"Xu Ke!"
Song Yang's voice drifted faintly from below, frantic and tinged with despair. Having narrowly escaped death, Xu Ke looked back to make sure Song Yang was not catching up.
Only after a long while without any sign of his pursuer did he finally sigh in relief. "Xiaoqing, thank you!"
Xu Ke spoke familiarly to the qingluan, casually stroking its neck. The qingluan let out a soft cry in response as it continued to fly.
Meanwhile, Li Fan had exhausted far too much energy after activating two innate divine abilities in quick succession. Strained to his mental limits by the pursuit, he sank into a heavy slumber the moment the tension eased. And in that sleep, his time limit in the Fallen Immortal Realm expired.
When he regained consciousness, he had already returned to the cultivation world.
Reflecting on this somewhat anticlimactic journey to the Beast Taming Sect within the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan could not help sighing with feeling.
"That's it?"
Unlike when he had possessed Li Chen of the Purple Cloud Sect, where he possessed an independent conscious self and could move about freely, his starting point this time had been abysmally low—a mere hatchling fresh out of its eggshell.
He had been practically incapable of accomplishing anything, whiling away every day eating and drinking.
No matter how swiftly he grew over those two-odd months, his increase in strength was limited. The Foundation Establishment stage was already his absolute limit. In the ancient cultivation world, such cultivation was essentially at the very bottom of the food chain.
Even if he wanted to accomplish something, he was utterly powerless.
"Could it be that I need to manifest my true form to act freely? Or..."
Unlike his muddled thoughts while possessing the profound bird, Li Fan quickly recalled how Ye Feipeng, who bore Kunpeng essence blood, had cultivated the Creation Furnace Technique to temper and activate his Kunpeng bloodline.
"Perhaps the Creation Furnace Technique's method of tapping into the secret reservoirs of the body works wonders on exotic beasts.
"It might be worth a try.
"Hmm...
"No rush, though. I'll see what changes occur the next time I enter."
Because traces of the mysterious Mr. Bai had appeared in both Ningyuan City and the Beast Taming Sect, Li Fan deduced that the scenario in the Beast Taming Sect was bound to be just like Ningyuan City: without fulfilling certain conditions, one could never escape.
It remained trapped in some sort of endless cycle.
Whether that was truly the case was not something to fret over now; he would naturally find out the next time he entered. Gauging the cooldown, he noted that the restriction would lift in about half a year.
By then, he should have wrapped up his business in Tianyu Province and set off for Tianyun Province.
"Still, Ji Hongdao might not let me leave so easily.
"According to the original plan, once disciples from each province complete their training, they basically return to their homelands to oversee the construction of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation.
"Now that the Congyun Sea has vanished, I wonder what arrangements will be made for me.
"Furthermore, before leaving Tianyu Province, I have one more thing to do."
Li Fan left his secluded cultivation chamber and entered the room housing the Heavenly Profound Mirror, searching for information regarding Heavenly Venerable Jicheng's bounty.
The chance to use the Yanfa Jade was extraordinarily precious; no one wanted to miss it.
Lately, the prices of natural treasures capable of extending lifespan—already exceedingly rare—had skyrocketed even further. Demand far outstripped supply, and securing one often required high-grade cultivation methods or special treasures in exchange.
Rumors claimed that a cultivator had already discovered an Everlasting Life Fruit in an ancient ruin. It was said that ancient cultivators had refined this fruit from a longevity species, and it could extend lifespan by five hundred years.
In the past, it had appeared only in fragmentary records in ancient texts; no one expected a genuine specimen to surface today.
To avoid complications from prolonged delay, that lucky cultivator had already presented the Everlasting Life Fruit to Heavenly Venerable Jicheng.
Furthermore, he remained holed up inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror space day in and day out, refusing to step outside, simply waiting for the deadline to arrive so he could claim his turn with the Yanfa Jade.
"My Transformation Longevity Fruit also extends lifespan by three hundred years.
"I wonder if it can make the top three.
"I was confident at first, but the Xuanhuang Realm has a long history and far too many hidden treasures after all. Under the lure of a hefty reward, it's only natural for something even more precious than my longevity fruit to emerge.
"When the results are announced, even if it doesn't work out in this life, I can still investigate the origins of the top three. Then I can plan ahead in my next life.
"Even so, preparations must be made in advance."
His previous clone had been buried alongside the Congyun Sea at the hands of Mo Sha. Heavenly Venerable Jicheng's bounty was drawing immense attention across the realm, and leaping forward to stand in the spotlight went entirely against Li Fan's way of doing things.
To play it safe, Li Fan decided to craft a clone to collect the reward. Once the clone learned the technique, the true body would naturally master it as well.
"A clone created by the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art is one minor realm lower than the true body.
"To explain the origin of the longevity fruit, the clone must be at least in the Golden Core realm capable of entering the Fallen Immortal Realm. In other words, I need to cultivate to the mid Golden Core stage as soon as possible.
"Relying solely on my own cultivation is a bit tight. The new crops haven't been planted yet, so I can only hope Xiao Heng feeds back more cultivation progress to me.
"Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo have been gone inside the Chaoyuan Sect ruins for quite some time. Though she seems to have vanished from the world during this period, without feeding back a shred of cultivation, I can still sense through the faint connection of the Mountain-Sitting Art that both of them are alive. Once they emerge, they should bring me a pleasant surprise."
Rather than pinning all his hopes on others, Li Fan resumed his cultivation after a brief rest.
Time flew by. Soon, the final assessment for the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation came to an end.
Once the results were compiled, Ji Hongdao sent word for all the students stationed outside to return to the Universal Courtyard. Gathering together once more, everyone could not help feeling a bit nervous.
Ji Hongdao smiled faintly. Rather than rushing to announce the scores, he began by introducing the reward he had previously mentioned for the top performers.
Producing a jade disc, he said, "This is the little gadget that made even my mouth water.
"Or rather, any formation master who learns of its function will find it impossible to put down.
"Why don't you all try guessing what it does?"
Li Fan studied the jade disc in Ji Hongdao's hand closely, finding it somewhat familiar.
After a moment's thought, it quickly dawned on him.
This item bore a seventy percent resemblance to the array-breaking discs he had seen before.
A so-called array-breaking disc was a magic treasure that could analyze the composition of a formation without damaging its structure, thereby providing formation masters with reference solutions for breaking it.
*Could this thing be an advanced version of an array-breaking disc?* Li Fan could not help thinking.
Evidently, Li Fan was not the only one who thought so. Many students fixed their gazes upon the jade disc, their expressions filled with excitement.
"It seems you have already guessed it, so I won't keep you in suspense," Ji Hongdao said, gently stroking the jade disc with a hint of emotion.
"Its function is indeed somewhat similar to an array-breaking disc.
"However, it is far more powerful.
"The original array-breaking discs required a set of one thousand and eighty pieces.
"Yet this tiny jade disc alone can unravel formations several times faster than an entire set of array-breaking discs.
"Because it is one of the latest sub-entities born from the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"There are only nine in total.
"We have named them the Dissociation Discs."
Chapter 319