Having understood the reason he was being hunted, Li Fan did not immediately activate Return to Truth.
Surveying the burly red-haired man above him, a dangerous glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
I’d thought it was a Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence chasing after me. Instead, it’s just a Nascent Soul cultivator.
In a century of cultivation, I've never truly fought anyone.
Perfect. I'll use you to test everything I've learned.
Seeing that Li Fan wasn’t responding or moving, the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator grew impatient and roared once more.
"Hand over the Mini Medicine King Cauldron, and I'll spare your life!"
If not for his fear of damaging the storage ring and the Mini Medicine King Cauldron, he would have long since swatted this insignificant Foundation Establishment ant to death.
"Esteemed Senior, is this the Mini Medicine King Cauldron you speak of?" Li Fan put on an ingratiating smile, then retrieved a small cauldron from his storage ring, placing it in his palm.
The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's eyes lit up: "Yes! Yes! That's the one! You're quite a sensible one!"
Watching the Mini Medicine King Cauldron fly toward him, he nodded in satisfaction.
He reached out to take it, but before he could even savor his joy, a storage ring suddenly shot out from within the small cauldron.
In the same instant, a massive cloud of white mist, its surface interwoven with golden threads, materialized right beside the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator.
Boom!
Hundreds of talismans detonated at once within the white mist. A terrifying surge of destructive power erupted outward, and the cloud of Lifespan-Devouring White Mist surged forward, completely engulfing the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator.
“Bastard!”
With a furious roar, he dispersed the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist.
When the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator reappeared, the Mini Medicine King Cauldron was already secured in his storage.
He appeared unharmed on the surface, yet the faint tremor in his hand revealed that Li Fan’s attack had not been entirely ineffective.
"You’re courting..."
Before the word "death" could leave his lips, the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly found himself enveloped by several arrays.
The flow of energy within his body stagnated, and heaven and earth seemed to brighten in his perception.
A sapphire sea abruptly manifested in the sky above. A brilliant azure sword light shot forth from the sea, slashing directly toward him with unstoppable momentum.
The very first move Li Fan unleashed was his ultimate killing technique, One Congyun Sword Strike.
"A Curio of Earth?!" The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator gasped in shock, and a hint of greed flashed in his eyes.
The ground cracked apart, and the sky turned murky. A volcano rumbled as it rose, blocking the sword light's path.
Unlike the phantom of the sea, this volcano appeared completely solid.
The surroundings grew scorching hot, and boiling magma surged up from the fractured earth.
The blue sword light dimmed slightly, but still pierced through the volcano, continuing its path toward the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator.
A flicker of gravity crossed the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's face. He could tell that this azure sword light was unavoidable; he could only meet it head-on.
This sword light, unleashed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, actually posed a lethal threat to him? What kind of sword technique was this?
Thoughts racing, flames erupted around the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's body.
Blazing fire met the azure sword light in direct collision.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The azure sword light contracted and sharpened in an instant, forming a single blue thread.
The thread split the flames apart, then swiftly wrapped around the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's body.
As the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator froze, he heard his opponent's soft cry.
"Twenty-Eight Congyun Sword Strikes!"
Within the sea phantom that filled the sky, twenty-seven additional sword lights materialized, flying toward him in an instant.
Simultaneously, all arrays were activated at once.
The sword qi of five elements descended upon him.
Exotic beasts roared, shaking his mind.
The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator felt a tiny gap tearing open between his physical body and his grotto-heaven domain.
At the same time, a blue phantom suddenly appeared without anyone noticing, and the temperature around the volcano instantly dropped.
The blue phantom flew silently to the red-haired figure's side. Then it reached out, pressing lightly against empty air.
Together with the twenty-seven Congyun sword lights, it struck the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator.
From the appearance of the first Congyun sword llight to the moment the remaining twenty-seven sword lights slashed the Nascent Soul cultivator, only an instant had passed.
The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's face was filled with astonishment.
