Chapter 1293: Return and Review

Anchored for three years, he detached from the mountain peak.

Li Fan, who had been meditating cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes.

His mind was disturbed, and he could no longer maintain his calm.

He exhaled deeply, slowly got up, and walked out of the wooden house.

Coming to the cliff edge, he gazed far into the sea of clouds. Gusts of mountain wind made Li Fan's clothes flap noisily.

It was only after a good part of the day that Li Fan's state of mind slowly returned to peace.

In the past three years, this was not the first time such a scene had occurred.

It was unlike before.

When Li Fan successfully returned to his anchor year one year later, his past reincarnation experiences were still deeply affecting him.

It wasn't a passive influence like falling into the True Immortal's net; rather, Li Fan's own mindset was problematic.

Even with the Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Spell protecting him, he couldn't escape it.

Soon after his mind became immersed, the image of Cat Treasure leaping up in darkness and then devouring the True Immortal figure from the Immortal Ruins would suddenly and uncontrollably emerge from the depths of his mind.

Breaking out in a cold sweat, his mind was thrown into chaos.

He could no longer maintain a state of calm meditation.

"Cat Treasure, Cat Treasure..."

Li Fan's eyes flickered as he kept muttering these two words.

Cat Treasure clearly possessed three supernatural abilities — item replication, creature mimesis, and marrow cleansing — yet when it was fished out of the fishing pond, it was only of white quality.

The fishing pond was vaguely the creation of an unnamed True Immortal who had already comprehended the Dao of Fishing.

And how could Cat Treasure, which could deceive the fishing pond, be simple?

Cat Treasure fed on Essence of Source Energy, which also, to some extent, demonstrated its extraordinary nature.

However, neither the Saint Emperor, who was a pawn, nor Li Fan, who considered himself the player, had imagined...

...that Cat Treasure would be such a terrifying creation.

Where its immortal power reached, it was as if a True Immortal had personally arrived. Even if it was just a phantom and not its true form, it could effortlessly crush the Immortal Descent upon the Profound Yellow Realm and suppress the Myriad Things Returning to Void Grand Formation. In stark contrast, the three Grand Supreme powerhouses of the Star Sea, even exerting all their strength, could only barely survive within the immortal formation.

The gap between a Grand Supreme and a True Immortal was immeasurable.

And Cat Treasure, which could swallow a True Immortal phantom in one gulp...

Its true strength was unimaginable.

In the previous life, Li Fan had returned to his anchored state when the Immortal Ruins' gravitational pull disappeared, the high wall disintegrated, and the Star Sea became turbulent.

His survival instinct allowed him to briefly suppress the fear in his heart after the initial shock.

But it wasn't until this life that he truly came to his senses.

He felt immense lingering fear.

He had once directly confronted the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins, even through a clone, and despite many side effects after returning to his anchored state. Yet, Li Fan had ultimately succeeded in returning.

Therefore, in the previous life, after the True Immortal descended, Li Fan, though surprised, did not panic. He merely remained vigilant and did not immediately return to his anchored state, hoping to glimpse more secrets about the True Immortals.

He never expected...

...that the True Immortal's descent would actually reveal Cat Treasure's true form.

The True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins, who could destroy the Profound Yellow Realm with a glance, couldn't even react in front of Cat Treasure before being swallowed in one gulp.

If Li Fan had been targeted by Cat Treasure, how could he have escaped?

His efforts spanning a hundred lifetimes almost became nothing in an instant, dooming him forever. How could this not make Li Fan feel lingering fear?

"I originally thought I was careful enough."

"The depths of the Profound Yellow Realm have largely been explored. There's no need to be so apprehensive from now on. I didn't expect that beyond the high wall, I would receive such a huge fright..."

Ignoring the 'Return to Reality' inheritance options that were still flashing before his eyes, Li Fan returned to his wooden house.

The room was filled with small wooden cat sculptures. They varied in shape and were lifelike.

However, all of them were unfinished, missing limbs, making it impossible to discern the cat's original appearance from these sculptures.

These had all been carved by Li Fan himself within the past three years.

Without invoking spiritual power, they were purely handcrafted.

Li Fan gazed at them for a moment, then picked out a suitable piece of wood and took a file placed nearby.

He began to carve patiently.

Li Fan was using the method of reproducing through wood carving to directly confront the root of his inner fear, attempting to eliminate the influence Cat Treasure had on him.

It did have some effect.

The frequency with which Li Fan awoke from Cat Treasure nightmares had significantly decreased compared to three years ago.

However, Li Fan clearly knew that truly resolving this 'inner demon' would still take a long time.

He also took this opportunity to thoroughly review and reflect.

