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Chapter 216: Patience in Dealing with the Past
Chapter 216: Patience in Dealing with the Past
Chapter 216: Patience in Dealing with the Past
A mountain peak gradually appeared before Li Fan's eyes.
The automatic protection from [Truth] allowed Li Fan to break free from the Heavenly Doctor's gaze, successfully returning to the anchor point.
The illusory scene turned real again, and Li Fan quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming that he had returned to the third anchor point.
He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Moments later, the fear brought by the near-death experience under the white-haired old man came belatedly.
It descended into his heart, making his heart beat violently.
Like someone who had been drowning for a long time and finally surfaced, Li Fan breathed uncontrollably.
After a while, he slowly emerged from the fear of escaping from disaster.
"Heavenly Doctor, above Dao Integration..."
Replaying the recent scene in his mind, Li Fan's face darkened.
He never expected the strength of this "Heavenly Doctor" to be so terrifying.
It far surpassed the black-robed cultivator in the Yuandao Province.
The Heavenly Doctor seemed to be able to see through the thoughts in a person's heart.
At that moment, a thought had momentarily flashed through the mind of the clone, and he had sensed the anomaly.
Even more terrifying was that, by some unknown method, he made the clone completely reveal everything in his heart without resistance or concealment.
After saving the clone from the brink of death, he instantly tore through space and found Li Fan's main body.
All these methods far exceeded Li Fan's current understanding.
"Under the Sun Stealing Technique, my main body and the clone can be considered two unrelated individuals."
"How did he determine my identity?"
"When joining the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Tianxuan Mirror also claimed that practicing in the mirror space was completely safe from all attacks."
"But this Heavenly Doctor was able to forcibly intrude into my cultivation space, and the Tianxuan Mirror showed no response."
"When introducing him, the Tianxuan Mirror didn't even mention his name."
"Who is this old man?"
The more Li Fan thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed.
At the same time, waves of fear surged in his heart.
If he hadn't been cautious, understanding the terrifying strength of this old man and always interacting with him through the clone.
If he hadn't noticed something was wrong and immediately activated [Truth] without hesitation.
If [Truth] hadn't accumulated some recharge progress, automatically protecting him.
He might have met his end this time.
In the hands of this mysterious and unpredictable old man, any secret would be difficult to keep, ultimately leading to an unavoidable death.
"The cultivation world is indeed too dangerous. Even with an extraordinary treasure like [Truth], I'm still treading on thin ice. One slight mistake could lead to complete disaster." Li Fan couldn't help but shudder.
In addition to the shock, Li Fan also engaged in self-reflection.
Since he entered the cultivation world, with the help of [Truth], his cultivation path had been relatively smooth.
The last time he escaped from the hands of the Dao Integration cultivator even made Li Fan somewhat complacent.
Thinking carefully, those powerful beings who have survived the times of the Great Calamity, the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, and the dark ages of cultivation that followed.
How could they be simple characters?
With the secret of [Truth] in his possession, it was fine as long as he didn't attract the attention of those high-level cultivators.
If he had a low cultivation level and recklessly appeared before them without knowing the immensity of the heavens and earth, it would indeed be seeking death.
"From now on, I need to be more cautious." Li Fan sighed.
"I can't be greedy for the 100,000 contribution points of the 'Cloud Water Map.'"
After a deep reflection and summarization, when his thoughts calmed down a bit, Li Fan suddenly remembered the "Heavenly Doctor's Immortal Sutra" he had previously received.
As a medical book, its research subjects included not only humans but also various animals and plants in the world.
The book once said that the essence of medicine lies in the four words "observe, listen, ask, and touch."
"Observe: detected the abnormality in the clone's heart."
"Ask: got an honest confession from the clone."
"Touch: raised from the dead with a pointed finger."
"Listen: instantly discovered the relationship between the main body and the clone."
"What a remarkable principle, to 'observe, listen, ask, and touch.'"
"What an amazing Heavenly Doctor."
...
