanity.*
*Heavenly Venerable Blue Feather eked out an existence for several thousand years, yet his lifespan reached its end all the same.*
*Prove longevity…*
*Prove longevity…*
…
Li Fan muttered those words under his breath, his brow furrowed as though lost in thought.
*Without proving longevity, all is fleeting vanity.*
*Even if one proves longevity, so what?*
*Back then, the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable established the new path of cultivation.*
*From then on, unless one followed his path of cultivation, one could not cultivate.*
*Yet if one truly walks His cultivation path, even if one genuinely proves longevity, one will still remain under His shadow.*
Li Fan seemed to realize something, and his expression suddenly turned calm.
*In this world, the path of cultivation has already become an established law according to His will.*
*To transcend, one must step off the chessboard right from the start.*
*Yet as a chess piece—and the weakest chess piece at that—how can one leap off the board on one’s own?*
*Unless one borrows an external object.*
*True Reversion…*
Li Fan stared at the luminous screen of True Reversion before him, his eyes flickering.
*From the day I learned that everything in this world can be regarded as a wonder of heaven and earth, I had the idea of using True Reversion as the basis to build my Dao Foundation.*
*To this end, I observed the Foundation Establishment process over a thousand times.*
*I also unlocked two anchors.*
*Now, it is time to try.*
Having reached a decision, Li Fan flew to the peak of Mount Jieli, where he had once comprehended the Formless Killing Intent.
He swiftly constructed a simple thatched hut and set up wards around the perimeter to prevent outsiders from intruding.
Then he sat cross-legged in the hut. With a thought, True Reversion’s prompt popped up right on cue:
“Set the current moment as the second anchor?”
Without hesitation, Li Fan answered, “Yes!”
The second anchor fell into place.
*Now, I must wait for True Reversion to finish charging.*
*True Reversion’s charging speed hasn’t increased; it still requires about nine years.*
*During this time, I can’t let myself remain idle.*
*I didn’t study He Zhenghao’s Mountains and Rivers Hundred Meridians Array Chart much, but I remember the gist of Zhang Zhiliang’s Infinite Method.*
*This is an ideal opportunity to continue sharpening my mastery of array methods.*
*It’s just a pity that in Great Xuan, a land severed from immortality, I can only improve my theoretical understanding and cannot practice setting up formations.*
Li Fan sighed softly, then immersed his mind in insights into the Dao of arrays.
Nine years passed in a flash.
“It is time!”
With the ability to revert at any moment, Li Fan finally possessed the confidence to attempt establishing his Dao Foundation using True Reversion.
Currently, the wonder of heaven and earth he had used for Foundation Establishment was still the Vast Sea Pearl.
Therefore, the first step was…
Shattering the Dao Foundation.
Circulating the Taishang Primordial Scripture, he dissolved all his power, converting it into pure cultivation stored within his body.
Then, looking at the projection of the ocean between reality and illusion in his dantian, Li Fan struck his dantian hard with a finger.
Li Fan spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura weakening rapidly.
The projection of the Congyun Sea shook violently, and a black fissure appeared down its center.
The ocean projection grew increasingly faint.
Li Fan struck again.
After three strikes, the Congyun Sea vanished completely from between heaven and earth.
Li Fan was left clinging to life by a thread, his face as pale as paper, teetering on the verge of death.
*Struck too hard. In the next life, I can be a bit gentler,* Li Fan thought to himself.
Re-refining the cultivation within his body, his injuries soon healed, and he returned to the perfection of Qi Condensation.
*Were it not for this Taishang Primordial Scripture, attempting to establish a Dao Foundation with True Reversion would probably be a hundred times harder,* Li Fan could not help thinking at this sudden rise and fall of realms.
Steeling his resolve, Li Fan made his first attempt.
Unlike wonders of heaven and earth that possessed physical form, True Reversion resided within Li Fan yet had neither shape nor form.
Sensing it was exceptionally difficult.
Fortunately, Zhang Haobo’s Foundation Establishment wonder back then had also been formless and shapeless: Heaven Fiend Sword Intent.
Having had the privilege to witness the entire process, Li Fan used it as a reference to sense the rules embodied by True Reversion inside him.
A long time later, a faint white light emerged at Li Fan’s dantian.
Then…
*Bang!*
Li Fan’s dantian exploded.
“True Reversion!”
Before his consciousness faded, Li Fan chanted internally.
Light and shadow shifted. He did not return to that former study, but remained in the small thatched hut atop Mount Jieli.
Naturally, he had chosen to return to the second anchor.
He chose to reduce the charging time.
After reducing the charging time by thirty percent, completing the charge required only six years.
Frowning slightly, Li Fan carefully recalled the Foundation Establishment process from his previous life, pondering and contemplating it.
Six years flashed by.
With True Reversion fully charged, Li Fan attempted it once more.
Three finger strikes to shatter the Dao Foundation.