At the last moment of the previous life, the Star Sea was turbulent. The impact from the disintegration of the high wall caused many powerful cultivators who had survived the World-Ending Immortal Formation to collapse and turn to dust.

At that time, in the core of the immortal formation, Li Fan's sub-mind, utilizing the residual power of the immortal formation, faintly perceived that the turbulence of the Star Sea was not entirely due to the collapse of the high wall.

There was also the sudden descent of some entity.

Like a giant rock falling into a deep pool and splashing countless drops of water, it stirred up monstrous waves in the already ceaselessly turbulent Darkest Star Sea!

This was a major upheaval in the Darkest Star Sea, one that had not occurred since the Immortal Path was severed ten thousand years ago.

Under such chaotic and critical circumstances, due to his decisive quick-wittedness, Li Fan indeed successfully returned to his anchored state.

However, the scenes experienced during his return to his anchored state had undergone some changes compared to before.

This was also the deeper reason why Li Fan had been unable to truly calm his mind for the past three years.

The normal 'Return to Reality' vision was that the surrounding scenery dimmed as if covered by a layer of mist, making it indistinct. After 'Return to Reality' was activated, all images would freeze, shatter, and fly into his mind.

When facing extremely strong threats — for example, when the Profound Yellow Realm was destroyed by a glance from the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins, or when the Faceless True Immortal sought him out — these powerful entities could move within the static scenes around his 'Return to Reality'. However, their speed was very slow, as if the space inside and outside of 'Return to Reality' were not the same spacetime.

However, the 'Return to Reality' scene Li Fan experienced in the previous life was completely different.

The scene outside 'Return to Reality' still appeared static as if unaffected. But the surrounding images, as if enveloped by mist, flickered intermittently. Their brightness was erratic, like an old television set losing its signal.

At that moment, Li Fan's mind was almost blank.

He had no means of counteracting it at all and could only wait for his ultimate fate to descend, as if undergoing judgment.

Fortunately,

'Return to Reality' ultimately activated successfully, and Li Fan once again returned to his anchor year 1.

When the extremely familiar scenery appeared before his eyes, Li Fan was almost exhausted and drenched in cold sweat.

Thinking of this, Li Fan's file slipped, and the originally perfect small cat wood carving was instantly ruined.

Li Fan threw it aside and took out another piece of wood to carve.

Dispelling all distracting thoughts from his mind, he was extremely serious.

When a sculpture that greatly resembled Cat Treasure but was missing two ears took shape, Li Fan felt his heart calm down much more.

He began to review the experiences of his previous life.

The greatest gain in the previous life was naturally knowing about the existence of Cat Treasure and gaining a concrete understanding of what lay beyond the high wall.

Li Fan had once planned, if given the opportunity, to see if he could cross the high wall using the legacy left by Mr. Bai. Now, however, he had temporarily abandoned this idea.

Although what lay beyond the high wall was terrifying, its actual impact on the current Li Fan was not too significant.

After all, from Cat Treasure's performance, only True Immortal-level existences could truly catch its eye.

Li Fan was still too far from the True Immortal realm.

Because he was too weak, there was no need to worry needlessly.

As for the terrifying and awe-inspiring origin of Cat Treasure, based on his experiences in the previous life, Li Fan had two conjectures.

First, Cat Treasure was originally a creation of the unnamed Immortal who created the fishing pond.

It might even be an extension of the unnamed Immortal's power.

It's highly possible that there is more than one fishing pond and Cat Treasure, and they are not confined to a single location.

Their mission is to search for True Immortals still existing in the world.

Once their traces are found, the unnamed Immortal will descend and devour them.

Just like the fate of the 'Fish Kings' Li Fan saw in the Congyun Sea's Fishing Pond back then.

But there was a problem with this.

The reason they would be swallowed was because they held value.

The 'Fish Kings' would be divided because they had been nourished by the spiritual power of the cultivators participating in the Fishing Competition. For other Fish Kings, they were greatly beneficial.

But for the unnamed Immortal who had already comprehended a certain Dao path and transcended, ordinary True Immortals seemed to have no value worth devouring.

"Or perhaps, the true target is True Immortals like those from the Immortal Ruins, who have comprehended the Dao for tens of thousands of years and are about to ascend. They might be able to appropriate their understanding of the Dao, gaining a second or even more Dao paths..."

True Immortals were already beyond reach, and information about the unnamed True Immortal was even scarcer. Li Fan could only make reasonable conjectures based on his past understanding of things.

Besides the possibility that Cat Treasure was an extension of the unnamed True Immortal, there was a second conjecture.

The reason Cat Treasure appeared within the fishing pond was because its true target was originally the unnamed Immortal who entered the Dao through fishing!

