The peak of Jieli Mountain.
Thanks to Return to Truth automatically activating its protection sequence, Li Fan was able to escape the Heavenly Physician's gaze and successfully return to the anchor point.
As the illusory scenery solidified back into reality, Li Fan swiftly scanned his surroundings. Only after confirming he had indeed returned to the third anchor point did he allow himself a sigh of relief.
A moment later, the terror of narrowly escaping death from the white-haired old man finally caught up to him. It settled in his heart, making it pound violently.
Like a drowning man finally breaching the surface, Li Fan found himself gasping for air uncontrollably, taking great, heaving breaths.
It took a long while before he slowly emerged from the shock and fear of his brush with death.
The Heavenly Physician... an existence beyond Dao Unity...
Replaying the recent scene repeatedly in his mind, Li Fan's expression darkened.
He never would have imagined that this Heavenly Physician's power would be so terrifying, far surpassing that black-robed Dao Unity powerhouse he had encountered in Yuandao Province.
The Heavenly Physician... he seemed capable of peering into a person's very thoughts. His avatar had simply entertained a fleeting, natural thought, and yet the Heavenly Physician had detected the anomaly.
Even more frightening was the method he employed. It was some unknown technique that compelled the avatar to spill everything in its heart without the slightest resistance or thought of concealment.
Subsequently, the acts of resurrection, tearing through space in an instant to locate Li Fan's true self... These various feats surpassed Li Fan's current understanding.
The Heaven-Swapping Art treats the true self and the avatar as two completely unrelated individuals. How did he possibly confirm my identity?
The Tianxuan Mirror serves as the foundation of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. Its security should be guaranteed. When I joined the Alliance, the Mirror itself stated that cultivating within its spatial realm meant one did not need to worry about being attacked.
But this Heavenly Physician forcibly intruded into my cultivation space, and the Tianxuan Mirror showed no reaction whatsoever.
When the Tianxuan Mirror introduced him, it didn't even mention his name.
Just what is this old man's true identity?
The more Li Fan pondered, the more incredible it all seemed.
Simultaneously, a wave of belated fear washed over him.
If he hadn't been cautious of the old man's strength and consistently used an avatar for their interactions...
If he hadn't detected something amiss and activated Return to Truth without a moment's hesitation...
If Return to Truth hadn't accumulated some charge and its automatic protection sequence hadn't triggered...
He likely would have faced complete and utter destruction this time.
Falling into the hands of such an inscrutable old man would have meant that no secret remained safe, ultimately leading to an inescapable death.
This cultivation world is far too treacherous. Even with an esoteric gift like Return to Truth, every step is fraught with difficulty. The slightest misstep, and I could be completely doomed. A chill ran through Li Fan's heart.
Amidst his horror, Li Fan also engaged in self-reflection.
Since stepping into the cultivation world, his path of cultivation hadn't been excessively arduous thanks to the aid of Return to Truth.
His last escape from a Dao Unity powerhouse had subtly fostered a sense that he was above the heroes of the world.
But thinking carefully, how could these powerhouses, who had survived the Great Reformation, the Great Plague Era, and the Dark Ages, possibly be simple characters?
As someone carrying a secret as big as Return to Truth, it was essential to stay out of the sights of such powerhouses. If he recklessly paraded himself before their eyes with such a low cultivation level... that would be a sure path to death.
From now on, I must be even more cautious. Li Fan sighed inwardly.
Those hundred thousand contribution points for the Cloudwater Model... I'll forget about them.
After thorough reflection and summarization, his thoughts gradually settled.
Suddenly, Li Fan recalled the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture he had once studied.
As a medical text, its subjects of study were not limited to humans alone, but encompassed all manner of plants and animals in heaven and earth. The book stated that the essence of the path of medicine largely resided in four points: observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation.
“Observation, listening, inquiry, palpation...” Li Fan murmured the words repeatedly under his breath.
Observation—he perceived the abnormality within my avatar's heart.
Inquiry—he obtained the avatar's honest confession.
Palpation—tapping the air with a single finger, he restored life from death.
Listening—in an instant, he discerned the connection between my true self and the avatar.
What a masterful Heavenly Physician.
The Heavenly Physician gave Li Fan his first profound understanding of just how fearsome the high-level cultivators of the Xuanhuang World were.
Yet, despite clearly recognizing the gap, he did not lose confidence.
With Return to Truth in my possession, as long as I do not die, I will keep accumulating strength cycle after simulation cycle. One day, I will catch up to them and surpass them. Li Fan declared silently in his heart, burying all thoughts of the Heavenly Physician in the deepest recesses of his mind.
He then turned his attention to the options presented by Return to Truth.
