Xu Bai's heart sank.
For according to his experience from his past life, once the countdown ended, one would be teleported straight out of this space.
If there was still no result by then, wouldn't his trip have been completely in vain?
According to the *Guidelines for Using the Yanfa Jade*, such occurrences were not unprecedented. One could only blame one's own greed, and no second chances would be granted.
However, looking at the little girl sleeping so soundly and sweetly, Xu Bai pondered for a moment and decided against rashly waking her.
Instead, he continued to wait in silent patience.
Even as the countdown drew closer and closer to zero, he remained utterly composed and did not make a sound.
When the countdown hit zero, just as the surrounding scene was beginning to turn illusory—
"Hold on a bit..."
The little girl, still deep in sleep, suddenly raised an impatient hand.
Just like that, Xu Bai watched the countdown before him—which had grown somewhat blurred—sharpen once more. Then it increased rapidly until it returned to two days before finally coming to a halt.
This time, the countdown did not vanish. Instead, it kept ticking incessantly before Xu Bai, seemingly serving as a final reminder.
*As expected, the gamble paid off.*
Xu Bai naturally ignored the countdown. Without the slightest change in his expression, he continued to gaze up at the Yanfa talisman sphere above.
*If my true body were to come here and record every minute change during this period with the Dao Transformation Stone, would that mean I could also record the arts deduced by the Yanfa Jade during this time?*
*Of course, it would merely be the sequence of character combinations. To learn the specifics of the cultivation method, likely only the Yanfa Jade itself knows the precise correspondence between the characters and the technique.*
In Xu Bai's mind, the plan to "kidnap the Yanfa Jade" was refined by a few more details.
Naturally, the plan's execution would certainly not be anytime soon.
Another day and a half passed, and the massive Yanfa talisman sphere gradually ceased its spinning.
The little girl jerked her head up, awakening from her deep sleep.
Faint dark circles had actually appeared beneath the eyes on her delicate, porcelain-carved face.
Rubbing her eyes, she let out a yawn and then said with no small amount of pride, "Done!"
She tapped lightly on the desk.
Countless tiny characters welled up from the tabletop, coalescing into a sheet of white paper that flew toward Xu Bai.
Catching it with solemn care, Xu Bai did not rush to read the newly deduced cultivation method. Instead, he bowed once again to the little girl. "Thank you for your hard work!" Xu Bai said in a gentle tone.
"Hahaha, it was nothing! I'm super strong, after all!" the Yanfa little girl said, yawning as she scratched her head proudly.
Xu Bai glanced at the countdown and said softly, "There is still half a day left. Please rest well for the remainder of the time."
Hearing this, the little girl's face instantly fell. "No way! I worked so hard to save up this vacation time. I have to spend it frugally.
"You'd better hurry up and leave.
"The next one is a Nascent Soul-grade deduction, so I can take the opportunity to slack off a bit."
Without treating Xu Bai like an outsider in the least, the Yanfa little girl giggled and spoke candidly.
She waved her hand in farewell to Xu Bai.
"I look forward to meeting you again next time." Xu Bai bowed slightly, firmly committing the contents of the paper in his hand to memory.
Then the countdown abruptly came to an end, and the surroundings turned illusory.
In the next instant, he found himself outside the black stele of the Protector Hall.
"How was the outcome?" asked the black-robed escorting cultivator.
"Extremely satisfactory." Reviewing the Dao Integration cultivation method deduced by the Yanfa Jade in his mind, Xu Bai nodded slowly.
"*Immortal-Sitting Art*..." A glimmer of marvel surfaced in his gaze.
The "Immortal" in *Immortal-Sitting Art* naturally did not refer to a True Immortal.
Rather, it meant an immortal cultivator.
The Dao Integration method that the Yanfa Jade had not hesitated to expend her own vacation time on—spending a total of three and a half days to deduce—was truly extraordinary.
It almost perfectly satisfied the requirements Xu Bai had set forth.
It retained [reaping without sowing] as its conceptual core, while elevating the cultivation ceiling to the Dao Integration realm.
With this, Li Fan would no longer need to worry about cultivation methods before looking forward to the Longevity realm.
At the same time, the *Immortal-Sitting Art* had also undergone improvements in certain aspects.
For example, the conditions required to receive cultivation feedback were lowered further.
Under the *Mountain-Sitting Art*, only when the favor granted to a cultivator reached a certain threshold would the practitioner receive feedback when that person made progress in cultivation.
The *Immortal-Sitting Art*, however, was different.
Even if it were merely a casual pointer, so long as a [karmic] connection existed, a corresponding wisp of cultivation would be generated and fed back into the practitioner of the *Immortal-Sitting Art* once the other party advanced. Even when the "favor" was minuscule, making this strand of returned cultivation negligible and almost ignorable, it existed nonetheless.
As the saying went: a drop of water's favor returned with a drop of water.
Beyond that, the *Immortal-Sitting Art* also strengthened the bond between the technique's master and the recipients.
Toward anyone who received Li Fan's favors, Li Fan could rely on the "karmic connection" to sense them through an obscure resonance.
The greater the favor, the stronger the resonance.
A life-altering kindness like "imparting dharma" would likely allow him to perceive their surroundings almost as vividly as [Formless Killing Intent], as if being there in person.
Li Fan could also leverage this endless stream of feedback cultivation to deepen his karma with the benefited cultivators.
Once it reached a certain level, he could even ignore spatial distance to exert a degree of spiritual influence over them.
...
Looking at the many marvelous aspects of the *Immortal-Sitting Art*, Xu Bai could not help the surge of excitement in his chest.
"Even if it falls short of true immortal arts, it is fully worthy of being called a [Good Fortune True Profound Art]!"
Even as excitement surged within him, the thought of claiming the Yanfa Jade for himself inevitably surfaced once more.
-----
"Brother Li? Brother Li!"
In the boundless white fog, the shouting by his ear brought Li Fan back to his senses.
"Did you hear any sounds nearby after all?" Huangfu Song asked.
Li Fan feigned listening intently, then shook his head slightly after a long moment.
"Distinguishing the strange sounds of these Lost Domains is simply too draining on the mind after all. Thanks entirely to Brother Li's abilities, we've already explored two lower-danger Lost Domains in succession.
"It's time to let him rest a bit! Huangfu, stop pressing him!" Dongfang Yao chided somewhat reprovingly.
Hearing this, Huangfu Song looked embarrassed. "My fault, my fault. I was just too excited!"
Connecting his divine sense to the Heaven-Measuring Mirror and seeing that their Qingxuan points had surged to fifteen thousand, Huangfu Song said gleefully, "Brother Li Fan's ability is truly extraordinary—he can actually hear sounds echoing through the fog.
"No matter how Dongfang and I try, we can't hear a single thing!"
"I said all along that Brother Li is reliable and well worth befriending!" Dongfang Yao praised repeatedly as well.
Li Fan smiled and shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly turned sharp.
Looking toward a certain direction in the white mist, his face changed slightly a moment later. "Danger! Dodge, quickly!"
Even as he spoke, he seized control of the Puxian True Boat, wrenching the vessel more than ten zhang to the right in an instant.
While Huangfu and Dongfang were still stunned, they saw an enormous black pillar of light shoot out from the depths of the white mist, arriving in a flash.
It grazed past the Puxian True Boat, roaring as it blasted onward into the distance.
Its might was so colossal that even the ageless white fog was blasted into a long, hollow cavity.
Chapter 709