Ten Thousand Minds as One

"There is something wrong with this world." In Tianling Province, once Ji Hongdao tore through the void aboard the giant Dust-Crossing Boat and departed, Li Fan lost the perception provided by his Formless Killing Intent. It hardly mattered. He had already accomplished his original objective and successfully learned everything that had transpired within Tianling Province. Reflecting on the scenes he had just witnessed, however, numerous perplexities filled his heart. If the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's disappearance and Heavenly Venerable Yixin's probing strike were still within the bounds of reason, what had happened afterward was utterly baffling. *Ji Hongdao activated the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation, slaughtering every cultivator in an entire province in an instant.* *That was a declaration of stance—demonstrating that, beneath the coverage of the Spirit-Locking Formation, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals possesses the power to wipe out the vast majority of the world's cultivators in a single breath.* *He used this as a threat to demand Senior Sister Zhao's withdrawal.* *And as a Longevity Heavenly Venerable, she actually just left.* *Would a being of the Longevity realm care so much about the survival of mere ants? Once someone has transcended, shouldn't their attitude be 'what does your life or death have to do with me'?* Suddenly, Li Fan recalled an epiphany from years ago. *The number of cultivators must not become too few...* *It seems ensuring the existence of a certain number of cultivators is even more important to a Longevity Heavenly Venerable than I imagined.* *Just why is that?* What troubled him even more was the anomaly that had struck the Xuanhuang Realm immediately after every cultivator in Tianling Province was wiped out in a single moment. Like an omen of impending doom, the entire world had trembled. An inexplicable terror had welled up in the hearts of every living being in this world. Even Li Fan, possessing True Reversion and capable of starting over at any time, had felt it. The contradiction between the Xuanhuang Realm and cultivators was so acute as to be nearly irreconcilable. Logically speaking, the more cultivators died, the better it should be for the world. Now, it was obvious that this was not the case at all. What was the reason for this? He turned it over and over in his mind, but lacking the necessary clues, Li Fan could not arrive at a reasonable answer for now. His thoughts then returned to Heavenly Venerable Yixin. This was the first time he had seen an existence of the Longevity realm with his own eyes. She had effortlessly parried the attack of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation. Ji Hongdao, a powerhouse of Dao Integration, had not even dared to look straight at her. She was indeed unfathomably powerful. *Yixin—meaning 'One Mind'—should be similar to 'Dharma Transmission,' representing the principle of heaven and earth that Senior Sister Zhao inverted.* *What does 'One Mind' mean?* Li Fan's brows furrowed. *Yixin can mean concentration, or it can mean being of one heart and mind.* *Concentration is obviously not it. Being of one mind...* Li Fan's gaze narrowed slightly. He recalled Senior Sister Zhao's bizarre words. *"Staying in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is truly a waste of your talents. Why not join me?"* Join... *Me?!* Li Fan seemed to grasp something. He recalled the thousands of Five Elders Association cultivators who had staged the sudden assault. From start to finish, they had worn the exact same expression. Without anyone directing them, their words and actions had been eerily uniform. Even in the face of death, they had shown not the slightest trace of fear. And after all of them perished, no corresponding atmospheric anomaly had formed in the sky. ... "Ten thousand minds... as one?" Li Fan experienced a flash of insight. "All living beings are born distinct. In this world, every life is an independent individual. "This is a principle of heaven and earth. "If this principle were inverted... "You are in me, and I am in you. In truth, a single whole." Li Fan suddenly remembered concepts he had heard before transmigrating, such as a "gestalt consciousness" or a "collective entity." A vast populace might appear to consist of numerous individual living beings, but in essence, they formed a unified whole sharing every perception. *Could the Dao Senior Sister Zhao cultivates very likely be this?* *Assimilating all living beings in the world?* Immediately, Li Fan felt something was off. Senior Sister Zhao was already a Longevity Heavenly Venerable, which meant she had already successfully inverted a principle of heaven and earth. Yet clearly, the vast majority of cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm had not been assimilated by her. *Does that mean the principle inverted by Heavenly Venerable Yixin only holds sway within a specific region?* Li Fan guessed. *When Ji Hongdao spoke of 'fixing principles,' was he referring to a mandatory step in becoming a Longevity Heavenly Venerable?* With that glimpse into Tianling Province, Li Fan had once again peered into this world's deepest secrets. However, truly and fully comprehending the meaning behind it would require more information. Setting the matter aside for the moment, Li Fan returned to the immortal city of Tianpan Province and entered the Heavenly Profound Mirror. He submitted an application to visit the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters to tour the Museum of Divine Archives for free. This was one of the perks of his current Yan Thirty clearance level. Before long, his application was approved, granting him the freedom to choose when to visit within a one-year window. Li Fan chose to visit immediately. Upon receiving word that a Guide would arrive shortly to receive him and that he should wait patiently in Tianpan City, Li Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief. He had not done this out of leisurely curiosity to admire the various treasures preserved in the Divine Archives in the final moments of his life. Rather, he was seeking a secure sanctuary. Although Ji Hongdao had not slaughtered the donkey the moment the grinding was done in Tianling Province, leaving those young array masters alive for the time being, they had witnessed the tragedy of an entire province's cultivators being massacred and knew the architectural secrets of the Spirit-Locking Formation. Their fates would certainly not be pleasant. As for the array masters who had failed to show up for various reasons, they would undoubtedly be purged one by one going forward. Li Fan could naturally use True Reversion right away. However, he still needed a little time to wrap up loose ends in this lifetime. At the very least, he had to wait until Xiao Heng and the other two emerged from the Medicine King Cauldron. For Li Fan at this moment, there was no place on earth safer than the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters. First, the Alliance headquarters had its own defensive mechanisms; Ji Hongdao and the others were unlikely to act against him directly inside. Second, it created a false impression. *I am already inside the Alliance headquarters, like a turtle caught in a jar. Could you still fear me running away?* This would undoubtedly lower Ji Hongdao's guard, prompting them to clean up the remaining targets first before finally dealing with Li Fan. ... While Li Fan was waiting for the Guide, within the Medicine King Cauldron in Cangwu Abyss, Xiao Heng and the others were assisting Linghu Chang in opening one sealed chamber after another. They retrieved the corpses inside to lay them to rest. Back then, in order to keep the Medicine King Cauldron from succumbing to the fate of falling into the Immortal Ruins, Liu Ruchen had not only sacrificed himself and Elder Huang, but had also used the lives of hundreds of slumbering disciples as fuel. Only in this way had he managed to drag the Medicine King Cauldron out of the abyss. Looking upon the desiccated corpses of his former fellow disciples, Linghu Chang could not stem the sorrow flooding his face. After removing every valuable item from their persons and consigning the corpses to flames, Linghu Chang said in a deep voice, "I want to rebuild the Medicine King Sect." Xiao Heng and the others exchanged glances and could not help saying, "Fellow Daoist Linghu, the present is no longer like the past..." Linghu Chang raised a hand to cut him off. "I know. Nowadays, dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently. "Therefore, those fellow disciples and sect elders who are still slumbering and cultivate the same technique as me—I will not awaken any of them for now."