Xue Mu retrieved a scroll from his storage ring and handed it to Li Fan.
"This is a painting I made from memory, just a casual sketch."
"Though I've revised and reworked it hundreds of times, it still fails to capture even a ten-thousandth of the original's spirit."
"Even so, every time I quiet my mind and paint it anew, my mind and body feel cleansed, and I benefit immensely."
"I hadn't realized it before, but speaking with you just now made me think of it."
"My rapid progress lately might very well be thanks to constantly revisiting the scene from that projection."
Xue Mu spoke with a profoundly solemn expression.
"A mortal transcending to Soul Formation..."
Curious, Li Fan accepted the scroll and unrolled it.
In an instant, clouds seemed to churn and winds surged before his eyes.
A slender, frail silhouette in white robes stood looking up at the sky.
The figure appeared so diminutive, yet seemed to stand in direct opposition to the entire world.
In the heavens, clouds rolled ceaselessly, shifting into countless shapes.
Layer upon layer, they weighed down with crushing force.
A great gale danced, sweeping the cloud layers like drifting snow.
White robes billowed. Faced with the overwhelming pressure pressing down from the sky, the frail figure remained motionless as a mountain.
Against the heaven and earth's oppression, not only did he show no fear, but his aura grew steadily stronger with every passing moment.
In a daze of perception, he took a step forward.
At once, the white clouds rolled back, scattering in complete disarray.
He stepped forward once more.
The clouds vanished, the wind stilled, and the sky turned clear as washed jade.
Then, marvelous phenomena suddenly erupted across heaven and earth.
Countless beams of golden light burst forth, accompanied by showers of strange, drifting flowers.
Auspicious beasts of every kind flew in from the horizon, crying out in joyful calls.
Across the earth, hundreds of flowers bloomed; in the blink of an eye, spring had arrived.
That slender silhouette seemed to let out a soft chuckle.
With his hands behind his back, he took another step forward.
With that single step, he reached the heavens.
Melding into the vast sky, he vanished from sight.
Seeing Li Fan lost in thought, Xue Mu said somewhat bashfully, "My skills are limited. I'm afraid my crude work is an embarrassment."
"The actual sight was ten thousand times more magnificent than what I painted."
"And that was merely a shadow left on the Soul Formation Wall. One can hardly imagine how grand the scene truly was when that mortal transcended to Soul Formation back then."
Xue Mu sighed in wonder.
"Your skill is remarkable, Fellow Daoist Xue; it truly makes one feel as though they were there," Li Fan replied courteously, though his eyes never left the scroll, fixed firmly on the white-robed figure.
A trace of uncertainty lingered in his heart.
Though it was only a copy depicting the image wall, likely differing vastly from the actual event, the aura emanating from that figure felt vaguely familiar to Li Fan.
*Mr. Bai?*
In the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan had encountered that mysterious powerhouse several times.
Yet every time they had merely brushed past each other, allowing him only glimpses of a hazy silhouette.
Because of that, seeing this painted copy now, he recognized him almost at once.
At Mr. Bai's level of attainment, everything lay in presence and spirit, not mere physical form.
Anyone who had seen him once would find it hard to mistake him for another.
Moreover, Li Fan's intuition had always been exceptionally sharp.
It was virtually certain: the Mortal Transcending to Soul Formation Wall in Tianyun Province recorded the very moment Mr. Bai had transcended from a mortal straight into Soul Formation, ascending to the heavens in a single step.
Li Fan suddenly recalled what Xu Ke had once sworn after witnessing Mr. Bai display tremendous might and slay numerous strange beasts.
Not long before that, Mr. Bai had still been an ordinary mortal.
Mr. Bai had told him so with his own lips.
*Looking at it now, Mr. Bai might not have been lying. Before parting with Xu Ke, he really was just a mortal.*
*Yet with a single flash of sudden insight, he became a Soul Formation cultivator.*
*...*
Though Li Fan had heard about the mortal's sudden transcendence to Soul Formation long ago, a legend was, after all, only a legend.
