Li Fan pondered all this quietly, keeping his thoughts to himself instead of revealing them to Master Qiaogong. He simply summoned another robbery body and followed him, leaving it for refining Tianyang's new puppet body.
After deploying these two bodies, only a half-loaded robbery body remained within Li Fan. The Mercy Fairy layout he had established in this world had been meticulously executed for so long, yet had yielded so little. It demonstrated just how rare the essence of the Force truly was.
Master Qiaogong, delighted, prepared to return with the golden body. At that moment, Li Fan asked a question that made even him slightly apprehensive: the estimated time required to create an immortal puppet.
The answer shocked him.
"I estimate at least ten years," Qiaogong admitted, hesitantly. "It could take longer. This is the first time I've refined an immortal puppet, and I'm still learning the process." His gaze flickered, avoiding Li Fan's eyes.
"Ten years…" Li Fan murmured. He wondered if he would even witness the puppet's emergence in his lifetime. Shaking his head slightly, he dismissed Qiaogong. When it came to the immortal level, the time scales expanded exponentially—hundreds of times greater than mortal processes.
The same principle applied to his work with the final dissociation disc and the cracking of restrictions imposed by the Heavenly Lord of Transmission. Though the transmission method hadn't reached true immortal-level status, Li Fan could clearly see the traces and operating principles of immortal-level formations embedded in the restrictions.
"It seems he inherited techniques from the fairy world," Li Fan mused. "But lacking fairy spirit, he found another path."
Of course, the Tianxuan Mirror was itself a relic of the immortal world. A restriction capable of controlling an immortal weapon could not have been devised through ordinary means. Now Li Fan could nearly confirm that only King Xuantian and Master Tiandu possessed the inheritance of true immortals. The Heavenly Master of Chuanfa had speculated before, but the Tianxuan Mirror's restrictions left little doubt.
Countless figures had appeared in the Xuanhuang Realm over the ages, yet only these three had immortal-level inheritance. A catastrophe had destroyed the fairy world, collapsing its cultivation path. Only King Xuantian and Master Tiandu managed to salvage the techniques.
Li Fan's thoughts grew darker. If that disaster had never occurred, true immortal Taoism might never have appeared in the mortal world. The ability to ascend smoothly would have been far more commonplace.
The abyss between mortals and immortals stretched impossibly wide. Even after both the dissociation disc and the transformation stone completed their evolution, breaking the Heavenly Master's restrictions seemed instantaneous in theory—but in practice, Li Fan felt like he was running to death. The final crack appeared tantalizingly close, yet progress stalled no matter how long the terminal dissociation disc ran.
"This must be an immortal-level sealing method," he concluded. Although formations like the Return of All Souls and the Flowers in the Void Chamber were immortal-level, they offered no guidance here. Li Fan could only rely on the dissociation disc, which had already been pushed to its limits.
With his attention divided, Li Fan turned to a long-term project: extracting the essence of heaven and earth. He knew that when the Faceless Immortal collided with Immortal Xu, the conditions would arise for him to return to reality. Time, however, would be fleeting.
To maximize gains, he also needed to complete the extraction of [Xuanhuang General Transformation], accumulating power for his eventual promotion to godhood. Thanks to the Tianxuan Mirror, he could now access centuries of dusty materials from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, including monks' firsthand experiences ascending to godhood.
The process of extracting world changes was painstaking. Even witnessing Zhang Zhiliang absorb Cong Yunhai's transformations, Li Fan realized: one change takes ages—let alone hundreds or thousands. Only one man, Mr. Bai, could instantaneously gather the "souls of heaven and earth" into his body through an ability called [Corruption].
Ordinary monks must tread carefully when ascending, because extracting the marrow of heaven and earth incurs inevitable heavenly backlash. Only the incarnation of heaven, acting with detachment, could bypass this punishment.
Li Fan recalled Jiang, the Law Transmitter, and an idea crystallized. He seized the rare opportunity, swallowing a handful of Enlightenment Pills.
As he meditated, images of comprehending the Way of Heaven flashed through his mind. Every subtle change in the holy fetus, every event surrounding Mr. Tiandaobai, even his own experiences—all returned in perfect clarity. The Transformation Stone, having just evolved, could withstand the strain; otherwise, its mid-grade version would have collapsed.
"Yes… because of my carelessness, Tiandaobai seized the chance to resurrect his soul. Yet the body is still my holy fetus—it is me, another version of me, merely occupied by him."
"I am the incarnation of the Way of Heaven…" Li Fan repeated to himself, the phrase echoing like a mantra. His eyes shone brighter with each repetition, thoughts surging uncontrollably.
It might have looked like possession to any observer, but Li Fan's mind had never been clearer.
"Just as with the Canghai Pearl, when I observed the evolution of murderous intent and realized the power of [Shadowless Murderous Intent]… Tiandaobai was born with my holy fetus's help. I was lucky to share a body with the Dao itself."
Li Fan's gaze seemed to pierce the entire Spiritual Wood Realm, stretching even into the Xuanhuang Realm. He saw the forms of all sentient beings captured in the Tianxuan Mirror, the shifts in the Xuanhuang Realm across countless reincarnations.
