Chapter 1529: Complete Nine-Star Pearl

"Sect Master Qu has a point. After all, the Xuanhuang Realm doesn't belong solely to our Ten Sects." Fang Dingge, the Sect Master of the Grand Dao Sect, seemed to imply something significant.

Qu Yixing, seemingly oblivious, continued, "The leader of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, Chuan Fa, has indeed developed unique techniques. However, with the Great Heavenly Venerate overseeing the world, they are destined not to amount to much. If they cause any more trouble, we might not even need to intervene; this so-called Myriad Immortals Alliance would likely be wiped out in an instant."

"Since they are all going to die anyway, we might as well make the most of them. However, the Myriad Immortals Alliance's techniques are unique, making it unsuitable to recruit cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage. Otherwise, after their deaths, the loose energies of the Xuanhuang Realm might instead nourish the Taiyuan Realm..."

"Leave this matter to me; I will persuade them properly." A resolute voice rang out, proactively taking on the task. It was none other than Situ Yao, the senior disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

He gazed at a certain location in the Xuanhuang Realm, silently picked up the gourd in his hand, and drank it all.

With just a few simple words, the leaders of the Ten Sects determined the fate of the Myriad Immortals Alliance in this era.

Yet, in a corner unseen by them, another sovereign was weaving their future.

"So, that's the principle behind the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace."

"I knew it! How could this primal possibility contain a path unknown to me!"

Inside the Darkblood Fortress, Li Fan sat cross-legged, a vague, distorted image of a furnace flickering in and out of sight in his palm.

Over the past six months, using the Transverse Golden Lock of the Floating Starry Sky Grand Array as a medium, he had completed the analysis of the condensed Grand Dao within the Taiyuan Realm.

The results were somewhat unexpected, yet upon closer thought, they made perfect sense.

The so-called "infinite resurrection" occurring in the Taiyuan Realm was not true resurrection; it was, in fact, "fabrication."

The situation was identical to that in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Deep within the Taiyuan Realm lay a magnificent and colossal ancient immortal array.

Nine-star red beads, indeterminate rings, an endless sea of frozen corpses...

All of this was almost exactly like what was found in the Xuanhuang Realm. The only difference was that the nine-star red beads in the Taiyuan Realm had not gone missing, unlike those in the Xuanhuang Realm. They remained intact within the core of the ancient array, maintaining its operation.

When a Taiyuan cultivator died, the nine-star red beads, which recorded the data of all living beings in the Taiyuan Realm, would use the immortal array to create a new copy.

Both the "resurrected" and those who fought alongside them would believe that they had been "revived."

Only those who pierced through layers of concealment and glimpsed the immortal array behind it could discern the truth.

"As expected of an experimental dao field once presided over by an Immortal Emperor, a complete ancient immortal array with the nine-star red beads as its core has actually reached the point of drawing Dao with formations."

"Oh, Emperor Taitian, you didn't even remind me about such an important matter."

Of course, this was merely Li Fan's jest. In Emperor Taitian's view, compared to the weighty task of reversing time and saving the eons, the lives of all beings within the experimental grounds were insignificant. A mere array for fabricating beings naturally held no "importance."

"The so-called resurrection is nothing but a lie. The Ten Immortal Sects must not know about this. Otherwise, the fighting spirit of the Xuanhuang Realm, which relies on the belief that their fallen comrades in the Taiyuan Realm can be resurrected, would instantly crumble, and the front line would likely collapse at the slightest touch."

Li Fan examined the phantom furnace in his hand, slowly caressing it.

Though merely an illusion, it truly rippled slightly with Li Fan's gentle touch.

This was, of course, Li Fan's attempt to modify the Taiyuan Realm's ancient immortal array after successfully infiltrating and deciphering it.

Even with the immortal array's core intact, it was ultimately no match for a true immortal visitor from ten thousand years in the future.

Li Fan effortlessly infiltrated the core of the Taiyuan Realm's immortal array.

However, thus far, he had not made any significant moves, only secretly modifying array details. The reason for this was the two immortal realm array guardians who were still alive within the formation.

Concealed by the ancient immortal realm-protecting array, Li Fan glimpsed the true forms of these two figures.

One was an immortal realm monitor, who had also appeared in the Xuanhuang Realm. However, this one in the Taiyuan Realm clearly maintained a complete and clear consciousness.

The other, perhaps, had once existed in the Xuanhuang Realm but had vanished with the damage to the immortal array.

This was the immortal array's repair officer.

Its human body had a head replaced by what appeared to be a book with countless pages constantly turning.

