Shuo Feng’s efficiency was truly remarkable.
He summoned a female cultivator dressed in a light purple long skirt, and shortly after giving the order, Li Fan learned that he had officially become a mid-level guest elder of the Xuan Family.
His initial merit level in the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance had been raised to level 35.
At the same time, he unlocked a new privilege: once every hundred years, he could freely utilize the Tianxuan Mirror to deduce and enhance one of his divine abilities.
“If you don’t use your rights, they will expire. This is the perfect opportunity, Brother Li. You should take advantage of this to further increase the power of the [Extracting Threads, Cutting Life] technique. Though it already feels quite powerful, it hasn’t yet reached perfection and still has room for improvement.”
Shuo Feng stretched his body, and his bones made a series of crackling sounds. Noticing that Li Fan seemed a bit lost in thought, he reminded him aloud.
“Once you’ve advanced further, we can have a good, satisfying battle!”
Among his peers, few cultivators could keep up with his cultivation progress. Most would fall behind before long, losing the ability to compete with him. Finding a worthy opponent like Li Fan was already rare.
Moreover, Li Fan occasionally managed to surprise him, which made Shuo Feng genuinely pleased with him.
Li Fan looked at the prompt from the Tianxuan Mirror and couldn’t help but ask.
“The Tianxuan Treasure Record is merely a branch of Tianxuan. Though it’s already amazing for most cultivators, it still pales compared to the true power of the Tianxuan Mirror itself,” Shuo Feng replied with a smile.
“For the same divine ability, the continuation deduced by the Tianxuan Treasure Record and the Tianxuan Mirror is not worlds apart, but there is certainly a qualitative difference.”
However… Shuo Feng’s smile suddenly faded.
“This is only the current difference between the Tianxuan Treasure Record and the Tianxuan Mirror. As time goes on… things may change.”
“Perhaps one day, every single branch mirror will be indistinguishable from the original mirror.”
His expression became a bit solemn, as if he had thought of something troubling.
Li Fan, realizing the implication of Shuo Feng’s words, felt his heart pound violently.
It turned out that the level 35 merit privilege actually allowed one to leverage the true Tianxuan Mirror itself to deduce divine abilities!
Did that mean he would once again have the chance to witness the real Tianxuan Mirror?
The last time he saw it was during the training to construct the Tianxuan Spirit-Locking Formation, in that vast space filled with black-and-white lines. Alongside the other trainees, he had witnessed the birth and sealing of the Tianxuan Newborn Mirror up close.
“In this world, the Tianxuan Mirror has already undergone a preliminary transformation. I wonder what changes have taken place within it.”
Li Fan’s thoughts were in turmoil.
Shuo Feng, coming out of his contemplation, added another piece of advice:
“As for the divine ability deduction feature in the [Sitting and Discussing Dao] module… you’d best avoid it from now on.”
“Even I only dared to try it when I was young and reckless. Now that I’ve sobered up, I don’t want to waste my resources in vain.”
Shuo Feng rarely displayed such a wistful expression.
Li Fan was slightly taken aback.
“Why is that? Is there something even Brother Shuo can’t afford?”
Shuo Feng waved his hand and explained:
“Divine abilities in this world have a difference between theoretical and practical applications.”
“When deducing a divine ability, both the Tianxuan Treasure Record and the Tianxuan Mirror will set a potential upper limit. For example, your [Extracting Threads, Cutting Life] technique, when cast at the Nascent Soul stage, can at most harm a cultivator at the Soul Transformation stage. It may have some effect on a Dao Integration cultivator as well.”
“However, before an Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign, it would definitely lose effectiveness. This is the inherent limit of most divine abilities in the world.”
“No matter how talented someone may be, it’s impossible to create a divine ability in the Xuanhuang Realm that can threaten an Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign without having reached that realm oneself.”
“This is the reality.”
Shuo Feng paused, raising his head to look at the sky.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke,
“In theory, is there truly a technique below the realm of Longevity that can affect the divine abilities of a Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign?”
“There must be something in this world,” a trace of longing flashed through Shuo Feng’s eyes.
“But that might already be approaching the level of legendary immortal arts. Not just for us—even the Tianxuan Mirror would find it incredibly difficult to deduce the existence of such a level. Besides using the majority of its computational power, success might also depend on a stroke of luck.”
“The deduction function of the [Sitting and Discussing Dao] has no set upper limit. As long as something is theoretically possible, there’s a chance it can be deduced. That’s why the cost in contribution points to perform each deduction is unimaginably enormous. The further you go, the more this is the case.”
“And the result…”
Shuo Feng let out a mocking laugh.
“Since the creation of the [Sitting and Discussing Dao] section so many years ago, it has attracted countless gamblers, recklessly throwing themselves into it—some even to the point of losing everything they own. The number of deductions the Tianxuan Mirror has performed is beyond calculation.”
“But I’ve never heard of anyone succeeding.”
Li Fan was stunned and shook his head repeatedly.
“I never thought there would be such a trick behind it. If I had known earlier, I definitely wouldn’t have taken the risk.”
“When I almost got sliced in half by your sword back then, I knew I wasn’t one blessed with good fortune,” Li Fan sighed.
Shuo Feng recalled their first meeting and found it amusing, bursting into hearty laughter.
“By the way, Brother Shuo, do you happen to have the Tianxuan Treasure Record on you?” Li Fan suddenly asked.
“Recently, there’s been a rumor circulating that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is promoting the requirement for all cultivators to generate their own Treasure Record.”
A trace of gloom flashed across Shuo Feng’s face.
“Tianxuan Treasure Record…”
“Heh, I might just be the first person in the entire Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance to put that thing on.”
“Let’s not talk about it! Just thinking about it annoys me!”
“Brother Li, fight me one more time!”
As he spoke, countless sword lights erupted from Shuo Feng’s body, slicing fiercely toward Li Fan with an intense and resentful aura.
Li Fan’s heart tightened, not daring to be careless, and he immediately focused his mind to respond.
In the Longevity Valley.
Fang Zaiji, who was ordered to go out and recruit disciples, had now successfully completed his mission.
In the grand square of the sect’s main hall, a group of children around five or six years old stood timidly, looking around with fear written on their faces.
Some even broke down crying on the spot, causing a chain reaction that turned the scene into utter chaos.
“Mr. Fang, are these the ‘promising seedlings’ you brought back?”
Xu Bai looked at Fang Zaiji and asked.