Swallowing the medicine down, Li Fan felt a little more spirited.
Using the medicinal efficacy as a lever, he stirred a sliver of power from his secret reservoirs.
"Pfft!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, giving his master, Guangyangzi, quite a scare.
At the same time, the Creation Furnace Technique was already set into motion.
Guangyangzi hurried off again to brew more medicinal herbs for Li Fan.
Li Fan took advantage of this opportunity to thoroughly examine his physical condition.
Recalling the relevant medical cases recorded in the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture, he pondered a countermeasure.
His body was simply too feeble; after only a brief moment, he was overcome by a wave of dizziness.
He had no choice but to empty his thoughts and recuperate in quiet stillness.
Once he had gathered a bit more strength, he resumed his contemplation.
He repeated this cycle again and again.
Three days later, synthesizing the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture, Li Fan refined the prescription he had taken during his second Simulation.
After exhausting a good deal of breath, he finally succeeded in persuading Guangyangzi to change the medicine.
The new prescription proved exceptionally effective.
Combined with the Creation Furnace Technique continually refining his constitution without a moment's pause, Li Fan was barely able to walk on the ground within two months.
"Junior Brother, you really are amazing! Who would have thought your prescription would actually work? How did you know about it?" Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao asked while supporting Li Fan.
"It just popped into my head!" Li Fan replied with wide, utterly innocent eyes.
"Our little junior brother is no ordinary person! Perhaps he is the hope for the revival of our Path of Bodily Transformation!" Third Senior Brother Lian Chang could not help praising from the side.
Li Fan merely giggled foolishly.
*The first step counts as a success.*
*The crucial task ahead is to become stronger than Eldest Brother Sixing within six years, before the Immortal Conscription Order arrives.*
*To go off to the war in his stead, and prevent witnessing the tragic spectacle of everyone in the Path of Bodily Transformation perishing one after another.*
*This is where Master Tianyang's lingering obsession lies.*
Li Fan pondered inwardly.
*Eldest Brother Sixing possesses a Golden Core cultivation. Expecting to surpass him within six years by conventional cultivation is nothing short of a pipe dream.*
*I must find an alternate path.*
Li Fan's eyes flickered.
On this day, he approached Master Guangyangzi in private.
"Self-Transformation into Oneself?" Facing his youngest disciple's question, Guangyangzi's expression changed drastically.
"Where did you hear about that? Did that little brat Ling Xiao go running his mouth again?" Guangyangzi was so enraged his beard bristled and his eyes widened, breaking into curses.
"Master, I came up with it on my own," Li Fan said earnestly.
"The wonder of the Self-Transformation into Another at Will technique practiced by our Path of Bodily Transformation lies in utilizing external objects."
"Yet it suddenly occurred to me: what truly counts as an external object?"
"Eldest Brother's sword, Second Brother's brush, and Third Brother's bell—all of these are external objects."
"Then could my own frail body also be regarded as an external object?"
"Through the continuous tempering of the technique, my senior brothers' transformation mediums grow stronger and stronger. If I can treat my own body as a transformation medium, doesn't that mean I can alter my own constitution?"
"Then I wouldn't ever have to remain as frail as I am now."
Li Fan spoke slowly, enunciating every word.
Guangyangzi's expression shifted continuously.
After a long while, he let out a profound sigh.
"Tianyang, you truly are a prodigy of heaven! To possess such insight at such a tender age, it is truly..."
Guangyangzi stroked Tianyang's head, saying with a measure of relief, "With a disciple like you, our Path of Bodily Transformation shall surely rise!"
"Indeed, practicing the Self-Transformation into Another at Will technique does make Self-Transformation into Oneself possible."
Guangyangzi's expression suddenly grew solemn. Looking at Li Fan, he warned gravely, "However, my disciple, you must under no circumstances attempt it."
Li Fan tilted his head back to look at his master, his small face full of bewilderment. "Why, Master?"
Guangyangzi appeared slightly dazed, staring blankly for a moment before explaining, "In Self-Transformation into Another at Will, the most vital aspect is the unity of object and self."
"Self-Transformation into Oneself is indeed theoretically feasible. It is also the most perfect choice offered by the technique."
"However..."
Guangyangzi sighed.
"It is too difficult! Far, far too difficult!"
"Compared to ordinary objects, how intricate is the human body?"
"With an object, one can pursue harmony with oneself through constant trial and error. If a mistake occurs during cultivation, only the transformation medium is damaged."
"Yet for Self-Transformation into Oneself, one must constantly use one's own physical body as the testing ground."
"The slightest misstep will leave you gravely injured."
