Chapter 1124: Inheritance of the Divine Transformation

This seemingly young Specter Clansman, trembling, explained to Li Fan while occasionally looking up to gauge his expression. But how could a crude person like him possibly discern the visage of the Fated Holy Emperor?

Growing increasingly fearful, he recounted all his recent discoveries: "Holy Emperor, please understand, since pledging allegiance, this humble one has harbored no ulterior motives. However, praying to the Abyssal Darkness has become an instinct, like breathing to me. So, during this time, while praying to you, Holy Emperor, I inevitably and naturally also offered prayers to the Abyssal Darkness."

"The Abyssal Darkness, just as usual, responded to me..."

As he spoke these words, the more than ten Specter Clansmen in the secret chamber all knelt down in unison, filled with immense fear. Clearly, such a phenomenon had occurred to all of them.

Li Fan gently waved his hand, raising all of them. Li Fan, in this current life, was actually not particularly concerned about these Specter Clansmen serving two masters. Because in his plan, these people were merely tools for him to study the "power of faith" in the extremely short period before 'Reversion to Truth'. Once he initiated Reversion to Truth soon, everything in the Xuanhuang Realm would be annihilated, let alone these Specter Clansmen.

He wanted to know even more why "the Abyssal Darkness" would allow such duplicitous behavior to occur. If one were a follower of the Faceless True Immortal and dared to serve two masters, they would likely have been torn to shreds by the True Immortal's power long ago.

"Either the power master behind the Abyssal Darkness is unbelievably noble, tolerating their followers to such an extent."

"Or perhaps..." Li Fan's heart instantly churned with thoughts: "It has another agenda. It wants to use this act of betrayal by its followers to infect beings of its own caliber."

Thinking of this, Li Fan immediately became vigilant. He had always been unafraid to speculate with the greatest malice about the powerful existences in this world. He carefully scrutinized the faint but extremely powerful reddish energy within his body. But after repeated confirmations, he indeed found no signs that it was connected to the power of the Abyssal Darkness.

"Could I be overthinking this?"

After a brief period of deliberation, Li Fan still made a decision. He would not allow any variables to affect the 'Reversion to Truth' process in this life. First, he verbally praised these Specter Clansmen for their candor.

After leaving the underground secret chamber, Li Fan commanded Wang Xuanba to grant them eternal slumber. This was no euphemism, but genuine, deep sleep. Li Fan was unwilling to be tainted by such impure power of faith and also worried that directly slaughtering the Specter Clansmen might instead attract the attention of the Abyssal Master. So he simply had them turned into a state of living dead.

"It seems I need to find a way to solve the Specter Clansmen's fertility problem; cultivating followers needs to start with the new generation."

Wang Xuanba quickly completed the task and returned to report to Li Fan. After years of continuously devouring and merging with exotic beast tissues, coupled with cultivating the enhanced version of the "Creation Furnace Art," Wang Xuanba, contrary to his previous three-zhang giant form, had transformed into a normal human size. He merely appeared somewhat burly and muscular. With the abilities of numerous exotic beasts concentrated within him and an incredibly terrifying physical self-healing speed, even Sun Erlang, at the perfected Golden Core stage, would not be Wang Xuanba's match in a fight to the death.

"Xuanba, have you encountered any confusion or difficulty in your recent cultivation?" Li Fan asked. This was to help Wang Xuanba resolve his doubts, and also to understand his physical condition, intending to improve the Creation Furnace Art.

"Master," Wang Xuanba replied, organizing his thoughts and scratching his head, "My body has indeed grown stronger recently, feeling as if I have inexhaustible energy at all times. But... two distinct feelings have slowly emerged within my heart. One is an unprovoked sense of crisis, as if some natural predator exists between heaven and earth. This feeling is especially strong when passing through the Xuanhuang Prime Realm."

"As for the second type," he continued, "it's intermittent whispers. I can't understand what they're saying, but they give me a sense of familiarity and closeness."

After listening, Li Fan calmly said, "Though your body has now achieved the state of a furnace, your spirit has not. The fragmented thoughts of the exotic beasts you devoured still linger in your mind. For now, cease your cultivation and go recuperate."

Li Fan naturally knew the reason for Wang Xuanba's abnormal physical condition, but he did not state it explicitly. He merely instructed him to recuperate quietly in the Great Xuan minor world.

As the 'Reversion to Truth' charging deadline drew nearer, Li Fan needed to eliminate all unstable factors. Therefore, under his will, the Great Xuan's pace of conquering various worlds also halted. This was elegantly termed "resting and recuperating, preparing for war." The military and civilians of Great Xuan praised the Fated Holy Emperor's greatness and benevolence, and time flew by.

At the end of Anchor Year 8, Li Fan, looking at the 100% charged progress bar, resolutely rose from the Holy Emperor's throne in Xuanjing. Without alerting anyone else, he quietly arrived at the underground secret chamber. He awakened the slumbering Specter Clansmen and opened the passage to the Abyssal Realm.

Deep within the Abyssal Sea, Li Fan opened the Reversion to Truth panel.

You can choose one of the following options to retain:1. An item you possessed in this simulation.2. Your cultivation realm in this simulation.3. The simulation memory of a person closely related to you in this simulation. This memory can be inherited by that person.4. Forfeit the above choices to accelerate charging progress.

The continuously flashing runes had been present for eight years.

"Inherit cultivation." Li Fan silently recited this in his mind, while his vigilance reached its peak.

At the same time, crisscrossing silver lines suddenly lit up on the sky above the Great Xuan, Li Realm, Beast Seed, and other minor worlds conquered over the years. Like a massive net, enveloping all living beings. Most of the beings within the net could not perceive the impending fatal crisis; some even looked up at the sky in surprise. Only those "strong ones" with some cultivation felt a faint unease in their hearts.

The eternal Abyssal Sea seemed to suddenly stir with an invisible wave. A fluctuation like a tempest descended upon Li Fan, stirring up a violent storm around him.

Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul... Earth-shattering changes suddenly occurred within Li Fan's body. Li Fan saw that his own cloud-like Reversion to Truth foundation instantly transformed into a Golden Core. Then, in an explosion that swallowed all light, the Five Elements Cave-Heaven evolved. The Cave-Heaven completed in an instant an evolution that would normally take tens of millions of years. The majestic Five Elements presented a grand spectacle.

Subsequently, the boundaries between the Five Elements blurred. All sorts of changes occurred dazzlingly within the Cave-Heaven. "The Transformation of Xuanhuang's World Destruction." The Five Elements unified, and all changes within the newly formed Cave-Heaven were to respond to a world-destroying crisis that did not exist in this era. The towering tree originally in the Wood-attribute Cave-Heaven shed its leaves, leaving only bare branches. Yet, it itself gradually became like gold and iron.