Chapter 203: Ancient World-Destruction Battle

As if to confirm Li Fan's words, three days later, he received hush money: ten thousand contribution points and three mid-level B-grade techniques. This was so Li Fan would forget everything related to Zhou Qingang and never mention it to anyone again. Li Fan readily accepted the generous compensation.

Ten thousand contribution points was not a small sum. More importantly, his access level successfully rose to Yan Shi, unlocking new privileges. When searching for information in the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he could now view data typically accessible only to those one cultivation realm above his own. For instance, even though Li Fan was currently at the Foundation Establishment stage, his Yan Shi access level qualified him to view secret information usually reserved for Golden Core cultivators.

As usual, Li Fan searched for cultivation methods that could enhance his multitasking abilities. This time, he finally found a result, but after carefully reading the description of the technique, he frowned, quite displeased. The cultivation method was called "One Person, Thousand Faces." While it could indeed significantly boost one's parallel processing capabilities upon successful cultivation, it had an unavoidable side effect: over time, it would lead to the formation of uncontrollable multiple personalities, akin to dissociative identity disorder. Naturally, Li Fan had no desire to cultivate himself into a state of mental illness, so he had no choice but to reluctantly abandon it.

In fact, Li Fan already had someone in mind whom he could consult about multitasking techniques: Jiao Xiuyuan, who cultivated the Myriad Puppets Dao. Jiao Xiuyuan's puppet clones were spread throughout the cultivation world, numbering in the tens of thousands. Yet, each of his puppets was incredibly lifelike, with expressions, movements, and demeanors indistinguishable from a real person. The few times Li Fan had encountered him before, he couldn't tell the difference. To control so many puppets simultaneously without any lag must certainly involve a unique method. Li Fan wondered if it was due to the special techniques of the Myriad Puppets Dao or some other secret. Li Fan's clone had previously tried to contact Jiao Xiuyuan to ask about this, but Jiao Xiuyuan seemed to still be recovering from the massive loss of Spirit Mist Grass; Qianli Hall was closed to visitors, and he hadn't responded. Li Fan simply had to wait.

With no luck finding a suitable cultivation method, Li Fan decided to test his newly unlocked privilege. Previously, he had been unable to search for information about the Immortal Falling Realm, having to disguise himself and subtly probe others to understand how to bring items back. Now, such trouble would be unnecessary. After searching for "Immortal Falling Realm," countless pieces of information immediately popped up. Li Fan discovered that all this information came from a relatively independent section called "Seek Immortal." On "Seek Immortal," only matters related to the Immortal Falling Realm were discussed; any posts touching upon reality would be immediately locked and deleted. Users could post on this section using their real identities or apply for a false account to avoid exposure risks. Li Fan did not register but directly browsed the relevant information within "Seek Immortal."

The vast majority of posts involved discussions and exchanges about experiences within the Immortal Falling Realm, as well as methods for bringing items out. Some cultivators who had successfully retrieved items from the Immortal Falling Realm would also publish guides. These could be viewed upon payment of a certain fee and signing a confidentiality agreement.

Out of curiosity, Li Fan searched for information related to Ningyuan City. To his surprise, despite the "Seek Immortal" section being a sea of information, there was not a single entry concerning Ningyuan City. Li Fan then searched for Purple Cloud Sect and Zhang Qianmo. Similarly, no other cultivators had encountered Zhang Qianmo, though a considerable amount of information about the Purple Cloud Sect appeared. Li Fan browsed through it, only to discover that the Purple Cloud Sect encountered by other cultivators had long since become a ruin, with corpses scattered everywhere and not a single living soul remaining.

It was then that Li Fan realized he was entering the Immortal Falling Realm at a different point in time compared to ordinary cultivators. At the time when Zhang Qianmo and his senior brother Li Chen went to Ningyuan City to retrieve the Longevity Fruit, the New Cultivation Method had only just emerged and was not yet known to the world. However, for most other cultivators, the time point they entered the Immortal Falling Realm was much later: the conflict between the New and Old Cultivation Methods had already concluded, the rule that "methods cannot be cultivated together" had been in effect for over thirty years, and order was on the verge of collapse, with a great slaughter imminent.

"The conflict between the New and Old Methods would last at least several decades. Then, the New Method would flourish, reaching the limit of cultivator numbers, which would provoke a countermeasure from heaven and earth. That would take another few hundred years..." Li Fan thought to himself. "It's one thing to be trapped in a separate area, but why is my entry point in time so many years different from that of other cultivators?" Countless questions surged in Li Fan's mind. He then searched for information related to temporal discrepancies.

He discovered that while such situations were rare, they were not entirely unprecedented. Once, a cultivator appeared in a region within the Immortal Falling Realm where no cultivators existed at all. This area seemed to be a self-contained world, a peculiar space formed after all cultivators had become extinct, and mortal civilization had evolved over several millennia. This was a possible future timeline. Another cultivator's entry point in the Immortal Falling Realm was in the much more distant past, seemingly during an earth-shattering battle.

The factions involved in the battle were unknown, but the sheer number of participating cultivators was utterly appalling. According to the cultivator named Bu Erren, they were "dense, like ants, covering the entire space." "Magic treasures and spell lights flashed incessantly." "Every moment, countless cultivators died." "Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators merely served as cannon fodder for the charge. Spirit Transformation, Dao Integration, and even Longevity Celestial Venerables fought and perished." "The earth and space were torn apart, chaotic black lightning flashed from beyond space, striking the battlefield, and cultivators fell like rain." "It was truly a terrifying, apocalyptic scene."

Because the scene described by this cultivator was too bizarre, and he was the only one who had ever encountered it, the vast majority of cultivators believed he was fabricating the story and didn't trust him at all. However, Bu Erren swore a solemn oath that everything he described was truly witnessed by him, wishing his body to perish, his Dao to vanish, and his form and spirit to be utterly destroyed if there was the slightest exaggeration. Such a vicious oath indeed awed many people. Nevertheless, the majority of cultivators still remained unconvinced.

Besides these two individuals, there were numerous other records of bizarre encounters. It was then that Li Fan truly grasped what Chen Ying had told him: that the Immortal Falling Realm was a world formed from the consciousness of those who had fallen. Any inconceivable thing could potentially be encountered within the Immortal Falling Realm. "Such a magnificent world, yet I'm trapped in a small Ningyuan City. It's truly unreasonable," Li Fan couldn't help but sigh. "I wonder if it will be the same when I enter next time."

After casually glancing at the "Seek Immortal" section one last time, Li Fan was about to leave when his attention was inadvertently caught by certain keywords: "Gathering" and "Exchange." Li Fan couldn't help but click on them.