Old Sun furrowed his brow slightly and said, “It’s better not to spread baseless rumors.”
“No matter what, they were brave warriors who sacrificed their lives honorably for the Immortal Alliance. How could the higher-ups allow despicable individuals to defile their corpses?”
The lazy cultivator immediately showed some discontent. “How is it baseless? I saw it with my own eyes!”
“That Zhang Debiao kid, using his appointment from the Immortal Alliance, blatantly led a group to gather the corpses. Storage rings, usable magical treasures—weren’t they quietly taken away by them?”
“I even heard that residual golden cores and fragments of cave heaven within the corpses were dug out by these people!”
“You’ve been on the battlefield yourself. You know how brutal the battle in Tianling Prefecture was. Those bodies were almost all incomplete and disfigured. How else could they be collected? They were all burned to ashes, leaving only a bit of powder as proof. Who would notice?”
“As the saying goes, ‘If the people don’t speak up, the officials won’t act.’ Ordinary cultivators are mostly loners. If they die, they die. Who would really care…”
The lazy cultivator rambled on incessantly, with no regard for his words, while Old Sun’s face gradually turned somber.
Suddenly, the lazy cultivator felt a chill rise behind him. Seeing the expression on Old Sun’s face, he inexplicably shuddered and instinctively shut his mouth.
Having grown accustomed to Old Sun’s usual demeanor, he had almost forgotten the legendary stories surrounding this man.
Old Sun’s full name was Sun Qi.
Though he appeared to be an ordinary Golden Core stage cultivator like the others, with a humble and good-natured demeanor, Sun Qi was, in fact, a fearsome figure.
A native cultivator of Tianling Prefecture, Sun Qi had been conscripted at the beginning of the great war. For reasons unknown—whether sheer luck or something else—while countless Nascent Soul cultivators perished in the war, this seemingly insignificant Golden Core cultivator had managed to survive.
Someone who carved a bloody path through mountains of corpses and seas of blood naturally exuded an aura of dread. Though usually concealed, when provoked, his rage was enough to terrify anyone. The lazy cultivator, recognizing this, wisely decided not to provoke the old master further.
Meanwhile, Li Fan, who had been observing from above and in the shadows, noticed Sun Qi’s gaze sweep over his hiding spot. His interest in this man grew even stronger.
With a faint smile, Li Fan activated the ‘Formless Killing Intent’ and locked onto Sun Qi.
Watching Sun Qi’s expression shift from suspicion to alarm as he searched his surroundings but found nothing, Li Fan chuckled inwardly.
Leaving Sun Qi aside for now, Li Fan stealthily flew to a desolate mountain range, seemingly flattened by a heavenly force.
As was his habit, he dug deep underground and excavated a secret chamber.
Sealing the chamber, Li Fan sat down and began to inspect his current state.
Name: Li Fan
Cultivation Realm: Early Nascent Soul
Biological Age: 34/999 (Heaven’s Scorn)
Psychological Age: 1335/9999
Void Fusion Energy Progress: 200%
Anchor Energy Progress: 0%
Current Number of Anchors: 3
Available Anchors: 1
Bound Items:
– Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Golden Sutra
– Taiyan Boat
– Stop-Step Remnant Stele (Damage)
– Ten Thousand Essence Blood
– Dao Deviation Stone
Techniques:
– Xuanhuang Heart Refining Mantra
– Cloudwater Illusion-Dream Technique
– Body Transformation into Dao
– Mysterious True Spirit Transformation
– Melting Furnace of Ten Thousand Forms Technique
– Creation Furnace Technique
– Mountain Sitting Technique
Divine Abilities:
– Chaos
– Reverse Five Elements of Sword Creation and Destruction
– Cycle of Life and Death
– Formless Killing Intent
– Binding Insects
– Clouds Swarm Sword Slash
– Heaven Overturning Palm
…
“Phew!”
Li Fan gently exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He felt an immense, pure vitality surging throughout his body, nourishing his physical form. Spiritual energy flowed endlessly, boundless and infinite.
Within his dantian, where the Golden Core had once been, the faint outlines of five interconnected domains—cave heavens—could now be seen.
“So this is the Nascent Soul stage! Advancing in one leap feels like overturning the heavens and the earth!”
To test the difference from his previous Golden Core stage, Li Fan unleashed the most powerful divine ability he currently mastered.
Using his hand as a pen, he wrote in mid-air, simultaneously sensing the changes in his body.
He inscribed the upper left stroke of the character “Chaos” (亂), and still felt ample strength remaining.
An endless stream of spiritual energy and vitality surged from the cave heavens, supporting the immense consumption of the Chaos Glyph technique while keeping his body from collapsing.
Li Fan continued writing. In an instant, half of the character was complete.
Within the underground chamber, the surrounding soil was influenced, rising and trembling unceasingly. Countless particles moved like ranks of mortal soldiers.
Upon closer inspection, the vibration frequency of each grain was entirely unique.
What seemed orderly was, in truth, chaos in disguise.
Li Fan squinted slightly, but his hand, suspended mid-air, abruptly stopped.
“I understand now,” he murmured.
“Having reached the Nascent Soul stage, I no longer need to fear damaging my body. At last, I can fully unleash this ultimate strike.”
“However, it still cannot be used recklessly in succession. Otherwise…”
Li Fan sensed the faint tremors within his five-element cave heavens, a solemn look flashing in his eyes.
“The power of the Chaos is truly terrifying.”
“As the caster, even I, possessing five-element cave heavens, face such backlash. For an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, even a slight contact could immediately cause their Nascent Soul cave heavens to collapse.”
“I wonder, though, if a Soul Transformation cultivator could withstand it.”
The Chaos Glyph technique was a realization Li Fan had comprehended within the enigmatic White Mist Domain.
It was profoundly mysterious. As his cultivation advanced, Li Fan increasingly sensed the extraordinary nature of the character “Chaos.”
“Even my crude imitation holds such power. I can’t imagine how terrifying the true Chaos Glyph technique must be.”
“It seems to exceed the limits of power a regular cultivator can control. Could it be…”
Li Fan frowned, deep in thought.
After a moment, he set aside his musings, focusing his gaze on the “Reverse Five Elements of Sword Creation and Destruction” listed on his Returning True divine ability panel.
The “Reverse Five Elements of Sword Creation and Destruction” was a divine ability he had comprehended by observing the scene of the Roots of Heaven and Earth weaving the five-element cave heavens and combining it with his understanding of the convergence of the five elements from his previous life.
It incorporated the essence of the “Grand Five Elements Annihilation Sword,” possessing not only overwhelming destructive power but also the ability to create life from nothingness.
Casually, Li Fan picked up a dying insect nearby, one that had been severely affected by the residual force of the Chaos Glyph technique.
A gentle, milky-white light emanated from his palm.
Moments later, bathed in the radiant light, the insect miraculously regained vitality. It flipped over, scrambled away from Li Fan’s hand, and fled in haste.
Li Fan paid no attention to the lucky creature that had escaped death. Instead, he thoughtfully remarked, “Reviving the dying is merely a minor skill. Other medical techniques can easily achieve this.”
“The true brilliance of the Reverse Five Elements of Sword Creation and Destruction lies in its power to create.”
Taking a spirit stone from his storage ring, he held it in his left hand.
With his right hand, he emitted radiant light continuously.
After half a day, as the light dissipated, a spirit stone identical to the one in his left hand slowly appeared.