Destruction and creation have always been fundamentally different concepts.
Powerful cultivators can easily move mountains and boil seas. However, to create mountains and rivers from nothing with their bare hands is an infinitely more difficult task.
It may seem like many cultivators can achieve this, but in reality, they are merely relocating water and earth from one place to another within the world.
What Xu Bai had just done in the Beast Realm was completely different.
It was like bringing forth flowers with a flick of the wrist—creating something from nothing.
Or rather, reshaping the heavens and the earth.
As Dao Integration experts, Liu San and Fang Zaiji saw this with perfect clarity.
The mountains, rivers, and trees that had suddenly appeared in the Beast Realm had never been part of the world’s natural evolution.
Yet, Xu Bai had forcibly rewritten the laws, compelling the world to undergo these changes.
The rumbling within the Beast Realm gradually subsided. As Liu San and Fang Zaiji watched with complex emotions, Xu Bai awoke from his enlightenment.
Noticing the gazes gathered upon him, Xu Bai was momentarily stunned.
Then, as he observed the transformed landscape of the Beast Realm, realization dawned upon him.
“Even while still comprehending, my body naturally manifested it. My will merged with the heavens, and everything flowed seamlessly.”
“Incredible!”
Of course, Li Fan was not praising himself from the depths of his heart, but rather, his clone.
Or more precisely, the unique essence left within this clone by Mr. Bai.
With a single thought, all the events that had unfolded within the Beast Realm during his moment of enlightenment instantly replayed in his mind.
Xu Bai pondered, “Using my hands as a brush to reshape the heavens and earth—this technique shall be called (Heaven’s Transformation).”
The initial inspiration for Heaven’s Transformation originated from the Reverse Five Elements Life-Death Sword.
Back then, Li Fan had comprehended this divine ability from the grand phenomena of the Five Elements Converging into One, the Shattering of the Five Elements from the roots of heaven and earth, and the Weaving of the Five Elements into a Cave-Heaven.
This ability allowed him to perform simple acts of “creation,” such as condensing scattered spiritual energy into spirit stones.
However, as the complexity of creation increased, Li Fan found himself powerless.
Yet this time, he had managed to alter the world with a mere wave of his hand. The key to this breakthrough lay in the seventeen-petaled Heavenly Spirit Flower.
Upon the petals of the Heavenly Spirit Flower, the mountains and rivers of the Heavenly Spirit Continent were depicted. As Xu Bai carefully observed them, he felt as if he were soaring above the prefecture itself, witnessing its vast landscapes unfold.
The entire process of how mountains and rivers were formed in the world was displayed before him.
Simply put, Heaven and Earth had become his teachers, using the Heavenly Spirit Flower to demonstrate the act of creation.
Thus, in his moment of enlightenment, Xu Bai instinctively imitated and followed the guidance of the world itself. Without conscious effort, he replicated this process within the Beast Realm.
“Heaven’s Transformation—Xu Bai wields it effortlessly. But for my true self to master it completely, I will need repeated practice.”
Strictly speaking, Heaven’s Transformation was far more ornamental than practical outside the Beast Realm.
After all, Li Fan was still only in the Nascent Soul Realm, and the impact he could have on the world was quite limited.
However, this technique possessed limitless potential.
The greatest application Li Fan could currently envision was the creation of “Essence of Heaven and Earth.”
As a necessary catalyst for advancing to the Soul Transformation Realm, Essence of Heaven and Earth was a driving force behind world-changing transformations.
From the Heavenly Spirit, a thousand rivers would be born.
From the Great Hua, a thousand mountains would arise…
A Nascent Soul cultivator seeking to break through to the Soul Transformation realm must first observe an imminent change within a particular region.
Afterward, they must extract and absorb this “force of transformation” to complete their advancement.
In Congyun Sea, there are hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators, yet only two Soul Transformation cultivators—Ziyun and Hongxi.
This vast numerical disparity clearly illustrates the immense difficulty of this breakthrough.
For an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, merely detecting the transformation of heaven and earth is already an insurmountable challenge. Even more difficult is absorbing the “Essence of Heaven and Earth” while evading the watchful eyes of other Nascent Soul cultivators—an endeavor akin to ascending the heavens.
However, for Li Fan, who had mastered the divine ability “Heaven’s Transformation”, it was entirely possible to initiate a transformation of the heavens in a remote and uninhabited area.
He could then steal this power and complete his advancement with ease.
And if he dared to be even bolder…
Mass-producing Soul Transformation cultivators wouldn’t be impossible!
Dao Integration cultivators were essentially the rulers of their respective provinces, while Soul Transformation cultivators formed the core strength of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.
If an organization suddenly emerged with dozens or even hundreds of Soul Transformation cultivators, both the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association would have no choice but to take it seriously.
Of course, all of this was predicated on one crucial factor: that the process of using “Heaven’s Transformation” to manipulate the Xuanhuang Transformation Force remained undetected by stronger cultivators.
A few discreet attempts, properly concealed, might go unnoticed. But large-scale disturbances?
Those would undoubtedly expose everything.
At that point, attracting the attention of Dao Integration cultivators—or even Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereigns—would be inevitable.
Thus, for now, Li Fan needed to gradually experiment with casting “Heaven’s Transformation” in the Xuanhuang Realm while ensuring his own safety.
“Congratulations, Young Master, on making further progress along the Dao!”
Seeing Li Fan awaken, Liu San flew forward to offer his congratulations, his expression tinged with joy.
Even as he spoke, he casually sealed the surrounding space to prevent the secret from being exposed—that Xu Bai was actually Li Fan’s clone.
Meanwhile, Fang Zaiji maneuvered the “Shared Vision Eye” closer and chimed in:
“Using mountains and rivers as a canvas, laws as ink, and divine abilities as a brush…Sect Master, you are truly extraordinary!”
“I recall that the Divine Brush Sect once had a similar technique. Unfortunately, shortly after Chu Youhong created that move, the sect was utterly annihilated…”
“This move…”
Liu San’s face twitched. Before Fang Zaiji could finish, he waved his sleeve and retracted the golden eyeball.
Fang Zaiji’s voice abruptly cut off, and silence enveloped the area.
Liu San then turned to Xu Bai and relayed Jiao Xiuyuan’s conditions.
“Daoist Jiao still refuses to act without seeing tangible benefits first, huh?”
Xu Bai had expected this response.
He extended his left palm, and seventeen petals of the Heavenly Spirit Flower floated into his grasp.
He plucked a petal with a smile.
Although the frozen Heavenly Spirit Flower remained completely intact, a transparent petal—one reflecting the image of the rising sun slanting over mountain ridges—appeared in his right hand.
“This is something I ‘copied’ from the original Heavenly Spirit Flower. It holds only a tenth of its essence, but… it is more than enough.”
“Elder Liu, deliver this to Jiao Xiuyuan. He will naturally recognize its value.”
Xu Bai spoke calmly.
Liu San solemnly cupped the transparent petal in his palm before nodding and swiftly departing.
“We need to speed things up.”
“This must be completed before the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance officially announces the start of the Great Exploration Era.”
“Otherwise, once everyone rushes off to explore the White Mist, who will still be around to buy my Heavenly Spirit Flowers?”
Xu Bai muttered to himself while waving his hand like a brush, sketching out one imitation Heavenly Spirit Flower petal after another in midair.