Chapter 1515: Undying and Immortal Body

Two figures, like meteors, streaked across the sky and halted above Xuanjing City.

The entire court of officials changed color, and many cried out "Immortal Master," ready to kneel on the spot.

Only Li Fan's expression remained unchanged. He coldly snorted, "Why are you panicking!"

Having dominated the imperial court for decades, the Grand Tutor's unyielding and unchallengeable authority had long since deeply ingrained itself in the hearts of all officials, high and low. His words, at that moment, forcibly suppressed the innate fear of immortals among the crowd. They had, for the time being, calmed down. Yet, looking at the two immortal figures above their heads, an uncontrollable fear remained etched on everyone's faces.

In Xuanjing City, the common people fell silent, like cicadas in winter. The conversation between the two cultivators continued.

"Kou Hong! Do you think I'll let you go just because you fled to this Immortal Extermination Land? Hand over the cultivation method you obtained that day, or I'll pursue you relentlessly until one of us is dead!"

"Ridiculous! It's precisely because I lacked a Core Formation method that I was trapped in the Foundation Establishment stage for nearly a century, on the verge of turning into dust as my lifespan neared its end. Now that I have this Core Formation technique, how could I possibly give it to someone else!"

"This conversation seems a little familiar."

"It seems this isn't my first time experiencing this." As the thunderous conversation between Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi boomed, a sharp pain suddenly shot through Li Fan's mind. Then, numerous images rapidly flooded his consciousness.

"Oh no!"

Remembering that the ensuing battle between these two would reduce the entire Xuanjing City to ruins, Li Fan's heart tightened instantly. And indeed, reality unfolded exactly as he remembered.

"Kou Hong! What are you trying to do!"

"I'm just seeking a sliver of hope for survival!"

Accompanied by Kou Hong's deranged laughter, a colossal crimson scaled dragon slowly descended. Its scorching flames seemed intent on incinerating everything around them.

Witnessing this scene, all the mortals in Xuanjing City at that moment were gripped by fear and despair.

Except for Li Fan. His heart remained utterly calm. In fact, as Li Fan sensed the crimson flames high in the sky, a strange sensation arose within him.

"This..."

"Is this the spiritual energy required for cultivation?"

Li Fan attempted a more detailed perception. The flow of time seemed to slow down dramatically. Li Fan could see with absolute clarity that the massive ball of flame appeared to be suspended motionless in mid-air. What surprised Li Fan was that this so-called immortal spiritual energy wasn't that difficult to perceive. In fact, it seemed rather superficial, and... obedient. It seemed as if he could effortlessly command them with just a thought.

So, Li Fan attempted to draw the raging, scorching spiritual energy from the sky into his body. It flowed as naturally as water into a ditch, incredibly smooth. The immense energy, capable of incinerating Xuanjing, entered Li Fan's body like a river flowing into an abyss, without causing even the slightest ripple. Had Li Fan not perceived the subtle changes occurring in his body, he might have believed his attempt to absorb the energy had failed.

"The fiery attribute of the spiritual energy has vanished. It seems to have reverted to its original pure state."

"Is this also a function of my body?"

The sudden anomaly on the scene caught everyone off guard. Kou Hong's ferocious expression was still plastered on his face. But his deadly Daoist technique, the Fire Dragon Roar, inexplicably began to slowly dissipate, leaving Kou Hong increasingly bewildered.

"You poisoned me?" Kou Hong immediately attributed the change to his good brother, asking with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"...What?" Dao Xuanzi was momentarily baffled, failing to grasp Kou Hong's line of reasoning.

The two were about to argue further when a cold, profoundly authoritative voice suddenly boomed from below.

"Presumptuous!"

"Get down here!"

Suddenly, an immense force struck, as if countless hands were dragging them downwards. Caught completely off guard, Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi lost their ability to float and plummeted violently from the sky, crashing onto the ground. They smashed two large craters into the brick streets of Xuanjing City!

Xuanjing City instantly fell silent. Who among the city's residents didn't recognize that voice from moments ago? There was no time for post-calamity relief; at this moment, everyone in Xuanjing City was inexpressibly shocked.

In the Grand Tutor's mansion, the entire court of officials, high and low, looked as if they had encountered ghosts or gods. All their gazes converged on Li Fan. Yet, one person reacted the quickest: "The Grand Tutor's wisdom and might are divine! Even immortals bow before him! Having the Grand Tutor here is truly a blessing for our Great Xuan Dynasty!" As he spoke, he immediately prostrated himself. Hearing this, the other officials instantly caught on. Regardless of their inner thoughts, they all echoed his words and prostrated themselves in unison.