When he had set the third anchor point, his cultivation had been at the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
His previous life had been abruptly cut short after just two years, preventing him from breaking through to the next cultivation stage. Naturally, Li Fan would not choose the option to retain his current cultivation level. He decisively selected the first option: to retain one item in his possession, the Dao Transformation Stone.
With his choice made, Li Fan checked Return to Truth’s panel, which he hadn't examined in a long time.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Late-stage Foundation Establishment
Biological Age: 20/399
Psychological Age: 1212/3700
Virtualization Charging Progress: 0%
Charging Progress of Next Anchor Point: 1%
Anchor Points In Use: 3
Available Anchor Points: 0
Bound Items: Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Taiyan Boat, Halt Stele Fragment (Damaged), Myriad Mortal Essence Blood, Dao Transformation Stone
Techniques: Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra, Cloudwater Dream Illusion Art, Heaven-Swapping Art, Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Intent Spirit Illusion Art
Divine Abilities: Interlocking Chains of Life and Death, Formless Killing Mechanism, Insect Binding
The upper limits of both his biological and psychological age had stagnated. Significant changes would likely only occur after he broke through to the Golden Core realm.
In any case, two thousand years was more than sufficient for Li Fan's current needs.
Beyond the techniques listed, Li Fan had also obtained two unique techniques: the Sea-Calming Sword Art and Treading Waves Across the Sea. He possessed the Mountain-Sitting Art, his pre-selected cultivation method, along with two secret techniques: Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind and the Purple Firmament Soul Observation Art. He also held Zhang Zhiliang's inheritance, the Unlimited Art.[1]
The sheer absurd power of Return to Truth was starkly evident here. Not counting the ninety-nine cycles spent to establish his Dao Foundation, Li Fan's actual effective number of simulation cycles spent in the cultivation world amounted to only four so far. Yet, these four cycles had allowed him to accumulate resources and knowledge far beyond that of any other Foundation Establishment cultivator.
This waiting period while Return to Truth charges is the perfect time to cultivate the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind technique.
With a thought, the deep blue Dao Transformation Stone appeared in his hand.
After setting up some precautions around Jieli Mountain to prevent mortals from accidentally wandering in, Li Fan placed the Dao Transformation Stone against his brow, and his consciousness slowly merged with the stone. In no time, he entered a state of cultivation.
Time held no meaning in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, Anchor Year 5 arrived.
On this day, as Li Fan's consciousness completely fused with the Dao Transformation Stone, a dazzling blue crystal suddenly manifested in his brow, the location of his upper dantian.
His thoughts flowed, and he carefully sensed the changes.
After a moment, Li Fan’s expression brightened with unmistakable satisfaction.
As expected of a technique from an ancient secret. Truly extraordinary!
After successfully cultivating the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind, his mental processing speed and deduction efficiency were at least a hundred times faster than before.
On top of that, everything he had ever experienced could now be recalled at will with a single thought. It was as if he were reliving those moments personally, each one vivid and clear before his eyes.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly. The memory of the first time he encountered the Heavenly Physician, when the latter had tapped his avatar’s brow and transmitted the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture to him, was now slowly being reconstructed through the powerful deductive processing capability of the Dao Transformation Stone.
It took nearly a year for Li Fan to fully memorize the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture .
Of course, memorization did not equate to mastery, just as there was a vast gap between Li Fan's theoretical knowledge of the array path and his practical skill in setting up arrays.
As expected, it's a pure medical text, offering little help with cultivation. Li Fan shook his head with some regret.
The techniques of observation, listening, inquiry, and palpation described in the book are also far from the true abilities displayed the Heavenly Physician.
However, the Heavenly Physician seems to have entered the Dao through medicine. Thiis Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture likely served as the guiding principle of his life’s cultivation.
If one day, I find a peerless prodigy and impart this medical scripture to them, it might be possible to replicate the Heavenly Physician’s story.
Of course, this must not be done within the Xuanhuang World. Perhaps it could be attempted in a remote minor world far from the cultivation world.
Setting the thought aside for the moment, Li Fan suddenly recalled the deduction arts of the Taiyan Sect.
The Heavenly Mechanisms Sect's Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, when cultivated to a profound level, could also allow one to divine the future. However, that method relied on sensing energy mechanisms to perform deductions.
The deduction arts of the Taiyan Sect, on the other hand, pushed the ability of deduction to its extremes, exhausting all possibilities to find the one that most closely matched the future's trajectory.
Actually, these two deduction arts are not necessarily contradictory. Instead, they could complement each other. One can use energy mechanism deductions to determine the general direction of events, and then employ Taiyan’s calculations to predict the precise future.
Heh, but neither can compare to Return to Truth.
What deduction art could be more accurate than having personally experienced the future itself?
On a sudden whim, Li Fan drifted down the mountain.
1. I believe the reason they aren’t listed in Return to Truth for now is because he hasn’t comprehended and practiced them yet ☜