An inexplicable aura began to radiate from him. Like a statue frozen in epiphany, Li Fan grasped the truth.
Time lost all meaning.
At the final instant of enlightenment, he jolted awake.
"No… I don't want to truly become the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao. I only want to borrow its power. It's far too dangerous…"
Given his temperament, a cold sweat ran down his spine. If he confirmed a connection with Xuanhuang Tiandao, all changes would occur at his own initiative—and recovery might be impossible. Only the world would change; he might not.
"Fortunately… I reacted in time."
Li Fan had been stagnant outside this threshold for half a month, one step away from finally realizing his new magical power. The pause was necessary—to ensure his mind would not be influenced by the heavenly ways of the Xuanhuang Realm.
"A gentleman is born without exception, and his virtues are based on deeds," he murmured slowly, his voice resonating with the Tao he had just realized. In a flash, his body vanished from the Spirit Wood Realm, reappearing outside its borders.
Li Fan sought a place to test his power. This [False to Corrupt Heaven's Way] was akin to his [Shadowless Murderous Intent]—capable of borrowing the power of heaven and earth, but with the risk of drawing heaven's punishment. He needed a region where the Heavenly Dao was weaker.
Turning into a dotted line of light, he sped toward the Sea of Clouds. Congyunhai was ideal: a region where the fragments of the Heavenly Law Realm and the Xuanhuang Realm had yet to fully merge. It was like a wooden thorn embedded in the flesh of reality; the Red Flame Burning Sea would only bring full integration years later. Here, the power of Xuanhuang Tiandao was muted compared to its original state.
Soon, Li Fan arrived at an uninhabited stretch. Standing atop the clouds, he held his breath and activated the [False Way of Heaven].
Instantly, the world changed.
It was as though he had returned to the Root of Heaven and Earth, where countless thin lines intersected in a cosmic lattice, forming the blueprint of reality itself. Everything in this network operated according to the rules of these lines—the law of heaven and earth.
His body seemed to vanish, and his soul began merging into the immense lattice. Pressure from the innumerable horizontal and vertical threads nearly shredded his soul. In that brief moment, Li Fan glimpsed the basic laws governing heaven and earth, even events unfolding across the Xuanhuang Realm.
But he pulled back.
If he continued, his soul would splinter beyond recovery, absorbed into the infinite laws of heaven and earth. A Tiandao Li might arise, but it would not be him.
Withdrawing, Li Fan seized the lingering mysterious sensation in his heart and reactivated the method of falsehood, this time without merging fully. He only sought to connect the threads of law to himself.
Every line he touched felt like a mountain pressing down. Using the Wuji Yingxu and Soul Burning Technique to the extreme, he relieved the strain on his body. Slowly, he pulled threads from the cosmic lattice, weaving them into his own being. When he reached his limit, he stopped.
"Is this the weight of the principles of heaven and earth…" he whispered.
It felt as though the Five Elements Mountain pressed down upon him. Only by directly encountering the majestic power of heaven and earth could one truly understand its terror.
"The realm of immortality… is to overturn these mountains, to reverse the order of heaven and earth," he reflected. "I am still far from that."
Though immobile, Li Fan's vision had never been wider. Unlike the time he observed the sea of clouds transforming into mulberry fields with the Canghai Pearl, now he could see further and more clearly.
Looking down, he discerned five distinct states around Congyunhai. Living beings moved like ants. A murmur of indistinct sounds filled his ears—not from monsters, but from the self-operating mechanisms of heaven and earth.
The world, though seemingly silent, ran like a precise machine, roaring imperceptibly as it evolved. Only one who had become part of the great road of heaven and earth, like Li Fan, could hear this hidden chorus.
Analyzing carefully, he realized most murmurs described the evolution of Congyunhai. The Red Flame Burning Sea was brewing. He even caught whispers of Tiandi's arrangements for Qingfeng's trapped sword. Surprisingly, this was ranked only third in the cosmic noise.
His gaze followed another source. Deep beneath Ten Thousand Immortals Island, darkness persisted even through heaven's perspective. The soul of heaven and earth, named [Golden Silence], circled like a chain, suppressing the void below.
"The entrance to the tunnel?"
Memories flashed. In his 115th life, the Five Elders Society had plundered the island, exposing the tunnel beneath. As acting city lord, he had rebuilt the fairy city and sealed the Netherworld Tunnel with the Xuantian Locking Nether Formation, under orders from the First Economic Law.
"With the tunnel's continuous expansion, Ten Thousand Immortals Island's suppression has weakened," he realized. "Perhaps that is why Congyunhai behaves strangely. The world notices little, but I have begun to intervene silently."
The Xuantian Suoyou Formation was similar to the style of the Xuantian Sect. Records from the Tianxuan Mirror confirmed its ancient lineage. Yet Li Fan could tell at a glance: it was far from immortal-level.
"The weirdness arose during the integration of Xuanhuang Realm with other immortal realms," he noted. "Even then, the problem was mild, and this rough formation sufficed. But as integration progresses, the formation grows insufficient."
Using the spare computing power of the dissociation disc, Li Fan almost breathlessly deduced a new Yousuo Locking Formation, ten times stronger than the original.
He shook his head. "After all these years, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance still clings to ancient relics, unwilling to innovate."