The Silk Pulling divine ability was something Li Fan had comprehended when he had been transformed into a thread figure within the Root of Heaven and Earth. Tracing things back to their origin, it returned existence to the primordial void before the birth of heaven and earth.
In Li Fan's vision, the crisscrossing threads weaving together the Genesis Stone Slab grew ever denser.
This also indicated that this supreme treasure of heaven and earth was about to fully take form.
Guiding the process, Li Fan attempted to join the threads drawn out from Sima Changkong with the Genesis Stone Slab.
In truth, Li Fan had little certainty about whether this would work; after all, this was also the first time he had witnessed the true Genesis Stone Slab forming.
Even so, it would be a tremendous waste to stand by and watch it vanish before his eyes.
It was worth a try!
To Li Fan's pleasant surprise, as the threads Sima Changkong had transformed into drew near, a pulling force seemed to emanate from the stone slab without any need for deliberate manipulation.
The threads tightened rapidly and were continually drawn into the weave forming the slab.
Like a ball of yarn emptied in an instant, Sima Changkong's physical body completely dispersed.
And the flickering, shimmering stone slab seemed to be tinged with a speck of dust.
On guard, Li Fan retreated a short distance to a safe position and observed attentively.
Like fallen leaves returning to their roots or ripe fruit dropping to the ground, once the slab was created anew by heaven and earth, no strange phenomena manifested around it. Ancient and blue-gray, the stone slab bore no trace of being an extraordinary treasure. It floated quietly in midair.
Perhaps due to the tether of the threads Sima Changkong had become, the Genesis Stone Slab did not depart for anywhere else.
It remained here within this mountain temple; it appeared Li Fan's attempt had succeeded.
Yet what struck Li Fan as peculiar was that Sima Changkong did not reveal his form.
Had he simply vanished, or...
"Did he fuse into one with the Genesis Stone Slab?" Li Fan speculated inwardly.
Even as Li Fan kept watch in secret, a new change occurred on the Genesis Stone Slab.
Dense, blood-red characters suddenly surged across the slab, and then these characters flowed like fresh blood, turning into gentle rivulets.
Then the blood characters grew more and more numerous, and the gentle streams gradually swelled into a surging river,
blanketing the entire slab.
A blinding crimson glow suddenly erupted. When Li Fan looked again, he discovered that an entire face of the slab had actually turned like a page of a book, hovering as an illusory cover over the stone!
"This is..." Li Fan's pupils constricted.
The stone slab's transformation continued.
Page after page of stone covered in blood-red characters flipped continuously like paper, faster and faster. The original body of the stone slab grew thinner and thinner until, finally, when the transformation was complete:
A stone book radiating a faint blood-gold glow appeared before Li Fan!
Compared to the Genesis Stone Slab before, this stone book carried a more sacred, weathered, and ancient aura.
The phenomenon gradually subsided, and the radiant light cast by the stone book slowly withdrew inward.
It hung placidly in midair.
However, Li Fan keenly sensed that the stone book seemed to be fading away. Not disappearing or shifting locations, but concealing itself.
"I'm afraid that in this lifetime, the Sima family's Bloodline Historical Records will no longer exist in this world."
"Replaced by this Genesis Historical Records before me."
After observing for a long time, Li Fan had an inkling of understanding.
"It seems that with Sima Changkong's strength, he wasn't qualified to become a proper vessel like Senior Stone Slab. Yet by a strange twist of fate, the Bloodline Historical Records within him exerted a rather wondrous influence on the Genesis Stone Slab."
"Hm. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm even intentionally fostered this transformation."
Standing before the Genesis Historical Records for a long while, Li Fan pondered to himself.
With the birth of the Genesis Historical Records filling the space of total nothingness, the pitch-black, extinguished area was restored to normal.
Yet just like the fishing pond before, under ordinary circumstances, cultivators could not see this Genesis Historical Records at all.
Aside from someone like Li Fan who had witnessed its birth with his own eyes, one would need a stroke of serendipity to be fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it.
Walking slowly up to the Genesis Historical Records, the scene before Li Fan's eyes abruptly transformed.
A blood-colored river cascaded like a waterfall from the heavens, occupying Li Fan's entire vision.
Within that great river, Li Fan vaguely saw countless rapidly shifting scenes.
With just a brief glance, Li Fan felt dizzy and lightheaded, forced to avert his eyes.
"The power of the Genesis Historical Records possesses its own protection, preventing outside beings from prying."
After resting for a moment, Li Fan looked toward the blood-colored river once more.
This time, he took only a macroscopic overview, not focusing on the details within the river.
Sure enough, the resulting accumulation of dizziness was far weaker. In this exploration, Li Fan made a new discovery.
This blood-colored river was continuously generating, lengthening endlessly.
Those were the events transpiring in the Xuanhuang Realm at this very moment.
From the visual sensation, Li Fan felt as if he were being washed downstream by the blood-colored river, drifting further and further from its source.
Opening his eyes wide, he could barely manage to make out his immediate surroundings.
Yet to gaze into the distance and peer toward the headwaters of the river, he would have to withstand the formidable pressure that accumulated steadily while struggling upstream against the current.
Immersed in the blood-colored river, it was not long before Li Fan felt a wave of mental exhaustion.
As if having undergone a cycle of reincarnation in a brief span of time, an inexplicable urge to take a nap welled up in his heart.
Fortunately, the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation circulated spontaneously, dissolving this feeling of mental debility.
Li Fan immediately jolted with vigilance and pulled back from the blood-colored river for the moment.
"Hm?"
Only then did he notice that, at some point, a lock of white hair had appeared on his head.
Li Fan subconsciously checked the True Reversion interface.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mid-Nascent Soul
Physiological Age: 63/599
Psychological Age: 1379/9999
...
"It is only Anchor Year 13 right now; my physiological age should be 32. Yet it has already reached 63..."
"On the other hand, my psychological age showed no abnormal change. It seems the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation's protection worked."
"It seems the Genesis Historical Records truly isn't something ordinary mortals can pry into."
Li Fan frowned slightly. "It isn't just a matter of accelerated aging."
"All information since the dawn of the Xuanhuang Realm is stored within it. That blood-colored river is far too vast and turbulent. If one truly wished to locate specific information in it, how to pinpoint a crucial node in time would be an even greater conundrum."
"Otherwise, one would likely die of old age before finding the intended target."
"Unless..."
"Cultivators of the Longevity realm, who share longevity with heaven and earth, or a sufficiently large collective unafraid of life and death, could launch explorations into different nodes along the blood-colored river. Bringing back a bit of useful information each time, they could eventually piece history back together like a puzzle."
Li Fan sighed softly. "I'm indulging in wishful thinking after all. How could a wondrous object capable of creating a Longevity realm existence be mastered so easily?"
"Still, with the Genesis Historical Records anchored in place here now, it is a tremendous fortune for me."
Chapter 976