Chapter 1557: Taishang Taoist Scripture Appears

Given Li Fan's current control over the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, everything happening within this new world could not escape his calculations.

Subsequently, just as he had anticipated, the Ji family's rapid ascent was immediately curbed.

The monsters were ferocious. Even Ji Wangxian himself had to dedicate some energy to dealing with them. However, having already transformed into a Xuanhuang star, he possessed sufficient protective power, so the Ji family would not be annihilated by the monster siege.

Perhaps the emergence of the first Xuanhuang Star greatly stimulated other cultivators.

However, just half a month later, the second Xuanhuang Star appeared.

The one who attained Dao was the Grand Elder of the Taishang Sect, Chen Qiandu!

He was the old Daoist priest whom Li Fan had seen through Jiang Yingyue's eyes, the one who remained unmoved even when presented with Li Fan's forged "Taishang Dao Scripture."

Compared to Ji Wangxian's opportunistic approach, Chen Qiandu's attainment of Dao was genuine and entirely based on his own comprehension.

Above the sky, water ripples shimmered. Waves spread as a phantom figure traversed the air.

The revealed scene was the second Xuanhuang Star, Heavenly Crossing Star!

The moment the Heavenly Crossing Star emerged, all disciples of the Taishang Sect who had been scattered across the world due to the Xuanhuang upheaval felt as if they had found their backbone again. They rushed towards the Heavenly Crossing Star. The light of the Heavenly Crossing Star guided them, allowing them to avoid most monster attacks along the way. Consequently, the Taishang Sect became the first among the Ten Immortal Sects to restore its fundamental vitality.

"This Chen Qiandu certainly has some skills," Li Fan mused.

Li Fan watched the Heavenly Crossing Star beneath the Four Heavenly Gates, and the old Daoist priest's entire enlightenment process instantly appeared in his mind.

As the sect master of the Taishang Sect, Chen Qiandu did not concern himself much with sect affairs. From the moment he became sect master, he almost entirely handed over responsibilities to his junior brother, Duan Zhiyi. He himself focused solely on Dao enlightenment and cultivation.

The transformation of Xuanhuang into a new world did not significantly affect Chen Qiandu. Thus, his Dao of Heavenly Crossing did not change with the external environment; instead, it followed his true heart's will. Even when he had to restart from the Qi Refinement stage, he remained calm and composed, crossing each step steadfastly.

"No wonder he so firmly rejected my Taishang Dao Scripture back then. I somewhat underestimated this person."

"This Dao of Heavenly Crossing already has some semblance of a path to transcendent crossing," Li Fan nodded slightly in admiration.

Then, Li Fan thought of something and frowned slightly: "I remember that in my previous life, ten thousand years later, in the Shuo Star Sea, there was an area called the Qiandu Daoist Temple, which was a gathering place for many surviving forces, much like a sword domain. It must have been built by this person. Chen Qiandu has considerable potential. Soon, his cultivation progress might even surpass Ji Wangxian's."

With the first and second stars having appeared successively, Li Fan couldn't help but turn his gaze towards Xuanyuan Tuo and Su Bai.

Even with Li Fan's deliberate suppression, Su Bai's realm had already reached the perfected Golden Core stage. He was just a step away from attaining the Nascent Soul Dao. Moreover, this was the result despite him not fully dedicating his energy to cultivation. Su Bai spent almost half his day teaching orphans in dilapidated temples to cultivate and maintaining peace in Ningyuan City. Even so, he made rapid progress, a testament to his exceptional talent.

Compared to Su Bai, Xuanyuan Tuo seemed somewhat inferior.

He hadn't even taken the first step in cultivation, Qi Refinement. He simply remained in seclusion, occasionally looking up at the sky, seemingly comprehending something.

Li Fan wasn't disappointed with the transmission of the method.

He had faintly perceived that although Xuanyuan Tuo had not yet begun cultivating, he was actually brewing something. Just like the former Xuanhuang New Law, once it emerged, it would shake the heavens and earth.

"A new law for the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm? I'm quite looking forward to it," Li Fan smiled faintly.

Built upon the Infinite Sea and Mount Above, and infused with the power of the Great Dao of Longevity, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm's characteristics of infinity and longevity perfectly resolved the potential hidden dangers of cultivating a new method.

No matter how much cultivators consumed the heavens and earth, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm could continuously generate resources itself. There would no longer be irreconcilable conflicts between the heavens and earth and the cultivators. Instead, they would share a common goal:

To survive the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation!

"It's no longer a death struggle, but rather a shared prosperity, a shared loss."

Cultivators comprehend the Great Dao laws of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, transform into stars, and hang in the sky.