Li Fan paid no attention to these people. He slowly walked to where the two cultivators had fallen. When he took his first step, faint wisps of spiritual energy still lingered in Xuanjing City. However, by the time Li Fan reached the somewhat disheveled Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, all the spiritual energy had already been devoured by him.

"How is there so little..." Li Fan felt a touch of dissatisfaction. Then he looked at the suddenly intruding cultivators. At this moment, the two "Immortal Masters" were surrounded by the Xuanjing City Guards. Although they harbored an innate fear of the legendary Immortal Masters, they dutifully held their long spears, pointing them at the foreign enemies. When Li Fan approached, without needing a command, they uniformly cleared a path for him.

After trying every method and failing to break free from the immense force suppressing them, Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong began to feel despair. "This Immortal Extermination Land truly is exceedingly dangerous..." A wave of regret surged through their hearts.

Just then, Li Fan arrived before them. Although there seemed to be no spiritual energy fluctuations around him, his palpable might caused the two cultivators' bodies to tremble uncontrollably for a moment.

"Where do you two come from?"

Getting closer, Li Fan sensed the spiritual energy contained within their bodies even more clearly. However, he didn't rush to act. Suppressing the urge within him, he first asked in a cold voice.

"To answer, Senior. We both come from the Xuanhuang Realm, from the Congyun Heavenly Mountains... We stumbled into this place by mistake and have caused much offense. We hope you will forgive us." Dao Xuanzi stammered, cold sweat beading on his brow.

Through the subsequent exchange, Li Fan gained a general understanding of the Great Xuan Minor Realm and the Xuanhuang Realm. Concurrently, with every word Dao Xuanzi spoke, a flood of corresponding images appeared in Li Fan's mind. He saw the Immortal Extermination Formation blocking the Great Xuan Minor Realm, located in the Eastern Ruin Abyss, and the tomb of Yi Yin, a disciple of the Taiyan Sect, within which were hidden the Dao Transformation Stone and the Taiyan Boat. There was also the Broken Stele of Halt in Qian Hong's tomb... What surprised Li Fan even more was that when he heard the words "Congyun Mountains," an image suddenly materialized before his eyes: a crimson figure standing tall in the sky, wielding ethereal flames that incinerated the boundless sea.

"Could it be that I was severely injured and lost my memory because of such a calamity?"

Li Fan carefully pondered his instinctive emotions as the images appeared.

"Hmm... no, that's not right."

"Was I really that powerful before? Powerful enough to ignore such a tribulation?"

Upon realizing this, Li Fan felt no joy at all. Instead, he grew somewhat worried. The further he had gone before losing his memory, the more it indicated that the crisis which severely wounded him would be even harder to deal with.

"I still need to proceed cautiously, step by step."

"I'll borrow some of your spiritual energy."

When he had finished his interrogation, Li Fan made a grasping motion with both hands towards Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi. What happened next utterly horrified the Kou Hong brothers. It was as if a void had appeared within their bodies. All their spiritual energy uncontrollably surged into this void. In just a few breaths, both of them were completely drained. All their spiritual energy was gone, leaving them no different from mortals!

However, what was strange was that, ordinarily, a cultivator who lost all their spiritual energy would inevitably suffer a backlash. Even if they didn't die on the spot, severe injury would be unavoidable. Yet, the two of them felt no injury or weakness. Instead, they felt more vital and energetic than ever before, as if they had instantly broken through several major cultivation realms! Furthermore, to their shock, their Foundation Establishment artifacts, influenced by this surge of vitality, mysteriously began to crystallize, showing signs of sublimation and transformation!

"What... what exactly is this?" The brothers were filled with shock and bewilderment. Yet, they simultaneously suppressed all their inner thoughts. Although they had been somewhat reckless, they were certainly not foolish. Judging by the abilities displayed by the old man before them, he was at least a Nascent Soul stage mighty figure!

"But, after the Nascent Soul stage, one's body forms its own grotto-heaven. How could he lack spiritual energy?"

"Could it be, before the great tribulation..." Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi exchanged a glance, believing they had uncovered the truth.

"Senior, if you have any requests, please command us. We will not hesitate, even if it means death!" Kou Hong said in a muffled voice.

