Three days later.
The Congyun Sea reverted once again to how it had looked right after Mo Sha wiped out everything.
Lava rampaged, and fissures pockmarked the expanse.
Meanwhile, the coil of thread in Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's hand emitted bursts of crystalline white light and vanished from the Xuanhuang Realm.
It reappeared within his own grotto-heaven.
Transforming into drops of spring rain, it fell upon the land.
And so Li Fan watched as signs of animal life began to emerge among the grotto-heaven's mountains, lakes, and forests.
Without any prior warning, fish, birds, and beasts suddenly popped up everywhere.
Only with the arrival of all these living creatures did true vitality begin to manifest in this grotto-heaven world.
In ordinary evolution, such an occurrence would never take place without hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.
Yet blessed by the power of a world's revival, it took merely the blink of an eye.
"This move is truly miraculous."
Li Fan could not help but marvel inwardly.
After all, in his previous life, the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven—nurtured for who knew how many years—had still been populated mostly by plant life, remaining an immense distance away from officially becoming a true "world."
Yet the grotto-heaven inside Sacred Embryo Xu Bai had achieved this in just a brief span of time.
After leaving the Congyun Sea, he still did not halt his footsteps in gathering the nascent changes of Heaven and Earth.
From then on, however, his work was more like patching and mending; no further earth-shattering transformations took place within the grotto-heaven.
Various changes merely unfolded quietly in corners where no one paid attention.
"I can't learn it. I really can't learn this," Li Fan thought, savoring time and again Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's method of extracting the revival's power.
Even though he had experienced the entire process firsthand, he was still completely mystified as to how the other party actually accomplished it.
This had clearly exceeded the level Li Fan could comprehend at present.
"Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators all use a grotto-heaven as the foundation of their cultivation. But directly devouring a small world? I've never heard of such a thing.
"Once he truly advances to the Soul Formation realm, there's no telling just how formidable his strength will be.
"And which anima of Heaven and Earth will he use for Dao Integration?"
Li Fan even found himself faintly anticipating it.
During Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's journey through the Xuanhuang Realm, there was another matter that caught Li Fan's attention.
Reasonably speaking, with Xu Bai's appearance and demeanor, wherever he went, he should have attracted the attention of other cultivators.
What was more, his actions of seizing the nascent changes of Heaven and Earth along the way should have drawn immense scrutiny.
Yet strangely enough, every single cultivator encountered along the journey ignored him entirely.
As if they couldn't see Sacred Embryo Xu Bai at all.
In broad daylight, hiding in plain sight!
"Such a divine ability would suit me wonderfully.
"It seems to blend into all things in Heaven and Earth..."
A long while later, Li Fan mused thoughtfully.
-----
While Sacred Embryo Xu Bai was on the verge of advancing to Soul Formation, Li Fan, on his end, was also close to smelting the "Di Yi Beast."
All the frozen exotic beasts in the Life-Sealing Treasure Box had been cast into the flames.
Li Fan had also added the flesh and blood of Chi Jiutou, along with essence blood of the Kunpeng.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Upon the Myriad Phenomena Furnace, every exotic beast carving burst into blinding radiance.
The metal furnace shook violently, creaks and groans ringing out from every seam.
As though at any moment it would buckle under the strain and blow apart.
"Another trump card prepared."
With rapid taps of his fingers, Li Fan laid down formations around the Myriad Phenomena Furnace, sealing it temporarily.
Then he stowed it away once more inside a separate storage ring.
Next, Li Fan took out some materials and began crafting clockwork puppets according to the methods from Tianyang's memories.
"The Luan Formula is my only possible means of disrupting the Longevity Heavenly Venerable's sight.
"Moreover, the Longevity realm powerhouses of this world seem keenly focused on the Luan Formula. So when the time comes, not only will I perform it personally, but it must also erupt simultaneously in various different locations.
"A classic case of seeing enemies in every rustling grass and crying bird!"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. In just a few days, a somewhat crude, pitch-black puppet was crafted.
It possessed virtually no intelligence, and its functionality was exceedingly simple: namely, when the critical moment arrived, to execute its preset command without being influenced by any external factor, or even by Li Fan himself!
"Executing the Luan Formula is immensely difficult even for my main body.
"Let alone these puppets.
"My only choice is to break apart the strokes of the character 'Luan.' When the time comes, the puppets can assemble them into the complete divine ability.
"If it were 'Luan' at full power, trying to divide it would likely be beyond my ability. But without demanding actual power—only aiming to imitate the aura of the 'Luan' character—it is certainly worth a try."
Li Fan divided his attention among several tasks: while monitoring and recording Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's activities, he continuously forged puppets with his hands while contemplating ways to deconstruct the Luan Formula.
Fortunately, with the secret technique Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation, multiple threads of thought caused no confusion.
……
In the Valley of Longevity.
Jiang Yushan unleashed a full-powered slash of black fiendish qi. It struck the newly reforged Medicine King Cauldron, only to be easily deflected by the eerie black glow blooming around it.
Jiang Yushan's brows knitted slightly, while Fang Zaiji beamed with triumphant pride.
"Sect Master, how do you like old Fang's handiwork? This new cauldron is truly solid as can be. I reckon even if the three of us joined forces, we wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on it.
"And that's relying solely on the sturdiness of its materials! If we actually activate the formations within and put up a full defense, it might truly withstand even an attack from a Longevity Heavenly Venerable!
"It's also thanks to your generosity, Sect Master, sparing no expense on all manner of heavenly treasures. Never in my life have I been so lavish when crafting artifacts," Fang Zaiji remarked with a sigh of emotion.
Xu Bai, having initially tested the Medicine King Cauldron's hardness, was extremely satisfied. "You've worked hard, Elder Fang."
"I've heard that recently, the small world where the Taiyan Sect resides was officially incorporated into the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. To highlight its role as a model example, Alliance cultivators are even permitted to tour it free of charge. Elder Fang, you've labored hard over this artifact refinement—why don't you come with me to take a look and see how things stand there?" Xu Bai said with a smile to Fang Zaiji.
As he spoke, ignoring the glance Liu San cast his way, he promptly stowed the now somewhat blackened Medicine King Cauldron away.
"The Taiyan Sect..." Fang Zaiji hesitated slightly. "They're a bit troublesome to deal with. Back when I was relentlessly hunted without a day of peace, it was disciples from the Taiyan Sect who intervened and divined my hiding place."
Xu Bai chuckled softly. "That's all in the past. Now that they have joined the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, and harbor no grudge against you, why would they hunt you?"
After Xu Bai put it that way, Fang Zaiji grew somewhat enticed. "I've heard the Taiyan Sect possesses a treasure called the 'Dao Transformation Mother Stone.'
"Within it, illusion and reality blur; through deduction alone, it remarkably gave rise to another real world. I've long heard its name, yet never had the fortune to see it..."
Xu Bai's eyes flashed. "Heh, I've heard of it too. That item is the Taiyan Sect's supreme treasure; seeing it won't be easy.
"Whether we can feast our eyes on it during this trip will depend entirely on fate."
Chapter 780