"Is this the cultivation world...?"
Breaking through the Immortal Severing Formation, the Taiyan Boat emerged within an endless mountain range.
Below was a bottomless sinkhole, the aura emanating from within faintly resembling that of the Ruins Abyss.
The undulating mountains rose and fell amidst swirling clouds and mists, a truly magnificent sight.
Above the tallest mountain range, an immensely colossal city stood suspended in midair.
Li Fan wanted to laugh aloud, but he could only cough uncontrollably, constantly spitting up blood.
He was already far too old.
He had already been walking the razor's edge of life and death, and the pressure of traversing the Immortal Severing Formation had utterly shattered his vitality.
Still, to catch a glimpse of the cultivation world before dying—this life had not been lived in vain!
"True Reversion!"
...
[This simulation has ended.]
After the darkness passed, Li Fan's consciousness gradually returned.
Thinking back to how in his last life he had racked his brains and tried all manner of methods without breaching the Immortal Severing Formation, only to stumble upon the solution by sheer accident in the end, Li Fan could not help sighing at the fickleness of fate.
What was even more unforgettable to Li Fan was that final backward glance at the pod of Realm-Rifting Whales.
"Just how much did the cultivators back then despise mortals? Not only did they exile them all and seal them away with the Immortal Severing Formation, but they even deployed so many Realm-Rifting Whales...
"No wonder the Darkness layer was so vast, larger than all the preceding layers combined. It was likely carved out of nothingness by the Realm-Rifting Whales over thousands of years.
"The distance grows ever greater. In some years to come, that land severed from immortality may truly detach from the cultivation world entirely..."
A flurry of thoughts surged in Li Fan's mind, only to be suppressed one by one.
Replacing them was a joy he could in no way suppress.
Nine reincarnations, nearly five hundred long years—he had finally touched the threshold of cultivation.
As could be anticipated, the road ahead was bound to be even more arduous.
Yet Li Fan's heart in pursuit of longevity would not waver across a hundred lifetimes, nor would he regret it across a hundred lifetimes!
...
Returning to the present, facing the choices after the end of this simulation, Li Fan found himself in a rare dilemma.
According to his prior plan, Li Fan had intended to choose accelerating the charging progress. The sooner True Reversion finished charging, the sooner he could head to the cultivation world.
Indeed, even though the path to the cultivation world was now smooth sailing and devoid of danger, Li Fan still resolved to lay low until he had another chance to start over before setting out.
After all...
The immortal path was perilous! And no matter how one looked at it, this cultivation world seemed far from friendly toward mortals.
Safety first—nothing wrong with that!
Yet upon seeing the list of selectable items, Li Fan hesitated once more.
For among them, he saw the Step-Halting Broken Stele.
After some thought, Li Fan still decided to retain the broken stele.
He wanted to take this exact opportunity to test a suspicion in his mind.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mortal
Physiological Age: 20/86
Psychological Age: 483/1116
Reversion Charging Progress: 0%
Anchor Charging Progress: 51%
Current Anchors: 1
Bound Items: Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, Taiyan Boat, Step-Halting Broken Stele (Damaged)
...
Li Fan's tenth life thus began.
During the first twenty years while waiting for charging to complete, Li Fan moved along the established historical trajectory with familiar ease.
In this period, he only did a few things that did not affect the course of history, preparing for his future departure to the cultivation world.
In Anchor Year 3, Li Fan arrived outside Qian Hong's tomb.
He pondered for a moment. Instead of using immortal-mortal miasma to breach the tomb, he retrieved the Step-Halting Broken Stele directly from True Reversion.
When this broken stele brought over from his previous life appeared in the world, a marvelous change occurred.
The broken stele became veiled in a soft white light, appearing somewhat illusory.
Shortly afterward, like ice beneath a blazing sun, it slowly dissolved into nothing.
Li Fan then ordered his men to force their way into Qian Hong's tomb.
As Li Fan expected, the power of the Step-Halting Broken Stele inside Qian Hong's tomb had noticeably grown much stronger!
"Just as I thought! Immortal arts cannot be cultivated concurrently, and wonders of heaven and earth are the same.
"There cannot be two identical wonders in this world to begin with, yet by means of True Reversion, I created another identical one out of thin air. The consequence is that the two wonders spontaneously merged, ultimately returning to a single existence.
"As for which vanishes and which remains...
"Naturally, the strong survives, and the weak ceases to exist!"
Li Fan narrowed his eyes and commanded his subordinates to breach the tomb using the immortal-mortal miasma spray.
The reinforced Step-Halting Broken Stele was formidable indeed. Even with the immortal-mortal miasma deployed, it took considerable effort to gradually grind down its power.
Wearing steel armor, Li Fan entered Qian Hong's tomb, his gaze falling upon the Step-Halting Broken Stele.
There was no major change in its appearance; it simply looked slightly less dilapidated.
"True Reversion still cannot absorb it. It seems this was merely a quantitative change, not yet reaching a qualitative shift," Li Fan lamented inwardly.
After he ordered his subordinates to carry the broken stele out of the burial chamber, the destructive force lingering around it abruptly vanished.
This happened to make things convenient for Li Fan.
He stored this enhanced version of the Step-Halting Broken Stele into the Taiyan Boat as belongings for his future journey to the cultivation world.
In Anchor Year 20, True Reversion was about to finish charging.
Li Fan ruthlessly investigated and executed a batch of corrupt officials and powerful landed gentry, pocketing all the gold, silver, and jewels accumulated over generations by their families.
This was because after arriving in the cultivation world, he would still need to deal with mortals, so worldly riches had to be prepared in advance.
Moreover, cultivators occasionally incorporated gold and silver when forging artifacts, so there was no need to worry that these metals would become useless outside.
Besides money, food was also indispensable.
However, grain was the foundation of the state, not to mention that Li Fan demanded far too much all at once.
The civil and military officials submitted memorials in opposition one after another, and even merchants in the capital raised grain prices upon hearing the news, attempting to reap huge profits.
Li Fan wasted no words. During the morning court audience, before the assembled civil and military officials, he expanded the Taiyan Boat to its maximum size and suspended it high above the imperial palace.
The colossal Taiyan Boat hovered above Xuanjing like a dark cloud.
Countless commoners dropped to their knees and kowtowed upon seeing it, while the court officials, beholding such immortal methods displayed by Li Fan, all paled and swiftly changed their tunes.
The various grievances previously stirred by Li Fan's slaughter and amassing of wealth vanished in an instant, and everyone even enthusiastically helped him gather grain.
With the active assistance of the officials and the execution of another batch of unscrupulous merchants, the Taiyan Boat was finally packed to the brim.
With everything prepared, Li Fan had no lingering attachments in the mortal realm.
He steered the Taiyan Boat and once more arrived above the Ruins Abyss.
He relaxed his mind and let the Taiyan Boat pilot itself at a constant speed.
It took only a few shichen in all, yet in Li Fan's eyes, it felt longer than the hundreds of years he had previously lived through.
After the long wait, Li Fan finally crossed the Immortal Severing Formation and arrived in the cultivation world!
Having adjusted to the tearing sensation brought by crossing between the two realms, Li Fan looked excitedly outside the Taiyan Boat.
However, upon seeing the surrounding scenery clearly, Li Fan was struck dumb.
Chapter 21