At the peak of Mount Jieli.
The spontaneous protection of Trueness allowed Li Fan to break free from the Heavenly Physician's gaze and successfully return to his anchor point.
As the illusory scene solidified back into reality, Li Fan quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming he was back at the third anchor.
Only then could he breathe a sigh of relief.
A split second later, the terror born of his narrow brush with death at the hands of the white-haired elder finally caught up with him.
It descended upon his heart, sending it pounding violently.
Like someone who had been submerged for far too long and finally breached the water's surface, Li Fan began drawing ragged, uncontrollable gasps of air.
Only after a good while did he slowly recover from the horror of his narrow escape.
"The Heavenly Physician... beyond Dao Integration..."
Replaying the previous scene repeatedly in his mind, Li Fan's expression turned grim.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that this Heavenly Physician's strength would be so horrifying.
It far surpassed that of the black-robed Dao Integration cultivator in Yuandao Province.
The Heavenly Physician seemingly had the power to see straight through a person's inner thoughts.
Back then, the mere natural flicker of a thought across the clone's mind had been enough for him to detect an anomaly.
Even more terrifying, through some unknown method, he had compelled the clone to lay bare every secret in its heart without the slightest resistance or concealment.
Then came raising the dead, tearing open space in an instant, and locating Li Fan's true body.
Such myriad methods were utterly beyond Li Fan's current understanding.
"Under the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art, my true body and clone can be regarded as two entirely unrelated individuals.
"How on earth did he pinpoint my identity?
"As the foundational cornerstone of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals, the Heavenly Profound Mirror's security should be fully guaranteed.
"When I joined the Alliance, the Mirror also declared that cultivating within its mirror space came with no fear of being attacked.
"Yet this Heavenly Physician was able to forcibly break into my cultivation space, and the Heavenly Profound Mirror showed not the slightest reaction.
"When the Heavenly Profound Mirror introduced him, it didn't even mention his name.
"Just who is this old man?"
The more Li Fan pondered, the more unfathomable it seemed.
At the same time, waves of lingering dread welled up in his chest.
If not for his prudent nature—knowing the elder possessed terrifying strength and thus interacting with him solely through a clone;
If not for noticing something amiss and activating Trueness without an instant's hesitation;
If not for Trueness having accumulated a fraction of charge, allowing its automatic protection to take effect;
He would truly have met his ultimate end this time.
Falling into the hands of that unfathomable elder, no secret could have been preserved, and death would have been the only outcome.
"This cultivation world is truly far too treacherous. Even with a wonder like Trueness in my possession, every step is fraught with peril. A single misstep means shattering into pieces." Li Fan could not help feeling a chill in his heart.
Beyond his shock, Li Fan also engaged in self-reflection.
Ever since stepping into the cultivation world, aided by Trueness, his path of cultivation had been relatively smooth.
His previous escape from the hands of a Dao Integration cultivator had even fostered a subtle arrogance, leading him to look down upon the world's heroes.
Yet thinking carefully, how could these mighty figures—who had survived from the Calamity Era, the Great Plague Era, and the Dark Era down to the present day—ever be simple characters?
Carrying the secret of Trueness, all was well as long as he stayed out of the sight of such mighty figures.
But wandering recklessly before their eyes with feeble cultivation was truly nothing short of seeking death.
"From now on, I must be even more cautious," Li Fan sighed inwardly.
"Forget the hundred thousand contribution points for the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans."
After profound reflection and consolidation, his thoughts settled somewhat, and Li Fan suddenly recalled the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture he had read before.
As a medical scripture, its study extended far beyond humans alone.
It encompassed all manner of flora and fauna between heaven and earth.
The scripture had once stated that the way of medicine largely boiled down to four principles: observation, listening, questioning, and palpation.
"Observation, listening, questioning, palpation..." Li Fan murmured repeatedly under his breath.
"Observation: he saw the anomaly in the clone's mind.
"Questioning: he extracted every unvarnished truth from the clone.
