Under normal circumstances, the sleeping cultivators inside the Medicine King Cauldron would have been protected by the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation. Li Fan would have had to expend considerable effort to achieve his goal.
However, having forcibly broken away from the Immortal Ruins, the formation had been compromised to some extent.
More importantly, Li Fan knew that a Medicine King Sect cultivator named Linghu Chang had not managed to fully integrate into the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation in time.
The room he occupied was not completely sealed; a faint gap remained.
If Li Fan could seize the memories in his mind, the Medicine King Cauldron would be virtually undefended against him.
As for the cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage, he would simply leave them undisturbed to sleep on.
Those below the Nascent Soul stage could be suppressed and executed one by one using his Insect Binding divine art if necessary.
Of course, even if each of these Medicine King Sect disciples possessed numerous magical artifacts and medicinal pills, such worldly possessions were practically of little use to Li Fan now.
What he truly cared about was the Medicine King Cauldron itself, capable of traversing the void.
Along with that set of beacons within the Medicine King Sect that led to another cultivation world.
"Even if the Immortal Ruins prevent me from escaping the Xuanhuang Realm for now, the day will come when I must leave this place.
"Securing the beacons now is merely preparing for a rainy day."
Furthermore, Li Fan had traveled thousands of li to this place for another reason.
He wanted to witness the existence of the Immortal Ruins with his own eyes.
Li Fan looked up at the sky, calmed his mind, and waited for the Medicine King Cauldron to arrive.
In the intervals of his waiting, he sensed the unique Immortal-Suppressing Force of the Abyss of Cangwu, inwardly marveling at the wondrous mysteries of creation.
Unlike restrictions and formations that weakened a cultivator's strength, this Immortal-Suppressing Force seemed more like a downscaling of one's realm.
With his current early Nascent Soul cultivation, although his strength did not appear restricted, he could only display power equivalent to the Golden Core stage.
"It truly is bizarre. It's like a mortal entering a land of giants—though his own height hasn't changed, compared to his surroundings, he is unquestionably a dwarf."
Just as Li Fan was marveling to himself, the architectural ruins floating around him began to move slowly with creaking groans, as though stirred by a breeze.
They drifted straight toward where Li Fan stood.
Without any warning, they seemed to possess a life of their own, thoroughly uncanny.
Li Fan frowned slightly. Rather than destroying the ruins, he chose to step aside.
Yet, just as the shattered walls and broken ramparts brushed past him, Li Fan seemed to notice something, his gaze sharpening.
In a flash, he landed upon one of the stone pillars.
Having weathered countless eras, the patterns carved into the stone pillar had long become blurred and indistinct.
Even the pillar itself had mostly eroded away.
However, possessing the secret art Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, Li Fan could firmly imprint every past experience in his mind.
Thus, even with only fragmented, incomplete lines remaining, the design upon the pillar still looked familiar to him.
"This is..."
A strange look appeared in Li Fan's eyes.
He compared the carvings before him against what he had seen in his memories.
Not a hair's breadth of difference!
Li Fan looked up once more toward the vast ocean of architectural ruins floating within the Lost Labyrinthine City, feeling a wave of astonishment.
"Could these buildings all have come from within the mist?"
In the Lost Domain where he had obtained the "Chaos" art, Li Fan had seen twelve massive ruins.
The carvings upon the architecture in those ruins were identical to those here.
Li Fan recalled the origin of the Abyss of Cangwu once more.
On a certain day in a certain year, all the mountains and rivers of Cangwu Province vanished in a single night, leaving behind only this abyss shaped like a footprint.
Li Fan could not help but look toward the bottom of the abyss.
Dark and profound, without an end in sight.
"Does Cangwu Abyss connect to the depths of the white mist?
"In ancient times, the Essence-Devouring White Mist did not exist in the Xuanhuang Realm. Yet now, the white mist cuts across and divides the entire world...
"Where on earth did it come from? And what were the identities of those cultivators who died so horribly, whom I encountered in the Lost Domain within the white mist?"
In an instant, countless questions flooded Li Fan's mind.
Yet before he could ponder them thoroughly, a meteor streaked across the night sky, instantly illuminating the heavens.
"It's here!"
Li Fan looked up to see a thin streak falling straight toward his position.
