Chapter 344: Luck Changes with Fate

Does the Thousand-Faced Demonic Lord truly exist? This question is actually irrelevant. Since the Myriad Immortals Alliance and numerous cultivators have already reached a conclusion, his past no longer matters. From now on, he is merely a phantom lurking within the Myriad Immortals Alliance's territory. He preys on individuals, making him impossible to guard against. Anyone could potentially be the heinous Thousand-Faced Demonic Lord. And the ultimate authority to define his identity rests with the Myriad Immortals Alliance, which possesses the Sky Profound Spirit-Locking Array. This is what truly matters.

Li Fan could almost foresee the even more perilous cultivation environment that cultivators of the Myriad Immortals Alliance would face once the Spirit-Locking Array was fully constructed. "If it truly comes to that, the situation could be described as a complete collapse. As a mere Golden Core cultivator, it would be extremely difficult for me to remain unscathed. Perhaps then I could return to reality earlier..." As the saying goes, "meet soldiers with generals, block water with earth." There are at least ten more years until the Spirit-Locking Array becomes widespread. Any more worries, for Li Fan at this moment, would just be pointless anxiety. He would take it one step at a time.

Li Fan suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind and initiated the ritual to enter the Immortalfall Realm. "Fortune-Bestowing Mysterious Yellow Immortal Venerable!" The scene before his eyes gradually transitioned from blurry to clear. A constant whistling of wind echoed in his ears. It seemed he was flying rapidly at a great height, and the biting cold air caused Li Fan's body to shiver slightly.

"Huh? This time is different from Ningyuan City; I didn't restart in an egg?" Li Fan, who had recovered a sliver of self-awareness, was somewhat surprised. But soon, he recalled the exact point in time when this scene occurred. The little boy Xu Ke was tightly hugging the Azure Luan bird's neck, and Li Fan, in turn, was clinging to Xu Ke's neck. The Azure Luan bird was speeding in a certain direction, following the little boy's instructions. Wasn't this exactly the scene from when he last left the Immortalfall Realm? Had this truly become a continuous series? Li Fan suddenly felt a sense of wonder.

Although he had lost the opportunity to repeatedly explore fortuitous encounters, he also wouldn't feel anxious from constantly repeating the same period of time. It could be said there were pros and cons.

Transforming into a Xuan Niao (Mysterious Bird) greatly limited Li Fan's cognitive abilities. He simply decided not to think too much, instead scratching Xu Ke's hair and pondering the divine ability he had comprehended during his last entry. Besides the extremely powerful Heaven's Mandate Profound Light, there was also 'Heaven's Mandate Is With Me,' which could condense and preserve fortune.

Squinting his eyes, when he looked at Xu Ke's head again, he once more saw the pillar of purple-gold light soaring into the sky. Li Fan instinctively began to absorb the faint threads of energy radiating outwards from the purple-gold light. As if he had swallowed the most potent spiritual elixir in the world, with bits of purple-gold light entering his body, Li Fan felt as though he had jumped into a hot spring, warm and comfortable all over. He could clearly feel his spirit and physique slowly growing stronger.

He let out a contented sigh, transforming into a faint golden thread undetectable by ordinary people, and re-entered the pillar of purple-gold fortune above Xu Ke's head. "Heaven's Mandate Xuan Niao... so that's how it is..."

Li Fan instantly understood the true nature of the 'Heaven's Mandate Is With Me' divine ability. Between heaven and earth, all living beings possess their own unique fortunes. Some find everything goes smoothly, always turning misfortune into blessing. Others are born utterly unlucky, even getting their teeth stuck drinking cold water. However, fortune is not immutable. It is extremely susceptible to external environmental influences. Those who experienced smooth sailing in the first half of their lives might suddenly face continuous misfortune after certain events, leading to a rapid decline. Conversely, those who were unlucky for most of their lives might one day suddenly experience a turn of fortune, leading to great wealth and nobility. The reason for this is that fortune interacts with external matters, making it highly volatile. The weaker one's original fortune, the more pronounced this effect. For someone as noble and esteemed as Xu Ke, his fortune is not so easily impacted. However, each time he encounters disaster, it consumes a portion of his original fortune. Furthermore, in daily activities, it constantly radiates outwards, steadily depleting itself. Over time, if there is only output and no input, fortune naturally weakens.

The Xuan Niao's 'Heaven's Mandate Is With Me' divine ability, on the other hand, can absorb the fortune that its master normally expends, nourishing itself while simultaneously refining and returning that fortune to the master. Not only can it help the master accumulate and strengthen their fortune, preventing it from being wasted in inexplicable ways, but in times of crisis, it can even temporarily lend its own fortune to the master, allowing them to overcome life-and-death challenges with strong fortune. In short, the Xuan Niao and its master can be said to complement and fulfill each other.

"It seems following this kid isn't so bad after all," Li Fan mused, greedily taking another gulp of the invisible purple-gold energy. After absorbing that wisp of fortune, Li Fan felt himself grow a bit stronger. "Hey, kid, where are you going now?" With a thought, he immediately tried to communicate with Xu Ke, not verbally, but by mentally projecting his thoughts.

"Wow! Little Black, you can actually use telepathy!" A moment later, Xu Ke's voice echoed in Li Fan's mind.

"Little... Black? Who are you talking about?" Li Fan suddenly grabbed and sharply scratched Xu Ke.

"Ow, that hurts." Xu Ke rubbed his head, speaking innocently, "The crane is Little Red, the Azure Luan is Little Azure. You're all black, so what's wrong with me calling you Little Black?"

Li Fan forcefully pecked him a few more times. "I am the great Heaven's Mandate Xuan Niao! How can you use such a crude name?!"

"Alright," Xu Ke conceded, wincing in pain. "Then I'll call you Little Xuan."

Li Fan was still a bit displeased, but currently possessing a mystical beast whose brain was not yet fully developed and with limited brain capacity, he couldn't think of a better name right away, so he temporarily gave up.

"You still haven't answered my question. Where are we going now?" Li Fan asked.

Seeing that Li Fan had tacitly accepted the name he had given him, Xu Ke let out a silly giggle. At the same time, he replied in Li Fan's mind, "We're going to find Senior Brother Lu Ya now. The whole sect is still in chaos. It's all because Mr. Bai acted too harshly and scared everyone. Many senior and junior disciples don't want to cultivate in the sect anymore; they feel there's no future there. Some ran away, some fled. Uncle-masters, senior-uncles, and many elders have disappeared, and no one has stepped up to maintain order. As a result, the chaos is getting worse. It's really too dangerous. If we encounter someone like Song Yang again, we might not be so lucky. So, it's better to find Senior Brother Lu Ya. He's so strong, it'll definitely be safer by his side. And maybe we'll even get to see Mr. Bai, hee hee."

Xu Ke's thoughts flowed quickly, as he spoke in a rapid-fire manner.

"How do you know where your Senior Brother Lu Ya is?" Li Fan asked, somewhat surprised.