The so-called monitor and repair officer, in Li Fan's eyes, were merely immortal servants.

Of course, in the eyes of mortal cultivators, even a "servant" was far beyond their ability to contend with if it bore the mark of an immortal.

Even Li Fan, who had now recovered to the Dao Integration realm, was temporarily no match for these two in a direct confrontation.

He merely chose to temporarily avoid their edge.

However, it was clear that the immortal servants stationed within the array did not understand the realm-protecting immortal array itself. They could only use it systematically, according to the instructions of a former true immortal.

They remained completely unaware of the subtle changes Li Fan was orchestrating within the array.

"It must be firmly established that the Taiyuan Rebirth Furnace can resurrect Xuanhuang cultivators who fall in battle; only then can their belief in continuing the fight be maintained." Having been in the battlefield fortress for half a year, Li Fan understood this very clearly.

"I've painstakingly set the stage for this play; it would be disappointing if the audience just left..."

"What the immortal array cannot do, I will!"

Li Fan gently raised his left hand, and the phantom furnace flew forward, rapidly spinning in the air.

With each of Li Fan's movements, thousands of brilliant lights surged from it.

Unbeknownst to anyone, changes were slowly unfolding within the Taiyuan Realm.

When a cultivator's soul was scattered, the immortal array would automatically capture their vital data and record it within the nine-star red beads. With this data, manufacturing them anew would be no difficult task.

Of course, since it wasn't recording original template data, the vital data captured by the nine-star red beads would inevitably have some deviation from a cultivator's true biological data.

After Xuanhuang cultivators were "resurrected," there would be slight deviations from their original versions. It was less like resurrection and more like reincarnation.

Even so, it was likely to satisfy the Xuanhuang cultivators.

After several days of meticulous refinement, Li Fan finally completed the initial modification of the Taiyuan Realm's immortal array.

During this process, he also utilized the Grand Dao contained within the immortal array to achieve a certain degree of calibration for the Grand Dao's deviation between the past and future timelines.

The boundaries of immortal laws, which had previously seemed obscured by frosted glass, became clear once more.

Li Fan could almost perceive the Infinite Sea beyond the mortal world again.

After all, true immortals could not be suppressed.

Even with the Xuanhuang Realm's resistance and suppression, given a single opportunity, Li Fan could rise again in an instant.

"Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, I'll deal with you when I get back."

"First, here, I will bring my meticulously prepared grand play to a perfect conclusion."

Li Fan unhurriedly took the almost materialized phantom furnace into his hand, gently toying with it.

Now, if he wished, he could return to the Infinite Sea and ascend the mountain above at any time.

To return to the True Immortal realm.

However, the dire consequences of the three paths merging still left Li Fan with lingering fear.

And Zhen had indeed fallen silent, so if he were to connect to the Infinite Sea alone, there would surely be immense unknown risks.

"My current cultivation is already sufficient for me to move freely within the high walls. Even if the Starving Immortal were awakened, I could retreat calmly."

"Becoming an immortal or not, for me, is actually not important."

"The most crucial aspect is still the comprehension of the transformation between truth and falsehood."

If everything had gone smoothly since returning ten thousand years ago, then the impact of Zhen's silence was the only area where Li Fan had encountered a setback.

His comprehension of the transformation between truth and falsehood had not recovered as satisfactorily as he'd hoped.

Compared to six months ago in the Xuanhuang Realm, there had indeed been significant improvement. However, Li Fan had a premonition that to return to the level he was at before the merging of the three paths and ascending against the flow, the path ahead would likely be extremely difficult.

"My original comprehension of the transformation between truth and falsehood, though I claimed it was purely my own insight, was actually still built upon the state of Zhen's possession. With Zhen as a cornerstone, I could easily grasp the transformation between truth and falsehood, which others couldn't even perceive."

"Now, with Zhen falling silent, I have almost lost the foundation I relied upon."

"To return to my original height, I will need to take slow, steady steps, one by one, making my own way back."

"Although it will be much slower, this time..."

A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes: "What is mine is mine. Even if I experience such amnesia again, no one can take it away!"

Having realized this, Li Fan was no longer in any hurry.

Reversing the flow of ten thousand years was originally a desperate act of survival, and for Li Fan, it made little difference which timeline he resided in.

As for the catastrophe of the entire Mountain-Sea Mortal Realm being eroded before the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation...

That was not something the current Li Fan could consider.

Reversing the flow back to the same period in the past had already proven so difficult. Li Fan could almost imagine the immense dangers he would face traversing the Eternal Silence Void and journeying to another completely disconnected timeline.

