Chapter 861: Brilliant Cooperation Path

To escape the Xuanhuang Realm, this sinking ship, it was clear that the necessary technological reserves were indispensable. Li Fan alone certainly couldn't achieve this. Only by drawing on the existing achievements of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Association, and then innovating upon them, could there be a chance to break free.

“I wonder how the Immortal Chosen plan is progressing,” Li Fan mused. “Even if the Myriad Immortals Alliance had malicious intentions from the start, before the truth is exposed, they are still the highly anticipated Immortal Chosen, the alliance’s rising stars. They should be able to serve as some kind of inside contact.”

Thinking this, Li Fan sent a reply to the Five Elders Association. He didn't reveal the existence of the Senior Stone Slab, merely claiming that he had received an urgent notification, indicating a risk of exposure for this rendezvous, and thus it had to be canceled. As for the problem, it definitely lay with the Five Elders Association. Li Fan also told them to conduct a thorough investigation, insisting they had certainly been infiltrated by Myriad Immortals Alliance spies. Though he had just made it up, Li Fan wasn't concerned. Spies, after all, are always found if one searches.

Putting aside the matter of the Five Elders Association for the time being, Li Fan calmed his mind and focused his consciousness on the Five Elements Primordial Cavern-Heaven within him. He had previously thought that this Five Elements Cavern-Heaven had naturally evolved from the Xuanhuang Realm, and thus he had no fears. However, now through the Senior Stone Slab, he learned that it was the handiwork of the One Beginning Sect from thousands of years ago. Given Li Fan's cautious nature, he certainly had to re-examine it thoroughly. Fortunately, it was just a false alarm for Li Fan. After careful scrutiny, there were no lingering imprints from the One Beginning Sect within the Grand Five Elements Cavern-Heaven. This brought Li Fan a slight sense of relief. After all, the Xuanhuang Realm was perilous, and any subtle potential threat had to be handled with care.

“With the Nascent Soul formed, the next step is to look towards Spirit Transformation,” he thought. “The impending changes of heaven and earth…” In Li Fan's mind, he instantly recalled the 115th lifetime, when Mr. Bai traveled throughout the Xuanhuang Realm, integrating its changes into his own cavern-heaven. Thanks to Mr. Bai, Li Fan was intimately familiar with most of the available impending changes of the Xuanhuang Realm within a century.

“With the Seated Immortal Art and the continuous cultivation feedback provided by members of the Myriad Realms Alliance, I hardly need to worry about the accumulation process of cultivation. The only thing to worry about is the existence of the Heavenly Tribulation, and how exactly to harmoniously accommodate several different impending changes.”

After achieving Nascent Soul through the Grand Five Elements Cavern-Heaven, ordinary methods of Spirit Transformation no longer held Li Fan's interest. Even typical Spirits of Heaven and Earth elicited little interest from Li Fan. Too weak! It wasn't that Li Fan's ego had inflated; it was simply the truth. Although he hadn't yet unleashed his full power, the immense strength within him, stemming from the Five Elements Cavern-Heaven, already placed Li Fan far beyond the realm of ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators. Even during his Foundation Establishment stage, he could use various means to fight Nascent Soul cultivators to a mutually destructive end. Now, his power had expanded countless times; crushing an ordinary Nascent Soul was barely harder than crushing an ant. Furthermore, he possessed the Five Elements Nirvana Sword, the Seven-Colored Jade Void Luminous Flow, and even the Chaos Art. Spirits of Heaven and Earth like Crimson Flame and Black Mire would certainly be no match for him. Only existences on the level of Ink Kill would make Li Fan feel slightly troublesome. However, retreating safely in front of them should not be a big problem.

Since his Nascent Soul stage was already like this, how could Li Fan possibly be content with pursuing ordinary Spirit Transformation or Dao Integration paths? Like Mr. Bai, integrating all the impending changes of Xuanhuang into himself, transforming the Nascent Soul Cavern-Heaven into an inner world, and then forcefully twisting numerous Spirits of Heaven and Earth to massively steal the primordial power of the Xuanhuang world—this was the most ideal method for power expansion. For now, he wouldn't consider whether doing so would make him an enemy of the Dao Transmission. Li Fan believed that if he could truly reach that level, at the very least, he would not be at a disadvantage when facing ordinary Longevity Celestials.

“Moreover, if I truly find a way to escape the Xuanhuang Realm, my cultivation at the same level in other cultivation worlds would certainly be outstanding among all others.” Xuanhuang Realm cultivators, who devour heaven and earth, were inherently more formidable than those practicing conventional cultivation methods. And Li Fan surpassed ordinary New Law cultivators by several times over. Compared to the two, it would certainly be an overwhelming advantage.

However, while the ideal was good, a problem lay before Li Fan, urgently needing to be resolved. Mr. Bai was subtly an embodiment of the Will of Heaven; taking the impending changes of heaven and earth and the Spirits of Heaven and Earth was like using his own possessions. Naturally, he would encounter no resistance. But who exactly was Li Fan? Why would the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm allow him to do this? Ordinary cultivators practicing the New Law already incurred the jealousy of heaven and earth. If he were to truly proceed as Li Fan envisioned, it would be akin to flaying, stripping bones, scraping bones, and sucking marrow. He would practically be a mortal enemy of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. With heaven and earth as his enemies, how could he turn the impending changes and the Spirits of Heaven and Earth to his own use? Even if he could forcibly absorb one or two, a violent backlash would be an inevitable outcome.

“Unless…” Li Fan’s eyes flickered. For Grand Master Li, who was knowledgeable and experienced, this was not an insoluble problem. Almost instantly, he thought of a countermeasure. The reason the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao harbored such animosity towards cultivators was simple: it was that for cultivators to practice, they had to extract resources from the Xuanhuang Realm. As long as this didn't change, the conflict between them would never ease. But now, the Xuanhuang Realm was at an absolute disadvantage in the struggle. This offered Li Fan a possible opportunity: to re-align himself and choose to stand with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao.

Li Fan vaguely recalled that when he brought Qian Hong's remains back to the Xuanhuang Realm from Daxuan, the phenomenon of fall, which should have appeared only once at the moment of death, had inexplicably appeared again. And after Li Fan completed all of this, he merely felt that some peculiar changes had occurred within him. At that time, he couldn't quite grasp its meaning. But after so many years, having extensively read the secret texts of the cultivation world, Li Fan now understood the reason. In the Xuanhuang Realm, although such occurrences were rare, they had happened before. There were cultivators who, though forced to practice the New Law due to changes in the principles of heaven and earth, were, overall, beneficial to heaven and earth throughout their lives. For example, helping to slaughter New Law cultivators, thereby accelerating the process of returning the Dao to Heaven. While in the eyes of cultivators, such people were absolute demonic cultivators, targets of severe crackdown within both the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Association, in the eyes of heaven and earth, they were truly good people—good cultivators who stood on the side of heaven and earth!

Of course, this was just an extreme example. Besides slaughtering cultivators, filling gaps in heaven and earth, or helping Spirits of Heaven and Earth fulfill their duties—all these could increase the favor of heaven and earth. Once the favorability reached a certain level, when a cultivator fell, heaven and earth would still manifest phenomena, but it would not be out of schadenfreude.