Chapter 1514: 凡落凡尘间

After losing consciousness, the concept of time became irrelevant. Even if billions of years passed, or longer, for the person involved, it was merely the difference between before and after waking up.

Li Fan was awakened by the constantly flickering light symbols before his eyes. As if urged for a long time, the symbols flashed ceaselessly. Although the flickering frequency remained consistent each time, Li Fan instinctively perceived a sense of "urgency" from them. This emotion even infected Li Fan, compelling him to make a choice despite his mind still being a blank slate.

Li Fan stared at the light symbols for a long time before finally understanding their meaning.

"This simulation has ended. 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 simulated memories of a person closely related to you in this simulation. These memories can be inherited by that person.4. Give up the above choices to accelerate the charging progress."

"Simulation...""Retain..."

These familiar yet strange words seemed to awaken some of Li Fan's past memories. But just as he was about to recall something, Li Fan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. Countless images, as if finding an outlet, surged forward, instantly overwhelming Li Fan. His true memories vanished into a vast ocean, and Li Fan let out a scream, collapsing into unconsciousness once more.

"Rest assured, it's just a wind evil invading the brain. Drinking this bowl of blessed water will surely save him from danger and turn peril into safety. However, for a complete cure, continuous consumption is required. Shujuan, you must understand, many in the village are waiting for this blessed water to save their lives. Though our relationship was good when we were young, providing you with a bowl or two for free is already being extremely benevolent. From now on, if you still want this blessed water... it will depend on your sincerity."

"Xiaoyue... Madam Li Wu, rest assured, I will save Fan'er even if it means selling everything we own."

In his unconscious state, two chattering female voices occasionally echoed in Li Fan's ears. Li Fan then felt a turbid liquid with a peculiar smell being forcibly poured down his throat. It was like something brewed in a sewer for over a decade; as the liquid entered his stomach, a wave of nausea surged straight to his head.

"Ugh." Li Fan abruptly turned over and started vomiting.

"Shujuan, see, didn't I say this blessed water has miraculous effects! You need to drink a few more bowls promptly to fully recover..."

"Fan'er." A woman, ignoring the vomit Li Fan had expelled, rushed over in overjoyed surprise to check on his condition.

Li Fan, having just woken up, had a jumbled mind and couldn't sort anything out. He only caught the crucial detail that the superstitious, slightly sharp voice wanted to force-feed him a few more bowls of that turbid liquid. As if he could once again smell that intensely pungent odor, an inexplicable rage surged within Li Fan.

"Pretending to be a god!" His voice was hoarse, cold, and cruel. This immediately startled the two women in the room.

Silence fell over the small room. Li Fan instinctively reached out towards the sorceress, waving his hand in the air. But as soon as he raised his hand, he felt a wave of weakness. His stomach churned, and he couldn't help but vomit again.

"Shujuan, I see... your nephew's delusion seems to be quite serious. He needs to drink several more bowls."

"Yes, yes, yes."

"How dare you!" Li Fan was furious upon hearing this. But this body was truly at its weakest. Even though he struggled with all his might, he was easily subdued by the two peasant women. He could only endure the humiliation of drinking bowl after bowl of the blessed water.

One month later.

At the dinner table, Li Fan ate unhurriedly. The meal was not very substantial: green vegetables, tofu, and a bowl of fish soup—that was all.

"Although we sold most of our family's land, your health is slowly improving, isn't it?"

"I asked Scholar Qian in the village; he said you were afflicted by illness, allowing wind evil to invade and cause various hallucinations. As long as you read more books by the sages, righteousness will naturally well up in your heart, and the hallucinations will gradually disappear..."

Li Fan listened to the woman's chatter beside him, nodding occasionally in response. At the same time, he was sorting through the various illusions in his mind.

After dinner, Li Fan, as usual, went out for a walk and exercised. He ignored everyone who greeted him. After walking for a while, he finally arrived at a quiet, deserted spot. Only then did Li Fan carefully examine the rapidly flickering light symbols before him.

"Simulation, inherit.""What does this mean?"

