Which cultivation technique should he practice?
For a time, Li Fan hesitated.
These were genuine immortal cultivation arts without a doubt, yet...
A shadow of gloom flickered across his eyes.
In the first illusion of Senior Sister Zhao he had experienced, he had cultivated the Heaven and Earth Mutual Conquest Rhapsody and the Soul-Severing Spirit-Illuminating Art.
Apart from their intrinsic properties, those techniques shared an extremely peculiar trait:
Once cultivated, they could never be abolished.
Not even the Taishang Sect's secret method, the Taishang Primordial Scripture, could undo them.
Furthermore, there was an even deadlier point.
All Profound Heaven Sect techniques seemed to carry a distinct imprint. No matter how thoroughly one concealed it, someone in the know could recognize it at a single glance.
In fact, the Profound Heaven Sect even possessed a secret art known as Usurping Heaven, which could not only strip away a person's technique and cultivation entirely, but could also graft and transfer the realm and power gained from practicing Profound Heaven Sect techniques to another.
Back then, he had merely been an ordinary cultivator who had stumbled into the illusion, so there had been no need for Senior Sister Zhao to deliberately falsify information regarding the Profound Heaven Sect.
Thus, it could essentially be regarded as true.
And that was where the strangeness lay.
Because among Ji Yuzhen's soul fragments, Li Fan had found no memories related to this.
Coupled with the near-perfect persona the King of Profound Heaven displayed...
It sent a genuine chill through Li Fan's heart.
This was also a major reason why Li Fan had always harbored suspicions about the King of Profound Heaven's "good man" identity.
Of course, it could also be that because Ji Yuzhen's divine soul had been incomplete, some memories had simply been lost.
Regardless, Li Fan had to remain vigilant against these Profound Heaven Sect techniques.
After all, these were not unique copies he had unearthed firsthand. They had been passed down by the King of Profound Heaven and then relayed through Senior Sister Zhao.
With their realm of cultivation, if they had tampered with the techniques, Li Fan would have had no way of noticing.
"My only goal is merely to put up a convincing disguise."
...
Li Fan pondered for a moment, and an idea soon formed.
"Perhaps I can use the Yanfa Jade to deduce a technique with similar external characteristics but an entirely different core."
"Doing so might carry some risk. But I can use the Sacred Blood Embryo Transformation Method to craft another avatar to test it out."
"If it fails, only then will my true body take the risk of cultivating it."
"Though after the next True Reversion, that cultivation won't be retained."
Li Fan's decision might have seemed like making a mountain out of a molehill, yet he knew full well that in matching wits and strength against these old monsters of the Xuanhuang Realm, one could never be too cautious.
A single lapse in vigilance could easily plant the seed of ultimate ruin.
Of course, in any case, the gains from this venture into the Dadao Sect were by no means small.
Even if he could not practice them freely for now, these true immortal techniques had broadened his horizons, showing him that cultivation arts could be so profoundly miraculous.
And secondly...
Once Li Fan's strength gradually grew and he unraveled the secrets of the Profound Heaven Sect, these techniques could truly be converted into nourishment for his own cultivation.
Taking a deep breath, he suppressed these techniques into the depths of his mind for the time being.
Following his plan, Li Fan directly activated the Sacred Blood Embryo Transformation Method.
He still had leftover materials from the last time he had plundered the Empire, and before long, a body bearing an uncanny resemblance to Li Fan appeared before him.
The avatar Li Qing possessed no memory of the Sacred Blood Embryo Transformation Method, and a trace of astonishment showed in his eyes.
As usual, Li Fan modified the sacred embryo's memories and divine soul.
With his prior experience, his movements were even more adept and fluid.
Before long, Sacred Embryo Li Fan opened his eyes.
The greatest weakness of the Sacred Blood Embryo Transformation Method had originally been that the formed sacred embryo possessed only a mortal body without any cultivation.
It required cultivating from scratch, step by step.
Without earth-shattering talent like Mr. Bai's, it was practically useless.
In this lifetime, however, with the existence of the faceless stone statue, Li Fan could easily bypass this drawback.
Grabbing the sacred embryo, Li Fan flickered and appeared before the faceless stone statue.
As usual, countless scenes surged in like a tidal wave.
Yet the strongest and most sincere among them was no longer Su Yuqing.
It had become He Zhenghao!
"Compassionate True Immortal of the Mortal Realm above! Bless me so that I may recall more details of the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation..."
He Zhenghao prayed continuously and devoutly in his heart.
From the rapidly flashing scenes, Li Fan instantly learned what had happened to him recently.
Just as Li Fan had anticipated, after he had used the faceless stone statue that day to transmit the contents of the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation into He Zhenghao's mind, He Zhenghao had offhandedly raised various conjectures regarding the formation at the headquarters of the Formation Planning Hall of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, immediately drawing enormous attention.
He himself had been treated as a rare genius of the formation dao, and his status and circumstances had transformed at once.
He Zhenghao had also continually handed over the inspirations that cropped up in his head from time to time, hoping to trade them for a higher position.
Yet a problem had soon followed.
He Zhenghao's talent in the formation dao was decent, but there was still a massive gulf between him and independently deducing a formation of the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation's caliber.
Even when he knew the complete structure of the diagram, he remained largely ignorant and baffled regarding the formation's true underlying mysteries.
He Zhenghao was shrewd enough not to hand over the entire content all at once.
He only refined parts of it from time to time to stall as much as possible, intending to take the opportunity to master the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation on his own.
Yet as the days passed and his progress remained agonizingly slow, He Zhenghao finally came to a realization.
The chasm between himself and this Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation was far too wide and deep.
Relying on himself alone, it was utterly impossible to fathom the formation's true essence.
Thus, he had placed his sole hope upon the Compassionate True Immortal of the Mortal Realm.
Every day, while appearing to painstakingly deduce the formation, he was actually repeating prayers in his mind over and over.
His level of devotion had surpassed that of all other Federation members.
Having grasped the full story in a heartbeat, Li Fan could not help but shake his head faintly.
Still, He Zhenghao was someone he was relatively familiar with, and Li Fan still needed him as a pawn to draw Mo Rubin's attention, so he would not stand by and let him flounder.
With a thought, vast amounts of annotations and treatises concerning the Profound Heaven Spirit-Sealing Formation flooded continuously into He Zhenghao's mind.
The impact of such an enormous volume of data was so overwhelming that He Zhenghao could not endure it all at once and drifted off into a groggy slumber.
There was nothing noteworthy among the other believers. Sacred Embryo Li Fan looked toward the faceless divine statue and began to pray sincerely, just like the other members of the Federation.
Before long, Li Fan sensed a mysterious connection established between his true body and the sacred embryo, relayed through the faceless divine statue.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes. The next moment, a massive amount of cultivation was poured into the sacred embryo's body.
In an instant, the sacred embryo's originally mortal flesh underwent an earth-shattering transformation.
Chapter 930