Chapter 1523: Great Heavenly Venerable's Decree

The Xuantong Heavenly Dao had not yet undergone the transformative, counter-intuitive changes brought by the new Law of Inheritance. With the former ruler, the Immortal Realm, already shattered, this was arguably the most potent period for the Xuantong Heavenly Dao.

While the Heavenly Dao might not have detected Li Fan's origin from the future, it certainly couldn't ignore the unusual aura of an "outsider." When Li Fan attempted to comprehend the Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Heavenly Dao instinctively resisted him.

However, Li Fan's cultivation had reached a point where the Xuantong Heavenly Dao could not simply refuse or obstruct him. Even though the river of time had stripped away his power, making him seem no different from a mortal, he still possessed countless methods to overcome the Xuantong Heavenly Dao.

"Under the Heavenly Dao's repulsion, cultivation faces resistance at every turn, yielding half the results for twice the effort," Li Fan mused. "But it's easy to overcome. As the saying goes, 'If Heaven does not grant it, I shall take it myself!'"

With extensive experience in cultivating the new Law, Li Fan could forcefully comprehend the Heavenly Dao, even in his mortal form. Moreover, at this point in time, the Law of Inheritance should have only just begun to spread, introduced solely by the Immortal Venerable of Inheritance.

If he could attain immortality before the Immortal Venerable, he could take their place and become another Heavenly Venerable of Inheritance.

However, doing so would entail significant risks.

The Law of Inheritance had originated when the Celestial Physician, utilizing a Celestial Demon, took control of Xuanyuan Tuo, a native of the Xuanhuang Realm. When the Ten Immortal Sects investigated the Law of Inheritance's identity, this disguise as a local native prevented them from recognizing it as a true enemy initially, granting the Law of Inheritance precious time to rise.

However, if Li Fan, a complete outsider, were to step forward and become a trailblazer, he would likely face the most brutal suppression from the combined might of the Ten Sects.

Before Li Fan fully recovered his cultivation, he still harbored some apprehension towards the Ten Sects in their prime.

"Moreover, the old path of the new Law has many drawbacks," he pondered. "Even if mastered, its power would be formidable only within the Xuanhuang Realm. Once outside this world, its strength would diminish significantly."

"It's far inferior to my Myriad Aspects Dao Net."

"What a pity..." Li Fan sighed softly in his heart.

Not only were the insights that formed his Dao Net lost, requiring him to re-observe and rebuild them, but, more crucially, the power of his core Ink-Killing Immortal Soul had also been washed away during the crisis of the mountains and seas merging.

"However, I might be able to manifest it again by leveraging the power of 'False as True,' eliminating the need to re-promote the Xuanhuang Realm's ascension to an Immortal Domain."

Thus, after all the detours, the crucial point circled back to comprehending the Great Dao of Xuanhuang. Only by first creating the fertile ground for the transformation of truth and falsehood could Li Fan's various techniques find their utility.

"Being repelled to this extent makes even drawing Qi into my body incredibly difficult. It's no easier than when I first began cultivating."

"However, traces of the Great Dao of Immortality still linger within me; perhaps I can use this as a breakthrough."

As Li Fan officially restarted his cultivation journey and once more felt the extremely potent repulsive force of the Xuanhuang Realm, he was not only indignant but also found himself growing confused.

Although it was an instinctive repulsion towards outsiders, being able to suppress Li Fan to such an extent...

"It doesn't seem like the Xuantong Heavenly Dao is acting entirely on its own."

"It's as if someone else is manipulating or directing it from behind the scenes."

Li Fan suddenly looked up again, and a realization welled up in his mind.

"Who could it be? Someone capable of dominating the Xuantong Heavenly Dao's consciousness at this point in time..."

Several figures flashed through his mind, finally settling on one particular scene.

It was a scene from a past simulation, when Li Fan propelled the Xuanhuang Realm to ascend into an Immortal Domain.

At that time, even with the boundless vitality nourishing it from the Sea of Stars, it was difficult to sustain the Xuanhuang Realm's ascension. So, Li Fan performed a ritual, summoning the illusory imprints left by successive Great Heavenly Venerables of Xuanhuang within the realm.

Eight illusory figures stood tall between heaven and earth.

The last of these was the Nameless Great Heavenly Venerable, whom Li Fan himself had brought forth.

Before the Nameless, there was Su Bai.

And before Su Bai...

It wasn't the Heavenly King Xuan.

Between Heavenly King Xuan and Su Bai, there existed a mysterious Great Heavenly Venerable of unknown identity. Only their form was discernible, their face nothing but a void.

This Great Heavenly Venerable seemed to appear and vanish into thin air. Aside from the illusory imprint of the Great Heavenly Venerable, no other traces were left. Li Fan had attempted to investigate once before, but even with his semi-immortal abilities, he had found nothing.

"'This point in time, before Su Bai comprehends the Dao and succeeds as Great Heavenly Venerable, must be when he is in power...'" Li Fan mused.

"'If an outer-heavenly demon invades, signaling the Xuantong Heavenly Dao to retaliate, that's indeed the Great Heavenly Venerable's duty. But doesn't this mean that every time I forcefully attempt to comprehend the Dao, it's incredibly dangerous?'" Li Fan's heart tightened.

While he remained undetected for now, each instance of Dao comprehension could be viewed as a glaring signal sent outwards. This was less concerning at lower cultivation levels, but in the Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation realms, it would be as conspicuous as a beacon in the darkest night, inevitably attracting the mysterious Great Heavenly Venerable of Xuanhuang.