Li Fan merely waved his hand, and the Xuanjing Guards swarmed forward, seizing the two defenseless men and throwing them into the dungeon for strict confinement.

Li Fan did not return to his residence; he simply took his seat directly above the dungeon. The moment he had absorbed all the spiritual energy from their bodies, a killing intent had stirred within Li Fan. However, he changed his mind after vaguely sensing that these two might serve another purpose.

Li Fan now sat upright, following his recent sensation to recall. "Everlasting Remnant Thought." "Only I can serve as the boat... a method of traversing?"

As these few scattered words successively surfaced in his mind, countless magnificent figures suddenly flooded in all at once. Li Fan suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and his head felt as if it had been repeatedly struck by a heavy hammer countless times, making him dizzy and disoriented. It was no illusion; his brain had truly suffered a severe injury. Besides bright red blood, a significant amount of viscous white tissue also gushed from his seven orifices. In an instant, Li Fan's entire body was soaked in blood. Under normal circumstances, let alone a mortal, even a cultivator suffering such grievous injuries would die on the spot. But after forcibly severing the memory, Li Fan instantly recovered from his near-death state. He didn't even feel the slightest bit of weakness.

He reached up and wiped the blood from his face, as if it weren't his own. With a thought, all the blood on his body transformed into wisps of green light and returned to his form. Not only did he recover completely, but Li Fan also vaguely felt that he had become even stronger, having tapped into more vitality stored within him from his recent brush with death. He had thus become even more powerful.

"The vitality of this body is truly too formidable."

"But it's ultimately a good thing."

Thinking about the Xuanhuang Realm beyond the Great Xuan Minor Realm, Li Fan vaguely began to form an idea.

A short while later, a body identical to Li Fan's suddenly appeared. This was no mere clone spell. Instead, Li Fan had forcibly spurred the growth of another set of limbs, torso, and even a head, relying on his formidable vitality. He then reassembled them into a complete human form. Strictly speaking, this body was merely a part of Li Fan. After a brief adjustment, he became accustomed to the perspective of two simultaneous presences. Li Fan looked at his other self. Even as the creator of this marvel, he felt a slight sense of disbelief.

"Let him go ahead and scout. If he encounters danger, I can sever the connection to survive."

Seven days later, Li Fan, accompanied by Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, flew out of Xuanjing City. They headed straight for the Eastern Ruin Abyss. He didn't need to ask Kou Hong or Dao Xuanzi how to fly; once he absorbed the spiritual energy into his body, Li Fan's body naturally recalled the method. He even carried the two burdens without the slightest effort. In moments, they had already arrived outside the Ruin Abyss.

"Senior, ahead is the Immortal Extermination Formation, which blocks off the mortal minor realm. It's full of dangers, and we were also..."

Before Kou Hong could finish, he saw Li Fan frown slightly after observing for a moment. Then, he led them directly downwards. The brothers' hearts immediately leaped to their throats. Fortunately, their worries did not materialize. For some reason, all the restrictions within the Immortal Extermination Formation seemed to have become ineffective. There was no activity whatsoever until they were on the verge of breaking through. The two were speechless.

After piercing through the darkness and regaining light, the sprawling Congyun Mountain Range appeared before the three of them. Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi ravenously absorbed the spiritual energy in the heavens and earth. When they finally recovered, they couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. However, when they looked at Li Fan, they noticed that, for some reason, the Senior had shown no signs of absorbing spiritual energy from beginning to end. He merely kept looking up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. The two dared not disturb him and dutifully stood by, waiting.

"How many years has it been since this place transformed from mountains to sea?"

After a long pause, Li Fan finally spoke, asking. The two were startled at first, but Dao Xuanzi reacted quickest: "Approximately twenty years or so. How did Senior know?"

Li Fan squinted his eyes but did not reply. He was merely sensing a crimson figure within his body. The very moment he entered the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan detected the figure floating high in the sky. It was identical to the culprit from his memories, who had once incinerated mountains and boiled seas. Yet, facing such a fearsome entity, Li Fan not only felt no fear but instead a peculiar sensation. So, with just a thought, he "grasped" the crimson figure and sealed it within his body. From it, Li Fan perceived many principles concerning "flame." However, they seemed particularly shallow. Like a toddler babbling its first words, they were somewhat naive and comical.

"It seems my original attainments were higher than I expected," Li Fan slowly realized.

Recommendation: A book about traversing history, rectifying historical regrets, saving historical figures, and forging a divine dynasty of fate.