His form grew stiff and cold, and cracks appeared across his body.
A gentle breeze blew.
Like a broken ice sculpture, he shattered into countless tiny fragments, falling to the ground in pieces.
The Nascent Soul cultivator's body had been utterly destroyed.
Yet Li Fan did not show the elation of a victor.
The volcano confronting the Congyun Sea was still active. In fact, it had even grown more violent.
"Not bad, you managed to destroy my physical body. You should be proud of yourself!
"Unfortunately, a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you could never comprehend the terror of the Nascent Soul realm!"
The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator's voice rang out once more. Beneath his calm tone lay boundless fury.
"As long as my grotto-heaven remains, I will not die!"
Behind the volcano, the projection of an infant slowly emerged. Like a parasitic worm, it arched its small body, clinging to the volcano.
"You won't be able to die easily either! I'll torment you with the cruelest methods you can imagine; only then can I vent the hatred in my heart!"
Amid the infant's resentful cries, the red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator’s body actually showed faint signs of regenerating.
Li Fan watched as the infant slowly absorbed the volcano's energy.
Then, squirming flesh materialized on the infant from nothingness, as if weaving a garment. A human shell was slowly taking shape.
As long as the grotto-heaven remains, the cultivator doesn't die. Li Fan watched the scene play out, deep in thought.
He had used every means at his disposal, and caught his opponent off guard, but had only managed to destroy one physical body. Once the enemy recovered, he would be the one to die.
Indeed, challenging those above one’s realm is no easy task. But...
Li Fan's eyes flashed as his aura erupted violently. He no longer held anything back.
"I have one final move! I look forward to exchanging pointers, Senior!"
The Technique Eruption Spirit-Startling Array was pushed to its limits, reaching the verge of collapse.
Overloaded with energy far beyond its capacity, Li Fan’s body began disintegrating inch by inch. His lower body gradually vanished, leaving only his upper torso.
Fearless of death at this moment, Li Fan unleashed the sea-overturning palm strike he'd comprehended from the Dao resonance artifacts.
His right hand swept out in an utterly ordinary manner.
In the instant before the sea-overturning palm strike fully formed, standing between life and death, Li Fan suddenly had an epiphany.
Both Xiao Heng and Su Xiaomei had gained their own insights from observing the sea-overturning palm strike.
Xiao Heng's palm technique was ethereal and elusive, impossible to grasp.
Su Xiaomei's palm technique was overwhelmingly domineering, capable of suppressing all creation.
Yet Li Fan had only ever grasped the superficial form of the technique, never managing to develop his own true intent. That final, crucial understanding always eluded him.
For years, he'd made no progress. But now, undaunted by the gap in cultivation realms, Li Fan resolutely executed the sea-overturning palm strike against a Nascent Soul cultivator. And in that moment, he suddenly comprehended his own palm technique's true intent.
It was... defiance!
So what if you're a Nascent Soul cultivator? I've lived through multiple lifetimes, cultivated immortality for a hundred years, and carry countless secrets.
I've used numerous prodigies as pawns to derive techniques and divine abilities.
If ancient prodigies could kill opponents two cultivation realms above them, why can't I?
Li Fan's body dissipated like smoke in the wind, yet his eyes grew increasingly brilliant.
He laughed heartily: "Today, I shall use your life to complete my divine ability!"
The red-haired Nascent Soul cultivator laughed in furious disbelief: "Such arrogance..."
Before he could finish, he noticed that dark clouds had gathered overhead without his notice.
It appears to overturn the sea. But in truth... it overturns the heavens!
A colossal hand of unimaginable size descended from above, crushing him.
Boom!
The volcano, along with the Nascent Soul cultivator clinging to it, was instantly reduced to dust.
High in the sky, the phenomenon marking a Nascent Soul cultivator's death suddenly manifested.
But Li Fan had no attention to spare for it.
His body had disintegrated, leaving only half a skull.
Just before his consciousness faded completely, Li Fan silently recited: Return to Truth.