Of course, this didn't mean Li Fan would face a dead end then. As long as he revealed that he hailed from the future and bore the heavy responsibility of saving the mortal realm's mountains and seas, considering the exceptionally high moral standards required for a Great Heavenly Venerable of Xuanhuang, Li Fan would likely survive.

However, Li Fan was naturally unwilling to take that risk.

Entrusting his life and fate to someone else's moral standards.

That was certainly not the conduct of a gentleman.

"'I never expected that a simple path of re-cultivation would be so fraught with difficulties,'" Li Fan murmured, pressing his brow.

"I wonder how other individuals who've journeyed upstream through time have dealt with this."

After half a day of deep contemplation, Li Fan finally settled on a temporary cultivation strategy. Since he couldn't actively comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth on his own, he would have to borrow the insights others had already gained.

The timing coincided with the brewing storm at Changqing Valley, presenting a perfect opportunity for an initial experiment.

Using his "False as True" technique, Li Fan borrowed a significant amount of materials from Changqing Valley's sect treasury. He then went to the artifact refining workshop and tricked Array Master Wang Yi into laboriously crafting a hundred palm-sized thin plates for him.

"'Brother Ping, what use do you have for these items? They can neither defend you nor be used to ward off enemies,' Wang Yi asked, wiping sweat from his brow, utterly perplexed."

Li Fan did not answer the talkative Array Master's question. Instead, he simply smiled and used "False as True" to twist Wang Yi's memories of him.

"'Hm? Who are you? What are you doing here!'"

"'Go, go! Don't disturb me while I'm researching the sect's grand array!'" Wang Yi unceremoniously threw the stranger, Li Fan, out.

Changqing Valley had many alchemists, but artifact refiners and array masters were extremely rare. Wang Yi held a high position within the sect and was accustomed to barking orders at disciples who seemed newly initiated, like Li Fan.

Li Fan quietly retreated, leaving Wang Yi sore, weak, and utterly bewildered.

Back in his dwelling, Li Fan meticulously arranged the hundred thin plates before him.

Holding spirit stones, he began to refine them further.

After less than half a day, the hundred originally plain thin plates had undergone a significant transformation.

In the center of each plate, the four characters "Tai Shang Dao Jing" were carved in a script resembling True Immortal Seal characters.

Surrounding these four immortal seal characters, countless intricate patterns and exotic beast motifs filled the plates. Faintly discernible in the background were continuous mountain and sea landscapes.

However, these mountain and sea scenes were extremely subtle, hidden within the complex and ornate patterns. Ordinary individuals would find them difficult to perceive.

After completing the carving of all hundred thin plates, Li Fan's entire stock of spirit stones was depleted.

Li Fan himself was on the verge of collapse, even feeling a faint sense of dizziness.

While it was partly due to the strain of forcefully creating objects with a mortal body, the primary reason was that these hundred Tai Shang Dao Jing plates represented the pinnacle of Li Fan's current array mastery.

Far surpassing countless generations of the present, although they were mortal arrays, they could rival immortal arrays!

Due to the loss of his Dao comprehension, Li Fan's actual array-forming skill had been greatly diminished, its power less than a tenth of what it once was.

However, the underlying array-laying principles remained.

Therefore, using Array Master Wang Yi of Changqing Valley, he created numerous basic arrays. He then re-wove and combined these arrays, transforming the mundane into the miraculous.

This ultimately led to the creation of these hundred Tai Shang Dao Jing plates.

Though seemingly mere thin plates, they possessed boundless wondrous uses.

Most importantly, they served as a medium, allowing real-time communication with Li Fan, even across high walls or star seas!

The four characters "Tai Shang Dao Jing," while perhaps an exaggeration, were not entirely empty words.

Anyone who obtained this scripture, if they felt confused during their Dao comprehension or cultivation, could seek guidance from the scripture.

Any question asked would surely receive an answer.

Given Li Fan's qualifications—having reincarnated through many lives, re-cultivated to a True Immortal, and personally experienced the fusion of the Dao of Mountains and Seas, Immortality, and Returning to Truth—he wasn't exaggerating when he said there was nothing he couldn't solve across all primal possibilities, let alone within a mere Xuanhuang Realm.

In other words, anyone who obtained the Tai Shang Dao Jing would essentially gain a peerless expert as a personal mentor. The immense help this would provide for cultivation was self-evident.

If Li Fan hadn't been in his current predicament, he wouldn't have devised such a win-win solution.

After a short rest, Li Fan began to act.

Of course, he didn't immediately distribute all the Tai Shang Dao Jing plates. When it came to Dao comprehension, quality mattered more than quantity.

"'Brother, please wait!'"

Bai Lishan, the chief disciple of Changqing Valley, heard the voice and couldn't help but look back.

He saw a cultivator lead him to a secluded corner, then mysteriously pull out a thin plate.

"'You are...'" Bai Lishan found the other party somewhat familiar, likely a fellow disciple. However, he couldn't immediately recall their specific identity.

Before he could ponder further, Bai Lishan was captivated by the thin plate in his hand.

"'This item is called the Tai Shang Dao Jing, possessing infinite mysteries. Though I obtained this treasure, I know I am unworthy to benefit from it. Therefore, I present it to you, Senior Brother...'" Li Fan whispered.

Bai Lishan was slightly amused.

Observing the other's aura, he noted it was merely at the Qi Refining stage. Yet, they were audaciously claiming it was a supreme treasure.

Nevertheless, the name "Tai Shang Dao Jing" was indeed impressive.

As he carefully examined the thin plate, he couldn't help but become engrossed in its enigmatic patterns. Only when he regained his senses did he realize that the person who had presented the treasure had vanished.

"'His name was...'"

"'What was it again?'"

Bai Lishan frowned, realizing he couldn't recall, no matter how hard he tried.