Through the Heaven and Earth perspective, Li Fan saw blue specks of light welling up from around Ye Feipeng from time to time.
"It seems Ye Feipeng's plan to draw the Congyun Sea's attention is proceeding quite smoothly."
The little fellows' path of cultivation was gradually getting on the right track.
Things were not delayed on He Zhenghao's side, either.
During this period, the vast majority of the cultivation feedback Li Fan received had come from He Zhenghao.
Although his cultivation speed could not match those natural prodigies, he and Li Fan were close in cultivation realm after all, yielding a higher feedback expectation.
Not long ago, he had even sent Li Fan a lingeringly fearful message.
He said a good friend of his had once invited him to explore a cave abode. At that time, he had been in closed-door cultivation and had not been able to reply in time.
Yet once his cultivation ended, he was shocked to hear that his friend's entire expedition team had been wiped out.
Moreover, what lay buried in that cave abode was not some Golden Core Master at all, but a Soul Formation puppet.
Recalling his narrow escape afterward, He Zhenghao could not help breaking into a cold sweat.
"The path of cultivation is truly perilous beyond measure. At the slightest misstep, one's body perishes, the Dao extinguishes."
"My little brother Wei Qizheng was really no slouch in cultivation talent. Everyone thought he was certain to achieve the Golden Core within a few years, but who would have imagined he'd be gone so easily?" He Zhenghao said, shuddering in hindsight.
Li Fan casually comforted He Zhenghao with a word or two, telling him not to run around blindly when there was no need.
In passing, he also waived He Zhenghao's interest for the coming year, bidding him to cultivate properly.
He Zhenghao repeatedly agreed.
"As the number of people invested in the Mountain-Sitting Art gradually increases, the cultivation feedback I receive each day grows as well."
"I believe that in not too many years, it will roughly rival what I gain from constantly meditating in secluded cultivation."
"Reaping without sowing—the beauty of it is that even if I divert my focus to other matters, I can still enjoy the continuous growth of my cultivation."
Everything was progressing in an orderly manner, putting Li Fan in a pleasant mood.
Afterward, he left Wanxian Island, found a secluded spot on the seabed as usual, and began his second [Simulation].
The surrounding scenery suddenly shifted, and Li Fan once again descended into the cave abode of the Path of Bodily Transformation from thousands of years ago.
"Tianyang, it's time to drink your medicine..."
A familiar opening line.
Li Fan drank down the medicinal broth. Drawing upon the fleeting warm current welling up in his body, he forced himself to muster his spirits.
He hurriedly whispered, "Master, this medicine isn't very useful."
"Change it for a different prescription next time."
Without minding Tianyangzi, who was stunned on the spot, he rattled off the prescription in one breath.
His body was utterly frail, making even speaking exceedingly difficult.
As if exhausting all his vitality, Li Fan sank into a drowsy slumber immediately after.
When Li Fan next awoke and took his medicine,
what welled up in his body was not merely warmth,
but also an unbearable, piercing pain.
As though countless fine needles were relentlessly piercing him all over, Li Fan's face instantly went as white as a sheet, and sweat poured off him.
"Tianyang!"
"Little Junior Brother!"
Concerned and urgent voices called out one after another.
Gritting his teeth, Li Fan replied in a low voice, "I'm fine... I'm doing well."
"Master, the prescription is very effective. Absolutely do not change it."
With that, Li Fan fainted away.
Even in his stupor, he could vaguely sense his body twitching and convulsing ceaselessly under the extreme agony.
It felt as if he could die at any moment.
Yet deep within the body that had seemed like a spent lamp out of oil,
a burst of pure, vigorous vitality quietly began to emerge.
"It really works."
Li Fan felt a wave of relief, and then lost consciousness completely.
In the ensuing few years, Li Fan relied on the "Peril" method from the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture to gradually make up for his body's deficiencies.
The time he spent asleep grew less and less, and slowly, he became able to get out of bed and walk around occasionally.
