It seemed as if he was locking eyes with Mr. Bai’s deep, unfathomable gaze.
Li Fan’s heart stopped abruptly.
“As expected, my guess was correct! The first thing he would do after reviving is to seize [Truth].” Judging from his own perspective, Li Fan’s spiritual intuition screamed in alarm.
Thinking about the approaching powerhouse—whose strength was equivalent to countless Dao Integration cultivators stacked together—he felt as though he was facing dark clouds engulfing a city. The immense pressure made it difficult for him to breathe.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
His Dao Deviation Stone crystal within his mind operated at full capacity as he carefully considered whether there were any gaps in his preparations.
But he knew that, in the face of such an overwhelming disparity in strength, all strategies ultimately depended on luck!
“My fate… must not end here!”
Standing at the precipice of life and death, with no [Truth] as a safeguard, Li Fan surprisingly found his nervousness gradually fading. His mind became crystal clear.
He calmly analyzed possible countermeasures.
“Although I lost my shared sense with the Holy Embryo Xu Bai, this kind of ‘loss’ might only be one-sided, a mere suppression.”
“I can’t rule out the possibility that Mr. Bai can still perceive my situation through his clone Xu Bai, or even through contamination from his main body.”
“So the first step is to get rid of the clone Xu Bai, to attempt to sever or weaken the connection between us.”
“Otherwise, any plan I come up with will be as transparent as glass before him.”
“And next…”
Li Fan furrowed his brows, deducing and considering the possibilities of what was to come.
At the same time, he waited for Mr. Bai’s arrival.
However, it seemed that Mr. Bai was moving much slower than anticipated.
A full incense stick’s time had passed, yet there was still no sign of him.
“Could it be that he went to find Dongfang Yao first, eliminating those [Memorial Portraits] before dealing with me?”
Li Fan’s mind stirred. He checked but found that Dongfang Yao and the Memorial Portraits were unharmed.
“Then where did he go?”
A trace of doubt flickered through his heart.
However, he soon deduced a possible answer.
With Mr. Bai’s current strength, he could have easily teleported past all spatial restrictions and arrived at Longevity Valley instantly.
But one must not forget—above the firmament, the Immortal Ancestor was watching and observing the Xuanhuang Realm.
Such an overt move would undoubtedly expose himself.
Thus, Mr. Bai had likely chosen a method that would avoid attracting attention: “walking at a steady pace.”
Of course, this “steady pace” was only relative to “instant teleportation.”
“No matter what, he should be arriving soon.” Li Fan sat calmly at the center of his cultivation chamber.
Meanwhile, his clone Xu Bai quietly approached the entrance of Longevity Valley.
Li Fan’s guess was correct.
Not long after, the sealed spatial passage suddenly opened.
The disciples of the Medicine King Sect standing guard were stunned.
As they stepped forward to inspect, they found that no one had entered.
Just as confusion clouded their minds—
A figure had already appeared within Longevity Valley.
Before he could even take a firm stand or utter a single word—
Thousands of black killing auras erupted like a swarm of countless flying insects.
In an instant, they transformed into a storm of flying swords, slashing toward Mr. Bai!
Each strike carried enough power to severely wound a Dao Integration cultivator!
“Yushan?!”
Liu San’s shocked voice rang out.
The countless black swords were unleashed by Jiang Yushan.
It was her ultimate technique—[Ephemeral Unbound Sword].
The boundless sword intent, tainted with an overwhelming aura of slaughter, had the power to annihilate both body and soul in a single strike.
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Yushan could at most release a thousand sword intents at once—already her absolute limit.
Yet at this moment, she had clearly exceeded what her body could endure.
Wounds split open all over her body. Even blood trickled down from the corners of her eyes.
Such injuries might not matter to cultivators who practiced the new path. But for those who followed the old path, they were already extremely severe.
But Jiang Yushan cared not.
Her relentless storm of black swords continued to strike—
Unyielding.
Unstoppable.
Until death.
Although he didn’t know who this mysterious figure was, upon seeing Jiang Yushan fighting so desperately, how could Liu San possibly stand by and do nothing?
“Fang Zaiji!” he shouted angrily, waking up the old Fang, who was still immersed in refining artifacts.
At the same time, he struck out with both palms toward the green radiance.
One stream of green light surged toward Jiang Yushan, healing her wounds.
Another stream of green light instantly transformed into thousands of silk-like threads, attempting to bind Mr. Bai.
Before the green threads could reach Mr. Bai, a massive black hammer, as large as a mountain, materialized above his head, poised to strike down with immense force.
The three Dao Integration cultivators of the Medicine King Sect launched a coordinated assault—this was Li Fan’s first move.
Jiang Yushan had taken the initiative to attack first because of the effects of the second True Temptation Fruit she had consumed earlier. Following Xu Bai’s instructions, she launched an all-out assault, a battle of life and death.
And as long as Jiang Yushan was engaged in battle, Liu San would never stand by idly. Fang Zaiji, too, was highly likely to join the fight.
With just a single True Temptation Fruit, three Dao Integration cultivators were drawn into battle.
Although the three Dao Integration experts from the Medicine King Sect were somewhat weaker than the present-day Dao Integration cultivators, their combined strength was still a formidable force.
However, Mr. Bai seemed to have anticipated their attack.
He wore a gentle smile.
His figure flickered and vanished from the encirclement of deadly energy, green threads, and the black hammer.
In an instant, he appeared next to Liu San and the others, moving at a speed that no one present could perceive.
Extending his right index finger, he lightly tapped.
The three Dao Integration cultivators immediately froze in place as if all their abilities had been stripped away. They slowly descended from midair to the ground.
Only then did Mr. Bai turn to look at the impending Dao Integration strike that was still suspended in the air.
With a slight clench of his right hand—
All the divine power fluctuations collapsed like a tangled mess of silk threads and were absorbed into his palm.
Without any visible means of neutralization, the small energy sphere, containing terrifying power, was effortlessly drawn into his body.
Liu San and the others remained unharmed.
They landed safely on the ground, staring at Mr. Bai, who bore an uncanny resemblance to Xu Bai, the sect master’s clone. Their minds were blank with shock.
With just a simple gesture, he had subdued them with ease.
Such power far exceeded their comprehension.
“Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign? But why does he look exactly like the sect master’s clone?”
Countless doubts surged through their minds.
Yet before they could ponder further, another drastic change occurred.
A massive metal furnace, appearing out of nowhere, came hurtling toward Mister Bai at high speed.
The surface of the furnace was already covered in fine cracks.
The moment it approached Mr. Bai, it exploded with a deafening roar.
Shards of the furnace scattered in all directions. However, before they could fly too far, they were consumed midair by a mass of distorted, pulsating demonic flesh.
“ROAR!”
A colossal mass of flesh emerged, covered in thousands of grotesque beastly faces, contorting and shifting without end.
Countless eyes, filled with madness and destruction, glared out from the writhing mass.
From the moment it was born, the first thing it saw was Mr. Bai.
The Emperor Beast let out a bizarre, enraged howl and charged at him with brute force.
In an instant, countless tentacles sprouted from its body.
Each one carried an aura of demonic energy, whipping violently forward.