Chapter 1126: Heavenly Doctor’s Transmission Mystery

If the Dharma Lord had a clone suppressing the Xuanhuang Realm, a large-scale war between the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council would be impossible.

Perhaps the Five Elders Council is a tool that the Dharma Lord intentionally allows to maintain the delicate balance of the Xuanhuang Realm. The Dharma Lord might not truly care about their wars, and could even welcome them.

However, the Xuanhuang Realm harbors too many hidden demons and monsters, and the Immortal Ruins are still looming in the distance.

Given that a single disagreement could destroy the Xuanhuang Realm, it would undoubtedly be more prudent to leave a clone there.

Yet, the Dharma Lord, who regards the Xuanhuang Realm as a treasure, chose not to.

In Li Fan's two experiences of world destruction, the Dharma Lord arrived belatedly from beyond the heavens, letting out a frustrated roar during one.

The other time, the Dharma Lord didn't appear at all; only the Celestial Physician was present.

This seemed highly peculiar.

Was it difficult for the Dharma Lord to create a clone?

While clone cultivation techniques are rare in the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan has repeatedly used clone arts to stir up trouble.

How much more so for the ancestor of the New Law?

It was clearly something that could be done with ease, yet it wasn't.

In fact, although cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm dared not openly discuss why the Dharma Lord did not leave a clone for suppression, they frequently speculated in private.

The common theory was that the Dharma Lord had transcended worldly concerns and no longer cared deeply about anything in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Clearly, they understood neither the Xuanhuang Realm nor the Dharma Lord.

However, in Li Fan's view, if the Dharma Lord was a clone himself...

Then everything would logically fall into place.

It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was that he couldn't!

In the 119th iteration, Li Qing, the clone, had reached a strength almost identical to the main body, achieving peak Nascent Soul cultivation.

She was just one step away from surpassing the main body.

At that point, Li Fan began to wonder if a clone's strength could surpass that of the main body.

Later, after utilizing the Heavenly Profound Mirror's root authority to consult various ancient texts, Li Fan came to a subtle realization.

A clone's strength surpassing the main body, and a clone refining another clone.

The latter should be slightly more difficult to achieve.

Because if a clone could also refine its own clones, it would lead to an infinite proliferation, ultimately resulting in only one individual existing in the entire world.

While not absolutely impossible, it would transcend the limits of ordinary methods.

In comparison, it is somewhat easier for a clone's strength to surpass the main body.

"Celestial Physician, Dharma Lord..."

Two faces appeared consecutively in Li Fan's mind. He suddenly recalled seeing an illusory image of the Dharma Lord when he first entered the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters.

At that time, his body's instincts had spontaneously issued a warning due to a sense of familiarity.

Prior to that, the only being above the Dao Integration stage he had encountered in the Xuanhuang Realm was the Celestial Physician.

"Though their faces are not identical, there are subtle resemblances between them."

"A trace of the Dharma Lord's aura lingers at the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters. Cultivators visiting for the first time will sense it and experience illusions. My main body saw an image of the Dharma Lord, but my clone, Li Qing, saw..."

The Dao Transformation Stone emitted a faint white light, faithfully reproducing the images it had recorded from that time.

Within a blurry orb of light, several figures stood.

Intermittent dialogue emanated from within.

"How confident are you about this endeavor?"

"I can only do my best and leave the rest to fate."

"That doesn't sound like you."

"The disparity in strength is too vast; I can only stake my life on this gamble."

"Very well, go then. Who knows if it will bring fortune or disaster."

Li Fan also recalled the scene he witnessed in Hanhai's chaotic consciousness while treating him in the 119th iteration.

"The Celestial Physician Venerable has been gone for a long time; I wonder if things will work out."

Hanhai sat upright in the main hall of the sect, while the tortoise-snake Taiyi, no larger than an ordinary turtle at his feet, spoke sullenly.

"Before the Celestial Physician Venerable departed, he said there was at least a ninety percent chance of success. You and I should still have some faith in him." Unlike Taiyi's worried expression, Hanhai seemed quite relaxed as he reassured with a smile.

Li Fan stroked his chin.

Under the assumption that the Dharma Lord was a clone of the Celestial Physician, all the fragmented clues he had gathered instantly connected.

Li Fan revisited his past memories.

Indeed, he found even more clues.

Yinyin Island.

Master Yin pointed to the two human skeletons he treasured, leaning close to Li Fan and whispering, "These two individuals are not of the same kind."

"Not of the same kind?" Li Fan paused, asking, "What do you mean?"

Master Yin gestured for a moment, then pondered, seemingly unable to find suitable words to describe it.

After struggling for a long time, he suddenly clenched his fist, his face etched with frustration: "It's just a feeling, you understand? They're clearly both human, but these two humans lived in different eras and different regions. Perhaps they look similar, and I dug them both from the bottom of Congyun Sea, but there's an incredibly unique boundary marking the difference between these two sets of remains..."

