If the setup were more reasonable—say, a Nascent Soul Eminence encounters his nemesis during his journey, engages in a deadly battle, and falls in combat—then after activating the Interlocking Chains of Life and Death, one could trace back to the conditions that would lead these two enemies to meet. Though it might require extensive calculation over time, success would eventually be assured.
In summary, the more information available, especially regarding the "death" link in the chain, the easier it became to activate the Interlocking Chains of Life and Death.
With his foreknowledge from Return to Truth, Li Fan could leverage this predictive advantage to its fullest, making feats like a Qi Refinement cultivator slaying a Spirit Transformation powerhouse seem almost trivial.
For instance, in this lifetime, simply luring the target Spirit Transformation cultivator into the Congyun Sea during the sea evaporation event, Li Fan would be able to borrow Crimson Flame's power to eliminate the target.
Discerning causality, killing without a trace. Li Fan thought with inward delight. What a marvelous divine ability.
To his surprise, aside from the Interlocking Chains of Life and Death, his avatar transmitted another update—a second divine ability Lin Fan had grasped during his epiphany after Li Fan observed the changes in Zhang Haobo's fate across two lifetimes:
Heaven Watches and Earth Listens.
This technique fused all of Li Fan's insights regarding energy mechanisms and fate, upgrading Formless Killing Mechanism.
The destinies of all things lay under heaven and earth's watchful gaze. By observing the interplay of energy mechanisms and fate, one could perceive things from the perspective of heaven and earth.
Simply put, if Formless Killing Mechanism could previously only vaguely lock onto a target's position, mastering Heaven Watches and Earth Listens now allowed him to observe the target locked on by Formless Killing Mechanism from heaven and earth's vantage point.
Once he understood the function of Heaven Watches and Earth Listens, Li Fan was truly overjoyed. Even with his mental fortitude, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement.
At the same time, having three pleasant surprises in quick succession made him somewhat apprehensive, and he faintly wondered if the sea evaporation event might arrive ahead of schedule.
But he quickly dismissed this baseless thought and tested the Heaven Watches and Earth Listens technique. Settling his mind, he focused on the strand of Formless Killing Mechanism locked onto Zhang Haobo.
An image instantly appeared in Li Fan's mind: Zhang Haobo stood poised above endless cerulean waves, twenty-four increasingly vivid blue water swords flying around him in an enigmatic array, shifting like the constellations in the sky. Water dragons emerged with each transformation of the sword array's formation.
Zhang Haobo pointed toward the sea ahead, and the water dragons within the array soared out, dancing wildly across the sky.
"Explode!" he commanded in a low voice.
The water dragons burst apart, each disintegrating into countless tiny water swords.
In an instant, the swords fell like a violent storm, bombarding a vast area of the sea before him.
The sea surface erupted with countless pillars of water, making for a spectacular sight. As specks of blue light flowed into his body, Zhang Haobo tested the technique again and again, seemingly inexhaustible.
Li Fan watched, utterly captivated. From the perspective of heaven and earth, he saw not only the surface-level scenes but also the flow of spiritual qi within Zhang Haobo's body, the movement of spiritual qi in each gesture, and even the operational method of this enhanced Water Dragon's Roar array. Everything was laid bare before him with absolute clarity.
Though the difference between observation and true mastery was worlds apart, if he watched it enough times, wouldn't he eventually learn it?
In that moment, a profound insight tore through Li Fan’s mind. Overwhelmed by excitement, he withdrew from the special state of Heaven Watches and Earth Listens, springing to his feet as the words burst from him unbidden: “At last, I understand my path!”
What was Li Fan’s path?
Since the beginning of his cultivation journey, one issue had loomed over him: his talent was mediocre at best. Even expelling miasma and refining Qi had been struggles; advancing to Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and the distant Nascent Soul realm would only get more difficult.
The world overflowed with geniuses, some possessing shocking aptitude, mastering techniques and abilities with effortless grace. How could Li Fan hope to compete?
What if, one day, the chasm between realms grew too vast? What if no amount of repetition could breach it? What would become of him then?
Today, Li Fan had found his answer—a path to heaven that belonged to him alone, one no other could ever replicate.
Return to Truth, the Mountain-Sitting Art, Heaven Watches and Earth Listens...
Unmatched natural talent? So what? Under my gaze, all insights in their lifetime will become mine.
He sat back down, speaking softly to himself. “Though heroes fill the world like fish in a river, surging forth year after year without end, they shall all become stepping stones in my path.”
Li Fan’s path was to use the most brilliant among cultivators as his footholds, gathering the supremely talented as his eyes, ears, and pawns, then refining abilities through them. He would take the strengths of ten thousand schools and make them his own, then innovate and create a unique Great Dao of his own.
The path is set. Now, all that remains is to lay the plans.
As Li Fan established his path, his avatar Lin Fan was equally exhilarated, sending another ripple of thought across their bond. This time, it wasn’t a divine ability, but a piece of information he had perceived.
Before the Great Reformation, the cultivation world had placed immense value on comprehending the Dao. Ancient cultivation emphasized perceiving the Heavenly Dao. There were tales of mortals having an epiphany in the morning, refining qi by daybreak, establishing a Dao Foundation by dusk, forming a Golden Core in three days, and condensing a Nascent Soul in five.
Some sat in meditation for a hundred years, only to get a sudden epiphany and go from mortal to Spirit Transformation in a single step.
Sadly, such individuals numbered fewer than ten in all of cultivation history. Most only advanced a minor realm or grasped a divine ability through their epiphanies.
But now, true Dao comprehension had become exceedingly rare.
Peer into the laws of heaven and earth, seize the essence of heaven and earth, extract the marrow of heaven and earth... Li Fan thought to himself.
If heaven will not give, I shall take it myself! Why would I need to comprehend the Dao?
After comprehending the two divine abilities, Li Fan spent another half-month within the Tianxuan Mirror consolidating his insights. Then, he decided it was time to seek the opportunity to break through his bottleneck.
Comparing the location in his mind with a map of the Congyun Sea, he discovered his destination: a place called Yinyin Island. It earned its peculiar name because the island held no mortals, only a solitary cultivator known as Yinyin Shangren.
Yinyin Shangren’s cultivation level wasn’t particularly high; only at the Dao Establishment realm. But the man himself had little interest in conventional cultivation. Instead, he preferred delving into all sorts of strange and obscure pursuits.
Among his research subjects, the most infamous was on Immortal-Mortal Miasma.
The extraction of Immortal-Mortal Miasma from living persons, as well as the experiment that had led to Su Changyu’s death, was this Yinyin Shangren’s doing.
Because of this, many cultivators wanted little to do with him and avoided his company. So he moved alone to this remote island, content with the solitude.
How was Li Fan’s breakthrough opportunity connected to such a person? Curious, Li Fan set out for Yinyin Island at once.