The fishing pond searched for treasures in the starry sky. After Cat Treasure sensed its power, it feigned being hooked and actively entered the fishing pond, aiming to find an opportunity to locate the unnamed Immortal behind it.

As the saying goes, the angler also gets angled.

However, while bored and waiting for prey to take the bait, it discovered another True Immortal. This could be considered a pleasant surprise.

Judging from Cat Treasure's expression at the end of the previous life, it seemed not to be picky.

It was equally surprised and delighted by the appearance of the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins.

What the second conjecture represented was far more frightening than the first.

After all, Li Fan had long known about the existence of the unnamed Immortal.

The unnamed Immortal's realm was still above that of a True Immortal. Instantly killing a True Immortal was therefore reasonable.

But if the second conjecture were true...

...then it meant Cat Treasure was very likely just a vanguard.

A hunter from a civilization beyond the wall, specifically designed to hunt True Immortals and even unnamed True Immortals.

Li Fan recalled the scene at the end of the previous life, when Cat Treasure leaped up and went towards the Immortal Ruins.

"He couldn't perceive the specific situation within. But the gradual disappearance of the Immortal Ruins' gravitational pull already indicated certain facts."

"No battle fluctuations emanated..."

"The True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins probably couldn't put up much resistance and was captured."

The reason for using the word 'captured' instead of 'fallen' was because Li Fan clearly felt the process of the Immortal Ruins' gravitational pull slowly disappearing.

It was as if the source of the gravitational pull was slowly being pulled into a quagmire and gradually vanishing, instead of instantly disappearing with the True Immortal's demise.

"If the conjecture is true, then the collapse of the high wall and the turbulence of the Star Sea are proof that the force behind Cat Treasure descended to capture True Immortals."

"Being able to create a construct like Cat Treasure, the force beyond the high wall must have developed to an unimaginable extent."

"Capturing True Immortals, then, is profitable."

"If True Immortals have any value, one is immortal spiritual power, and the second is the True Immortal Dao..."

Li Fan pondered as he placed the newly carved small cat wooden statue.

His heart calmed down a few more points.

After the fear was dispelled, a few thoughts emerged in Li Fan's mind: "Actually, upon closer thought, the discovery of Cat Treasure isn't entirely a bad thing for me."

"At the very least, I also have a means to restrain True Immortals. I have the leverage to overturn the table if things don't go my way."

Li Fan's eyes flickered: "The only thing to be wary of is the exposure of 'Return to Reality'."

"Judging from the scenes experienced during the last 'Return to Reality' in the previous life, the civilization behind Cat Treasure actually possessed power sufficient to affect 'Return to Reality'."

"It wasn't like the power of a True Immortal, directly acting on me, thereby affecting the activation of 'Return to Reality'."

"But it truly affected 'Return to Reality' itself."

"Even if it was just a slight fluctuation in the 'Return to Reality' vision..."

"If he wanted to use Cat Treasure's power, he would inevitably have to use clones."

Thinking of this, Li Fan couldn't help but frown slightly.

In the previous life, his true body remained unmoving within the Yanfa Jue space.

He separated into many individuals, scheming in secret.

The Saint Emperor clone, the Sacred Embryo, multiple sub-minds...

Although there were no major problems overall, subtle instances of loss of control did occur.

For example, the Saint Emperor clone exhibited higher moral views. Although this was a setting he had forcibly imposed upon him when creating the clone, it created an irreconcilable conflict with his true body. Later, he even completely severed contact with his true body.

This caused his true body's perception to be cut off. Some details from his battles against Chuanfa and Tianyi could therefore not be known.

For another example, the mental stability of his sub-minds was even worse than that of his true body or clones. Their emotional fluctuations were sometimes too intense, completely contrary to his true body.

Although Li Fan could completely control the words and actions of his sub-minds, he could not completely prevent this loss of mental stability.

Besides the factor that sub-minds were merely strands of divine sense and inherently too weak,

Li Fan also faintly perceived the fundamental reason why the sub-minds split off in the previous life were extremely prone to emotional fluctuations.

It was precisely the Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Spell!

First, the Sacred Embryo transmitted the Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Spell to the Azure Xuan Army guarding the Roaring Abyss.

Then the Saint Emperor granted the Immortal Heart Spell to the Great Qi Imperial Guards.

The number of beings cultivating this method exceeded a hundred thousand.

At first, Li Fan didn't think widely spreading the Immortal Heart Spell would have any impact on him.

However, facts proved him wrong.

The Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Spell had accompanied him ever since he stepped onto the immortal path.

With his cultivation having already merged into his instincts, it had subtly become one with him.

After he spread it outwards, the Profound Yellow Immortal Heart Spell's ability to maintain mental stability was correspondingly affected.