Chapter 895: Prosperity Hides the Mysterious Cultivation

The Demon-Slaying Secret Art, a technique created by the Ten Immortal Sects in ancient times to hunt down members of the Xuan Tian Sect, possessed its own profound mysteries. When the Demon-Slaying Secret Art was activated, a melodious chime would be heard if anyone or anything related to the Xuan Tian Sect was nearby. The higher the individual's rank within the Xuan Tian Sect, the more chimes would sound. Three chimes was the maximum.

However, after Li Fan, full of anticipation and equipped with the Demon-Slaying Secret Art, circled the crater, he heard no chimes.

"Hmm?"

"Senior Slab doesn't seem like someone who would joke around..."

Although somewhat surprised, Li Fan didn't suspect Senior Slab was playing a trick on him.

"Ah, right," he thought. "The terrain here is so peculiar; the Myriad Immortals Alliance must have searched it thoroughly long ago. If the Demon-Slaying Secret Art were effective here, then the hidden secrets would likely have been discovered already."

Li Fan pondered for a moment and suddenly realized, his heart growing even more expectant.

After a brief contemplation, Li Fan removed the protection of his Seven-Colored Divine Light and once again strolled through the crater filled with blooming flowers.

The Spirit Energy Flowers in the Dongyong Continent crater were known to people as "beautiful to behold from afar, but not to be touched." Although these flowers, formed from dissipating special spiritual energy, could not be absorbed by cultivators, if one got too close, this strange spiritual energy would simultaneously cause the spiritual energy within a cultivator's body to vibrate and assimilate. If protection and timely cleansing were not performed, it was highly likely to lead to the tragedy of one's body becoming overgrown with flowers of various colors. Moreover, these flowers were virtually omnipresent. Once they took root within the body, it wasn't just the physical body that was affected. Even Foundation Establishment artifacts and Law Golden Cores would be corroded by the Spirit Energy Flowers. Thus, while beautiful, they were exceedingly perilous.

Yet, at this moment, Li Fan could boldly walk among the flowers, allowing them to bloom within his body. What he relied on, of course, was the Seven-Colored Jade Void Glimmer. By using the Seven-Colored Divine Light to seal his own Grotto-heaven, even if his physical body were destroyed a thousand times over, it would not cause Li Fan any actual harm.

These Spirit Energy Flowers felt no different from ordinary flowers to the touch. They had a real texture, and one could even smell the faint fragrance emanating from them. As he touched more of them, streaks of illusions suddenly flashed before his eyes. One by one, Spirit Energy Flowers successively appeared within Li Fan's body. Not only did he feel no discomfort, but Li Fan even felt a jolt of exhilaration. His spiritual energy circulated faster, and even his thoughts became much quicker. From Li Fan's perspective, the flowers before him became even more dazzling, vibrant, and enchanting. He became even more reluctant to leave them.

Flowers bloomed along Li Fan's meridians, forming a path of blossoms heading straight for his dantian and glabella. Even seeing the clear situation within his own body, Li Fan felt no sense of crisis. He even vaguely entertained the thought of an elegant death amidst a hundred flowers, even as a ghost. Li Fan quietly observed the Spirit Energy Flowers' "performance," a cold snort in his heart: "So bizarre, so deceptive. It really is similar to the Xuan Tian Sect's cultivation methods."

In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Li Fan's dantian was completely occupied by these flowers. They were dense, beautiful, and eerily enchanting. The same was true for his glabella. And at this moment, these Spirit Energy Flowers finally revealed their true intentions. His body became rigid, and his thoughts seemed to solidify. Outside his sea of consciousness, these flowers even released roots, attempting to take root and settle in.

However, before they could succeed, Li Fan's body suddenly exploded without warning. There was no flesh and blood splattering. Instead, like fireworks, countless flowers generated within Li Fan's body instantly floated everywhere in the sky. It was quite a beautiful sight. As a gentle breeze swept through, these newly formed flowers gradually blended with the existing flowers in the crater, indistinguishable from each other.

Amidst this beautiful scene, a figure slowly reappeared. It was Li Fan.

"Strange..."

Li Fan looked up at the scattered flowers in the sky, frowning slightly. Even though he had preemptively detonated his body, preventing further engulfment by the Spirit Energy Flowers, Li Fan keenly noticed that his spirit and cultivation had inevitably diminished somewhat during the process. For the current Li Fan, even a very small portion of his spirit and cultivation was significant, and being extremely sensitive to this, he immediately detected it. Li Fan looked at the floating sea of flowers in the crater, which seemed to move irregularly, his expression becoming somewhat solemn.

If the consumption of his spirit could barely be attributed to the peculiar nature of these Spirit Energy Flowers, then the disappearance of his cultivation unequivocally pointed to one fact: this sea of flowers was very likely formed from cultivators.

"Born yet not born, dead yet not dead. Without solid form, transforming into a sea of blossoms..."

Considering that Senior Slab had indicated clues to the Xuan Tian Sect could be found here, Li Fan was now almost certain that the anomaly here was inextricably linked to the Xuan Tian Sect's Dharma King Jue.

"In this non-human form, for thousands of years," he mused. "If this Dharma King is still alive..."

Li Fan gasped, taking a sharp breath: "As expected of a legacy from the immortal realm."

The location of the secret had been confirmed. The next step was to decipher it.

Li Fan pondered for a long time on the spot, until his second and third bodies were successively detonated. As he continuously experienced the Spirit Energy Flowers' erosion, he finally found a possible method to decipher it.

Li Fan concentrated and conjured a fourth body. Then he flew into the air, embracing the sea of flowers to the greatest extent possible. This time, Li Fan paid no attention to the changes within his body. Instead, he focused all his attention on the constantly flashing images before his eyes. These fragmented images were all very short snippets, fleeting. And they seemed to be unrelated to each other, each recording a separate event.

In his sea of consciousness, the Dao Transformation Stone operated at its peak. Li Fan, however, recorded all these fleeting, fragmented images. When a certain number had been recorded, his body could no longer bear it and exploded. Li Fan, unhurried, created a new body and repeated this step. Such unusual behavior naturally attracted the attention of other cultivators in the area. They had initially thought of approaching to strike up a conversation or gather information, but after sensing the pressure Li Fan emitted, all these curious individuals' expressions changed, and they lowered their heads and departed.

Time slowly passed. Li Fan collected more and more flashback images. Like a broken jigsaw puzzle, while collecting the pieces, Li Fan relied on the powerful computational support of the Dao Transformation Stone, attempting to restore the original complete scene. In this crater, there were trillions upon trillions of free-floating flowers. The fragmented images contained within them were countless. Without the Dao Transformation Stone to sort them, Li Fan would absolutely have no possibility of piecing them back together. But at this moment, as blue light continuously flickered, complete segments of images also appeared in Li Fan's mind.