When a Spirit Transformation cultivator unleashed their power without restraint, the devastation alone was enough to reshape entire provinces.
As expected, the appearance of the Tian Yang puppet immediately drew the attention of Immortal Eminence Hong Xi of Myriad Immortals Island.
The earth-shaking clash between two Spirit Transformation powerhouses unfolded in the skies, captivating countless cultivators in the surrounding area, who watched in stunned silence.
Meanwhile, Xiao Heng and Ye Feipeng had finally retreated to a safe distance. Their faces were deathly pale as they stared at the distant spectacle.
Even from so far away, the lingering shockwaves made it difficult for two Qi Refinement cultivators to remain standing.
The thought of the raw destructive force contained in every casual movement of a Spirit Transformation expert was enough to make one’s scalp go numb.
Xiao Heng swallowed hard, remembering how he had foolishly provoked that very puppet not long ago.
“Fatso,” he said slowly, glancing sideways at Ye Feipeng, “next time something like this happens, don’t drag me along. I still want to live a few more years.”
Ye Feipeng looked just as miserable, as though his entire family fortune had vanished overnight.
“I finally worked up the courage, risked my life, and charged straight in,” he wailed. “And what did I get? Absolutely nothing of value. You’d think a Spirit Transformation expert would at least leave something decent behind. How stingy can you get?”
The chubby youth let out a long sigh as he watched the Tian Yang puppet roar in fury in the distance.
“You really found nothing?” Xiao Heng asked, clearly unconvinced.
Ye Feipeng bristled. “Since when did you get so suspicious? You don’t believe me?”
He flung his storage ring over. “Check it yourself! I’m so broke there’s nowhere I could even hide anything.”
Still grumbling, he continued, “That cave dwelling was emptier than a hollow drum. Aside from a child’s skeleton, there was nothing inside—nothing. I searched every corner more than once. Same result every time. Then you started shouting outside, and the Tian Yang puppet was about to show up. Sticking to my principle of never leaving empty-handed, I grabbed the bones and bolted. Risked my life for a pile of bones. What garbage luck.”
After inspecting the storage ring, Xiao Heng wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“If there weren’t any treasures, why bring back those remains?” he said. “Who knows how long that kid’s been dead. It even looks younger than us. Makes you wonder what kind of connection it had to that Spirit Transformation puppet.”
He handed the ring back to Ye Feipeng.
Ye Feipeng’s eyes suddenly lit up with a bizarre idea. "Maybe we could feed it to that old undying skull. They’re both skeletons; maybe consuming this one could help it recover faster."
Xiao Heng’s expression turned stern. "Don’t joke about Senior like that!"
Seeing Xiao Heng’s seriousness, Ye Feipeng pursed his lips but didn’t argue further.
After a moment’s thought, Ye Feipeng suggested, "We caused quite a stir this time. We should lie low on the deserted island for a while until things calm down."
Xiao Heng nodded. "Right after we escaped that cave dwelling, the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s second expedition team coincidentally entered the cave.
“One Nascent Soul cultivator and over a dozen Golden Cores were all wiped out, just like that. If not for the death phenomena in the sky, no one would’ve even known how they died. Tsk." Xiao Heng sighed.
Ye Feipeng blinked in surprise. "Really? I was too busy running for my life to notice.”
So they really were doomed. Even though I tried my best to get there ahead of schedule, I still ended up crossing paths with them...
The chubby youth lowered his head in deep thought.
***
With Immortal Eminence Zi Yun taking action, Tian Yang and Hong Xi were transported elsewhere, and the Congyun Sea returned to its tranquil state.
The two quietly returned to the deserted island. Throughout the journey, Ye Feipeng seemed somewhat distracted.
"By the way, Fatty, give me that skeleton you found," Xiao Heng suddenly said.
"Hmm." Distractedly, Ye Feipeng instinctively retrieved the bones from his storage ring.
Only after handing them over did he snap back to reality, feeling baffled. "What do you want this thing for? I was planning to check if the material is hard enough to polish into an artifact later."
Xiao Heng replied with complete seriousness, "I've been thinking, and what you said earlier makes some sense.”
"Heh, my words are always—Wait, you're not actually planning to feed these remains to that skull, are you?" Ye Feipeng caught on immediately, looking at Xiao Heng as if he were an idiot.
"Perhaps," Xiao Heng said indifferently, urging, "Come on, Fatty, don't be stingy."
Ye Feipeng felt a twinge of reluctance and hesitated visibly.
