"The Life-Sealing Treasure Box... It seems the Empire truly is the legacy of the Beast Taming Sect from back then."
With Tianyang, who possessed Soul Formation strength, standing guard, Li Fan could finally examine the spoils of his transaction with the Empire at ease.
The detailed records on numerous exotic beasts and the frozen physical specimens inside the Life-Sealing Treasure Box might not be of much use to other cultivators.
To Li Fan, however, who cultivated the Myriad Forms Furnace Technique, this was an outright massive treasure trove.
Through the transformations of the Myriad Forms Furnace Technique, Li Fan could master all the wondrous abilities of these various exotic beasts one by one.
"There is no greater beauty in living beings than this!
"What is recorded in the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture probably doesn't represent the full scope of living beings in this world either!"
With a flick of his finger, Li Fan took out all the bookworms from the storage ring.
His divine sense flipped through the books all at once, and in an instant, countless beams of light and shadow projected into the air of the cave abode.
Within his mind, the Dao Transformation Stone blazed with an unprecedented azure light. Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, doing his utmost to take in every character and image before him into his memory.
Information surged like a tide, sorted into categories, and was stored and cataloged afresh within the Dao Transformation Stone.
Amidst the rustle of turning pages, the projections of light and shadow shifted ceaselessly.
After recording several full pages of content, Li Fan felt a throbbing ache in his temples.
After resting a little and taking another Dao Comprehension Pill, Li Fan resumed "reading."
Over several millennia of evolution, the Empire had given birth to a myriad of unique species.
The vast majority were creatures Li Fan had never seen in the Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture.
Nor did they exist in today's Xuanhuang Realm.
Their varied, marvelous abilities made even the well-traveled, knowledgeable Li Fan click his tongue in wonder.
For instance, the "Intellect Worm," which nested in human brains and enhanced thinking capacity; the "Mimic Beast," which devoured foreign bodies to achieve flawless camouflage; and the "Thousand Spirits Bird," which fed on human emotions...
All of this broadened Li Fan's horizons immensely.
"Furnace of myriad forms—this is what the true myriad forms of living beings should be!"
Amid Li Fan's exclamations, the pages kept turning.
The Empire's millennia of accumulated knowledge was rapidly absorbed, becoming knowledge in Li Fan's mind.
Ten days later.
Li Fan let out a long breath, pressed his faintly aching forehead, and returned the bookworms to the storage ring.
Sensing Tianyang's concerned gaze, Li Fan waved a hand to signal that he was fine.
After resting for nearly half a day until he regained some of his energy, Li Fan took out the red wooden box once more.
According to the information he had previously seen in the Heavenly Profound Mirror, this Life-Sealing Treasure Box was precisely a specialty item unique to the Beast Taming Sect in ancient times.
It was said to be crafted from Myriad Transformation Spirit Wood, capable of sealing and storing living demonic beasts.
As time shifted and thousands of years passed, the Myriad Transformation Spirit Tree had long since bordered on extinction.
A Life-Sealing Treasure Box had likewise become virtually unobtainable.
"It seems my premonition was not mistaken.
"The faint sense of familiarity I felt from that green-robed woman must have come from the qingluan Xu Ke encountered back in the Fallen Immortal Realm.
"I wonder if that red-crowned crane is still around today.
"In that case, was the Empire's founder—the ancestor who first comprehended the beast taming method—Xu Ke?
"In Li Chenfeng's memories, he had passed away long ago. But matters might not be as simple as they appear on the surface."
Li Fan pondered to himself.
"Deducing from the currently available information, it seems Xu Ke was the only one from the Beast Taming Sect who arrived in that small world back then, establishing what became the Empire's legacy.
"Where did the rest of the Beast Taming Sect go? What about Lu Ya?
"Why did Di Sanmo come to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and become the curator of the Museum of Divine Archives?
"And how does all of this tie into Mr. Bai's mission back then?"
There were too many puzzles, impossible to know for now.
"During my next journey into the Fallen Immortal Realm, I should be able to resolve some of these questions.
"Soon," Li Fan silently thought, calculating the remaining time.
Putting away the Life-Sealing Treasure Box, Li Fan took out a Foundation Establishment-level Beast Soul Bead.
It could be said that the Empire being this generous was far beyond Li Fan's expectations.
The combat strength of five hundred Foundation Establishment, four hundred and ninety Golden Core, and nine Nascent Soul Beast God Armors—if used properly, it could undoubtedly stir up quite a storm.
Although this was only theoretical combat strength, in the Xuanhuang Realm today, cultivators' actual combat prowess was shockingly low.
Aside from the very few cultivators who dedicated themselves to the martial path, ordinary people were already considered impressive if they knew a handful of offensive and life-saving spells.
Something like the Beast God Armor—which could affect divine sense, withstand the vast majority of spell attacks, and possess astonishing speed—was absolute overkill against today's ordinary cultivators.
"However, I still need to think carefully about how to use them in this life to maximize my benefits."
Li Fan put the thought aside for now, held a Beast Soul Bead in his hand, and pressed it against his glabella.
His vision suddenly turned blood-red. In a daze, Li Fan seemed to see a fierce, one-eyed leopard pouncing straight toward him.
"Hmph!" Li Fan's will needle-sharp, he stabbed toward it.
The leopard let out a mournful cry, and in the blink of an eye, the illusion vanished.
The Beast Soul Bead instantly dissolved into a red liquid that flowed like a living creature from between his brows into his limbs and bones.
Li Fan sensed a special energy attempting to invade his body.
And reshape his physical form.
Unlike the pure reinforcement of the Creation Furnace Technique, which channeled the power of the body's secret reservoirs,
the Beast God Armor was more like grafting power originally belonging to exotic beasts onto a human.
Though one's capabilities were temporarily enhanced, the physical body became tainted by the beastly power from then on, losing its purity.
"A crooked, unorthodox path—unworthy of the mainstream."
Li Fan shook his head. The secret reservoir power circulated within him, surging forth like a flood, instantly expelling the encroaching beastly power.
The wail of the leopard echoed in his ears once more, and the red liquid formed from the Beast Soul Bead was vaporized by Li Fan in an instant.
"It seems it is indeed only suitable for mortals who cannot cultivate.
"Or perhaps..."
A strange glint flashed across Li Fan's eyes.
He thought of Ye Feipeng, who had awakened the Kunpeng bloodline in his previous life.
"Someone who already possesses demonic beast blood naturally wouldn't fear this sort of contamination.
"In this life, He Zhenghao followed behind me and made a fortune. He probably won't be dwelling on that smuggling business anymore.
"Su Xiaomei and the others are still in the Li Realm right now. Without me, they probably wouldn't have any chance of coming here."
Li Fan smiled faintly.
"A good show in this lifetime cannot be without these little fellows."
With that, Li Fan rose, bade farewell to Tianyang, concealed his figure, and quietly arrived in the Li Realm.
As before, he first visited the volcano at the center of the Li Realm and observed it for a moment.
"Strange..." Li Fan shook his head.
When he had first come to the Li Realm, he had felt that volcano was somewhat unusual.
Yet each time he visited afterward, he had inspected it thoroughly, never able to make heads or tails of it.
As his cultivation deepened with each passing day, that premonition in his heart grew stronger and stronger.
Yet he still could not pinpoint the reason.
"Perhaps after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, I will discover something."
Li Fan noted the matter down for now and headed straight toward the Great Li capital.
Chapter 468