Chapter 986: The Broken Can Never Be Restored

The True Allure Fruit transformed into wisps of silvery-white light, pouring into the bodies of the two Hedao cultivators.

Li Fan had expected it to go as smoothly as his previous uses of the True Allure Fruit, but to his surprise, the silvery light suddenly stopped just as it was about to penetrate their Spiritual Seas. As if encountering an obstruction, the power of the True Allure Fruit was completely blocked from entering their souls. The True Allure Fruit vanished in the air, yet it failed to alter the perceptions of Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan. Instead, the silver light merely tightly enveloped their souls.

"This is..." Li Fan's expression shifted. Upon careful observation, he realized it wasn't that the True Venerable's power had failed. Rather, their souls possessed a special layer of protection that resisted the effects of cognitive distortion.

"As expected," he mused, "high-ranking members of the Myriad Immortals Alliance have special soul defense mechanisms. It makes sense; otherwise, the Five Elder Council could conquer the Myriad Immortals Alliance simply by mass-producing True Allure Fruits."

Though the initial inducement attempt failed, Li Fan did not give up. He also had no intention of asking Mo Rubin about this soul defense mechanism.

"Xuan Sushang is involved with the secret of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's doppelganger," Li Fan murmured, his gaze turning to Lu Xichan, who was in a deep slumber. "It seems I'll have to use you for the experiment."

For safety's sake, in addition to Mo Rubin's shadow seal, Li Fan successively set up several array formations around them. This was to ensure that even if any unforeseen changes occurred during the experiment, they would be unable to inexplicably awaken, contact the outside world, or escape within a short period.

He then separated a wisp of his divine sense, slowly extending it into and approaching Lu Xichan's soul. It must be said that Lu Xichan's soul strength was somewhat unworthy of her title as the Chief of the Strategy Array Hall of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. Li Fan had once treated Hanhai in the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, having close contact with his soul. Although both were Hedao cultivators, Lu Xichan was far weaker than the former Sect Master of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace. Li Fan felt no threat whatsoever and calmly observed with meticulous care.

Outside the soul, there appeared to be patterns engraved with dark-gold lines. They appeared and disappeared intermittently, like chains binding the soul, while also forming a layer of protection akin to armor. However, during his observation, Li Fan keenly discovered that besides protection, these dark-gold patterns likely also possessed a self-destruct function.

"If one were to forcibly break through the protection of the dark-gold patterns," he mused, "these chains, which have almost merged with the soul, would instantly shatter piece by piece... The only outcome would be complete soul annihilation!"

After understanding the function of the dark-gold patterns, Li Fan immediately found the situation a bit tricky. Fortunately, after a brief moment of contemplation, Li Fan found a similar case recorded in the Book of Mending Heaven.

It recounted a case where two cultivators brought their son to the Heavenly Physician for treatment. These two cultivators had been Dao Companions since the Qi Condensation stage. Supporting each other and progressing together, they eventually reached the Soul Transformation realm. At the same time, they were blessed with a precious son, truly a double blessing. But what caught the two cultivators off guard was that their son, even into his teens, still couldn't speak. He appeared dull and unresponsive, and his reactions to the outside world were very weak. He would only respond when his parents called him.

After an examination, the Heavenly Physician informed them of the cause of the illness. Their son's soul was not actually damaged or incomplete; in fact, it was far stronger than an ordinary cultivator's. However, the vast soul did not match the frail body, leading to an overflow of soul power that formed a distorted, cage-like cocoon. After a long period of mutation, it eventually tightly enveloped his original soul, making it difficult for it to connect with the outside world.

The solution, in truth, was quite simple: they only needed to trim off these "excess branches" of the young boy's soul. However, truly solving this matter was not as easy as it sounded. These "excess branches" were, in fact, part of the original soul. To clear them without harming the original soul and without provoking a fierce resistance from the soul as a whole...

The Heavenly Physician provided the optimal solution: for the soul of a close relative to make contact with and wash over these "excess branches" of the soul. Using one's own soul as scissors, they could be entirely cleared away. Throughout the entire process, the souls of both the saved person and the practitioner would intertwine. But precisely because they were close relatives, there would be no resistance from beginning to end. It would merely be like living together for a long period of time. The only cost was that the practitioner's soul would suffer extremely severe damage, and falling several cultivation realms was inevitable.

When the Heavenly Physician explained the solution to the couple, their expressions and reactions were distinctly different. Interestingly, the Heavenly Physician did not specify in the Book of Mending Heaven who was willing and who was unwilling. After an extremely fierce quarrel, the outcome was that the couple ultimately chose not to save their child. And so that he wouldn't continue to suffer, the couple personally killed their child. Thereafter, this seemingly perfect couple gradually grew estranged. Later, during a pursuit by their enemies, they fled for their lives separately. Ultimately, both died violent deaths.

"This type of divine sense restriction," Li Fan mused, "seems extremely similar to the soul's 'excess branches' in that case. Coexisting with the soul, almost one with it, it's extremely sensitive to other external forces. If the main body is damaged, it will drag the original soul down with it. But precisely because it is intertwined with the soul, it is not as guarded against soul power itself. Therefore, to remove the soul restriction, the method is also exactly the same."

Li Fan already had an idea in mind. A moment later, a continuous stream of soul power quietly poured into Lu Xichan's soul. Facing the dark-gold pattern protection, which resembled a magnificent dam, it crashed directly into it like surging tides.

Since the restriction itself was designed to cope with the ebb and flow of soul power, similar soul impacts were commonplace and did not provoke a counterattack from the restriction. However, during the continuous washing process, Li Fan's output of soul power was quickly depleted. But soon, Li Fan, operating the Limitless Cycle Method, transmitted soul power again.

Just as coastal reefs slowly erode under the ceaseless washing of seawater over years, the same principle applied to this dark-gold pattern restriction.

Li Fan closed his eyes and continued to output soul power. Before long, a section of the dark-gold pattern slowly faded and disappeared. The power of the True Allure Fruit, which had been lingering outside Lu Xichan's soul, mingled with Li Fan's soul power, and grandly poured through this opening. It collided with Lu Xichan's soul!

If it had been Li Fan's soul alone, the intrusion of a stranger would certainly have triggered Lu Xichan's alertness and counterattack, even in her unconscious state. But now, the True Allure Fruit contained the lies meticulously fabricated by Li Fan: Lu Xichan's master had not perished back then; instead, he had faked his death, shedding his old identity like a cicada shedding its shell, and transformed into Li Fan!