In the Spirit Wood Realm, within the "Ancient Sects" zone demarcated by Li Fan.
Between the Medicine King Sect and the Heavenly Mechanism Sect, atop a vast, level stone plaza, blood vitality surged into the sky.
Fully over five hundred flesh puppets sat cross-legged, circulating the *Common People Lingyuan Technique* purely by instinct.
"Only you could have traveled so swiftly, moving between every province to snatch a few cultivators from each. Otherwise, if all those disappearances were concentrated in just one or two provinces, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals would definitely have been alerted," Li Fan said with a smile.
With a casual wave of his hand, he laid down a formation over the plaza, simultaneously concealing the flesh puppets and dispersing the pungent stench of blood.
"Not necessarily," Li Qing said, shaking his head. "The Alliance's grassroots defensive forces haven't recovered so quickly. Many places are still virtually undefended. Besides, all the ones I took were bottom-tier Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Alliance might not truly care."
"True enough. The Alliance is probably busy constructing the Eternal Immortal Wall and dealing with those million unconscious cultivators."
"Although the God-Demon Catastrophe didn't break their bones or sinews, it still loosened their grip on the grassroots somewhat. Before long, they'll likely hold another large-scale Alliance recruitment examination."
Original body and avatar conversed back and forth.
Then, across the plaza, many faint, almost imperceptible sounds suddenly arose.
Like the turning of gears, the sound resonated from within every single flesh puppet. Layering and harmonizing, it finally coalesced into a single crisp, collective chime.
*Click, clack...*
Original body and avatar exchanged a glance.
"Quite considerate. Once the threshold was reached, it actually gave an active prompt."
"It seems this Cult Master of the Lingyuan Sect was quite an ingenious character as well."
Li Fan couldn't help admiring him all the more, resolving to meet him in the next cycle.
"How is it?" Li Fan asked, looking at his avatar, who was circulating the *Common People Lingyuan Technique*.
In truth, through their synchronized perception, he had already clearly felt the increase in cultivation within the avatar's body as the Lingyuan Technique operated.
He asked merely out of mischievous humor.
"Mmm. Although the growth is very slow, it can barely be cultivated now."
"Moving forward, as the number of people cultivating the Lingyuan Technique continues to grow, the operating efficiency of the technique will slowly increase until it reaches a limit," Li Qing analyzed as he continued his cultivation.
"Mmm. Then it is time to roll it out in the pocket worlds," Li Fan nodded.
Mass-produce Heaven and Earth Furnaces to revive the spiritual energy of the pocket worlds. Then, use the Xuanhuang Mind-Clearing Incantation along with the accompanying medicinal herbs to purge the immortal-mortal miasma from mortals' bodies. Even if the success rate was not high, so long as the base population was large enough, there was no need to worry about the quantity of mass-produced cultivators. Finally, have them all cultivate the *Common People Lingyuan Technique*, mass-producing low-tier cultivators.
During this process, if any were found to possess exceptional aptitude or extraordinary talents, they could be inducted as formal members of the Myriad Realms Association.
And bestowed with true cultivation techniques.
As for the other cultivators with little utility, they would be dispatched wave after wave into the blood-colored river.
...
A process akin to an assembly line was fundamentally established.
Though it sounded very simple, Li Fan had only been able to create this system by synthesizing all the opportunities he had encountered throughout his cycles of reincarnation.
An ordinary cultivator might spend their entire life without ever discovering how to construct a Heaven and Earth Furnace capable of endlessly producing spiritual energy.
Now that the prototype was complete, the next step was the specific implementation. Since it was merely routine work, Li Fan left his avatar Li Qing in full charge.
At the same time, he entrusted Li Qing with overseeing the Grand Formation of Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits, which connected and controlled all the Heaven and Earth Furnaces.
"The Daoyi bugs carry a risk of mutation; we cannot fail to guard against that. Keep them under constant surveillance. If there is any abnormal movement, deal with it immediately."
Having said this, some thought crossed Li Fan's mind, and he changed his plan.
"Actually, if any mutated Daoyi bugs do appear, there is no need to exterminate them all. Keep a few samples of each variation; they might prove very useful in the future," Li Fan instructed.
The avatar naturally accepted the order.
With these matters arranged, Li Fan found himself temporarily at leisure.
All his schemes had officially entered the accumulation phase, waiting only to gather momentum before bursting forth.
Feeling somewhat bored for the moment, Li Fan flickered away, appearing outside the great hall where the faceless stone statue was kept.
With a gentle flick of his finger toward the empty air, he released Yan Fangzhou, who had been imprisoned for a long time.
Trapped in a place devoid of anything, his thoughts constantly disrupted by a formation, days had felt like years.
According to Li Fan's observations, this former pride of heaven had truly gone mad.
He was completely oblivious to having been released and regaining his freedom; even when Li Fan waved a hand in front of his eyes, he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Separating a wisp of divine sense, Li Fan sent it into Yan Fangzhou's sea of consciousness.
No instinctive defensive mechanisms appeared to resist the intrusion of an outside force.
Yan Fangzhou's past memories were completely fragmented, as though sliced to ribbons by a blade.
Only storms of terror, helplessness, and pleading thoughts swept across his sea of consciousness from time to time.
"Poor child, let me save you," Li Fan said with a faint smile.
With a sweep of his divine sense, he crushed all of Yan Fangzhou's remaining stray thoughts.
Then, like painting upon a blank canvas, he freely fabricated an entirely new life for Yan Fangzhou.
Born in the Spirit Wood Realm, sent as a child to lurk within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Yan family.
Later, while establishing contact with the Spirit Wood Realm, he was inadvertently discovered. To prevent his identity from being exposed, he fought while retreating, intending to lure the pursuer into the Spirit Wood Realm to silence them.
Although he succeeded, he was gravely injured in the process and fell unconscious.
...
Mastering the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique and possessing rich experience in such matters, Li Fan swiftly implanted these memories, woven of truth and fabrication, entirely into Yan Fangzhou's mind.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Yan Fangzhou slowly woke up.
His mind was blank for a long while before a sudden, piercing pain sent scenes rushing in like a tidal surge.
Looking at the solemn-faced Li Fan before him, Yan Fangzhou was immediately overwhelmed by shame.
"Venerable, I..."
Li Fan waved a hand. "Everyone slips up now and then. It is enough that you returned alive."
Warmth bloomed in Yan Fangzhou's heart.
"The cultivator who discovered your secret has already been dealt with."
"It has been a long time since you returned to the Spirit Wood Realm; take this opportunity to look around."
"While you were unconscious, some changes occurred in the Alliance. Use this time to think about how you will cover up your absence," Li Fan instructed placidly before vanishing.
Yan Fangzhou bowed respectfully, then swept his divine sense across the Spirit Wood Realm.
His expression instantly turned somewhat bewildered.
"This place... is so different from before I left. What happened?"
Looking at the brand-new Spirit Wood Realm, Yan Fangzhou felt both surprised and delighted.
"Fangzhou? You're awake?!" Just then, an excited voice called out from the distance.
"Shang Tianci?" Yan Fangzhou's eyes narrowed.
This extraordinarily talented youth was also a member of the Mountain and River Pavilion like him.
He had been tricked and lured back to the Spirit Wood Realm by Yan Fangzhou, forced to join the Myriad Realms Association.
Yet Shang Tianci himself was unaware of this, believing himself to be a senior member who had joined the Association one step ahead of Yan Fangzhou.
Chapter 979