Glimpsing the Path of the Dao Today

The design of the statue was exceedingly peculiar. Five faces, ten hands, all sharing a single body. Each face bore a distinct expression. One had lowered brows and eyes, radiating compassion for the world. Another wore a solemn, austere expression, glaring furiously straight ahead. Yet another had softly furrowed brows, looking delicate, pitiful, and endearing. But upon closer inspection, one could faintly discern an alluring, seductive charm of feigned reluctance and coquettish grace. It was Senior Sister Zhao. A sudden heat rose in Li Fan's chest, and a flurry of tender, sensual thoughts could not help but sprout within him. In a daze, he could even hear Senior Sister Zhao's soft whispers murmuring in his ear. "No, that's wrong!" A sudden alarm jolted Li Fan's mind, tearing him from the illusion, breaking him out in a cold sweat in an instant. When he looked again, where were all those vivid expressions? Upon the ten-handed statue were nothing more than five indistinct faces whose features could not be clearly discerned. "What is this?" Li Fan feigned composure as he held the ten-handed statue out. Seeing the five-colored statue in Li Fan's hands, the black-robed cultivator took on a look of religious fervor and explained, "This is a Manifest Heavenly Venerable Statue—and of the highest grade, no less. "It is a manifestation of the will of the five Heavenly Venerables. While one cannot directly obtain an audience with the Venerables through it, it allows one to establish contact with the Five Pivots Court. "The Heavenly Venerables rarely meddle in mundane affairs. Everything is governed on their behalf by the Five Pivots Court. "Whenever an operation of yours requires the cooperation of our Five Elders Association, you can transmit the information directly to the Five Pivots Court through the Heavenly Venerable statue. "It can only be used once. After its use, the statue will naturally vanish." ... Li Fan nodded slowly as he listened to the man's explanation. After scrutinizing the ten-handed statue once more, Li Fan stored it back into the Kongming Stone Mother. With the transaction concluded, Li Fan prepared to depart. "Fellow Daoist, please wait!" Yet the black-robed cultivator spoke up again, calling him to a halt. "What is it?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes, his expression turning unfriendly. The black-robed cultivator waved his hands in haste. "Haha, Fellow Daoist, do not misunderstand. In truth, there is another small favor we would like to ask of you. Naturally, the compensation will certainly not be lacking!" "What matter?" Li Fan's expression softened slightly as he spoke coolly. The black-robed cultivator handed over a slip of paper. Li Fan took it and saw several lines of fine script written upon it. The general gist was that roughly a year ago, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had excavated a slumbering cultivator from the ruins of the ancient Purple Cloud Sect. The Five Elders Association wanted to request that the Heaven-Overturning Society intervene to help ascertain this cultivator's true identity and current whereabouts. Purple Cloud Sect. The familiar words entered his vision, causing a slight stir in Li Fan's heart. "You call this a small favor?" Without showing any abnormality, Li Fan gave a cold snort. A flame surged from his fingertips, reducing the paper slip to ash. The black-robed cultivator smiled awkwardly. "We will do what we can. We cannot make any guarantees. The difficulty of this matter is by no means less than that of the formation diagram." Li Fan turned and strode away, leaving only that single sentence echoing through the secret chamber. Hearing those words, a pensive look surfaced in the black-robed cultivator's eyes. ----- On the return journey, Li Fan was extraordinarily vigilant. After all, he was currently carrying vast treasures on his person and had to remain on guard. Fortunately, the public security within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was fairly decent, and no incident of murder for treasure occurred. "Zhou Qing'ang" smoothly returned to Congyun Immortal City. Only when he was completely safe did an intuition register in his heart. The covenant transaction was complete. The stipulation in the covenant barring both parties from harming one another also expired at this moment. Immediately afterward, a lingering sense of loss welled up within him, as though something inside his body had vanished into thin air. Li Fan contemplated it for a long while, but he could not discern the exact form in which the power of the "covenant" existed. He could only shake his head and give up. Rather than rushing to inspect the gains of this transaction within the Kongming Stone Mother, Li Fan first pondered the request just made by the Five Elders Association. The moment he heard the words "Purple Cloud Sect" and "slumbering cultivator," the first name that flashed through his mind was "Zhang Qianmo." In fact, he had already known about the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals digging through ancient sect ruins everywhere in search of slumbering cultivators. Back in Anchor Year 11, when he had commissioned Jiao Xiuyuan to search for the Small Medicine King Cauldron and received no reply for a long time, he went to inquire in person. Jiao Xiuyuan had recounted the scene he had witnessed and shared his speculation. Li Fan had then asked him to help ascertain the ancient cultivator's identity. Regrettably, two years had slipped by without any news. From this, one could see the extraordinary nature of the matter. Jiao Xiuyuan faintly possessed the cultivation of the Dao Integration realm, and his avatars were scattered all across the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, making him extremely well-informed. Yet even he was powerless regarding this matter... "Perhaps it isn't necessarily Senior Brother Zhang. "Senior Brother Zhang cultivated the Purple Core Nirvana Method, undergoing constant reincarnation. Right now, he should have reincarnated as that 'Wu Chi'er.' "Such a supreme art would surely not have such a gaping flaw. "If his original body still remained in the world while he reincarnated, it would be no different from leaving his fatal weakness completely exposed." After analyzing the situation, Li Fan dismissed his previous conjecture. "Then besides Senior Brother Zhang, who else from the Purple Cloud Sect could have survived until this day?" Thinking back and forth, Li Fan could not arrive at any conclusion. One had to realize that during the ancient era, the Purple Cloud Sect had merely been a second-rate sect. There had been no Longevity realm powerhouses presiding over it, and even Dao Integration cultivators had numbered only a