Heaven-Scorning's Law, Hanhai's Law.
If things continue like this, I'll likely form my Golden Core with these two laws before long.
A flicker of joy stirred within Li Fan's heart.
Yet the moment this thought surfaced, a sudden sense of crisis washed over him.
It felt eerily similar to when he'd faced the enigmatic Heavenly Physician.
The intensity of the threat made his heart pound with inexplicable dread.
Hmm?
Li Fan's deep meditative state was instantly shattered.
His expression turned grave as he pondered internally.
This premonition... where is the danger coming from?
Li Fan had always held absolute confidence in his intuition, which had saved him from certain death during multiple calamities in the past. Thus, he couldn't ignore this sudden feeling of danger.
Return to Truth adjusted continuously, doing just enough to hold the barely-formed foundations of Heaven-Scorning’s Law and Hanhai’s Law in place and prevent their complete dissipation.
After pausing the core formation process, Li Fan began analyzing the situation.
Yet after turning it over and searching extensively, he still couldn't pinpoint the cause.
Resisting the foolish impulse to force the core’s formation, he instead contemplated solutions.
I cannot form my Golden Core purely with Heaven-Scorning and Hanhai.
Though I don't yet understand why, there must be profound reasons behind this.
Rather than dwell on why this outcome occurs, I'll treat “a Golden Core cannot be formed purely with Heaven-Scorning’s Law and Hanhai's Law” as an established fact.
If two won't work, then let's try three...
The Blue Flame phantom spirit abruptly materialized from his sea of consciousness.
It flew to Li Fan, pressing a finger against his dantian.
Blue Flame's Law was gradually integrated into the core formation process.
As time passed, the Laws of Heaven-Scorning, Hanhai, and Blue Flame gradually formed a three-way equilibrium.
The nascent Golden Core slowly stabilized.
Once again, Li Fan contemplated completing the core formation process.
The sense of danger returned, though noticeably fainter than before.
It seems my approach is effective. But what's the reason behind this?
Are Heaven-Scorning’s Law and Hanhai's Law somehow reactive when combined, requiring dilution?
Recalling how Hanhai was an Oddity and Heaven-Scorning was imprisoned by Azure Wind, Li Fan could only make this tentative deduction.
If my speculation is correct, then I simply need to incorporate additional laws during core formation.
With my current capabilities, maintaining four laws simultaneously during core formation is my absolute limit.
My options for the final law are... Azure Wind, and Crimson Flame.
Li Fan shook his head inwardly.
The first was a jailer, while the latter was a boilerman.[1]
Whether in terms of power or hierarchy, Li Fan felt they weren't on the same level as Heaven-Scorning and Hanhai.
As for Blue Flame, while seemingly weaker, its ability to maintain absolute rationality was why Li Fan prioritized it.
Currently, it's Anchor Year 16.
Crimson Flame's emergence and Ink Death's annihilation of everything in this lifetime should still occur around Anchor Year 28.
Just twelve years—I can wait.
Li Fan resisted the temptation to advance and temporarily abandoned core formation.
The hard-won powers of the laws coalesced in his dantian slowly dissipated.
Yet Li Fan felt no regret whatsoever.
No cultivator could resist Ink Death’s terrifying power that could annihilate all existence. Even a weakened Golden Core version would likely be immensely formidable. Waiting twelve years for such power was completely worthwhile.
The day Ink Death annihilates Congyun will be when I achieve Golden Core.
However, during this period, my cultivation can no longer progress.
The cultivation feedback from the Mountain-Sitting Art will be completely wasted.
Su Xiaomei and Zhang Haobo are practically guaranteed to break through to Foundation Establishment.
And afterward, there might be massive cultivation feedback from Ye Feipeng achieving Dao Unity...
Tsk, unacceptable.
Li Fan suddenly felt a pang of heartache, as if witnessing endless food being squandered before his eyes.
I must find a way to preserve this excess cultivation feedback.
Just as he was about to search for a solution in the Tianxuan Mirror, a broadcast abruptly rang out. Its tone was starkly different from usual and filled with solemn killing intent.
“Effective immediately, the Myriad Immortals Alliance enters level two combat readiness.
“All protective arrays across every province are to be fully activated.
“All cultivators are forbidden from inter-provincial movement.
“All alliance system members must return to their provincial cities immediately and await further instructions.
“Any external cultivators discovered are to be eliminated on sight.”
Li Fan's eyelids twitched as he stood up abruptly.
What's happening?
Why the sudden preparation for combat?
Level two...
Have we started fighting the Five Elders Council?
In that instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind.
This sudden development was completely unexpected.
Something must have gone wrong, triggering a major event that had never occurred before.
Quickly suppressing his scattered thoughts, Li Fan began inquiring with his friends.
His social network was now extensive, and he had plentiful connections.
Hmm? This star...
Within the communication spirit talisman engraved with the word “Myriad,” among the stars representing the identities of numerous cultivators, one star displayed a withered, deathly gray hue.
This indicated that the cultivator had fallen.
Li Fan tapped this star, and the fallen cultivator's identity instantly appeared in his mind.
Chen Ying of the Medicine Hall, Congyun Sea.
Li Fan's heart shook.
Him? How could a Nascent Soul cultivator fall so easily?
And wasn't he heading to the five elements grotto-heavens...
Wait, could this conflict be related to those five elements grotto-heavens?
In that fleeting moment, Li Fan seemed to recall something.
During his twelfth lifetime, in Anchor Year 16, the Myriad Immortals Alliance had discovered four additional hidden grotto-heavens near the wood attribute grotto-heaven.
The five grotto-heavens corresponded to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth attributes,
yet they subtly formed an array, functioning as a unified whole.
The discovery of these five elements grotto-heavens attracted the covetous attention of the Five Elders Council.
A great battle erupted between the two factions, resulting in the Myriad Immortals Alliance losing one Spirit Transformation powerhouse.
The Five Elders Council's casualties remained unknown, but they were successfully repelled.
If my guess is correct...
In that moment, Li Fan deduced the cause of the incident.
During the twelfth lifetime, the Five Elders Council had only known that the Myriad Immortals Alliance discovered the five elements grotto-heavens.
However, they likely remained unaware of the internal situations of the grotto-heavens.
Thus, after some unsuccessful attempts, they simply withdrew and abandoned their efforts.
But in this lifetime, the Spirit Mist Grass incident had caused far too great a disturbance.
This forced the Tianxuan Mirror to step forward and stabilize public sentiment, calming the markets.
Though its words alone quelled the turmoil, it also inadvertently revealed the true nature of the wood attribute grotto-heaven.
.....
"...This grotto-heaven is extremely vast, with exceptionally concentrated wood attribute spiritual qi, and an extraordinary abundance of varieties of spirit plants and herbs..."
.....
Li Fan recalled the Tianxuan Mirror's exact phrasing, and his expression shifted dramatically.
The consecutive uses of "extremely", “exceptionally” and “extraordinary” fully conveyed just how rare and precious this grotto-heaven truly was.
If just one wood attribute grotto-heaven within the five elements grotto-heavens held such incredible value, the treasures contained within the other four elemental grotto-heavens were simply beyond imagination.
Having pieced this together, Li Fan suddenly understood.
No wonder we've suddenly entered a state of combat readiness this time. The Five Elders Council must have decided to go for the kill.
1. A boilerman is someone who shovels coal into engines. ☜