"There is no hurry right now. Once I revert to the void and return to the summit of Mount Jieli, the nine years spent waiting for True Reversion to finish recharging will be the perfect time to attend to this."
"As for what that 'It' entrenched above Yuandao Province truly is, perhaps only after I become a Longevity Heavenly Venerable in the future will I be able to investigate it thoroughly."
"Until then, steering clear of it will suffice."
One lingering concern was laid to rest for the time being.
With this life nearing its end, Li Fan took stock of his current situation.
During more than a decade of ceaseless formation-building, aided by the secret technique Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, Li Fan had not neglected other pursuits either.
He had finally finished reading the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture in its entirety.
From this monumental opus, Li Fan could faintly glimpse the Heavenly Physician's philosophy.
The Heavenly Physician believed that all things in the world could be healed.
Stones and plants, birds and beasts, mortals, mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas—even the world itself.
Before a true "healer," none of these possessed any fundamental difference.
A practitioner of medicine progressed from the small to the great, accumulating insights and improving.
With perseverance, one could achieve the transformation from healing people to healing the heavens.
Although the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture did not contain a single sentence regarding cultivation methods, countless profound mysteries seemed hidden between the lines.
"Regrettably, my talent is still somewhat lacking. A true genius might well have deduced a cultivation technique from it."
"Perhaps I could borrow a hen to lay the egg."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes. A perilous thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly suppressed it.
"No, the risk is too high."
"The Heavenly Physician is mysterious and inscrutable. If he senses that the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture has been passed down into the world, who knows what kind of anomalies it might trigger."
"Studying it myself will just cost a bit more time."
Integrating the insights on living beings from the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture, Li Fan had also been continually modifying and refining the Creation Furnace Technique.
"Master Tianyang's Eternal Lingering Thought still has one final use remaining. For now, I don't have much confidence in clearing it, so I will give it a final try when my lifespan runs out."
"As for Zhang Zhiliang's Infinite Method, I have gradually grasped its essence over these years. Through ceaseless formation-building, my mastery of formations has advanced by leaps and bounds. Combining theory with practice, ordinary Nascent Soul formation masters might not even match me now."
"Then there are the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation and the Profound Art of Life and Death. Working in tandem, they can rapidly enhance the strength of my divine soul. Though I am still in the recovery phase after that initial trial, time is the one thing I do not lack."
...
In his sea of consciousness, the blue crystal gave off a brilliant azure glow.
With the support of his divine abilities and secret techniques, though Li Fan had learned much, his mind was not in disarray.
"Aside from those I have already mastered, there are two other things that could be of great use to me."
At this thought, Li Fan used his finger as a brush, writing the character "Chaos" in the empty air in one flowing stroke.
Unusual energy seemed to gather toward the strokes.
Li Fan stared intently at the changes taking place within it.
Regrettably, his comprehension seemed insufficient, and the character "Chaos" ultimately failed to truly take shape.
After holding together for a brief moment, it dispersed into smoke and vanished, leaving not a trace behind.
"Chaos..."
Casually flicking out a Five Elements Annihilation Sword to erase the lingering aura, Li Fan sank into deep contemplation.
This character "Chaos" was an imitation of the "Chaos" stone from the newly formed Lost Domain where he had previously been trapped.
It was only by copying that character that Li Fan had been able to open a passage through the Lost Domain and escape with his life.
Yet in hindsight, Li Fan had always felt that this character "Chaos" was far from just a switch to open a passage.
The bizarre anomalies at the center of the Lost Domain were unmistakably connected to it.
"If I can comprehend it... no..."
"Even if I can merely reproduce this character 'Chaos,' it would be a divine ability no weaker than my Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword."
Besides the character "Chaos,"
there was also the scene he had observed not long ago—the convergence of the five elements and the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed everything, as well as the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation's "reverse convergence of the five elements."
"Currently, my Five Elements Annihilation Sword merely uses the mutual generation of the five elements as its driving force."
"In truth, the cycling of the five elements can itself generate immense destructive power."
"Perhaps I can incorporate this all-destroying force to devise a new version of the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword."
Sensing the power of the five elements within his dantian, Li Fan gradually lost himself in contemplation.
...
In the Xuanhuang Realm, where techniques could not be cultivated together, good teachers and helpful friends were nonexistent.
All cultivation knowledge was a treasure of incomparable worth; to obtain it, one had to pay a corresponding price.
And those truly secret teachings were hidden away in high towers, beyond reach.
In such a cultivation world, if Li Fan wanted to attain power far surpassing others, he had to grope forward on his own.
Unfortunately, mundane affairs were not yet finished. Just two days later, Li Fan was startled awake by a transmission.
It turned out to be a message from Qi Buyi.
She first asked how his rest was going, then requested that he visit the Qianxing Detached Courtyard.
Without interrupting his contemplation, Li Fan merely split off a wisp of consciousness to guide his body there.
"From now on, there is no need for you to push yourself so hard and personally take part in building the formations," Qi Buyi said to Li Fan with a smile. "You only need to tag along and oversee the inspections."
"Your partner will be that Huangfu Song. You are already acquainted, so it will be convenient for you."
"The points won't be much less than building formations, and it will secure your second-place ranking."
"Normally, this duty wouldn't be assigned to formation masters competing on the rankings. But since it's you, I doubt anyone else will object." As she spoke, she handed over another Overseeing Heaven Record.
The previous Overseeing Heaven Record and Sky-Evading Shuttle had already been turned in upon leaving the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens. This one was different from before.
It no longer contained distribution information on various materials, only simplified maps of each province in the Xuanhuang Realm.
It was remarkably similar to the miniature projection seen in the space of the super-distance teleportation formation.
"Work-related details and your accompanying personnel can all be viewed through the Overseeing Heaven Record," Qi Buyi explained dutifully to Li Fan.
With the majority of his mind occupied by contemplating his divine ability, Li Fan merely nodded somewhat numbly.
Seeing this, Qi Buyi could only sigh inwardly, *He has deteriorated even further.*
*It seems he truly isn't far from death. I wonder when those lifespan-extending treasures will arrive.*
After bidding farewell to Qi Buyi, Li Fan contacted Huangfu Song through the Overseeing Heaven Record.
The fat man's tone was more polite than ever.
The two met at the Dharma Transmission Plaza in Tianchen Province, then took a teleportation formation to Lanlin Province, where the Spirit-Locking Formation was nearing completion.
This province lay in the far south of the Xuanhuang Realm, quite remote.
It took several transfers along the way to arrive.
Passing through an untold number of White Mist Barriers only added insult to injury for the already decrepit Li Fan.
His eyes looked clouded and dull, devoid of spirit.
Though Li Fan was actually immersed in meditating on divine abilities, that did nothing to prevent outsiders from misunderstanding his condition.
At the very least, Huangfu Song felt terrified, dreading that Li Fan might drop dead right beside him.
"Haha, in a moment, feel free to just rest, Fellow Daoist," Huangfu Song said. "Leave everything to me."
Chapter 392