Master Yin's explanation was vague; he spoke for a long time but couldn't articulate the specifics.

During the second simulation of Tianyang's Eternal Reminiscence.

To shed Tianyang's frail body as quickly as possible and recover from the coma, Li Fan delved into the *Celestial Physician Immortal Scripture*, prescribed a formula for himself, and instructed his senior brother to concoct it.

It was indeed effective, but when he later awoke, his second senior brother, Ling Xiao, told him something unexpected.

"Junior Brother, you were quite fortunate, actually. Several ingredients in your elixir formula were unheard of. We searched all the surrounding markets but found no one selling them. Some even claimed these herbs don't exist in the cultivation world at all."

"Haha, I didn't believe it. How could a medicinal formula have all other ingredients except for a few that supposedly don't exist?"

"I immediately argued with them, reasoning things out."

"Fortunately, a disciple from the Medicine King Sect happened to pass by, heard our argument, and, out of curiosity, asked for the specific formula."

"Then, based on medicinal principles, he selected several common herbs as substitutes for us."

"That's how you, Junior Brother, were able to take the medicine!"

When he first met Immortal Venerable Jicheng to receive the reward of the Audience Jade Tablet.

Immortal Venerable Jicheng once pointed to an Azure Cloud Willow in his courtyard and asked him, Han Yi, and Ximen Yue if they knew the tree's specifics.

Han Yi and Ximen Yue were both unaware, but Li Fan, having thoroughly read the *Celestial Physician Immortal Scripture*, knew the answer instantly.

Subsequently, Immortal Venerable Jicheng provided Li Fan with considerable guidance due to this.

Li Fan had initially been puzzled, but understood after conducting further inquiries.

Hundreds of plant and animal species recorded in the *Celestial Physician Immortal Scripture*, such as Ink Ancient Bamboo, Azure Field Wood, Delusionless Flower, Hundred Spirit Eagle, and Nine Refinement Deer. These creatures, which should have been very common, have become scarce in the contemporary Xuanhuang Realm.

The Azure Cloud Willow is now sparsely distributed only in certain areas of Luoyan Province. Immortal Venerable Jicheng's hometown was also Luoyan Province. At the time, Jicheng mistakenly took Li Fan for a fellow countryman, which is why he showed him extra favor.

"The Celestial Physician is a cultivator from the Heavenly Law Realm. There are subtle species differences between various cultivation realms. This is why many of the spirit medicines I saw in the *Celestial Physician Immortal Scripture* were completely absent in the ancient Xuanhuang Realm. The Master and disciples of Body Transformation naturally questioned all surrounding cultivators and received consistent answers that such medicinal ingredients did not exist."

"However, the Azure Cloud Willow, originally found only in the Heavenly Law Realm, has now appeared in certain regions many years later. This is precisely a sign of the Heavenly Law Realm merging with Xuanhuang."

"The two realms are merging."

"Of the two human skeletons at the bottom of Congyun Sea, one belongs to a native of Xuanhuang, while the other is a human relic from the Heavenly Law Realm. Though both are human, subtle differences exist due to their origins in different cultivation realms. This disparity is so minor that even with Master Yin's capabilities, he couldn't fully discern it."

"It's not just Congyun Sea that originated from the Heavenly Law Realm. More regions within the Xuanhuang Realm also stem from the Celestial Physician's homeland."

"Ximen Yu's *Study of Ancient and Modern Rivers and Mountains* deduced the transformations of the land over time. The Xuanhuang Realm doesn't appear to have simply expanded outward after absorbing other minor worlds and grotto-heavens; instead, it seems to have been dismembered and fragmented, with pieces of other worlds inserted into the gaps to fill them."

Li Fan's thoughts churned.

"In the Immortal Fall Illusion, Ningyuan City and the Purple Heaven Sect were not far apart. Yet, in the real world, Mr. Bai's underground secret chamber in Ningyuan City is buried deep beneath Mount Taixu, while the Purple Heaven Sect ruins are located far away in Linlang Province, in the central region of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. Though once in the same province, after thousands of years, they are now worlds apart."

"Fusion, transformation."

"It was like a precise surgical operation..."

"The Celestial Physician..."

"The Xuanhuang Realm underwent such cataclysmic changes over thousands of years, yet ordinary cultivators remained completely unaware. Even gifted individuals like Ximen Yu, who could discern the truth from the mists of history, found their works suppressed by the Myriad Immortals Alliance and prevented from circulating."

Piecing all the clues together, Li Fan roughly reconstructed a possible, hazy truth.

After King Xuantian's disappearance and the destruction of the Xuantian Sect, the Xuanhuang Realm entered an era ruled by the Ten Immortal Sects.

However, the threat of the Immortal Ruins did not diminish with the change of power in the Xuanhuang Realm.

