It was still Anchored Year 1!
It was still the summit of Mount Jieli!
An invisible ripple erupted from Li Fan, who was at the mid-Golden Core stage.
Though his eyes remained somewhat bloodshot, that gnawing sense of hunger had indeed weakened considerably!
Well prepared, Li Fan immediately circulated the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation.
Once again, he silently fought against this deadly hunger.
The hunger had only been reduced by a fraction, but for Li Fan, the relief was immense.
Looking back on the eight years of the previous lifetime, he honestly did not know how he had endured it.
Had it not been for the aid of the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation and his obsession with Longevity, he likely would have abandoned all restraint long ago and devoured everything within this Great Xuan pocket world down to the last scrap!
Li Fan did not know what consequences doing so would bring, but he had a faint premonition that if he truly went that far, his fate would be no better than that of the corpse resting upon the Immortal Ruins!
With the experience of eight years of torture behind him, Li Fan's endurance was far greater as he faced this hunger, now weakened by a layer. While wrestling with it, he was finally able to spare some thought for other matters.
*It still doesn't diminish with the passage of time... It seems I can only rely on True Reversion to reduce its effects,* Li Fan thought to himself.
Because his chosen inheritance option this time was to accelerate the recharging process, True Reversion was fully recharged by Anchored Year 4.
Relying on sheer willpower, Li Fan kept his thoughts clear while flying to the Tomb of Yi Yin to absorb the Dao Transformation Stone. Only then did he trigger True Reversion.
Returning once more to Mount Jieli in Anchored Year 1, Li Fan found that his eyes were no longer bloodshot.
Even without circulating the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation, he could suppress the hunger through his own willpower alone.
"The degree of reduction has increased considerably."
"Yet it still lingers."
"It seems I must do this once more."
Li Fan could not help narrowing his eyes. "Four consecutive True Reversions will be needed to completely eliminate the negative effects."
"Is this the price of facing a True Immortal directly?"
Without a doubt, the corpse he had seen in the Immortal Ruins was a legendary True Immortal.
In fact, since that entity had opened its eyes, whether it was even truly dead was difficult to say.
After all, everything Li Fan had experienced demonstrated the terror of a True Immortal—such beings simply could not be measured by common sense.
*Just like the mark left on me after being swallowed for ten years in Yuandao Province back then.*
*There truly are things in this world that can continue to affect me even after I activate True Reversion.*
*Yet this does not mean the presence looming above Yuandao Province, or the so-called True Immortal, possesses a status exceeding True Reversion.*
*It is merely because I am the carrier of True Reversion.*
*Since my memories are not erased during the reversion process, True Reversion is not absolute or purely detached either.*
*These negative factors can only persist past reversion because they accompany me.*
*Just like the Dao Transformation Stone crystal in my mind. In each lifetime, there is no need for special preservation—as long as it achieves Spirit Unity with Dao Transformation with me, its growth is carried back to the set anchor.*
*My divine sense and soul are the same.*
*Although the actual growth is similarly diminished after True Reversion, this is also the fundamental reason I can grow stronger with each cycle of reincarnation.*
Li Fan suppressed the hunger purely through willpower while slowly pondering.
Distracting his attention also proved remarkably effective in breaking free from the hunger.
Reflecting on his experiences from three lifetimes ago, Li Fan considered his future plans.
He had witnessed Chuanfa take action.
He had also seen the power of a True Immortal.
As his horizons broadened, Li Fan's course of action had to adapt accordingly.
Soon, it was Anchored Year 4 once again.
After absorbing another low-grade Dao Transformation Stone—making the crystal in his mind shine even brighter and more resplendently—Li Fan triggered True Reversion once more.
When he returned to the summit of Mount Jieli this time, neither his body nor his mind felt the slightest abnormality.
Not daring to let his guard down, Li Fan inspected himself thoroughly from head to toe.
He also circulated the Purple Dawn Noble Will to cleanse his soul, eliminating every possible hidden hazard.
In this manner, a full year passed.
At the edge of the cliff on the mountain summit, Li Fan looked out over the sea of clouds toward the morning sun radiating myriad streaks of purple light and slowly exhaled.
"Several reversions, adding up to just over ten years."
"Yet it truly feels like a lifetime away. It seemed even longer than the hundred lifetimes spent on Foundation Establishment."
*"Hunger"...*
The incredibly intricate glyph etched across the barren plains of the Immortal Ruins instantly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
Not daring to make any reckless attempts, he merely contemplated it in his thoughts.
*In the white mist, upon the broken stone at the center of the Contorted Lost Domain, I saw the character "Chaos."*
*And upon the Immortal Ruins, there actually exists the character "Hunger."*
*This "Hunger" is very likely the ultimate reason why the Immortal Ruins incessantly attracts external matter.*
*An immortal method?*
*Isn't that a bit too terrifying?*
Li Fan's eyelid twitched slightly.
Settling his mind, he felt a faint sense of discrepancy.
*The character "Hunger" in the Immortal Ruins was an intricate glyph. Though its exact construction was incomprehensible, the moment one laid eyes upon it, its meaning became instinctively clear.*
*Yet the character "Chaos" in the lost domain within the white mist was written in the standard script commonly used throughout the cultivation world.*
*The character "Hunger" could plunge countless cultivation worlds into utter ruin.*
*Whereas around the character "Chaos" I encountered, even contorted monsters that hadn't reached Dao Integration could survive...*
Li Fan pondered, and the realization struck him in an instant: *It wasn't the original "Chaos."*
*Rather, it was an imitation created by someone after witnessing the immortal method "Chaos."*
Arriving at this answer, Li Fan fell silent.
Even the clumsy, third-hand imitation he wielded could stir up considerable turmoil in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Then what about the true character "Chaos"?
The "Chaos" that stood on equal footing with the "Hunger" atop the Immortal Ruins—just how terrifyingly powerful would that be?
Even an immortal was suppressed beneath a single character of "Hunger," their life or death unknown.
The severing of the immortal path.
The inexplicable loss of contact with other cultivation worlds.
Could all of this be related to "Chaos"?
In an instant, Li Fan sank into endless speculation.
This time, he had learned too much. It had exerted an influence that exceeded the limits of his current horizon, which in truth was not a good thing.
After all, he still had no idea how to counter even the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, let alone a True Immortal who stood above Heavenly Venerables.
"I cannot aim too high too fast."
"I must take things step by step—first finding a way out of the mortal crisis facing the Xuanhuang Realm before anything else."
Only after a long while did Li Fan pull himself together, thinking with a hint of melancholy.
Chapter 800