Chapter 746: Heavenly Mystery Attacks Oneself

"It seems there’s a natural limitation preventing the fusion of all beasts," the Empress said with some regret.

"However, we've made significant progress in researching catalytic substances that can promote fusion. I believe the birth of the first fusion beast is not far off." The Empress quickly regained her confidence.

"The Myriad Beast Furnace, flesh and blood becoming one..." Xu Bai instantly recalled Emperor Yi, whom he had met in the Fallen Immortal Realm.

Undoubtedly, the Empire's Myriad Phenomenon Furnace drew its inspiration from this ancestor of demonic beasts. As the origin of demonic beasts in the Profound Yellow World, Emperor Yi's strength must be no less than that of a Longevity Realm cultivator. If the Empire truly succeeds in mass-producing fusion beasts, even weakened versions, their power would certainly not be underestimated.

"Have you evaluated the specific strength of the demonic beasts produced through fusion? If the experiment succeeds, can you control them? Aren't you afraid they might turn around and destroy the Empire?" Xu Bai posed a series of questions.

The Empress replied with full confidence, "The exotic beasts put into the Myriad Phenomenon Furnace are individuals we control through the Concentric Art. After they are refined by the furnace, although their physical bodies disappear, their bonds remain."

"By converging the mental fluctuations of all the Concentric Arts, we can create a device to control the fused entities. You don't need to worry about them going out of control."

"And according to previous power assessments, the strength of the fused entities we can currently create should be no weaker than that of Dao Integration cultivators in the Profound Yellow World..." The Empress hesitated slightly before finally stating this slowly.

Xu Bai nodded slightly; this outcome was within his expectations. However, he did not warn them about the Empire's puzzling confidence.

He simply skillfully took out his folding fan and gently waved it. "Excellent, the Void Latitude and Longitude Orienter, Spirit Crystal Marrow, and potential future Dao Integration combat support..."

"With these, I believe it will be enough to convince the Federation to offer you protection."

"Oh, right, give me a few more Spirit Crystal Marrows. Seeing is believing; I'm afraid those old fellows won't easily trust my words."

The Empress didn't mind Xu Bai's request. With a casual flick of her hand, she threw ten Spirit Crystal Marrows to him.

Xu Bai didn't waste words. After collecting them, he flew out of the Empire's treasure vault.

"Make your preparations. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, the Federation elders will accompany me next time for the final inspection."

"Those fellows aren't as easy to deal with as I am."

Leaving the treasure vault, he returned to the high tower palace. Xu Bai acted decisively, giving only a brief instruction before not lingering there any longer. He transformed into a streak of light and shot into the sky, disappearing from the Empire's sight in an instant.

"Teacher Qing..." The Empress looked at Xiao Qing, her eyes seemingly full of questions.

Xiao Qing, however, continued to gaze at Xu Bai's receding figure, her eyes not moving for a long time.

"It's hard to discern the truth from his words. However, it's certain he harbors no ill will. And our world's entrance is indeed hidden by an unknown formation," Xiao Qing said softly.

"Prepare as he instructed. What choice do we have? We are the weak. The weak have few options."

Outside the Empire, in the dark void.

As Xu Bai was flying, he suddenly sensed a spatial fluctuation beside him. Immediately afterward, a Void Roaming Dragon suddenly appeared next to him, affectionately nudging his thigh with its head. It looked somewhat familiar; it was precisely the one he had casually tamed upon his arrival earlier. It seemed to have sensed Xu Bai's imminent departure and had come to bid farewell.

"You little fellow, you have quite a bit of sentience. Very well, the Beast Seed Realm happens to need a leader, so come with me!" Xu Bai smiled and said.

Hearing this, the Void Roaming Dragon was instantly overjoyed. It twisted its body and spontaneously let Xu Bai ride on its back. Then, at Xu Bai's signal, it continuously traversed the void, heading towards the Profound Yellow World.

Returning to the deep valley entrance, Xu Bai first stored the Void Roaming Dragon in his personal grotto-heaven. Then, he used the Disc of Finality to dispel the illusion of seclusion he had maintained to deceive the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror.

As he passed the entrance of Longevity Valley, he did not enter. He simply released the Void Roaming Dragon quietly and then returned to Tianliang Province alone. Outside Longevity Valley, Liu San, who had been informed in advance, marveled at the sight of the exotic beast before him.

"So inconspicuous, yet it possesses the ability to traverse space." He led the Void Roaming Dragon into the valley and re-concealed the entrance. How the dragon, with Xu Bai's permission, stirred up trouble and established dominance in the Beast Seed Realm is merely glossed over.

"We have ample reason to suspect that the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror is constantly monitoring the internal conditions of cultivators. Unless it has a certain level of mastery over the body, its so-called cultivation guidance could never be so accurate and effective," Fang Zaiji said with a solemn expression.

"Do you even need to say that? Which cultivator in the Myriad Immortal Alliance doesn't know? Yet they all still willingly accept it. After all, compared to the advancement of one's cultivation, these are nothing," Liu San retorted with a side glance.