Seeing this, Xiao Heng grew somewhat displeased. "Look at how petty you are. What sort of useful artifact can you possibly forge from bones? Fine, consider this my debt to you. When the opportunity arises, I'll get you a proper one!"
Provoked, Ye Feipeng's face flushed with embarrassment.
He feigned magnanimity. "Hmph, I was just saying it casually. Why would I, Ye Feipeng, care about a useless skeleton? What a joke! It's yours!"
Xiao Heng chuckled as he accepted the skeleton, then performed the ritual to enter the Bone Vanguard Realm.
Though Ye Feipeng felt a sense of loss, he was still young and didn't dwell on it. Instead, he immersed himself once more in reflection, contemplating his narrow escape from death.
Inside the vanguard realm, Xiao Heng carefully placed the skeleton down and softly called out for Senior Skull.
Unfortunately, there was no response.
Though disappointed, Xiao Heng didn't take the bones back. Instead, he left them in the spot where he had first discovered Senior Skull, hoping it might be of some help. Then he quietly departed.
Not long after Xiao Heng left, Li Fan's avatar manifested.
Looking at the skeleton lying quietly on the ground, Li Fan couldn't help but feel both amused and exasperated.
This kid, does he really think this is useful?
Li Fan had been watching Ye Feipeng the entire time through Formless Killing Mechanism.
He saw everything clearly. From the perspective of heaven and earth, this was indeed nothing more than an ordinary human skeleton.
Still, the sentiment is genuine. This kid’s heart remains as pure as ever.
In comparison, that Fatty Ye Feipeng is much worse.
Not wanting to disappoint the boy's good intentions, Li Fan decided to take the skeleton and dispose of it elsewhere later.
However, the moment his avatar touched the skeleton, Li Fan's expression shifted slightly.
This sensation is...
His expression turned grave, and he began examining it carefully once more. Yet after turning it over and studying it for a long while, he still couldn't find anything unusual.
Strange... Where is this restlessness in my heart coming from?
Li Fan frowned, muttering to himself.
Unwilling to give up, he spent more time studying it repeatedly, but still came up with nothing.
It’s just a cultivator's skeleton; there's absolutely no mistake about that. It's not some rare treasure in disguise.
But this peculiar feeling in my heart wouldn't arise without reason. So what am I missing?
Li Fan set down the skull, placed his hand lightly upon it, and closed his eyes, carefully contemplating the sensation within his heart.
Only after a long while did he slowly begin to discern a hint of its nature.
This feeling... it actually bears some resemblance to the time I first laid eyes upon a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth.
Is it... hunger?
No, it's not that I'm hungry. Rather...
Li Fan's eyes flashed with a peculiar light as he understood something.
Return to Truth is hungry.
Within the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan's true self, who had been in secluded cultivation, abruptly rose to his feet.
He performed the ritual, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived within the Bone Vanguard Realm.
The moment he touched this young cultivator's remains, the crisp prompt of Return to Truth sounded in his mind.
[Discovered absorbable item: Eternal Remnant Will.]
[Proceed to absorb?]
Overwhelming joy instantly flooded Li Fan's heart.
More than six hundred years after discovering that Curios of heaven and earth could recharge Return to Truth, he had finally found a second type of item useful for Return to Truth.
Curios of heaven and earth can raise Return to Truth's anchor charging progress and unlock additional anchor points.
I wonder what use this Eternal Remnant Will has.
Taking a deep breath, Li Fan forcefully suppressed the urge to absorb it immediately.
Storing the remains, he returned to the Tianxuan Mirror. He made some preparations, then quietly left Myriad Immortals Island.
In his previous life, the Heavenly Physician's forceful breach of the Tianxuan Mirror had left a significant psychological shadow on Li Fan. But it had also made him understand that the Tianxuan Mirror’s space was not absolutely safe.
If absorbing the Eternal Remnant Will caused any unusual disturbances, being physically present within the Tianxuan Mirror, which was teeming with cultivators, would actually be more dangerous. It was safer to find a remote, uninhabited place outside.
Ordinary cultivation was one thing, but when it involved Return to Truth, Li Fan decided to be more cautious.
He randomly selected a teleportation array and left Myriad Immortals Island.
After departing the island and flying for most of the day, he arrived at a desolate stretch of sea and plunged headlong into the water.
While activating a Trace-Eradicating Talisman, he simultaneously transformed Return to Truth into the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart and activated the secret art Visage Follows the Heart.
