Sitting and Debating the Martial Dao

Yet these recruitment listings merely stated that they were traveling together to Jiushan Province, leaving their specific purpose completely vague. It was clearly a case of "those who know, know." "It has only just reached Anchor Year 10, so there's no rush to hurry over," Li Fan pondered to himself. "Once Anchor Year 11 arrives and the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace opens, I'll see if my clone can fleece another cultivation technique from Qin Tang. "After that, I can have the clone make the trip." Having made his decision, Li Fan put the matter out of mind for the time being. Instead, he turned to Jiang Zhengji of the Martial Practice Hall to inquire about methods for improving actual combat ability. He did this not solely to increase his combat prowess. Most importantly, Li Fan wanted to defeat Zhang Qianmo of the Purple Cloud Sect in the Fallen Immortal Realm as soon as possible, so he could see whether he could travel to other places afterward. Indeed, Li Fan had realized that he was trapped in Ningyuan City within the Fallen Immortal Realm. In this lifetime, he had already entered the Fallen Immortal Realm three times. The spatio-temporal entry point remained unchanged each time: right before he followed Zhang Qianmo down the mountain to Ningyuan City to collect the Longevity Fruits. To break out of this predicament, Li Fan had attempted three different approaches. The first was to follow the "plot" by faking his death, then slipping quietly out of Ningyuan City while Zhang Qianmo was locked in fierce battle with Song Hesong and the others, with no one paying attention. Unfortunately, before he could fly very far, Zhang Qianmo caught up with him, denounced him as an evil heretic, and struck him down with a bolt of Purple Cloud Divine Thunder. On the second attempt, Li Fan turned traitor outright. He secretly sent a voice transmission to Song Hesong, coordinating from within and without to launch a joint surprise attack on Zhang Qianmo. Zhang Qianmo was grievously wounded, but Li Fan and his allies could do nothing against the purple core inside his body. After undergoing nirvanic rebirth, Zhang Qianmo's power surged drastically, and he easily cut down Li Fan and the others one by one. On the third attempt, Li Fan simply made up an excuse, claiming he did not want to go to Ningyuan City and wished to return to the sect. Who could have guessed that Zhang Qianmo's expression would immediately darken, and he attacked without a word? Li Fan tangled with him for a long time, but the clash still ended in defeat. Facing the same outcome every time was truly frustrating. Yet the reality was that he was simply no match for Zhang Qianmo. Furthermore, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals kept methods for enhancing a cultivator's combat abilities strictly confidential. Even with his current clearance level of Yan-10, Li Fan had failed to find any useful results. Thus, Li Fan could only ask Jiang Zhengji of the Martial Practice Hall on the off chance he might help. His response was fully within Li Fan's expectations: "All secret arts of the Martial Practice Hall are strictly controlled and cannot be shared externally. I'm afraid I cannot help you with this matter, Fellow Daoist." Since it had only been a casual inquiry without much hope attached, Li Fan still politely thanked him. Whether out of caution or curiosity, Jiang Zhengji sent another message a short while later: "Might I ask why you wish to improve your combat skills, Fellow Daoist? As far as I know, you are merely a formation master, aren't you? Could you have made an enemy?" Li Fan's heart tightened, but he remained calm and replied, "Nothing like that. It's just that I often spar with a friend and can never win. I simply refuse to accept it. "Whether my actual combat skill improves doesn't really matter; I just want to beat him once." After a brief pause, Jiang Zhengji replied, "Ha, so that's how it is. A competitive spirit is something everyone shares; it's completely understandable. "I cannot help you improve your actual combat abilities. But if you merely want to defeat an opponent, I do have an idea." Li Fan perked up. "Please elaborate, Fellow Daoist!" "Our Martial Practice Hall applied for a specialized subdivision within the Heavenly Mystery Realm called 'Sit and Debate the Dao.' "By utilizing the powerful deductive capabilities of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, one can input both combatants' cultivation realms, techniques, divine abilities, secret arts, and so forth in advance, allowing it to simulate the course of battle between both sides. "There is no need to know the specific contents of the cultivation techniques; one only needs to describe their actual performance during combat. "Based on the strength of the description, the Heavenly Profound Mirror generates 'Virtual Dao Debaters' of varying power. "Once you create your own 'Dao Debater,' not only can you spar against it by generating a virtual version of yourself, but you can also pit it against the Dao Debaters of other cultivators. "This is what is known as 'sitting and debating the Dao.' "Naturally, the Heavenly Profound Mirror also adjusts the strength of a created Dao Debater according to reality. Blatant exaggerations, such as a Golden Core cultivator casually cleaving space apart, will not work." Hearing this, Li Fan's interest was piqued at once. He could not help asking, "Is this feature exclusive to your Martial Practice Hall? If I wish to use it, what can I do?" Jiang Zhengji replied immediately, "Heh, while it usually isn't open to outsiders, if someone on the inside extends an invitation, an outsider can use it as well." With that, he sent over a black-and-white icon featuring two figures seated opposite each other, flanking an archaic character for "Dao" between them. Li Fan touched it with his divine sense. A prompt from the Heavenly Profound Mirror immediately appeared: "'Sit and Debate the Dao' has been loaded. Inviter: Wanxian Island, Jiang Zhengji. "Cultivator Li Fan, you have activated the 'Sit and Debate the Dao' feature. "You are now granted one free opportunity to create a Dao Debater and three free opportunities to conduct battles. "Henceforth, you may view and use the 'Sit and Debate the Dao' feature at any time." ... Li Fan keenly caught the words "granted" and "free," immediately recognizing the routine behind it. However, he was rolling in wealth right now and did not care about consuming such a small number of contribution points. He quietly opened "Sit and Debate the Dao" and began browsing. In an instant, an array of listings flooded his vision: "(Dao Integration stage) Senior Sister Zhao is number one under heaven! One person, one sword, dominating the Dadao Sect, undefeated throughout eternity! Challenge her if you dare!" "(Nascent Soul stage) Middle-aged Emperor Tianhuang: severing eternity alone, peerless in his generation. Thirty-three consecutive victories already. Fellow Daoists are welcome to challenge him!" "(Nascent Soul stage) Middle-aged Emperor Tianye: unmatched in calculation, blessed with a sacred physique. In no way inferior to Emperor Tianhuang!" "(Soul Formation stage) At the pinnacle of immortality, looking down on the world—where Lan'an stands, the heavens exist! Newly created Dao Debater, summarized in one word: invincible!" "(Dao Integration stage) Immortal Venerable Yulan welcomes challenges from all 'Real' Dao Debaters. Could those with debaters from fictional works please stop applying for battles? What's the point of indulging in delusions all day? I will not accept your requests." ... Looking through these listings one by one, Li Fan could not help wearing a strange expression. As it turned out, the vast majority of Dao Debaters created by cultivators in "Sit and Debate the Dao" were fictional characters from novels. For instance, Li Fan recognized Senior Sister Zhao of the Dadao Sect; she was the protagonist of *Secret History of Ancient Cultivation*, a book he had once read. Written from a first-person perspective, it recounted how this Senior Sister Zhao rose from an outer disciple through various trials, stepping forward stage by stage to become an inner disciple, a true legacy disciple, a Dao Seed, and ultimately the sect master of the Dadao Sect. He had not expected this Senior Sister Zhao to enjoy such high popularity. A single glance across "Sit and Debate the Dao" revealed dozens of cultivators who had chosen to model their Dao Debaters after her.