Chapter 462: Who Cuts Down the Path to Immortality

In the early hours of the morning, at the Ye Residence.

Little Fatty Ye Feipeng was in a deep sleep, a slight smile playing on his lips as if he were dreaming of something particularly pleasant. He was completely unaware of a dark shadow suddenly appearing beside him.

The dark shadow gently waved a hand, and Ye Feipeng's head lolled to the side; he had fallen completely unconscious. The shadow's right hand formed a claw and settled over Ye Feipeng's head.

A moment later, it slowly withdrew its hand.

In its palm appeared a drop of thick, dark red blood.

Ye Feipeng, whose face had been rosy just moments before, instantly looked sickly and withered, as if he had contracted a severe illness.

The blob of blood, like a living creature with its own consciousness, squirmed in the palm, attempting to escape the shadow's grasp.

As the shadow's fingers tightened, the vital blood's space to struggle diminished, until it was completely absorbed into the shadow's body.

The figure stood motionless in the darkness for a long time.

With a 'thump!'

Two grotesque bone wings abruptly tore through his back and stretched out from behind him.

Tendrils of flesh entwined themselves around the bone wings, emitting faint sizzling sounds as they continuously grew outwards along the bone spurs, quickly obscuring the stark white bones.

The bone wings also became fuller.

Yet, under the moonlight, the constantly writhing flesh along the edges of the bone wings was clearly visible, making them appear strangely demonic.

“Kunpeng bloodline...”

A low voice issued from the shadow's mouth. Moments later, he forcibly tore off the wings from his back.

There was no gush of blood; the writhing flesh at the wounds struggled for a moment before being expelled from his body by a vast and pure life force.

In an instant, the dark figure was restored to its original state.

“Ancient great demons indeed possess some tricks.” He gazed at the two wings, which, even after being torn off, still twitched, and he sighed softly.

This dark figure was, of course, Li Fan.

After arriving in Dali's capital city, the first thing he did was extract some of the Kunpeng vital blood from Ye Feipeng's body.

While storing most of the vital blood in his spatial ring, he absorbed a small portion directly into his own body.

It was far more formidable than the beast spirit powers Li Fan had previously comprehended from the Beast Soul Pearl.

If those beast spirit powers were about infection or grafting, the power of this Kunpeng bloodline was about complete devouring and assimilation.

“No wonder Ye Feipeng, in his previous life, later became almost indistinguishable from a true demonic beast in his words, actions, and even thoughts.”

“This is the inevitable consequence of trying to use the power of the Kunpeng bloodline.”

“However...”

Li Fan smiled faintly, “By using the Creation Furnace Art to mimic it, I don't have this concern.”

“Kun Devour, Peng Soar, Startling Peng Transformation...”

Amidst his soft murmurs, Li Fan's figure in the darkness continuously twisted and transformed, sometimes into a whale, sometimes into a peng, and sometimes into a human with peng wings.

After a long while, Li Fan reverted to his original appearance.

“The amount of Kunpeng vital blood I used for comprehension was too small. For now, I've only grasped its form and can't fully replicate the Kunpeng's divine abilities.”

“But that's alright; I have a ready-made blood bank right here.”

Li Fan looked at Ye Feipeng and couldn't help but show a serene smile.

He picked up the little fatty, shot into the sky, and instantly vanished into the night.

The next day, chaos erupted in the capital.

Children inexplicably disappeared from the homes of many influential noble families, including the Su, Ye, and Han residences.

Several families joined forces, turning the capital upside down, but still found no trace of the children.

Panic spread, and rumors ran rampant.

The affected families secretly gathered to discuss, concluding that besides the rumored immortals, the only one capable of such an act was probably the Dali Emperor.

Clearly, immortals wouldn't resort to such clandestine actions. The only possibility, then, was that the Emperor had made a move.

The noble ministers couldn't help but recall various rumors they had heard, and resentment began to fester in their hearts.

Consequently, undercurrents stirred within the capital.

However, Li Fan, the orchestrator of all this, had already left the Li Realm.

After returning to the Xuanhuang Realm, he didn't stop for a moment.

He didn't head to any particular region within the Xuanhuang Realm.

Instead, he returned to his homeland, Daxuan, via the Immortal Severance Passage.

The Taiyan Boat sped through the wind, carrying sixteen bewildered and terrified children, huddled and trembling in its cabin.

Li Fan, meanwhile, stood at the bow, gazing down.

Also a complete minor world, Daxuan was more than ten times vaster than the Li Realm.

Since the Li Realm could produce cultivation prodigies like Su Xiaomei and Xiao Heng, there was no reason Daxuan couldn't.

His first stop was Hanguang City, known as the wealthiest city in Daxuan.

His immense divine sense swept over the mortals below, as Li Fan searched for suitable candidates.

Before long, Li Fan frowned deeply.

“How is it that there are barely any with better aptitude than me?”

Shaking his head, the Taiyan Boat accelerated towards the next city.

The results still disappointed Li Fan.

After spending nearly half a month, Li Fan had almost searched through all the citizens of Daxuan. Yet, those suitable for cultivation were surprisingly few.

“It seems my own difficulty in embarking on the path of immortality back then might not have been a coincidence.”

“Heaven, man...”

Soaring into the sky, Li Fan closed his eyes and sensed the essence of the Xuan Realm itself.

“Humans are the spirits of all creation, endowed with the blessings of heaven and earth.”

“Those favored by heaven and earth can sense the cosmos, cultivate according to its principles, and embark on the immortal path.”

“This is what should naturally occur.”

“While the probability of being blessed by the cosmic destiny of heaven and earth is extremely small, given Daxuan's enormous population, theoretically, there should be a considerable number of so-called geniuses.”

“But, strangely...”

Li Fan then recalled the World-Splitting Whale Pods lurking outside Daxuan, attempting to completely peel the Xuan Realm away from the Xuanhuang Realm.

“If heaven and earth show no favor, who can forge a path to immortality?”

“But why is the Li Realm so special?”

Doubts filled his mind, and Li Fan could only sigh softly, temporarily abandoning his original plan.

He merely took a detour to near Jieli Mountain and took away the two youths with extraordinary bone structures he had seen there previously.

Then he left Daxuan again, returning to the cultivation world.

“I knew it, immortals exist in this world!” Sun Erlang exclaimed, pacing excitedly.

Beside him, the burly and robust Wang Xuanba, however, looked troubled and somewhat uneasy.

“Erlang, what do you think the immortal wants with us after snatching us away? When can we go back? I miss home...” he whispered to Sun Erlang.

“Be more ambitious! How can you be content to just go back without mastering the skills of cloud-soaring, mountain-splitting, and sea-cleaving?” Sun Erlang retorted, dissatisfied.

Wang Xuanba opened his mouth, about to say something.

But then, a figure suddenly appeared beside them.

“Immortal Master!” Wang Xuanba gasped in fright and quickly knelt, kowtowing.

“Immortal Master, please teach me cultivation!” Sun Erlang also bowed respectfully.

Li Fan's gaze swept over the two, but he didn't reply.

He simply led them into the cabin where Su Changyu and the sixteen other children were.

These were all very young children, snatched by Li Fan and brought here, many without having seen their families.

In their helplessness and confusion, they uncontrollably burst into tears, huddling together.

“Keep them quiet; this will be your first test.”

“Remember, no hitting.”

Li Fan said to Sun Erlang.

He then vanished.

Sun Erlang, who possessed considerable martial prowess and prided himself on mastering all forms of combat, suddenly found himself in a predicament, facing a group of snot-nosed brats.