"Palpation: a fingertip across the void raised the dead back to life.
"Listening: in an instant, he perceived the bond between true body and clone.
"What an observation, listening, questioning, and palpation.
"What a Heavenly Physician."
...
The Heavenly Physician had given Li Fan his first profound understanding of just how terrifying the high-ranking cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm were.
However, recognizing the gap did not break his resolve.
"With Trueness in hand, so long as I do not die, I will accumulate strength through cycle after cycle of reincarnation. One day, I will catch up to them and surpass them."
Li Fan spoke silently to himself, burying every thought concerning the Heavenly Physician deep within his heart.
He then examined the options presented by Trueness.
When he had established the third anchor, his realm was late Foundation Establishment.
His previous life had lasted barely over two fleeting years before being brought to an abrupt halt.
Having failed to break through a minor realm, Li Fan naturally would not select that option.
He decisively chose the first option: retain an item in his possession, the Dao Transformation Stone.
With his selection made, Li Fan first checked his Trueness panel, which he had not viewed in quite some time.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Late Foundation Establishment
Physiological Age: 20/399
Psychological Age: 1212/3700
Reversion Charging Progress: 0%
Anchor Charging Progress: 1%
Current Anchors: 3
Current Available Anchors: 0
Bound Items: Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, Taiyan Boat, Step-Halting Broken Stele (Damaged), Blood Essence of Ten Thousand, Dao Transformation Stone
Cultivation Techniques: Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, Cloud Water Dreamscape Technique, Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art, Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, Intent Spirit Illusion Art
Divine Abilities: Life and Death Interlink, Formless Killing Intent, Bug Binding
The upper limits of his physiological and psychological ages had both plateaued.
Significant changes would likely only occur after breaking through to the Golden Core stage.
In any case, over two thousand years of reincarnation lifespan was more than sufficient for the current Li Fan.
Beyond the arts listed on the technique panel, Li Fan also possessed two exclusive techniques: the Sea-Calming Divine Sword and Treading Ocean Waves;
The Mountain Sitting Technique, his predetermined path of cultivation;
Two secret arts: Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation and Purple Clouds Soul Searching;
And Zhang Zhiliang's Infinite Method heritage.
The absurd advantage of Trueness was laid completely bare at this moment.
Setting aside the ninety-nine lifetimes spent using Trueness to build his foundation, Li Fan's actual, effective reincarnations in the cultivation world amounted to merely four lives so far.
Four cycles of reincarnation had granted Li Fan an accumulation so rich that it far exceeded that of any Foundation Establishment cultivator.
...
"The time spent waiting for Trueness to finish charging can be put toward cultivating the Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation technique."
With that thought, Li Fan willed the deep-blue Dao Transformation Stone to appear in his hand.
After setting up a perimeter around Mount Jieli to prevent mortals from blundering in, Li Fan placed the Dao Transformation Stone against his glabella. Merging his divine sense slowly with the stone, he entered a meditative state of cultivation.
Time had no meaning in the mountains; in the blink of an eye, Anchor Year 5 arrived.
On this day, as Li Fan's divine sense fully fused with the Dao Transformation Stone, a brilliant blue crystal suddenly manifested at the upper dantian between his brows.
Allowing his thoughts to flow, he sensed it attentively.
A moment later, Li Fan quickly detected what was different from before.
A look of delight surfaced on his face. "An ancient secret art truly is nothing ordinary!"
Having mastered Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, not only was his speed of deduction and computation over a hundred times faster than before, but every scene and image he had ever experienced could be summoned at a single thought, vividly appearing as if he were reliving it in person.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. The Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture that the Heavenly Physician had imparted to his clone with a touch between the brows during their first encounter now gradually reconstructed itself under the formidable computational processing of the Dao Transformation Stone.
Taking nearly a year, Li Fan memorized the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture thoroughly.
Naturally, remembering did not equate to practical mastery.
Just as with his array theory, a vast chasm lay between his theoretical knowledge and his practical array-craft.
