Li Fan did not care much about the likelihood that Ye Feipeng carried the bloodline inheritance of an exotic beast.
After all, that was simply a type of physique.
Li Fan could draw no practical lessons from it.
However, Li Fan was thoroughly intrigued by the dual Dao Foundations that had appeared in Ye Feipeng's dantian.
He could already be considered half a genuine Foundation Establishment Master.
Yet he had never heard of any cultivator who, after establishing their foundation, could do so again with another wonder of heaven and earth.
How had Ye Feipeng accomplished this?
Did it have something to do with his unique bloodline?
Through his Heaven and Earth Vision, Li Fan carefully scrutinized Ye Feipeng, who lay quietly asleep.
The Azure Wind Dao Foundation and the Vast Sea Dao Foundation coexisted peacefully in the chubby youth's body, even complementing one another.
They were incomparably harmonious, as though born that way.
After observing for a long time, Li Fan was still unable to decipher the underlying principle.
Out of habit, he conducted a search within the Heavenly Mystery Realm.
Unsurprisingly, he found no relevant information whatsoever.
Yet this abnormal, almost conspicuous absence only convinced Li Fan that a method for forging dual Dao Foundations likely did exist in the cultivation world.
Its security clearance was probably exceedingly high; otherwise, there would not be a complete lack of even the slightest mention or discussion.
"Dual Dao Foundations..."
"Could there be multiple Dao Foundations?"
The reason Li Fan was interested was not that he planned to use another wondrous item to establish his foundation anew.
True Reversion could transform into all wondrous items between heaven and earth.
If there were a wonder of heaven and earth so rare and extraordinary that he wished to make it his own, Li Fan could simply absorb it directly and then transform True Reversion into it.
There was no need for such superfluous efforts.
What Li Fan truly desired was a method that allowed two or even multiple Dao Foundations to coexist within his body.
Currently, when True Reversion shifted into a wondrous item, it could only manifest in one form at a time.
The Vast Sea Pearl was the Vast Sea Pearl.
The Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart was the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart.
They could only transform sequentially, not coexist simultaneously.
If True Reversion could shift into two, or even more, Foundation Establishment wonders at once...
Setting aside other miraculous applications, his combat power would experience a monumental leap at the very least.
When a search yielded no results, it was time to rely on connections.
Li Fan sent a mass message to his acquaintances, inquiring about dual Dao Foundations.
He thought it would take a long time to receive an answer, but unexpectedly, a reply arrived very quickly.
It was from Shenyuzi of Tianyun Province, whom he had met earlier through Ling Xiao's posthumous writings.
"Little friend, why are you inquiring about dual Dao Foundations? Could it be that you found some high-grade wonder and wish to re-establish your Dao Foundation?"
Seeing that Shenyuzi clearly knew something, Li Fan's spirits lifted, and he immediately replied, "Senior misunderstands. I merely happened across a cultivator who has dual Dao Foundations within his body, and out of curiosity, I decided to ask."
Shenyuzi fell silent for a moment before saying, "So that's how it is."
"I owe you a favor from before anyway. Dual Dao Foundations are not some ultimate secret, so there is no harm in telling you."
"However, keep it to yourself, little friend. Whatever you do, do not spread it, lest you invite unnecessary trouble."
Li Fan replied at once, "Junior understands."
Only then did Shenyuzi ask, "Little friend, how much do you know about wonders of heaven and earth?"
"A little. They are divided into wonders of Man, wonders of Earth, and wonders of Heaven. Wonders of Man seem mostly to be formed from cultivators who perished thousands of years ago..." Li Fan recounted some basic knowledge.
"Correct. Cultivators borrow the wonders of heaven and earth to establish their Dao Foundations. Afterward, condensing the Golden Core, forming the Nascent Soul, and even reaching Soul Formation are all intimately linked to one's Dao Foundation."
"However, wonders vary in quality. If a cultivator was impoverished and desperate during Foundation Establishment, they might have had no choice but to settle for a mid-grade or low-grade wonder of Man."
"Yet later, through strokes of fortune and a turn of luck, they manage to cultivate all the way to the Soul Formation realm."
"At that point, this low-grade Foundation Establishment wonder no longer matches their formidable cultivation base."
"It becomes their 'flaw.' What is one to do then?"
"Shatter the Dao Foundation and start over? Even though the Taishang Primordial Scripture allows one to retain most of their cultivation base,"
"the higher the realm, the more time is needed to cultivate back up. Not to mention, the longer one pursues the Dao, the more deeply rooted the Dao Foundation becomes."
"Rashly shattering one's Dao Foundation can even be life-threatening."
Hearing this, Li Fan grew thoughtful. "So this method of establishing an alternate Dao Foundation is used by high-realm cultivators to eliminate flaws in their Foundation Establishment?"
Shenyuzi nodded. "This art is called 'Re-establishing the Dao.' After establishing an alternate Dao Foundation, not only are one's cultivation base and Dharmic powers completely unaffected, but one can also use the new Dao Foundation to slowly devour and replace the original one. Thus, one quietly completes a metamorphosis, thoroughly patching all past flaws."
Once Shenyuzi explained it this way, Li Fan understood completely.
To make an inappropriate analogy, the original Dao Foundation was like a wife taken in poverty.
She accompanied the cultivator through the arduous early stages of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core.
Later, however, the cultivator rose to prominence, attaining Nascent Soul and Soul Formation.
He began to feel that his humble wife was no longer worthy of him.
Thus, he conceived the thought of replacing her.
Yet, she had stood by him through hardship, after all.
To cast her out abruptly would not only weigh heavily on his own conscience, but outsiders would also point fingers and condemn him.
So he could only bide his time, first taking a concubine into the household.
Later, when the opportunity arose, he would promote the concubine to primary wife.
And what Li Fan wanted was a way for the wife and the concubine to coexist in harmony.
He promptly questioned Shenyuzi further.
Since Shenyuzi intended to help, he did not stand on ceremony.
He immediately transmitted the technique for Re-establishing the Dao.
Overjoyed, Li Fan expressed his gratitude repeatedly.
He hungrily read through the secret art's contents, only to hear Shenyuzi suddenly sigh on the other end: "Speaking of which, this method of Re-establishing the Dao was originally created by a cultivator from our Tianyun Province named Chen Shimei."
"That man was truly ruthless. To advance his cultivation further, he genuinely stopped at nothing."
"Simply because his Dao companion's Foundation Establishment wonder might suit him better, he brutally refined the very woman who had accompanied him for hundreds of years and risen with him from obscurity."
Li Fan, still immersed in the profundity of the technique, felt a jolt of horror at these words.
He had nearly forgotten that anything existing in this realm could be transformed into a Dao Foundation.
Shenyuzi's faintly mocking voice sounded again: "Unfortunately for him, his luck ran out. The news leaked, enraging a powerful female cultivator."
"Not only was he flayed and his bones stripped clean, but his consciousness was extracted and transferred into a black hound."
"Every single day, he suffers abuse at the hands of other beasts. It is truly ten thousand times worse than death."
"Heh, little friend, if you ever visit our Tianyun Province, you might still catch sight of it..."
"To curry favor with that mighty female cultivator, many cultivators bring along vicious beasts and line up to torment that Chen Shimei."
Just imagining it sent a chill down Li Fan's spine.
When a woman became cruel, she was not one bit gentler than a man.
"Though this Chen Shimei was contemptible, the secret art itself is quite remarkable."
"Yet from what Senior said earlier, practicing this secret art invites trouble?"
"Why is that?"
Chapter 255