"Damage to the physical body is still secondary. What is most terrifying is the harm done to the spirit."
A trace of sorrow flashed across Guangyangzi's gaze. "Long ago, I had a senior brother of breathtaking brilliance. His natural talent was so immense that, in my entire life, I have never seen anyone surpass him."
"Back then, he was universally recognized within the sect as the greatest figure the Path of Bodily Transformation had seen in a thousand years, bearing our master's highest hopes."
"Yet he was proud and arrogant, convinced he would succeed in cultivating Self-Transformation into Oneself."
"Ignoring everyone's dissuasion, he forced himself to cultivate it."
"In the end..."
Guangyangzi paused.
"At first, he was only somewhat deranged, and everyone still hoped to heal him."
"Later on, his madness grew increasingly severe. He became utterly incapable of distinguishing reality from illusion."
"One night, he went on a slaughter spree."
"The dead were beyond count."
"From then on, our Path of Bodily Transformation suffered a decline from which it never recovered..."
Reaching this point, Guangyangzi shook his head slightly.
"Therefore, good disciple, remember this: you must never attempt it!" Guangyangzi exhorted with utmost gravity.
Li Fan nodded heavily. "Yes! I understand, Master!"
After taking his leave of Guangyangzi, Li Fan returned to his room.
After long deliberation, Li Fan abandoned the plan to forcefully cultivate Self-Transformation into Oneself upon his current body.
Much like establishing the foundation with oneself, Self-Transformation into Oneself was indeed something beyond ordinary people.
Judging from Master Tianyang's subsequent circumstances in history, he had not chosen that road either.
*A puppet...*
Recalling that Soul Formation puppet from many years later, an idea gradually formed in Li Fan's mind.
The next day, Li Fan sought out his senior brothers and told them he wanted a puppet.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother, leave it to me! Lately my thoughts have been flowing like a fountain, and flowers bloom from my brush—I've written several books in a row, truly the peak work of my career!" Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao patted his chest in guarantee. "I'll take them to the market to sell right away, and pick out the most handsome puppet for you!"
...
A few days later, Li Fan had his wish granted and received a mechanism puppet.
Ling Xiao had a smug look on his face. "Junior Brother, this puppet is said to possess the strength of the Golden Core realm. It took quite an effort on my part to buy it from someone!"
"Senior Brother, you're amazing! Thank you!" After offering praise, Li Fan picked up the puppet and dashed off, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
"Junior Brother's health really is recovering better and better!" Ling Xiao marveled.
Inside a secret chamber.
Li Fan placed the puppet before him and cut a wound on his hand.
He let his blood drip onto it.
At the same time, he circulated the Self-Transformation into Another at Will technique, refining it while sensing the subtle transformations taking place within the puppet.
Li Fan had abandoned the idea of Self-Transformation into Oneself.
Yet he had not completely abandoned it.
His plan could, in fact, be viewed as a variation of Self-Transformation into Oneself under special circumstances.
It was even more extreme.
Namely, abandoning this physical mortal body altogether and turning himself entirely into a puppet.
Just as the real Master Tianyang had done in history.
The only difference was that later on, Tianyang had chosen to absorb earth fire to temper and elevate the puppet.
Li Fan's answer, however, was to first become the puppet, and then cultivate Self-Transformation into Oneself upon it.
Without question, this was an act that ruined one's future.
The gap in upper limit between a Golden Core puppet and a human body was beyond comparison.
Yet for Li Fan, who urgently needed to raise his combat prowess, it was the best choice.
Cultivating Self-Transformation into Oneself using a puppet body dramatically reduced the difficulty.
First, a puppet's internal precision fell far below that of a human body, making it much easier to achieve the unity of object and self.
Second, there was no need to worry about injuring his physical body.
Repairing a puppet was vastly easier, as long as sufficient materials were available.
Moreover, once the puppet's cultivation of Self-Transformation into Oneself was complete, the combat power it could unleash under the unity of object and self would be several times greater than merely treating the puppet as a transformation medium.
*The first thing to do is cast aside this body and merge into the puppet.*
When Li Fan executed this particular method from Self-Transformation into Another at Will, it progressed exceptionally smoothly.
*It is likely because Tianyang was born prematurely, so his soul and physical body were not well coordinated to begin with,* Li Fan mused.
Thus, keeping it concealed from the others in the Path of Bodily Transformation, Li Fan began his personal cultivation plan.
This method was simply too bizarre; even Guangyangzi failed to notice the change occurring within his youngest disciple.
He merely thought the boy was so fond of the puppet Ling Xiao had bought him that he kept it by his side at almost all times.
Thus, time slipped by.
In the blink of an eye, six years passed.
