"I believe the Five Elders Association most likely came for these remains," Sima Changkong said in a deep voice.
"Remains? What would they want with them?" To think that beneath Wanxian Island, where he had lived every day, lay buried the bones of countless ancient cultivators. Li Fan felt a jolt of shock, yet Sima Changkong's answer left him perplexed.
"That is beyond my knowledge. Perhaps the Five Elders Association can bring the dead back to life? If those earliest Dharma Transmitters were to awaken and see what the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has become today, wouldn't they charge straight into Alliance headquarters to fight them to the bitter end?" Sima Changkong sneered.
"Heh, careful with your words, Fellow Daoist." Li Fan did not pursue that thread and changed the subject instead.
"The transformation of Mount Congyun into the Congyun Sea, the earliest Dharma Transmitters, the origin of Wanxian Island...
"Every single one is an utmost secret. From what I know of today's cultivators, I fear even those Soul Formation Immortal Lords might not know these secrets like the back of their hand as you do.
"Just what is your background, Fellow Daoist?" Li Fan could not help asking out of curiosity.
"What background could I have? I am merely an ordinary cultivator, nothing more," Sima Changkong said dismissively.
Seeing Li Fan's utter disbelief, Sima Changkong said proudly, "Let it be known to you, Fellow Daoist: so long as something happens in this world, it will inevitably leave traces behind.
"Wiping the memories of cultivators does not mean the truth of history can be buried forever."
Sima Changkong stood up abruptly. "There is nothing in my heart that cannot be spoken aloud. To tell you the truth, Fellow Daoist, I, Sima Changkong, am a historian!"
With that, the blood vitality throughout his body seemed to surge fiercely.
Having practiced the Creation Furnace Technique, Li Fan was intimately familiar with the power of blood vitality, and he was astonished to discover that the blood vitality within Sima Changkong was extraordinarily motley.
Some was remarkably vibrant, like that of a newborn infant.
Yet some was exceedingly ancient, as though it had existed for thousands or tens of thousands of years.
Blood vitality erupted from Sima Changkong's body, condensing above his head into a magnificent crimson river.
Li Fan looked closely and saw countless images and sounds flickering within each drop of red blood.
The higher up it went, the more ancient the recorded scenes were.
The crimson river was vast and majestic, recording such a staggering volume of information that even with Li Fan's current soul strength, observing it for mere moments left him somewhat dizzy and overwhelmed.
Inwardly appalled, he averted his direct gaze.
Seeing Li Fan's reaction, Sima Changkong slowly dispersed the phenomenon outside his body.
He said slowly, "This is the Bloodline Historical Records, cultivated and compiled generation after generation by my Sima clan.
"Ever since our ancestor Sima Pei created this cultivation method, Blood History, our Sima family has taken the exhaustive recording of the Xuanhuang Realm's history as our duty.
"Even in death, we harbor no regrets. To this day, it has been passed down through fifty-six generations."
"Fifty-six generations?" Li Fan paused slightly, about to ask.
Yet Sima Changkong nodded and continued, "Indeed. Though cultivating Blood History compresses one's lifespan until it is no different from a mortal's, our Sima clan has never flinched.
"What is there to fear in death? As long as descendants of our Sima family remain in this world, the Bloodline Historical Records will automatically seek out a suitable host to awaken, carrying on the grand enterprise of chronicling history."
Sima Changkong spoke with an expression full of righteous resolve.
Hearing this, Li Fan could not help feeling a sense of deep respect.
For historians, Li Fan had always held genuine admiration.
Back when he was the Grand Preceptor of Great Xuan, acting entirely as he pleased, the civil and military court officials had all cowered beneath his tyrannical might, not daring to utter a single word of opposition.
Only the historians of Great Xuan had not feared his butcher's blade.
Even when threatened with the lives of their entire clans, they insisted on recording truthfully in the historical annals how Li Fan threw the imperial court into turmoil and tyrannized the Empress Dowager.
After Li Fan executed several of them and found that their successors still did the same, he simply let them be.
He had never imagined that even in the Xuanhuang Realm, historians still existed.
Alongside his respect, Li Fan's thoughts stirred.
Much of the Xuanhuang Realm's history was shrouded in mist.
Some had even been deliberately erased. To hope to uncover what had occurred in history solely through studying ancient texts was pure folly.
Yet with Sima Changkong, a living historical archive, things were entirely different.
Li Fan keenly recognized the immense importance of the cultivator before him and proactively struck up further conversation.
Sima Changkong's temperament was rather forthright, and once he grew familiar with Li Fan, he held nothing back.
Li Fan gradually learned that while the Sima clan could record history via the Bloodline Historical Records, the Xuanhuang Realm was vast beyond measure. How could one person possibly know everything that transpired across the world?
Thus, the Sima clan had also mastered a divine ability called Blood-Dividing Avatar, which allowed them to separate portions of their blood to forge clones.
With numerous avatars traveling far and wide, they were able to record history as thoroughly and truthfully as possible.
It was precisely for this reason that the lifespans of the Sima clan were generally not long.
The river of bloodline preserved boundless information from the Xuanhuang Realm's past.
To prevent mishaps from rendering the blood and sweat of dozens of generations in vain, the ancestor of the Sima clan had painstakingly devised a secret art known as One is All.
As mentioned earlier, so long as the Sima bloodline still flowed in the world, the Bloodline Historical Records would never be broken.
Li Fan then asked about the definition of "the Sima bloodline."
Sima Changkong grinned proudly.
So long as one's ancestors carried the bloodline of the Sima clan, no matter how dilute it became, the Bloodline Historical Records could manifest anew.
Over thousands of years, mortal descendants of the Sima clan had spread across the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
In truth, unless every mortal in the Xuanhuang Realm was slaughtered down to the last person, it was impossible to completely extinguish the Bloodline Historical Records.
"The Sima clan is truly extraordinary! What remarkable methods, what an incredible divine ability!" Li Fan praised sincerely upon hearing this.
Li Fan asked Sima Changkong for a communication talisman and solemnly stowed it in his storage ring.
"Fellow Daoist Sima, we must stay in close touch in the future." Li Fan chatted warmly with this cultivation world historian for a long while before finally departing with genuine reluctance.
When the clone returned to the former site of Wanxian Island, his true body, far away in Shilin Province, noticed that the standard communication talisman issued by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was flashing incessantly.
Li Fan could not help feeling surprised. Under normal circumstances, this talisman was only used when cultivators within the Alliance's official establishment contacted one another.
Now that Wanxian Island had been abducted by the Five Elders Association, the entire administrative apparatus of the Congyun Sea had effectively been rounded up in one swoop.
At a time like this, who would contact him in this manner?
With this doubt in mind, Li Fan retrieved the communication talisman and probed it with his senses.
Moments later, his expression turned rather strange.
"Appointing me as the Acting Island Master of Wanxian Island, responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of the Congyun Sea immortal city.
"The location is directly above the former site of Wanxian Island.
"To be executed immediately without error."
Li Fan read it several times over before confirming that this was not someone playing a joke on him.
Chapter 493