Chapter 105: Heaven and Earth Have Longevity

"Going against the principles of heaven and earth..." Li Fan softly murmured. He spoke half the phrase aloud, but the latter half he merely repeated silently in his mind: "To achieve immortality!"

Since entering the cultivation world, Li Fan had witnessed Divine Transformation cultivators uprooting mountains in battle and Dao Integration cultivators incinerating oceans with crimson flames. Yet, nothing had shaken him as much as this moment, where amidst all the illogical signs, he caught a glimpse of the Immortal Venerable of Longevity. This power, which subtly and invisibly influenced and altered all cultivators in the world, was far more formidable than mere destruction.

"I was unaffected by this power only because the crimson flames incinerating the ocean in my memory were a disaster yet to occur in the future," Li Fan mused. "That's why I could discern the Immortal Venerable of Longevity's influence on the world by comparing the before and after."

After a long while, Li Fan slowly dispelled the sudden fear that arose from realizing he had constantly been living under the shadow of a colossal being.

In this cultivation world, Golden Core cultivators were generally revered as True Persons, Nascent Soul cultivators as True Monarchs, Divine Transformation cultivators as Immortal Monarchs, and Dao Integration cultivators as Immortal Venerables. The ultimate, supreme powerhouse was known as the Immortal Venerable of Longevity. Most Immortal Venerables of Longevity in the world were elusive, rarely showing themselves completely. Ordinary cultivators found it difficult to even know how many there were or what their individual titles were.

"Under the influence of this Immortal Venerable of Longevity, cultivators across the world gradually forget past calamities. Or rather, it's not just calamities. It seems that any collective memories that bring pain are under her purview," Li Fan analyzed slowly in his mind, a realization dawning on him. "It's as if this cultivation world truly is a carefree paradise..."

In this world, Heaven and Earth harbored such immense malice towards cultivators, and the conflict between celestials and immortals was so acute. Yet, the cultivators he had encountered—Kou Hong, Dao Xuanzi, He Zhenghao, Yuwen Xing, and others—were almost never the type burdened by deep-seated resentment, eager to destroy the heavens at a moment's notice. All of them, consciously or unconsciously, ignored the malice of Heaven and Earth. At most, they would lament the difficulty of the immortal path; some were even cheerful all the time... This, he suspected, was likely the work of the Immortal Venerable of Longevity. Was it to help cultivators worldwide cultivate better? Or did she have some other motive?

Li Fan was always inclined to assume the worst intentions in others. Immortality was Li Fan's ultimate pursuit, the reason for his continuous reincarnation. But at this moment, he was still too far from his goal. What he needed to do now was cultivate steadily, one step at a time.

Recovering from the shock caused by the Immortal Venerable of Longevity, Li Fan began to search for information on the ancient Way of Body Emancipation. It wasn't a top-secret subject, and he easily found relevant information.

The Way of Body Emancipation was not a sect specializing in mechanical arts. Instead, its disciples practiced a unique method called "Body Emancipation for Others' Freedom." It allowed one to project their consciousness and soul onto external objects. Once projected, they could not only manipulate the object but also completely synchronize with its sensations. Cultivating to the highest realm, one could even abandon their own body and transform into the object they had projected their consciousness onto.

The reason this information was so easy to find wasn't because the Way of Body Emancipation method was particularly powerful. It was because... the Tianxuan Mirror contained numerous "exquisite articles" describing male and female cultivators using the Way of Body Emancipation to project themselves onto various strange objects for the purpose of sexual union. The sheer variety left Li Fan utterly astonished.

After browsing for a bit, Li Fan shook his head and closed it.

"It seems that True Person Tianyang, before his death, buried the puppet in the undersea fire vein and set up arrangements. Finally, he projected his soul onto the puppet," Li Fan mused. "Thousands of years passed, and the puppet continuously absorbed the earth's fire, growing day and night. True Person Tianyang, who had once been a Golden Core cultivator, transformed into a powerful entity capable of fighting an Immortal Monarch of Divine Transformation. Although he now appears to have lost his sentience and acts only on instinct, I doubt he regrets it. 'Tianyang lived a life second to none.' This phrase, at least, he barely lived up to."

After his musings, Li Fan began his closed-door cultivation. Observing the Divine Transformation battle had given him insights. He surmised that he was not far from reaching a bottleneck in his cultivation.

Indeed, things unfolded as he had anticipated. Naturally and smoothly, five days later, Li Fan felt the spiritual energy within him saturate. Both the "Thousand Machines Jade Cosmos Golden Scroll" and the "Heaven-Stealing, Sun-Shifting Art" had simultaneously reached the perfection of the late Qi Refinement stage. He could make no further progress.

Fortunately, to Li Fan's pleasant surprise, the moment he encountered this bottleneck, he faintly foresaw where his fortuitous opportunity lay. Moreover, the journey ahead would surely be full of thrills but free from danger, turning misfortune into good luck.

After making some brief preparations, Li Fan immediately got ready to depart. Before he could even set off, a profound realization suddenly flooded his mind. His Lin Fan clone, which had been in epiphany for a long time, had finally emerged from seclusion. It truly was a double blessing, with one success leading to another. It made Li Fan feel as if the heavens and earth were conspiring to help him in his moment of fortune.

Calming himself, Li Fan carefully comprehended the divine ability his clone had gained from this enlightenment. All things in the world were interconnected, linked in a chain from birth to death. The Life-Death Chain divine ability Li Fan comprehended could be said to be an enhanced and upgraded version of the Formless Killing Intent.

By setting a specific person as the "death" target, one could trace back through countless connections to sense the weakest and most fatal link in their "life" chain. Severing this thread of life could then invisibly and imperceptibly hasten the target's death.

Formless Killing Intent required locking onto the target. Furthermore, the target's strength could not exceed Li Fan's by too much, or Li Fan would suffer a backlash and risk being detected by the opponent. The Life-Death Chain, however, was different; it only required knowing of the target's existence. Moreover, it could almost disregard the cultivation realm difference between them. As long as there was sufficient information, even a Qi Refinement cultivator could slay a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Taking the Tianyang Cave Abode incident as an example: If Li Fan wished to assassinate a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he wouldn't need to act personally. He would only need to activate the Life-Death Chain, tracing back all possible connections between the True Monarch and the Tianyang Cave Abode. From these, he would find the most suitable one and subtly nudge the True Monarch to develop the idea of exploring the Tianyang Cave Abode. In that scenario, the Nascent Soul True Monarch would then perish within the Tianyang Cave Abode.

Though powerful, activating the Life-Death Chain required certain conditions. Namely, one must first determine the "death" link. In other words, one must ascertain *how* the target is to die before being able to trace back the connections. Furthermore, this "method of death" had to be viable. For example, if Li Fan were to determine that the Nascent Soul True Monarch would accidentally suffer a spiritual energy deviation mid-flight, lose control, fall from the sky, and die instantly upon impact, such a possibility indeed exists. However, the complexity of the reverse deduction required to bring about such a result was currently beyond Li Fan's capacity. Therefore, the Life-Death Chain could not be activated in that manner.