The Zha Immortal Bell chimed, and the Immortal Conscription Order arrived.
The three senior brothers of the Path of Bodily Transformation began arguing over who would answer the call.
Right at that moment, Li Fan and his puppet suddenly appeared before them.
"Senior Brother Sixing, Senior Brother Ling Xiao, Senior Brother Lian Chang."
"I think it should be me who goes."
Ling Xiao and the other two stared at Li Fan's earnest face, utterly dumbfounded.
"Junior Brother, what are you saying? This is no game..." Ling Xiao trailed off, abruptly freezing mid-sentence.
Because the words spoken just now had actually come from the mouth of the puppet standing behind Li Fan.
*Thud! Thud!*
The puppet strode forward, halting before the three of them.
"Setting out for this war means nine chances of death to one of survival. If someone must go, naturally it should be the strongest among us!"
"Senior Brothers, what do you think?"
Li Fan looked at Sixing and the others, asking softly.
"Tianyang! You... this is madness!" In an instant, Guangyangzi was the first to see clearly the transformation that had occurred within Li Fan.
His face turned pale as ash. He moved to step forward, yet halted his feet as though recalling something.
Only his slightly trembling hands betrayed the extreme turmoil in his heart.
"Did you... foresee this day long ago?"
Guangyangzi asked in a halting murmur.
Li Fan smiled without answering.
Looking toward his senior brothers, he said, "I ask my senior brothers for their guidance!"
The three senior brothers gradually recovered their senses as well.
Looking at their junior brother's body, which had already transformed into a puppet, their eyes filled with remorse and sorrow.
For a time, they stood frozen in place, at a loss for words.
In the end, it was Eldest Brother who moved first.
He summoned his longsword—thin as a cicada's wing and dripping with jade-green luster—and pointed it toward Li Fan from afar.
"Junior Brother, this matter should simply be left to me."
"How could a senior brother ever let his junior brother go off to die?!"
Li Fan's figure flickered. Swinging his fists, he arrived beside Eldest Brother.
"Senior Brother, do not underestimate me!"
Sensing the monstrous force crashing toward him, Sixing's expression shifted.
The longsword danced, attempting to intercept Li Fan.
Yet the blade, previously sharp enough to sever anything, failed to leave even the slightest scratch when striking Li Fan's body.
This puppet body was not only exceptionally resilient, but its speed was also several fractions faster than that of ordinary Golden Core cultivators.
As its strikes opened and closed with sweeping momentum, all manner of bizarre mechanisms shot forth from various corners of its frame.
For a time, Sixing could only dodge in disarray.
"Junior Brother Tianyang, it seems you truly poured immense effort into this. Yet because of that, I can even less permit you to go in my place!"
"Watch out!"
Sixing's brows lifted. His form turned into a streak of flowing light, merging as one with the green sword.
*Clang!*
The longsword vibrated slightly, emitting a crisp chime.
Then the blade spread outward like flowing water, extending forward and back.
"Sword Water Heavenly Heart!"
Eldest Brother's soft cry resonated from within the blade.
The water-like sword light arrived in an instant.
Upon striking Li Fan's puppet body, instead of being blocked and dispersed as before, it refracted and bounced back like a ray of light.
Flowing through the air for a brief moment, it altered direction in a flash and struck at Li Fan again from another flank.
It was once more deflected by Li Fan's rigid body.
Tracing an arc, it arrived anew in a heartbeat.
The flowing sword light grew faster and faster, until it looked as though a gigantic net of water was slowly ensnaring the cumbersome puppet at its center.
In his puppet body, Li Fan could not cast most of his divine abilities.
Under Sixing's ceaseless onslaught, Li Fan gradually fell into a disadvantage.
*Ancient cultivators truly cannot be underestimated,*
Li Fan thought, his expression turning solemn.
The puppet let out a skyward roar, its body radiating a dark red glow.
Shifting amidst vibrations, its humanoid form vanished in a flash.
Taking its place was a colossal hand.
Nimble enough to bypass the blockade of sword light formed by the Sword Water Heavenly Heart, the giant hand rose above the net of water.
It expanded once again.
Its cast shadow enveloped all the water swords beneath it, and then pressed straight down upon them.
He had unleashed his self-comprehended Heaven-Upending Palm.
Executed through the immense frame of the puppet, it carried a distinct resonance capable of suppressing all creation.
"A magnificent divine ability!"
Eldest Brother Sixing shouted in exhilaration.
"I also have a technique for you to instruct me upon!"
"Heaven's will is like water, supreme and formless!"
"Sword Name: Heavenly Form!"
The flowing water swords beneath the Heaven-Overturning Palm vanished in an instant.