After altering his appearance, Li Fan found a deep trench on the seafloor and dove into it. He didn't go all the way to the bottom but instead carved out a large cavity in the wall of the trench. He burrowed several kilometers deep into the rock before stopping.
After hollowing out a livable space deep within the earth, Li Fan turned back and sealed the tunnel he had carved. He didn't forget to use methods from the Heaven-Swapping Art to conceal any traces.
Returning to the hollow, he set up protective arrays around the perimeter.
Only after completing all these preparations did Li Fan retrieve the skeletal remains once more.
[Discovered absorbable item: Eternal Remnant Will.]
[Proceed to absorb?]
The prompt from Return to Truth echoed again.
This time, Li Fan selected “yes.”
The surrounding space instantly grew hazy. The skeletal remains on the ground gradually decomposed into crystalline white light, which Li Fan absorbed.
The moment the last fragment of bone vanished, a violent tremor shook Li Fan's mind.
“Tian Yang is not weaker than others!”
The stubborn, childish voice reverberated incessantly in his ears.
Then, darkness swallowed Li Fan's vision, and he lost consciousness.
He had no idea how much time had passed before he slowly awoke. His eyes were initially dazed, but clarity quickly returned.
Just now, it felt as if he had experienced an intensely realistic dream.
No, it was less a dream and more like he had genuinely inhabited another person's body. He had lived out that person's entire, lengthy life from their perspective.
Throughout the process, he could only observe and listen, utterly unable to control the body's actions. His own conscious thought was suppressed to a minimum.
From beginning to end, Li Fan hadn't even realized anything was amiss. And when he awoke, everything he had experienced receded like a tide. The specifics of what he'd gone through were impossible to recall. Only a few blurred images remained, and even those were fading rapidly.
However, Li Fan didn't stubbornly try to recall exactly what had happened during his contact with the Eternal Remnant Will as the prompt from Return to Truth appeared once more.
[Though the mortal perishes, the remnant will endures forever.]
[Eternal Remnant Will (Reverend Tian Yang) absorption complete.]
[Current available uses: 3]
Simultaneously, a wealth of information surfaced naturally in Li Fan's mind.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, carefully contemplating and understanding.
Each use allows for the simulated reconstruction of the memory scenes within the Eternal Remnant Will.
Everything within the simulated scene is indistinguishable from reality.
However, to bring items or information from the scene back to reality, one must resolve the lingering attachment that sustains the Eternal Remnant Will...
Why is it so similar to the Fallen Immortal Realm?
Li Fan was momentarily taken aback.
Fallen Immortal... Remnant will...
Li Fan pondered for a moment, forming a vaguely reasonable hypothesis.
Resolving lingering attachments? Maybe next time I enter the Fallen Immortal Realm, I can attempt an approach from this angle.
Setting these thoughts aside for now, Li Fan continued to process the information from Return to Truth.
[Within the simulated scene, one will completely replace the original owner of the remnant will.]
[One will also simultaneously receive the relevant memories and abilities of the remnant will's owner.]
Hmm... This also aligns with the Fallen Immortal Realm.
When the number of uses goes down to zero, the Eternal Remnant Will will vanish completely.
Perhaps it can be understood this way: Return to Truth uses the energy contained within the Eternal Remnant Will to simulate and construct a miniature Fallen Immortal Realm.
Each memory simulation and construction consumes energy.
When the energy is depleted, the Eternal Remnant Will dissipates.
A thought stirred within Li Fan.
According to Return to Truth's prompt, the Eternal Remnant Will cannot be converted to a Bound Item.
But with each new simulation cycle... as long as I locate the vessel of the Eternal Remnant Will once more and absorb it, I can reuse it repeatedly.
Perhaps other cultivators in this realm will be able utilize this Eternal Remnant Will through different methods.
But for them, its uses are limited. If they fail to bring its opportunities back to reality within the allotted number of attempts, t he Eternal Remnant Will would be utterly wasted.
Yet for me... its number of uses is infinite.
Having reached this conclusion, Li Fan hesitated no longer. He activated the memory simulation function of Return to Truth.
A familiar sensation washed over him.
It felt as if someone had shoved his head into a burlap sack. Darkness swallowed his vision, and consciousness fled.
***
"Tian Yang! Tian Yang!"
A somewhat aged voice spoke softly into Li Fan's ear.
"Tian Yang, time for your medicine..."
A bowl of foul-smelling medicinal broth was poured into his mouth.
Fire erupted in his belly, a searing agony that jolted Li Fan back to awareness.
His first sensation upon waking was profound weakness. The kind of frailty that felt like his next breath might be his last.