Chapter 1518: Painting Hidden Reverse Boat

"Heaven and Earth possess Ruomu,Day and night, it consumes life's longevity.""Life and death have no reincarnation,Only eternal life remains..."

Li Fan slowly recited the lines that originally belonged to Ruomu, while simultaneously perusing its memories. Ruomu itself, meanwhile, hid in a corner, trembling, allowing Li Fan to probe its mind.

From the very beginning of the Xuanhuang World's creation until now, it had been an incredibly long stretch of time. Yet, as an observer, Li Fan reviewed it in just a dozen breaths.

"This can be called eternal life?" Li Fan shook his head slightly.

Perhaps due to its prolonged near-death state, Ruomu's memories were not particularly clear. There were even significant gaps in crucial sections. Nevertheless, they were sufficient for Li Fan to gain a general understanding of the Xuanhuang World.

From Ruomu's perspective, the Xuanhuang World could be roughly divided into three periods.

The first period stretched from the initial creation of Xuanhuang to the proliferation of cultivation sects. During this time, the Xuanhuang World remained under the control of the Immortal Realm. Ruomu even retained memories of True Immortals using it to balance and regulate the lifespans of all beings in the world.

The second period spanned from the destruction of the Immortal Realm to the sudden collapse of the Xuantian Sect. During this time, King Xuantian replaced the True Immortals as the helmsman of the Xuanhuang World. Various modification marks on Ruomu and the Xuanhuang World from that era still remained on Ruomu's body.

The third period was from the Ten Immortal Sects taking power until the present day.

This was also Ruomu's freest period. The Ten Immortal Sects, and later the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Dharma-Transmitting Celestial Venerable, claimed to also be able to control Ruomu and share its fruits of eternal life. However, in reality, there was a fundamental difference between them and the previous True Immortals and King Xuantian.

Their so-called control merely involved harvesting the fruits once they ripened. If the Xuanhuang World's vital energy circulation became insufficient, preventing the fruits from forming, they were utterly helpless.

In contrast, the True Immortals and King Xuantian of old could forcibly extract the vital energy of all beings in the Xuanhuang World through Ruomu to condense the fruits of eternal life.

In short, there was a world of difference between Ruomu's true controllers and its mere users.

This was also why the Myriad Immortals Alliance stood by and did nothing after Ruomu fell ill and its vital energy withered. Both the Celestial Physician and the Dharma-Transmitting Celestial Venerable had tried to cure Ruomu. Their efforts were in vain due to the unique creation restrictions within Ruomu.

Created by a True Immortal, naturally, only a True Immortal could control it.

Moreover, Ruomu, and indeed the entire Xuanhuang World, was more than just an ordinary creation of a True Immortal.

However, after gaining absolute control over Ruomu through the immense vital energy within his own body, Li Fan, despite being merely a mortal, felt an uncanny familiarity with the restrictions on Ruomu.

The theoretical chasm between immortals and mortals did not hinder him either.

As if naturally, guided solely by instinct, Li Fan completed the deciphering and infiltration within moments of sensing the restrictions.

The heavily guarded immortal restrictions seemed utterly defenseless before the abundant vital energy controlled by Li Fan!

At this moment, Li Fan not only became Ruomu, but also its master.

The ancient tree, now revitalized with vital energy, had its core filled with extremely intricate patterns.

Although Li Fan seemed to be encountering them for the first time, after a brief observation, he quickly understood the meaning of these patterns.

What greatly concerned Li Fan were the modification marks left by King Xuantian.

Upon careful deliberation, Li Fan began to discern King Xuantian's original intention behind modifying Ruomu.

"To convert a portion of Ruomu's vital energy for independent use."

"Perhaps this was also one of the key reasons for the imbalance in the Xuanhuang World's vital energy circulation and Ruomu's rapid decline. But where did this transferred vital energy go?"

Li Fan frowned slightly, his perspective rapidly shrinking as he surveyed Ruomu's surroundings.

Li Fan could not recall many memories concerning King Xuantian at the moment. However, whether from his own vague intuitive impressions or from what he saw in Ruomu's memories, King Xuantian was undoubtedly among the strongest figures in the entire history of the Xuanhuang World.

Even though he had disappeared many years ago, Li Fan dared not be careless.

Ruomu permeated the Xuanhuang World.

Soon, following one of its branches, Li Fan tracked the separated vital energy to its location.

It was a seemingly ordinary Taoist temple.