"It truly is a pure medical treatise; it offers little help for cultivation." Li Fan shook his head with some regret.
"The techniques of observation, listening, questioning, and palpation in the book are also worlds apart from the Heavenly Physician's actual methods.
"However...
"The Heavenly Physician seemingly entered the Dao through medicine. This Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture must be the foundation of his life's learning.
"If one day I find a peerless prodigy and impart this medical scripture to them, perhaps I can reenact the Heavenly Physician's story.
"I certainly cannot do so in the Xuanhuang Realm, but perhaps I can give it a try in a remote minor world far from the cultivation world."
Tossing the thought to the back of his mind for now, Li Fan suddenly thought of the Taiyan Sect's art of deduction.
Cultivating the Heavenly Mechanism Sect's Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos to its depths also allowed one to divine the future.
However, that was achieved through sensing qi and karmic threads to deduce trends.
The Taiyan Sect's deduction, on the other hand, pushed computational capacity to its absolute limit, exhausting every possible scenario to find the single one that best matched the future trajectory.
"Actually, these two deduction arts are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
"Rather, they can complement each other. Qi deduction outlines the broad, vague trends, while Taiyan divine calculation precisely predicts the outcome.
"Heh, but neither can compare to my Trueness.
"What deduction art could ever be more accurate than coming from the future and having experienced it firsthand?"
On a sudden whim, Li Fan drifted down the mountain.
Great Xuan, Jiangnan, Hanguang City.
Recently, a bizarre occurrence had unfolded in this city of immense wealth.
A remarkable man named the Divine Calculator had arrived on his travels and set up a divination stall.
He performed only three divinations a day.
He charged no fee, choosing whom to read at his own discretion.
At first, the city's residents assumed this Divine Calculator was merely a charlatan relying on empty gimmicks, because his divinations were hit-or-miss.
Yet as time went on, the Divine Calculator's success rate grew higher and higher.
Whether finding lost items, locating missing children, divining marriages, or predicting the gender of unborn babes, he was unfailingly accurate.
Gradually, the Divine Calculator's reputation spread far and wide.
Within Hanguang City, young and old, men and women alike treated him with profound awe and respect.
On this day, a noble traveled to Hanguang City for leisure. Hearing of the matter, his interest was piqued.
Donning commoner's garb and accompanied only by a trusted confidant, he came before the Divine Calculator's stall.
He saw the Divine Calculator reclining on a long bench, eyes closed in rest.
"Daoist Master, have today's divinations been filled?" the noble inquired, having already inquired about the rules beforehand.
Without opening his eyes, the Divine Calculator replied lazily, "You ask what you already know. If the quota were full, I would have packed up and gone home. Would I still be lounging here?"
The noble felt a touch embarrassed upon hearing this.
The confidant, seeing his master slighted, flew into a rage. Disregarding the renowned name of the Divine Calculator, he stepped forward to smash the stall.
The noble reached out to stay his confidant's hand, saying, "In that case, I ask the Daoist Master to read a divination for me."
Still keeping his eyes closed, the Divine Calculator said, "This poor Daoist foresaw long ago that you two would come, and I have already prepared your reading.
"Inside that small wooden box at the top left of the stall lies a slip of paper. One look and you shall understand."
The confidant sneered with even greater disdain, huffing, "Playing the mystic!"
The noble, however, wore a solemn expression as he thanked the Divine Calculator. He then opened the wooden box, retrieved the slip of paper, and slowly unrolled it.
The moment he saw the writing on the slip, his face drained of all color.
Shock, terror, and wild joy tangled in his heart; his hand went limp, and the slip tumbled to the ground.
Seeing this, the noble cast aside all dignity, hastily crouching to snatch up the paper and clutching it tightly in his palm, terrified that anyone else might see.
His body trembled violently with agitation as he silently repeated the sixteen bold characters inscribed on the slip:
"Lie dormant for nine years; quietly await heaven's timing. The day your elder brother dies shall be the hour you become emperor."
Seeing his master lose his composure to such an extent, the confidant felt utterly baffled.
