Li Fan inquired out of curiosity and learned that aside from *Secret History of Ancient Cultivation*, Senior Sister Zhao also appeared in numerous novels and popular storybooks.
Most of these were derivative works based on *Secret History of Ancient Cultivation*.
The main plotlines invariably revolved around this Senior Sister Zhao.
Many of the scenes stirred the heart and mind, best left undescribed.
In the Xuanhuang Realm, female protagonists were rare to begin with.
A heroine like Senior Sister Zhao—breathtakingly graceful, peerlessly beautiful, overwhelmingly powerful, and holding an exalted status—was rarer still.
Gaining a devoted following of diehard fans was entirely natural.
Beyond her appealing persona, her high popularity owed much to how absurdly overpowered her character template was.
The Dao Debater created using her as a prototype boasted a staggering win rate.
Hosting a duel in "Sit and Debate the Dao" required a fee in contribution points.
However, the victor would be refunded half of those points.
Thus, if one wanted to engage in continuous Dao debates, having deep pockets was not the only requirement; choosing a powerful Dao Debater template was just as essential.
Li Fan picked a random match featuring Senior Sister Zhao to watch.
His surroundings and his own body vanished in an instant. Li Fan felt as though he had been cast into the cosmic void.
A female cultivator wearing a Daoist robe stood silently in the distance, her tall, curvaceous figure unmistakable.
Her eyes were as clear as water, her skin like white snow.
Her icy face resembled an eternal glacier, exuding an aura that kept people thousands of li away.
Yet the faint hints of allure that unintentionally slipped from her eyes stirred an unbearable itch in the heart, inviting endless reverie.
Before long, her opponent appeared in this space—an emaciated elder clad in tattered garments.
"Daoist Buzun? I wonder what his background is." As Li Fan focused his gaze on the elder, a stream of information surfaced in his mind.
"Please!" both sides said in unison, and the battle commenced.
A Dao debate duel was merely a simulation by the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Naturally, it could not compare to an actual battle between Dao Integration powerhouses in reality, where every move and posture carried lingering resonances of the Great Dao capable of granting epiphanies to mere spectators.
Even so, within this vast, boundless virtual space, visual effects like light, shadow, destruction, and shockwaves were pushed to the absolute limit.
Aside from the absence of actual auras, it was virtually indistinguishable from reality.
Furthermore, to prevent spectators from being left utterly bewildered, the Heavenly Profound Mirror provided thoughtful explanations for the moves of both sides.
Daoist Buzun produced a bamboo staff and tapped the air from afar.
In an instant, countless spatial rifts tore open around Senior Sister Zhao.
Pitch-black divine lightning blasted from the rifts, converging to strike her all at once.
Yet the moment all that lightning drew near Senior Sister Zhao, it lost all hostility simultaneously.
It was as if the fiercest tigers had turned into thoroughly docile kittens.
The lightning swirled around her like imperial concubines awaiting favor, remaining completely tame and still.
Senior Sister Zhao flicked a slender finger, and the black lightning bolted back toward Daoist Buzun.
Daoist Buzun snorted, scratched his body, opened his mouth, and swallowed the divine thunder.
...
Through the Heavenly Profound Mirror's commentary, Li Fan understood what was happening.
Daoist Buzun had attacked using Void-Extinguishing Divine Thunder.
It had been effortlessly countered by Senior Sister Zhao's "Great Dao, Only Me."
Great Dao, Only Me was an innate divine ability Senior Sister Zhao possessed once she achieved great success in her cultivation method, the *Heaven-Slaying Dao Scripture*.
It generated a special force field around her body that assimilated every form of enemy attack into part of her own combat power.
*Great Dao, Only Me...*
*This setup is practically cheating. How is anyone supposed to fight this?* Li Fan could not help thinking.
Sure enough, although this Daoist Buzun of unknown origin was undeniably formidable—each of his strikes possessing terrifying destructive power that tore space apart—he could not inflict the slightest harm on Senior Sister Zhao no matter what he did.
Instead, every single attack was perfectly replicated and rebounded against him.
Senior Sister Zhao remained unmoved as a mountain, while Daoist Buzun grew progressively weaker.
Before long, Senior Sister Zhao seized an opening and effortlessly cleaved him apart with a strike of Heaven-Slaying Sword Qi.
The surrounding images vanished, and Li Fan returned to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
*Senior Sister Zhao's Great Dao, Only Me is a bit too shameless. But when Jiang Zhengji explained the rules earlier, he mentioned something.*
*The Heavenly Profound Mirror applies realistic corrections to character templates. Combat power exceeding reality will not be displayed in combat.*
*Yet Senior Sister Zhao was completely unaffected...*
*Does that mean in reality, there truly exists a cultivation method with an effect like Great Dao, Only Me?*
*Or could it be...*
A strange look crossed Li Fan's face.
*Senior Sister Zhao of the Dadao Sect.*
*The Dao Comprehension Pill of the Five Elders Association, a secret transmission of the Dadao Sect.*
*The first-person* Secret History of Ancient Cultivation.
*And all those derivative, erotic storybooks circulating throughout the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals...*
Li Fan's eyelids twitched, a vague suspicion forming in his heart.
However, this matter involved the upper echelons of both factions and supreme almighty figures.
After musing in silence for a brief while, Li Fan suppressed the thought deep within his mind.
He then turned to the business at hand.
Using Zhang Qianmo of the Purple Cloud Sect as a prototype, he began creating a Dao Debater.
"Foundation Establishment cultivation."
"Purple Cloud Divine Thunder, halberd weapon..."
"Upon death, achieves nirvana and rebirth through the purple core within his body, his power soaring drastically, effortlessly slaughtering early Golden Core cultivators."
...
Li Fan faithfully recreated the combat data of Zhang Qianmo, with whom he had crossed hands multiple times.
At the same time, he arrived at an understanding.
In "Sit and Debate the Dao," one could create identical Dao Debaters.
However, if one had only read a superficial account in a book and had merely a conceptual grasp of a figure's strength without knowing its exact limits, the created Dao Debater's strength would fall far short of the figure's true ceiling.
Conversely, the better one understood the prototype, the closer the created Dao Debater would be to their true strength.
Li Fan had fought life-and-death battles with Zhang Qianmo several times, so the Dao Debater created from that experience would be quite close to the man's actual strength.
At the very least, it would be essentially identical to the combat prowess Zhang Qianmo had displayed so far.
Next, Li Fan spent one thousand contribution points to create a character based on himself as a blueprint.
He simulated the maximum power of his current Single Sword of Congyun and Heaven-Overturning Divine Palm, disguising them under different names.
The character creation succeeded.
Li Fan attempted to control these two Dao Debaters to conduct an initial battle.
Unexpectedly, he received a prompt from the Heavenly Profound Mirror:
"According to calculations, the win rate for Dao Debater 'Fan Li' is approximately zero."
"Do you still wish to initiate the battle?"
Li Fan's face darkened, and he gave up on the idea.
After a moment's thought, he posted an extremely arrogant message:
"[Foundation Establishment stage] Li Qianmo of the Azure Cloud Sect. Unrivaled in the Foundation Establishment realm, lonely and seeking defeat! If you object, come fight me!"
In "Sit and Debate the Dao," Dao Debaters at the Foundation Establishment level were relatively scarce.
Li Fan had no choice but to leave his open challenge hanging there, waiting for others to take it up.
*I hope a method to defeat Zhang Qianmo appears that I can emulate,*
Li Fan thought as he temporarily exited "Sit and Debate the Dao."
Chapter 217