The Heavenly Doctor allowed Li Fan to deeply understand for the first time the terror of those high-level cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm.
However, having recognized the gap, he did not lose confidence.
"With [Truth] in hand, as long as I don't die, accumulating strength through repeated reincarnations, there will come a day when I catch up with and surpass them."
Li Fan silently said in his heart, suppressing all thoughts about the Heavenly Doctor deep down.
He looked at the options given by [Truth].
When he set the third anchor point, his realm was in the late Foundation Establishment stage.
Since he only lived for a little over two years in the previous life and was abruptly halted, he didn't break through, so Li Fan naturally wouldn't choose to save his cultivation progress.
He decisively chose the first option, keeping a personal item he possessed, the Dao Transformation Stone.
After making his choice, Li Fan first checked the interface of [Truth], which he hadn't looked at for a long time.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Late Foundation Establishment
Physical Age: 20/399
Mental Age: 1212/3700
Virtualization Recharging Progress: 0%
Anchor Charging Progress: 1%
Current Anchor Points: 3
Available Anchor Points: 0
Bound Items: "Jade Cosmos Thousand Variations Sutra," Tai Yan Boat, Stone Tablet of Prohibition (Damaged), Blood Essence of Ten Thousand People, Dao Transformation Stone
Cultivation Techniques: Venerable Heart Refinement Mantra, Cloud Water Illusory Dream Art, Sun Stealing Technique, Jade Cosmos Thousand Variations Sutra, Spirit Intent Illusion Technique
Divine Abilities: Life and Death Chain, Formless Killing Intent, Insect Binding Technique
The physical and mental age limits have stagnated.
"After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, there should be significant changes."
Anyway, for the current Li Fan, more than two thousand years of reincarnation time is definitely sufficient.
In addition to the several cultivation techniques listed, Li Fan also mastered many more.
The Cong Yun Sea Sword and the Canghai Wave Treading Technique.
The Mountain Meditation Technique, an internal cultivation method.
Two ancient techniques, the Divine Transformation Dao and the Purple Heaven Soul Observation Technique.
And finally, the Infinite Formation inheritance from Zhang Zhiliang.
The perverse nature of [Truth] was apparent at this moment.
Excluding the ninety-nine lifetimes of using [Truth] to build the foundation, Li Fan has only reincarnated four times in the actual cultivation world until now.
Four cycles of reincarnation have made Li Fan's accumulation far surpass any Foundation Establishment cultivator.
...
"While waiting for [Truth] to charge completely, I can practice the Divine Transformation Dao."
Thinking like this, Li Fan's consciousness moved, and the deep blue Dao Transformation Stone appeared in his hand.
After arranging the surroundings near the mountain to prevent ordinary people from accidentally entering, Li Fan placed the Dao Transformation Stone on his forehead. His spiritual consciousness slowly merged with the Dao Transformation Stone, entering a state of cultivation.
On the timeless mountain, in the blink of an eye, five years had passed since the anchor point.
On this day, as Li Fan's spiritual consciousness completely merged with the Dao Transformation Stone, a dazzling blue crystal appeared in his dantian.
Thoughts circulated, and he carefully sensed the changes.
After a moment, Li Fan quickly noticed the difference from before.
He couldn't help but show a pleased expression: "Ancient techniques are indeed extraordinary!"
After cultivating the 'Divine Transformation Dao,' not only did the speed of contemplation and deduction increase more than a hundredfold, but all the scenes he had experienced before could be freely recalled with just a thought.
It was as if he was reliving those experiences firsthand.
Li Fan squinted his eyes. When he first met the Heavenly Doctor, the Heavenly Doctor pointed between his eyebrows and imparted the 'Heavenly Doctor's Immortal Sutra' to the clone.
At this moment, under the powerful deductive processing ability of the Dao Transformation Stone, it was slowly replaying.
It took nearly a year for Li Fan to completely memorize the 'Heavenly Doctor's Immortal Sutra.'
Of course, memorization didn't mean proficient application.