Inside the temple were an aged elder, a young Taoist acolyte, and an ordinary pool of water.

The elder was at the Nascent Soul cultivation stage, and the young acolyte seemed not to be human.

And finally..."Hmm?" After witnessing this scene, Li Fan's instinctive sense of danger flared. It wasn't from the old man or the young acolyte, but from the pool of water?

A scene instantly flashed through Li Fan's mind: countless exotic treasures shining like stars in the pool.

The scene concluded with a terrifying image of a cat leaping up and swallowing all the heavenly treasures.

"Fishing Pond...""Cat?"

Li Fan involuntarily stopped his advance. Even though this body was merely a branch of Ruomu under his control.

Without entering the temple, he observed from afar the destination of the vital energy diverted from Ruomu.

Upon closer inspection, Li Fan discovered that the vital energy was not directed towards the temple or the fishing pond, but rather to the nearby mountain forest.

However, the two were very close, and the fishing pond was too conspicuous, causing Li Fan to misjudge at first glance.

Setting the fishing pond aside for the moment, Li Fan tracked the diverted vital energy to its nexus.

Upon entering this underground space, he was surprised.

"This method of condensation...""Although vital energy gathered in large quantities, not a single trace overflowed. If I weren't Ruomu right now, I probably wouldn't detect the vital energy gathering below, even if I stood on the surface!""It's certainly worth learning from."

Li Fan's biggest problem currently was the uncontrolled overflow of vital energy. The vital energy contained within his body was simply too immense. Even if only a miniscule fraction of his aura overflowed, it would undoubtedly be an absolute treasure to anyone sensing it from outside. This situation grew more severe the more Li Fan activated his vital energy potential.

Finding a solution here, he couldn't help but observe it closely.

It seemed that even with his lost memories, his knowledge of this arrangement was only partial. This truly surprised Li Fan.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation since starting his new round of simulations.

"Though I can't fully understand *how* it works, I can discern the vital energy's purpose."

Li Fan's gaze swept left and right.

Within this underground space, a village was buried. Apart from some architectural elements, no other living beings were present in the village. The vital energy channeled from Ruomu, on one hand, maintained the village's original state.

On the other hand, all of it gathered in one particular house within the village.

"From the time King Xuantian made his modifications until now, the continuously extracted and introduced vital energy has accumulated into an extremely vast amount. Although still incomparable to a fraction of mine, it's far beyond the scale currently displayed."

Li Fan's heart tightened. After pondering for a moment, he slowly approached.

After standing outside the house for a moment, he eventually pushed the door open and entered.

Following the flow of vital energy, he passed through a small courtyard and arrived at the central room of the back house.

Li Fan's steps halted instantly.

Because through the door and window, he vaguely saw a figure standing inside!

However, by observing through Ruomu's gathered vital energy, Li Fan ultimately determined that the figure did not seem to be a living creature in the conventional sense.

After a moment of hesitation, Li Fan decided to investigate further.

Indeed, things were as he had guessed.

The so-called "figure" in the room was merely a painting.

"Why does this painting require vital energy for sustenance?" A flicker of doubt crossed Li Fan's mind.

The painting depicted several children playing together in the mountains. Among these children, a boy and a girl held hands, accompanying each other. The moment Li Fan saw it, he felt a faint sense of familiarity.

"This is King Xuantian. And..." As if another switch was triggered, the images flashing through Li Fan's mind told him that the one beside King Xuantian must be his childhood sweetheart.

Li Fan pressed his temples, restoring his mind which had momentarily overloaded from the sudden influx of information. Only then did he continue to examine the painting before him.

Due to the infusion of a large amount of vital energy, the children in the painting seemed to come alive.

Especially King Xuantian, whose eyes looked straight ahead. It was as if he was looking out of the painting!

For a split second, Li Fan almost had an illusion. The young King Xuantian seemed to glance at him!

But upon further examination, Li Fan discovered that the young King Xuantian was not the most unusual element in this painting.

In an inconspicuous corner of the painting, outside a house in the village, lay a long-haired man in ragged clothes.

His face was obscured by his beard and hair, making it impossible to discern his features.

However, the man gazed from afar at the children playing outside the village, wearing a strange expression.

On the man's chest lay a palm-sized wooden boat.

Upon closer inspection, through the boat's windows, the faces of the children playing outside the village could faintly be seen as well!

"What does this mean?"

The painting seemed to possess a peculiar magic, subtly captivating Li Fan's mind.