When the members of the Path of Bodily Transformation curiously inquired about the origin of the prescription, Li Fan merely showed an innocent expression, claiming he didn't know either—the formula had simply appeared in his mind on its own.
The master and disciples of the Path of Bodily Transformation naturally marveled at this.
Yet they did not dwell on it, merely assuming their little junior brother possessed extraordinary fortune and was not fated to die.
After all, in the vast cultivation world, what miraculous, wondrous things had not occurred?
"Little Junior Brother, speaking of which, you were truly lucky. Several medicinal herbs in the prescription you gave were completely unheard of. We asked all over the surrounding market towns, but couldn't find anyone selling them. Some even claimed those herbs didn't exist in the cultivation world at all!"
"Heh, I didn't believe them. How could a prescription have all the other herbs while just those few didn't exist?"
"So I stood on principle and argued with them on the spot."
"Fortunately, a disciple of the Medicine King Sect happened to pass by and heard our dispute. Out of curiosity, he asked for our specific formula."
"Then, based on medicinal principles, he selected several common herbs as substitutes for us."
"Only then could you drink this medicine, Little Junior Brother!"
As Little Junior Brother Tianyang's health improved day by day, the faces of the Path of Bodily Transformation's members brightened considerably.
Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao turned into a chatterbox, recounting his winding and eventful experiences to Li Fan.
Eldest Senior Brother Sixing and Third Senior Brother Lian Chang listened quietly by the side with smiles on their faces.
The warm, peaceful days passed swiftly.
Li Fan was gradually able to move about normally.
However, on the grounds that the outside world was extremely dangerous, the people of the Path of Bodily Transformation only permitted him to stay within the cave abode.
Li Fan surmised that this was also a restriction inherent to the rules of the simulation itself.
After all, this space, modeled and constructed on the basis of Master Tianyang's [Eternal Lingering Thought], was not like the Fallen Immortal Realm, which was practically a real world.
It was impossible for it to let Li Fan run about without limits.
So he did not force the issue.
In ordinary times, while practicing Self-Transformation into Another at Will, he would chat with his senior brothers whenever he got the chance to probe for intelligence.
These senior brothers took great care of Tianyang and answered whatever he asked, but only regarding matters within their master-disciple circle.
Whenever he brought up other affairs in the cultivation world, they would smile and dodge the subject.
While it was a slight pity that he could not gain a deeper understanding of the ancient cultivation world, the three fellow disciples of the Path of Bodily Transformation truly left a deep impression on Li Fan.
To practice [Self-Transformation into Another at Will], the most important step was to choose a [transformation medium].
Eldest Senior Brother Sixing was at the late Golden Core realm.
His transformation medium was a drippingly emerald longsword as thin as a cicada's wing.
Man and sword united as one, coming and going like the wind.
He could silently sever a cultivator's head from a thousand li away.
He could be called the Path of Bodily Transformation's strongest combatant.
Third Senior Brother Lian Chang was at the mid Golden Core realm.
His transformation medium was a bronze bell.
Its defensive power was exceedingly formidable, and it could also emit sonic waves to repel enemies and shake the soul.
Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao, however, was rather eccentric.
Although he was also at the mid Golden Core realm, his transformation medium was a writing brush.
It possessed no special means of harming foes.
Its sole wondrous trait lay in its ability to automatically record the impressions and thoughts in his mind in writing and pictures.
His prose was graceful and delicate, immersing readers so thoroughly that they could not tear themselves away.
Ling Xiao was thus able to produce work after work at an astonishing rate of nearly one book a day.
As for what kind of works they actually were...
When Li Fan was awoken one day by the unruly caterwauling of cats, and walked out to find Ling Xiao controlling a tomcat, mingling and frolicking with a pack of other cats, he understood all too well.
Li Fan suddenly recalled that the Path of Bodily Transformation was merely a small, rustic mountain sect.
Yet thousands of years later, its fame far surpassed the major immortal sects of today.
It was precisely due to these splendid, exquisite writings.
Chapter 233