handful. According to the memories of Li Chen, whom he had once possessed, those elders of the sect really did not seem capable of crossing the vast span of eons and surviving to the present. "My true self has currently cast aside the identity of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator and carries no belongings, making it temporarily impossible to contact Jiao Xiuyuan. "Better to wait until after the great battle." Li Fan pondered for a moment and temporarily put the matter aside. He retrieved a piece of Humanity Stardust from the stone mother and placed it before him. Only after swallowing a Dao Comprehension Pill did Li Fan begin his inspection. The black stone appeared utterly ordinary, yet it radiated a silvery starlight. The moment he touched it with his divine consciousness, countless images flashed through his mind. It was a past tale of a female cultivator who, possessed of great perseverance, cultivated for five hundred years to ultimately make the man she loved change his heart. There was no need to dwell on the details; it was merely an ordinary, mundane tale of unrequited love in the mortal world. Except, unlike many conventional story endings, this female cultivator had ultimately paid the price of ascending into a star to make the male cultivator she harbored unrequited feelings for finally fall in love with her. And for the rest of his days, he would look up at the starry sky every day, weeping ceaselessly and consumed by remorse. Expressionless, Li Fan decisively switched to another piece. The story contained within this piece of Humanity Stardust was slightly more normal. It was of a cultivator who witnessed his closest kin, due to inadequate aptitude, remain forever incapable of expelling the miasma within their bodies. Barred from the path of cultivation, they had all exhausted their lifespans and died of old age within just a few decades. Witnessing this tragic scene, he made a grand vow to allow all people under Heaven to cultivate as they pleased. Unfortunately, this vision was far too grand, and he was long unable to realize it. Thus, he settled for the second best, shrinking the scope from "all people under Heaven" to "the people of my clan." This cultivator ascended into the firmament, and from that point on, geniuses emerged from his clan in endless droves. In less than a century, it leaped to become a premier, towering force in the region. "Reversing aptitude, is it...?" A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. Spiritual energy gathered in his palm, and he squeezed forcefully. The black stone instantly shattered to dust, and all of the silvery starlight was absorbed by Li Fan. In a flash, countless ineffable insights surged into his heart. The principles of Heaven and Earth were interwoven and entangled, woven into an immense net that formed the order by which Heaven and Earth operated. One of the threads shone with exceptional brilliance in Li Fan's eyes at this moment. It was within arm's reach; even the profoundly esoteric patterns upon it seemed vividly distinct. In the blink of an eye, this fine thread occupied Li Fan's entire vision. And the thread also expanded, growing as colossal as a pillar supporting the heavens. The wondrous aura emanating from it thoroughly entranced Li Fan. Many matters that had previously been difficult to comprehend were now instantly understood in a flash of lightning. Li Fan also discovered that countless threads seemed to extend from his body, connected to the colossal pillar. Gazing upon these faintly discernible, elusive threads, an epiphany suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind. Although in his current state he appeared to be a puppet manipulated by the "colossal pillar" through these fine threads, if one day his power became vast enough, he might very well use those threads as a conduit to reverse and wrench the colossal pillar itself. "Is this defying the principles of Heaven and Earth...?" Boundless joy surged into his heart. Even Li Fan's true body, in seclusion far away in the depths of the Congyun Trench, could not help but tremble with excitement. Through a hundred lifetimes of reincarnation, the Longevity method he had yearned for day and night was now right before his eyes. Although there was still a world of difference between understanding it and truly accomplishing it, and although what the Heavenly Venerables of this world achieved by defying the principles of Heaven and Earth was merely a pseudo-Longevity realm, his current harvest nonetheless filled Li Fan with an immense sense of fulfillment. His mind was completely immersed, oblivious to the passage of time. When the Humanity Stardust was fully consumed and he awakened from his epiphany, he felt only that the experience had ended far too soon. He savored the sensation blankly for half a day before finally collecting himself. Subconsciously checking the time, Li Fan was astonished to discover that what had felt like merely a brief moment had actually taken nearly a full year in the outside world. "No wonder powerhouses of the Longevity realm can't be bothered to manage mundane worldly affairs. Only now do I understand what it truly means when they say cultivation knows no time. "And this was merely an incomplete glimpse gained with the aid of Humanity Stardust. "If one could truly survey all the principles of Heaven and Earth and lose oneself within them, a single seclusion would probably consume decades of time." Li Fan could not help but sigh inwardly. After savoring the experience for a long time, Li Fan began to check on what had transpired in the outside world during the year he had spent in seclusion. Zhou Qing'ang's communication talisman was nearly bursting from the messages sent by He Zhenghao and the others. Li Fan was in no rush to reply, instead filtering and reviewing the key points. The Battle of Tianling Province had still not ended. However, it had eased considerably. As a result, cultivators were now able to learn some of the news returning from the battlefield. The effect of the Xuantian Spirit-Locking Formation diagram submitted by Li Fan was immediate and profound. Merely ten days after the conclusion of their transaction, during a moderate-scale encounter, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had attempted to repeat their old trick, using the Tianxuan Spirit-Sealing Formation to crush and slaughter the Five Elders Association's cultivator ranks. Yet little did they expect that the opposing side had long been prepared. A layer of crimson protective light surfaced over every single cultivator. Once the green and red merged, nothing unusual occurred at all. While the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals stood in utter shock and dismay, a brutal hand-to-hand battle began.