Chapter 11: Cultivating Immortality Yet Like Cattle and Horses

"In today's cultivation world, a mortal seeking to cultivate has only a few choices," Kou Hong explained patiently.

"Firstly, one can join the Myriad Immortals Alliance. This is a loose coalition formed by numerous cultivators. Within the alliance, one can earn contribution points by accepting and completing tasks or by trading with others. These points can then be exchanged for cultivation techniques and resources within the alliance."

"Secondly, there's the Council of Five Elders. This organization was founded by five peak powerhouses and possesses immense influence. Anyone with cultivation aptitude can voluntarily join and choose a cultivation method. The price, however, is signing a soul contract, pledging service to the Council of Five Elders for a certain period."

"Thirdly, one can choose to join various local forces. While these forces cannot compare to the two behemoths mentioned above, they are often more united and generally don't assign dangerous tasks, making them suitable for those with a laid-back or unassuming nature. As for other miscellaneous organizations, they are mostly unreliable, so there's no need to mention them," Kou Hong slowly explained the general situation of the current cultivation world.

Li Fan frowned upon hearing this, somewhat puzzled. "From your description, why does it seem that cultivation techniques aren't that scarce in the cultivation world?"

Kou Hong snorted coldly. "That's because the cultivation techniques acquired through these methods are all incomplete."

"Incomplete?" Li Fan was startled, then realized. "To get higher-level cultivation techniques, you have to keep serving them?"

"Exactly!" Kou Hong said bitterly. "These techniques have all been newly compiled by the major forces over the years, and cultivating to the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation is their limit. To advance further and establish a Dao foundation, one must switch to a new set of techniques. The same applies beyond the Dao Foundation stage."

"Switching techniques? If one has to switch techniques and restart cultivation from scratch with every breakthrough, wouldn't all previous efforts be rendered useless?" Li Fan was somewhat shocked.

"Not at all," Kou Hong shook his head. "All cultivators must practice the *Supreme Primordial True Scripture*. Legend has it that this scripture was the supreme true scripture and foundation of the Supreme Sect in ancient times. After the Great Tribulation, the Supreme Sect vanished, leaving only fragments of the *Supreme Primordial True Scripture* in the world. This scripture isn't a cultivation technique; it's closer to a secret art. Its function is to allow cultivators to freely dissolve their cultivation realm with minimal loss, enabling them to quickly catch up to their original realm after dispersing their cultivation and switching to other techniques."

"Such an astonishing method exists," Li Fan exclaimed. "It's just that these fragments appeared at a perfectly opportune moment; only with them could countless cultivators accept constantly changing their techniques."

Li Fan sneered, "In my opinion, it's not necessarily that only fragments of the *Supreme Primordial True Scripture* remain. It's probably that the manipulators behind the scenes only wished to release the part about dispersing cultivation and restarting."

Kou Hong sighed deeply. "Who doesn't know that truth? But what can be done? True techniques are hard to come by. Although being exploited is frustrating, at least there's a visible goal and a path. With effort, one can still achieve it. Those unwilling to be controlled for life, willing to risk death to seek opportunities in various secret realms and ancient sects, are, after all, a minority."

Li Fan nodded, gaining a general understanding of the current state of the cultivation world. This was completely different from the unrestrained immortal path focused solely on longevity that he had imagined; instead, it bore a slight resemblance to the world he came from before transmigrating.

Considering all this, a cold sneer formed in Li Fan's heart.

Kou Hong, unaware of Li Fan's unusual demeanor at the moment, couldn't help but lament, "Dao Xuanzi never knew until his death that the reason I snatched the technique and ran wasn't just because it was a Core Formation technique, but because it was a true technique that could lead directly to the Nascent Soul realm."

"If it had truly just been a Core Formation technique, I might have been able to restrain myself. But it was a true Nascent Soul technique after all..." Kou Hong repeated.

Hearing this, Li Fan's heart stirred, and he touched the ring he wore on his hand.

He had confiscated all of Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi's belongings, storing them in this storage ring. Perhaps because he had experienced multiple reincarnations and his mental power far surpassed that of ordinary people, he was able to use this storage ring freely, even though it typically required a cultivator in the Qi Condensation stage to develop divine sense. However, if he couldn't find a way to leave the Immortal Extinction Land, these items would be useless to him, so he hadn't yet bothered to examine them one by one.

Following this, Kou Hong continued to share common knowledge of the cultivation world with Li Fan, such as how the demise of a cultivator would trigger celestial phenomena within a certain range. Finally, he returned to the main topic, discussing Li Fan's theory about the possible existence of leftover flying ships from the Great Migration Era.

"Perhaps there truly is such a possibility," Kou Hong said after a long period of careful thought.

"I once heard a rumor that over thousands of years, mortals who were banished to the Immortal Extinction Land back then have continuously and secretly returned to the cultivation world. However, most of these were just idle hearsay and gossip, without any solid evidence."

"There's no smoke without fire; sometimes rumors are the truth," Li Fan's heart lifted. "After all, there are intricate connections between mortals and cultivators. It's only normal that some cultivators back then would have left a retreat for their mortal families. It's conceivable that these mortals managed to return through the preparations those cultivators left behind."

Kou Hong, however, was not optimistic. "Even so, thousands of years have passed. This realm is also quite vast, making the chances of finding anything incredibly slim."

"As long as there's a glimmer of hope, I won't give up," Li Fan stated resolutely.

"I really don't know how an old man like you, with one foot in the grave, can still be so restless..." Kou Hong muttered softly.

Li Fan pretended not to hear and spoke solemnly to Kou Hong: "As long as you help me find a way to the cultivation world, I will not only release you and let you return with me, but I will also return all of your and Dao Xuanzi's belongings."

"Including that true Nascent Soul technique!"

"Is that true?!" Kou Hong sharply looked up, a glimmer of hope suddenly appearing in his eyes.

"Of course," Li Fan nodded.

"Alright... In that case, I will do my utmost to help you," Kou Hong gritted his teeth, finally making up his mind.

Although he had been tricked by Li Fan multiple times and was unsure how trustworthy Li Fan's promise was, he was like Li Fan: as long as there was even a sliver of hope, he wouldn't give up.

To be trapped here for decades and then die of old age.

This was truly not what Kou Hong desired!

Thus, with Kou Hong's help, Li Fan collected historical books and ancient texts from all over the land, striving to find clues about the Great Migration Era from scattered ancient records.

At the same time, Li Fan mobilized the army to extensively excavate ancient tombs, hoping to find some faint traces there. Although this provoked widespread public resentment and daily remonstrances from officials, he forcibly suppressed them all.

Unfortunately, too much time had passed since the Great Migration Era, and his remaining lifespan in this world was too short.

Sixteen years later, in Anchoring Year 66, Li Fan's lifespan was nearing its end, yet he had still found nothing.

Ordering Kou Hong to be released, Li Fan went alone to the underground secret chamber of the Grand Tutor's mansion.

With a thought, Li Fan took out all the items from the storage ring and laid them out one by one.

First, Li Fan's gaze focused on the jade slip that emitted a faint golden light.

It was precisely the Nascent Soul technique that had caused Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi to turn against each other.