The moment he stepped into the Qi Condensation stage, Li Fan felt an earth-shaking transformation sweep through his body.
Spiritual qi surged and circulated within him, quietly and gently rejuvenating his visibly aging frame.
The fine wrinkles on his face vanished, and his skin regained its youthful smoothness.
A long-lost vitality welled up inside him, as though he had returned to his youth, brimming with boundless energy.
He had regained his youth, and his physique was immensely strengthened.
Most importantly, Li Fan could finally command the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
Strands of spiritual qi responded to his will, shifting into various shapes.
Unfortunately, he was currently manipulating spiritual qi solely by instinct; utilizing it more efficiently would undoubtedly require corresponding spells.
After experimenting for a while, Li Fan dispersed the spiritual qi in his hands and focused his attention on the [True Reversion] panel.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Early Qi Refining stage
Physiological Age: 47/199
Psychological Age: 510/2169↑
Upon breaking through to the Qi Condensation stage, the upper limit of Li Fan's lifespan had reached the extreme of one hundred and ninety-nine years.
The *Five Spirits Qi-Sensing Method* had mentioned that although an immortal cultivator's lifespan far exceeded that of ordinary mortals, it was still heavily suppressed compared to ancient times.
A Qi Condensation cultivator's lifespan did not exceed two hundred years at most.
And a Foundation Establishment cultivator could only live for a little over a hundred years more before reaching their end.
Only by attaining a Golden Core and glimpsing the laws of heaven and earth would one's lifespan surge dramatically, reaching around five to six hundred years.
In contrast to his physiological age, his psychological age had barely increased.
After all, it had already grown substantially through cultivating the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, so Li Fan was not particularly surprised.
Next, Li Fan retrieved the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* from the Taiyan Boat.
He had obtained this Nascent Soul cultivation technique from Kou Hong long ago, but lacking divine sense, he had never been able to examine it.
Yet it had always weighed on his mind.
Now that he had finally entered the Qi Condensation stage, Li Fan could hardly wait to learn what it contained.
"*Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*, Nascent Soul realm technique, current number of practitioners: 0."
As he picked up the jade slip, the technique's description naturally surfaced in his mind.
Li Fan knew this was another change that had emerged after the Great Cataclysm, when immortal arts could no longer be practiced simultaneously.
He reached out with his divine sense to touch the jade slip. Instantly, countless words and images flooded into his mind like a tidal wave.
Reading a jade slip for the first time, Li Fan was not quite accustomed to it.
He felt as though a great deal of information had been forcibly crammed into his brain, making his temples throb with a faint ache.
Fortunately, his divine sense was considerably stronger than that of ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators, and he soon adapted and returned to normal.
Calming his mind and focusing his thoughts, he carefully studied the technique.
After a long time, Li Fan finally gained a general understanding of it.
The *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* was a cultivation technique practiced by the ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect.
In ancient times, great importance was placed on the harmony between heaven and man.
The Heavenly Mechanism Sect believed that all things between heaven and earth possessed their own thoughts, just like humans.
Such things were difficult to detect through ordinary means.
Yet just as a killing aura emanated from a person when they harbored murderous intent, all things between heaven and earth periodically released subtle emanations of intent.
When Heaven unleashes its killing intent, all living things wither, and the stars and constellations shift.
When Earth unleashes its killing intent, seas turn into mulberry fields, and dragons and snakes rise from the land.
By capturing and refining the various emanations of heaven and earth, one could trace things back to their source, reaching a realm of resonance and unity with them.
The *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* was precisely such a technique for sensing and refining these emanations for one's own use.
Upon achieving mastery in the technique, one could not only borrow the killing intent of heaven and earth to strike down enemies, but also deduce and predict the future through the flow of these emanations.
This technique was exceedingly formidable. However, cultivating it was also perilous.
The will of heaven and earth was unimaginably vast; even a single trace of intent drawn from it was hundreds or thousands of times greater than a cultivator's capacity.
Making rash contact with it could easily result in severe injury from the emanations themselves.
One might even be assimilated without realizing it, becoming a mere puppet of heaven and earth's will.
Therefore, when the ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivated, they did not choose to directly sense and refine the emanations of heaven and earth. Instead, they settled for secondary alternatives, employing various substitute methods.
They nurtured their own killing intent, gathered the vibrant life force that burst forth with spring, sensed emanations from certain natural spiritual treasures of heaven and earth...
By gathering thousands of different emanations to mask themselves, they achieved the purpose of confounding heavenly secrets and communing with the will of heaven and earth.
In theory, cultivating this technique to its highest realm allowed one to merge with heaven and earth, becoming an incarnation of the Dao.
Unfortunately, that was merely in theory.
In reality, even with such clever workarounds, cultivating the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* remained exceedingly difficult.
The ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect had endured for ten thousand years, and tens of thousands of cultivators had practiced the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*.
Yet the highest level anyone had ever attained was merely the Nascent Soul realm.
If it was like that back then, how much more so in today's cultivation world, where the malice of heaven and earth was omnipresent?
However, with the aid of [True Reversion], Li Fan did not need to worry too much about the risks associated with cultivating this technique.
Li Fan pondered for a moment. There was no rush to decide on his primary cultivation technique.
He could first head to Wanxian Island to see the current state of the cultivation world before making any plans.
With that in mind, Li Fan arrived at the central array on Liuli Island, intending to pay his respects to He Zhenghao.
Just as he reached the perimeter of the array, he found several servants already waiting for him.
Guided by the servants, Li Fan met He Zhenghao once again.
The place where He Zhenghao resided was no longer that towering mountain peak from before, but an ordinary small hill.
Surrounded by mountains, it was utterly unremarkable.
He Zhenghao sat within a small pavilion atop the hill.
"I just sensed an unusual stirring of spiritual qi on the island, and I knew you must have broken through."
He Zhenghao looked at Li Fan with a gratified expression. "Though it took a bit of time, a breakthrough is still a breakthrough, isn't it?"
"It is all thanks to Senior's guidance," Li Fan said politely.
"It was merely a small effort on my part," He Zhenghao replied with a smile, sensing the slight increase in his own cultivation.
"Did you come seeking me to travel to Wanxian Island?"
"Indeed. I have no lingering mortal ties and can depart at any time." Li Fan nodded.
"Good. In that case, follow me."
In a flash, He Zhenghao appeared in front of Li Fan and grasped his shoulder.
"Do not struggle."
As He Zhenghao's voice sounded in his ear, Li Fan dispersed the true qi that had instinctively risen to protect his body.
Carried by He Zhenghao, Li Fan soared into the air, flying toward the sky.
Their speed was astonishing. In the blink of an eye, they pierced through the sea of clouds and rose above the surrounding peaks.
"Guide!"
He Zhenghao formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed down toward the rolling mountains below.
A moment later, countless peaks within sight shot out beams of white light, converging before He Zhenghao into an enormous orb of radiance.
"Open!"
He Zhenghao thrust his hand upward.
The orb of light accelerated violently, shooting straight up in the direction He Zhenghao pointed.
In an instant, it formed a pillar of light piercing heaven and earth.
It struck the sun hanging in the sky.
The sun's surface distorted violently, then split down the middle, cleaving into two halves.
A teleportation gate opened between them.
"Let's go!"
Chapter 45