Chapter 663: Slaying Fate and Returning to the Core

With every inch forward, the spiritual energy absorption from his surroundings intensified. The world's destiny stored within the Black Bird's Feather flowed out like water from an open sluice gate, causing Li Fan's expression to subtly change.

The terrifying spiritual energy absorption capability of this Han Yi stone statue exceeded his imagination. If it were an ordinary cultivator, their entire spiritual energy would likely be drained in an instant. They would be plagued by misfortune and die on the spot! Even someone with immense destiny, like Xu Ke, probably wouldn't last long.

However... the destiny of a single individual indeed couldn't sustain itself for long in this domain of absorption. But the destiny of an entire world was different. After all, the statue's rate of destiny absorption had an upper limit. Even though Li Fan was rapidly approaching the statue's side, the amount of destiny lost each moment was a drop in the ocean compared to the vast reserves within the Black Bird's Feather.

Li Fan estimated that even if he stopped here and let the statue absorb to its heart's content, it would still take at least half a day for his destiny to be completely drained!

"This is what they call, 'Supernatural powers are no match for fate!'" After once again activating the world's destiny from the Black Bird's Feather to form a protective field around himself, ensuring his absolute safety, Li Fan calmly observed the Han Yi stone statue before him.

Its face was filled with horror, its eyes with despair, lifelike. Time seemed to have frozen on him, stuck at the moment he suffered the fatal injury.

"Han Yi must have transformed into this state after encountering the Fisherman. Is it the Fisherman's technique, or an effect of the Heavenly Destiny Sutra?" Li Fan did not act rashly; instead, he observed carefully.

"Neither truly alive nor truly dead...""Strange!"

Previously, through the Cloudwater Illusory Dream Art, Li Fan had gained a general understanding of the *Heavenly Destiny Sutra*. However, it didn't seem to include any methods for such bizarre transformations. If there was anything similar, it would be a divine ability called "Severing Destiny to Return to the Axis." When encountering a life-or-death crisis, one could sever their own destiny. This meant cutting off all connections with the world and entering the "Axis State" of emptiness and no-self. In this state, although the physical body and consciousness completely ceased, it was like escaping into the void, detached from the world, making one undetectable by others. The Axis State could last anywhere from several months to several years, slowly returning to normal only after external dangers had completely passed.

It was a technique with extremely severe side effects but exceptional life-preserving capabilities.

"Perhaps it was the interaction between the Fisherman's attack and 'Severing Destiny to Return to the Axis' that led to the creation of this stone statue." After observing for a long time, Li Fan had an epiphany.

"Although Han Yi employed this life-preserving divine ability, the power gap between him and the Fisherman was simply too vast. Before he could fully enter the Axis State, he was struck by the Fisherman's technique."

"Hmm..." "Perhaps the Fisherman didn't intend to kill Han Yi, but only wanted to find clues about the Heavenly Fiend Sword in his mind. Even so, it was more than Han Yi could bear. He was directly affected and transformed into this stone statue."

"What is called 'Severing Destiny' is returning one's destiny to Heaven, essentially abandoning it. But now, it has become taking destiny from the outside world."

"Is this because of the Fisherman's attack...?" Thoughts raced through his mind, and Li Fan's expression turned solemn.

Shortly after, Li Fan recovered from his thoughts, looking at Han Yi with cold eyes. "If this were merely the Axis State, you would eventually awaken. But with the Fisherman's involvement, in your current state, you will never recover."

"A fate worse than death. I shall help you find release."

With that, Li Fan pointed his finger in the air, activating the Purple Heaven Soul Observation Art on Han Yi. At this moment, Han Yi's mind was in absolute stillness. Therefore, Li Fan freely explored Han Yi's mind without any hindrance. Every secret, even the darkest corners of Han Yi's heart, was laid bare before Li Fan. It could be said that at this moment, Li Fan understood Han Yi even better than Han Yi understood himself.

After extracting all thoughts from Han Yi's mind, Li Fan flicked his finger, sending out a dark sword light. It swiftly passed through the statue's chest. In an instant, the statue disintegrated into countless tiny particles, vanishing into thin air.

At the same time, the destiny absorption domain that enveloped the statue instantly disappeared. Not only did no phenomenon of a cultivator's demise appear in the sky above, but instead, an invisible storm arose on the spot. The destiny absorbed by Han Yi during this period also returned to heaven and earth with his disappearance.

Li Fan naturally wouldn't miss this rare opportunity. He activated the Black Bird's Feather and, before these scattered, unowned destinies could completely dissipate, he swallowed them all. Then, he quietly departed before anyone could notice the abnormality in the area.

Returning to Longevity Valley, he didn't disturb Liu San and the others who were still busy. Li Fan entered the Sect Master's cultivation chamber, placing the brown jade bottle containing Xu Ke's essence blood and the materials for refining a clone before him.

Just as he was about to begin, an unsettling feeling inexplicably arose in his heart. "I am currently at the early Nascent Soul stage. The clone I refine will have its cultivation limited to the peak Core Formation stage. I intend to use the clone to cultivate Han Yi's *Heavenly Destiny Sutra*. If I refine the clone first and then let it cultivate and break through on its own..."

"Perhaps the bottleneck of the Heavenly Calamity will be even more stubborn for the clone than for the main body, wasting precious time. It would be better for my main body to cultivate first and break through to the mid Nascent Soul stage. That way, I can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Li Fan pondered, temporarily put away the materials, and ascended into the sky of the Beast Seed Realm.

"I achieved the Nascent Soul stage through the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. To break through quickly, it's best to gain extensive insights into the principles of the Five Elements. In the Xuanhuang Realm, I might need to painstakingly search for them. But here, in the Beast Seed Realm..."

"The operation of heaven and earth, the circulation of the Five Elements, all are within my thoughts! Although this minor world's energy level is lower, and considering Xiao Hei's prior example, I shouldn't become too entangled with it. However, it's certainly enough to help me quickly cultivate to the mid Nascent Soul stage."

Li Fan closed his eyes. Moments later, an inverted funnel seemed to appear in the sky. The Five Elements power that sustained the Beast Seed Realm was slowly drawn in and entered it. The Five Elements collided, producing huge roars from time to time. The sky, because of this, became vibrant and spectacular.

Liu San and Fang Zaiji looked up, vaguely seeing Li Fan standing still above the clouds, and nodded slightly.

"When the Young Master cultivates, his aura is truly extraordinary. He somewhat resembles the former master in his prime!" Liu San remarked with some satisfaction.

"Heh heh, in my opinion, even Liu Ruchen isn't as good as him!" Fang Zaiji, however, gave no face to Liu San, contradicting him.

Liu San's expression stiffened, but unusually, he did not retort.

"The student surpassing the master is a good thing. Otherwise, wouldn't our Medicine King Sect repeat its past mistakes?" "It's a good thing!" Liu San repeated.

After instructing the disciples not to disturb Li Fan's cultivation, the two also jointly set up a protective barrier around Li Fan before finally feeling at ease.

Time flowed by, and Li Fan was immersed in his cultivation. In the blink of an eye, two years passed.