This time, though Li Fan’s face was still pale, he only spat out a small mouthful of blood.
Returning to the perfection of Qi Condensation, he conscientiously sensed the rules of True Reversion.
This time, the shimmering white light appeared slightly gentler.
The situation had improved, but it could not hold for long.
*Bang!* Li Fan’s dantian exploded again.
“True Reversion!”
Six years later, Li Fan began his third attempt.
The white radiance representing the rules of True Reversion was gentler still.
This time, it lasted longer than the first two attempts.
However, it was still far from the point where a projection of True Reversion could form.
Li Fan’s dantian exploded yet again.
“True Reversion!”
The fourth time.
*Why does the dantian always explode?* Reflecting on the process of Foundation Establishment across his previous lives, Li Fan could not help pondering.
The cultivation path established by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable was defined, above all, by stability.
No matter how poor one’s aptitudes, so long as one had sufficient lifespan and met the conditions, one would certainly succeed in cultivating.
Yet Li Fan’s current attempt to establish his foundation with True Reversion ran contrary to the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable’s path.
*I originally thought the difficulty in establishing my foundation would lie in how to sense the shapeless, formless True Reversion.*
*I did not expect that, perhaps because True Reversion itself is fused as one with me, sensing its presence is not as difficult as I imagined.*
*Instead, this apparent incompatibility with the Heavenly Venerable’s cultivation path—which causes the dantian to explode—has become the greatest obstacle to my success.*
*Perhaps if I can resolve this issue, I won’t be far from establishing my foundation with True Reversion.*
At this thought, Li Fan’s spirits lifted slightly.
He began his fourth attempt.
*Bang!*
The fifth time!
*Bang!*
The sixth time!
…
Every time represented six years of time.
Though each attempt failed at the final moment with a ruptured dantian, the radiance of True Reversion grew progressively gentler and more mellow.
Matters were moving in a favorable direction.
Li Fan’s conviction hardened accordingly.
Through endless cycles of reincarnation, Li Fan tirelessly repeated the Foundation Establishment process again and again.
Single-mindedly, he cast everything else to the back of his mind.
The tenth time.
The twentieth time.
The thirtieth time.
…
Not until after the fifty-sixth time did Li Fan finally welcome a major breakthrough.
In his dantian, the mellow white light seemed to congeal into a solid form, smooth and pleasing as curdled fat and sleek jade.
The light ceased shifting; what changed instead was its shape.
*Could it be that I’m finally about to succeed?*
Seeing this, even Li Fan’s usually tranquil, well-like heart rippled with faint waves.
Yet clearly, matters would not be so simple.
This time, his dantian remained intact without bursting.
Instead, Li Fan felt as though tiny worms were squirming relentlessly deep within every bone and muscle of his body.
That sensation—simultaneously itching, numbing, and agonizing—drew a muffled groan from Li Fan.
And that was merely the beginning.
Round lumps of flesh suddenly swelled up across Li Fan’s body.
Then, as if endowed with minds of their own, they wriggled incessantly.
The lumps grew larger and larger, swelling to nearly half the size of a skull within a few breaths.
Covered in these horrifying, blood-colored sarcomas, Li Fan looked like an inhuman monster.
What was worse, the blood-colored tumors continued to expand.
Finally, with a wet *pop*, the tumors reached the limit of what a Qi Condensation body could endure and burst like overinflated balloons.
Flesh and gore splattered everywhere.
All across the small thatched hut.
Li Fan was drenched in his own blood and flesh.
Yet he remained impassive.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Blue Flame phantom spirit emerged.
At the same time, the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation ran ceaselessly.
Li Fan entered a realm devoid of sorrow, horror, or fear.
Focusing purely on the projection of True Reversion coalescing in his dantian, he watched his physical form collapse without a change in expression.
Yet the body of a Qi Condensation cultivator was frail after all.
Gradually, Li Fan’s life aura turned faint and threadlike.
Death was imminent at any moment.
At the final instant, Li Fan chanted in his heart: “True Reversion.”
The fifty-seventh time!
Six years later, Li Fan attempted once more.
The white jade blossom of light shifted its form alongside the insights of Li Fan’s mind.
Tumors rose and fell across Li Fan’s body.
After a long time, failure once again.
The fifty-eighth time.
Failure!
The fifty-ninth time.
Failure!
…
Failure after failure did not erode Li Fan’s resolve or conviction.
He summarized his lessons and compared each Foundation Establishment attempt.
He discovered that when deliberately controlling his comprehension, he could not endure as long as when he was unthinking, unknowing, and in a state of primal muddle.
*True Reversion is fused as one with me. Though I cannot perceive it, my body itself is subtly influenced by it in the dark.*
*Establishing the foundation through the id’s primal awareness proceeds far more smoothly than doing so through the ego’s conscious mind.*
During his seventy-fifth Foundation Establishment attempt, Li Fan had an epiphany.