Ever since the tragedy that had occurred back then, rarely had anything caused this man to show such emotion.
Could it be that this Divine Calculator truly possessed real ability?
He simply could not fathom what was written on the little slip given to his lord.
The noble paid no heed to his subordinate's wandering thoughts.
Taking a deep breath to settle his surging emotions, he prepared to bow solemnly to the Divine Calculator.
Yet to his utter astonishment, the Divine Calculator—who had been lying there just moments before—had vanished before his very eyes!
Both noble and confidant were stricken with horror.
Could there truly be ghosts and gods in this world?
Distracted and soul-shaken, the two returned to their lodging and retired to their respective quarters to rest.
The confidant, however, unexpectedly discovered an extra slip of paper in his pocket.
Driven by curiosity, he opened it.
Upon seeing the brushstrokes, his expression froze in bewilderment.
Inscribed upon it were two lines of poetry:
"Peace was originally won by the general's hand, yet the general is never permitted to behold the peace."
The confidant murmured the words repeatedly. Subconsciously, he shredded the slip into tiny pieces and swallowed them whole.
...
High above Hanguang City, watching the confidant's reaction, an enigmatic smile appeared on Li Fan's face.
"Back then, hearing your dying words gave me the epiphany that allowed me to successfully establish my foundation with Trueness.
"Divining a reading for you today can be considered repaying the kindness of that day.
"I hope that in this life, you might meet a different destiny."
The two who had sought a reading today were naturally the Prince of Langya and the future General of Subduing Might who would lead the army to quell the rebellion.
Li Fan had assumed the identity of the Divine Calculator to roam the lands and comprehend the Dao of divination.
After settling in Hanguang City, his deduction arts had progressed day by day.
Running into his old acquaintances, the Prince of Langya and his confidant, on a sudden impulse had produced today's scene.
Acting upon a passing whim had resolved a karmic tie.
With his mind unburdened and his spirits high, Li Fan lingered no longer and returned to Mount Jieli.
As the scenes of this period flashed through his mind, Li Fan gained his own understanding of deduction arts.
"Within Hanguang City, my divine sense enveloped every person, object, and event.
"Bolstered by the terrifying computational prowess of the Dao Transformation Stone, not the slightest detail escaped my sight.
"Confined solely to events within that city, with every cause and factor accounted for, I could already predict outcomes with eighty to ninety percent accuracy.
"Yet that city is not alone in this world. Hanguang City sits at the junction of canals, bustling with shipping.
"Merchants come and go in an endless stream; well over ten thousand people enter and depart daily.
"These are the so-called variables.
"The more variables there are, the lower the accuracy of my calculations becomes.
"Beyond external influences, the human heart is inscrutable—another variable in itself.
"As the population grows and the city's scope expands, the variables requiring processing multiply exponentially.
"At that point, relying purely on raw computational ability yields negligible results.
"One still requires the aid of dedicated deduction techniques."
Having realized this truth, Li Fan had no intention of going out of his way to seek a deduction technique.
To put it plainly, this foray into divination had merely been a casual diversion born of boredom while waiting for Trueness to charge.
Letting nature take its course was enough; there was no need to force it.
The most important task remained raising his cultivation realm.
Li Fan set a quiet goal in his heart: in this life, he must break through to the Golden Core stage!
...
Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, Anchor Year 9 drew near.
With Trueness nearly fully charged, Li Fan made another trip to Yi Xing's tomb and retrieved the Heavenly Lock Treasure Box.
Afterward, he did not forget to take his bound Step-Halting Broken Stele and fuse it with the one in Qian Hong's burial ground.
Then, as was his routine, he swept through the realm and loaded the Taiyan Boat to capacity.
With everything prepared, Li Fan breached the Immortal Severing Formation and returned to the cultivation world.
Prior to encountering the Heavenly Physician, Li Fan felt there had been no major flaws in his schemes and arrangements from the previous life.
Furthermore, starting from the exact same cultivation base in this life, there were no better entry points.