"No, no, no, you don't understand what I mean." Fang Zaiji, unusually, did not mock Liu San but explained very seriously, "If the Heavenly Profound Mirror can achieve ascension by measuring heavens, earths, and worlds, then what changes will occur once it masters the bodily data of so many cultivators?"

Upon hearing this, Liu San was startled.

"In the ancient cultivation world, there was a saying: The human body is the most perfect creation in the world. To ascend to immortality, no matter if you were originally human or not, you first had to transform into a human form."

"Although it's just a rumor and its authenticity can no longer be verified, the fact that humans could defeat demonic beasts and become the true masters of the Profound Yellow World already demonstrates the infinite potential of being human."

"The Heavenly Profound Mirror might not be without the ambition to take on a human form," Fang Zaiji said earnestly.

"So, Mr. Fang, is this the conclusion you've reached after all this time researching?" Li Fan interrupted Fang Zaiji. In his hand, the Disintegration Disc was several times more translucent than before. Perhaps because the conquest of the myriad realms had begun, and some owners of Disintegration Discs, knowing their strength was insufficient, had stopped feeding their discs with formation data. In a short time, the one in Li Fan's hand had successively devoured three other Disintegration Discs. He believed it wouldn't be long until he won the final struggle for dominance.

Li Fan didn't pay much attention to the various rewards issued by the Myriad Immortal Alliance for conquering the myriad realms. Therefore, he could still fully devote himself to the transformation of the Disintegration Disc. Even as he asked Fang Zaiji about the research progress of the Disc of Finality, he did not stop feeding it formation data. He was performing two tasks simultaneously.

"Have you found a way to block the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror's scanning of cultivators' bodies?" Li Fan asked.

Fang Zaiji chuckled. "I have an idea, but to achieve it..."

"It might be quite difficult."

Fang Zaiji slowly began to explain the reasons.

"To block the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror's perception of the outside world, one only needs to temporarily forge a single scene with divine sense."

"Similarly, if one wants to influence the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror's prying into one's own body, then one only needs to construct a false body."

"But... that's where the difficulty lies."

"Although it's just a simple body, it contains countless tissues, blood, and even traces of spiritual energy circulation. It's truly like a world. Unless one's understanding of the body's subtle conditions is comparable to the Heavenly Profound Mirror, flaws will inevitably be exposed."

Fang Zaiji said somewhat helplessly, "The Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror is hidden in the cultivator's sea of consciousness and has already completed a scan of the body when it was generated. If there's a sudden and very obvious discrepancy afterward, it will certainly detect it immediately."

"Moreover, everyone's physique is different. Achieving a universal solution is almost impossible."

Hearing Fang Zaiji's answer, Li Fan finally understood where the difficulty lay. Even Dao Integration cultivators probably couldn't guarantee full knowledge of their own bodies, let alone those below the Dao Integration realm. For them to weave a false body to deceive the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror would inevitably be full of flaws.

"Achieving complete control over one's own body. Unless..."

"Foundation Establishment Through Self."

Li Fan instantly thought of this phrase. However, he quickly shook his head slightly. The difficulty of "Foundation Establishment Through Self" was simply too high; no one in the Profound Yellow World had ever been known to succeed over the years. Even a genius like Venerable Yin had left behind severe after-effects...

"Hmm? The difficulty of cultivation?" A flash of inspiration struck Li Fan's mind, and an ingenious idea immediately emerged. Didn't the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror claim to be able to guide cultivators in their practice? What would happen if the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror were to guide "Foundation Establishment Through Self"?

After pondering for a moment, Li Fan explained the concept of "Foundation Establishment Through Self" to Fang Zaiji and the others, then put forward his conjecture.

"'Foundation Establishment Through Self,' without relying on external objects. Marvelous, simply marvelous! Wouldn't this, in a way, break the limitations of the new methods?" Fang Zaiji gasped in admiration upon hearing this, exclaiming repeatedly.

"To think that such a genius idea came from merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Truly..." He couldn't help but feel a little incredulous.

"However, upon careful thought, with the help of the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror's comprehensive scanning ability, 'Foundation Establishment Through Self' might actually be achievable," Fang Zaiji mused for a moment and then became somewhat excited.

Liu San was also thoughtful. "Cultivators cannot fully know themselves, but they can use the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror to find an alternative path. If successful, then going back to summarize the methods for 'Foundation Establishment Through Self' should significantly reduce the difficulty."

"If there are those with exceptional talent, they might even be able to deduce a universally effective method."

"And it would allow one to achieve 'Foundation Establishment Through Self' solely relying on oneself."

"Completely feasible! Worth a try! If I weren't already at the Dao Integration realm, I'd be tempted to immediately discard my cultivation and restart to try this miraculous Foundation Establishment method!" Fang Zaiji was even more excited.

Li Fan nodded. "To cultivate with the help of the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror, one needs to earn merit points from the conquest of the myriad realms. I'll need to trouble Elder Liu to arrange for some disciples to undertake this task. Since their Qi Condensation strength is low, it would be best to send some people to accompany them."