“I believe the Five Elders Association may have come specifically for these remains,” Sima Changkong said solemnly.
“Remains? What would they want with these remains?” Li Fan was shocked to learn that beneath the ordinary surface of Ten Thousand Immortals Island, there could be the buried corpses of numerous ancient cultivators. At the same time, he was puzzled by Sima Changkong’s response.
“I cannot know for sure. Maybe the Five Elders Association has the ability to resurrect the dead? If those original transmitters of the Dao were to awaken and see the current state of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, they would likely storm the headquarters, battling to the death,” Sima Changkong sneered.
“Careful with your words, fellow Daoist,” Li Fan diverted the conversation without addressing it directly.
“Mount Congyun’s changes, the original transmitters, the origins of Ten Thousand Immortals Island…”
“All of these are deeply hidden secrets. Based on what I know of today’s cultivators, even those who have reached the Soul Transformation True Monarch stage might not be as well-versed in such secrets as you are.”
“Who exactly are you?” Li Fan couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“What background could I possibly have? I’m just an ordinary cultivator,” Sima Changkong dismissed it lightly.
Seeing Li Fan’s doubtful expression, Sima Changkong proudly said, “Let me tell you, once something happens in this world, it always leaves a trace.”
Sima Changkong suddenly stood up. “I have nothing to hide from you. I, Sima Changkong, am a historian!”
As he finished speaking, his entire body’s blood and energy seemed to surge intensely.
Li Fan, who was very familiar with the power of blood and energy due to his cultivation of the Creation Furnace technique, was shocked to find that the energy in Sima Changkong’s body was incredibly complex.
Some of it was incredibly vibrant, like that of a newborn infant.
But some of it felt ancient, as if it had existed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Blood energy burst from Sima Changkong’s body, forming a vast river of blood over his head.
As Li Fan observed closely, each drop of blood contained countless images and sounds.
The higher up he looked, the older the recorded scenes became.
The blood river was magnificent and vast, and the sheer amount of information recorded made even someone as mentally powerful as Li Fan feel dizzy after a brief observation.
Shocked, he quickly averted his gaze.
Sima Changkong, noticing Li Fan’s reaction, slowly withdrew the external manifestation of his energy.
He calmly explained, “This is the “Bloodline Historical Archives”, a work compiled and cultivated by the Sima family for generations.”
“Since our ancestor, Sima Pei, created the ‘Blood History’ technique, our Sima family has taken it upon ourselves to meticulously record the history of the Xuanhuang Realm.”
“Even if we die, we have no regrets. This has been passed down through fifty-six generations.”
“Fifty-six generations?” Li Fan was momentarily stunned and was about to ask more when Sima Changkong nodded and said, “Indeed. Although cultivating the ‘Blood History’ shortens our lifespan to that of a regular mortal, our Sima family has never retreated.”
“Why fear death? As long as there are descendants of the Sima family, the “Bloodline Historical Archive” will find a suitable heir to awaken and continue the great work of recording history.”
Sima Changkong spoke with a face full of righteousness.
Li Fan couldn’t help but feel deep respect upon hearing this.
He had always admired historians.
Back when he was the Grand Preceptor of the Great Xuan Empire, wielding power over life and death, the entire court cowered under his tyranny, not daring to voice opposition.
Only the historians of Great Xuan feared neither his sword nor his wrath.
Even when he threatened to execute their entire families, these historians insisted on recording Li Fan’s crimes of disrupting the court and oppressing the empress dowager in their records.
After executing a few of them, Li Fan found that their successors remained just as stubborn, so he left them be.
Unexpectedly, even in the Xuanhuang Realm, historians still existed.
While feeling a newfound respect, Li Fan’s thoughts stirred.
The history of the Xuanhuang Realm was shrouded in mystery, with much of it intentionally concealed. To try and uncover what happened solely by reading ancient texts was a fool’s errand.
However, having Sima Changkong, a living embodiment of history, was a completely different matter.
Li Fan realized the importance of this historian in front of him and eagerly continued chatting with him.
Sima Changkong, being straightforward by nature, began to reveal more as he grew more familiar with Li Fan.
Li Fan gradually learned that while the Sima family could use their “Bloodline Historical Archive” to record history, the Xuanhuang Realm was vast, and no single person could know everything.
Thus, the Sima family had also mastered the technique of “Blood Splitting Clones” , which allowed them to split off parts of their blood to create clones.
These many clones traveled across the world, recording history as accurately and comprehensively as possible.
This explained why the Sima family members generally had short lifespans.
The river of blood recorded countless pieces of information from the Xuanhuang Realm’s past.
To prevent unforeseen events from wiping out decades of accumulated knowledge, the Sima family’s ancestors painstakingly devised a secret method called “One Is All”.
As long as there was still a trace of Sima family bloodline in the world, the Bloodline History Archive would never be broken.
Li Fan then asked about the definition of the “Sima family bloodline.”
Sima Changkong smiled proudly.
As long as there was even a trace of Sima blood in someone’s ancestry, no matter how diluted, the Bloodline History Archive could still be passed down.
After thousands of years, the descendants of the Sima family’s mortal lineage had spread throughout the Xuanhuang Realm.
In other words, unless all mortals in the Xuanhuang Realm were exterminated, the Bloodline History Archive could never be completely eradicated.
“Sima family, truly extraordinary! What a remarkable method and divine technique!” Li Fan exclaimed in admiration.
Li Fan then asked Sima Changkong for a communication talisman and carefully stored it in his storage ring.
“Daoist Sima, we must keep in close contact from now on,” Li Fan said warmly, continuing to chat with this historian of the cultivation world for quite some time before reluctantly parting.
Upon returning to the old site of Ten Thousand Immortals Island, Li Fan’s true body, located far away in Shilin Prefecture, noticed that the communication talisman issued by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance was flashing continuously.
Puzzled, Li Fan took out the talisman and sensed the message.
After a moment, his expression became somewhat strange.
“I’ve been ordered to act as the acting island lord of Ten Thousand Immortals Island, responsible for rebuilding the Immortal City of Congyun Sea.”
“The location is right above the former Ten Thousand Immortals Island.”
“Execute immediately, without error.”
Li Fan read the message several times, finally confirming it wasn’t a joke.