Yet Li Fan sensed a subtle, uncanny danger.
*Swish!*
An invisible sword light flashed.
Before the giant hand could even press down, a fine scratch appeared on the back of the hand.
Li Fan peered into the surrounding space, yet could find no trace of Sixing.
Another sword mark surfaced.
Li Fan mobilized his spiritual energy to repair his injuries, only to discover that invisible sword qi seemed attached within the sword marks, suppressing the wound's restoration.
The sword marks appeared at an ever-accelerating pace.
In the span of a breath, Li Fan's body was riddled with scars.
"Junior Brother, yield!"
Sixing's voice drifted from every direction.
Yet he himself remained completely imperceptible.
"Senior Brother's divine ability is also magnificent!" Li Fan praised with genuine sincerity.
"However..."
Li Fan's voice suddenly rose.
"I have one more technique. If Senior Brother can withstand it, I shall admit defeat at once!"
"Very well! I shall wait and see!" Sixing replied.
Li Fan reined in his momentum.
After a moment, he spoke to Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao: "Senior Brother Ling Xiao, please lend me your brush!"
"Huh?" Ling Xiao froze momentarily.
"Oh, alright!" Immediately, an ink brush flew through the air, caught firmly in Li Fan's grasp.
Pouring his spiritual energy into it, Li Fan brandished it across the air in a single flourish.
It was...
The character "Chaos."
The moment the Chaos character descended, terrifying cracks abruptly webbed across Li Fan's body.
Unable to sustain the form of the giant hand any longer, he collapsed back into a humanoid puppet, tumbling to the ground.
*Such immense consumption...*
Li Fan was somewhat shaken inwardly.
The rigid body forged from specialized stone was disintegrating.
Numerous sections shattered outright.
This was the divine ability Li Fan had comprehended from the Chaos Character Stone within the Lost Domain. Its power far exceeded his expectations.
Even the caster had suffered such dreadful backlash, to say nothing of Eldest Brother Sixing, who faced the Chaos character directly.
The Heavenly Form state receded, and he reappeared in disarray.
Yet before the Chaos character, he could not move an inch.
The spiritual energy throughout his body ran rampant, entirely beyond control.
His green sword, serving as his transformation medium, darted about like a headless fly.
*Crack!*
Sixing's arm snapped backward at a bizarre angle, horror flashing through his eyes.
He realized this horrifying distortion was about to unfold across his entire body.
"Enough!"
At this perilous juncture, Guangyangzi finally intervened.
His transformation medium was a willow tree.
A verdant willow blocked Sixing's front, its branches lashing out in a wild frenzy.
Only after a long while did everything gradually settle.
The willow tree vanished. Guangyangzi's hand, clasped behind his back, trembled faintly.
Sixing stared with conflicted eyes at Li Fan, who was slumped on the ground, also severely injured.
"You won, Junior Brother," he said softly.
Li Fan breathed a faint sigh of relief.
"Tianyang, that technique of yours just now..." Guangyangzi looked at his youngest disciple, hesitating.
A moment later, he sighed deeply, abandoning his inquiry.
"Never mind. I can see that you carry great secrets."
"Even so, having you condescend to remain in our Path of Bodily Transformation is a blessing for our dilapidated little sect."
His spirits dampened, Guangyangzi waved his hand and walked away.
Sixing was at a loss for words for the moment.
Only Second Senior Brother Ling Xiao made a great fuss, shouting as he rushed over to tend to Li Fan's injuries.
...
With a puppet body, no matter how severe the damage, repairs were simple enough as long as there were sufficient materials.
Ling Xiao made another trip to the market, and not long after he returned, Li Fan was fully restored.
Under the watchful eyes of Master Guangyangzi and his three senior brothers, Li Fan departed from the Path of Bodily Transformation alongside the urging Immortal Conscription Envoy.
He set foot onto the battlefield.
The surrounding scenery suddenly froze.
Then, like shattering glass, it violently burst apart.
Dissolving into specks of flowing light, it all surged into Li Fan's mind.
Memories belonging to Master Tianyang from thousands of years ago surfaced with crystalline clarity.
The Self-Transformation into Another at Will technique, methods of puppet crafting, and even the Earth Fire Yuan-Ascension Formation used to temper and elevate a puppet's grade through earth fire—all of it was etched into his memory as if he had experienced it firsthand.
Yet Li Fan had no time to examine them right now.
For his entire mind was captivated by the notification transmitted from True Reversion:
"Though dead, still enduring; the true spirit never perishes."
"Using the body to transform into objects, traversing across myriad eons."
"The Avatar feature has been unlocked."
Chapter 412