And the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm also underwent numerous profound changes due to the addition of these cultivator stars.

Most notably, the inclusion of cultivator stars made the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm far more stable. It was like building a house: although Li Fan used Mount Above, the Infinite Sea, and the Great Dao of Longevity as materials to construct the foundation of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, it was, after all, his first true creation of an immortal realm, so it was inevitably flawed in many places. Within this grand framework, countless tiny "gaps" existed.

As cultivators achieved enlightenment, these unseen tiny gaps would gradually be filled.

"This is what is called 'mending the Heavenly Dao with the Human Dao.'"

"The more prosperous the cultivation scene in this realm, the more stable my Xuanhuang Immortal Realm will become."

Li Fan sat high in the Ninth Heaven, silently observing the changes in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

Time flew by; in the blink of an eye, twenty years had passed.

The stars shining on the Xuanhuang firmament had grown to thirty-eight. However, the first Soul Transformation cultivator had yet to appear.

After years of waiting, the day of Li Fan's harvest had finally arrived.

The countless divine thoughts he had branched out had now completely infiltrated and settled in the minds of all Xuanhuang life forms. It could be said that all thoughts of every living being in this realm were currently under Li Fan's complete control.

In the Ninth Heaven, just slightly below Li Fan, and above the cultivator stars and the Four Heavenly Gates, a twisted mass of light and shadow hovered.

It was a phantom world Li Fan had created, in imitation of the Fallen Immortal Realm, using the cultivators' thoughts he had observed. Li Fan called it the Grand Void Illusion. Here, cultivators could not only discern their own thoughts and deepest inner notions, but also peer into the minds of others.

Furthermore, they could even bring certain creations from their imagination into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm!

"Only the stars in the heavens may enter this Grand Void Illusion."

"Below the stars, mortals cannot see or know it."

Li Fan's will was the law of the Xuanhuang Realm.

As the Heavenly Dao flowed, the Grand Void Illusion subtly changed. The light and shadow dimmed, becoming more ethereal. Only cultivator stars close by could detect its presence.

Not long after, Nascent Soul cultivators sensed the presence of this light and shadow and began cautiously exploring it.

Each time they entered, it also contributed to the growth of the Grand Void Illusion.

The reason Li Fan created the Grand Void Illusion was naturally not out of kindness for the cultivation of Xuanhuang cultivators.

It was for the Taishang Dao Scripture!

The Taishang Dao Scripture was truly hidden too deeply. Moreover, it shifted with the changing thoughts of living beings.

Over the past twenty years, Li Fan had tried various methods to find it.

There were indeed results, but the fragmented Taishang Dao Scriptures that appeared were all incomplete.

They were not even as good as Li Fan's own forged version.

So Li Fan changed his approach, not directly digging for it.

Instead, he installed a mirror in the heart of every living being, projecting all inner thoughts of all beings simultaneously.

This aggregate of consciousness projection was the Grand Void Illusion.

Although human thoughts were constantly changing, at a certain instant, their thoughts and intentions were fixed.

By observing the thoughts of all living beings at a specific moment, he could piece together the complete, hidden Taishang Dao Scripture.

Under Li Fan's will, the Grand Void Illusion seemed to be in constant turmoil, like an unending storm. Light and shadow surged and changed ceaselessly. In an instant, it seemed to undergo billions of changes.

Under Li Fan's continuous adjustments, finally, a vast scroll floating above the starry sky appeared before Li Fan.

Unlike the True Immortal Seal Characters in the scroll he had seen in the Fallen Immortal Realm, which were all distorted and unclear, every True Immortal Seal Character recorded in the Taishang Dao Scripture reflected by the Grand Void Illusion was incredibly clear!

A scroll stretched across the starry sky. The Seal Characters shone, truly like three Great Daos, illuminating the world.

Li Fan saw the familiar characters within it.

Hunger, Ancient, Manifest, Return, [missing character], Restrain...

Primordial, Creation, Innate, Non-action...

Some of the light-shadows were very solid, while others seemed hollowed out, appearing only as faint transparencies.

"This is the difference between True Immortals who have attained Dao and those who haven't."

"I didn't expect that so few have attained the Nameless Dao."

Li Fan quickly scanned, and among the True Immortal Seal Characters recorded in the Taishang Dao Scripture, those who had attained the Nameless Dao were no more than one in a hundred thousand.

"Furthermore, there are those who transcended and left, as well as those whose Dao was stolen."

Upon closer inspection, Li Fan found faint traces still remaining in other parts of the Taishang Dao Scripture where no characters shone.

Based on what he had seen in the Fallen Immortal Realm, Li Fan first pinpointed the locations of the more than thirty stolen characters.

