Li Fan stood in the secret chamber, silent for a long time.
He was deep in thought, contemplating a strategy.
Now that he had calmed down, he was not particularly panicked.
After all, he was far from being in a desperate situation.
In the vast Xuanhuang Realm, countless beings never attain True Awakening, and each person only gets one chance at life.
He had merely returned to the same starting point as everyone else.
Moreover, he still possessed the immense advantage of accumulated foresight from his many cycles of reincarnation.
“Everything stems from a single, fleeting thought in the past.”
“When I used Xu Ke’s blood essence to create a clone, I also infused it with a trace of Mr. Bai’s divine aura.”
Before long, he pinpointed the source of his abnormalities.
“As expected, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
“I gained extraordinary talent and comprehended divine abilities simply because I resembled Mr. Bai.”
“But in exchange, his subtle influence gradually tainted both my clone and even my true self.”
“Although I was already on guard when I noticed something was wrong—determined to awaken my True Self if I sensed any deeper influence—”
“What I didn’t anticipate was that, by the time my true self became aware of the issue, it was already too late.”
In his mind, that breathtakingly flawless face surfaced once more.
“Mr. Bai…”
“Interesting.”
“You wish to be reborn through me? Then I shall grant your wish!”
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
The Dao Deviation Stone, which had already been pushed to its limit within his mind, suddenly erupted in a brilliant blue radiance.
Countless images flickered through it.
These were all the possible futures Li Fan was deducing.
“Trying to obstruct my path…”
“It won’t be that easy!”
In an instant, the light from the Dao Deviation Stone extinguished entirely.
But Li Fan had already devised a countermeasure.
A cold smirk surfaced on his lips as he sat down again, unhurriedly resuming his deciphering of the Limitless Limitless Fullness and Emptiness Technique.
The scene shifted to Xu Bai’s side.
He exchanged a glance with the Holy Embryo, and both of them revealed eerie smiles.
Xu Bai gently pointed at the red string before him.
“Go!”
The red string seemed to come to life, shooting straight toward the Holy Embryo.
At the same time, Xu Bai retrieved a massive pile of top-grade spirit stones from his storage ring.
With a single palm strike, he shattered them.
The Holy Blood Embryo Transformation Technique produces offspring or clones without any cultivation.
But for the Holy Embryo Xu Bai, this was not an issue at all.
His innate talent was identical to that of Xu Bai—already reaching an almost unimaginable level.
Not to mention, he also had the cultivation experience accumulated over Li Fan’s many lifetimes of reincarnation.
“Absorb the essence of heaven and earth, harness its qi!”
The Holy Embryo Xu Bai chanted softly.
Within the secret chamber, an invisible whirlwind seemed to rise.
Dense spiritual energy, as thick as substance, roared as it surged toward the Holy Embryo Xu Bai.
Within just a few breaths.
He shattered the barrier between mortals and cultivators, successfully stepping into the early-stage Qi Condensation Realm.
Yet, his absorption of spiritual energy did not slow in the slightest; instead, it only accelerated.
The clone Xu Bai remained expressionless, methodically repeating the cycle of extracting top-grade spirit stones, crushing them, and retrieving more.
For ordinary cultivators, absorbing such an immense amount of spiritual energy in such a short time would have caused their bodies to explode long ago.
But the Holy Embryo Xu Bai was like a bottomless abyss.
His expression did not change; no matter how much spiritual energy came, he absorbed it all.
All of it was drawn into his dantian.
His cultivation realm was rising at an astonishing speed.
Mid-stage Qi Condensation, late-stage Qi Condensation…
Qi Condensation Perfection!
The Heavenly Calamity that troubled countless cultivators across the world seemed to be completely nonexistent for Holy Embryo Xu Bai.
For the first time, Clone Xu Bai witnessed a true genius of the New Path Cultivation, one unhindered by bottlenecks.
That terrifying cultivation speed!
“Borrow the wonders of heaven and earth to establish the Dao Foundation!”
Holy Embryo Xu Bai softly chanted once more.
Inside his Dantian, the red string belonging to Mr. Bai emitted a faint glow.
There was no obstruction, everything flowed naturally.
In just the span of a single breath, Holy Embryo Xu Bai successfully stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The faint red string dissolved into his Dantian, transforming into his Dao Foundation.
Because of this, he learned its true name—
Heaven’s Will Sword.
“If there is Heaven’s Will, let it be one with me.”
“Marvelous.”
Both Holy Embryo Xu Bai and Clone Xu Bai spoke in unison.
Despite stepping into the Foundation Establishment Realm, Holy Embryo Xu Bai did not stop his cultivation.
He continued to absorb the dense and pure spiritual energy in the secret chamber.
His cultivation level soared steadily and rapidly.
There were still no bottlenecks.
Mid-Foundation Establishment, Late-Foundation Establishment, Perfected-Foundation Establishment…
“Observe the ways of heaven and earth to refine the Golden Core.”
Holy Embryo Xu Bai stood with his hands behind his back, murmuring.
He opened his mouth and inhaled, instantly draining all the nearly liquefied spiritual energy in the secret chamber.
Then, he directly took the storage ring filled with spirit stones from Clone Xu Bai, gripping it tightly.
Inside his Dantian, a red radiance gradually solidified.
“My will is Heaven’s Will, my heart is Heaven’s Heart.”
Holy Embryo Xu Bai naturally spoke.
It was as if a world-shattering explosion had occurred.
A red radiance filled every part of his Dantian, then abruptly compressed to the extreme.
Moments later, a small red light floated within his Dantian.
Holy Embryo Xu Bai had stepped into the Golden Core Realm!
In an incredibly short time, he accomplished what ordinary cultivators required dozens or even hundreds of years to achieve.
Yet, he still did not stop cultivating.
With an endless supply of spiritual energy, Holy Embryo Xu Bai advanced towards Perfected Golden Core.
As expected, there was still no Heavenly Calamity.
The double standard of the Heavenly Dao in the Xuanhuang Realm was clear as day.
When Holy Embryo Xu Bai finally reached Perfected Golden Core,
Only half a day had passed since his creation.
“Is this Mr. Bai’s cultivation speed?”
“No, Mister Bai back then was even faster—achieving Soul Transformation in an instant as a mortal.”
Inside the secret chamber, Holy Embryo Xu Bai and Clone Xu Bai conversed.
Then, after a long silence, Clone Xu Bai shook his head slightly.
“In today’s Xuanhuang World, achieving Golden Core in half a day is already the limit.”
Holy Embryo Xu Bai nodded in agreement.
“Seize the essence of heaven and earth to form the Nascent Soul.”
“Without prior preparations, no matter how great the talent, further advancement is impossible.”
“As the saying goes…”
Holy Embryo Xu Bai cupped his hands towards Clone Xu Bai, then strode away gracefully.
“Before me lies the path of immortals, yet I cannot tread it—for the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Ancestor stands above!”
His figure vanished.
Yet, his voice echoed within the secret chamber for a long time.
Clone Xu Bai knew that Holy Embryo Xu Bai had left in search of an opportunity to form his Nascent Soul.
For ordinary cultivators, this process would be unimaginably difficult.
But for Holy Embryo Xu Bai, it was merely a trivial matter.
There was no need to worry about his safety.
Even though he was only at Perfected Golden Core,
Even a Soul Transformation cultivator might not be his match.
Because—
“My heart is Heaven’s Heart.”