Returning to Xuanhuang in Eight Years

To set an entire world in motion required an unimaginably immense power. Perhaps only the Heavenly Alliance, which unified the Xuanhuang Realm and consolidated all its resources, could ever make it possible by relying on the Heavenly Profound Mirror's extraordinary capacity for coordination and deduction. This also explained why the Longevity Heavenly Venerables turned a blind eye to the mirror's actions, and had even actively facilitated the merger between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association. For if it succeeded, they too would be entirely rid of the threat posed by the Immortal Ruins. The void was vast; from then on, they would be free and unfettered, no longer bound to the Xuanhuang Realm's tiny patch of ground. What did the life or death of cultivators have to do with them? Even if it failed, the Longevity Heavenly Venerables stood to lose nothing. After all, the Heavenly Alliance wasn't merely slaughtering cultivators. Rather, it suppressed all the cultivators who sustained the Xuanhuang Realm's "weight" inside the Eternal Immortal Wall. Without needing to bother regulating the number of cultivators, the Heavenly Venerables might have found it even more convenient! As for whether the Profound Net's plan to escape the Immortal Ruins had ultimately succeeded... Li Fan was inclined to believe it had. Because in his previous life, before triggering True Reversion and following nearly a millennium of dead silence, he had clearly sensed vitality beginning to revive in the Xuanhuang Realm. The long-lost sunlight had reappeared as well. Though living beings in the world were essentially extinct, the world itself had been rekindled with life. Li Fan did not believe that if the Xuanhuang Realm had plunged into the Immortal Ruins, it could recover after just a thousand years of dormancy. If that were the case, the so-called Immortal Ruins would never have inspired such deep dread in the Longevity Heavenly Venerables. "To cultivators, the Profound Net is naturally an unforgivable evil." "Yet in a certain sense, it saved the Xuanhuang Realm." "And in passing, it wiped the cultivators clean from the world." "Perhaps that was why, when the Profound Net replaced Heaven, the Heavenly Dao of this realm offered no fierce resistance." After contemplating for a long while, Li Fan slowly set these thoughts aside for the moment. "Aside from those inevitable events, there are also the various developments that unfolded due to the impact of the Profound Net's establishment." "The origin of it all was my slaying of the giant liuli fish, followed by the Heavenly Spirit Grass crisis that I orchestrated." "The battle of Tianling Province, which should never have occurred, exerted a profound influence on both the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association." "The Five Elders Association faintly sensed the disappearance of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable and continually probed in the days that followed." "Faced with pressure from the Five Elders Association, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals created a monstrosity like the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation to protect itself." "Perhaps even without the battle of Tianling Province, there would still have been wars over Tianpan Province or Jiushan Province." "Yet a difference in the timing of the conflict could lead to drastically different futures." "Countless futures, infinite possibilities." "The birth of the Profound Net was merely one among them." "A world where the Profound Net has spread is far too perilous for cultivators." "The slightest misstep lands one suppressed within the Eternal Immortal Wall; it is utterly unfit for cultivation." "It seems in this lifetime, I must find a way to prevent its inception," Li Fan mused to himself. "However, whether it's the Heavenly Spirit Grass turmoil or the grand tournament that popularized the Spirit-Locking Formation, with my foreknowledge, I can profit from them both." "It would be a pity to simply give them up." "In that case..." Pondering briefly, Li Fan quickly had an idea. "Counterbalance and mutual restraint will keep the greater situation stable." "It is best if the Xuanhuang Realm doesn't descend into too much chaos!" Having reviewed his previous life, what came next was planning for this one. The goal was clear: achieve the Nascent Soul realm. Before the battle of Tianling Province, cultivate to peak Golden Core. After the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven was relocated, head into that stretch of void capable of ceaselessly generating Five Elements Grotto-Heavens to investigate. If possible, use it as a foundation to break through. If not, then he could only scheme to obtain the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. "However, before that, there is one more thing to do." Li Fan soared above the sea of clouds, bathing in the morning glow. All stray thoughts cleared from his mind as he circulated the *Purple Empyrean Righteous Intent*—the secret art obtained in his previous life from Zhang Qianmo in the Fallen Immortal Realm. Li Fan had not forgotten that traces left behind by "It" in Yuandao Province still lingered upon him. Although he vaguely sensed that through his transformation into an object and repeated cycles of reincarnation, this trace had most likely already vanished, there was no harm in adding an extra layer of insurance. As the secret art circulated, Li Fan felt his consciousness soar ever higher. Rising continuously, it pierced through the firmament and arrived at an unspeakably sacred place. There was no other presence here. Only the vast, righteous intent of heaven and earth, brimming and filling the expanse. This immense, pure aura washed over Li Fan's divine soul like flowing water. Li Fan gradually immersed himself within it. The psychological shadows cast by "It" of Daoyuan Province and the Heavenly Physician slowly dissolved. Even the vicissitudes accumulated from three thousand years of transforming into an object were gently washed away. ... Anchor Year 3. Li Fan drew back the divine ability, feeling his mind clear and his whole body unburdened. "The secret art of the Purple Cloud Sect is extraordinary indeed." Li Fan nodded in satisfaction. Glancing casually at the True Reversion interface, he was met with a pleasant surprise. For he abruptly discovered that True Reversion was charging much faster than before. "Originally, it took nearly nine years, but now it will probably take just over seven years to fully charge." "It seems practicing the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation in reverse to forge the Dao heart and strengthen the divine soul really was effective." "A faster charge means I can leave Great Xuan for the Xuanhuang Realm at the beginning of Anchor Year 8." "Just in time for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' decennial induction exam..." Li Fan smiled slightly and pondered for a moment, making minor adjustments to his plans. Afterward, he went down the mountain as usual and visited the Tomb of Yi Yin. Taking out the Dao Assimilation Stone, he slowly absorbed it while waiting for True Reversion to finish charging. Soon, Anchor Year 8 arrived. Before setting out, Li Fan opened the True Reversion interface. Name: Li Fan Cultivation Realm: Mid Golden Core Physiological Age: 27/599 Psychological Age: 1326/4200 Reversion Charging Progress: 100% Anchor Charging Progress: 0% Current Anchors: 3 Current Available Anchors: 1 Bound Items: *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*, Taiyan Boat, Step-Halting Broken Stele (Damaged), Essence-Blood of Ten Thousand, Dao Assimilation Stone Cultivation Techniques: Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique, Path of Bodily Transformation, Mysterious True Spirit Transformation, Crucible of Ten Thousand Manifestations, Creation Furnace Technique, Mountain-Sitting Art Divine Abilities: Chaos, Great Five Elements Extinction Sword, Life-Death Chain, Formless Killing Intent, Insect Binding, Single Sword of Congyun, Heaven-Overturning Palm ... "Having lived three thousand years transformed into an object, my psychological age only increased by a little over a century. For now, it seems there's no need to worry." "As for that divine ability of 'Chaos'..." Li Fan recalled its terrible backlash—how even a puppet body tempered a thousand times over had completely disintegrated upon using it—and shook his head slightly. "Tremendously powerful as it is, using it right now is still too much of a strain." Closing the True Reversion interface, in this lifetime he neither dissolved his *Mountain-Sitting Art* cultivation nor bothered to plunder wealth from the imperial court of Great Xuan. Instead, he took the form of the black-feathered, red-tailed bird and flew swiftly toward the eastern Abyss of Ruins and the Immortal Severing Formation.