Mr. Bai had naturally already deduced that Li Fan had abandoned his physical shell and anchored his Avatar to an object.
The Wanling withered-branch puppets fleeing in every direction, the Medicine King Cauldron vaulting into the clouds, or even any stray item scattered across the scene might harbor a sliver of Li Fan's true spirit.
The optimal window to discern his whereabouts had passed. Now, even Mr. Bai could not tell where Li Fan had gone.
Fortunately... that was not why he had come in the first place. With a flick of his sleeve, a wave of power surged from him, gradually quelling the ripples of Chaos that permeated the Valley of Longevity.
Mr. Bai flew down into the valley, landing before a group of pale-faced yet resolute-eyed children.
Sweeping aside the rubble on the ground, Mr. Bai made no ceremony and sat cross-legged on the dirt. A faint, genial smile appeared on his face. "Come over, children. There isn't much time left."
His aura was tranquil and gentle, driving away the terror of the disaster they had just witnessed and causing them to relax involuntarily.
The children exchanged glances before obediently sitting down. This group, Gu Xinghan among them, were the very youths abducted by Fang Zaiji of the Medicine King Sect and subsequently taught the method of establishing the foundation with oneself.
Fang Zaiji possessed a secret technique granting keen discernment, so these young ones had terrifyingly exceptional aptitudes. Not a single one fell short of Zhang Haobo or the others from the Li Realm back then.
Originally, Li Fan had hoped to rely on them to comprehend the method of establishing the foundation with oneself and unravel the secret of realizing one's true self.
Afterward, the Terminal Disc would have been able to completely shield him from the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror. But things had not gone as planned; the situation in this life had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
Having noticed his own anomalies, Li Fan had been terrified by Mr. Bai. He had only scrambled to save his own skin, unable to wait for any of the children to succeed.
Fortunately, having synchronized Li Fan's memories, Mr. Bai knew of this as well.
"How has your cultivation of establishing the foundation with oneself progressed?" he asked gently, softening his tone as much as possible.
Like students facing a schoolmaster testing their studies, the children were somewhat nervous. For a moment, none dared to be the first to speak.
Fortunately, with Mr. Bai's continuous encouragement, they gradually chimed in one after another, clamoring over each other to share their insights.
Mr. Bai listened attentively, nodding slightly from time to time. Then he examined each child's physical condition in turn, a thoughtful expression surfacing on his face.
This scene fell into the eyes of the Medicine King Sect's three Dao Integration elders. Not long ago, once the Chaos domain had been dispersed by Mr. Bai, their cultivation had fully returned to normal. Yet cowed by his terrifying strength, they dared not act rashly.
Dismissing the other uninvolved disciples, they waited obediently off to the side, looking at each other in bewildered silence as Mr. Bai mingled earnestly with the children, their expressions deeply complicated.
They had no idea what this great figure was trying to accomplish.
"Old Fang, you're well-traveled and knowledgeable. Can you explain to me what on earth just happened?" Liu San asked via voice transmission, glancing once more at Li Fan's lifeless corpse.
"Need you even ask? Isn't it obvious? Our sect master provoked a great figure he shouldn't have, and was hunted down right to our doorstep!"
"Even after exhausting every trick, he couldn't resist in the slightest. To keep the Medicine King Sect from being dragged down with him, he made the righteous and resolute choice to atone with his death..." Fang Zaiji sighed with emotion. "I'm all too familiar with this sort of thing."
Jiang Yushan remained silent, while Liu San's eye twitched.
*Perhaps dying like this isn't so bad after all,* the thought suddenly crossed Liu San's mind.
Leaving aside the disparate thoughts harbored by the three Dao Integration elders, Mr. Bai seemed to have genuinely set aside everything else, discussing foundation establishment with oneself alongside the children with utmost patience.
He did not look down on them for their youth. Every word they uttered received a reply, and his manner was warm and approachable. Thus, within a short span, the children took a liking to him.
Moving from hesitation to eagerness, they chattered away, sharing the various difficulties and insights they had encountered while attempting to cultivate the method of establishing the foundation with oneself.
After hearing about each child's specific situation, Mr. Bai promptly offered tailored guidance and advice for every single one of them, encouraging them to try cultivating again. Soon, the children closed their eyes one after another and immersed themselves in cultivation.
Mr. Bai never took his eyes off them, watching every subtle change within the children with careful precision.
Under the present Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm, one had to borrow the wonders of heaven and earth to establish a Dao Foundation. The method of establishing the foundation with oneself seemed to remain within the framework of the new method, yet it had in fact broken free of those shackles, flying in the face of heaven. Consequently, before long, the children attempting it once more opened their eyes one after another.
Their cultivation had ended in failure yet again. Mr. Bai, anticipating this, was not in the least discouraged. Patiently, he inquired into the new problems each of them had run into this time.
After examining their physical conditions, he swiftly formulated improved cultivation plans once more. Watching this unfold from the side, Liu San and the others were shaken to the core.
"Teaching according to aptitude, treating all beings as equals."
"This..."
As ancient method Dao Integration elders of a sect, their vision was naturally discerning. They recognized in an instant just how astounding Mr. Bai's actions truly were.
Being able to cultivate oneself and being able to teach others to cultivate were two entirely different matters! What was more, this mysterious and extraordinarily handsome expert hardly seemed incapable of cultivating.
The three still dared not interrupt. A spark of inspiration struck Fang Zaiji; he produced an image-recording stone, intending to secretly record this lecture by Mr. Bai.
Such a minor motion naturally could not escape Mr. Bai's gaze. He turned his head and cast a slight glance their way. Liu San's breath caught in his throat, terrified that Fang Zaiji's action would anger this powerhouse.
Fortunately, Mr. Bai chose not to pursue it, merely continuing to instruct the children.
"He..."
"He is both teaching and learning," Jiang Yushan, who had remained silent all along, whispered via voice transmission, a flash of shock passing through her eyes as if she had realized something.
*Establishing the foundation with oneself...*
This mysterious foundation establishment method had originally been imparted to these children through Liu San before Li Fan's demise. Recalling the contents of the technique while listening intently to Mr. Bai's explanation, Liu San's eyes gradually brightened.
And so, Mr. Bai and this group of prodigies became teachers to one another. Using thirty-five subjects of differing constitutions, they continually experimented upon and refined the method of establishing the foundation with oneself. This heaven-defying technique, originally exceedingly difficult to practice, was being updated and iterated at an unimaginable pace.
Time flowed quietly by during this process.
At last... the first child to successfully establish his foundation emerged.
An indescribable aura descended upon the area. Gu Xinghan leapt to his feet, examining his completely renewed body, his young face flush with excitement. "Teacher—"
Before he could finish, the entire Valley of Longevity began to shake violently.
Mr. Bai reined in the smile on his face and shielded the children behind him. He raised his head toward the sky. "Have they finally tracked me down?"
Chapter 793