Next, just as he had anticipated, the shape of the white jade light cluster grew increasingly regular.
Every attempt was like a trimming, restoring it toward its original form.
…
The ninetieth time.
When the white jade light cluster finally settled into an oval-like shape, it achieved stability at last.
No more flesh tumors appeared on Li Fan’s body.
The light flickered, turning from illusory to real.
It seemed poised to manifest physically in his dantian.
However…
A sudden insight flashed through Li Fan’s mind.
Something was still missing.
It was as though something descended abruptly upon the small thatched hut at the peak of Mount Jieli.
In an instant, Li Fan’s hair turned snow-white.
His skin shriveled and wrinkled.
Terrifying furrows and cracks surfaced across his face.
His muscles wasted away, leaving only a layer of skin draped loosely over his skeleton.
No longer resembling a human, his appearance was ghastly.
Li Fan was aging at a terrifying rate; in merely a few moments, he would die of old age on the spot.
“True Reversion!”
Li Fan did not hesitate.
From the ninety-first to the ninety-eighth attempt, every try ended the same way.
He was always just a hair’s breadth from successfully establishing his foundation with True Reversion.
On the ninety-ninth time, he returned once more to the peak of Mount Jieli.
*Where exactly is the flaw?*
Li Fan frowned slightly.
He knew that at this point, he was separated from success by only a razor-thin line.
Yet this was no longer something mere attempts could solve.
It required a flash of sudden enlightenment to pinpoint the root of the issue.
Li Fan had a premonition that the answer ought to be simple.
He was separated from it by only a sheet of window paper that could be pierced with a touch.
Yet right now, Li Fan was standing in the midst of the mountain, unable to see its true face.
He could not find the correct answer.
Lost in thought, Li Fan drifted down the mountain.
He wandered through the mortal realm in search of his answer.
At the same time, for the first time, he observed this Great Xuan that was free from his influence.
Anchor Year 5: A great drought struck Jiangnan.
A mob of displaced refugees stormed the Prince of Langya’s estate.
The prince’s estate suffered catastrophic losses.
Apart from the Prince of Langya, who crawled out through a dog door to salvage his life, everyone else in the estate was brutally slaughtered by the refugees.
When word spread, the court and countryside were shaken.
The Emperor was furious and ordered the army to suppress and slaughter the refugees.
At the same time, he summoned the Prince of Langya to the capital and offered him heartfelt comfort.
From then on, the Prince of Langya remained in the imperial capital.
Anchor Year 15:
The Emperor suddenly succumbed to a malignant illness.
Before passing away, he summoned the Prince of Langya to the palace and passed the throne to him.
The Prince of Langya ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Xuanjing.
Anchor Year 16: Rebellions large and small erupted simultaneously across the lands.
Emperor Xuanjing appointed his trusted confidant as Grand General Zhenwei, sending him to lead the army and quell the rebellions.
It took Grand General Zhenwei three years to finally pacify the uprisings across the realm.
He returned to court in glory.
Emperor Xuanjing commanded the civil and military officials to greet him outside the capital, receiving him with imperial honors.
With an arrogant demeanor, Grand General Zhenwei accepted it without hesitation.
He did not dismount before the hundred officials, nor did he kneel before the Emperor.
Showing no change in expression, Emperor Xuanjing supported him by the arm and welcomed him into the palace.
He hosted a lavish banquet in his honor.
After several rounds of wine, the officials quietly slipped away.
Dozens of axe-wielding soldiers surged in.
Drunk out of his senses, Grand General Zhenwei was jolted awake and demanded an explanation from Emperor Xuanjing.
Emperor Xuanjing maintained a grim silence, giving no reply.
Besieged by the axemen, though Grand General Zhenwei possessed unmatched valor, he was covered in blade wounds all the same.
His breath turned faint.
Before dying, he pointed at Emperor Xuanjing and said with venomous hatred, “If ever I could do it all over again, I would surely lead an army to flatten Xuanjing and use your skull as a wine flagon to appease the hatred in my heart!”
Then, he fell dead beneath the blades.
…
Time seemed to freeze in that instant.
Li Fan, who had been watching in silence all along, revealed his form.
His eyes shone brightly with sudden realization.
*Mortal men have no second chance.*
*Nor does this world have a second chance.*
*Yet I do.*
*My True Reversion…*
*Transcends even this world.*
In an instant, the surrounding scenery turned illusory, and Li Fan returned to the peak of Mount Jieli.
Li Fan called forth True Reversion once more.
“When the true is made false, the false is also true…”
“The false is also true…”
Staring at the seven large characters generated by True Reversion, his mind became thoroughly clear and pure.
“I establish my Dao Foundation using the rules of True Reversion within this world!”
Everything fell into place naturally, devoid of any obstruction.
A white jade cluster of light instantly manifested in his dantian.
The third anchor fell into place.
Chapter 162