Similarly to Li Fan's level of formation theory and the actual proficiency in setting up formations, there was a huge gap.
"It's just a pure medical scripture and doesn't provide much help for cultivation." Li Fan shook his head with some regret.
"The technique of 'observe, listen, ask, and touch' in the book is far from the methods of the Heavenly Doctor."
"However..."
"The Heavenly Doctor seems to practice the Dao of medicine. This 'Heavenly Doctor's Immortal Sutra' must be the foundation of his lifelong learning."
"If one day, I find an extraordinary talent and impart this medical scripture to them."
"It might not be impossible to emulate the story of the Heavenly Doctor."
"Of course, it certainly can't be done in the Xuanhuang Realm; perhaps in a remote little world far from the cultivation world, it's worth a try."
Temporarily putting the thought aside, Li Fan suddenly remembered the deduction technique of the Tai Yan Sect.
The deduction technique of the Tianji Sect's 'Jade Cosmos Thousand Variations Sutra,' when cultivated deeply, could also predict the future.
However, it was done through sensing qi fluctuations and deducing.
The deduction technique of the Tai Yan Sect, on the other hand, pushed the deductive ability to the extreme, exhausting all possibilities to find the most fitting future trend.
"In fact, these two deduction techniques might not necessarily be contradictory."
"On the contrary, they can complement each other. Qi sensing deduction determines the general vague trend. Tai Yan calculation precisely predicts the future."
"Hehe, but still, none of them can compare to my [Truth]."
"What deduction technique can be more accurate than knowledge from the future, personally experienced?"
Li Fan, feeling inspired, descended from the mountain.
In the Grand Xuan, in the Jiangnan region, in the city of Kangguang.
Recently, an unusual event occurred in this prosperous city.
A peculiar person named the Heavenly Prophet traveled through the city, setting up a stall to tell fortunes.
He only told three fortunes per day.
Also, he didn't charge any fees; he just selected people to divine for.
Initially, the residents of the city thought that this Heavenly Prophet was just a gimmicky scam artist.
Because the divination results were accurate or not randomly.
However, as time passed, the success rate of this Heavenly Prophet's divinations became increasingly high.
Whether it was finding lost items, determining the whereabouts of missing children, or inquiring about marriage prospects and the gender of unborn children.
Everything was accurate.
Gradually, the name of this Heavenly Prophet became more and more renowned in the city of Kangguang.
People of all ages, men and women, held great respect for him.
One day, a nobleman came to Kangguang City for sightseeing. Upon hearing about this, he became interested.
Disguised in plain clothes and accompanied by a trusted aide, he came to the Heavenly Prophet's stall.
Seeing the Heavenly Prophet lying on a long chair, resting with closed eyes, the nobleman asked, "Esteemed Daoist, have you finished divining for today?" The nobleman had already inquired about the rules before coming.
Without opening his eyes, the Heavenly Prophet lazily replied, "You're clearly asking something you already know. If the divination is complete, I would naturally pack up and go home. Why would I stay here?"
The nobleman felt a bit awkward at the response.
However, the aide, seeing his master slighted, became furious.
He didn't care about the reputation of the "Heavenly Prophet" and was about to smash the stall.
The nobleman reached out, stopping his aide, and said, 'So be it, Daoist, please divine for me.'
The Heavenly Prophet, still with closed eyes, replied, 'This humble Daoist had already foreseen that you two would come. I've already divined for you in advance.'
'In the small wooden box at the upper left corner of the stall, there is a piece of paper. You'll understand once you take a look.'
Hearing this, the aide was disdainful, scoffing, 'Playing tricks!'
The nobleman, however, had a solemn expression and thanked the Heavenly Prophet.
After opening the wooden box and taking out the paper, he unfolded it slowly.
As soon as he read the words on the paper, his face turned deathly pale.
A mix of shock, fear, and joy filled his heart, causing his hands to go weak, and the paper slipped to the ground.
