Chapter 1130: 幼年传法像

Wu Ninglu put away the jade talisman Li Fan handed her, looking as if she wanted to speak but hesitated.

"It's only three hundred years! I'll go!" Li Fan simply waved his hand, saying no more. He then followed the Sun family head to the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters.

The jade talisman given to Wu Ninglu was, in essence, a miniaturized aggregation array, in addition to serving as a communication talisman. It contained a wisp of Li Fan's soul clone. While it could comprehensively monitor Wu Ninglu, its primary purpose was to act as an external 'eye,' constantly observing the Myriad Immortals Alliance's movements. The soul clone possessed the essence of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, allowing it to lurk within the mirror and constantly oversee the Alliance's affairs. After all, during his time guarding the Derivation Jade, he might be completely isolated, unable to easily access the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Furthermore, his clone was in the Great Qi Minor World and wouldn't easily leave. Having a contingency plan was still necessary.

With Li Fan's current strength, the soul clone he left behind possessed combat power nearly equivalent to that of an ordinary Dao Harmonization cultivator. The only drawback was that it couldn't recover quickly after combat, unlike a normal cultivator; without replenishment from his main body, its power would diminish with each use.

As for the friend Li Fan mentioned to Wu Ninglu, it was, naturally, the Sacred Blood Embryo he had created. However, without the infusion of the True Immortal Network and Essence of Origin, the Sacred Embryo had barely managed to break through to the Qi Condensation realm. Li Fan had sent it into the Heavenly Sword Sect ruins, where it was in the process of subjugating the Black Sword of Heavenly Wonder. With its previous experiences, there wouldn't be any issues; it just required time and effort.

Sun Xingyao, the head of the Sun family, had achieved Dao Harmonization over five hundred years ago. In his youth, he had also guarded the Derivation Jade. On their way to the Alliance headquarters, he began explaining the details of this "job" to Li Fan.

"The Derivation Jade is the foundation of our Immortal Alliance. Don't be fooled by its location within the Alliance headquarters, which might seem perfectly safe. In reality, you must constantly guard against the schemes of villains. Over the past millennium, the Council of Five Elders has orchestrated at least three operations targeting the Derivation Jade. They devise ways to approach it and then use a spell called the 'Evil Curse' to launch spiritual and mental attacks against it. The Derivation Jade itself, its defensive capabilities in this regard are almost nonexistent. Once struck, it means at least a century of stagnation. The last time the Council of Five Elders succeeded, the Immortal Alliance suffered heavy losses. Yet, this matter couldn't be publicized; only the exchange price for cultivation techniques in the Heavenly Profound Mirror nearly doubled. Alliance cultivators were full of grievances, their dissatisfaction reaching the heavens..." Sun Xingyao recalled these past events from his youth, shaking his head subtly. "So, your task isn't as simple as it appears."

"Patriarch," Li Fan asked, "if, during my tenure, I fail to block these malicious attacks and the Derivation Jade is damaged, what will happen?" Sun Xingyao immediately stopped walking. He turned and looked at Li Fan, paused, and then said, "Anyway, our promise remains unchanged; we will take good care of Ninglu. You can rest assured and go." Li Fan was speechless. He hadn't realized before that Sun Xingyao possessed a good sense of humor.

Amidst shifting light and shadow, Li Fan found himself back at the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters. As before, an illusion appeared before his eyes. Only this time, it was different from the statue of the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law he had seen previously. In an endless field, cooking smoke drifted upwards. On the roof of a farmhouse lay a boy who looked very simple and honest. His eyes were vacant as he gazed at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. "Gou Dan, come down for dinner." The scene abruptly ended there.

Emerging from the illusion, Li Fan couldn't help but be slightly stunned. Sun Xingyao, thinking he was awestruck by the intensely real illusion, began to explain, "There's a trace of the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law's aura lingering in the Alliance headquarters, so..." Li Fan, of course, already knew this. He was thinking about something else entirely.

"That simple-looking boy named Gou Dan... Was that the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law as a child?" The image he had just seen replayed in his mind; there were indeed some faint resemblances to the elderly Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law. "Could it be that the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law was a native of the Xuanhuang Realm? No, that's not right." Li Fan repeatedly re-examined the brief scene several times. "Gou Dan's appearance, no matter how I look at it, bears no resemblance to the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law, who once dominated the Xuanhuang Realm for an entire era. That confused gaze, and the huge turning point in his life trajectory that must have followed, are more like..." A single word involuntarily appeared in Li Fan's mind: transmigration. "If my previous conjecture is correct, then this young man named Gou Dan must be the Heavenly Physician's soul transmigration. Coming from the Heavenly Law Realm, his consciousness lay dormant within the womb until it awakened years later. Was this the method used to escape the pursuit of the Ten Immortal Sects and the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao?"

Just like the current Li Fan, who was, in the eyes of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, an authentic native cultivator. At that time, the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law, no matter how much the outside world investigated, never revealed his true origins. Li Fan still didn't understand the underlying mechanism of this "transmigration," but he was very clear that it was definitely different from mere soul possession. "Did he use some secret art to deceive heaven and earth and reincarnate as a person of the Xuanhuang Realm?" Li Fan's thoughts slowly turned.

As he was thinking, Sun Xingyao casually inquired about the illusion he had seen. Li Fan naturally replied that he had seen the statue of the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law, as before. Sun Xingyao nodded slightly upon hearing this. "It seems, Lu'er, that your future achievements are destined to surpass mine." Without waiting for Li Fan to ask, he proactively explained, "The illusions each cultivator sees upon their first visit here are all different. It's said to be closely related to one's fundamental Dao. As is widely known, all cultivation methods practiced by cultivators across the world originate from the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law. Therefore, the closer one's vision is to the Heavenly Venerate, the more boundless their future prospects will be. It's rumored that true geniuses can even witness the scene of the Heavenly Venerate of Transmitted Law's first discourse back in the day..." Sun Xingyao spoke with a hint of envy.

Li Fan, however, remained silent in contemplation, a sudden sense of alarm rising within him. This time, with his rapidly rising strength, he had actually glimpsed a scene from the Heavenly Venerate's childhood. If he were to progress further, it might directly alert the Heavenly Venerate's residual aura.

The two of them traveled through the void of the Immortal Alliance headquarters with the aid of a formation. Soon, they arrived at the headquarters of the Protector Hall. "Follow me," Sun Xingyao whispered, making a subtle hand seal. An invisible force field instantly enveloped both him and Li Fan. The spiritual power within Li Fan's body, which had been subdued by the spiritualized stones beneath his feet, became active once more. "It has some suppressive effect on me," Li Fan thought, "but it's not as pronounced as it was at lower cultivation realms. If it came down to a fight, I would still be unrivaled among Dao Harmonization cultivators." Li Fan felt calm and followed Sun Xingyao into the Protector Hall. It was unlike the waiting area he had been in when using the Law-Seeking Jade Tablet previously. They had truly arrived at the core of the Protector Hall. A circular dome was densely covered with countless starry points.