Master Yin's eyes, previously dim and desolate, suddenly brimmed with hope.
As if struck by sudden realization, he exclaimed, "I understand now!"
"The only dual ancient and new Heavenly Venerable of the Xuanhuang Realm, a person of such supreme perfection and goodness..."
"Must also be an individual of peerless intellect!"
Master Yin's voice grew louder and louder. "So that's how it is... That's how it is!"
"Back then, after he succeeded in defying natural principle and suffered the ravages of the immortal-mortal miasma, he didn't perish on the spot. Instead, his strength waned gradually."
"That period was more than enough for him to arrange numerous backup plans! All the doubts and riddles—perhaps the answers can all be found within those arrangements!"
"It must be so!"
Hearing this, Li Fan's heart stirred. *Mr. Bai's backup plans?*
He recalled his encounters in the Fallen Immortal Realm, where every single scene was tied to Mr. Bai's experiences from back then. It was clearly a form of guidance.
Deep within the Fallen Immortal Realm, the true goal Mr. Bai wished to convey must ultimately be concealed.
Perhaps even...
Li Fan thought of his 115th cycle, when Mr. Bai had achieved a degree of resurrection purely through the traces he had left behind in Heaven and Earth.
Who was to say that the true "Su Bai" might not, thousands of years later in the present day, achieve genuine rebirth through some method?
...
While Li Fan was deep in thought, Master Yin grew increasingly deranged before him.
"Yes! He is still waiting for me! I must go seek him out!"
The fissure down the center of Master Yin's body, formed from cultivating the method of establishing the foundation with oneself, became even more pronounced.
The other body concealed within Master Yin seemed to stir restlessly, as if yearning to crawl out from within.
Meanwhile, Li Fan's ears faintly caught the pitter-patter of rainfall.
At first it was very faint, almost like an illusion.
Soon, however, the downpour grew heavier, pouring down upon the earth like a torrential tempest!
Amidst this illusory deluge, the laboratory's stone floor began to soften.
It even turned to mud.
Li Fan remained calm on the surface, but he was already floating in midair, drifting back a short distance.
He removed himself from the muddy floor's reach.
Seeing countless arms squirming and reaching up from the ground, Li Fan's pupils constricted slightly.
Master Yin's body also began to twitch convulsively in a bizarre manner.
His voice turned intermittent and slurred.
Moments later, those pale arms swarmed toward Master Yin like fish swimming underwater.
The moment they touched Master Yin's body, they thrust forcefully into his flesh and blood.
At the point of contact, the arms dissolved.
They then burrowed into Master Yin's body.
*Pop...*
A sound like bursting bubbles rang out clearly.
Then, those tens of thousands of pale arms continued to surge rapidly toward Master Yin.
In an instant, Master Yin's body churned bizarrely, resembling boiling water.
Even the surrounding space warped slightly along with it.
Witnessing this terrifying sight, Li Fan's expression turned solemn.
By now, he could be considered well-traveled and knowledgeable, possessing strength on par with Dao Integration experts. Yet the anomaly occurring to Master Yin was something he had never witnessed in all his cycles of reincarnation, nor had he ever even heard of it.
Li Fan closed his eyes, and in that instant, the bizarre scenes before him seemed to vanish.
Everything was utterly tranquil, as though none of it existed.
Even the clamor in his ears ceased.
His divine sense could detect nothing either.
Opening his eyes once more, the horrifying spectacle immediately rushed back into view.
The "water" boiled with increasing violence, yet Master Yin, at the center of the event, wore an increasingly serene expression.
Like an eminent monk suddenly attaining enlightenment, all pain and confusion drained from him.
In this scene, the only constant was the rib belonging to Mr. Bai nestled against Master Yin's chest.
It was starkly incongruous, yet like an anchor line,
it firmly tied the increasingly ethereal Master Yin to the real world.
Master Yin glanced at the rib with a hint of reluctance, and then his gaze turned resolute.
He threw it toward Li Fan.
Catching the rib, the rain in Li Fan's ears grew denser for an instant.
Suddenly, as if crossing some critical threshold, all sound vanished.
In the absolute silence, a beam of light burst forth from Master Yin's body.
Beneath the radiance, a slit seemed to tear open through space.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, trying to peer into the white light.
Yet try as he might, all he could discern besides Master Yin were numerous faceless figures of varying heights floating in midair.
They seemed to be staring at Master Yin, urging him on.
The light grew increasingly blinding, finally drowning Li Fan's vision completely.
When the white light faded, Master Yin had vanished without a trace.
Li Fan pondered for a moment, then went to the underground chamber of Yinyin Island. He found that the corpses originally kept here had vanished as well.
In this lifetime, Master Yin had not chosen self-immolation.
Li Fan's few words had captured his attention, preventing Master Yin from going to the extreme of self-destruction.
Instead...
"He chose to return?"
The scene within the white light somehow brought that phrase to Li Fan's mind.
"The Rain of My Revival..."
Master Yin was strange through and through. Li Fan had previously searched for records regarding that downpour of countless corpses falling from the sky.
Yet aside from Master Yin, not the slightest trace or clue had ever been found elsewhere.
"He was not an anomaly, yet everything about him was bizarre."
"Even though he was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would have been difficult for me to kill him without employing the 'Chaos' formula."
Li Fan furrowed his brows as he recalled every scene of his interactions with Master Yin.
"Could it be..."
A theory surged in Li Fan's mind.
The *Mending the Heavens Record* described and explained the inner workings of a world's Heavenly Dao in detail.
The book had mentioned that, just as cultivators could cultivate and raise their realms by absorbing spiritual energy, a world itself could strengthen and elevate itself by plundering and devouring other worlds.
The Heavenly Physician termed this a world's "Feeding."
