Chapter 1091: Calculating the True Immortal in Secret

Chapter 1101: Scheming Against a True Immortal

"Oh, right, I also retained the memory of destroying her previous body, and then incorporated it when creating her new one... You should have seen her expression just as she woke up." The Ingenious Artisan grew more excited as he spoke. As the buffer zone for the Source Energy Essence was gradually completed, the surroundings grew increasingly bright, allowing him to clearly see the gazes of those around him. This made him even more pleased with himself.

"I should have realized this sooner. Since you can copy and back up your own consciousness, then preserving backups of other cultivators' consciousnesses from the Heavenly Secret Realm shouldn't be a problem." Li Fan suddenly appeared, his indifferent tone instantly freezing the Ingenious Artisan. "Cultivators from the Heavenly Secret Realm are absolute geniuses in artifact refining. Our Alliance is in need of talent; how could you conceal them?" Li Fan's gaze was unfriendly.

The Ingenious Artisan could only manage an awkward laugh. "How many other consciousness backups do you have? Hand them all over, and I'll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise..."

The Ingenious Artisan felt waves of killing intent emanating from Li Fan, and his heart pounded with fear. He even felt his neck being tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand, making it almost impossible to breathe. What's more, this constricting sensation only grew stronger. He was like a bug caught in a net, utterly unable to break free, only able to wait futilely for death. The Ingenious Artisan knew this was the power of the Red Dust Benevolent Immortal. After he completed reciting the initiation oath, he had already fallen into the True Immortal's net. Unless he could surpass him in strength, Li Fan, as the envoy, could instantly erase him with a single thought, simply by virtue of this connection.

Fortunately, Li Fan wasn't truly trying to kill him there. Just as the Ingenious Artisan's consciousness was about to blur, the constricting sensation instantly vanished. Gasping for air as if reborn, the Ingenious Artisan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly explained, "It's just a few of the core members of the Elder Council. I was in such a hurry when I escaped back then, I only managed to bring this many."

"The Abyssal Power is exceptionally mysterious. When the time comes, release them so you can study it together," Li Fan said indifferently. The Ingenious Artisan could naturally only agree. Having been startled once by Li Fan, the Ingenious Artisan behaved much more honestly afterward.

Three days later, the golden buffer zone was completed. Seeing the dense darkness not far away completely blocked off, everyone couldn't help but marvel once more at the divine power of the Red Dust Benevolent Immortal. Though the Abyssal Power was strong, it could not contend with a True Immortal. Although a buffer measure had been constructed, there was still a slight risk of the Abyssal Power going out of control. Li Fan did not intend to bring it back to the Spirit Wood Realm for research. Instead, he opened up another research facility within this underground world.

The four elders from the Heavenly Secret Realm were all released by the Ingenious Artisan. It was then that Li Fan learned that the stunningly beautiful female immortal puppet was actually Shangguan Tuo, the Heavenly Secret Realm's Chief Elder, whom the Ingenious Artisan had previously mentioned. Shangguan Tuo had once tried to completely control Zu, taking a dangerous gamble by integrating her own divine soul into Zu's damaged core. Before doing so, she had naturally already made a consciousness backup. However, her reckless actions nearly led to the collapse of the entire Heavenly Secret Realm; her sins were indeed grave. Thus, the members of the Elder Council at that time had rejected the proposal to reawaken Shangguan Tuo, merely keeping her consciousness backup deeply hidden. Ultimately, before the Heavenly Secret Realm was destroyed, it was brought out by the Ingenious Artisan.

What Li Fan hadn't expected was that Shangguan Tuo was, in fact, the Ingenious Artisan's mentor. The Ingenious Artisan looked at the expressions of the others, and his own demeanor showed no signs of abnormality. The remaining three elders of the Heavenly Secret Realm also remained silent regarding the Ingenious Artisan's actions, which could be described as betraying his teacher and destroying his ancestry.

After Li Fan asked Shangguan Tuo if she desired freedom, he received a negative reply, which made Li Fan somewhat curious. He glanced at the Ingenious Artisan, who immediately shuddered and hastily began to explain, "This actually doesn't have much to do with me. After all, they are just consciousness backups. To prevent a situation where two of myself might fight each other, these backups have their subjective initiative suppressed and aren't entirely equivalent to a true personality. Only the Chief Elder herself knows how to unlock these restrictions. This is also a protective measure we implemented in the Heavenly Secret Realm to prevent widespread use of consciousness backups from jeopardizing world safety. As for myself, since the Heavenly Secret Realm is gone, I naturally don't have as many concerns." The Ingenious Artisan's tone held unconcealed pride.

"So, you're saying they're merely second-class beings from the Heavenly Secret Realm, and thus have to obey you, a first-class one?" Fang Zaiji asked, stroking his chin. The Ingenious Artisan nodded. However, upon seeing Li Fan's expression, he immediately patted his chest and assured him, "Please rest assured, Envoy. Although they consider their status to be lower than mine, their research talent is no different from their original selves. With a few of us working together, I believe it won't be difficult to figure out how to use this Abyssal Power."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Li Fan couldn't be bothered with the Heavenly Secret Realm's internal affairs; as long as they could be useful to him, that was enough. After giving his instructions, Li Fan returned alone to the underground world. He was alone, enveloped by the gloom.

Li Fan felt no fear in his heart, merely quietly perceiving his surroundings. "Just as I thought. In this gloom, even the influence of the Faceless True Immortal is greatly weakened. Although I can't completely shake it off yet, for me, it's already akin to a sanctuary. Deep within the Abyssal Realm, I can activate 'Return to True' and go back anytime." Thinking of this, the threat that had long weighed heavily on Li Fan's mind finally lessened considerably.

"But mere evasion is useless," he mused. "Having made so many preparations in this life, I am quite confident in safely retreating during the confrontation between the Faceless True Immortal and the Immortals of the Immortal Ruins. What choice should I make?" In this life, Li Fan rarely found such peace, contemplating alone. The gloom was like an isolating umbrella, making Li Fan feel a level of relaxation he had never experienced before.

"The power of the Faceless True Immortal always remains in the Profound Yellow World; it's not something I can avoid simply by not provoking it. Once I reach a certain realm, I will inevitably attract its attention. This is an unchangeable fact. Unless I can find a way to safely escape the Profound Yellow World. But beyond the high walls, True Immortals still exist. There's no escaping..."

A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "Facing a True Immortal, sometimes being weak is actually an advantage. One can observe well while being ignored by the opponent." Li Fan looked again at the profound gloom around him. "Just like this darkness. If there's something in the darkness staring at me, and its strength is far weaker than mine, posing no threat to me at all... then how would I even notice it?"

(End of Chapter)