Chapter 899: Heist Body to Preserve Willpower

The strongest sensory feedback came from Su Yuqing of the Li Realm. Perhaps because she had genuinely benefited from cultivation, her faith in the Immortal of Compassion in the Mortal World was the purest and most fervent.

Compared to a short while ago, Li Fan could now observe her surroundings. At this moment, he could even occasionally sense her thoughts.

"Thanks to the Immortal's grace, I was able to lead everyone back safely from this expedition to the Fire World," she thought. "This humble one dares not violate her previous promise. From now on, I vow to serve you faithfully for the rest of my life, until death."

Su Yuqing respectfully kowtowed several times towards the faceless stone statue she had carved herself.

At that moment, Li Fan perceived an inexplicable power transcending the limitations of time and space, descending upon him. It was only a thin wisp, almost negligible compared to his vast, boundless power. Furthermore, it was somewhat similar to the cultivation feedback from the Immortal Seating Art, though its energy essence was different.

Once this power appeared within his body, it remained distinctly separate from his spiritual energy. Instead of flowing towards his dantian, it stealthily approached Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness. Li Fan, who had always been wary of the Faceless Immortal, would not possibly allow it to succeed. Seven-colored divine light emerged, forming layer upon layer of cocoons of light, enveloping this foreign energy.

Once sealed, the energy's reaction was somewhat unexpected for Li Fan. It did not resist violently; instead, it calmly settled. Unlike Li Fan's own spiritual energy, which emitted a soft white glow, this energy, despite being an extremely faint trace, shimmered like gold. It seemed its quality was even higher than spiritual energy.

Li Fan meticulously observed this golden energy, remaining silent for a long time. He knew it was formed by the Faceless True Immortal statue, which converted Su Yuqing's gratitude and faith.

"Is this the legendary power of faith? Or the collective aspirations of sentient beings? Or something else?" he pondered. "Hmm, there's too little information. For now, let's call it 'power of aspiration'."

Li Fan's expression was solemn. Even though he knew this golden power of aspiration was a poisoned candy, Li Fan had no choice but to accept it. The connection between the statue and him had been established. Unless he reverted to his true self immediately, this golden power of aspiration would always appear within his body, regardless of his distance from the statue.

Moreover, this golden power of aspiration did not appear just once. As Su Yuqing continued her devout prayers, another trace of golden power of aspiration formed soon after. Following the same trajectory, it surged towards Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness.

"Killing Su Yuqing is useless," he thought. "Those cultivators who swore before the statue have, in reality, all become generators of this golden power of aspiration. Even if they cannot yet generate it like Su Yuqing, with time, the subtle influence of the Faceless Stone Statue on them will deepen. Eventually, they will all be like this."

Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. Though surprised, he remained calm and pondered countermeasures. At the same time, he continued to use the seven-colored divine light to precisely isolate and gather this golden power of aspiration with the previously accumulated energy.

It proved that Li Fan's multiple reincarnations and his extensive collection of various secrets were not in vain. Soon, he devised a countermeasure. After some experimentation, the effect was surprisingly excellent.

Li Fan released the seven-colored divine light's seal on the golden power of aspiration, then forcibly guided this foreign energy to slowly gather within his dantian. When they still showed restlessness and attempted to surge towards his Sea of Consciousness, a phantom figure suddenly materialized within his dantian. Like a vortex, it absorbed the golden power of aspiration that was just about to move away.

"It really works," Li Fan thought with delight.

This phantom figure was the Calamity Body, which Li Fan had previously used to store overflowing cultivation when his cultivation reached a bottleneck. He had not been trapped by a bottleneck for a long time, and without overflowing or wasted cultivation feedback, this method of the Calamity Body had naturally not been used for quite a while. Unexpectedly, it proved remarkably effective now, against this troublesome golden power of aspiration.

The secret art of the Calamity Body originated from the "Primeval Scripture of Grand Supremacy." In the ancient cultivation world, cultivators occasionally progressed too quickly, leading to unstable foundations. At such times, cultivators needed to actively suppress their realms to solidify their foundations. Different sects adopted different methods. The Grand Supremacy Sect's method was to form a phantom figure within the dantian to accommodate excess cultivation. Because the Grand Supremacy Sect regarded an unstable foundation as one of the cultivation calamities, this phantom figure used to cope with calamities was called the Calamity Body.

"The true inheritance of the Grand Supremacy Sect originated from Grandmaster Tiandu," Li Fan mused inwardly. "Grandmaster Tiandu, like King Xuantian, possessed a half-immortal body. It's highly probable that he also acquired numerous inheritances from the immortal realm during that ancient calamity. It's no wonder it can handle this golden power of aspiration, which clearly surpasses spiritual energy by a level."

With the Calamity Body to contain it, the golden power of aspiration seemed to have found its destination. Subsequently, without Li Fan needing to deliberately guide it, it converged towards the golden Calamity Body within his dantian. Seeing this, Li Fan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"The crisis is temporarily resolved," he thought. "This Calamity Body is an independent entity that can be discarded at any time without affecting the main body. Even in the worst-case scenario, if the Calamity Body forms an independent entity like Xu Bai in his 115th reincarnation, it would still be much easier to handle if it doesn't possess its own thoughts. Currently, it is merely a pure energy crystal, with no other abnormalities observed."

After carefully observing and confirming again, Li Fan nodded slightly. He had a feeling that as the Calamity Body absorbed and contained more and more golden power of aspiration, it might even be directly detonated later. Li Fan was unsure how powerful such an explosion would be. But he understood that direct detonation might only be the most basic use of the golden power of aspiration.

"Licking blood from a blade's edge..." Li Fan murmured, his eyes deep. How could he not know the potential risks hidden behind this golden power of aspiration? However, with his true self as a safety net, he didn't need to be overly cautious about everything.

Just as Li Fan was pondering how to deal with this golden power of aspiration in the future, he suddenly felt another anomaly within his body! And the source of this anomaly was precisely the dark golden skull heavily sealed by seven-colored divine light within the Grand Cavern of Five Elements, and the gray mold residing within it!

Perhaps the power of aspiration accumulated by the golden Calamity Body had reached a certain level, even though it was sealed within the cavern. The gray mold also sensed the presence of the golden power of aspiration. Like a beast that had been starved for a long time, it suddenly caught the strong scent of blood. For the first time, the gray mold surged out from within the skull, furiously assaulting the surrounding walls of seven-colored divine light. The seven-colored divine light was being consumed at an alarming rate. Li Fan's expression darkened. Spiritual energy circulated within the Grand Cavern of Five Elements, quickly generating continuous support.