Like drinking a bowl of iced water during the dog days of summer, Li Fan felt thoroughly refreshed in body and soul.
His divine soul was swelling at a perceptible rate.
"It really works!"
"The Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation paired with the Chapter of Life and Death Perception truly yields miraculous results!"
With his hypothesis confirmed, Li Fan felt a surge of joy.
"This way, the speed at which my divine soul strengthens will likely reach a terrifying level."
Yet just as Li Fan prepared to press his advantage and attempt the Chapter of Life and Death Perception again, the result deviated from his expectations.
Perhaps because he had been excessively frightened moments earlier and had developed a psychological tolerance, this time, even though the Heavenly Physician's face was practically rubbing against Li Fan's, not the slightest shred of fear arose in his heart.
Fleeting thoughts like, *Forget it, whatever. Just kill me, hurry up already,* even crossed his mind from time to time.
"If the heart fears not death, why threaten it with death?"
Li Fan gained a glimmer of insight, shook his head, and ceased his cultivation.
"Now I finally understand why Zhong Shentong was suicidal. It really is the influence of this Profound Art of Life and Death."
"Still, despite its flaws, abandoning this method of cultivating it alongside the Heart-Refining Incantation would be quite a pity."
"After all, completing a full cycle of reverse-cultivating the Dao heart is rather troublesome."
"With the aid of this Chapter of Life and Death Perception, the feedback is almost instantaneous."
"Moreover, the two can be combined and practiced simultaneously."
"In this lifetime, once this period of acclimation passes, I'll attempt cultivating it again to see how it fares."
"In the next lifetime, perhaps I can complete the Profound Art of Life and Death using the Yanfa Jade."
To him, the shortcomings of a cultivation technique were not an issue at all.
As long as it had merits, it could be adapted for his own use.
Perhaps once he gathered enough techniques, he could rely on the Yanfa Jade to deduce a true Heavenly Net Divine Art that belonged uniquely to him.
...
Zhong Shentong's abrupt visit caused Master Li, ever renowned for his diligence, to uncharacteristically enter seclusion and rest for several days.
The cultivators of Outpost Jiaxu had no complaints whatsoever.
They wished Li Fan would rest even longer.
If Li Fan were truly to drop dead from overwork on the job, the rest of them would probably have their spines poked with criticism for the rest of their lives.
However, their hopes were destined to be dashed.
When Li Fan stepped out of the secluded chamber, he immediately resumed work on constructing the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation without missing a beat.
Furthermore, once he began, there was not another moment's pause.
Once the outer structure of the locking array converged and he rendezvoused with Xue Mu and the other formation masters, Li Fan volunteered to take the lead in building the inner formations toward the central position.
This reckless, life-defying dedication left Xue Mu and the others utterly ashamed.
They had no choice but to follow his lead and throw themselves selflessly into their work.
Just like that, time flowed on to Anchor Year 35.
On this day, while concentrating intently on constructing a formation module, Li Fan's hand suddenly trembled, resulting in an exceedingly rare failure to lay an array.
The guarding cultivators beside him all looked at Li Fan in astonishment.
Ever since they had begun following Li Fan, such a thing had never once occurred.
After all, this Master Li was famed for his efficiency and precision in formation-laying.
On the Great Competition Golden Ranking, he was already among the top ten.
Many formation masters had even traveled ten thousand li to observe him, only to sigh in self-effacing admiration.
Could it be that after years of relentless toil, his body was finally collapsing?
They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with worry.
Yet moments later, waves of spiritual energy fluctuating from Li Fan's body left them overjoyed.
"Master Li, has your cultivation advanced? Have you taken another step forward?" He Chen could not help asking.
Calming the endless torrent of cultivation feedback that had suddenly surged within him, Li Fan gave a slight nod.
Seeing Li Fan acknowledge it in person, He Chen and the others wore complex expressions.
Toiling under such harsh conditions, having barely cultivated for years, and with his lifespan already near its end...
Compounded by all these unfavorable factors, Master Li had still managed to make a breakthrough?
This completely overturned their understanding.
Could this be what the legends called fortune smiling upon the virtuous?
Li Fan had no time to dwell on what the surrounding cultivators were thinking.
He was attempting to check on Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo through his Formless Killing Intent.
For this massive surge of feedback cultivation that had caused his progress to skyrocket came precisely from the pair who had vanished into the Chaoyuan Sect ruins nearly ten years ago.
"In these ten years, it was as if they had completely vanished from this world, yielding not a shred of feedback."
"Yet the moment they resurfaced ten years later, they gave me such a huge surprise."
This was the most lucrative return on investment Li Fan had ever received since cultivating the Mountain-Sitting Art.
It far exceeded the upper limit of feedback a Golden Core cultivator could provide.
Li Fan estimated that Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo had likely both stepped into the Nascent Soul realm.
"Interesting. Even given their talent, advancing from peak Foundation Establishment to the Nascent Soul realm within ten years is excessively exaggerated."
"Besides, where did the cultivation arts and grotto-heavens come from?"
"It seems they truly reaped no small harvest in this Chaoyuan Sect."
Perhaps because they were deep in the white mist and too far from Jiushan Province, even with the aid of the Spirit-Communicating God-Startling Formation he had left with them, he could not sense any imagery from over there for the time being.
Instead, the White Bone Vanguard Realm, unvisited for a long time, had welcomed a rare visitor.
As the master of the White Bone Vanguard Realm, Li Fan sensed it.
He promptly signaled for everyone to take a temporary break, returned to Outpost Jiaxu, entered the secret chamber, and performed the ritual.
By the time he entered, there was no trace of the visitor left in the vanguard realm.
However, judging by the lingering aura, the visitor was unmistakably Su Xiaomei.
Li Fan swept his gaze around and soon noticed that at the spot designated for Senior "Skull" to slumber, a pile of bizarrely shaped objects had been placed.
Recalling his instructions from back then, Li Fan's heart skipped a beat.
He flew forward, drew one of them into his hand, and inspected it closely.
"Rechargeable item detected. Proceed with absorption?"
The prompt from True Reversion appeared right on cue. After Li Fan made his selection, the anchor charging progress flickered slightly, ultimately remaining unchanged.
"Wonders of heaven and earth?"
Li Fan looked at the pile of tattered "junk" before him, his expression turning odd.
"And they are all damaged wonders of heaven and earth that precipitated from cultivators' bodies after death."
As for the quantity...
Li Fan did a quick count, and his heart pounded with shock.
Three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two pieces.
Without a doubt, these were all obtained by Su Xiaomei from the Chaoyuan Sect ruins.
Li Fan picked up another piece and examined it closely.
It did not resemble an ancient relic preserved over time; rather, it looked as though it had just been extracted from the body of a deceased cultivator.
It was even coiled in a dense scent of blood.
"Cultivation arts, grotto-heavens, and so many wonders of heaven and earth..."
"Just what did Shuo Feng and Su Xiaomei encounter inside the Chaoyuan Sect ruins?"
Even with countless questions swirling in his mind, Li Fan did not delay absorbing the wonders of heaven and earth.
After he absorbed thirteen wonders in a row, the anchor charging progress of True Reversion finally flickered,
changing from 2% to 3%.
Chapter 366