These characters were all positioned towards the front of the Taishang Dao Scripture.

They were not transparent, but merely faint imprints remained. The original appearance of these True Immortal Seal Characters was no longer visible.

"As for those who attained the Nameless Dao and then left..."

Li Fan looked at this portion of characters.

Their forms varied; some only left faint traces, while others had completely vanished. Still others had left relatively clear marks.

Li Fan carefully compared them, pondering, "These are the different states of those who transcended and departed."

"Some completely severed their ties with the Xuanhuang Realm. Others, like the Mound Keeper, left behind something akin to a Dao-inheriting phantom, remaining to support against the Dao Annihilation."

He believed that these remaining characters still held intricate connections with those who transcended and became nameless. Li Fan did not delve into them, merely observing from a distance.

The Taishang Dao Scripture stretched across the dark starry sky, vast and boundless.

Just a cursory glance took Li Fan three years.

"My previous guess was correct."

"When the Immortal Realm shattered, most of the True Immortal Seal Characters recorded in the Dao Scripture were merely True Immortal Seal Characters. The Great Daos associated with them were either incomplete or had already been engulfed by Dao Annihilation."

"Therefore, most of the True Immortal Seal Characters in this scroll were invalid. Only the Great Daos still existing in the lower realms held value for comprehension."

Li Fan's divine sense swept across the Taishang Dao Scripture, marking each valuable character.

"I can faintly sense a subtle connection between these characters and the outside world. Some point beyond the original possibilities. Others are still within the original. Some are not even those who attained the Nameless Dao, but merely True Immortals who gained enlightenment on their respective Dao paths." Li Fan's eyes flickered.

"With this Taishang Dao Scripture, I might be able to capture them one by one."

In Li Fan's vision, each character in the Taishang Dao Scripture had a thin thread behind it, connecting to a True Immortal in the outside world.

Countless thin threads were scattered everywhere.

Li Fan observed carefully. His gaze seemed to penetrate infinitely distant time and space, focusing on the other end of the threads.

"The primeval lower realm star seas that survived are more numerous than I originally imagined."

"However, some are simply too far away."

"In comparison, the Guangwu Star Sea is already considered adjacent."

"But just the circle around the high wall is enough for me to process for a while."

According to the connections presented in the Taishang Dao Scripture, Li Fan pre-classified the strength of these True Immortals behind the characters.

"Once cultivators who have merged with Dao are born in batches within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, I can command them to capture these True Immortals for me."

After carefully making his marks, it was a while before Li Fan refocused on the Taishang Dao Scripture itself.

Serving as a hunting indicator was merely a secondary function of the Taishang Dao Scripture.

Its original and true purpose was naturally for comprehending the Dao.

"As expected of a scripture composed by the Inscribing Dao Immortal, it is far more exquisite than the True Immortal Seal Characters I saw in the reincarnation."

"Indeed, it seems even closer to the Great Dao itself than the True Immortal Seal Characters manifested after the nameless True Immortals fell," Li Fan exclaimed, staring at the "Hunger" character in the Dao Scripture.

"However..."

"Why is the character 'Inscribing Dao' not in this scripture?"

Doubt suddenly arose in Li Fan's mind.

"Logically, the Dao of Inscribing Dao is also one of the Great Daos in the world. If this Taishang Dao Scripture were truly complete, then this character should be included."

"Yet, it's nowhere to be found..."

Li Fan snorted, "It seems the Inscribing Dao Immortal hid it."

"Who knows how many other True Immortal Seal Characters, like Inscribing Dao, are hidden."

Li Fan stared at the more than thirty stolen characters in the Taishang Dao Scripture.

The thin threads behind them pointed beyond the original possibilities, to a place called the World of Life and Death.

Countless years had passed, yet this connection had not been severed.

"With this guidance, I could directly reach the World of Life and Death, if I had the strength to traverse mountains and seas."

"However, since Inscribing Dao has gone and never returned, there's no need for me to join that commotion." Li Fan shook his head slightly.

Then, with a wide open mouth, he directly swallowed the Taishang Dao Scripture manifested by the Grand Void Illusion into his belly.

The Grand Void Illusion reverted to its original appearance, so that the Xuanhuang cultivators would not notice.

Li Fan, meanwhile, was alone in his mind, secretly comprehending these countless True Immortal Seal Characters.

If comprehending the Dao was an examination, then at this moment, Li Fan had the answer key in hand.

He only needed to follow the pattern, and he could directly reach the Great Dao itself.

Another ten years passed, and within Li Fan's body, a Myriad Forms Dao Net, a hundred times larger than in his previous life, quietly took shape.