For some time now, whenever he looked at the constantly flickering text before him, Li Fan seemed to feel its urgency. On several quiet nights, he lay in bed, unable to sleep. He almost wanted to just pick one randomly and be done with it. However, his inherently cautious nature prevented him from making a hasty decision. Li Fan had a premonition. No matter which option he chose, he suspected the outcome wouldn't be good.

Li Fan felt a slight headache, so he simply put it aside for a while and stopped thinking about it. Instead, he continued to sort through the numerous chaotic memories in his mind.

"Are these illusions real or fake?" A month had passed, and Li Fan still hadn't figured out this question. The images in his memory came from different people, different times, and even different worlds. They were bizarre, diverse, and fantastical. There were first-person experiences, third-person observations, and even macroscopic overhead views from the sky. It was truly difficult to distinguish reality from illusion.

"Perhaps... these are all real. They are all things I experienced in what was called a simulation." Li Fan closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the endless illusory thoughts. He couldn't help but think: "If these were all my memories, then no matter what, I couldn't possibly be as weak as I am now. Therefore, something must have gone wrong during the simulation."

"Cultivation..." Li Fan couldn't help but stare at the second option provided in the character prompt again. In recent days, Li Fan had made inquiries both openly and discreetly. Combining this with the countless illusions in his mind, Li Fan confirmed that only true cultivators were associated with the term "cultivation realm."

"No matter what I experienced in the simulation or what realm I cultivated to, it must have been better than my current state. From this perspective, choosing to inherit this option seems fine."

"Flying through the sky, burrowing into the earth, immortality..." Thinking of this, Li Fan felt an instinctive tremor in his heart. It represented both an innate longing and seemed to portend an unknown fear. But having not made a decision for so long, Li Fan wasn't about to change his mind in a moment.

He compared the option to inherit cultivation with the others one by one. "If it's just an item, it seems useless for changing my current predicament. Furthermore, with my extremely weak body now, I can barely hold chopsticks. Even if I obtained a celestial treasure, I probably couldn't use it." Li Fan secretly shook his head.

"Choose a close person to inherit memories." Li Fan pondered for a long time. "The closest person... if they inherited the memories from the simulation and saw my current predicament, they should step forward to help."

As his attention focused on this option, dozens of different figures appeared in Li Fan's mind. Li Fan scanned them one by one. When his gaze settled on a white-haired old man, the instinctive feeling that arose in his heart was the most comfortable. As for the others... "They don't look like good people. Could it be that in the simulation, I was actually associated with these people?" Li Fan felt a slight sense of disbelief.

He stared at the old man's image for a long time. Li Fan then turned to the last option prompt: "Accelerate charging speed." Based on his conjectures during this time, Li Fan roughly guessed that "charging" was a prerequisite for initiating a simulation. "This means I can perform another simulation."

In reality, Li Fan slowly opened his eyes. He had been in this quiet spot outside the village for a long time. As dusk approached, Li Fan hurried back. For the next period, he pretended everything was as usual. His body recovered, and he studied day and night without fail. In reality, he was patiently waiting for the so-called charging to complete.

Finally, on this day, an inexplicable sensation arose within him. The so-called simulation could be activated again. With a silent thought, Li Fan once again plunged into darkness.

When he woke up again, he looked around and was instantly stunned. It was still the familiar room. Nothing seemed to have changed. "Could it be that it was all just my imagination?" Li Fan's mind was shaken, and his disappointment was indescribable.

But soon, he noticed subtle differences between the house he was in and the one he knew from the past. "I had clearly used more than half of this ink stick. And..." Li Fan's heart stirred, and he quickly flipped through the books and papers on the desk. "That's right. It seems I've returned to over a month ago?"

To verify his suspicion, Li Fan quickly ran out to find his aunt. Indeed, she looked noticeably younger. More than half of the gray hairs on her head were gone. "So this is what the 'simulation' truly is!"

After the initial excitement, Li Fan quickly calmed down again. Evidently, this body was already accustomed to such occurrences. "Returning to the past with foreknowledge. Vast as this world may be, I can go anywhere. However, I must be extremely careful. The thing that severely injured me in the simulation."

