Pocket worlds and the Xuanhuang Realm did not exist within the same space-time?
As the green-robed woman appraised Li Fan with an enigmatic half-smile, Li Fan's thoughts raced.
Was it true, or false?
Was it a test, or a fabricated lie meant to serve as leverage in negotiations?
In a flash, Li Fan analyzed the situation rapidly.
Assuming she had already discovered he was an utter fraud, she wouldn't waste her breath explaining anything here.
Making an immediate run for it, or laying an ambush to capture and interrogate him, would be the logical course of action.
Which meant that, to a large extent, the green-robed woman was still uncertain of his true identity.
After all, in the history of the Xuanhuang Realm, there truly had been an incident where pocket worlds banded together and launched a counteroffensive against the cultivation world.
And as for whether pocket worlds and the Xuanhuang Realm existed in the same space-time, if he truly were a Myriad Realms Association Envoy, there was no way he wouldn't know.
Given that the very survival of the Empire hung in the balance, this Saint Teacher wouldn't fabricate a lie so easily exposed.
Therefore, what she said was very likely the truth.
At least, in the eyes of the green-robed woman, it was the truth.
A question naturally arose.
Since pocket worlds and the Xuanhuang Realm did not exist in the same space-time, when faced with the threat of the Immortal Ruins, why didn't the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm choose to flee into the various pocket worlds via the Immortal Severing Passages and then sever their ties with the Xuanhuang Realm?
If one could argue that Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, and Dao Integration cultivators might be held back by the scarcity of spiritual energy in pocket worlds or lack the power to sever the passages,
then for Longevity Heavenly Venerables, such constraints could be virtually disregarded.
So why didn't the Longevity Heavenly Venerables flee?
The answer to this question boiled down to three possibilities: they weren't afraid, they didn't want to, or they couldn't.
Not afraid?
In the previous life, Heavenly Venerable Yixin had chosen to back down when faced with the threat of mutual destruction from the Spirit-Locking Formation. This showed that even Longevity realm powerhouses could not survive unscathed within the Immortal Ruins.
Thus, this possibility could be ruled out.
Didn't want to? Out of righteous resolve, choosing life and death together, plunging into the Immortal Ruins alongside the Xuanhuang Realm?
Judging by the path to attainment taken by cultivators in this realm today, that would never be the choice of the current Longevity Heavenly Venerables.
Then only one answer remained.
The Longevity Heavenly Venerables were unable to leave the Xuanhuang Realm?
The moment this thought surfaced, Li Fan felt it was utterly absurd.
How terrifying was the might of Longevity realm powerhouses!
How could it be...
Yet Li Fan suddenly paused, slightly stunned.
What if... what if it was true?
Li Fan had always harbored a question.
Why did defying the principles of Heaven and Earth allow one to attain Longevity?
All living beings in the world had finite lifespans.
Even the legendary longevity species merely lived longer than ordinary creatures.
If anything in the Xuanhuang Realm truly deserved the title of "Longevity," it was probably only Heaven and Earth itself.
Why would defying the principles of Heaven and Earth bring about a complete metamorphosis,
allowing a cultivator's mortal form to share the same lifespan as Heaven and Earth?
"The principles of Heaven and Earth... defying the principles of Heaven and Earth..."
Suddenly, a scene flashed across Li Fan's mind.
In the previous life, facing Senior Sister Zhao's aggressive stance, Ji Hongdao had once said: "Once a Heavenly Venerable has 'Fixed Principles,' they should no longer take part in worldly disputes."
"Fixing Principles."
These two words struck like a bolt of lightning, cleaving through the mist,
making Li Fan realize a point he had overlooked for so long.
Living beings of the world forget sorrow and find joy.
Living beings of the world must abide by Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's cultivation method.
These rules that defied common sense now truly existed between Heaven and Earth.
That was to say...
After reversing an original principle of Heaven and Earth, the Heavenly Venerables' principle of attainment replaced it, becoming a new principle of Heaven and Earth and part of the world itself.
It was precisely because of this that the Heavenly Venerables gained a lifespan as vast as Heaven and Earth.
And it was also for this very reason that the Longevity Heavenly Venerables could not leave the Xuanhuang Realm.
Before reaching the Longevity realm, cultivators were like robbers breaking into a house to plunder at will, stuffing the furniture and treasures inside into their pockets.
But some insatiably greedy individuals set their sights on the house itself,
seeking to seize the dove's nest and claim the entire house as their own.
They succeeded, but in doing so, they triggered the house's ultimate countermeasure.
The doors slammed shut. At the very moment they became masters of the house, they were also permanently locked inside it.
"Is this the counterattack of Heaven and Earth?"
Li Fan suddenly came to an epiphany.
Earlier, Li Fan had understood one truth:
Against cultivators who plundered Heaven and seized Earth, Heaven and Earth itself was not entirely powerless to resist.
Beyond suddenly manifested rules like immortal arts cannot be cultivated together and the descent of animas of Heaven and Earth executing their heavenly mandates against ordinary cultivators,
when facing Longevity Heavenly Venerables powerful enough to threaten its very existence, Heaven and Earth had chosen an extreme measure.
And that was: "If you can't beat them, make them join you."
One had to admit, this move was indeed effective.
Because once they became Longevity Heavenly Venerables, their allegiance shifted from cultivators to Heaven and Earth.
If cultivators plundered Heaven and seized Earth without restraint,
it would eventually lead to Heaven and Earth drying up and declining.
And the Longevity Heavenly Venerables, having essentially become one with the world, had to step in and prevent such an outcome for their own survival.
Therefore, the growth of the cultivator population had to be artificially controlled.
This was one of the reasons why the number of cultivators could not be too large.
Li Fan also recalled how the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao had offered a bounty for the Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror,
proclaiming that anyone, solely by handing over this mirror, could exchange it for a seat in the Longevity status.
"It seems the Longevity realm of ancient times was likely also attained by using some method to steal an existing principle of longevity from Heaven and Earth."
Li Fan pondered.
Deducing all this left Li Fan feeling a bit disappointed.
The Longevity Heavenly Venerables of the Xuanhuang Realm seemed rather far from his ideal of "Longevity."
They merely borrowed the power of Heaven and Earth to gain a lifespan that did not truly belong to them.
"A pseudo-longevity, is it..."
"Then again, strictly speaking, it isn't particularly hard to accept."
"After all, the 'Longevity realm' in this world was merely an experiment undertaken by cultivators seeking to prolong their lives after the immortal path of the Xuanhuang Realm was severed."
"Besides, it might not be impossible to take another step forward."
Li Fan thought of Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, who had vanished in the previous life.
"Perhaps this pioneer of the new method took another step ahead of everyone and broke free from the world's shackles."
"No wonder in the previous life, Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable didn't appear for thousands of years, yet even when periodic wars broke out between both sides, the Heavenly Venerables of the Five Elders Association never made a move either."
"Because in the eyes of the Five Elders Association's Heavenly Venerables, since those in the Longevity realm could not leave the Xuanhuang Realm, Chuanfa had to be somewhere within it."
"He held them in check with nothing more than a single paper agreement."
"Until later, when they finally noticed something amiss, which led them to impatiently test the waters in person..."
The medicinal effects of the Dao Comprehension Pill had not yet completely worn off.
Through a sudden flash of insight, an alignment of coincidences, and the fact inadvertently pointed out by the green-robed woman, Li Fan had deduced a plausible, logically consistent truth regarding the Xuanhuang Realm.
Chapter 440