And no matter what he pondered, his gaze always returned to that wooden boat.

The wooden boat appeared to have weathered the trials of time, becoming battered and severely damaged. It looked as if it could shatter completely at any moment.

However, perhaps due to the nourishment of infinite vital energy, it could barely maintain its original form.

As Li Fan gazed, he suddenly had an illusion: he saw his own reflection in the boat's window. Just as he couldn't help but reach out to touch the wooden boat.

His eyes met those of his reflection.

Some of his previously lost memories suddenly resurfaced. This made Li Fan recoil his hand as if electrocuted.

"King Xuantian seems to be the most fortunate person in the history of the Xuanhuang World. He consistently turns misfortunes into blessings and overcomes calamities. Even major catastrophes like the destruction of the Immortal Realm and the fall of countless immortals, he managed to safely escape..."

Li Fan's gaze focused on the wooden boat in the painting: "Could this be the legendary Reverse Flow Boat?"

"The Three Treasures of Seclusion..."

Li Fan forcibly drew upon vital energy to heal his severe injuries, striving to recall more.

"However, this treasure was supposedly crafted *after* the destruction of the Immortal Realm, so how could it be in King Xuantian's possession *before* the calamity struck?"

"Reverse flow... Did he truly succeed?"

Li Fan couldn't help but turn his gaze to the disheveled man holding the wooden boat.

Ultimately, his current body was insufficient to support Li Fan in recovering all his memories.

Li Fan temporarily withdrew from his recollections.

Gazing at the painting before him, he revealed a rare look of hesitation.

For ten thousand years, this painting had been nourished by Ruomu's vital energy.

Now that Li Fan had become the new Ruomu, theoretically, he was fully capable of using his vital energy to envelop and take the painting.

However, the next challenge he would face was the unknown danger hidden within the painting.

Li Fan paused his actions for a moment, pondering King Xuantian's disappearance.

"Previously, I seemed to have investigated this matter. King Xuantian reportedly vanished into the Fishing Pond."

"As for whether it was a voluntary or involuntary disappearance..."

"Then this painting was intentionally left behind by him. Was it for his childhood sweetheart? Yet, in his messages, he never mentioned this matter. Clearly, he didn't want her to know."

"If the Reverse Flow Boat is indeed hidden within this painting, then why would King Xuantian abandon such a treasure capable of defying destiny and altering fate?"

These various questions clearly could not be answered by mere contemplation.

In the Grand Xuan Lesser World, within the Grand Tutor's mansion in Xuanjing City, Li Fan's true body made an attempt, ensuring he could return to the beginning of the simulation at any time. Sensing the immense vital energy within himself, a glint flashed in his eyes, and Li Fan made up his mind.

"Being timid won't lead to great achievements. It's just a simulation, after all. Even if I'm severely injured again, it'll just mean losing my memory once more and being force-fed a few bowls of talisman water."

"Rather than leaving this mystery as a potential hazard, it's better to uncover its true nature now!"

"If vital energy is useful to it, then I'll give it to it!"

In the Xuanhuang World, Li Fan acted accordingly.

The surprise and doubt vanished from his eyes. He slowly exhaled a wisp of vital energy of eternal life, which surged towards the painting before him.

This wisp of vital energy of eternal life was something he had condensed since he began cultivating in this life.

Compared to the vital energy he had bestowed upon Kou Hong, Dao Xuanzi, or even used to possess Ruomu, it surpassed them by several orders of magnitude.

Even Li Fan himself, after releasing this condensed energy, became somewhat pale.

However, the effect was immediate.

Li Fan stared intently at the changes before him.

The painting readily accepted the suddenly arriving vital energy. No matter how much vital energy there was, it absorbed it without resistance.

Threads of green appeared within the painting.

As vital energy poured in, the scene within the painting also changed accordingly.

On the ground, green grass and vibrant flowers grew everywhere. In the sky, colorful auspicious clouds descended.

The wooden boat, which had been nearing decay and damage, was visibly restored to newness at a rapid pace.

The changes in the wooden boat caught the attention of the disheveled man holding it.

His beard and hair flew about, revealing his true face, which had been obscured.

The man suddenly looked up, gazing out of the painting.

His eyes met Li Fan's.

Then Li Fan felt a dizzying sensation, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into the painting!

Before he could even struggle, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"The Grand Dao of Eternal Life?" The disheveled man opposite him spoke with immense surprise.