An indescribable aura emanated from the young Li Fan. Despite his youthful scholar's appearance, he exuded an unfathomable power.

Twenty years later.

"Hail to the Grand Tutor!" In the Grand Tutor's mansion, Li Fan looked at the assembled officials of Great Xuan, smiling as he raised his cup. Facing the compliments of the court's influential ministers, his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

"What exactly is this 'cultivation'?" In twenty years, he had risen from an obscure scholar to become the Grand Tutor, wielding immense power in the imperial court. Yet, he never forgot that he was merely in a simulation. Nor did he forget his purpose: to seek the truth behind his lost memories.

"These past years, I've sorted things out tirelessly, and finally understood some of the ways. However, without spiritual energy, even with all my contingency plans, I have no way to implement them." Li Fan sighed in his heart.

After three rounds of drinks and the guests had departed, Li Fan returned to his bedroom and quietly looked at himself in the mirror. He stroked his dense beard, then removed his disguise. "Compared to twenty years ago, there's been no change at all. Heh. Even this body." Li Fan stretched and moved his body.

Twenty years had passed, and not only did he not feel old, but he even felt that with the passage of time and its accumulation, his body had become even younger and more vigorous. Bear in mind, he hadn't even officially embarked on the path of cultivation. "I am indeed no ordinary mortal."

To conceal his secret of immortality, Li Fan, despite having wives and concubines, rarely shared a bed with them. He merely used the excuse of being burdened by state affairs. Moreover, every few years, his bed partners would die suddenly of illness. Originally, people in the court spread many rumors, using this as their basis. However, after he personally killed the former emperor and supported the young crown prince's ascension to the throne, there were no more discussions throughout the land.

Li Fan becoming Grand Tutor wasn't due to a lust for power. Rather, it was to find a way to leave this world. Although his body possessed the supernatural ability of immortality, in other aspects, he was no different from a mortal. It would be difficult to rely solely on himself to traverse the world and seek the path of cultivation. However, after becoming Grand Tutor, he specifically established a secret organization to search for immortals. Future actions would be much more convenient.

Another ten years later.

The young emperor gradually grew up. Unwilling to remain Li Fan's puppet, he secretly nurtured assassins and conspired with various ministers. He intended to kill Li Fan and reclaim power. The plan proceeded smoothly. Unaware, Li Fan stepped alone into the trap set by the emperor.

The young emperor looked at Li Fan, surrounded by dozens of assassins, and couldn't help but laugh triumphantly. "Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, when you whipped me in the past under the pretense of teaching me to read, how could you have known this day would come?"

However, in this desperate situation, Li Fan's expression remained unchanged from beginning to end. "Today? What about today?" he retorted with a smile.

"About to die, and still so defiant," the young emperor sneered, waving his hand. The assassins then charged forward, armed with sharp weapons.

However, what happened next was far beyond his expectations. Weapons struck him, but only produced the sound of metal clashing, unable to pierce him even slightly. And the seemingly frail Grand Tutor, with every punch, could make the robust men he had personally selected explode, sending flesh and blood flying. The trap intended to corner and kill him transformed into a bloody slaughterhouse.

When Li Fan, covered in blood, walked up to the young emperor, the young emperor was already petrified. Li Fan looked at his blood-soaked clothes and frowned slightly: "Without supernatural abilities or magic, relying solely on a mortal body is truly inconvenient. However, despite such heavy bloodshed, I don't feel much discomfort. It seems what I experienced in a previous simulation..."

"Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, spare my life!" the young emperor wailed. Li Fan merely let out a cold snort and stomped him to death.

One emperor died, but there would always be another. Under heaven, only the Grand Tutor remained constant.

Time flew by, and the Great Xuan Dynasty changed hands multiple times. The world had grown accustomed to these frequent dynastic changes. On this day, it was the Grand Tutor's seventieth birthday. Officials from all regions traveled thousands of miles to the capital to offer congratulations. Many dignitaries gathered at the Grand Tutor's mansion.

"Dao Xuanzi, don't push your luck too far!" A furious roar suddenly echoed above Xuanjing.