The Ten Immortal Sects still needed to address the peril of falling into the Immortal Ruins.

The Xuantian Sect's Grand Array of Floating Starry Skies was clearly the most effective method.

Thus, the Ten Immortal Sects continued to operate the grand array, capturing other worlds from the void.

One day, they unexpectedly encountered the Heavenly Law Realm.

From the combat strength of figures like Tianjue and Tianyu, it's evident that the overall power of the Heavenly Law Realm at that time was not significantly weaker than that of the Xuanhuang Realm.

Especially considering the Xuanhuang Realm had also suffered a civil war, leaving its supreme expert, King Xuantian, and his twelve Dharma Kings, all unaccounted for.

The Heavenly Law Realm, naturally, would not simply sit by and wait for destruction.

A bloodbath of immense scale erupted between the two sides.

The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace in the Heavenly Law Realm, and the Body Transformation Dao in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Neither was considered a particularly powerful sect. Yet, both nearly exhausted all their disciples in a desperate struggle during this war.

"It's even possible that the Grand Array of Floating Starry Skies was damaged during that period."

"In the later stages of the war, both sides were in an intractable stalemate."

"It was then that the Celestial Physician planned to manifest as the Dharma Lord, infiltrate the Xuanhuang Realm, and use the new law to shake its foundations, thus dismantling Xuanhuang from within."

"However, for some unknown reason, a considerable amount of time had passed by the time the Dharma Lord appeared on the Xuanhuang land."

"And by the time the Ten Immortal Sects were annihilated and the Xuanhuang Realm's strength severely diminished..."

"When the Celestial Physician eventually returned to the Heavenly Law Realm, what he found was a landscape of ruins and devastated life."

Li Fan did his best to reconstruct the history shrouded in mist.

He soon frowned slightly.

While most pieces seemed to connect, he still sensed a few inconsistencies.

"Firstly, there was the timing of the Dharma Lord and the Celestial Physician appearing in the Xuanhuang Realm. Or, perhaps, a time differential occurred during the Celestial Physician's journey between the two realms."

Recalling the peculiar history of the Medicine King Sect, Li Fan's gaze involuntarily drifted towards the Immortal Ruins, located beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.

"Could it be influenced by the immortal power of the Immortal Ruins?"

"Beyond that, there's another unresolved point. The Heavenly Dao of Xuanhuang should naturally produce some degree of repulsion towards outsiders and foreign entities, much like how anomalies arise during world fusion due to differing laws."

"If the Dharma Lord were truly an outsider, then when he extensively propagated his teachings and attempted to subvert the world's foundations, he would undoubtedly have provoked the wrath of heaven and earth. Furthermore, I recall the Ten Immortal Sects once investigated the Dharma Lord's background..."

"While his exact true identity might not have been clear, it shouldn't have been ambiguous whether he was a Xuanhuang Realm cultivator or not."

"The Dharma Lord's identity still seemed peculiar."

On the peak of Jieli Mountain, Li Fan stood for a long time, his thoughts restless.

Half a month later, he awoke from his meditation.

He began preparations for his plans in this iteration.

"Since I'm operating from behind the scenes, my main body will never appear under any circumstances."

"Using a clone to create a target to draw attention would be ideal."

"Hmph, hmph, the Faceless Sacred Emperor who unified tens of thousands of minor worlds..."

Li Fan floated down the mountain and, using the essence blood of the youths Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba, refined a clone.

"The Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon requires no specific aptitude. Moreover, these two individuals' cultivation talents are not poor."

"All memories concerning Huanzhen and myself must be erased..."

As a faceless figure slowly materialized before Li Fan, he observed it for a long time before nodding with satisfaction.

"The Mandated Sacred Emperor, flattening all heavens, with all worlds submitting."

"You shall be named Li Ping!"

As Li Fan thought this, his form gradually faded.

When the clone, Li Ping, awoke, he first scanned his surroundings.

Then, as if pondering something, he headed directly for the Great Xuan Capital City.

Not long after, Li Fan's main body slowly reappeared.

"Although he possesses only the Nascent Soul realm without specific combat capabilities, it is more than sufficient for the mortals of Great Xuan."

"The trajectory of Great Xuan in this iteration should follow the previous ones."

"However, I will make subtle adjustments."

Li Fan gazed into the distance at the Eastern Abyss of Great Xuan.

In truth, with his current perfected Spirit Transformation cultivation, making him invincible below the Longevity stage and capable of engaging even ordinary Longevity cultivators,

Even if he were to go to the Xuanhuang Realm before Huanzhen finished charging, as long as he didn't actively court death, he shouldn't encounter any fatal dangers.

Yet, after some thought...

Li Fan shook his head, suppressing the impulse.

"There's no rush."

He turned and returned to the thatched hut on the mountaintop, resuming his meditation.

(End of Chapter)