"There are so many deviations in the Grand Dao even between the upstream and downstream of the same river. Different timelines, severed by the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation, are almost equivalent to two distinct rivers."

"It's foreseeable that if I were to easily reverse the flow back, I would inevitably encounter the loss of all my cultivation and divine abilities."

"And at that point, in a completely unfamiliar timeline, it wouldn't be so easy to recover."

At this point, Li Fan could barely grasp what Venerable Shouqiu meant by "walking with difficulty."

Perhaps much later, for his own safety, Li Fan would have to unite with supreme experts from different periods in the long river of history to resist the terrifying and formidable Tribulation of Dao Annihilation.

But for now...

Since they could still hold on, he would let them do so for a while longer.

"I'll focus on my own safety first," Li Fan quipped self-deprecatingly.

With Li Fan secretly manipulating events from behind the scenes, the war in the Taiyuan Realm became even more intense.

Even though the Taiyuan Realm pushed the efficiency of manufacturing resurrected cultivators to its maximum.

Even though Fang Dingge had successfully persuaded Chuan Fa, and Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators, though only below the Nascent Soul realm in cultivation, but possessing extremely strong combat power, had joined the battlefield.

The two sides still maintained a state of equilibrium.

It was truly like a bottomless quagmire; once one stepped in, there was no escaping.

The small expanse of Taiyuan land had transformed into a terrifying Asura battlefield, constantly devouring lives.

Helpless, both sides could only continue to pour in resources.

As the saying goes, "heroes emerge in troubled times," and on this battlefield, several exceptionally brilliant new stars were irresistibly rising.

Among them, Li Ping, the persona adopted by Li Fan, was one.

In half a year, he had participated in over 230 battles, big and small, killing dozens of enemies in each.

He invariably experienced an epiphany after each battle.

He was secretly called a born killing machine and a Battle-Conquering Sacred Physique by the Xuanhuang cultivators.

He had advanced from the Core Formation realm upon entering the battlefield to the Soul Transformation realm.

His rapid progress was truly astonishing.

However, the cultivation world already had ancient legends of achieving enlightenment overnight and ascending to immortality in broad daylight. Progressing from Core Formation to Soul Transformation in half a year, while swift, was not entirely inconceivable.

Especially since this progress was built upon endless slaughter.

Moreover, the progress of another cultivator by Li Fan's side was even more eye-catching.

She drew away most of the attention from Li Fan.

Naturally, this was Cao Yingyue, who had received Li Fan's Supreme Dao Scripture inheritance.

Perhaps the death of her beloved Senior Brother Duan had left her utterly lifeless, with only the thought of killing enemies for revenge remaining. Others who obtained the Supreme Dao Scripture had to be secretive about it.

Cao Yingyue, however, paid no heed to such concerns and fully displayed her advancement to the world.

In less than three months, she broke through from Soul Transformation to Dao Integration.

For the following two months, she progressed without any bottlenecks, advancing relentlessly through slaughter.

She now possessed the strength of a perfected Dao Integration realm cultivator.

Compared to her, Li Fan's progress was not so exaggerated.

Although many throughout the Ten Sects were curious about the reason for Cao Yingyue's astonishingly rapid cultivation advancement, firstly, this was a critical time of intense battle, concerning the future survival of the Xuanhuang Realm. Even if they harbored greed, they dared not act now. Secondly, Cao Yingyue was already a core disciple of the Ten Sects.

Without the Grand Supreme Sect Master's word, no one else would dare to make a rash move.

Numerous inquiries were all dismissed by the old Daoist priest's terse remark: "It's a Grand Supreme secret technique, not to be personally imparted."

Others could do nothing about it.

Li Fan, however, knew that the Grand Supreme Sect Master was not speaking idly.

It must be said that Cao Yingyue was intelligent. After obtaining the Supreme Dao Scripture and realizing its divine efficacy, she immediately withdrew and returned to the Xuanhuang Realm.

She informed the Sect Master about the Supreme Dao Scripture.

The old Daoist priest indeed possessed the demeanor of an immortal sect master; although momentarily distracted by the Grand Dao starry sky woven by Li Fan, he did not immediately claim it for himself.

"That you obtained this item is your destiny. Guard it well." With that simple instruction, he dismissed the bewildered Cao Yingyue.

This was why Cao Yingyue later showed no concealment.

Li Fan, for his part, could somewhat understand the old Daoist priest's thinking.

It was much like Venerable Shouqiu's inheritance of the Grand Dao of Longevity.

True powerful individuals must forge a path unique to themselves. What others teach or bestow cannot truly be considered "attaining the Dao."