Yet just as humans left behind food waste when eating, a world's "Feeding" also left behind indigestible remnants.
Perhaps some law of the other world was incompatible with the native world, or perhaps it was a "foreign object" detrimental to the world's development and naturally discarded.
These "specters" of the old world would not integrate into the new world.
They could only exist forever in the crevices between worlds.
"Specters" were different from "anomalies."
Anomalies were byproducts of worlds merging; strictly speaking, they were still part of the native world.
Although they might appear incompatible with the native world's laws, over time, they were actually assimilating into the new world.
If millions or tens of millions of years passed—across a vast enough span of time—
anomalies could very well integrate completely into the native world.
"Specters," however...
Were existences utterly rejected by Heaven and Earth.
Even if the world were destroyed or time came to an end, the world would never turn back to consume them.
Reflecting on the phantom figures he had just seen, Li Fan pondered: *Could that be the congregation of world specters left behind after the Xuanhuang Realm devoured numerous other cultivation worlds?*
*The specters of old worlds do not wish to remain trapped forever in the cracks between worlds. They, too, dream of making a comeback one day.*
*Yet as the vanquished, they can only make small moves in secret. Perhaps Master Yin was chosen by these specters during an accident back then.*
*No wonder ordinary means couldn't kill him, yet he could be destroyed with the 'Chaos' formula...*
*Because he was equivalent to a fragmented world law.*
...
Li Fan continued his analysis according to the records in the *Mending the Heavens Record*.
"For some reason, Master Yin previously retained the imprint of the Xuanhuang Realm; his transformation was incomplete, leaving him as a half-human, half-specter entity. Just now, however, he threw himself completely into the specters' embrace."
"Hmm... as existences on par with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, they indeed possess the capacity to peer into all sorts of profound mysteries."
Given that Master Yin had already become somewhat obsessive and deranged, no action he took would surprise Li Fan.
Even Master Yin's deep obsession with Mr. Bai might not have been free from the subtle influence of the world specters.
"Hmph, mere scheming vermin scuttling in the dark. Nothing to fear."
Li Fan snorted coldly, paying them no mind.
This was not arrogance on Li Fan's part; rather, the only time these specters could truly pose a threat to the Xuanhuang Realm would be if the realm itself suffered severe devastation and teetered on the brink of annihilation.
Only when the Xuanhuang Realm weakened to its absolute lowest point would the world specters have even the slimmest chance to turn the tables and seize control.
Then again, by that point, even if the world specters somehow managed to triumph and reclaim the Xuanhuang Realm, what awaited them would only be continued destruction.
Simply put, the specters were like a virus that would only flare up and seize the body right before death.
When the moment of their outbreak truly arrived, nothing would matter anymore anyway.
"It's just a pity about Master Yin. His comprehension surpassed even mine. I was originally hoping he would help me deduce the method for the Hunyuan Golden Core."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
Looking across the island, Li Fan's eyes flashed, and in an instant, he destroyed every monster Master Yin had bred here.
As for Master Yin's collection in the underground chamber, Li Fan gathered it into the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens for safekeeping.
Across the entire island, the only living creature left besides Li Fan was the bizarre puppy with human hands for feet and wandering eyes covering its belly.
The beast's instincts were remarkably sharp; the moment Li Fan harbored a killing intent, it had trotted eagerly over to him.
Sticking out its tongue, it exerted every effort to curry favor.
Li Fan chuckled and spared the hound's life.
He drew it into the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens as well.
Leaving Yinyin Island, Li Fan pondered his gains on the return journey.
*As the Xuanhuang Realm's sole Heavenly Venerable under both the ancient and new methods, Mr. Bai's strength is undoubtedly beyond question.*
*He might even be the reincarnation of the former King of Profound Heaven...*
*No wonder Di Sanmo placed it dead center in the Museum of Divine Archives, and no wonder the Eternal Lingering Thought on his skull held such a powerful attraction for True Reversion.*
*An Eternal Lingering Thought surely contains one's obsession in life. What on earth was Mr. Bai's obsession?*
*Surely it couldn't be saving the Xuanhuang Realm, could it?*
Li Fan could not help but wonder.
Now that he understood the skull's true value, Li Fan was already scheming on how to claim Mr. Bai's cranium for himself.
*An Eternal Lingering Thought cannot be brought into True Reversion; it can only be absorbed on the spot.*
*Fortunately, I don't actually need to take Mr. Bai's skull. My goal is only the Eternal Lingering Thought attached to it...*
*As long as I can get close enough to the skull for True Reversion to complete the absorption, that will suffice.*
*Naturally, the entire process cannot alert Di Sanmo...*
*The best approach would be finding an excuse to lure him away from the Museum of Divine Archives...*
Turning it over in his mind, it ultimately came back to colluding with Mo Rubin.
*Di Sanmo would surely have to give the Dharma Transmitters some face.*
Li Fan sensed faintly that the number of cultivators practicing God Descends into Body had now reached a formidable figure.
It had already become a major headache for the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Mo Rubin had surely learned of this by now as well.
By sensing the experiences of his believers, Li Fan discovered that several distinct factions indeed existed within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' investigative teams.
"It seems it's time to make active contact with him."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly as he sent directive after directive through the Thought Fiend-Gods, swaying the minds of his believers.
Returning to the Spirit Wood Realm, Li Fan quietly waited for developments.
While waiting, he took out the *Mending the Heavens Record* to study once more.
"The *Mending the Heavens Record* is truly profound and vast."
"In the past, I never could have deciphered Master Yin's origins. Even across the entire Xuanhuang Realm, very few cultivators likely know of the existence of world specters."
"This highlights the importance of having guidance from a master."
Rereading the *Mending the Heavens Record*, new insights welled up in Li Fan's heart.
It was truly ever-fresh with each reading.
Chapter 961