Seeing this, the nobleman, disregarding manners, quickly stooped down to pick up the paper.
He tightly clutched it in his hand, fearing that others might see it.
His body trembled with excitement, and he repeated the sixteen large characters on the paper in his mind.
'Nine years of hibernation, waiting for the opportune moment. On the day of your brother's death, become an emperor.'
Observing his master's unexpected reaction, the aide couldn't help but feel perplexed.
Since the tragic events of that day, there had been few things that could disturb his master.
Could it be that this Heavenly Prophet indeed possessed some extraordinary abilities?
It's just that no one knew what the Heavenly Prophet had written on the small piece of paper for his master.
The nobleman didn't pay attention to his aide's thoughts.
Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, he was about to bow respectfully to the Heavenly Prophet.
However, to his astonishment, the Heavenly Prophet, who had been there just a moment ago, had suddenly disappeared before his eyes!
Both the nobleman and his aide were horrified.
Could there really be ghosts and deities in this world?
Both returned to their residence, overwhelmed and confused, and retired to their respective rooms.
The aide, however, unexpectedly discovered a piece of paper in his pocket at some point.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened the paper.
Seeing the writing on the paper, he couldn't help but look bewildered.
Two poetic lines were written on it.
'Peaceful times are what victorious generals bring, but victorious generals are not allowed to see peaceful times.'
Muttering repeatedly, he instinctively tore the paper into pieces and swallowed it.
...
Above the city of Kangguang, seeing the reactions of the nobleman and his aide, a mysterious smile appeared on Li Fan's face.
"Before, I heard your dying words, and as a result, I had an insight, successfully building the foundation with [Truth]."
"Now, I've divined for you as a repayment for that day."
"I hope that in this life, your fate will be different."
The two individuals who were divined today were naturally the King of Langya and the future general who would quell the rebellion.
Li Fan, disguised as the Heavenly Prophet, roamed around, comprehending the path of divination.
After settling down in Kangguang City, his divination skills became increasingly refined.
By chance, he encountered the King of Langya and his aide, leading to the events of today.
Casual and unrestrained, resolving a cause and effect.
Li Fan's thoughts were clear, and his mood was pleasant.
No longer lingering here, he returned to the mountain.
In an instant, scenes from this period flashed through his mind. Li Fan developed his own understanding of the so-called divination technique.
"My spiritual consciousness enveloped everything in Kangguang City."
"With the terrifying deductive ability of the Dao Transformation Stone, every detail was within my sight."
"For the city's affairs alone, with all causes and details accounted for, I can predict about eighty to ninety percent accurately."
"However, the world is not confined to just one city. Kangguang City is located at the intersection of canals, with developed shipping."
"Merchants come and go in endless streams, with more than tens of thousands entering and leaving every day."
"These are what are called variables."
"The more variables, the lower the accuracy of my deductions."
"Besides external influences, the human heart is unpredictable, which is also a kind of variable."
"As the number of people and the scope of the city expand, the variables to deal with also increase."
"At this point, relying solely on deductive ability is almost ineffective."
"It still requires the support of a divination technique."
Having realized this truth, Li Fan had no intention of actively seeking a divination technique.
In essence, this art of divination was just a casual attempt by Li Fan during the waiting period for [Truth] to recharge, a result of boredom.
It's not necessary to force it.
The most important thing is the improvement of cultivation realm.
Li Fan silently set a goal in his heart: In this life, he must break through to the Golden Core stage!...
As time passed, in the blink of an eye, it was approaching the 9th year.
With [Truth] about to complete its recharge, Li Fan made another trip to Yi Xing's grave and obtained the Heaven Locked Treasure Box.
He didn't forget to take along the Stone Tablet of Prohibition and fuse it with the piece from Qian Hong's grave.
Subsequently, after the usual sweep, he filled the Tai Yan Boat.
With everything ready, Li Fan broke through the Immortal Extinction Formation and returned to the cultivation world.
Li Fan felt the layout and planning from the previous life was mostly problem-free until the encounter with the Heavenly Doctor.
