Chapter 998: Secret of the Spiritual Energy Technique

"All beings have form..."

Countless real and distinct individuals streamed into Li Fan's mind. Like countless sparks, they slowly melted Li Fan's heart, which had become as cold as ten-thousand-year ice due to his many reincarnations. It should be known that Li Fan was not a completely heartless person. It was just that in his continuous cycles of reincarnation, all the joys, angers, sorrows, fears, laughter, tears, lives, and deaths he witnessed seemed like fleeting dreams or bubbles. When Li Fan activated the 'Return to True' ability, everything they experienced instantly lost meaning, reverting to its original anchor point. Since it was all illusory, how could he treat it with seriousness? Therefore, over time, Li Fan adopted his current demeanor of indifference towards all living beings in the world.

But at this moment, with the help of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan saw that even without his attention, the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm continued to live according to their own destinies. They had their own friends, schemes, and paths. Their very existence was not illusory or meaningless. The more Li Fan observed, the greater the impact of the feedback he received from these beings. Likewise, his desire to witness the destinies of more lives grew stronger. Gradually, Li Fan's extremely indifferent eyes seemed to be on the verge of changing during this process.

At that very moment, Li Fan was suddenly startled by a pang in his heart, waking him from his fascination and enlightenment. His gaze once again became like unyielding ice, blocking out external influences. When Li Fan looked at the countless vibrant cultivators in the Heavenly Profound Mirror again, he already felt a hint of caution. Reflecting on what had just happened, Li Fan clearly understood that he hadn't fallen into anyone's trap. He had simply gotten somewhat lost in the incredibly real lives of those cultivators.

"No wonder those legendary deities and immortals often sit high in the clouds, viewing immersion in the mortal world as a tribulation," Li Fan mused. "With my current disposition, I almost drowned in it and changed unknowingly..."

Li Fan suddenly recalled that in the first scene of the Immortal Slaying Realm, when Ning Yuan was obtaining the Life Fruit, Song Hesong had sacrificed tens of thousands of mortals, unleashing a 'Myriad Beings Refining Spirit Array' to force out the true power of Zhang Qianmo's purple core. "Although, from my current perspective, that array was too crude and merely a name. However, based on my recent experience, it might offer some inspiration..."

"I will refine all gods with all beings."

Under Li Fan's direction, the Terminal Disintegration Disk, which had been rapidly learning the Myriad Spirits Returning to One technique and improving its array deduction skills by leaps and bounds during this period, began its first deduction after its horizons were broadened. But soon, Li Fan noticed something unusual. Unlike previous array deductions, which it handled with perfect ease, almost instantaneously completing the target, this time, the Terminal Disintegration Disk's deduction task experienced involuntary pauses every short while. It was as if its load had reached a certain limit, and it was struggling to operate.

After observing for a while, Li Fan understood the reason for this situation. "It's caused by the mismatch between the Terminal Disintegration Disk's own capabilities and the plan," he thought. "It's no longer sufficient for deducing ordinary arrays; the plan is to deduce an immortal-grade array, or something infinitely close to the power of an immortal-grade array. But it's just a secondary entity branched off from the Heavenly Profound Mirror after all. It's truly struggling to accomplish something like this."

Li Fan sighed inwardly and temporarily suspended the task. He instructed the Disintegration Disk to continue analyzing the Myriad Spirits Returning to One Array for now. "It seems that to break the restrictions left by the Dharma Transmission Heavenly Venerate, the Disintegration Disk will probably need to be upgraded as well. I wonder how things are progressing on Mo RuBin's side."

Li Fan was hesitating whether to proactively inquire when he suddenly sensed what had happened to his clone, Li Qing, and his expression subtly changed. He flashed to Li Qing's side. A strong scent of blood lingered in the air, with faint traces of flesh exploding. Li Qing's physical body had vanished, revealing his Black Sword Heaven-and-Earth realm, which seemed to be contending against some force. It was as if an invisible giant object was constantly crushing it, and the realm groaned under the unbearable pressure. If it weren't for the extraordinary quality of this heaven-and-earth realm, being a materialization of the laws of heaven and earth, it would probably be crumbling inch by inch right now!

"What happened?" Li Fan instantly reviewed his clone's experiences. It turned out that over this period, with the widespread adoption of countless Myriad World Furnaces, the spiritual energy in those small worlds gradually became denser and more suitable for cultivation. Li Qing, in turn, began organizing large-scale teaching of the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art in these small worlds. He even occasionally raided several cities of mortals from the Xuanhuang Realm's Wanxian Alliance territory to supplement the sparse populations in the small worlds.

Currently, the number of beings simultaneously cultivating the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art had already exceeded one million. The characteristic of the cultivation method—that the more people who cultivate it, the faster the cultivation speed—had been maximized. Not only did it suppress the restriction that different cultivation methods cannot be practiced concurrently, but it was even easier and faster to cultivate than ordinary methods.

Not long ago, Li Qing, who was responsible for management and coordination, suddenly had a whimsical idea. He decided to personally cultivate the art himself, hoping to unravel the mysteries of the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art. It wasn't that he couldn't find anything to do or was simply bored; rather, it was preparation for future cycles of reincarnation. After all, the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art actually had an owner. It was just that, by a twist of fate in this world, its owner had been annihilated by the Heavenly Venerate's Dharma Idol. The Spirit Yuan Sect's influence spanned nine mountain states, and eradicating them would inevitably cause considerable commotion. If he could develop his own version of the "Azure Soul Spirit Power Art," that would be ideal.

Initially, the cultivation and comprehension went quite smoothly. Li Qing's aptitude and comprehension were far superior to that of average people. Without much effort, he cultivated the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art to the Nascent Soul realm. At the same time, Li Qing suddenly perceived millions of shares of cultivation, like surging rivers, pouring into his body from all corners of the world. It was clear that these had accumulated for a long time, and each share was quite substantial. A million-fold superposition instantly appeared within Li Qing's body. His clone's body simply couldn't withstand the pressure and instantly exploded with a bang. Even his own Black Sword Heaven-and-Earth realm nearly buckled under the strain.

"This is a qualitative change caused by a quantitative change. Speaking of which, where did all this cultivation come from..." Li Fan's eyes flickered immediately. "From every person cultivating the Azure Soul Spirit Power Art? Isn't this similar to the 'Power Absorption Chapter' of the Primordial True Scripture? Both steal a small portion from others. But the beneficiary of this Azure Soul Spirit Power Art is actually only the person with the highest cultivation realm in this method? Does the Spirit Yuan Sect Master have that much confidence in himself? Or is there something special here that I haven't noticed?" Li Fan's brows furrowed slightly.