Chapter 952: Final Solution to the Immortal and Mortal Mystery

It took Li Fan a considerable amount of effort to locate this remote mountain peak in Tongyan Prefecture, where the dwelling was situated.

Outside the cave dwelling, Li Fan could vaguely sense eerie energy emanating from within.

Numerous faint, rustling whispers also encircled his ears.

They sounded like the vengeful spirits of legend.

However, Li Fan knew well that there were no ghost cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Upon a cultivator's demise, their essence typically returns to the Dao of Heaven.

Only in extremely rare instances can a remnant soul be preserved.

It is difficult enough to preserve complete memories and clear consciousness from one's life, let alone cultivate using a remnant soul.

Of course, the bizarre entities from the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace were an exception.

They were outside the usual scope of discussion.

Li Fan let out a cold snort, and the whispers in his ears instantly vanished.

He strode into Luo Suzhen's cave dwelling, where human skeletons lay haphazardly scattered across the floor.

They were all arranged in various poses, creating the unsettling impression that they were still alive.

A dwarfish cultivator, whose height barely reached Li Fan's knees, was earnestly conversing with one of the skeletons: "Third brother, don't worry, I know you're not satisfied with the new wife I found for you."

"It's okay, I've already started looking for you again. You should also convince Fourth brother; it's already shameful enough that he didn't find a Dao companion in life, surely he doesn't want to be alone forever after death..."

He babbled on, his expression serious.

As if the dry bones before him were still alive.

Li Fan watched expressionlessly, then lightly coughed, rousing the absorbed dwarfish cultivator.

"Huh? Who are you?" The dwarfish cultivator tilted his head back, seemingly trying hard to discern Li Fan's appearance.

However, Li Fan had already altered his appearance and concealed his true form.

The dwarfish cultivator couldn't see him clearly at all.

"Are you the cultivator who can reconstruct a deceased person's appearance from their skull?" Li Fan stated his purpose.

The dwarfish cultivator then came to his senses and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes, that's me."

He rubbed his hands together. "I've been waiting for you for a while. Is it true that completing the restoration task guarantees a reward of at least ten thousand contribution points?"

Li Fan smiled slightly and nodded. "Don't worry, you'll receive your due."

"However, are you truly confident?" Li Fan looked down at him, his voice heavy as he asked again.

Under Li Fan's gaze, the invisible pressure made the dwarfish cultivator shiver involuntarily.

However, he quickly slapped his chest, declaring, "I, Luo Suzhen, have been dealing with the dead since childhood. In my eyes, they aren't mere skeletons! They are all living people! If I can't do it, then surely no one else in this world can!"

Only then did Li Fan slowly say: "Then let's begin."

He set up a formation around them, sealing Luo Suzhen's cave dwelling.

Li Fan then projected into the air the image of the skull displayed prominently in the center of the Divine Relic Museum.

At first, Luo Suzhen was still a bit absent-minded, occasionally glancing at the skeletons displayed in his cave dwelling.

But as the skull gradually appeared, Luo Suzhen's attention was slowly drawn in.

Once the skull was fully formed, Luo Suzhen was completely stunned. He involuntarily moved closer to the projection, his expression dazed.

"It's too perfect..."

"How can there be such a perfect skull structure in the world?" Luo Suzhen muttered to himself.

"Perfect?" Li Fan slightly frowned.

Thinking Li Fan was questioning him, Luo Suzhen immediately explained excitedly: "Isn't this perfect?"

"Look at this frontal bone, this parietal bone, and this occipital bone..."

"Simply marvelous. The proportions and combinations are all perfectly balanced."

"It's simply, simply..."

After a long pause, Luo Suzhen finally uttered eight words: "As if naturally formed, utterly flawless."

Li Fan slowly narrowed his eyes.

Without waiting for Li Fan's prompting, Luo Suzhen eagerly began to reconstruct the skull's appearance from its life.

His method was also quite bizarre; it wasn't through any secret art.

Instead, he nervously attempted to converse with the skull.

It was only a projection, so naturally, it couldn't respond to Luo Suzhen.

But Luo Suzhen seemed to have truly received a response and became increasingly excited.

Just as Li Fan began to doubt this, he saw Luo Suzhen wave his right hand in the air, starting to sketch the skull's appearance from its life.

So Li Fan waited patiently again.

As the appearance was continuously restored, the expression on Li Fan's face slowly became solemn.

When the portrait finally appeared before Li Fan...

He tried hard to control the expression on his face, attempting to hide the shock in his heart.

He stared at the image in the air for a long time.

Li Fan asked in a low voice: "You... are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

Even though he knew it was a pointless question, Li Fan still asked it.

As expected, Luo Suzhen's reaction was highly agitated. "Mistake? You can doubt my—"

Before the other party could finish, Li Fan took a deep breath, waved his large sleeve, and collected Luo Suzhen along with everything in the cave dwelling, suppressing them all within his Five Elements Grotto-Heaven.

Then he erased all traces from the location.

"How could it be him?"

Hovering in the air for a long time, Li Fan remained utterly bewildered.

Unable to face this fact.

"The first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma. The first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma..."

Li Fan pondered for a long time, then his figure shot away, rushing towards the Congyun Sea.

His destination, naturally, was where Venerable Yin, who was also conducting research on the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, resided.

In Li Fan's perception, Venerable Yin's research still hadn't yielded a final result.

Venerable Yin, however, seemed to have sensed something, becoming hesitant and indecisive.

The frequency of his experiments had clearly decreased.

Even...

He seemed somewhat reluctant to proceed with the final verification step.

Maximizing his speed, Li Fan quickly arrived before Venerable Yin.

Venerable Yin was greatly startled by Li Fan's sudden appearance.

Just as he was about to speak, Li Fan actively waved his hand, stopping him.

"Fellow Daoist Yin, regarding the first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma..."

"I have made an astonishing discovery."

Venerable Yin trembled violently, looking at Li Fan with a face full of disbelief.

"This result is too incredible. It's simply unexplainable. You must have had some premonition, right?"

Venerable Yin was silent for a moment, then nodded bitterly.

Li Fan took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "Then, please begin the final verification."

"I also want to ask you to help me confirm it."

Motionless for a long time, Venerable Yin finally let out a despondent sigh, then led Li Fan to the front of the laboratory.

Through the transparent outer wall, Li Fan could vaguely see the white rib bone held by Venerable Yin placed within.

Thick white miasma continuously sprayed from the surroundings, filling the entire area.

Venerable Yin continuously performed hand seals, his expression changing.

Under his manipulation, the mist slowly faded.

Slowly, something in the air seemed to flow into the white rib bone.

Once the transparent area was completely clear, Venerable Yin, having confirmed his suspicion, turned deathly pale and collapsed to the ground.

"So it's true, so it's true."

Li Fan, meanwhile, slowly stated the answer.

"The first cultivator infected by the Immortal-Mortal Miasma is also the one who created it."