Considering that altering his actions might introduce unforeseen variables, Li Fan decided to follow the established blueprint and retread his past path.
Slaughter the giant liuli fish and obtain the exquisite liuli pearl to ensure the Spirit Mist Grass incident would unfold.
Subsequently join the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals through He Zhenghao.
Undertake the blue-blood coral mission, using the Blue Flame phantom spirit as bait to befriend Medicine Hall's Chen Ying.
Slay Sikong Yi and obtain the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token.
Frighten He Zhenghao into suspending his illegal crossing business.
Borrow Spirit Mist Grass from Qingfeng Hall.
Enlist in the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals, successfully passing the Heart Interrogation Platform trial with the aid of the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart.
Perform merit missions to raise his authority rank.
Reap immense, cost-free profits amidst the Spirit Mist Grass turmoil.
Use the Zhou Qing'ang spy affair to coerce He Zhenghao into signing an employment contract.
Relearn the Mountain Sitting Technique and purchase access to the Vanguard Realm.
Infiltrate the Li Realm alone, stranding Ye Feipeng, Xiao Heng, and the others on the deserted island once more.
Commission Jiao Xiuyuan to excavate the Small Medicine King Cauldron.
...
Retreading the previous life's process took merely a year or two.
Li Fan possessed ample patience.
However, armed with the experience of his previous life, Li Fan still made minor adjustments to how he handled several matters.
First, regarding the Spirit Mist Grass crisis, he knew the exact timing of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's public announcement.
Yet to avoid drawing suspicion, Li Fan acted prudently, unloading all 2,900 stalks of Spirit Mist Grass in his possession in batches after the price rose past 320 points and before it reached 350 points.
In total, he raked in 980,000 contribution points.
Second, when refining his clone in this life, Li Fan utilized a wonder of heaven and earth purchased within the Vanguard Realm.
The clone's cultivation immediately rose to mid-Foundation Establishment.
Afterward, purchasing the white bone Vanguard Realm and posing as the skull to deceive Xiao Heng and the others was entirely handled by the clone.
He laid out the might of the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals with crystal clarity, instructing Xiao Heng to prioritize raising his cultivation above all else, simply posing as an ordinary rogue cultivator who had stumbled upon a lucky chance.
Furthermore, to prevent unexpected mishaps, Li Fan chose not to purchase techniques from the Heavenly Profound Mirror this time.
He imparted the Sea-Calming Divine Sword to Xiao Heng and Treading Ocean Waves to Ye Feipeng.
It would still be some time before Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu were capable of cultivating.
So long as he located masterless techniques before then, it would suffice.
Having his true body and clone fleece Qin Tang separately would resolve the issue.
However, considering he might require a large number of techniques in the future, Li Fan felt he needed to find a reliable channel outside the Alliance of Thousands of Immortals to purchase techniques.
After some thought, Li Fan's clone contacted Jiao Xiuyuan.
Before long, a reply arrived.
"Uh, Fellow Daoist wishes to purchase a Golden Core technique? Why not buy it from the Heavenly Profound Mirror? Could it be you haven't found a suitable one?
"Heh, I don't sell techniques on my end. Big business like that is beyond my ability to cover.
"However, if Fellow Daoist truly has such a need, I do know of a place that can satisfy your request.
"Have you ever heard of the Wanfa Merchant Guild, Fellow Daoist?"
Li Fan paused briefly, a name differing by only a single character instantly springing to mind.
"Is this Wanfa Merchant Guild related to the Wanhua Merchant Guild?" Li Fan asked.
"Indeed. In truth, the Wanhua Merchant Guild is the Wanfa Merchant Guild; it simply handles business concerning mortals, so it adopted another name," Jiao Xiuyuan answered.
"Wanfa Merchant Guild..." Li Fan could not help recalling how, before the descent of the Crimson Flame Scourge, the Wanhua Merchant Guild had received advance notice to evacuate the Congyun Sea entirely.
"This Wanfa Merchant Guild certainly has some serious background."
Chapter 214