At the same time, an inexplicable tremor surged in his heart.
It felt as though he were confronting a natural predator, or facing a horrifying catastrophe.
An instinctive dread filled him, and his body trembled faintly, uncontrollably.
Li Fan knew this was the lingering aura of the Immortal Ruins clinging to the Medicine King Cauldron, which had barely escaped disaster.
Moving slightly away from the impact site, Li Fan never took his eyes off the fiery meteor in the sky.
The Medicine King Cauldron fell with immense speed. In just a few breaths, it plunged from the sky to the ground, diving straight into Cangwu Abyss.
After entering the abyss, its descent gradually slowed, and the flames coating its exterior slowly extinguished.
Sensing the aura of the Immortal Ruins, the creatures within the abyss instinctively scattered in panic, clearing a path for it.
At the exact same spot as in his previous life, the Medicine King Cauldron came to a steady halt.
After transmitting an inexplicable distress signal to the outside world, the Medicine King Cauldron grew increasingly transparent until it vanished into thin air.
Li Fan was in no rush to act. Only after the aura of the Immortal Ruins clinging to the cauldron had completely dissipated did he drive the Small Medicine King Cauldron to enter within.
With the exploration experience of Xiao Heng and the others from his previous life, Li Fan encountered no obstacles along the way, arriving before Linghu Chang's ajar door.
At this moment, Linghu Chang lay prostrate on the ground, sound asleep.
"Early Nascent Soul as well. But..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, and the phantom of the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens instantly surfaced behind him.
The power of his grotto-heaven domain locked Linghu Chang down like chains.
After collecting all the items on his person, Li Fan circulated his strength.
A moment later, before he could even utter a scream, Linghu Chang's body was pulverized into dust under the tremendous weight of the grotto-heaven.
Meanwhile, under Li Fan's precise control of force, the Nascent Soul in his dantian was spared any harm.
With his body destroyed, the slumbering Linghu Chang snapped awake in an instant.
Looking down at his tiny, baby-like purple body, how could he not understand what had happened?
"Just who are you?!"
Linghu Chang glared at Li Fan, his voice thick with half hatred and half terror.
His only answer was a flash of purple lightning before his eyes.
"The Purple Cloud Sect..."
Linghu Chang's voice was filled with utter disbelief.
The next instant, he lost consciousness and blacked out.
A long while later, having fully absorbed Linghu Chang's memories, Li Fan swept his sleeve, stowing the Nascent Soul away to suppress it within his grotto-heaven for the time being.
Venturing deeper, he reached the innermost part of the Medicine King Cauldron and stood outside the Gate of Life and Death, falling into deep contemplation.
"Once the Gate of Life and Death falls, even a Dao Integration expert would find it difficult to breach.
"Only the Azure Longevity Force, manifested through cultivating the Medicine King Sect's true heritage, the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity, can reverse the Gate of Life and Death in an instant to grant entry.
"The Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity, a Dao Integration method."
If an ordinary cultivator suddenly obtained a Dao Integration technique, they would likely be so thrilled they couldn't sleep all night.
Yet Li Fan's heart remained completely undisturbed.
Although the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity was a Dao Integration method, its path of practice focused on healing the world and saving lives.
Saving others was saving oneself; the more people one saved, the faster the cultivation progressed.
Even breaking through cultivation bottlenecks required meeting quotas for saving lives.
Its compatibility with Li Fan was extremely low, making it pointless to switch methods.
Nevertheless, it was still a Dao Integration method, and its value was undeniably high. All he had to do was slaughter every member of the Medicine King Sect, and the technique would become a sole surviving copy known only to him. But there was no need for that. These people from the Medicine King Sect had a more important use.
The main issue right now was that far too many people were cultivating the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity—a full four hundred and sixty-two individuals.
When Li Fan attempted to circulate the technique, the spiritual energy in his body seemed entirely blocked, making not the slightest stir.
Even getting started was virtually impossible.
After a moment of silence, an idea struck him.
Drawing on Linghu Chang's memories, Li Fan located the chambers of several Medicine King Sect disciples at the Golden Core stage.
Breaking in, he forcibly extracted a portion of the Azure Longevity Force from their bodies.
