“Against the reasoning of heaven and earth…”
Li Fan began to speak slowly but only muttered the second half in his heart.
“To attain immortality!”
Since entering the world of cultivation, Li Fan had witnessed Nascent Soul cultivators move mountains, and he had seen the Dao Integration Realm Crimson Flame burn the sea. However, none of these could compare to this moment, where he glimpsed the awe-inspiring existence of the Immortal Ancestor within various signs that defied common sense.
Invisible and unnoticeable, this influence had an impact that was far more potent than mere destruction.
“I have only been unaffected by this power because the burning of the sea I remember belonged to a calamity that occurred in the future.”
“Thus, I was able to perceive the influence of the Immortal Ancestor between the past and the present.”
After a while, Li Fan slowly dispelled the fear that had suddenly come over him, caused by the realization that he was constantly living under the shadow of this great entity.
In the world of cultivation, Golden Core stage cultivators were generally called Lords, Nascent Soul stage cultivators were True Lords, Soul Transformation stage cultivators were True Monarchs, and those of the Dao Integration Realm were Immortal Sages.
The highest-level experts, such as the Immortal Ancestor, were referred to as the Immortal Venerables.
The Immortal Venerables in the world were mostly elusive figures. Specific details like their names were generally unknown to ordinary cultivators.
“It seems that under the influence of the Immortal Ancestor, all the cultivators in the world will gradually forget the disasters they once experienced. Or, not just disasters, it seems that any collective memory that would bring pain is under his influence.”
“It seems that this world of cultivation is a paradise…”
Li Fan pondered slowly, and at the same time, he began to realize.
In this world, where the heavens and earth harbored so much malice toward cultivators and where the conflicts between immortals were so sharp, he had encountered cultivators like Kou Hong, Dao Xuanzi, He Zhenghao, and Yuwen Xing, who almost completely ignored the malice of the heavens and earth.
There were hardly any of the bitter or hateful types that would seek to destroy the heavens.
They all intentionally or unintentionally overlooked the malicious intent of the heavens and earth.
At most, they lamented the difficulty of the Dao of Immortality and were even cheerful…
It was highly probable that this was the work of that Immortal Ancestor.
Was it for the sake of allowing cultivators throughout the world to cultivate better?
Or did it serve some other purpose?
Li Fan had always been inclined to assume the worst possible motives of others.
…
Longevity was what Li Fan relentlessly pursued, the ultimate goal.
But at this moment, he was still far from his objective.
He had to stay grounded, steadily practicing step by step.
After recovering from the shock brought by the Immortal Ancestor’s influence, Li Fan began to search for information on the Ancient Body Transformation Dao.
It was not some closely guarded secret, so it was easy to find relevant information.
The Ancient Body Transformation Dao was not taught by a sect that specialized in mechanical techniques.
Instead, its disciples all cultivated a special method known as “Mind Body Transformation.”
They could place their mind, spirit, and thoughts onto external objects.
Once these were placed, they could not only control the object but also fully synchronize with the sensations of the object.
At the highest level of practice, they could abandon their own physical bodies and forever inhabit the object of their choosing.
The reason why it was so easy to find relevant information was not that this method was particularly powerful.
It was because…
In the Tianxuan Mirror, there were indeed many “splendid articles” that described male and female cultivators utilizing the Ancient Body Transformation Dao to engage in intimate activities with various peculiar objects.
The variety of methods made Li Fan marvel.
After browsing for a while, Li Fan shook his head and closed it.
“From this perspective, Lord Tian Yang probably planted the puppet in the depths of the sea’s volcanic veins before his death and set up an arrangement. In the end, his soul and thoughts were placed in the puppet.”
“Over thousands of years, the puppet incessantly absorbed the geothermal energy to grow. Meanwhile, Lord Tian Yang, once a mere Golden Core stage cultivator, turned into a formidable existence capable of fighting a True Monarch.”
“Although it seems that he has lost his consciousness now and can only act instinctively.”
“But he probably has no regrets.”
“Throughout his life, Lord Tian Yang was no less than a person.”
“At the very least, the statement “Tian Yang’s soul isn’t weak” isn’t too far-fetched.”
After reflecting on these matters, Li Fan began his closed-door cultivation.
Observing the battle of the Soul Transformation Realm had given him some insights.
He believed that he was not far from breaking through his current bottleneck.
As he had anticipated, it was indeed the case.
Like water flowing to its destined course, five days later, Li Fan felt that the spiritual energy within his body had reached saturation.
Both the “Jade Cosmos Thousand Variations Sutra” and the “Sun Stealing Technique” had reached the late Qi Condensation stage simultaneously.
He had made no progress.
However, what pleasantly surprised Li Fan was that as soon as he touched the bottleneck this time, he faintly sensed the location of his opportunity.
Moreover, the path ahead would undoubtedly be fraught with danger and full of surprises.
After some preparations, Li Fan was about to set off.
But before he could leave, a profound insight suddenly surged into his mind.
It was the Li Fan’s clone who had been in seclusion for a long time, finally emerging.
With two pieces of good news in a row, everything seemed to be going well. It made Li Fan feel like the heavens and the earth were on his side.
After calming down, Li Fan carefully pondered the abilities that the clone had comprehended this time.
All things in the world were interconnected.
Linked in a chain from life to death, controlled by the butterfly effect.
What Li Fan had comprehended, the “Life and Death Chain,” could be described as an upgraded version of the “Formless Killing Intent.”
By selecting a predetermined individual as the target of “death”, he could backtrack through countless connections and sense the weakest and most fatal “life” chain.
By severing this vital connection, he could subtly drive the predetermined target towards death, unnoticed by either gods or ghosts.
The “Formless Killing Intent” required the target to be locked onto.
The target’s strength could not surpass Li Fan too much, or else he would suffer a backlash.
And there was also the risk of being detected by the target.
In contrast, the “Life and Death Chain” was different. It only required knowledge of the target’s existence.
It could almost ignore the difference in cultivation realms between them.
With sufficient information, even in the Qi Condensation stage, Li Fan could eliminate a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
Take the case of the Tian Yang Cave as an example.
If Li Fan wanted to assassinate a Nascent Soul True Lord, he wouldn’t have to take action himself. He would only need to trigger the “Life and Death Chain” retrace back through all possibilities of connections between him and the Tian Yang Cave.
From there, he would find the most suitable path.
He would subtly influence the Nascent Soul True Lord to have the idea of exploring the Tian Yang Cave.
As a result, the True Lord would perish within the cave.
While the “Life and Death Chain” was powerful, it also had certain conditions for activation.
It was necessary to determine the “death” chain in advance.
This meant that Li Fan needed to determine how the target would die before he could backtrack.
Moreover, this “method of death” had to be effective.
For example, if Li Fan decided that the Nascent Soul True Lord would accidentally lose control of his spiritual energy and fall from the sky during flight, leading to his death.
Indeed, such an outcome was possible.
However, the complexity of the required reverse derivation to bring about this result was beyond Li Fan’s current capabilities.
As a result, the “Life and Death Chain” could not be activated.