Back when he had traveled through the Five Elders Association and the illusion shattered, Li Fan had briefly faced Senior Sister Zhao in that split second, feeling a chill in his heart as though confronting the vast heavens and earth.
The Heavenly Physician was strong indeed, but he had not given Li Fan that kind of feeling.
Even those colossal hands that had instantly suppressed Yufu and the Master merely made Li Fan feel his combat prowess was formidable, without representing a fundamental qualitative leap.
This was an instinctual perception within a cultivator's heart, unfathomably profound and beyond words.
Yet Li Fan faintly felt it had to be true.
"Regardless of whether the Heavenly Physician is currently in the Longevity realm or not, he has demonstrated combat strength sufficient to make those in the Longevity realm wary.
"Before a cultivator like this, no matter how much cannon fodder there is, it is completely meaningless.
"The five Heavenly Venerables will certainly not intervene personally either, so the war was called to a halt."
Li Fan pondered.
He wondered how this appearance of the Heavenly Physician would affect the course of the Xuanhuang Realm's history moving forward.
Suddenly, a strand of Formless Killing Intent that had been surveilling for a long time without any yield unexpectedly sent back a response.
"Hmm?"
Li Fan's mind stirred, and his attention instantly bridged hundreds of millions of li, falling upon Master Yin on Yinyin Island in the Congyun Sea.
Having studied the immortal-mortal miasma for so long, Master Yin seemed to have finally discovered something.
At this moment, he had collapsed to the ground, lost and helpless.
"No, no, no, I must be mistaken.
"This is simply impossible!"
Master Yin's face was filled with unmistakable horror.
As if he had discovered some truth he found utterly impossible to accept, he yanked viciously at his own hair, desperately trying to calm himself down.
"No, no, no!"
However, he could not control himself at all.
Whatever he had discovered seemed to have dealt a tremendous blow to his worldview, driving him nearly mad.
He slammed his head repeatedly against the ground, completely oblivious to the blood streaming down.
After an unknown amount of time, his face was a mangled blur of blood and flesh, his expression entirely obscured.
"I must be mistaken. How could there be such a person in this world?
"And how could he possibly be that kind of person!
"Start over!"
As if clinging to some hope of proving himself wrong, Master Yin scrambled to his feet, not even bothering to wipe away the blood and grime from his face.
He released several mortal test subjects once more, extracted the immortal-mortal miasma from their bodies, and resumed his research.
...
"This Master Yin is acting completely deranged. I wonder what he actually found."
Li Fan frowned slightly.
"Another riddler.
"I might as well just search his soul and get to the bottom of it!"
A flash of ruthlessness passed through Li Fan's eyes.
Yet soon, he forcefully suppressed this thought.
Although on the surface Master Yin had only Foundation Establishment cultivation, his person was shrouded in all manner of bizarre anomalies.
The possibility that he was playing the fool while hiding great strength could not be entirely ruled out. If Li Fan forcibly searched his soul, he might end up being countered instead.
"Better endure it!"
The Xuanhuang Realm was fraught with danger, hiding far too many concealed grand figures.
Having suffered consecutive setbacks from both Ruomu and the Heavenly Physician recently, Li Fan's cheek twitched. He couldn't help taking a deep breath to quell the restless agitation within him.
"Keep watching him, then. Hopefully I can glimpse the truth before he incinerates himself."
Over the next period of time, Li Fan first refined a new clone.
For this purpose, he specially returned to the seabed of the Congyun Sea and dug up the coffin containing Zhou Qing'ang once more.
Looking at Zhou Qing'ang, who remained immersed in an illusory dream, sleeping soundly with a faint smile on his face, Li Fan scoffed.
"Knowing nothing might truly be a blessing."
This time, he extracted several extra portions of essence blood and placed more spirit stones inside the stone coffin to sustain his life force.
Only then did he bury it once more.
Familiar with the process, he forged the clone once again.
However, everything his previous clone had carried on its person had turned to ashes.
Upon returning to Congyun City, some trouble would inevitably follow.
Overall, though, these were minor matters that did not affect the grand scheme.
While the clone hurried back to Congyun City, Li Fan's true body stood atop the sea surface, looking up at the firmament.
In his hand, the Heaven and Earth Qiankun Die suddenly appeared, lights and shadows shifting across its faces.
Before long, Li Fan understood.
"Just as previously predicted, it seems the date of the Crimson Flame Burning Sea will be drastically moved forward.
"..."
"The 'Tian' generation, is it?"
Li Fan pondered for a long time, ultimately shaking his head inwardly.
"Coming sooner is fine too; it will incinerate all traces.
"As for whether to release Mo Sha again..."
Li Fan recalled his previous plan regarding Master Tianyang.
"I'll ask him when the time comes.
"A lifetime of Soul Formation, or gambling on a chance at Dao Integration—let him choose for himself.
"Still, given his disposition of 'Tianyang bows to no one in this life,' I wager nine times out of ten he will choose the latter."
A moment later, Li Fan's thoughts paused.
"Previously, I always assumed that after refining Crimson Flame and successfully integrating with the Dao, facing Mo Sha would be certain death.
"Yet Tianyang is somewhat special. He has already died once.
"Right now, rather than a living being, he is more like a puppet attached with a sliver of Tianyang's obsession.
"He might not necessarily be devoid of a chance to escape with his life.
"Every time Mo Sha destroyed the world, it was confined within the scope of the Congyun Sea. If one were to flee far away..."
Li Fan was thoroughly tempted by the prospect of gaining an enforcer with Dao Integration combat power.
Originally, in Li Fan's mind, Mo Sha was an existence virtually synonymous with invincibility.
However, after witnessing the Heavenly Physician's true strength, that view had quietly shifted.
The Tian Sha broken sword had been able to wage a fierce, protracted battle against Mo Sha during the world's destruction.
This proved that Mo Sha was not truly unmatchable either.
"It's worth a try.
"Even if it fails, I lose nothing."
With that, Li Fan made up his mind.
Counting on his fingers, it was already Year 15 of the Anchor.
Crimson Flame would soon descend upon the world, so early preparations had to be made.
"Year 15 of the Anchor..."
A thought struck Li Fan. After pondering for a moment, he retrieved a communication talisman from his storage ring and contacted Jiao Xiuyuan.
Unexpectedly, Jiao Xiuyuan actually rejected the call.
After a short while, Li Fan tried contacting him again.
Jiao Xiuyuan refused once more.
Li Fan was not angered and persistently kept trying.
Just like that, after six attempts, Jiao Xiuyuan finally accepted the communication.
"Hmph, did Fellow Daoist Jiao strike it rich lately? Now you turn your back on old friends?" Li Fan scoffed.
"Not at all, not at all! I was tied up with something truly important just now and couldn't step away!" Jiao Xiuyuan said aggrievedly.
"Fellow Daoist Jiao, that excuse is rather clumsy. Who doesn't know you possess ten million avatars? If one clone is busy, could it be that ten million clones are all busy?" Li Fan said, full of disbelief.
"Hey, Fellow Daoist is truly unfathomable! How did you know I'm about to make a breakthrough lately?" Jiao Xiuyuan asked, somewhat surprised.
Li Fan fell silent for an instant.
"Heh heh, but this ascension is more difficult than anticipated. Without some other fortuitous encounter, I'm afraid it will take quite a long time," Jiao Xiuyuan said with no small amount of regret.
"Oh? How so?" Li Fan asked casually.
Chapter 600