When the protagonist of that tale turned out to be someone he actually knew, Li Fan found it difficult to process for a moment.
*What kind of natural talent does it take to reach Soul Formation in an instant?*
Reflecting on his own arduous plotting across a hundred reincarnations over many years, he had only reached the mid Golden Core stage.
Li Fan could not help feeling a sense of bewilderment.
Even if that had taken place in the ancient era—when the harmony of heaven and humanity was revered and the upper limit of sudden enlightenment was extraordinarily high—this still went far beyond what Li Fan could imagine.
*Truly...*
*The difference between individuals is simply too vast.*
Yet Li Fan's mind was resilient. After a brief moment of daze, he gathered himself.
He shook his head silently and reflected for a moment.
An urge welled up within him to visit the Mortal Transcending to Soul Formation Wall in person and witness Mr. Bai's presence for himself.
At the same time, he looked forward to his next trip into the Fallen Immortal Realm with even greater anticipation.
Taking a deep breath, Li Fan rolled up the painting and handed it back to Xue Mu.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist. Viewing your masterpiece today has benefited me greatly as well," Li Fan said earnestly.
Xue Mu waved his hands flusteredly. "You flatter me, you flatter me! It was only thanks to your reminder back then that I went to the Soul Formation Wall in the first place. If anything, I should be thanking you!"
"You two brats are making my teeth ache with all this sweetness. I can't tell if you're putting on an act, or just putting on an act," a rather sarcastic voice suddenly piped up as the two were exchanging courtesies.
Li Fan looked over to see that the speaker was none other than the fat Huangfu Song, whom he had met before at the Universal Courtyard.
Without taking offense, Li Fan responded with slight surprise, "Ah, Senior Huangfu Song. I didn't expect you to still be alive."
"Earlier, when Master Ji said we didn't need to worry about another attack like the one on Tantai Tao, I thought you had already been..."
"Senior Huangfu truly has deep connections. This junior is full of admiration."
Li Fan spoke with utter gravity.
Seeing Li Fan bring up his slip of the tongue from back then, Huangfu Song's face turned the color of pig liver. "Brat, what kind of nonsense are you spouting now?"
"The attack on Tantai Tao had absolutely nothing to do with me!"
Li Fan nodded repeatedly, putting on an expression that clearly said, *I understand, my lips are sealed.*
The sight nearly made Huangfu Song laugh out of sheer exasperation. "You brat, your acting has truly reached the pinnacle of perfection. I can't tell whether you're playing dumb or truly an idiot."
Xue Mu looked between the two of them in utter confusion, unable to make head or tail of their riddles.
Just then, Ji Hongdao's voice rang out.
"Enough, Huangfu. You're a grown man—why bicker with juniors?"
"Bring them over quickly. We're setting off at once."
Ji Hongdao clearly held authority over Huangfu Song.
Huangfu Song dared not delay. With a cold snort, he caught Li Fan and Xue Mu with his left and right hands respectively.
With a flicker of shifting light and shadow, they reappeared aboard a flying boat.
Ji Hongdao stood on the prow's deck, waiting for them.
Once Huangfu Song set them down, Li Fan and Xue Mu hurriedly bowed to Ji Hongdao.
Ji Hongdao merely nodded slightly, his gaze fixed forward as if watching something in the distance.
"Master Ji, where is this flying boat heading?" Li Fan ventured boldly after a moment.
"The original plan was to gather you with the rest of the Formation Planning Hall's formation masters from Tianyu Province and head to the Qianlong Grotto-Heaven to construct formations,"
"However, I suddenly received an appointment requiring me to rush to the Chizha Abyss."
"Something came up over there and extra hands are needed, so I brought you two along."
Ji Hongdao spoke in an offhand manner.
Chapter 347