He then merged these forces together, condensing them into an energy vessel.
Sending a wisp of divine sense into the azure energy vessel, Li Fan stretched his limbs, taking a moment to adapt.
"The Azure Longevity Force is constantly leaking out; it won't last long. But it should be enough."
With a thought, the energy vessel condensed into the shape of a green Nascent Soul.
Li Fan plunged headfirst into the Wall of Life and Death.
As if passing through a gray membrane, Li Fan caught sight of his surroundings in the next moment and momentarily thought he had flown out of the Medicine King Cauldron back into the Abyss of Cangwu.
Everything displayed around him looked identical to the outside of the Medicine King Cauldron.
It turned out this was because the inner walls of the cauldron had become completely transparent.
Only two skeletons were present in the area.
One stood upright; the other lay on the ground.
"The standing one should be Liu Ruchen. The one on the ground should be Old Huang.
"To break free from the Immortal Ruins, Liu Ruchen had no choice but to sacrifice the life essence of some cultivators in the sect."
Li Fan thought back to what he had witnessed in his previous life.
"Only bones remain; they shouldn't still be alive."
Li Fan slowly approached Liu Ruchen.
As he reached the remains of Liu Ruchen, an illusory figure suddenly appeared beside him.
Li Fan was startled for an instant, but quickly realized the figure possessed no life aura—it was merely a projection.
The Azure Longevity Force continuously leaking from Li Fan was absorbed by the phantom.
As if some form of verification had passed, the phantom finally spoke after a moment: "Disciples of the Medicine King Sect, hear my decree.
"When you see this projection, I will have already fallen.
"I was wrong.
"I foresaw the arrival of the Great Cataclysm, but never imagined that something even more terrifying existed above our Xuanhuang Realm.
"The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao clearly knew everything, yet they sat by and watched us wait for death.
"This grudge is irreconcilable!
"Yet you must remember: the Ten Sects are too powerful to contend with directly. Once you return to the Xuanhuang Realm, take refuge in the Valley of Longevity for now, and preserve our strength as much as possible. Wait until the cataclysm has fully passed before acting as circumstances dictate.
"After my death, my son Liu Yihang shall temporarily act as sect master, assisted by the elders. Once he breaks through to Soul Formation, he may officially succeed as the master.
"In this moment of crisis, this juncture of life and death, there must be no more infighting!"
...
The phantom recited Liu Ruchen's last words mechanically while Li Fan stood in place, listening in silence.
A long time later, once the final testament was fully delivered, the phantom dissolved into specks of starlight and vanished.
Only a glowing rhomboid crystal remained in its place.
Li Fan knew that this was the control core of the Medicine King Cauldron.
It had originally been meant for Liu Yihang, but with his foreknowledge, Li Fan had claimed it first.
Using the control core, the energy vessel opened the Wall of Life and Death, and Li Fan stepped into the main control chamber.
Spending seven days refining it, Li Fan took complete control of the Medicine King Cauldron.
Although many functions could not yet be used due to the lack of Azure Longevity Force, most of the basic functions were fully operational.
Li Fan pulled up the footage recorded by the Medicine King Cauldron.
It was identical to what Xiao Heng and the others had seen in his previous life.
In the endless void, the orb of light representing the Xuanhuang Realm appeared so minute.
And above it, the Immortal Ruins, seeming poised to swallow everything, looked utterly terrifying.
The footage continued to play.
Having flown out of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Medicine King Cauldron fell uncontrollably toward the Immortal Ruins.
Even as countless radiances erupted from the cauldron's body in an effort to break free from the ruins' gravitational pull, it could not escape.
It drew closer and closer to the Immortal Ruins.
Complete ruin seemed imminent.
Just then, countless specks of different lights suddenly surged from within the cauldron, as if granting it boundless propulsion in an instant.
Amidst continuous roars, the Medicine King Cauldron altered its trajectory.
Yet Li Fan's entire attention was now riveted upon the image of the Immortal Ruins recorded by the cauldron.
Perhaps because it had drawn close enough, Li Fan was able to make out the hazy visage of the Immortal Ruins.
Across the desolate earth lay endless shattered walls and broken ramparts.
Among them, a towering figure seemed to stand erect.
Silently watching the realm below.
Chapter 607