Furthermore, the starting cultivation level in this life was the same as the previous one.
Considering that changing actions might lead to unexpected variables, Li Fan decided to follow the previous life's events.
He slaughtered the giant Liuli Fish, and obtained the Golden Liuli Pearl, ensuring the occurrence of the Spirit Mist Grass incident.
He then joined the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance through He Zhenghao.
He performed the Blue Blood Coral mission and befriended Chen Ying with the Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit as bait.
He killed Sikong Yi and obtained the Sun Stealing Token.
He intimidated He Zhenghao, making him temporarily halt the smuggling operation.
Borrowed Spirit Mist Grass at Clear Wind Hall.
Joined the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance as an employee, successfully passing the Inquiry Platform with the help of the Seven Aperture Exquisite Heart.
Completed merit tasks, and raised permission level.
In the turmoil of the Spirit Mist Grass, profited without risk.
Utilized Zhou Qingang's espionage incident, threatened He Zhenghao, and signed a work contract.
Relearned the 'Mountain Meditation Technique', and purchased the pre-expedition realm.
He caused Ye Feipeng, Xiao Heng, and others to be stranded on a deserted island.
Commissioned Jiao Xiuyuan to find the Minor Medicine King Cauldrons.
...
Simply going through the previous life's process took only a year or two.
Li Fan was very patient.
However, with the experience of the previous life, Li Fan made some adjustments to the handling of a few things.
Firstly, during the Spirit Mist Grass incident, he clearly knew the timing of when Tianxuan Mirror would release the announcement.
However, to avoid suspicion, Li Fan cautiously waited until the price of Spirit Mist Grass reached three hundred and fifty points before selling all two thousand nine hundred plants in batches.
A total profit of 980,000 contribution points was made.
Secondly, in this life, when Li Fan was creating the clone, he used a Heavenly Treasure that he had purchased.
The clone's cultivation suddenly advanced to the Foundation Establishment mid-stage.
Afterwards, instead of himself, the clone purchased the White Bone pre-expedition realm and played the role of the skull to deceive Xiao Heng and others.
Moreover, Li Fan vividly described the might of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, advised Xiao Heng to prioritize cultivating, and instructed him to pretend to be an ordinary cultivator with a fortuitous encounter.
He refrained from purchasing techniques from Tianxuan Mirror this time to prevent any unforeseen situations.
Xiao Heng received the 'Sea Fixing Sword Technique,' and Ye Feipeng received 'Canghai Wave Treading.'
It would take some time for Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu to cultivate.
As long as an ownerless technique was found before then, it would be fine.
Li Fan and his clone separately could go to Qin Tang to receive techniques and solve the issue.
However, considering the possibility of needing a large number of techniques in the future, Li Fan thought it was necessary to find a stable channel outside the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance for purchasing techniques.
After some thought, Li Fan's clone contacted Jiao Xiuyuan.
Soon, there was a reply.
"Uh, fellow Daoist wants to buy Golden Core techniques? Why not buy from Tianxuan Mirror? Could it be that you haven't found a suitable one?"
"Hehe, I don't have any techniques for sale here; such a big deal is beyond my ability."
"But if fellow Daoist really has a demand, I know a place that can satisfy your requirements."
"Have you heard of the Wanfa Chamber of Commerce?"
Li Fan was slightly stunned; a very similar name instantly came to mind.
"This Wanfa Chamber of Commerce, is it related to the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce?" Li Fan asked.
"That's right. In fact, Wanhua Chamber of Commerce is the Wanfa Chamber of Commerce; it's just that it's specifically responsible for mortal business, so it adopted a different name," Jiao Xiuyuan replied.
"Wanfa Chamber of Commerce..." Li Fan couldn't help but recall that just before the arrival of the Crimson Flame, the Wanhua Chamber of Commerce had received a notice to completely withdraw from the Congyun Sea.
"This Wanfa Chamber of Commerce is quite interesting."